The Aloof Master Is Secretly Kissed Every Night by the Paranoid Villain - Chapter 19

Xuan Qing watched from the side, his snake eyes twitching. He could not help but retort, “Have you ever met a normal person who likes ghost birds? Xiao Heng gave a New Year’s gift; it is supposed to be something festive, right? You brought such a hellish thing. How do you expect to compare to him?”

He was truly exhausted. Ever since Xie Yuan woke up the day after making the pact with Wen Shiqing, his easy life had come to an end.

Just as he had suspected, Xie Yuan remembered most of what had happened within the sea of consciousness clearly.

Although Xuan Qing stuck strictly to their agreement, babbling nonsense to brush off whatever Xie Yuan asked, Xie Yuan had still managed to discern many things on his own.

In particular, the fragment of Wen Shiqing’s clothing was treated as a treasure; he kept it hidden in a sachet filled with peach blossoms, wearing it close to his body. From time to time, he would grip that sachet and smile like a fool.

Because Wen Shiqing had originally told him to only handle chores like pouring tea and serving water, Xie Yuan had gone to the library to specifically gather many books on the Tea Classic and culinary records. After carefully studying them, he constantly refined his technique. He would then bring these things to Qinglan Garden, and even when scolded by Wen Shiqing, he would not get angry; he was simply stubbornly trying to gain some attention from his master.

Yet, he did not dare to truly ask Wen Shiqing about that night. He could only secretly release his snake shadow to spy on the situation at Qinglan Garden from a distance where he would not be discovered.

Now that he had finally waited for Wen Shiqing to come out of seclusion, only to witness the interactions between him and Xiao Heng, he began his sarcastic, passive-aggressive behavior again.

He was practically a lunatic.

“…” Xie Yuan returned to his senses.

After a long silence, for the first time, he did not refute Xuan Qing’s words. He nodded earnestly. “What you say does seem to make some sense.”

“…”

“Then should I also send a bird that can sing?”

“…”

“He gives a bird, so you give a bird? Can you not just copy him for once?”

“But I have no idea what Master likes.”

Xie Yuan’s voice sank. “No, I know he likes Xiao Heng. So, he likes whatever Xiao Heng gives, whereas the things I give, he might not even glance at.”

“…” Xuan Qing suddenly felt that Xie Yuan was somewhat pitiful.

But the next moment, he heard the young man sneer and say, “Then I will send a spirit cat to Qinglan Garden. I will instruct it to act cute and fawning toward Master during the day, and at night, to find ways to torment that bird, scaring it until it never dares to chirp again. As time goes on, Master will no longer like that useless, wretched bird.”

“You really are sinister.”

Xuan Qing withdrew his sympathy for Xie Yuan without hesitation.

He was then forced to be dragged along by Xie Yuan, sneaking into the forests of the Piaomiao Mountain Range to go hunting for a cat.

Xie Yuan’s cultivation had now reached the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage, allowing him to travel by sword, but to avoid attracting attention, he intentionally flew very low. At the same time, he extended his snake shadow to its maximum range to scout the surrounding environment for him.

Along the way, he saw many demonic beasts, but either their appearance was not cute enough to be deceptive, or they lacked sufficient intelligence to help him carry out his plan.

Near the edge of Piaomiao Mountain, Xie Yuan’s eyes suddenly lit up. Amidst the withered winter trees, a flash of snow-white shadow darted by.

With a round face and cat ears, its blue eyes surging with spiritual energy, the small creature looked like a floating snowball as it ran through the forest.

Its leg was injured, making it limp as it ran. Behind it, a loose cultivator was in hot pursuit, muttering, “Damn beast, to think you actually chewed through the shackles and escaped while I was sleeping. I really underestimated you. Once I catch you again, I will surely pull out all your sharp teeth and claws, then give you a few dozen lashes to see if you learn how to behave!”

Xie Yuan felt moved.

He urged his sword to follow, watching as the spirit cat’s stamina depleted; the blood from the wound on its leg seeped continuously, staining the withered grass. The distance between the spirit cat and the cultivator was visibly closing.

Seeing the cultivator about to catch up, annoyance and humiliation flashed in the cat’s eyes. Finally, it called out loudly, “You cultivator in the distance, stop watching the show! If you step in to save me, I will definitely recognize you as my benefactor and repay you!”

Xie Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Then he smiled and said, “That is what you said.”

The cultivator chasing the spirit cat only felt a black shadow flicker before his eyes. The next moment, Xie Yuan’s sword was already closing in on him.

It stopped three inches from his neck.

“Piaomiao Mountain belongs to the Wentian Sect. You are not a disciple of this sect; to come any further is to trespass.”

“So, I hope you can stop here. Is that okay?”

