Liu Qiao’e’s gaze froze. “Are we that close?”
The man had a tall and sturdy build, a confident smile playing at the corners of his lips as if everything was firmly under his control.
He walked to the table and poured himself a cup of tea. After taking a light sip, he finally spoke unhurriedly.
“You and I share a common goal and aspiration. With the bond of alliance between us, how can we not call you Lady E?”
“You’ve longed for the righteous path of the Immortal Alliance for so long?”
“Has Joyous Union Palace never had any entanglements with the Demonic Sect?” Luo Naji looked at her with a half-smile. “Was it all Qi Mei secretly colluding and turning the world upside down? Hm?”
“It’s been many days since we last met, and Lady E’s mouth has grown sharper. Are you so eager to draw a clear line between us?”
Liu Qiao’e said coldly, “What exactly are you here for? Just to mooch a sip of cold tea?”
“You’re not worth a special trip from me.” Luo Naji said indifferently. “I came to the city for other matters. Stopping by to see you was just convenient.”
Liu Qiao’e unceremoniously issued the order to leave. “You’ve seen the person. So? This old lady is doing just fine. Get lost.”
Luo Naji set down the teacup nonchalantly and smiled faintly. “Liu Qiao’e, I’m just here to remind you—don’t forget the agreement between us.
“I see you’ve been getting more and more full of yourself lately. You’ve even taken a male pet into your own service.”
“How did I not know that Sect Leader Luo cared so much about others’ bedroom affairs?” Liu Qiao’e said coldly.
“That depends on the person.” Luo Naji slowly set down his teacup. “For example, you—I do care quite a bit.”
Liu Qiao’e looked at him with utter disgust, as if she had swallowed a fly.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Luo Naji reached out again to stroke her chin, his expression faintly sighing. “After all, we’ve known each other for several years now. I’ve willingly done so much for you. If not for him—”
Unexpectedly, the originally icy-cold Liu Qiao’e suddenly erupted. “Don’t you dare mention him!!”
“Ha.” Luo Naji withdrew his hand nonchalantly and chuckled lightly. “I thought you and that little Mu brat were lost in drunken dreams and nightly ecstasy, having long forgotten him completely.”
“Fine then.” The tenderness on his face quickly faded, turning cold and ruthless in an instant. “Get the Soul-Returning Lamp as soon as possible. It’s good for you and for me. Don’t you want to see him soon? I certainly do. After so many years…” he murmured.
Liu Qiao’e’s gaze flickered for a moment, her expression changing drastically as she threatened harshly.
“All these strange things in the city—are they your doing behind the scenes? Luo Naji, I warn you. The Soul-Returning Lamp isn’t some roadside cabbage. With so many Immortal Alliance disciples watching, you have to give me some time.
“Do you believe that if I shout right now, those Immortal Alliance disciples will swarm in? You won’t be leaving here in one piece today.”
Luo Naji let out a hearty laugh. “I was just asking casually. Why get so worked up!”
He stood up, walked to the window, and leaped down. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the night, as elusive as when he had arrived.
Only a voice that seemed half-genuine, half-mocking lingered in the night sky.
“Lady E, I believe our cooperation will be pleasant.
“By the way, after all these years, that little brat can do it, but I can’t? Qiao’e, why not consider me too!”
After Luo Naji left, Liu Qiao’e still stood by the window, but the girlish fluttering from before had dissipated into nothing. An boundless irritability rose in her heart.
Her acquaintance with Luo Naji dated back dozens of years.
Luo Naji wanted to unseal the former Demonic Lord Jiang Chongming—a secret known to all in the Eastern Florescence Realm.
The Immortal Alliance only knew that unsealing required the Soul-Returning Lamp, the Trace World Mirror, and the Mountains and Rivers Sword—these three dao artifacts. But they alone did not know that these three dao artifacts were merely the door.
Unsealing the seal also required a key.
And that key was Liu Qiao’e.
This was not because she was some chosen one.
It was simply that the rumors in the cultivation world were correct: she had indeed obtained the inheritance of Holy Monarch Jiang Wenzhao.
Dozens of years ago, by sheer coincidence, she had obtained a fragment of the long-lost martial canon of Holy Monarch Jiang Wenzhao. It was precisely through this fragment that she had killed the previous old palace lord and usurped the position of Joyous Union Sect Leader.
To open the seal laid by Holy Monarch Jiang Wenzhao, Luo Naji needed not only the dao artifacts left from the Holy Monarch’s flesh and blood, but also something to serve as the catalyst using the spiritual qi of the Holy Monarch’s own martial arts.
Most importantly, this “catalyst” had to withstand the corrosion of Jiang Chongming’s demonic qi.
Demonic qi was turbid qi.
The Joyous Union Sect’s techniques involved dual cultivation of yin and yang, pure and turbid. As the foremost practitioner of the Acacia Technique in the present age, Liu Qiao’e was undoubtedly the only one who met all these conditions.
Dozens of years ago, she and Luo Naji had drawn close because of one person’s existence, and reached an agreement because of that same person.
Back then, when she plotted her rebellion and usurpation, Luo Naji had secretly schemed many things for her.
In a certain sense, Luo Naji was indeed an old acquaintance, an old ally.
But that did not stop Liu Qiao’e from despising him.
She despised him even more…
She despised him bringing up, him…
Just thinking about it made pain explode in her chest like her organs were about to burst.
Liu Qiao’e closed her eyes and forcibly suppressed the surging emotions in her heart.
That arrogant, conceited madman Luo Naji! She would kill him someday!
–
Because of Luo Naji’s visit, Liu Qiao’e spent the entire night in a foul mood.
The next morning, as soon as she stepped out of her guest room, she encountered an argument on the long corridor.
The quarrel was between her own Joyous Union Palace subordinates.
