Lu Xueqi Was Jealous

Lu Jiuyuan and Jin Ping'er stood side by side by the stream, chatting idly.

"You were in seclusion for barely any time, and came out already at the mid-stage of the Taiqing Realm?" Jin Ping'er toyed with the wildflower in her hand and gave him a sidelong glance. "Lu Jiuyuan, you didn't secretly eat some rare treasure, did you?"

"Does that jar of wine you gave me count?" Lu Jiuyuan replied with a faint smile.

Jin Ping'er paused, her alluring eyes shifting. "You drank it?"

"Not yet," Lu Jiuyuan said with a smile. "I'm saving it for a special occasion."

"What counts as a special occasion?"

"Maybe the day someone finally tells me what she really wants to say."

Jin Ping'er lowered her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly upward.

"What do you want to hear?"

"Whatever you want to say. I want to hear it all."

They smiled at each other, the atmosphere as warm as that between old friends.

Watching from nearby, Wen Min inwardly groaned.

She sneaked a glance at Lu Xueqi beside her.

Lu Xueqi stood motionless, her white robes as pristine as snow, her expression as cold as frost.

Her usually cool eyes were fixed on the pair by the stream, her gaze cold as the dead of winter.

Wen Min shivered.

She quietly reached out and gently took Lu Xueqi's hand.

"Junior Sister Xueqi..."

Lu Xueqi's fingers trembled slightly, but she didn't pull away.

"They're... they're just friends," Wen Min whispered, carefully trying to reassure her. "Senior Brother Lu said he saved her before, so they know each other. Don't overthink it..."

Lu Xueqi said nothing.

But the hand she clenched betrayed her feelings.

Friends?

What kind of friends could talk so happily?

What kind of friends could smile so beautifully?

She watched the gentle smile on Lu Jiuyuan's profile, and felt as if something had seized her heart and given it a hard squeeze.

She had seen that smile before.

By Yueya Lake, in the room at dawn, and every time he looked at her.

She had thought that smile belonged only to her.

But now he was smiling at another woman just like that.

Lu Xueqi pressed her lips together.

By the stream, Jin Ping'er suddenly turned around. Her gaze swept over Lu Xueqi before returning to Lu Jiuyuan.

"By the way, are you heading to the Southern Border?"

"Mm."

"Perfect." Jin Ping'er stepped closer and naturally took Lu Jiuyuan's hand. "I have some business to take care of in the Southern Border, too. Shall I come with you?"

Her hand was fair and soft as it rested lightly on the back of his.

Lu Jiuyuan froze slightly, not yet sure how to respond.

A flash of white swept past.

Someone tightly wrapped their other arm around his.

A soft, warm touch pressed against him, carrying a faint, cool fragrance.

Lu Jiuyuan looked down and saw Lu Xueqi clinging tightly to his arm, her body almost pressed against his.

Her usually cool face was tense, her eyes fixed on Jin Ping'er with a gaze cold enough to freeze.

"Jin Ping'er."

Her voice was cold, too.

Cold as the winter snow on Xiaozhu Peak.

"Since you want to go to the Southern Border with Grandmaster—"

She spoke each word slowly and emphatically.

"Then just follow behind us!"

"Follow behind us," not "follow behind Senior Brother."

Lu Xueqi tightened her grip on Lu Jiuyuan's arm, as if staking her claim.

Jin Ping'er stared at the scene, taken aback.

Then she smiled.

There was a knowing look in her smile. Her gaze moved between the two of them, finally settling on the arm Lu Xueqi had clutched so tightly.

"Oh—"

She drew out the word, her voice rising at the end.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Xueqi kept her expression unchanged, only tightening her hold on Lu Jiuyuan's arm.

Jin Ping'er looked at her, then at Lu Jiuyuan, and her smile deepened.

"Sure."

She released Lu Jiuyuan's hand and stepped back with graceful poise.

"Then I'll follow... behind you two."

She gave the word "you two" a particularly suggestive emphasis.

Lu Xueqi furrowed her brow slightly. Something felt off, but she couldn't say what.

Jin Ping'er had already turned away and settled onto a blue-gray rock by the stream. Resting her chin in her hand, she gazed into the distance, perfectly at ease.

"Go on. Don't mind me."

Lu Xueqi: "..."

Wen Min: "..."

Lu Jiuyuan glanced down at the arm Lu Xueqi was clinging to, then at her tense face, and suddenly smiled.

He raised his other hand and gently ruffled her hair.

"Jealous?"

Lu Xueqi stiffened.

"No."

"Really?"

"...No."

Lu Jiuyuan's smile widened.

He leaned toward her ear and lowered his voice. "Then why does it feel like someone's about to squeeze someone else's arm clean off?"

Only then did Lu Xueqi realize how tightly she was holding him.

Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she didn't let go.

"...She's with the Demon Sect."

"I know."

"You and her..."

"We're just friends."

"Just friends?"

Lu Jiuyuan met her cool gaze and nodded earnestly.

"Just friends."

Lu Xueqi stared at him for a long time.

His eyes were clear and open, without the slightest hint of evasion.

She pressed her lips together, then finally looked away. "Then I'll believe you for now."

"If you don't believe me, who else can you believe?"

Lu Xueqi said nothing, but her tense body finally began to relax.

On the rock, Jin Ping'er watched them with her chin in her hand.

She saw the hand Lu Jiuyuan had wrapped around Lu Xueqi's waist, the faint flush at the tips of Lu Xueqi's ears, and the closeness between them that no one else could intrude upon.

The smile on her lips faded a little.

But soon, it returned.

How interesting.

How very interesting. She had thought of him as nothing more than the Qingyun Disciple who had saved her, the fool who said, "People from the Demon Sect are people, too," and the simpleton who had watched over her injuries for seven days.

She hadn't expected him to already have someone by his side.

And that someone was none other than the renowned Lu Xueqi.

Who would have thought that Lu Xueqi, so cool as frost and refined in bearing, could fall for someone? And the love in her eyes whenever she looked at Lu Jiuyuan was impossible to hide.

A flicker of complicated emotion passed through Jin Ping'er's alluring eyes as she toyed with the now-wilted wildflower in her hand.

She had known Lu Jiuyuan for years.

That year, he had saved her in that cave and watched over her for seven days.

During those seven days, she had watched him change her bandages, seen him doze against the stone wall while she slept, and noticed that whenever he woke, he looked at her before going back to sleep.

She had thought she'd hidden her feelings well.

Those thoughts, the words she couldn't bring herself to say, the moments she replayed again and again after every meeting.

She had thought that if she took her time, then one day...

But now someone else had gotten there first.

Jin Ping'er lifted her eyes and looked at the pair leaning against each other by the stream.

Just then, Lu Xueqi glanced over, too.

Their gazes met in midair.

One was cool as frost, with her hostility plain to see.

The other smiled sweetly, concealing an edge that couldn't be seen.

Jin Ping'er curved her lips and nodded to her.

Lu Xueqi furrowed her brow and turned away.

Jin Ping'er lowered her head and gave a soft laugh.