After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 18

Chi Qianning was unwilling to say more, and Song Linlin couldn’t press further, so she could only temporarily suppress the curiosity in her heart. In any case, she’d find out when they returned to the inn.

The group walked in silence, eventually returning to the inn.

Song Linlin had assumed that everyone else would be asleep by this hour. However, the moment they pushed open the inn’s front door, preparing to go up the stairs, they noticed several heads peering over the railing.

There were still other people in the inn, and it wasn’t convenient to speak loudly in the middle of the night. But upon seeing Ye Tingran return, the eyes of the person leaning over the railing immediately lit up.

Ye Tingran gestured for them to be quiet, then climbed the stairs. Once on the second floor, seeing that most of the people who had been left behind were waiting there, Ye Tingran sighed and said softly, “Since you’re all awake, let’s discuss the next steps together.”

Chi Qianning had no interest in their group discussion. After a brief greeting, she returned to her room first. Song Linlin followed the others into Ye Tingran’s room.

After closing the door, Ye Tingran cast a spell to prevent sounds inside the room from being heard outside. Only then did she briefly summarize the situation from the night.

Upon hearing about Xing Jiu’s strength, everyone’s expressions instantly became serious. If the enemy had only been at the early Golden Core stage, that would have been one thing. Even if they were at the middle Golden Core stage, they could still have attempted a fight.

But right now, only Ye Tingran, Zhiyu, and Liu Zhi had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage. Most of the others were still in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Facing Xing Jiu now offered no chance of victory; it would only be a pointless sacrifice of lives.

Ye Tingran looked around, finally settling her gaze on Zhiyu, and said, “Junior Sister Zhiyu, I will head to Luofeng Temple first thing tomorrow morning. You take the others and leave the city as quickly as possible. Meet up with Senior Brother Liu Zhi and protect everyone. Wait for me in Yunxin City for three days. If I win, I will naturally rejoin you as soon as possible.”

Yunxin City is a large city located at the foot of Xuan Yun Sect’s Mountain, directly governed by the sect. No one there would deliberately seek trouble with Xuan Yun Sect disciples.

At this point, Ye Tingran paused, then continued, “If I don’t return after three days, then don’t wait. The difficulty of this mission is too great, and what’s more, since the team leader hasn’t returned, the sect will not blame you for failing to complete the training mission.”

The atmosphere became melancholic. A girl who looked quite young couldn’t help but speak up, “Senior Sister Ye, can’t you not go? Let’s all return to the sect together. At most, we’ll face a minor penalty for not completing the mission. But those penalties aren’t severe. It’s better than risking your life.”

Ye Tingran simply shook her head slowly, showing a faint smile. She said gently, “It’s alright, Junior Sister Jiang. This is my own choice. I, Ye Tingran, will never admit defeat without a fight. Even if I lose, it would only mean that my skills were inferior.”

“Moreover, I don’t think I’m certain to lose.”

“Junior Sister Zhiyu, I’ll trouble you to be the temporary leader for the next few days and arrange the subsequent matters.”

Zhiyu sighed. She had been with Ye Tingran the longest and knew that the other person was very resolute and would not easily change a decision once made. She could only nod in agreement.

Seeing Zhiyu agree, Ye Tingran looked at everyone carefully again. Just as she had done every time she finished planning what to do the next day, she said thoughtfully, “Alright, it’s getting late. Everyone should return to their rooms to rest. We need to leave for Yunxin City tomorrow morning, and the journey is long. We must conserve our energy tonight.”

Song Linlin followed the others out of Ye Tingran’s room, her heart filled with mixed emotions. All of them were teenagers, and this was their first time venturing down the mountain for training, only to encounter such a situation. Some people began to cry the moment they left the room.

“Why are you crying? It’s not like a life-and-death farewell! Of course, Senior Sister Ye will win. You are no longer children; what kind of behavior is this, crying like that?” Song Linlin said to the others.

The crying girl wiped her tears and looked at Song Linlin, saying, “But Senior Sister Song, I remember you’re only about two years older than me.”

With that said, Song Linlin indeed had no way to argue. She could only clear her throat a couple of times and said with great confidence, “Ahem, age doesn’t matter. Just trust me, Senior Sister Ye will definitely win!”

Song Linlin’s confidence and optimism somehow infected the others. Those who were about to cry held back. She continued, “Alright, alright, everyone go back to sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow.”

With that, Song Linlin turned around dramatically, leaving everyone with the image of her walking away with her hands behind her back, which looked quite convincing.

Returning to her door, Song Linlin pushed it open. After closing it again, she spoke into the room, “I’m back.”

However, no one responded in the room. Song Linlin turned to look inside but did not see Chi Qianning.

Did she go to bed?

Considering that the other person had spent most of her time in bed these past few days and rarely got up to move around, Song Linlin continued deeper into the room.