The girl on the other side looked very familiar. Liu Qiao’e frowned and recognized her as seemingly Mu Daoying’s junior sister, the one called something Xin.
Zhang Suxin had her hands on her hips, glaring. “Pah!! It was clearly your Old Mother who forced my senior brother!”
The Joyous Union Palace disciple sneered. “Inferior in skill, lost to our Old Mother—serves you right to become our Old Mother’s plaything!”
“You, you, you!” Zhang Suxin flushed red with anger. “Don’t insult my senior brother! My senior brother is pure as ice and jade, upright as the wind and moon!”
The Joyous Union Palace disciple laughed ambiguously and maliciously. “Oh, still a jade maiden? Our Old Mother loves playing with jade maidens the most. The purer your senior brother is, the wilder he might scream in bed. You little brat understand?”
Zhang Suxin was incredulous, both ashamed and anxious, her eyes reddening with anger.
Liu Qiao’e was already in a bad mood, and the clamor made her head buzz. She frowned and walked forward, slightly raising her tone. “Instead of cultivating first thing in the morning, you’re here gossiping about This Seat?”
As soon as she appeared, the heatedly arguing Jade Clarity and Joyous Union disciples all fell silent.
“Old Mother!” The leading Joyous Union disciple paled under her accumulated prestige.
“Aren’t you going to cultivate?”
Those Joyous Union disciples scattered timidly.
These Jade Clarity disciples seemed somewhat unconvinced.
As the Joyous Union disciples dispersed like birds and beasts, someone chuckled mockingly—no one knew who.
“Who spoke?” Liu Qiao’e said expressionlessly.
Silence fell around them.
“Step forward.”
Everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter.
Liu Qiao’e walked coldly smiling to a male cultivator. “Was it you?”
The male cultivator was not old, looking only fifteen or sixteen. He panicked at once. “I…”
He gritted his teeth. “So what if it was me?!”
Liu Qiao’e said flatly, “Didn’t the elders of your Jade Clarity Temple teach you manners? How dare you be so insolent to your seniors?”
“Old Mother!” Shen Chengyin appeared in the corridor at some point, hurrying over and curtsying. “They are young. Old Mother is magnanimous—don’t stoop to the level of children.”
“What relation do you have with Jade Clarity Temple?” Liu Qiao’e countered.
Shen Chengyin froze. “…”
She truly had no relation with Jade Clarity Temple. She had only grown closer because of her ties with Zhao Yange, Mu Daoying, and the others.
Stumped and unable to back down, Zhang Suxin couldn’t help but say, “Senior Sister Shen is senior brother’s good friend, so she’s our friend too…”
Liu Qiao’e frowned coldly, about to lash out, when a tall, slender figure interposed itself.
Mu Daoying had arrived at some point and stood in front of the Jade Clarity disciples, lowering his eyes and calling her softly. “Old Mother.”
“Senior brother!” The other Jade Clarity Temple disciples looked as if they had seen their savior.
Mu Daoying did not turn back, his voice calm. “I am no longer a Jade Clarity disciple, so I cannot be considered your senior brother.”
“Old Mother.” Mu Daoying raised his eyes to her. “Breakfast has been prepared. Shall Old Mother return to the room to dine?”
Liu Qiao’e sneered. How could she not see Mu Daoying’s intent to protect his fellow disciples? She was too lazy to expose it publicly.
Since he was willing to give his junior brothers and sisters a way out, she would not deny him even this face.
Sure enough, after they left, Mu Daoying bowed apologetically. “My junior brothers and sisters lack manners.”
Liu Qiao’e said, “Do you really think I would stoop to their level? They are young and can afford to be reckless. I still have my face to save.”
Mu Daoying glanced at her expression. “Old Mother is in a poor mood today?”
Liu Qiao’e paused for a moment before answering irrelevantly. “I don’t like that friend of yours.”
Mu Daoying did not react at first.
Liu Qiao’e continued, “I’ve said it before—I don’t like other women around you.”
Mu Daoying’s heart skipped a beat. “Fellow Daoist Shen?”
“You’re quick on the uptake.” Not calling her “A’yin” at a time like this.
Liu Qiao’e asked again, “Don’t you know she likes you?”
Mu Daoying opened his mouth to explain, but Liu Qiao’e cut him off. “Don’t play dumb or deflect. I can tell.”
Mu Daoying’s heart beat even faster. He paused, then ventured a probe in a hoarse voice. “Even if Fellow Daoist Shen truly has feelings for this one, this one does not like her—”
As he spoke, he closely observed Liu Qiao’e’s expression.
While he spoke, Liu Qiao’e frowned, then the corners of her mouth quirked up—a bit like anger, a bit like a smile.
Sunlight climbed the window lattice, shining on her face. Her brows and eyes seemed like a painted scroll come to life, her countenance gradually brightening.
The gloom on her face was ultimately replaced by an irrepressible, warm smile.
Mu Daoying had not expected Liu Qiao’e to change so because of his words.
Even less had he expected her to have such a soft, bright moment.
He stared blankly for a moment, unable to look away, his heart unconsciously pounding faster.
“And you?” Liu Qiao’e asked softly. “Will you like me?”
Mu Daoying snapped out of his daze, plunging into silence once more.
Now, what was there he did not understand?
Zhao Yange had spoken truly. Liu Qiao’e truly liked him.
And him?
Mu Daoying looked at her blushing face so close by, feeling an inexplicable melancholy and confusion in his heart.
He was certain he held no romantic feelings for Liu Qiao’e.
His earlier momentary lapse was merely like witnessing the sunrise or moonrise, like seeing mountains and rivers, like seeing a flower bloom—like any beautiful sight, bringing quiet joy to the heart.
His silence was misunderstood by Liu Qiao’e.
Coldness and gloom returned to her face.