Xie Yuan’s expression was innocent and gentle, which, paired with his handsome features and the sharp glint of the sword in his hand, created a strong sense of dissonance.

The cultivator was stunned at first.

But seeing that Xie Yuan spoke softly and appeared easy to bully, with no obvious fluctuation of spiritual energy, he assumed his cultivation was low and that he was just bluffing. The cultivator’s arrogance flared up.

“This area is just the edge of Piaomiao Mountain. Your Wentian Sect’s mountain gate is at least a hundred miles away. Isn’t your reach a bit too wide?”

“Besides, this spirit beast was caught by me first. It escaped yesterday, and I am merely chasing it. You are intentionally blocking my way. It is obvious you want to take advantage of the situation and steal my spirit beast! If I report this to your sect, you would not have a leg to stand on!”

“If you are sensible, stay out of this today, or do not blame me for being impolite!”

After saying this, he waited for Xie Yuan to concede. After all, he knew that disciples of major sects cared a lot about their reputation; usually, those with thin skin would not push the issue after being confronted like this.

But he had misjudged Xie Yuan.

The young man put away his gentle smile and said to him, “You are quite right. I do want to take advantage of your situation and steal this spirit beast.”

“But I also do not want you to take this matter to my sect, so there is only one option left.”

“To kill you.”

Having said that, his aura shifted abruptly. His sword thrust forward violently, scaring the cultivator into retreating immediately. In his panic, he tried to parry with his own sword, but was still slashed across the shoulder by Xie Yuan’s icy sword aura. The skin tore instantly, and the pain caused the cultivator’s face to contort.

“You, you actually attacked!” The cultivator was completely stunned.

He stumbled back several steps, a look of seeing a ghost on his face. In his experience, disciples of major sects were never this decisive or ruthless. Furthermore, with his own sixth-level Qi Refining cultivation, he had not been able to dodge that sword strike, which meant this person’s cultivation was actually higher than his.

It was not worth his life for a tiny spirit beast.

“Fine, you win!” the cultivator gritted his teeth, finally choosing to give up.

Before leaving, he seemed too angry to let it go and added, “I have seen shameless people, but never anyone as shameless as you! Robbing someone in broad daylight, and you call yourself a disciple of a major sect? Bah!”

Xie Yuan took that as a compliment.

He turned naturally, held his sword upright, and blocked the spirit cat as it attempted to sneak away.

His voice was dangerous: “Little thing, what happened to the ‘repaying’ you promised? Do not tell me that now that you are saved, you want to renege on your word.”

Caught in the act, the spirit cat’s blue eyes darted around. Its attitude changed instantly; it slid to its knees and hugged Xie Yuan’s trouser leg, pitching its voice: “How could that be? My benefactor saved me; I will certainly work like an ox or horse to repay you!”

Xie Yuan watched its actions, the corners of his lips curling up. This cunning nature was exactly what he wanted.

He leaned over, grabbed the spirit cat by the scruff of its neck, and cast a strand of ghost energy into its body.

The spirit cat felt a sudden chill, and a black flame pattern appeared in the center of its snow-white forehead, as if it were flickering faintly.

“You have been cursed by me. If you do not follow my commands, the curse will activate, and your soul will be obliterated on the spot.”

“Since you yourself said you wanted to work like an ox or horse and obey my orders, then this curse should be something you were ‘begging’ for, right?”

“…”

The spirit cat suddenly regretted letting Xie Yuan save it.

Compared to that cultivator from just a moment ago, this person was clearly much worse. He was wicked to the core.

But this thought vanished completely after it tasted the spirit food Xie Yuan had cooked.

Having studied the culinary records for half a month, Xie Yuan’s cooking skills had improved rapidly. Seeing that the spirit cat was injured and starving, its stomach had been growling loudly on the way back, he had made it something to eat.

To his surprise, the spirit cat was brought to tears. Not only did it call him “Big Brother” with every bite, it looked at him with an expression of pure, worshipful devotion, as if it were ready to follow him anywhere.

Xuan Qing did not even want to watch from the side. He only thought this creature was pitifully stupid.

The spirit cat’s name was Xiaoxue, given to it by the mother cat who had abandoned it right after giving birth.

At nightfall, Xie Yuan carried it to Qinglan Garden. Nestled in its cage, Xiaoxue was still rambling, “Big Brother, do not you worry. I guarantee I will complete the mission. I will definitely outdo that wretched bird your senior brother gave! By then, I will whisper in your master’s ear. I promise he will ditch your senior brother and head to your quarters every single day.”

Xiaoxue stopped mid-sentence, suddenly noticing that Xie Yuan had stopped walking.

His eyes were fixed on the distance, lost in thought.

