Rumors?

"Senior Brother, I'm truly disappointed in you."

"Disappointed?"

Murong Mo frowned slightly. For the first time, he felt as though a pet in his home had slipped beyond his control.

He did not like that feeling. He stared at Su Wan.

Su Wan refused to look at him. "Do you know? Junior Brother Li Xuanxiao has always been silently protecting me. He has secretly loved me, burying those feelings deep in his heart. But you, Senior Brother... you truly disappoint me."

"Li Xuanxiao? That pervert who placed a Twin Image Stone inside your cave dwelling?"

"He isn't a pervert! He loves me. For me, he could even give up his life."

At this time, the two of them had not yet left the bounds of Silver Sword Peak.

And they were still under Li Xuanxiao's surveillance.

Li Xuanxiao: (O_o)??

I saved your life, and this is how you repay kindness with enmity? You're spreading rumors about me?

"..."

In the end, Su Wan and Murong Mo parted on bad terms.

As Murong Mo left, he shot a vicious glare toward Silver Sword Peak.

Li Xuanxiao was rather helpless.

Senior Sister, Senior Sister, I saved you. It would have been one thing if you didn't repay me, but why did you have to harm me?

Helpless, Li Xuanxiao could only take out his little notebook and record that on a certain day of a certain month in a certain year, Murong Mo had developed dissatisfaction toward him.

And in order to eliminate that dissatisfaction,

Li Xuanxiao formulated several plans.

First, try not to get entangled with Murong Mo and Su Wan again.

Second, continue monitoring Murong Mo. Because of what Su Wan had said, this man might very well come to hate him and then strike with ruthless intent!

Third, whenever he went on missions in the future, he had to stay far away from Murong Mo and Jiang Luoshui. When accepting missions himself, he would also have to avoid the two of them...

Fourth, learn about Murong Mo and Jiang Luoshui's magical treasures, cultivation, hidden combat trump cards, and so on.

If he truly had to fight them someday, he had to ensure that he could survive.

Writing this far, Li Xuanxiao could not help shaking his head.

Sure enough, he hated trouble most of all.

To prevent Senior Sister Su Wan from possibly turning dark, he had offended both Murong Mo and Jiang Luoshui in one go.

Li Xuanxiao sighed. Soldiers came, generals blocked them; water came, earth dammed it.

For the next while, he would not be able to rest.

The following evening, Li Xuanxiao returned to his thatched cottage from outside.

He had lain in wait, hoping to place a Twin Image Stone in Senior Brother Murong Mo's cave dwelling while Murong Mo was out, but he had not found an opportunity.

By probing indirectly through others, he learned of two magical treasures Murong Mo often used.

As for Jiang Luoshui, although her cultivation was far inferior to Murong Mo's,

It was better to be safe than sorry.

Who knew whether she had some hidden trump card?

Qi Refiners possessed the most methods. It was common for them to pull out one or two magical treasures capable of erasing the gap in combat strength if one let down one's guard.

Li Xuanxiao pushed open the door to his thatched cottage.

The moment he stepped inside, an image that made his blood race and his heart pound met his eyes.

The room was arranged with extreme luxury. Candlelight flickered, bathing the entire chamber in a dreamlike haze.

The air was thick with an intoxicating and alluring fragrance. It seemed to possess a magic of its own, making anyone who smelled it unable to resist becoming drunk on it.

In one corner of the room stood an exquisite incense burner.

Wisps of faint smoke drifted from within, rising like gauze and lending even more mystery to the already ambiguous atmosphere.

Following the smoke with his gaze, he saw a broad, soft bed placed in the center of the room.

A woman lay on her side atop the bed.

Her figure was graceful and exquisitely curved. She wore only a thin, translucent gauze robe, which half-concealed her jade-white skin and made her especially alluring beneath the hazy light and shadows.

Through the gauze, one could vaguely make out her slender waist, her long beautiful legs, and the faint rise and fall of her chest. Everything about her was so provocative that it stirred endless fantasies.

The woman turned her head slightly. "Senior Brother~"

Li Xuanxiao's expression did not change. "Who allowed you onto my bed?"

"Senior Brother, I think I've been poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Li Xuanxiao raised a brow.

"Mm. I'm dizzy, my vision is blurry, and my body feels so hot." Zhao Lu supported her forehead with one hand.

Li Xuanxiao sat down in a chair. "Any other symptoms?"

"Other than that... I don't know. I'm so dizzy. Senior Brother, come closer and take my pulse for me... ah~"

After saying that, Zhao Lu toppled onto the bed as though she had fainted.

Li Xuanxiao calmly picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea.

That acting really was worthy of a fresh-faced idol~

With a flick of two fingers, Li Xuanxiao sent a black pill precisely into Zhao Lu's lips.

"Mm~"

"Senior Brother, what is this?"

"Weren't you poisoned? It's an antidote pill." Li Xuanxiao explained blandly. "It can help you expel the toxins from your body through elimination."

Zhao Lu's expression changed abruptly. "Senior Brother!! How could you make me eat something like that?"

"I'm doing this to save you."

Zhao Lu wanted to say more, but her stomach began to rumble.

Zhao Lu clutched her stomach. "Stinky Senior Brother, I'm never talking to you again!!"

With that, she ran out of the thatched cottage.

With a wave of his hand, Li Xuanxiao restored the room to its original arrangement.

What he had given his Junior Sister was naturally not some pill that caused elimination, but a Beauty Nourishing Pill.

It was not as though Li Xuanxiao did not know how his Junior Sister felt.

But women affected cultivation far too much.

It was not as though no one on Shu Mountain had tried the path of dual cultivation. Take Sixth Martial Uncle and his wife, for example.

The result was that they argued every three days and fought every five, constantly turning the place upside down in chaos...

Instead, it affected their cultivation. They could quarrel over the most trivial chicken-feather-and-garlic-skin matters.

Besides, Junior Sister was the princess of the Great Xia Kingdom. That made things even more troublesome.

"..."

"Stinky Senior Brother, bad Senior Brother!"

Zhao Lu vented her anger on the big trees of Silver Sword Peak.

Fourth Senior Sister can do it, so why can't I!?

What exactly is so good about Fourth Senior Sister? Where am I inferior to her?

Is my face not pretty enough?

You just had to spy on Fourth Senior Sister.

After returning from the main peak, Zhao Lu had turned her residence upside down three times.

The result left her deeply disappointed. Senior Brother had not placed an Image Stone anywhere in her residence.

Why? Why won't you even look when I'm willing to show you?

Why do you insist on secretly looking at Fourth Senior Sister?

Zhao Lu could not understand. She even felt like crying.

Two years had passed, and she still had not managed to win Senior Brother over.

Now, Senior Brother even had someone else in his heart.

Could it be that Fourth Senior Sister has something special about her?

After thinking it over and over, Zhao Lu lowered her head and glanced at her chest.

After all, she was still young. It was only normal that she could not compare to Fourth Senior Sister.

So Zhao Lu immediately headed to Shu Mountain's famous Alchemy Hall.

She planned to get some pills in that regard to nourish herself.

Li Xuanxiao still did not know that his Junior Sister had already embarked upon a road of no return.