Late Night Chat with Jin Ping'er

Wen Min leaned in, "Why are you so certain?"

Jin Ping'er raised her head, the firelight dancing in her eyes.

"Because I know them too well." She smiled, a trace of mockery in her expression, "When people of the righteous path do evil, they are even more ruthless than us in the Demon Sect. At the very least, we in the Demon Sect are villainous in the open."

The group was chatting and laughing, enjoying a harmonious atmosphere.

Late at night, Lu Jiuyuan stepped forward to volunteer for the night watch, telling everyone to rest easy.

Lu Xueqi, Wen Min, and Jin Ping'er were directed by Lu Jiuyuan to sleep on a patch of grass.

When no one was paying attention, Lu Jiuyuan quietly planted a kiss on Lu Xueqi's forehead and whispered, "Rest well, Xueqi!"

With that, Lu Jiuyuan turned and walked away.

Lu Xueqi felt her heart flutter from the kiss, her cheeks flushing slightly as she murmured to herself with her alluring red lips, "How could Senior Brother do that? It's so embarrassing if someone sees!"

The night in the Southern Border was fraught with danger. From the mountain hollows in the distance, the occasional howl of a beast sounded, shrill and long, as if something were stirring in the darkness.

Lu Jiuyuan sat on a bluestone at the edge of the camp, his back to the campfire, facing the dark.

His perception in the Taiqing Realm covered a radius of several miles; he could hear the rustling of insects and ants in the grass and sense the presence of dormant demonic beasts deep in the distant mountain forests.

They were not particularly strong and had no intention of approaching for the time being; everything was relatively calm.

The night breeze blew from the valley, carrying the unique humidity of the Southern Border, along with a faint, elusive fragrance.

Lu Jiuyuan twitched his nose slightly. He was very familiar with this scent—it wasn't the smell of flowers or vegetation, but rather... a woman's scent.

This fragrance was very familiar; Lu Jiuyuan knew it was the scent of Jin Ping'er.

He did not turn his head, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The sound of footsteps was extremely light, sliding almost against the ground; had his cultivation not been high enough, he would never have noticed.

The movement techniques of the Hehuan Sect were indeed remarkable, but it was a pity that the fragrance had betrayed her.

Jin Ping'er behind him seemed to deliberately slow her movements, holding her breath like a cat stealthily approaching its prey.

Lu Jiuyuan cooperated by remaining still, not even changing his breathing, though the corner of his eye caught the light of the campfire being blocked for a moment by a slender figure.

Then, a pair of hands reached out from behind, covering his eyes with warm palms.

The fingertips were slightly cool, the pads soft, carrying a faint scent of powder.

The hands covered him very lightly, as if afraid of hurting him, or perhaps afraid of being discovered.

"Guess who I am?"

Jin Ping'er lowered her voice, deliberately changing its tone, dragging out the soft, sweet ending with a hint of mischievous laughter.

The hot air from her breath brushed against his earlobe, tickling him and carrying that familiar, faint fragrance.

Lu Jiuyuan suppressed a laugh and feigned deep thought, "Hmm... let me think."

"Thinking for so long?" Jin Ping'er's tone was somewhat dissatisfied.

"Of course I have to think; it would be so awkward if I guessed wrong," Lu Jiuyuan said, pretending to be troubled.

"So, have you figured it out?" Jin Ping'er leaned in closer, her voice filled with laughter.

Lu Jiuyuan said with a straight face, "Judging by this fragrance, it must be... Junior Sister Wen Min?"

The pressure from Jin Ping'er's hands increased slightly, "Wrong?"

"Wrong!!"

"It couldn't be Xueqi, could it?" Lu Jiuyuan's tone carried a smile, "But Xueqi's hands aren't this soft."

Jin Ping'er finally couldn't help it and tapped the back of his head lightly, "Lu Jiuyuan, you did that on purpose!"

Lu Jiuyuan laughed out loud, reaching up to take her hands from his eyes and pulling them down gently.

The firelight returned to his vision, and he turned his head to see Jin Ping'er standing behind him, looking down at him with a glare.

The firelight shone on her face, and her stunning features appeared all the more vivid in the interplay of light and shadow, tinged with a hint of feigned anger.

"I knew it was you all along," Lu Jiuyuan said with a smile, "I can tell the moment I smell your fragrance."

Jin Ping'er was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away, "Dog nose."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'll take it as one."

Jin Ping'er was choked by his retort and glared at him, but she couldn't help but laugh.

She walked around the bluestone and sat down beside him, leaving a half-arm's distance between them. As the night breeze blew, strands of her long hair drifted over and brushed against his arm.

"Night watch is boring, so I'll keep you company," she said, looking out into the darkness, her tone as casual as if she were commenting on the weather.

Lu Jiuyuan didn't call her bluff, simply moving the Chengying Sword aside to make more room for her.

The two sat side by side, and for a time, neither spoke.

"The night in the Southern Border is noisy!" Jin Ping'er suddenly spoke up.

"You'll get used to it." Lu Jiuyuan smiled faintly, "Besides, with you here to keep me company, I'm not afraid of any noise!"

Jin Ping'er was amused by him, laughing softly as her shoulders trembled slightly.

Once she finished laughing, her alluring eyes darted about, and her fingers unconsciously traced patterns on the ground.

"Lu Jiuyuan."

"Hmm?"

"Tell me, if you hadn't saved me back then, where would I be right now?"

Lu Jiuyuan thought for a moment: "Probably somewhere continuing to be your Miao Gongzi, killing people, setting fires, and living a carefree life."

Jin Ping'er was silent for a while, then laughed softly: "Perhaps."

She paused, her voice dropping a few notches, "But if that were the case, I would never have known that there was someone in this world who would say the foolish words that people of the Demon Sect are still people."

Lu Jiuyuan did not speak.

Jin Ping'er did not speak again either, simply sitting quietly by his side, gazing into the darkness in the distance.

Time flowed on in the silence.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, a figure in white was tossing and turning.

Lu Xueqi kept her eyes closed, her breathing steady, yet she could not fall asleep no matter what.

In Lu Xueqi's ears were the steady breathing of Wen Min, as well as the chirping of insects in the distance, the sound of the wind, the occasional crackle of the campfire, and a faint sound of laughter.

Lu Xueqi's eyelashes trembled.

She recognized that laughter; it was Lu Jiuyuan's.

And there was another voice, low, soft, and filled with mirth—it was Jin Ping'er's.

Lu Xueqi opened her eyes, staring at the pitch-black night sky above.

She told herself it was nothing. They were just talking.

It was normal for friends to talk to one another.

The laughter came again, clearer than before.

Lu Xueqi pressed her lips together tightly.

She told herself not to overthink it.

Lu Jiuyuan had said they were just friends.

She should trust him.

She was silent for a moment.

She stood up.

Her movements were light, not disturbing Wen Min.

She folded her outer robe and set it aside, then stood up, her bare feet touching the cold ground, her long hair draped loose, her white robes standing out starkly against the night.

She walked toward the edge of the camp, her pace neither hurried nor slow.

Passing by several sleeping disciples and circling around the dying campfire, she saw the two of them.

They were sitting side by side on that bluestone, very close together.

Jin Ping'er was tilting her head as she said something, a smile on her lips, her long hair lifted by the wind, with a few strands falling onto Lu Jiuyuan's shoulder.

Lu Jiuyuan listened, a faint smile on his face, nodding in response from time to time.