Kong Shanyu struggled and made a few muffled noises, apparently still unwilling to behave.
But it was obvious that Tu Jiaojiao carried considerable weight in Rongzhou. At the very least, she was more intimidating than Ye Chenyan, who had just planted someone headfirst in the ground.
Sifeng and Siyu kept Kong Shanyu’s mouth firmly covered, not daring to let him say anything outrageous again.
Tu Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow and sneered. “Still have something to say? Go on, then.”
She bent down until she was close to Kong Shanyu, reached out, and pinched his cheek.
“You’re the one who keeps saying not to treat you like a child. So if you dare say something I don’t like, I’ll beat you just the same.”
Kong Shanyu’s eyes widened.
Oddly enough, the threat made him settle down.
Yu Qingtang tilted his head and whispered to Ye Chenyan, “Do you think he shut up because he’s afraid of getting beaten, or because he’s happy she’s not treating him like a kid?”
Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes.
“He doesn’t look like someone who’s afraid of a beating.”
Just then, Tu Jiaojiao turned around and flashed them a dazzling smile.
“Hey. Long time no see since the Golden Core Competition.”
“Don’t leave yet. I’ll talk to you two in a bit.”
Yu Qingtang waved, signaling for her to take care of her business first and ignore them.
He expertly found himself a dirt mound to sit on, then patted the spot beside him and assigned Ye Chenyan one too.
Long Aotian probably didn’t get many opportunities to sit off to the side and watch the excitement.
Most of the time, he was the protagonist at the center of the vortex.
Now, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Yu Qingtang as a spectator munching metaphorical popcorn, Ye Chenyan found the experience somewhat novel.
Tu Jiaojiao turned back around and gave a practiced wave.
The Heavenly Fire Cult disciples behind her surged forward and rounded up all the impostors scattered across the ground.
Kong Shanyu pursed his lips and watched longingly, but said nothing.
Tu Jiaojiao was decisive in everything she did. She not only dealt with the impostors, but also had people calm the villagers and ask exactly what crimes these men had committed, so they could verify each charge during interrogation later.
Once the impostors were taken care of, she finally looked toward Cloudmarsh Sect.
“If there’s nothing else, hurry back. Don’t keep running around outside lately. Things aren’t peaceful.”
Sifeng and Siyu were about to agree when Kong Shanyu asked solemnly, “Is it the underground situation again?”
Tu Jiaojiao gave him another look.
Kong Shanyu puffed out his chest.
“I’m the young sect master of Cloudmarsh Sect. Since ancient times, our sect’s seniors have helped your Heavenly Fire Cult handle plenty of Rongzhou’s affairs. If this truly is serious, then y-you should be discussing it with this young sect master!”
“Ohhh—” Tu Jiaojiao smiled. “The Qi Refining young sect master?”
“You!”
Kong Shanyu flew into a rage and reached for the jade on his forehead, only to be immediately pinned down by several pairs of hands.
Having finally won one round back, Tu Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow in satisfaction.
“I still haven’t settled accounts with you for trying to ruin Chi Yantian’s reputation.”
Kong Shanyu’s eyes darted away. He hemmed and hawed but couldn’t come up with anything to say.
Tu Jiaojiao snorted.
“Though honestly, I can’t be bothered worrying about that bastard who dumped all his sect duties and ran off to eat and drink his fill...”
Yu Qingtang’s gaze wandered.
For some reason, those words seemed to carry killing intent.
Brother Chi’s life probably wasn’t going to be especially pleasant once he returned.
“But you’ve probably noticed what’s been happening in Rongzhou lately.” Tu Jiaojiao’s smile faded. She pointed underground. “The signs are already appearing. The winds are gathering from all directions.”
“Normally, whenever a precious mineral deposit is about to emerge, there will always be some unusual activity beneath the ground. But this time, it’s been going on far too long.”
Kong Shanyu nodded slightly.
“That’s not all. Rongzhou’s climate has also been unusually strange lately. Our sect has been doing everything possible to maintain normal conditions, but the intervals between the times we need to intervene manually are clearly getting shorter.”
“So some enormous treasure is about to appear?”
Tu Jiaojiao curled her lip.
“Who knows whether it’s an enormous treasure or an enormous disaster.”
“The winds are stirring from every direction. Big and small sects all around Rongzhou have mobilized, hoping to try their luck and see who can find that precious deposit.”
Her expression grew grave.
“But I keep feeling that it isn’t that simple.”
“A little Qi Refining brat like you should hide somewhere safe. Otherwise one tiny pebble could fall from the sky and crush you to death.”
“Hmph.” Kong Shanyu scoffed. “I’m not that easy to kill!”
