I could have used the system's Observation talent on Qing Ye a long time ago, but I never did. I simply didn't think I should suspect my first partner.
When all was said and done, had I just kept making one mistake after another?
I gazed up at the sky, my eyes clouded with tangled emotions I could hardly bear to part with.
Ye Qingxian stared at the latest Sound Transmission and fell into a long silence.
It was a problem she had no way of solving.
And yet Ye Xiaoyao had still chosen to ask Qing Ye for help.
That went beyond the bounds of cooperation. It didn't fit Ye Xiaoyao's character, either.
So Ye Qingxian decided to reply directly.
[I can't help you, either. How about you come stay at my cave abode for a couple of days?]
Suddenly, she stopped.
No. That wouldn't do.
There was nothing appropriate she could reply with right now.
Her Junior Sister was already suspicious. No matter what Ye Qingxian said, it wouldn't ease those suspicions.
Ye Xiaoyao was naturally suspicious. Nothing Ye Qingxian said would help. Replying would only prove she could receive the messages, leaving her trapped in an awkward situation where she'd have to keep facing questions.
The first reply might get her out of it.
But words could trip you up. The more you said, the more likely you were to slip.
Ye Qingxian still didn't want Ye Xiaoyao to know who Qing Ye was.
If her disguise were exposed now, it would only backfire spectacularly. It might even leave Ye Xiaoyao unwilling to speak to her ever again. The relationship that had only recently begun to thaw would vanish into thin air.
That was the last thing Ye Qingxian wanted to see.
If Qing Ye turned out to be Ye Qingxian, that would mean she'd been deceiving Ye Xiaoyao all along.
What would Ye Xiaoyao think?
Her Junior Sister was so sensitive. She was sure to think—
That Ye Qingxian had made up this little game of pretend for no reason, and that at its heart, it was just a way to toy with her and look down on her.
Because Ye Qingxian could see the insecurity buried deep inside Ye Xiaoyao. She'd been looked down on for so long that she'd grown more stubborn than anyone else, with a stronger sense of pride than anyone else, too.
Ye Xiaoyao might always seem carefree, as if other people's jokes never bothered her.
But they just hadn't hit where it hurt.
Hadn't Ye Qingxian's words last time already made Ye Xiaoyao break down?
If Qing Ye's disguise were torn away now, Ye Xiaoyao would be devastated all over again.
Ye Qingxian couldn't bear to see her Junior Sister cry again. She began pacing back and forth around the room.
Qing Ye's disguise could be exposed, but not now.
Her affection wasn't high enough yet. Exposing herself now would do no good at all.
Creating Qing Ye had been a way of showing Ye Xiaoyao she wasn't a bad person. Ever since learning what would happen in the future, she'd also wanted to use this disguise to prove her resolve: she would never let that future become set in stone.
Meanwhile.
I stayed by my Sound Transmission Talisman for ages, but the reply I was supposed to get never came.
I blinked my pretty red eyes. The little face I'd been about to scrunch up in anger stiffened slightly.
My big eyes grew more and more bewildered.
The grievance and anger I'd been holding in, ready to burst, couldn't find an outlet. Somehow, it made me look like I was throwing a tantrum for no reason.
Unable to wait any longer, I picked up the talisman again and said,
[Are you in seclusion?]
[Can you reply when you see this?]
But a quarter of an hour passed, and no one answered.
I stamped my feet, furious.
Having a spell interrupted halfway through was unbearable.
My emotions were getting a little out of hand. Instead of waiting to see what would happen to Heavenly Sword Peak's order over the next few days, I decided to take a simpler, more direct approach.
[Come see me as soon as you get this. I have a new collaboration in mind.]
The cave abode of a Direct Disciple.
Ye Qingxian gazed at the Sound Transmission Talisman, which kept chiming. She could already picture a certain little girl hopping mad in the pale pink room on the other end.
She wanted to meet?
Ye Qingxian carefully weighed the meaning behind those words.
Now that her Junior Sister wanted to meet her, did that mean she was certain she could expose or confirm Qing Ye's identity just by seeing her?
