Chapter 68 068 "I've never cared about you, so don't care about me either!"...
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Jiang Ling'er wanted to ask more, but Pei Xuan refused to say anything more. He whistled, and Chunhua appeared out of nowhere. This donkey was very intelligent and seemed to remember her rescue last time. It walked to Jiang Ling'er's side, nuzzled her arm affectionately, and breathed warm air on her.
Jiang Ling'er laughed, amused. Pei Xuan watched for a while with his arms crossed, then suddenly said:
She likes you.
Jiang Ling'er paused upon hearing this, then smiled gently and stroked Chunhua's smooth, black fur even more softly: "...Is that so?"
"Want to carry her on your back?"
Jiang Ling'er paused in stroking the cat, then looked abruptly at Pei Xuan, wondering if she had misheard: "...Huh?"
Jiang Ling'er only realized that the sound was a soft, indistinct moan of pleasure coming from Chunhua's throat.
She looked at Chunhua's dark eyes, which reflected her face... and then climbed onto Chunhua's back.
Spring Flower's fur was warm and thick; sitting on it felt like sitting on a cloud. The joy of saving people, the delight of escaping to heaven, and the ecstasy of finally finding the little fairy I had been dreaming of all converged in my mind at this moment, creating a sweet and lingering sense of unease. The night's journey had finally given me a moment's rest.
With her eyes half-closed, she rode on Chunhua's back, led by Pei Xuan, slowly making her way back to town.
Everything was perfect, except that at the very end, Pei Xuan got itchy again and took the liberty of putting his arm around her waist and lifting her off the ground.
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
The moment her waist was grabbed, her drowsy brain snapped back to reality, and Jiang Ling'er landed and promptly punched him!
This punch also chased away her lingering sleepiness.
"You have 'minor deities' and 'minor hooligans'... What else does your Lingxiao Sect have?"
What Jiang Ling'er really wanted to ask was, given the rumors that the Lingxiao Sect is full of talented people, how did a scoundrel like him, who is weak and has no skills, and whose only redeeming quality is his fair skin, manage to infiltrate the Lingxiao Sect?
Jiang Ling'er asked sincerely, and the young Taoist wiped his bruised lips with his thumb, gave a soft chuckle as an answer, and turned to leave leisurely with his Chunhua by the hand.
He was even reciting poetry in a rather improper manner:
"The rouge and powder are not too thick, the wildflowers have a faint fragrance. Looking closely, everything is beautiful; everyone says, 'She has a willow-like waist.' Yesterday, the mountains were shrouded in mist; when I came, my clothes were covered in clouds..."
Jiang Ling'er: "…………"
Jiang Ling'er gritted her teeth, regretting that she hadn't hit him hard enough.
She suddenly shouted loudly:
"Hey! You filthy, lecherous Taoist priest! Don't forget what you promised me!"
The young Taoist waved his hand, as if he had heard it.
Seeing this, Jiang Ling'er let out a soft breath, releasing the pent-up frustration she'd accumulated since arriving in Qing Shi Town! It was as if a ray of sunshine had suddenly appeared in the darkness, and even the cold wind seemed to soften. The thought of seeing the carefree little immortal Daoist tomorrow filled her with uncontrollable joy, and her steps became lighter. But when she reached the inn, she saw the little poisonous creature standing silently at the inn's door, watching her for who knows how long…
I was stunned.
In a split second of eye contact, they both spoke almost simultaneously:
What are you doing here?
"You haven't come home all night... Where did you go?"
The little poisoner's voice was soft, but every word was clear. Upon closer inspection, there were still a few streaks of red blood in his eyes, indicating that he hadn't rested well either.
Jiang Ling'er instinctively wanted to recount everything about her encounter and interactions with Pei Xuan, but she paused, then swallowed her words. She mumbled:
"Nothing... I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk."
She didn't mean to hide it. It's just that she'd soon meet the little immortal, and perhaps soon learn everything about the old镖头's connection to the *Longevity Manual*. Even without him saying it, anything related to the *Longevity Manual* was bound to be a thorny, unpredictable path. Although the little poisoner had promised to help her find the truth, but… but…
But he was too young.
She felt uneasy.
He's only eighteen, just turned eighteen, with plenty of time ahead of him. There's really no need for him to get involved in this mess with her.
Jiang Ling'er thought to herself that, in any case, she would first go and meet that little fairy herself, and digest the possible "truth" on her own. As for what would happen later... she would deal with it later.
That's what she was thinking, but the little poisoner suddenly raised her eyes the moment she heard it, staring intently at Jiang Ling'er. Her gaze was stung by the lingering smile on Jiang Ling'er's lips. Her eyes were dark, and her upper lip touched her lower lip, her voice as faint as a whisper, as if she were talking to herself:
"...Is that so?"
Jiang Ling'er didn't want him to pry, and instead asked him, "Then where did you go last night?"
She hadn't forgotten that she had come to the Ghost Market by following the little poisonous creature's shoe prints, nor had she forgotten that she had caught a fleeting glimpse of it there...
Although it was only one glance... she wasn't old enough to mistake someone for someone else due to her failing eyesight.
She was absolutely certain it was that little poisoner.
“I went to collect morning dew.” The little poisoner answered quickly, his dark eyes reflecting Jiang Ling’er’s fair face. After a moment of silence, he added, “You know that morning dew can be used as medicine, and I often get up in the morning to collect dew, don’t I?”