“What? You still want to come along?” Tu Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow. “Fine by me. But I’m not giving you special treatment. When the time comes, I’ll work you until you’re running in circles.”
Kong Shanyu’s eyes lit up.
“Deal!”
“Then start now. Watch these guys.”
Since he had agreed, Tu Jiaojiao showed him no courtesy and promptly dumped the impostors onto Cloudmarsh Sect.
Only then did she turn back toward Ye Chenyan and Yu Qingtang, give them a little wink, and brighten her tone.
“Come on. Let’s go inside and talk.”
The clan chief proved remarkably perceptive and immediately cleared out a room for them, bowing as he showed them the way.
Tu Jiaojiao flew down and beckoned.
“Follow me.”
Yu Qingtang grabbed Ye Chenyan and eagerly followed.
The moment they entered the room, Tu Jiaojiao spun around and changed her expression completely.
She dropped herself into a chair without ceremony, narrowed her eyes, and pointed at them.
“Well, well, you two. You came all the way to Rongzhou and didn’t even tell me? Don’t consider me a friend anymore?”
“Of course we do—” Yu Qingtang hurriedly pleaded innocence. “We just got here! A little while ago we were still asking for directions to make sure we’d even entered Rongzhou.”
Tu Jiaojiao snorted, then tugged Yu Qingtang over and made him sit beside her.
She studied him curiously.
“Why are you dressed like this?”
As she spoke, she reached out and gave Yu Qingtang’s chest a pat.
“How come there’s nothing there anymore? Illusion technique? Can you still feel anything?”
Caught completely off guard, Yu Qingtang clutched his chest in horror.
“S-Stop! Stop!”
“You—!”
Ye Chenyan had still been smiling a moment earlier.
He had not expected Tu Jiaojiao to charge straight in and start touching.
His expression changed instantly, and he yanked Yu Qingtang behind him.
“You...”
“What?” Tu Jiaojiao withdrew her hand in surprise. “It’s not like anything happens if I touch him a couple of times.”
She pointed at Ye Chenyan.
“You’re the one who isn’t allowed to touch wherever you want.”
Then she grinned and reached toward Yu Qingtang again.
“Worst case, I’ll let you touch me back!”
Yu Qingtang instantly raised his eyes to the ceiling, refusing to let his gaze wander. He shoved both hands behind his back.
“No thanks, really. That would be inappropriate. Very inappropriate.”
Ye Chenyan glared at her.
“Who says I’m not allowed to touch him?”
“Hm?” Yu Qingtang turned to him. “That’s not the point, is it?”
The two stared at each other.
Tu Jiaojiao asked curiously, “Then what is the point?”
“Well...”
Yu Qingtang rubbed his nose awkwardly.
As the saying went, one lie required countless more lies to patch it up.
He really hadn’t expected that after all this time, he would still be explaining the original lie.
People really shouldn’t lie.
Yu Qingtang cleared his throat and forced himself to begin.
“Actually, I...”
“Ohhh—” Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes spun. “I know what you’re about to say!”
“Huh?” Yu Qingtang was stunned. “You can tell even that?”
Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes curved with her smile.
“You two got together, right? All that stuff before about cultivating some emotionless path was a lie, wasn’t it?”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Tu Jiaojiao continued without waiting for an answer.
“I knew it from the way he protected you back then. He definitely didn’t see you as ordinary. And wow, he actually managed to trick you into his hands in the end.”
She sighed regretfully, then grinned and leaned closer to Yu Qingtang.
“You’ve changed a lot, though. You don’t look afraid of him anymore. I wonder whether that’s because you’ve reached Nascent Soul, or because...”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
“Okay, you can stop now.”
It wasn’t that she wasn’t clever.
She had simply applied that cleverness in entirely the wrong direction.
Yu Qingtang put on a solemn expression.
“That isn’t what I was going to tell you.”
He glanced at Ye Chenyan.
Ye Chenyan’s eyes were full of laughter.
“Embarrassed to say it? Want me to help?”
Yu Qingtang looked surprised.
“You can?”
“Of course.”
Ye Chenyan smiled brilliantly.
A sense of foreboding flashed through Yu Qingtang’s mind.
Too late.
Ye Chenyan swept an arm around Yu Qingtang and nodded with a smile.
“Mm. You guessed right. We really are together.”
“So from now on, I’m the only one who gets to touch him. Whether you’re a man, a woman, or not even human, you still can’t touch him however you like.”
He lifted his chin with righteous provocation.
“What about it?”
“Tch.”
Tu Jiaojiao clenched her back teeth and grabbed the whip behind her, glaring as her hand tightened around it.