Following his gaze, Xiaoxue saw that the main house of the brightly lit Qinglan Garden had its door wide open, revealing the scene inside.

A handsome, upright youth was standing together with the elegant and refined Daoist, wrapping dumplings.

The Daoist had flour on his face, and the youth reached out to wipe it off for him. The Daoist smiled gently and said something in the youth’s ear; the youth’s eyes lit up. He put down his work, took out some mundane firecrackers from his storage ring, and went into the courtyard. As he waved to the Daoist, he lit the firecrackers the moment he set them down.

The bright red firecrackers crackled and popped, bursting through the cold wind of New Year’s Eve, bringing a long-absent, warm, and lively human atmosphere to the cold Qinglan Garden.

It was just that this warmth and liveliness had nothing to do with Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan had known it was New Year’s Eve.

For the past two days, during the general classes at the Wentian Sect, many disciples had been stealing glances at him and whispering. Since the day Xie Yuan had been “punished” by Wen Shiqing in front of those disciples, their gazes had shifted from jealousy to schadenfreude.

They guessed that Xie Yuan was not favored, but because his strength was great, they did not dare try anything direct. Instead, they gossiped behind his back every day, stabbing him with soft knives.

They said that although Xiao Heng was out on a mission, he would definitely return on New Year’s Eve, and Daoist Wen would surely end his seclusion on that day as well. Because every disciple in the Wentian Sect knew that Wen Shiqing spent New Year’s Eve with Xiao Heng every year just like mortals—wrapping dumplings, setting off firecrackers, and staying up late.

For over a decade, no one had ever been able to interject.

The disciples even placed bets, wagering that on this day, Wen Shiqing would not even pay attention to Xie Yuan. Even if he came out of seclusion, he would not see him once.

At the time, Xie Yuan thought they were ridiculous.

But now, as he truly saw the scene before him, he found that he could not laugh at all.

Those idiots had been right.

On New Year’s Eve, Wen Shiqing had come out of seclusion for the entire day, and he had spent the entire day accompanying Xiao Heng.

Even though he had protected him so fiercely in front of Xuan Qing half a month ago, now that he was out of seclusion, he did not even want to see his face.

To be honest, whether Xie Yuan used his snake shadow to spy on Wen Shiqing or went out on his sword under the pretense of looking for a cat, he had been waiting.

Waiting to see what Wen Shiqing would do.

Waiting to see if his master would spare him a moment of time on this important day.

Now that his delusions were shattered, Xie Yuan’s gaze fell on the bursting firecrackers.

He inexplicably remembered being locked in a firewood shed when he was young, listening to the firecrackers going off one after another outside. He would press against the gaps in the door to peek, seeing fireworks blooming in the night sky. The servants guarding him would drink with their companions and click their tongues, saying, “Mortals are really obsessed with celebrating the New Year. The fireworks on New Year’s Eve will probably ring out all night long.”

“It is truly noisy.”

Yes.

It is truly very noisy.

Xie Yuan lowered his eyes and retracted his gaze, then tossed Xiaoxue out of the cage.

“You can go now.”

With that, he turned and walked down the mountain by himself.

“Big Brother! Did you not say before that you were going to personally present me to your master? Why are you going back? And what do you mean by telling me to leave? Are you abandoning me?” Xiaoxue had a confused expression on its cat face.

“Think what you want.”

Xie Yuan’s expression was cold. His hand, gripping the cage, tightened until the hooks were twisted, and his knuckles bled, though he felt nothing.

He returned to the Spring Scenery Courtyard as if fleeing. The moment he closed the door, the ghost energy around his body could no longer be contained and poured out, almost filling the entire room.

The fierce, resentful voices were already indistinguishable; it was unclear if they were the ghosts’ or Xie Yuan’s own.

“Why did you run back?”

“According to your nature, should you not have charged in and ruined that scene?”

“Or is it because you know that you could never compete with Xiao Heng, and you could only watch as your master doted on him and loved him? He could not even be bothered to spare you a single glance.”

“Heh, as expected, you are destined to only be a rat in the gutter, never seeing the light, not even having the courage to grasp the sun.”

The uncontrollable, pitch-black ghost energy wrapped around Xie Yuan and began to spread outward. Wherever it passed, the grass withered, and it looked like it was about to crawl up the trunk of the peach tree.

But at the critical moment, it stopped abruptly.

Then, it rapidly converged, retracted, and merged back into Xie Yuan’s body.

The young man’s face was pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat. His brows were tightly knitted in pain, but he had finally managed to return to normal.

Collapsing against the doorframe, exhausted, Xie Yuan rested his head on his hand and smiled bitterly, his face full of relief.

“Good thing I did not hurt the peach tree that Master told me to take care of.”