Chapter 97
Silence spread even within arm's reach.
Outside the window, time flowed by and night was approaching, but inside, the atmosphere seemed to freeze due to the sudden approach and the blunt question.
The faint, almost imperceptible cool fragrance emanating from her body intertwined silently with her breath.
The white-robed little immortal's eyelashes trembled even more violently, but in just a moment, he quickly regained control of his emotions.
I have never seen it before.
Is that so?
Upon hearing this, Sheng Ningyu took a half step back, increasing the distance between them, and straightened up again. She straightened her perfectly wrinkle-free sleeves, coughed lightly, and looked up to ask, "What's your name?"
The white-robed young immortal spoke, his voice clear and melodious like the striking of jade chimes. "Thank you, Qianjing."
Xie Qianjing? This was indeed a name she had never heard of before... However, it was common to use an alias when traveling.
The thought had barely formed when Xie Qianjing raised his eyes, looking at her with a calm and unwavering gaze, and said indifferently, "I never lie."
Sheng Ningyu: "..."
It's strange. She didn't say a word, so how did the person in front of her seem to know what she was thinking?
She coughed lightly, suppressing the strange feeling, straightened her face, and solemnly made up a story: "My name is Wang Jiu."
"Fellow Daoist Wang Jiu." The little immortal lord, with a face as white as ice, lowered his eyes and gently called her name once, then shook his head and looked up at her seriously.
"I think you're lying to me right now."
Caught off guard by this direct and unexpected attack, Sheng Ningyu froze for a second before asking, "You say I'm lying? Do you have any proof?"
Xie Qianjing shook his head again: "There is no evidence." He paused, his deep eyes falling on Sheng Ningyu, and repeated with certainty, "You are lying to me."
Sheng Ningyu: "..."
The two remained silent and stared at each other again.
Three seconds later, under the other party's pure and almost obsessive gaze, Sheng Ningyu finally gave in, her shoulders slumped slightly, and she raised her hands in surrender.
She sat down dejectedly on the soft couch, leaning back against it, completely losing her composure.
“Sheng Ningyu,” she sat up straighter and uttered her name, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the edge of the couch, “My name is Sheng Ningyu.”
At this point, as if suddenly remembering something, she leaped up from the couch, braced herself with her hands, leaned over, and deliberately lowered her voice, looking at Xie Qianjing with a probing gaze, "Immortal Lord Xie is so intelligent, why don't you guess whether this name is real or fake?"
Xie Qianjing gazed at her and said calmly, "It's true."
Sheng Ningyu raised an eyebrow, still not letting up: "Then why don't you guess what the three characters of my name are?"
This time, Xie Qianjing shook his head: "I don't know."
Sheng Ningyu suddenly felt a bit bored, and her competitive spirit dissipated. She leaned back on the soft pillows and turned her head to look out the window.
The moonlight, like water, hazily enveloped the tranquil courtyard, as if gently absorbing all the world's troubles into its gentle glow.
Sheng Ningyu casually stroked the still chaotic fragments of memory, and replied perfunctorily, "The 'Ning' in 'skin as smooth as cream,' and the 'Yu' in 'skin as smooth as ice and bones as smooth as jade. Ordinary characters, nothing special."
"No."
A clear, crisp voice, like ice water striking stone, rang out from behind her. Sheng Ningyu didn't turn around, but she could clearly feel where that gaze was directed.
It was all about her from beginning to end.
"It is the sage's condensation that is not attached to material things, the jade that fills the hall with gold and jade."
The sage does not become fixated on material things.
Jade that fills the hall with gold and jade.
Sheng Ningyu pondered these two sentences repeatedly, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Something seemed to shatter in that instant. She turned around abruptly and smiled radiantly at Xie Qianjing: "I like what you said!"
Xie Qianjing gazed at her quietly, and when she smiled, his eyes, which were always filled with frost and snow, slowly curved into a gentle arc: "Mm."
The moon breaks through the clouds, and the ice begins to melt.
When he smiled, his cool and aloof appearance instantly became vivid and lively, making him even more handsome.
She was more beautiful than anyone Sheng Ningyu had ever seen before.
After laughing for a moment, Sheng Ningyu suddenly realized that Xie Qianjing's words and actions could so easily affect her emotions.
This is an experience I've never had before.
Sheng Ningyu's smile faded, and she looked at Xie Qianjing with a probing gaze, unable to help but mutter, "Do I really not know you? Why do I always feel like we've known each other for a long time?"