As he finished speaking, he took out a small medicine bottle from his sleeve.
Jiang Ling'er paused upon hearing this, noticing that the medicine bottle in his hand was indeed the one he usually used for collecting morning dew.
What she didn't know was that the small medicine bottle no longer contained morning dew, but rather the juice of trumpet creeper flowers that she had traded from Xue Sangui, the owner of the fortune-making noodle stall, a few days earlier.
Little Poisonous Creature was never one to sit idly by and wait to be slaughtered. He had long ago researched medicines that could replace the trumpet creeper to suppress the Gu worms in his body, but unfortunately, none of them succeeded.
He spoke with perfect logic and evidence, even providing physical proof—his argument seemed impeccable. But Jiang Ling'er still stared at him suspiciously, trying to find a flaw: "Is that so... but..." She changed the subject, seemingly puzzled, "Does collecting dew really require collecting it all night?"
fraud.
As soon as he finished speaking, the little poisonous creature's eyes flickered slightly, about to say something, but Jiang Ling'er rolled her eyes at him and waved her hand dismissively, saying:
"No need to say anything more, you're very smart, I can't argue with you."
She simply took the clean clothes beside her and went behind the screen to change, remembering to peek out and glare at the little devil as a warning:
"Don't follow me!"
The little poisonous creature was left alone in the same spot.
Jiang Ling'er had barely stepped out of sight when the little poisonous creature, as if a string stretched to its limit suddenly snapped, staggered back two steps, clutching its aching chest. Out of the corner of its eye, it glanced behind the screen... Light and shadow outlined a slender, willow-like figure.
She lied to me.
Why did she lie to me?
……Why?
Why? ? ?
for……
Suddenly, a slender, white arm, as delicate as a scallion, emerged from behind the screen, interrupting the clamor in the little poisonous creature's mind. After a winter of being bundled up, her already healthy, tanned skin had become even whiter.
"Bring me a coat."
The little poisonous creature stared intently at the slender, white arm until it impatiently waved it away:
"Hurry up, you'll catch a cold!"
The little poisonous creature finally stirred, gulping down an entire small bottle of trumpet creeper sap. The red mist swirling in its eyes subsided considerably. It silently obeyed, fetching her coat and handing it to her, watching Jiang Ling'er bustle about like a wronged wife. Seeing that she was about to leave again, the man, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't help but grab her wrist:
"What...have you been busy with lately?"
In the past, Jiang Ling'er, being simple-minded, would have spoken up immediately. It was nothing more than a small matter of rushing to Uncle Shui's massage parlor to patronize him.
But the little poisoner had just lied to her.
He even made up a lie to deceive her.
This is outrageous!
Jiang Ling'er grew angrier the more she thought about it, clearly forgetting that she had also lied to him, albeit with good intentions.
He squinted, his stubbornness rising, and threw out a harsh remark:
"I've never cared about you, so don't care about me either!"
She then shoved him aside with her shoulder!
The moment the little poisonous creature's back slammed against the door, its eyes trembled; it was truly injured.
His chest heaved violently, and the red mist that had just subsided quickly returned. His hands clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug into his flesh, and his beautiful, dark eyes were entangled in a web of blood-red spiderwebs. He gritted his teeth, staring intently at the figure receding into the distance.
"Why are you protecting that guy...? Did you cheat on me with someone else behind my back?!"
Unfortunately, before he could finish the second half of his sentence, a pebble was suddenly thrown through the window frame with a "bang".
He was interrupted.
The little poisonous creature paused, taking one last look at Jiang Ling'er's almost invisible back, slowly exhaling a sigh of frustration, turning to look down at the window, then narrowing its eyes—
A short boy seemed startled by his expression, and after a long while, he gave him a stiff, obsequious smile.
Xue Sangui.
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The sun is setting.
Another day is about to pass.
This is a sparsely populated, narrow path behind Dagushan Mountain. Xiao Duwu and Xue Sangui, the owner of the lucky cat stall, walked one after the other, their shadows stretched extremely long in the afterglow of the setting sun.
The little poisonous creature squinted at the short, hunched-over boy in front of it. Yesterday, he had been crying and saying he couldn't produce the trumpet creeper, but today he had changed his mind and said he could.
However, there was one more condition: he had to come and collect it in person.
They even dared to reveal their true colors in broad daylight and personally invite him.
They practically had the words "something fishy" etched on their foreheads.
The little poisonous creature had been silent the whole way, but suddenly it stopped and stopped walking.
I'm really tired.
So tired.
So annoying.
He wanted to kill someone.
Where exactly are you taking me?
The short boy froze upon hearing this, then slowly turned around and revealed a smile, which looked more like a grimace.
"Soon...we'll be there soon..."
——
Not far behind them was a small teahouse.
The teahouse was small, but it was filled with pedestrians dressed in coarse linen.
Four people were seated around the innermost table. The young man turned his head, revealing a handsome face, and looked at the youth wearing a bamboo hat beside him, whispering:
"Uncle-Master, the fish has taken the bait."
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The author's note: ① This is from Zhang Xian's "Drunken Whip - Embroidered Skirt with Two Butterflies" from the Song Dynasty.
There's a big chapter coming tomorrow! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-03-11 22:47:48 and 2024-03-12 23:24:05!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Wind Waiting for Burial (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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