"But what were they talking about just now? Do you know, Senior Sister?" Xu An asked. He only remembered that this seemed to be part of a storyline involving Masato. He couldn't miss this.
"Something about compensation... a safety accident?" Fufu scratched her head, then rested her hand on her chin in thought.
"I remember!" Belle raised her hand as though presenting a treasure, looking like she wanted a teacher to call on her to answer a question.
"I remember our captain saying just now that there seemed to have been a workplace accident in the luminescent porcelain production area in the Hollow recently.
Those workers were probably the people involved, I guess? They seemed to be demanding compensation from TOPS?
That guy called Damian was probably the person in charge at TOPS... I wonder what he was covering up."
"Ohhh~ You have a point, Junior Sister! A TOPS subsidiary or whatever sounds downright evil!
If I ever ran into a company that heartless, I'd give them a couple of good, hard kicks! Just like the protagonist of the movie The Legend of Subduing Tigers and Vanquishing Demons, I'd teach them a lesson!"
"The Legend of the Fierce Tiger Vanquishing Demons? I remember that movie. I think the protagonist was a tiger Thiren cultivation master... called... what was her name again?"
"I remember it being Hu Weiwei," Xu An said. He'd watched it with Belle back then, so of course he had to remember.
"That's right! She was my childhood idol!" Then Fufu sounded a little dejected as she added, "But later, I found out... she was just played by a cat Thiren actress."
"Well, that couldn't be helped. There really are too few tiger Thiren, after all."
"So you really are a tiger Thiren, Senior Sister... When I heard your name was Ju Fufu earlier, I thought you were... uh..." A hint of embarrassment appeared on Belle's face.
That made Xu An laugh beside her.
And as a result, he got pinched again.
Did she really like pinching people that much?
"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean! Did you think I was an orange cat Thiren?" Ju Fufu planted her hands on her hips and looked at Belle, all puffed up.
"Orange cat Thiren are cute too! Don't tell me... you look down on orange cat Thiren, Senior Sister?"
Listening to this, Xu An thought, Holy crap, a complete reversal. That's our Belle. She's really got skills.
Now Ju Fufu was dumbfounded, and she hurriedly said, "Huh? What? That's not what I meant!
Anyway, they're just not the same style as me!"
"Back to the point, we've been wandering around for ages. Let's hurry back to the temple (*^▽^*)," Xu An interjected.
That also gave the two an excuse to leave quickly and stop dwelling on the topic.
"Master?" Ju Fufu opened the door and poked her head in to look around, but she didn't see their master.
"Not here?" Xu An poked his head in too.
"Hmm?!" Belle followed suit.
But Fufu, at the bottom, lost her balance, and all three fell over.
"Probably in their room? Oh well, let me show you around first, and show you your rooms.
Junior Brother Xu, your room isn't ready yet, so you'll have to make do with the sofa for now. But you'll have to share a room with Belle."
"Huh? Oh, the sofa. Sure, that's fine." Xu An didn't have much of a reaction.
But Belle beside him couldn't help thinking, A man and a woman alone, late at night, a sofa or a bed.
Ahem, no, no, no way.
They entered the room as they talked.
"Didn't you say there were two other senior brothers? Where are they?" Xu An looked around Belle's room. It really was quite spacious. So I'm sleeping on this sofa tonight? It looks so comfy.
"Oh~ Junior Brother Pan probably went out to buy discounted stuff. As for Junior Brother Ye, ummm, I don't know. He always seems so mysterious."
"Oh~" Xu An only remembered that, because of Ye Shunguang, his senior brother seemed to be with that... who was it? Salad, right? Speaking of which, why was she called Salad? Was someone trying to lose weight when she was born?
"All right, then," Xu An said.
"Then get some rest. You've been traveling for so long. Once Junior Brother Pan gets back, he'll make you something tasty," Ju Fufu said casually.
"Mm-hmm!" Both Xu An's and Belle's eyes lit up at that. They were definitely foodies.
"Belle? I'm going to cultivate for a bit. Please call me when it's time to eat," Xu An said to Belle, who was standing beside him and just about to move a little closer.
"Oh, okay! Mission accepted!" Belle deliberately struck a goofy pose.
"Very good, very good. Definitely a promising talent." With that, he sat on the sofa in a meditation pose.
He listened to the repeated notifications in his ears.
[Ding, Belle felt nervous. Attribute points +2] [Ding, Belle felt nervous. Attribute points +3]
Just then, Belle opened her phone to try to ease her nerves and started chatting with Vivian on Knock Knock.
Belle: [Vivian, Vivian! Are you there?]
Vivian: [I'm here, Lord Phaethon~ Aaaah, Lord Phaethon messaged me first! I'm so happy.]
Belle: [Ahaha, really? Then let's chat more often from now on.]
Vivian: [Yes, yes, yes! (*/∇＼*)]
[What can I do for you, Lord Phaethon? As long as it's something Vivian can help with, I'll do everything I can to assist you.]
Belle: [It's just... ummm, if, if you were alone in a room with a man you liked, what could you talk about?]
Vivian: [?]
[???]
[Lord Phaethon, you? You have someone you like?]
[Ding, Vivian felt shocked, curious, and dislike. Attribute points +20]
Holy crap? Why was Vivian suddenly giving me attribute points? And dislike? What did I do?! But she gave me so many points all at once. Belle must have told her something.
But what on earth was it??!
Xu An, who had been sitting cross-legged circulating his energy, couldn't sit still anymore.
"Belle?"
"Hmm?! Ah!" Belle jolted, nearly dropping her phone.
"What's wrong? You seem kind of strange. Why is your face so red?" As Xu An spoke, he slowly moved closer to Belle.
He reached out and touched her forehead. It did seem a little warm.
"Do you have a fever?" Xu An asked with a frown.
"N-no, no... I don't! It's just, I just have too much blood and qi. Yes, that's it! It's a little hot in here. I'll open the window and get some air!" As she spoke, Belle hurriedly moved away from Xu An, who had been a little too close just now, and walked over to the window.
She opened the window to let in some air.
"Phew~" After taking a few deep breaths.
With the cool breeze blowing in from outside, her burning face gradually returned to normal. Only the tips of her ears were still slightly red, leaving a faint rosy tint on her cheeks as well.
Xu An looked at Belle. So cute (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤~.
But he also knew he couldn't tease her anymore, so he could only say, "Mm-hmm, as long as you're okay. I'll get back to cultivating, then!"
This time, he really did go back to cultivating.
Time always passed quickly during cultivation. To Xu An, it felt as though hardly any time had passed.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already nearly dark.
"Junior Brother Xu! Time to eat!" Belle tried calling to Xu An from beside him.
"Got it. But Belle, you have to call me Senior Brother, okay? Not because of age, but because I've already formally joined, while you're still a nominal disciple. Understand?" As he spoke, he lightly tapped Belle on the head.
"Still want to be my senior sister? Heh, dream on~" Xu An put his hands behind his back and walked out.