Sheng Ningyu wanted to offer some praise, but then she suddenly remembered the "old woman" in the rouge shop in the west of the city who had changed her expression in an instant. Her face twisted for a moment, and she changed the subject before she could finish her sentence.
Sheng Ningyu always said whatever came to mind, and the topic changed very quickly. This time, it was just a rambling thought that came to mind, and she thought she would get a rebuttal from the other party, but to her surprise, there was silence again.
"I have no idea."
The white-robed young immortal in front of him seemed to recall something troublesome. His brow furrowed very slightly, like the surface of a lake rippled by the wind, before returning to calm.
He stared straight at Sheng Ningyu, his dark pupils clearly reflecting her figure.
"I don't remember anything."
Sheng Ningyu was taken aback, but her thoughts took a strange turn: "You don't remember anything? Then why do you hate the character 'Chu'?"
Xie Qianjing frowned almost imperceptibly: "Because the character 'Chu' is inherently annoying."
Such unreasonable and almost childish "annoying" words, spoken by this dignified, aloof, and otherworldly young immortal, carry a strange contrast.
Sheng Ningyu unconsciously raised the corners of her lips and looked at Xie Qianjing, saying, "Then why did you help me?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Qianjing's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, then seemed to be burned for a moment, quickly shifting her gaze away before slowly lowering her eyelashes, like two light feather fans, completely concealing any emotions that might be revealed in her eyes.
He said, "Because I want to treat you to honey flower cake."
Sheng Ningyu: "...?"
Before he could finish speaking, Xie Qianjing's fingertips twitched slightly, and a flash of inspiration appeared. In the next instant, a plain white porcelain plate landed lightly on the table between the two of them.
Several Bodhi-shaped pastries were neatly arranged on the plate, each drizzled with a layer of glistening honey. They were no more than a quarter the size of a palm, exquisite and adorable.
Under the hazy moonlight filtering through the window, it shimmered with a warm and alluring glow, and a subtle sweet fragrance quietly wafted through the air.
Sheng Ningyu subconsciously leaned forward to take a closer look, her gaze then following the pastries to the person opposite her.
Xie Qianjing's ears turned red.
Before her, the young immortal, whose refined and elegant demeanor surpassed even the snow-capped peaks of a mountain, had a faint blush creeping up around his ears.
The blush was extremely faint yet exceptionally clear under the moonlight, creating a strange radiance that contrasted with his icy and snow-like aura. The vermilion dot between his brows, bathed in the moonlight, possessed an even more alluring and seductive charm.
At this moment, Xie Qianjing no longer resembled a naive and ignorant immortal, but rather a ghostly figure lurking in the mountains, ready to steal hearts and souls at any moment.
“I don’t remember anything, but I do remember that I had to make someone eat the Bodhi Honey Flower Cake I made,” Xie Qianjing said. “So, I make it every day.”
Even if his ears turned red, he would still finish speaking in a serious and meticulous manner, to the point of being almost obstinate.
His seriousness made Sheng Ningyu stop smiling and ask earnestly, "Is it really for me? Then I'll eat it."
As she spoke, Sheng Ningyu reached out to take it.
However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the plate, the person opposite him moved back half a foot.
Sheng Ningyu raised an eyebrow and looked up, but before she could speak, Xie Qianjing frowned and said in a firm tone of disapproval: "We should not be so careless about things that we put in our mouths."
Sheng Ningyu laughed angrily: "Didn't you tell me to eat it?"
She was naturally rebellious, and at this moment she refused to listen to Xie Qianjing, raising her hand to take it. Xie Qianjing gently shook his head and held the plate even higher.
He raised his eyes and said seriously, "We have just met today, and we are strangers. I am of unknown origin and background. Fellow Daoist Sheng, you cannot trust a stranger so easily."
What a load of nonsense.
Even that old man in Jian Ge never treated her like this.
Sheng Ningyu wouldn't listen to his reasoning.
She leaned forward deliberately, getting closer, and successfully saw Xie Qianjing's breath catch in his throat slightly, causing him to stagger back half a step, caught off guard.
In the blink of an eye, Sheng Ningyu swiftly extended her finger, gently hooked it from the edge of the raised plate, and skillfully picked up a piece of Bodhi honey flower cake.
Feeling triumphant at having won a round, Sheng Ningyu curled her lips into a smug smile and waved the honey flower cake in her hand at Xie Qianjing, saying, "It's mine."
