novelraw Chapter 90 - 89: 3 Women, 1 Play
Chapter 90 - 89: 3 Women, 1 Play
After Qing Yueqiu accepted the Sword Spirit Pill, Lu Ruoxi, not wanting to play favorites, gave Yu Gu Nan a Magical Treasure Ruyi of equally considerable value.
But after giving the gifts, Lu Ruoxi felt that Junior Brother Pei's two disciples didn't seem very happy... 'That can't be right. A treasure worth over ten thousand taels of Spirit Stones is something Ye Liyuan, with her financial means, should never be able to afford.'
'By giving them such precious gifts, I should have completely outshone Ye Liyuan.'
'At the very least, Qing Yueqiu and Yu Gu Nan should have some look of thrilled delight on their faces... Why does the atmosphere feel even more distant?'
'Don't tell me that in their hearts, Ye Liyuan's kindness outweighs my Magical Treasure worth ten thousand taels of Spirit Stones?!'
Lu Ruoxi felt like a stepmother trying to get on her children's good side, momentarily at a complete loss.
She cast a pleading look at Pei Yuhang and quietly sent a message with her Divine Sense.
[Junior Brother Pei, do your two disciples not like me very much? I feel like the way Yueqiu is looking at me is a little scary...]
[I don't think so. It's probably because they rarely interact with the outside world, so they get nervous around strangers.]
[It's my fault. The Cold Palace Sword Mansion is usually too secluded, and it's made these two girls withdrawn... It seems I'll have to take them out more often in the future.]
Pei Yuhang explained to Lu Ruoxi via Divine Sense.
He, too, had noticed the strange atmosphere from the side.
For some reason, ever since Qing Yueqiu and Yu Gu Nan saw Lu Ruoxi, they had become colder than ever before.
Pei Yuhang couldn't help but feel a little worried about his two disciples' mental state.
He thought that their reclusive personalities and intense wariness of outsiders were all due to his own negligence in taking them out for training and experience.
Pei Yuhang sighed inwardly, feeling that from now on, besides supervising his disciples' Cultivation, he also needed to pay more attention to their mental health.
To become a truly powerful expert, one couldn't just strengthen the body; the cultivation of the heart could not be neglected either. After all, throughout history, there has been no shortage of Cultivators who withered away in despair or even became Fallen into Demon due to a Heart Demon.
At this moment, Pei Yuhang had no idea that his two disciples already saw Senior Sister Lu as a "Yellow-haired Fairy"—a wealthy patron with improper designs on him...
Although Lu Ruoxi did indeed think that way and was working towards that goal, if she knew that Qing Yueqiu and Yu Gu Nan were also pinning Shang Miaoyan's deeds on her, she would probably be exasperated to the point of tears.
...
After giving the God-Protecting Pill to Pei Yuhang, Lu Ruoxi was naturally reluctant to let him leave just like that.
Although she couldn't get up to any... indescribable activities with his two female disciples present, just being able to pull Junior Brother Pei aside to chat and drink tea was an enjoyable experience in itself.
But she hadn't expected that after just one hour, Qing Yueqiu—who was usually silent and reserved, and who revolved her world around her master—actually spoke up:
"Master, it's already dusk. We should be heading back. If we're late, your wife will be worried."
Lu Ruoxi, who had just been laughing and joking with her Junior Brother Pei, felt her expression immediately darken.
But this wave of dissatisfaction was not directed at Qing Yueqiu, but at Ye Liyuan!
In Lu Ruoxi's eyes, the only reason Qing Yueqiu would urge Pei Yuhang to go home at this moment was because Ye Liyuan must have instructed her to do so beforehand!
'Tsk, I didn't think Junior Sister Ye would keep such a tight leash on Junior Brother Pei. To stop him from running off, she's even using his own disciples as her spies...'
Lu Ruoxi's beautiful eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the situation felt exceptionally tricky.
She had to admit she had underestimated Ye Liyuan. If Ye Liyuan was this controlling, she would have to go on the offensive to gain the upper hand in this war for Junior Brother Pei.
'That's right, this is a war! A war to win Junior Brother Pei at all costs!'
At this thought, Lu Ruoxi stood up before Pei Yuhang. The Dao Fruits on her chest jiggled noticeably, capturing the attention of everyone present.
"Junior Brother Pei, I haven't seen Liyuan in a long time. May I go with you to the Cold Palace Sword Mansion for a visit?"
Pei Yuhang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately broke into a smile.
"Of course you can, Senior Sister. Liyuan and I always thought you were incredibly busy, so we felt too embarrassed to invite you to our humble home to catch up."
"Just last night, Liyuan was telling me that among all of our Master's disciples, her bond with you is the deepest."
"Is that so? So Liyuan still remembers that we're good sisters..."
Pei Yuhang and Lu Ruoxi walked ahead side-by-side, happily chatting about amusing stories from their time in the sect.
Qing Yueqiu's crimson eyes stared fixedly at Lu Ruoxi's graceful back, a strong sense of indignation welling up in her heart.
'How can she let this woman with ill intentions set foot in her and Master's home!'
"Senior Sister, this woman is so shameless, isn't she~? It's truly despicable. She clearly knows he's her junior brother, and that his Dao Companion is her own junior sister, yet she still wants to wedge herself in between them."
"Looked at this way, the master's wife is really quite pitiful. Everyone close to her is hoping for something bad to happen to her soon, so they can covet her handsome Dao Companion..."
Yu Gu Nan's voice, coming from right beside her ear, instantly sent Qing Yueqiu into a panic.
