During their lunch break, they found a shady spot, with Li Mingke flanked by Zuo Biechen and Pin Yue.
"Why do you have to sit with me?" She moved to the right, and Bie Chen moved with her.
"Don't get so close to me!" she whispered.
"Then why are you hiding? They don't know you're a woman. If you keep doing this, they might get suspicious!" Bie Chen put one hand on his knee and looked at her from the side.
Li Mingke gritted his teeth.
He saw the Buddhist prayer beads he used to wear day and night on her wrist. The dark beads contrasted sharply with her fair skin, creating a strong visual impact.
Li Mingke could not ignore that intense gaze no matter what, so he turned his head and stared at Bie Chen.
He looked at her, and she looked at him. Who was afraid of whom?
"Huh?" She stared intently at his face.
From her eyebrows to the corners of her eyes, to her straight nose, and her pale lips, she made a new discovery, "You..."
"What's wrong with me?" He touched his face.
"You look a bit like someone I used to know."
"...Is that so?" He narrowed his eyes slightly, but quickly covered it up with a smile. "Everyone has some similarities, right? By the way, who is that person you know?"
Li Mingke: "He is...a very capable person."
"Very impressive?" He rolled his eyes. "How impressive?" There was a hint of disdain in his voice.
"He is someone who gets what he wants through hard work."
"Effort?" He grinned, but his expression was cold.
Leaning against the thick tree trunk behind him, he placed his hands behind his head. "It's less about hard work and more about luck, isn't it?"
Li Mingke thought about it for a moment, then said, "What you say... is indeed true."
"Wait, do you know who I'm talking about?"
"I don't know, I'm just guessing." He closed his eyes, unwilling to say any more.
Li Mingke looked at his slightly furrowed brows and pursed lips.
Lost in thought, she twisted the sash of her clothes with both hands, and a cherry blossom drifted past her eyes, fluttering away in the wind.
Li Pinyue saw that her brother was in a good mood, but Bie Chen's few words lowered the atmosphere, and his gaze towards her became slightly cold.
The others were either lying down or sitting, while Wang Jingyuan held a pen in his hand, lying on the ground writing and drawing.
"Finally done!" he cheered, then got up from the ground and pounded his lower back.
A large sheet of paper was spread out in front of him, on which a detailed map was drawn. Everything in each place was clearly visible, and the route they had taken was recorded in detail.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Ma Gege exclaimed. She knew Wang Jingyuan had been recording the route, but she didn't expect it to be so detailed and intuitive.
"I deserve half the credit for this map!" Bai Tianshui said, hands on his hips.
“What did you do?” Maggege asked.
"I sent Xiao Cai to fly up into the air to get a bird's-eye view; otherwise, how could she have drawn such a good map!"
Xiao Cai chirped happily a few times and spun around on everyone's heads several times.
Chen Zifeng looked at the map, nodded repeatedly, and patted Wang Jingyuan on the back affirmatively, "Jingyuan did a good job!"
Li Mingke never expected that his usually carefree cousin would be so capable.
Bie Chen was also drawn by the cheers and discussions of the crowd. He opened his eyes and his breath hitched the moment he saw the map. When he learned that it was drawn by Wang Jingyuan, he was even more surprised.
The young master of Fengyu Tower is surprisingly meticulous!
This is not to be underestimated!
He was pondering the network of relationships in his mind when he suddenly felt a gaze fall upon him, and he looked up with a "whoosh".
Li Pinyue was staring at him without moving!
How long did she observe him?
He immediately adjusted his expression and put on that charming smile.
Li Pinyue turned her head and spoke to Chen Zifeng beside her.
The group surrounded Wang Jingyuan and walked forward according to the map, with Bie Chen and Li Pinyue at the back of the group.
A cherry blossom flew past behind at an extremely fast speed, slicing across Bie Chen's cheek at an incredibly tricky angle.
A lock of hair at her temple was silently cut off.
He turned around.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Li Pinyue?"
She walked up to him, her eyes calm and undisturbed.
"I don't know what your purpose is, but if you want to stay here, you'd better behave yourself."
"Does Miss Li Pinyue perhaps have some prejudice against me?"
bass--
The tip of the gun scraped across the ground.
“I don’t care about anyone else, but if you’re getting close to my brother with any ulterior motives, I advise you to think twice.”
"..." Bie Chen touched the hair that had been cut off at his temple. "Miss Li is truly protective of her brother, but what if I said I had no ulterior motives?"