She had long noticed that Xie Qianjing was upright and courteous, almost like a saint from the oldest and most rigid family of cultivators.
Such a saintly young master is the easiest to deal with.
The slightly sticky texture of honey touched her fingertips, and its sweet aroma wafted into her nose. Without further hesitation, Sheng Ningyu picked up the small pastry and was about to put it in her mouth.
People like them are most wary of physical intrusion. If someone gets too close and makes them feel that they might be touched, they will naturally back away.
However, just as this thought crossed her mind, and just as the honey flower cake was about to be put into her mouth, Sheng Ningyu's wrist was suddenly firmly grasped by a slightly cool hand.
The force wasn't strong, but it was so firm that there was no way to break free.
Sheng Ningyu looked up in astonishment.
Xie Qianjing pursed his lips slightly, and the blush on his ears seemed to deepen, but his voice remained calm, "This dish... has lost its flavor after being left out for a while, so it's not very good."
Sheng Ningyu lowered her gaze and glanced at the hand with distinct knuckles that was firmly gripping her wrist.
He probably didn't even know that the force he applied to her wrist was as light as a feather, yet even so, she could still feel his fingertips trembling slightly.
Sheng Ningyu took the initiative.
“Little Fairy Xie,” she drawled, “how come you’re lying to people too?”
Before Xie Qianjing could respond, Sheng Ningyu suddenly changed the subject: "If you don't ask me now, my senior brother will come looking for you later, and you won't have a chance to ask."
Xie Qianjing tilted his head slightly as expected: "Senior brother?"
She couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all, the little immortal in front of her was incredibly powerful and acted mysteriously, like an immortal descending from the heavens to enlighten all living beings. This gave Sheng Ningyu the illusion that he knew everything.
Xie Qianjing shook his head and asked again, "Your senior brother is looking for you... Do you want to go with him?"
Sheng Ningyu laughed, tossed the honey flower cake into a plate, clapped her hands and said, "Otherwise what? You want to kidnap me in front of my senior brother? Let me tell you, my senior brother is very powerful. His cultivation is at least at the late stage of the Heavenly Power Realm, and he is also good at musical arrays. You absolutely cannot beat him."
Xie Qianjing stared at her and said, slowly and deliberately, "Okay."
Why did you say "yes" all the time before?
Sheng Ningyu didn't react immediately, looking somewhat bewildered: "Can you do what?"
Xie Qianjing: "We can win."
Sheng Ningyu: "So what if we fought?"
Xie Qianjing: "Don't go with him."
Sheng Ningyu: "Then who should I go with?"
The two of them took turns speaking, their pace quickening until Xie Qianjing could barely keep up.
He looked at her silently, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes, as if trying to sort out some emotions that were too complicated or too simple for him to immediately understand.
Sheng Ningyu casually rested her elbow on the window frame, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at him with a leisurely air: "Xie Qianjing, don't change the subject, what exactly do you want to say?"
What do you want to say?
Xie Qianjing lowered his eyelashes for a moment, then couldn't help but lift them again.
The moonlight, though beautiful, fell upon her, yet it was less than a fraction of her beauty.
The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Xie Qianjing suddenly moved.
He raised his hand, but instead of gripping her wrist, he gently gathered her fingertips that were hanging naturally at her side.
The movements were cautious and gentle, as if what lay before them was a dream that would dissipate at the turn of the night and the beginning of the morning.
He knelt down, tilted his head back, as if he had made a decision. His dark pupils deepened, and his clear, cold voice, with an almost obsessive solemnity, slowly uttered a few words, like snowflakes falling on a frozen stream.
"...Come with me."
Sheng Ningyu paused almost imperceptibly.
She met Xie Qianjing's gaze, which contained no trace of calculation, nor any sign of weighing the pros and cons; only an almost stubborn purity.
After a while, Sheng Ningyu laughed.
"Xie Xiaoxianjun, that's my closest and favorite senior brother in the Sword Pavilion."
Strangely enough, Sheng Ningyu couldn't help but wonder how such a self-disciplined and proper little immortal could hold her hand again and again and say the words "Come with me" to her.
She shook her head: "Why shouldn't I trust my senior brother and go with a stranger like you who I just met by chance, whose background is unknown, and whose details are unclear?"
Xie Qianjing's gaze fell upon her, and his fingertips gently caressed the scar on her wrist. The gentleness of his touch sent a slight shiver down Sheng Ningyu's spine, making her scalp tingle.
