She Seemed... Pretty Cute?

Lu Qingchen's habitually aloof, handsome face betrayed no change, but only he knew how irritated he felt inside.

Ning Xiang always acted as though she adored him, but Lu Qingchen saw her only as his disciple. He thought it was a young girl's passing fancy, so he had never responded.

But what if all the adoration she usually showed was an act?

Then what was her purpose in putting on this false front?

And what exactly were all those strange things Ning Xiang had mentioned-the female lead, a harem, and so on?

How could he and his disciples possibly become Jiang Miaomiao's harem? It was simply... simply utter nonsense.

Lu Qingchen could not make sense of it, and he could not even settle his mind enough to cultivate. In the end, he fashioned a paper puppet identical to himself and sent it to see what Ning Xiang was up to on her own.

Who would have thought that before it even reached Reflection Cliff, he would hear a tremendous crash?

Worried that something might have happened to Ning Xiang, he hurried over, only to find her sitting behind a peculiar pot, eating with a pair of chopsticks.

When Ning Xiang saw Lu Qingchen's gaze fall on the hot pot, she understood. She understood completely!

She conjured a bowl and a pair of chopsticks and respectfully offered them to Lu Qingchen. "Master, please help yourself."

Lu Qingchen: "?"

Actually, although he had abstained from food for over a century and long since lost his appetite for worldly delicacies, the aroma now made him inexplicably swallow.

Unfortunately, he was made of paper and could not eat.

Lu Qingchen seethed. If only he had known, he would have come in person.

"No need," Lu Qingchen said coldly. "Didn't you say you came here to reflect on your mistakes? Is this how you reflect?"

"Of course not! It's just that I've come down with an illness that makes my stomach hungry whenever I don't eat. I need a full stomach before I can properly reflect."

Lu Qingchen, you have no heart! You came here just to say that to me?

Lu Qingchen wondered if he had been too harsh.

Then he heard-

Hurry up and leave! Don't get in the way of my eating! If Jiang Miaomiao finds out you came here, who knows how heartbroken she'll be?

He had lost count of how many times she had lumped him together with Jiang Miaomiao.

Jiang Miaomiao was merely his friend's daughter. After the Jiang family had been slaughtered, he had made an exception and accepted her as his disciple out of regard for his old friendship.

His older disciples were all exceptionally gifted. They could cultivate on their own without needing much guidance from him. Only Jiang Miaomiao had mediocre aptitude, so he inevitably devoted more attention to her, giving her plenty of medicinal pills and even the sword he had used when he first began cultivating.

But why would any of that upset Ning Xiang?

Seeing that Lu Qingchen still refused to leave, Ning Xiang decided to ignore him. If she delayed any longer, the vegetables would cook into mush!

Ning Xiang buried herself in eating. Her lips were bright red, the tip of her little nose faintly flushed, and her eyes dark and sparkling. Her cheeks bulged with food, making her look just like a little squirrel.

Lu Qingchen sat down opposite her and watched her eat. How had he never noticed how cute she was before?

He wanted to give her a little squeeze.

Ahem.

Improper.

He inwardly berated himself.

Ugh, what exactly does he want? If I kill him now, this book won't fall apart, will it?

A book?

What did that mean?

Wait...

Wasn't the leap from adoring him to wanting him dead a little too drastic?

There are plenty of male leads anyway. Without Lu Qingchen, there's still Su Lang, Yu Tingchao, Mingyuan, Qin Ge, and so on and so forth. Jiang Miaomiao won't be lonely.

I died before I even got to meet Qin Ge. Apparently, he's the best-looking one in the female lead's harem. The original novel even had him and Lu Qingchen getting jealous over Jiang Miaomiao and coming to blows. In the end, they actually shook hands and made peace, and all three spent a steamy night together. Ah, am I allowed to read that without paying?

What was all this nonsense?

The more Lu Qingchen listened, the more baffled he became.

He roughly understood that this was a world inside a book, that Jiang Miaomiao was the female lead, and that they were all Jiang Miaomiao's... men?

That was rather infuriating. Of the men Ning Xiang had just listed, which one would ever share his wife with someone else?

Then what role did Ning Xiang play in all this?

Ning Xiang had actually said that she was the villainous female supporting character, but Lu Qingchen had never read any storybooks, so he could not make sense of it at all.

Still, Lu Qingchen did not believe he was some character in a book. He had devoted himself to cultivation for a hundred and twenty years, and every day of his past had been a real experience. How could a thin little book possibly encompass it all?

Ning Xiang finally finished eating. She drained the remaining plum wine, then swept her sleeve. The bowls, chopsticks, and cookware were all washed spotless and tucked themselves into her spirit bracelet. The smell of hot pot in the room instantly dispersed as well, replaced by the faint fragrance of moon qilin incense.

That was the wonderful thing about cultivating immortality: it freed up your hands. No washing dishes!

Lu Qingchen looked at his disciple. She was usually too lazy to cultivate, yet she had mastered these little shortcut spells remarkably well.

At that thought, Lu Qingchen said, "Go back tonight. Starting tomorrow, get up each day at the hour of the tiger and practice swordsmanship with your eldest and second senior brothers."

Ning Xiang's pupils shook!

If she went back, how was she supposed to follow the plot three days later?

Besides, even the chickens weren't awake at the hour of the tiger. There was no way she could get up!

Ning Xiang instantly forgot every word she had just said about working hard at cultivation.

Was he kidding? Those two senior brothers of hers were the kings of overachieving. There were twelve double-hours in a day, and those two would have loved to practice for thirteen. She could never compete with them.

"No!" Ning Xiang wailed. "This disciple knows she has committed a grave mistake and willingly accepts her punishment. I will reflect on my faults here. My mind is made up, Master. Please don't show favoritism."

Lu Qingchen was at a complete loss.

He flicked his sleeve and said blandly, "As you wish." With that, Lu Qingchen's strikingly elegant figure turned into a wisp of mist and vanished from the cave.

Ning Xiang breathed a sigh of relief. At last, she wouldn't have to toil by lamplight at midnight and rise with the rooster before dawn!

She flopped headfirst onto the big bed. Time to sleep!

Early the next morning, Ning Xiang was still sleeping soundly when she felt someone poking her cheek.

Ning Xiang slapped the hand away, but the person kept pestering her. She immediately flew into a rage. The only thing she hated more than having her meals interrupted was being woken from her sleep.

"What do you want?" Ning Xiang glared at the culprit.

He narrowed his peach-blossom eyes, smiling like a little fox.

"Senior Sister, the sun is already three poles high. Time to get up and cultivate."

It was actually Yu Tingchao.

Yu Tingchao was only seventeen, just a year younger than the female lead, Jiang Miaomiao, and a full ten years younger than Ning Xiang.

Ning Xiang instantly grew melancholy. She still looked like a young girl, and even if she lived another two or three hundred years, her appearance would not change much. Yet faced with such an adorable young boy, she still felt considerably older.

"Ahem, it's you, Junior Brother."

Her face was all smiles, but inwardly she went on full alert.

What's this black-hearted little white lotus doing here? He must have come to avenge his dear Sister Miaomiao.

Yu Tingchao misheard "little white lotus" as "pretty boy," and a dangerous dark glint flashed through his eyes.

While Ning Xiang's thoughts were running wild, Yu Tingchao suddenly brought his beautiful face close to hers.

His eyes curved into a smile, his gaze soul-stealing and his voice equally captivating. "What are you thinking about, Senior Sister?"

"N-nothing." Ning Xiang's heart skipped a beat.

Damn it, why did it feel like this young boy was flirting with her?