Chapter 7

"Junior Sister, you know a little too much..." Ye Qingchuan's tone suddenly changed. He looked at her with a sinister expression, making the spot where he had choked her ache faintly.

[Senior Sister, use the Communication Jade Tablet to contact Shen Xingyan now. Let's see what he's up to and deal with whatever he throws at us.]

Ye Zhenzhen turned her head and decisively changed the subject.

It was quite a while before Shen Xingyan answered. "A-Yao, I never thought you'd contact me first!" Lying in bed, Shen Xingyan sounded excited. His eyes lit up, and he looked so overwhelmed that one might think he had been neglected for ages.

He was the one who'd vanished for days without explanation, all right?

"Are your injuries serious?" Ye Qingyao asked with concern.

"Not too bad." He groaned in pain, then continued, "The Devil Race came prepared this time. They sent five or six times as many commanders as they did to your Cloudsky Sect. My face and body were injured, but all those wounds combined hurt less than missing you these past few days." His puppy-dog eyes brimmed with longing and sorrow.

"I miss you so much, A-Yao."

[Heh. He certainly looks badly hurt. Look at his nostrils. The patch was beside his right nostril before, but now it's on the left.]

It really was.

Why was Junior Sister always looking at people's nostrils? Sure, his were a little big and rather hard to miss, but he was born with them. It wasn't as though he could change them!

Ye Qingchuan's lips curved into a mocking smile.

Ye Qingyao's facial muscles twitched. She wanted to laugh, but she had to look sad. It was torture.

She had no choice but to lower her head and struggle to compose her expression.

"A-Yao, are you upset for my sake?" Shen Xingyan's eyes shone. "I thought I barely mattered to you. That you didn't care whether we spoke, and wouldn't worry even if I was hurt. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you contacted me to ask how I was. It's as if every star in the sky has fallen into my lap."

His gaze was intent and his eyes tilted down at the corners, yet his thick brows and large eyes gave him a thoroughly masculine look. The contrast made him seem both innocent and alluring.

He was the male lead of the original book, after all. His looks held up rather well.

"How could I not care about you? See, I... contacted you as soon as I could." Faced with such a seductive gaze, Ye Qingyao faltered over her words.

[Senior Sister, he's said so many sweet things, and you've only given him two halfhearted lines back. Repeat after me.]

Guided by Ye Zhenzhen, Ye Qingyao repeated word by word, "Xingyan, I didn't understand my feelings before. But seeing you hurt this time made me so sad. It felt as though my heart had shattered into pieces. I wish I could put medicine on your wounds and soothe them all at once."

Shen Xingyan groaned in pain several more times, as though he were suffering terribly. "A-Yao, would you really put medicine on my wounds? If you did, I'm sure I'd recover quickly."

"For me, the best medicine isn't medicine at all. It's seeing you—the real you, close enough to touch." As he spoke, Shen Xingyan reached out and tenderly stroked Ye Qingyao's image in the Communication Jade Tablet.

"But our sect's rules say we can't go down the mountain whenever we like. I've never even been down before," Ye Qingyao said honestly.

"That's all right. We'll meet in secret tonight. No one will find out." Shen Xingyan tirelessly coaxed the inexperienced young woman. "Just once, A-Yao. If it's hard for you to come down, I can go somewhere near Cloudsky Mountain. I want to see you so badly I'm practically lovesick."

A secret meeting between a man and a woman at night—it was hard to imagine nothing happening.

Ye Qingyao hesitated over whether to agree.

[Arrange to meet him in Spirit Spring Valley. It's right between our two sects.]

"Why don't we meet in Spirit Spring Valley? The spiritual energy there is abundant, so it'll help your wounds heal. And since it's between Cloudsky Mountain and Mount Zhaoyao, it's fairly convenient for both of us. But I should tell you now: once I've put medicine on your wounds, I'll have to return to the sect right away. All right?"

"Of course."

"A-Yao, Spirit Spring Valley at midnight. I'll see you there."

"I can hardly wait to see you." The corners of Shen Xingyan's mouth lifted in a faint smile of triumph.

Once you come, I'll make sure you won't want to leave.

I'm determined to have you.

As it turned out, the more of the world a girl saw, the less easily a scoundrel could deceive her.

[Senior Sister, stand him up tonight. Let him wait there for nothing. It'll teach him you aren't so easy to fool. After that, you won't need to contact him again.]

Ye Qingchuan finally got his wish and took away his senior sister's Communication Jade Tablet.

Ye Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief too. She no longer had to force a smile for Shen Xingyan. Those shameless lines of his every day were truly unbearable to hear.

"You little villainess. Didn't you say you wouldn't let Shen Xingyan off so easily?" After Ye Qingyao left, Ye Qingchuan gave the tiny, soft bundle lying flat on the bed and sucking her fingers a wicked smile. All the docility he had shown in front of his senior sister was gone.

Ever since he learned that his senior sister liked seeing him in green, he had often forgone his sect uniform for a loose, wide-sleeved jade-green robe. He had somehow found a pair of turquoise-green satin boots, and even the hair ornament holding his hair up was peacock green.

The young boy had not yet grown into his looks. Though his face was as delicate as carved jade, he wore a whole green meadow atop his head and was green from head to toe. Ye Zhenzhen wanted to laugh but did not dare. Her little mouth formed the expression known to babies everywhere: the legendary O-mouth.

[Third Senior Brother, why are you so green today? Even Senior Sister couldn't help looking at you a few extra times.]

[You're imagining things about me again. I'm just a little baby. I don't have any wicked thoughts. All I want to do each day is drink milk, go sleepy-bye, and play.]

Rankings

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Transmigration into a book

Wish fulfillment

Cannon fodder

Everyone's darling