You better be!
"Hehe." He suddenly tilted his head back, stared at her intently for a moment, then leaned down, his lips close to her ear, "Actually... I came here for Li Mingke."
"I want to see just how charming she is that she can make people remember her so fondly."
His voice was like the sand at the bottom of the sea, deep and resonant yet with an ethereal beauty.
"Speaking of which, isn't she the only person who can simultaneously manipulate the emotions of both the Celestial Venerable and the Demon Venerable?"
Did they know she was a woman?
"What would happen if they found out?"
Suddenly, sand and stones flew, and the cherry trees shook.
Bie Chen was choked by Li Pinyue and pressed hard to the ground.
"Want to die?" Her voice was devoid of any warmth.
"Why are you reacting so strongly? Do you know something inside?" He was still smiling, but there was a hint of inquiry in his smile.
The pressure in his hand increased, and a feeling of suffocation gradually rose.
He suddenly bit his lip.
"Help! I'm being molested!"
Li Mingke was discussing with everyone the direction they should take next when he suddenly heard a shout from behind.
Turning around, I saw Bie Chen being bullied by Li Pinyue, his legs kicking and his cheeks flushed abnormally.
She was stunned by what she saw.
"Moon, no matter how much you like him, you can't force yourself on him!"
She rushed forward and pulled the two apart. Bie Chen coughed incessantly as he was helped up.
"I...cough cough, I was just walking along peacefully when Yue'er suddenly did something indecent to me!" He gripped her clothes tightly, his tone both shy and angry.
"Hey, it's alright, it's alright. Yue'er isn't the kind of person who doesn't know her limits!"
She's not stupid; she knows her own sister. It must have been Bie Chen who said something to anger Yue'er, and then she cried wolf and tried to shift the blame.
As expected, Li Pinyue remained expressionless, staring intently at Bie Chen's hand gripping Li Mingke's clothes.
"Moon, I know you. There must be some misunderstanding here!" She went to comfort her younger sister.
"Hmph! Misunderstanding! The facts are right in front of us, what misunderstanding are you talking about! Does Mingke really mean someone who sides with their own people and ignores the truth?" he said in shame and indignation.
Li Mingke glared at him fiercely, "Shut up!"
Bie Chen's pupils trembled slightly.
"You...you yelled at me?"
This shouldn't be happening!
She should have gone to comfort him immediately and then scolded her sister!
She should stand by his side!
"You...you're so unreasonable!"
Li Mingke was puzzled. How could she be so unreasonable? Please don't make that face like she's a wife heartbroken by a faithless man!
"It's nothing, brother." Li Pinyue pulled her back. "We just exchanged a few words and disagreed."
"Moon, I know, it's definitely not your problem." She patted Li Pinyue's head, and Li Pinyue obediently bent her knees to let her touch it.
Bie Chen watched the interaction between the brother and sister, completely ignoring him, and ran away in a huff.
"Um... Mingke, should we go after them?" Ma Gege pointed in the direction Bie Chen had left.
Li Mingke shook his head, "Let him go. He clearly has no intention of getting along with us amicably."
Let him go if he wants to. He's so old, does he need to be coaxed? Who wants to indulge his bad temper!
The group didn't say anything and continued on their way.
After a day's journey, everyone was starving. There were wild vegetables along the way, so they cooked a pot of wild vegetable soup and ate it with their dry rations.
"You know what, the soup made in this Heavenly Venerable Three-Legged Cauldron is actually quite delicious, and I feel full of energy!" Wang Jingyuan bulged his arm muscles.
“You’re just full. Do you think the energy from the Heavenly Venerable Three-Legged Cauldron has entered your body?” Ma Gege exposed him without hesitation.
Bie Chen could smell the aroma of wild vegetable soup not far away, but he just sat there, staring blankly at the two pastries wrapped in a brocade handkerchief in his hand. The hard, protruding stone behind him made his spine ache.
A voice, neither male nor female, suddenly came from above, "Aren't you hungry?"
He looked up.
She rested her hands on her knees, squatting slightly. The blue disguise bead was faintly visible in her collar. The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned. He wasn't sure if she was smiling. The starry sky behind her couldn't compare to the brightness of her eyes.
"Hungry."
He didn't even realize it, but his body responded involuntarily.
He heard her laughter, like pearls falling into a jade plate, clear and melodious.
The pearl also accidentally fell into his heart.
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