Servant and Maid

When Xiao Cang heard that soft, alluring voice, a delicate, pretty face that was both youthful and seductive immediately surfaced in his mind.

Xiao Mei?

Why was she here?

"Come in."

Creak—

The door opened, and a slender figure stepped into the room.

Xiao Mei wore a fitted pink dress that outlined the eye-catching curves of her well-developed figure.

After closing the door, she approached with graceful steps. The pink ribbon around her slender waist fluttered lightly, like a young girl's flowing hair.

"Brother Xiao Cang."

Xiao Mei came before Xiao Cang with a seductive smile. Her voice was soft and alluring, enough to make one's heart tingle.

"Cousin Xiao Mei, why have you come?" Xiao Cang asked with a warm smile.

Looking at Xiao Cang's handsome face, Xiao Mei's heart trembled and rippled faintly.

He was so handsome!

She was at precisely the age when a girl began to yearn for love, and she also had a tendency to admire the strong.

In her eyes, Xiao Cang was practically the perfect model of a partner.

Moreover, she knew that although she and Xiao Cang belonged to the same generation of the same clan, their blood relation had long since become distant. Strictly speaking, they could not even be considered cousins.

"Brother Xiao Cang, um..."

Xiao Mei lightly bit her thin lip, finding it somewhat difficult to state the reason for her visit.

A shy look appeared on her charming little face.

Before the other members of her generation, she was the Xiao Family's proud daughter, second only to Xun'er. But before Xiao Cang, she was merely an ordinary girl, at most... a little pretty.

But a peerless genius like Xiao Cang would never lack beautiful women at his side.

"Cousin Xiao Mei, if you have something to say, just say it," Xiao Cang said calmly.

"Brother Xiao Cang..."

"I... I... I missed you."

Xiao Mei twisted the ribbon around her slender waist with her fingers and stammered, her cheeks flushed crimson.

Xiao Cang nearly laughed out loud when he heard that.

Missed me?

What a clumsy excuse.

Xiao Cang understood Xiao Mei far too well.

Ever since childhood, this girl had been different from the others. She was extremely utilitarian, the sort who would not rise early without profit to be gained.

Though she called him Brother Xiao Cang at every turn, she was constantly thinking of ways to seek benefits for herself.

Xiao Cang still remembered how, when Xiao Mei learned that he would occasionally sneak into Xun'er's room late at night to nourish her body with Dou Qi, she began leaving her window open every night, dropping all sorts of hints for him to nourish her body as well.

When he had just advanced to become a Rank 1 Alchemist and refined some pills to strengthen the body for Xun'er, Xiao Mei had likewise tried every possible way to ask for some for herself.

It was precisely because of Xiao Mei's nature that Xiao Cang had never been able to like the girl, even though she had always possessed a seductive charm and impressive figure beyond those of her peers.

Of course, that did not mean Xiao Cang rejected Xiao Mei.

No one would mind having a girl around them sweetly calling them brother, especially when that girl was such a high-quality beauty in the making.

It was just that Xiao Mei should not expect to obtain any benefits from him so easily.

"If you missed me, why didn't you come find me a few days ago?" Xiao Cang teased, the corner of his lips lifting.

"Weren't you always with Sister Xun'er these past few days, Brother Xiao Cang? I was afraid I would disturb the two of you..." Xiao Mei said softly, looking pitifully delicate.

?

Why was she talking in such a scheming way?

Looking at Xiao Mei like this, Xiao Cang already wanted to award her the title of tea arts master.

Still, it had to be said that Xiao Mei knew how to make use of her own advantages.

When she spoke, she was both gentle and seductive. Even Xiao Cang, with his battle-hardened self-control, felt a tingling numbness at her distinctive charm.

"Cousin Xiao Mei, what exactly have you come to see me about? Just say it." Xiao Cang could not be bothered with beating around the bush, so he spoke directly.

Xiao Mei hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother Xiao Cang, are you going back to the Misty Cloud Sect?"

"Yes. In a few days, once I finish dealing with matters in Wutan City, I'll set off."

Xiao Cang nodded, then teased, "What, are you trying to chase me away?"

"No, Brother Xiao Cang, don't misunderstand. I only..."

"Only what?"

"I want to go to the Misty Cloud Sect with Brother Xiao Cang."

It was as if Xiao Mei had gathered immense courage. The moment she finished speaking, she lowered her head nervously and did not dare meet Xiao Cang's gaze, afraid that he would refuse.

"Go to the Misty Cloud Sect?"

Xiao Cang was startled. He had thought Xiao Mei had come to ask him for a Qi Gathering Powder or some other pill.

He had not expected that she wanted to go to the Misty Cloud Sect.

"Yes, Brother Xiao Cang. I want to enter the Misty Cloud Sect to cultivate."

Xiao Mei nodded again.

She had harbored this thought ever since the first day Xiao Cang returned.

As the second-ranked girl among the younger generation, she not only had decent cultivation talent, but also vision and ambition rare among her peers.

She wanted to grow stronger.

But the Xiao Family's resources were limited and could not provide enough support.

Thus, she wanted to cultivate in the Misty Cloud Sect, the holy land of cultivation within the Jia Ma Empire.

But with her talent, she could not meet the Misty Cloud Sect's threshold for accepting disciples.

So she could only bury this idea deep in her heart.

It was not until Xiao Cang returned that her hope was rekindled!

Xiao Cang was a peerless genius of the Misty Cloud Sect and the sect master's husband. Wouldn't bringing her to cultivate at the Misty Cloud Sect be a matter of a single word from him?

So she had come.

No matter what, she had to fight for this opportunity for herself.

"No."

Xiao Cang decisively shook his head. "Although I hold a certain status in the Misty Cloud Sect, I cannot do something that violates the sect's rules."

Disappointment immediately appeared on Xiao Mei's face.

She had finally worked up the courage, only to be rejected outright.

But she did not give up.

"Then could Brother Xiao Cang keep me by his side? I want to learn cultivation from you," Xiao Mei pleaded.

Xiao Cang looked at the longing in Xiao Mei's eyes and felt surprised.

When had Xiao Mei become so ambitious?

But Xiao Cang immediately understood.

Xiao Mei seemed to have always been this sort of person.

Whether it was her childhood attempts to mooch benefits from him, or how she had distanced herself from Xiao Yan in the original story after his talent was completely lost and instead drawn closer to other clan members with greater talent, both proved Xiao Mei's determination to climb higher.

It was just that Xiao Mei's method of striving upward would not earn anyone's approval. Instead, it would only make people dislike her.

Xiao Cang shook his head again. "The Misty Cloud Sect's rules are strict. Even I cannot casually bring people up the mountain, apart from wives, concubines, and maids."

"Wives, concubines? Maids?"

Xiao Mei froze. She murmured those two terms, and a brilliant light gradually burst forth in her eyes, as though she had seized some hope.

She did not dare hope that Xiao Cang would marry her, so she blurted out, "I can be Brother Xiao Cang's maid."

Xiao Cang: ???

That suddenly?

Before he could refuse again, Xiao Mei eagerly began recommending herself.

"Brother Xiao Cang, I'm very diligent."

"I can scrub floors, cook, serve tea, pour water... I can do it all."