Realizing she had lost her composure, she subconsciously put on her usual air of a senior sister and said, feigning calmness, "Elder Lu is Master's senior sister. You should watch your words, Junior Sister..."
After speaking, Qing Yueqiu quickened her pace to catch up to the pair ahead, but the steps of her long, fair legs were somewhat flustered.
Yu Gu Nan watched Qing Yueqiu's immaculate silver hair float in the air, a smile full of interest on her face.
'Well now, Eldest Senior Sister isn't nearly as meek as my sister said... Her usual appearance as a rigid, rule-abiding, and sensible senior sister is just a disguise. Her true self might just scare Master.'
Although Yu Gu Nan, with her Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, didn't have a high Cultivation, her insight was no longer limited by her realm.
"Yueqiu, Gu Nan, what are you two talking about back there? Hurry up and come over here."
"Coming, Master~ I was just telling Sister Yueqiu about something interesting I just discovered."
"What is it?"
"It's a secret."
Seeing that Yu Gu Nan wouldn't tell him, Pei Yuhang didn't press the matter. In his view, it was perfectly normal for girls to have secrets they couldn't share with their elders once they grew up.
Qing Yueqiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Yu Gu Nan hadn't told their Master about her loss of composure.
Perhaps it was related to her past life as a vagrant. After arriving at the Cold Palace Sword Mansion, Qing Yueqiu had always strived to be a well-behaved and obedient child, terrified that if she displeased her Master, she would be driven down the mountain and forced back into her former life of poverty.
Unconsciously, the act of playing the part of a good disciple in front of her Master had become ingrained in her very being. Even now that she knew her gentle Master would never drive her away, no matter how willful she was,
she was still accustomed to playing the part of that flawless, obedient child in front of him.
「Meanwhile,」
With a flick of her finger, Lu Ruoxi parted the clouds. As rays of auspicious, colorful light shone down, a pure white Immortal Crane the size of a carriage flew over, beating its wings.
"Is this the little crane you adopted back then, Senior Sister? Its bloodline has actually been refined, and it's become a Spirit Beast now."
Pei Yuhang looked at the White Crane in some surprise. He remembered that the last time he saw it, the crane was only the size of his palm.
Back then, it was just a common bird. Heaven knows how many precious spiritual pills and elixirs—the kind that ordinary Cultivators could only dream of eating—this bird with its mundane bloodline must have consumed to achieve its current level of Dao Practice.
To be adopted by an Alchemy Grandmaster as wealthy as his Senior Sister was truly this White Crane's greatest fortuitous opportunity.
"That's right. Back when the four of us went down the mountain for training, it was you, Junior Brother, who found this little one first... At the time, Xiaoyu had a broken wing. If you hadn't been so sharp and heard its cries, it definitely would have died that night."
As Lu Ruoxi spoke, she rubbed the large White Crane's head. The crane's clear black-and-white eyes sparkled with a lively glint, and it cooed affectionately under its master's touch.
When Pei Yuhang walked over, the White Crane even stretched out its head to nuzzle his neck, as if it remembered the kindness of the Sword Immortal who had saved its life.
"Junior Brother Pei, let's ride on Xiaoyu's back to your residence. Xiaoyu's feathers feel like sitting on a cottony cloud, they're very comfortable~"
"Okay."
Qing Yueqiu watched as Lu Ruoxi and Pei Yuhang sat together at the front of the White Crane, talking and laughing as they reminisced about their fellow sect members. Her crimson pupils seemed exceptionally hollow.
'Is this jealousy? Am I jealous that a woman who doesn't even have the title of "Master's wife" can be so close to Master? Or is it indignation? Am I resentful that Master seems to be genuinely enjoying the pleasure of chatting with this woman...?'
'Whatever it is, it's a stifling, uncomfortable emotion, spreading through me like wildly growing weeds.'
Qing Yueqiu felt that she was being too strange today, as if she had turned from a cold-natured Fairy into a petty, jealous shrew.
She thought there must be something wrong with her head.
Qing Yueqiu sat on Xiaoyu's back with her arms crossed, the light in her eyes growing dimmer.
She wanted to return to "normal," to stop this internal struggle. But as soon as she closed her eyes, the image of her Master laughing and joking with other Fairies would appear in her mind, making it impossible for her heart to find peace.
'It must be this so-called Elder Lu's fault. How could I possibly feel at ease letting Master be alone with a woman who covets him?'
Qing Yueqiu thought to herself.
"Senior Sister, are you thinking about pushing that depraved Fairy with the enormous... assets off the White Crane's back right now?"
The mischievous Yu Gu Nan suddenly appeared beside her, startling the completely unguarded Qing Yueqiu so badly that she nearly drew Luminous.
"Junior Sister, why did you use the Qi Concealment Technique to sneak up on me? Aren't you afraid I might attack on instinct?!"
"Gu Nan isn't scared~ Besides, with your Cultivation, Senior Sister, a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator like me should have been discovered even if I used the Qi Concealment Technique, right? The only reason you didn't notice me is simply because all of your attention was focused on Master."
Yu Gu Nan moved closer to Qing Yueqiu's face, until their noses were almost touching.
"Senior Sister, if you keep pining for Master like this, you might suffer a cultivation deviation, you know?"
BZZZZ—
Having her deepest secret exposed, Qing Yueqiu felt the blood rush to her head, and a buzzing sound filled her ears.
She opened her pink lips, about to deny it instinctively, but then she saw Yu Gu Nan's eyes suddenly roll back as she fell backward onto the White Crane's back.