Ye Qingxian held off for the time being.
She preferred to plan carefully and strike in one fell swoop.
A mighty cultivator in the Supreme Realm.
Who could easily sway her emotions and make her willingly reveal information about herself?
So she needed a foolproof plan.
The days went by.
Ever since Ye Qingxian had met with me last time, she hadn't come to bother me again.
I was more than happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.
A Female Protagonist who hadn't gone crazy yet—how nice.
I'd left Heavenly Sword Peak early this time. I shouldn't run into the crazy Female Protagonist, right?
With the fourth month finally over,
I looked at my belly, which had begun to round out a little.
It was a bit ridiculous to go farming with a belly like this.
I'd just have to stay cooped up in my cave abode until the baby was born.
In the fifth month of pregnancy,
I hadn't left my cave abode for a whole month, relying on food I'd bought in advance to get by.
In the sixth month of pregnancy,
I hadn't thrown up in a long time, and my physical condition had been fairly stable. But as my belly grew bigger, life had become a little more troublesome. Aside from needing to sleep in a fixed position, everything else had gotten less convenient too.
I sat on the swing without rocking back and forth.
I closed my eyes slightly, basking in the warmth of the sun.
Pregnancy lasted ten months.
After seven months, I'd be in the late stages of pregnancy.
My belly would grow even bigger, too. That was when the change was most noticeable.
Looking at my arms and legs, still slender as ever, I couldn't help but sigh that cultivating immortality really was great. Even low-level Qi Refining cultivators didn't suffer too many side effects from pregnancy. At least, symptoms like swelling had nothing to do with me.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Xiaoyao, it's me, Qing Ye."
Hearing a familiar voice, I hesitated for a moment, then quickly put on a coat. It didn't look like anyone would be able to tell I had a belly, so I trotted over and opened the door.
"What brings you here?"
"You haven't been farming in a long time. I was worried something had happened to you in your cave abode, so I came to see what was going on."
Qing Ye noticed the pots and pans in the courtyard. "Have you been living in your cave abode all this time?"
I hesitated for a second, then said, "Yeah. It's not very convenient for me to go out. I'll start taking missions again in a while."
"All right." Qing Ye drew out the words, her gaze gradually lowering.
I noticed her eyes were fixed on my belly and gave an awkward laugh. "This? I've just put on a little weight lately."
Who blurted out a confession like that?
The other side of Junior Sister was a little too cute.
Qing Ye smiled. "You just gave yourself away."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else."
My cheeks flushed at the thought of my partner finding out about the baby, but I still nodded.
"Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"
"Of course. Idle gossip is really annoying."
"You're a Direct Disciple of the sect, and you have duties distributing resources. You can't stay in your cave abode forever, can you?"
At that, a shadow crossed my gaze. "I'll take it one step at a time. If I really can't keep the baby hidden, there's nothing I can do about what other people say."
The worst-case scenario was to give up and let things take their course.
Qing Ye mulled it over for a while.
Only the Direct Disciple herself could carry out her duties. No one else could take her place.
Qing Ye took out a talisman.
"This is an Illusion Talisman. Carry it with you when the time comes. It should solve your immediate problem."
"Huh?" I froze. How could I accept this from her? "An Illusion Talisman must be expensive, right? One that can fool the other disciples' spiritual senses must be even more expensive. Where did you get it? I can't afford one with my spirit stones."
"You don't need spirit stones. I'm lending it to you," Qing Ye explained. "It's an Eternal Talisman, a treasure passed down in my family. As long as it isn't damaged, you can use it indefinitely. Just return it when you're done. I won't lose anything."
"Okay, thank you." I accepted.
I was about to take the talisman when something embarrassing happened.
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Suddenly, as if I'd lost my mind, my right foot stepped on my left, and I pitched forward.
The sudden turn of events startled Qing Ye, but she caught me instinctively.
In an instant, I was enveloped in warm softness, while a faint fragrance lingered at the tip of my nose.
The silky skin beneath her fingertips made her heartbeat inexplicably skip a beat.
Soft as boneless flesh, light as a feather.
Those eight words suddenly popped into her mind.
I was completely stunned.
No, how had I managed to step on my own left foot?
Who fell flat on their face on level ground?
That was—way too ridiculous.
It felt like someone was messing with me behind the scenes.
Baby, that wasn't you again, was it?
What was the deal?
You were obsessed with causing trouble whenever Ye Qingxian showed up, fine. But why couldn't you leave my partner Qing Ye alone?
My whole face burned red. I screamed like a groundhog in my mind, while my tousled hair fell over me, strands tangling together—pale pink mingled with hair as dark as ink.
At my height, I'd landed right against Qing Ye's chest, and she'd held me tightly in her arms.
I quickly pulled away, reaching up to grab at my disheveled hair to hide my embarrassment. "Ah, haha, I didn't do that on purpose."
"I really didn't mean to bump into you."
I hoped Qing Ye wouldn't get mad. Otherwise, our partnership would be over.
Qing Ye slowly lowered her head, the warmth lingering beneath her fingertips gradually fading.
The young girl before her was as cute as ever, but her face was as red as the clouds at sunset.
The coat she'd hastily thrown on slipped down a little, revealing a smooth, rounded shoulder that made her want to sink her teeth into it.
Qing Ye couldn't understand her own reaction.
Had she really felt her heart skip a beat after witnessing Junior Sister's alluring moment?
She had to be losing her mind.
Otherwise, how was she any different from the brute who'd taken advantage of Junior Sister?
Her heart rate must have gotten thrown off by the fright. Real love would make her heart race wildly. This was different.
That was how Qing Ye explained it to herself.
I still hadn't quite calmed down. I looked up at Qing Ye and cautiously asked in a small voice, "Are you really—mad?"
"No." Qing Ye was succinct. "I was just wondering who the baby's father is. Hasn't he come to take care of you lately?"
She tried switching to a more likable persona, hoping she might get some different, useful information.
Even now, she still hadn't given up on finding that person.
"Oh, him." I blinked my red eyes and started making things up again. "He's outside the sect. He's a wild man, like people say. Don't mind him. He won't come see me anyway."
Qing Ye's heart gave a thump.
"Ah, well—that's all right. If you need help with anything later, you can come to me. I've been short on spirit stones lately, but I don't mind helping you out while I'm at it."
"Sure, sure." I smiled, in a good mood.
That was exactly what I wanted to hear. Pregnancy and childbirth weren't something one person could handle alone. Having Qing Ye lend a hand would be a lot more convenient than doing everything by myself.
Six and a half months into the pregnancy,
it was time to distribute resources again.
I had a feeling something was going to happen today. My eyelid had been twitching wildly since morning. I brought the Illusion Talisman Qing Ye had given me and chattered on and on with the baby.
Then I returned to my workstation.
After a busy morning, Zhuge Yun finally showed up.
I casually kicked a dead rat under the table into the shadows, raised one elegant eyebrow without a word, and tossed his bottle of pills and the rest of his resources over.
Suddenly, Zhuge Yun gave me a sinister smile.
"You little bitch, did you tamper with something? You've kept me from breaking through for nearly a year!"
"This time, I'm telling you—you're finished!"
He clapped his hands, and several Law Enforcement Hall disciples emerged from the shadows.
My expression didn't change as I repeated my usual line. "Please check your resources carefully. Once they're out of my hands, I'm not responsible, okay?"
Zhuge Yun laughed loudly, confidently opening the bottle of Spirit Nurturing Pills.
"You dare put something in my Spirit Nurturing Pills?"
"Today, I'll ruin your reputation!"
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