“Getting awfully smug, aren’t you?”
Ye Chenyan smiled triumphantly.
Yu Qingtang slowly turned his head toward him, utterly expressionless.
“...That’s what you were going to explain?”
“Hm?”
Ye Chenyan blinked at him.
Two seconds passed before he remembered.
“Oh. There was one other, not particularly important thing—he was a man disguised as a woman before. So you should watch yourself too.”
“Stop touching him randomly!”
His tone was so casual that Tu Jiaojiao answered equally casually.
“Oh, I see. So he was a woman disguised as a man... huh?”
Then her brain caught up.
She whipped around and leaned in close to stare at Yu Qingtang’s face.
“No way! Someone who looks like this can be a woman disguised as a man? Who are you trying to fool?!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He touched his face.
“I don’t look... that unusual. If you look carefully, I’m still pretty manly, right?”
He tried striking a suitably imposing, heroic pose.
Tu Jiaojiao met his expectant gaze, pressed her lips together, and couldn’t bring herself to deny it.
For once, she answered with rare ambiguity. She averted her gaze, unable to look at him directly.
“M-Maybe... a little?”
She still looked utterly incredulous.
“You’re really a man? That can’t be right. Why can’t Chi Yantian grow up looking like this?”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He slowly turned toward Ye Chenyan.
Ye Chenyan suppressed a laugh, patted Yu Qingtang’s back, and nodded along.
“Extremely manly. A true man who stands tall between heaven and earth.”
Tu Jiaojiao stared at him speechlessly.
“...You spoil him this much?”
She still looked suspicious, her gaze moving back and forth between them.
“You two aren’t messing with me on purpose, are you?”
“We’re not that bored.” Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Besides, whether he’s a man or a woman doesn’t matter. In any case, he’s already my—”
Yu Qingtang slapped a hand over his mouth, wishing he could shove him straight into the floor.
“All right! You already said it once. You don’t need to say it again!”
This guy must have been bottling it up the entire journey.
He had even tried showing off to Girl in the Bamboo before, only for her to be so oblivious to romance between men and women that she hadn’t understood a thing. It had left him with the distinct frustration of playing music to a cow.
Now Tu Jiaojiao had walked straight into his line of fire.
If Yu Qingtang hadn’t stopped him, who knew how much she would have suffered.
Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved happily.
“Besides, whether someone is manly has nothing to do with appearance. Our Qingtang is loyal and righteous, clear-minded and broad-hearted. When it’s time to act, he acts, and no matter what happens, he never forgets who he is. How could that not count as manly?”
Yu Qingtang scratched his head in confusion.
“Are you talking about me?”
Tu Jiaojiao turned away indignantly.
“Hmph. So what if your feelings are mutual? What’s so impressive about that? Shameless show-off! This young lady refuses to sink to your level.”
She pouted, then finally moved on to business.
“I haven’t even asked yet. Why did you come to Rongzhou at a time like this? Things have been pretty unstable lately. Otherwise I could’ve taken you around to have some fun.”
“When Chi Yantian sent word, I happened to be nearby investigating the mineral veins. Otherwise there’s no way I could’ve arrived this quickly.”
“We came because of the trouble.” Yu Qingtang pointed underground. “We’ve noticed something unusual lately too.”
“You have?” Tu Jiaojiao looked surprised, then frowned. “Could this be even more serious than I thought?”
She muttered, “If that’s really the case, telling the nearby villagers to stay indoors won’t be enough. We’ll have to evacuate them so they can avoid the danger.”
Ye Chenyan looked toward Yu Qingtang and asked quietly, “Will ordinary people be affected?”
Yu Qingtang froze.
In the original novel, details like these had naturally been brushed past in a line or two because they weren’t important.
He tried searching through scraps from all the descriptions he could remember, looking for any clue buried in the margins.
Finally, he answered hesitantly.
“What’s moving underground isn’t a precious mineral deposit. It’s an immortal abode. It should emerge somewhere near the center of the desert. An oasis suddenly collapses, exposing a hollow underground space...”
He scratched his head.
“But I don’t know which oasis specifically.”
“An oasis?” Tu Jiaojiao looked thoughtful.
She gave the two of them a long look.
“How do you...”
Then she waved it away.
“Forget it. You two have always had your own strange abilities. I won’t pry.”
“I believe you. If you remember anything more specific, tell me whenever you can.”
She sighed.
“Hopefully not too many people will get caught up in it.”
Author’s Note:
Yu Qingtang: [-0w0-] attempting to disguise himself as a double-door refrigerator.jpg
Ye Chenyan: applause.jpg
Tu Jiaojiao: Am I part of this play too?
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