How could her Junior Sister be so sure?
Ye Qingxian had always believed her disguises were beyond even the Supreme Realm's peerless experts to see through.
They involved her very essence.
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So where had the problem come from?
Ye Qingxian knew it was only natural for people to suspect Qing Ye's identity.
After all, the talisman she'd used was the biggest giveaway.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Ye Qingxian. She thought of the future her Junior Sister shouldn't have known about.
Could her Junior Sister have some special way of knowing a person's true identity, similar to the way she'd learned about the future in advance?
If so,
she couldn't go see her Junior Sister as Qing Ye without doing anything to prepare.
Whether it was true or not, she couldn't afford to take that gamble.
Ye Qingxian was considering whether to forcibly split off a clone.
Countless feathers suddenly drifted down into the pale blue room.
A little girl of about six or seven appeared in front of Ye Qingxian.
She bathed in pure white light, with eighteen pairs of illusory wings behind her.
At that moment, she was curled up in the air, her entire body wrapped in nothing but a few strips of cloth.
This phantom was Ye Qingxian's second form.
The legendary Thirty-six Winged Angel God of Supreme Heaven.
A moment later, Ye Qingxian and the little angel merged again.
"No. My soul power is too strong. I can't cut off even a small part of it."
In that case,
Ye Qingxian casually waved her hand. Far away, right outside Qing Ye's cave abode, a sign appeared announcing three months of seclusion.
That should keep her Junior Sister at bay for now, while she figured out a solution.
"Sound Transmission Talisman."
"Come on, answer me."
I lay on my side on the bed, hugging a big pillow.
My gaze was so inexplicably resentful.
It was awful, having something bottled up inside me with no way to let it out.
How could anyone leave me hanging like this, all wound up with nowhere to go?
Couldn't they see I was about to turn into a resentful ghost?
If I really were a cat,
I'd be bristling from head to tail right now.
After one week, I still hadn't received a message.
After two weeks, I still hadn't received a message.
Three weeks, four weeks—at last, I couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm done waiting!!"
I sprang off the swing, changed into the loosest little skirt I had, and headed out to get to the bottom of things.
The order on Heavenly Sword Peak hadn't improved. Zhuge Yun was still acting like an idiot, always lurking in some shadowy place with a venomous look in his eyes.
Even though I was eight months pregnant, I couldn't sit still at home. I decided to go see for myself what this Qing Ye was up to.
Did she even remember her promise to me? Last time, she'd clearly said she'd come help me deliver the baby.
Maybe the doubts in my heart had faded a lot after nearly a month to settle.
The biggest reason was that I simply didn't believe the Female Protagonist could anticipate every prediction I made.
Did she have any idea how smart a future Great Devil King like me was?
What was that, if not rubbing my intelligence into the ground right in front of me?
I arrived at Qing Ye's little cave abode and stared at the sign that had hung outside for so long, weathered by wind and rain. It said she would be in seclusion for three months. My already clever eyes went blank for a few seconds. Then I slowly reached out and rubbed the rotting surface of the sign. The writing really had been left there a month ago.
"So that's what it was..."
"I guess I was overthinking it."
"I'll test Qing Ye one more time and check her talent page. Then there shouldn't be a problem."
Relieved, I let out a long breath.
Come on.
I knew I, Ye Xiaoyao, couldn't be so hopeless that nobody cared whether I lived or died, with only Ye Qingxian willing to pay attention to me from beginning to end.
Time flew by, and another month passed.
The day of my delivery was drawing closer.
I hadn't gone out in a long time. I'd stayed in my cave abode, waiting for the contractions that could start ahead of schedule at any moment.
The only person on all of Heavenly Sword Peak who might notice something was wrong was still deep in seclusion. The Heavenly Sword Venerable was pushing toward the legendary realm so he could better suppress the future.
An old woman shrouded in shadow stooped as she secretly slipped into Heavenly Sword Peak's defensive array. Then, with eyes almost dripping blood, she fixed a murderous stare on a certain direction.
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