On the large bed, the covers were still as they were when they left the room. Song Linlin was too lazy to make the bed; the covers were in the exact state they had been when she got out of bed.

She lifted one side of the pulled-back bed curtain, but still didn’t see Chi Qianning.

Odd. Where did this person go?

As Song Linlin wondered, a sound of water suddenly came from a corner of the room. The sounds of dripping water and water splashing mingled together. The noise wasn’t loud, but it was clearly audible in the quiet room.

This sudden sound attracted Song Linlin’s attention. She turned around and walked curiously toward the source of the sound. In this quiet atmosphere, Song Linlin unconsciously softened her footsteps.

As she got closer to the screen shielding the bathing tub, Song Linlin saw a corner of clothing carelessly tossed on the floor.

Her steps instantly halted. She took a careful look at the clothes on the floor and confirmed they were indeed what Chi Qianning had been wearing today.

Chi Qianning is taking a bath?

Well, the place they sat today wasn’t exactly clean. Taking a bath seems appropriate.

Then, shouldn’t I walk over there?

Song Linlin fell into a philosophical thought process. However, after thinking for less than three seconds, she continued to walk forward boldly. This is my room after all, why can’t I walk over there?

Besides, Song Linlin clearly remembered that Chi Qianning had seen her too. So why can’t I look at her? Although, due to the angle, she probably hadn’t seen anything back then.

Reaching the side of the screen, Song Linlin first peeked her head out. Just in case there was something she shouldn’t see outside, she could quickly retract her head.

Beyond the screen, the first thing that came into view was a mass of pure white. The lower ends of the silver-white long hair were soaked by the water, clinging tightly to the skin of her back. The hair was thick, only vaguely revealing the back of her neck and a slightly protruding cervical vertebra.

For a moment, Song Linlin couldn’t tell if the person was whiter or the hair was whiter. The view further down was blocked, only showing the area above the shoulders.

There was no steam rising; the person was soaking in cold water.

Sensing the direct gaze from behind, the person leaning in the bathing tub turned her head. A few strands of long hair, damp with water, clung to her face. Her red eyes met Song Linlin’s behind her. Her tone was as cool as ever, “Did you finish talking with them?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Song Linlin maintained her peeking posture, her fingers clutching the edge of the screen, looking exactly like she was trying to eavesdrop. She nodded and asked curiously, “Are you taking a cold bath? Why not a hot one?”

“It’s just what I’m used to.”

Chi Qianning replied indifferently. She held Song Linlin’s gaze for a few seconds. Seeing that the other person had no intention of leaving, she spoke, her tone teasing, “What? Are you still standing here because you want me to invite you to join me?”

“Uh… I’ll pass on that.”

Song Linlin imagined the scene. Taking a cold bath was still quite unacceptable. She tactfully retracted her head. Just as she was about to leave, Chi Qianning’s voice came from behind the screen again.

“Come here.”

“Huh?”

Song Linlin was a little stunned for a moment, not understanding what the other person meant. She doesn’t seriously want me to join her, does she?

“That doesn’t sound right,” Song Linlin whispered awkwardly.

Chi Qianning looked past the screen in Song Linlin’s direction, her tone strange, “What are you thinking? I just wanted to use a Cleansing Spell on you.”

“Oh…”

Song Linlin felt a bit embarrassed, but she had been embarrassed so many times before that this level of awkwardness was nothing. She quickly adjusted her mindset and walked out from behind the screen, moving a little closer to Chi Qianning.

Her clothes were indeed quite dirty, stained with a few drops of Mu Tong’s blood that had splashed out when he died. After the Cleansing Spell was cast, her entire body was clean again, without a speck of dust to be found.

Song Linlin couldn’t help but sigh, feeling that Chi Qianning was more convenient than a washing machine. At least with her around, she wouldn’t have to wash her clothes.

“All right, go wait for me on the bed.” After casting the spell, the other person turned her head back, leaving only a light command.

That phrase made it hard not to overthink things.

Fortunately, Song Linlin was not a prudish person and naturally overthought things inwardly, but her expression remained outwardly proper: “Okay.”

Song Linlin lay on the bed, listening to the occasional sound of water, staring at the ceiling, and twirling a strand of hair with her fingers, idly letting her mind wander.

What exactly is Dual Cultivation?

The other person refused to tell her, and Song Linlin now didn’t know what she should be doing.

The sound of water intensified, seemingly indicating that the other person was about to emerge. Hearing the movement, Song Linlin immediately sat up from her lying position.

Not long after, Chi Qianning stepped out from behind the screen. She had changed into another outfit, though Song Linlin didn’t know where these clothes came from.

Other than the snake-shaped coiled ring on her right middle finger, Song Linlin had never seen her possess any spatial-storage magic artifact like a Cosmos Ring.

However, her intuition told her that the snake ring looked very dangerous and didn’t seem like the kind of thing that could store objects.