Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 49: Lu Ruoxi Found the Correct Way to Win Over Junior Brother Pei

Pei Yuhang had no idea that while he was wracked with guilt for leaving without saying goodbye, Lu Ruoxi's heart was in similar, complex turmoil.

「The previous night.」

BZZZT—

A Transmission Token began to vibrate.

While outwardly exchanging pleasantries with her fellow Dao Sect colleagues, Lu Ruoxi was secretly watching Pei Yuhang's every move, on the lookout for any little vixen who might try to sidle up to him. Her gaze sharpened, fixing on his waist.

'That Transmission Token… it's my junior brother's.'

Pei Yuhang, sitting beside Lu Ruoxi, took out his Transmission Token. The look in his eyes shifted subtly, and he quickly strode out of the courtyard.

Lu Ruoxi watched his departing figure, her soft, alluring eyes narrowing.

'Who is messaging Junior Brother Pei? What could make him look so grave?'

'Could it be… Junior Sister Ye…?'

'Did that woman hear Junior Brother Pei is with me and get scared? Is she panicking, afraid I'll snatch him away from her, that good-for-nothing invalid? Is that why he had to rush off in such a hurry?'

'Or is it some other Fairy who found out Junior Brother Pei is on Guoxin Island and is inviting him out for a drink?'

'Damn it! Who is Junior Brother Pei communicating with?!'

'I'm dying to go and eavesdrop…'

'Damn it, can all you sycophants blocking my way just get lost already! You're blocking my view of Junior Brother Pei!'

With a stiff smile plastered on her face, Lu Ruoxi continued to exchange pleasantries with her colleagues while constantly glancing in the direction Pei Yuhang had gone. Hidden within her wide sleeves, her fingers anxiously kneaded her thigh.

Her skin was so tender it seemed ready to bruise at the slightest touch; how could it withstand such forceful kneading? The tips of her fingers left bright red marks wherever they pressed.

These red marks, born of Lu Ruoxi's inner anxiety, dotted her snow-white skin like plum blossoms blooming in winter. It was a pity such a beautiful sight was hidden beneath her azure skirt, with no one to appreciate it.

A moment later, Lu Ruoxi felt a vibration at her waist. It was her Transmission Token.

She took out the Transmission Token and received a Divine Sense message from Pei Yuhang.

"Senior Sister Lu, my sincerest apologies. One of the unworthy disciples at my residence had a mishap during cultivation and nearly Fallen into Demon… I must rush back to help clear their meridians and check on them."

"Please forgive me for being unable to bid you farewell in person. —Yuhang."

"…"

'Junior Brother Pei… is gone.'

'This precious chance to be alone with my junior brother… The chance to get him drunk and then take care of him while he was intoxicated…'

'It's gone. It's all gone.'

Lu Ruoxi stood there, stunned. She didn't even notice that she had squeezed the Transmission Token in her hand so hard that several cracks had spiderwebbed across its surface.

"Elder Lu, Elder Lu?"

A Cultivator, noticing Lu Ruoxi's strange expression, called out to her twice, but she remained standing there, dazed, as if she'd lost her soul.

Just then, two Cultivators standing nearby began to chat casually.

"Oh? Palace Master Pei has been gone for a while. You don't think he's left for good, do you?"

"Could be. I saw him rush out holding his Transmission Token. He must have encountered some urgent matter."

"Perhaps it was Palace Master Pei's Dao Companion, Fairy Ye, who called him back."

"Is something wrong with Fairy Ye again?"

"Perhaps. But maybe Fairy Ye just doesn't feel comfortable with Palace Master Pei being on Guoxin Island by himself. After all, he's not even two hundred years old yet—a brilliant young talent in his prime. Even though his Cultivation has fallen to the Nascent Soul realm, he's still a top-grade candidate for a Dao Companion."

"I personally know at least a handful of Fairies who are clearly interested in Palace Master Pei. Fairy Ye is probably worried one of them will lure him away, hehe~"

"Hahaha, if you ask me, Fairy Ye is overthinking it. Given Palace Master Pei's determination to save her, even at the cost of his own path of cultivation, what room is there for any other Fairy to come between a divine couple like them?"

"You have a point, fellow Daoist. Hahaha~"

The Cultivators laughed, seemingly mocking those foolish Fairies who would dare try to interfere in the relationship of two Dao Companions.

But their laughter died down quickly as an inexplicable chill washed over them.

But they were Cultivators. How could they feel cold?

As one, the Cultivators turned to look at Elder Lu. They remembered her eyes as always holding a faint, pleasant smile. But now, those beautiful eyes held no trace of warmth—only a hollow, bone-chilling cold.

… … …

When Lu Ruoxi returned to the Dan Yun Pavilion, her face was an icy mask. The Alchemy Boys under her were no fools; seeing their master's terrifying expression—as if she were about to toss someone into an Alchemy Furnace in the very next second—they all fell as silent as crows in winter.

ROAR—

Flames billowed and churned within the Alchemy Furnace. The glaring tongues of fire and the brilliant sparks that occasionally spat from the furnace's vents illuminated the disciples' faces, baking them until beads of sweat dotted their foreheads.

'Master is stoking the fire so high… Is she actually performing Alchemy, or just destroying the ingredients? She was so gentle and graceful before she left. How did she become so terrifying when she came back…?'

The disciples swallowed hard, complaining in their hearts but not daring to voice their thoughts.

Lu Ruoxi, for her part, was not fully engrossed in her Alchemy. She moved her hands, refining the Elixir by muscle memory, while her beautiful eyes stared blankly into space, lost in thought.

Lu Ruoxi was wondering what, exactly, Pei Yuhang thought of her.

'Does he still see me as the dignified and elegant senior sister who adores her junior?'

'Or as the Elder from Dan Yun Pavilion trying to strong-arm the handsome Sword Immortal?'

'Is my junior brother only spending time with me as a compromise?'

'Does he actually… hate the sight of me? Just like how he avoided me for thirty years after becoming Dao Companions with Ye Liyuan.'

After Pei Yuhang's sudden departure, Lu Ruoxi thought long and hard. But contrary to what Pei Yuhang might have assumed, she wasn't blaming him for leaving without a word. Instead, she was reflecting on herself.

Lu Ruoxi now understood with perfect clarity. Her threats from the other day—using her position to force her junior brother to comply—had been a complete and utter mistake.

'Those words likely made my image in Junior Brother Pei's eyes even more wretched.'

After the intimacy of picking herbs with her junior brother today, Lu Ruoxi realized that Pei Yuhang responded to a soft touch, not a firm hand.

When she treated him with the gentle air of a senior sister, Pei Yuhang was clearly delighted.

'Perhaps… I should play the affection card when I interact with Junior Brother Pei from now on.'

'I remember Junior Brother Pei is an orphan… A child like that must be starved for a mother's love, right? If I could show him the maternal affection and gentle tolerance of a mature woman…'

Lu Ruoxi's eyes gleamed. It was as if she had just discovered a golden path forward.

Just then, a Divine Sense message arrived on her newly replaced Transmission Token.

"My apologies, Senior Sister Lu. I'm sorry for leaving without a word last night, and now I have to trouble you to refine a Spirit-Storage Pill…"

'An opportunity has arrived.'

The corners of Lu Ruoxi's lips curved into a smile. The gentleness in that fleeting moment was like a blooming peach blossom, tender and heart-melting.

'Don't you worry about troubling me, Junior Brother Pei~ If I can, I want to make up for your childhood, to give you the mother's love you've been missing, so that you can always rely on me…'