He sighed softly, seemingly troubled: "But they treat you badly."
Sheng Ningyu was slightly taken aback.
It's unclear what kind of turbulent inner turmoil this dignified and proper young immortal had just gone through to make such a "transgressive" move and say such "inappropriate" words.
The wound on her wrist had long since healed and she usually felt no pain, but for some reason, when someone touched her so gently, Sheng Ningyu felt a little pain.
She is bold and outspoken, capable of spending her days observing swordplay from a tree, and can also frankly tell Chu Le that she "trusts no one." However, she is not good at dealing with such solemn and cautious tenderness.
A moment of silence.
Sheng Ningyu's smile faded, and she turned her head away somewhat awkwardly, avoiding looking at Xie Qianjing, and said, "These wounds were not caused by the Sword Pavilion, but were injuries I sustained while I was away earlier."
Xie Qianjing gazed at her, seemingly sensing Sheng Ningyu's resolute attitude. He no longer mentioned taking her away, but instead said, "If you insist on going to find your senior brother, you must heal your injuries."
We met by chance, yet you interfered so much.
Sheng Ningyu muttered to herself, "Do you think I don't want to? This injury isn't so easy to heal..."
Before he finished speaking, Xie Qianjing had already stood up, condensed a wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips, and cleanly slashed open his wrist, then presented the bleeding wrist to Sheng Ningyu.
"drink."
...
"I think I saw my junior sister on the street today."
In a side hall of the city lord's mansion, the flickering candlelight cast a long, slender shadow of Ning Jiao leaning against the window. She toyed with a clay figurine in her hand, her tone seemingly casual, yet her gaze was sharp as needles, meticulously tracing every expression on Rong Que's profile.
Rong Que did not raise his eyes, his fingertips still calmly brushing the seven-stringed zither on the table.
The music flowed like a stream under the moon, never faltering because of her words.
Rong Que smiled gently and said softly, "She's young and a bit playful."
Ning Jiao said, "Second Senior Brother, won't you take her back to the Sword Pavilion and keep a close watch on her?"
Rong Que smiled and shook his head, saying slowly, "There's no need to rush. She's free-spirited by nature, and if we go too far, it will only annoy her."
Is that so?
Did the world-renowned First Young Master Rong Que have such a good temper towards her back then?
The melodious sound of the zither suddenly rose, but the ending note changed its tune. The last note hung in mid-air, trembling out a long and eerie aftertaste, lingering in the silent hall like the unwilling sigh of a ghost.
Rong Que raised his eyes, the smile on his face fading, and sighed: "Junior Sister Ning's swordsmanship is exquisite and her spiritual power is profound, so what is there to compare with Junior Sister?"
Rong Que's tone was not stern, but rather gentle, and he didn't reveal much emotion in it. Yet, it sent a chill down Ning Jiao's spine and gave her goosebumps.
Perhaps it was the deep darkness of the night, but Ning Jiao felt that Rong Que, dressed in fine clothes, did not resemble a celestial prince, but rather the demons and ghosts she had seen in the dungeon of the city lord's mansion.
She had seen far too many demons and ghosts, personally orchestrated their schemes, and even dared to use demonic seeds to stir up trouble. Ning Jiao believed she had long since hardened her heart and become accustomed to all sorts of monsters and demons. Yet, at this moment, merely being gazed upon calmly by Rong Que sent a chill creeping up from her tailbone, creeping through her limbs and bones.
It's fake.
Ning Jiao repeatedly reminded himself.
Her scheme was ingenious, with each step meticulously planned, and apart from a slight moment of impulsiveness at the end, there wasn't a single flaw.
"Junior Sister Ning."
Before anyone knew it, Rong Que had stood up.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a hazy glow around him. The strange illusion he had just experienced seemed to be merely a hallucination caused by the candlelight. In an instant, he was once again the refined and elegant "First Young Master".
As the young master Ruyu walked out of the palace, his robes brushed against the smooth ground, his movements elegant and otherworldly, as if carrying with them the cool fragrance of jade hairpins.
As the departing figure receded into the distance, a gentle sigh, like a piece of advice, drifted back into Ning Jiao's ears.
"Since you've decided to get involved in this matter, handle the demons and ghosts properly. Don't always act willfully and make things difficult for everyone."
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The author's note: Everyone's obsessions have been magnified.
In Chapter 32, Rong Que and Ning Jiao had a similar conversation.
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