The Cold And Aloof Senior Sister Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 23.1

Qi Xianqing said lightly, “He was slightly injured and committed suicide by poison before I could interrogate him.”

Qi Xianqing had woken up early.

When she woke up, she found the Daoist lying unconscious beside her. It was highly likely he was suffering a backlash from the illusion he created after it collapsed.

She woke the Daoist up with cold water. Just as she was about to question him, the Daoist drew his sword and attacked her.

Qi Xianqing exchanged three bouts with him and severely wounded the Daoist. She intended to ask him a few questions, but the Daoist immediately took poison and killed himself.

As for where the Daoist came from and who directed this scheme, those secrets were forever buried.

Yan Jue suddenly recalled something: “Last night in the inn, I overheard him talking. He is a Daoist from the Qingyu Temple.”

Qi Xianqing paused.

“Senior Sister, have you ever heard of Qingyu Temple before?”

Qi Xianqing frowned, also appearing puzzled.

With countless sects in the world, no one would have the leisure to memorize every single one.

“In any case,” Qi Xianqing said, using her sword to support herself as she struggled to get up, “getting back to the mountain is the priority.”

Yan Jue looked behind her and suddenly spotted the five women.

The five women were sitting on the ground. Their eyes were no longer as vacant as before; they were just lowering their heads and weeping pitifully.

Yan Jue was startled. She suddenly thought of something and rushed to the lone grave, picking up the painting to examine it closely.

The painting still depicted the purple bamboo forest and the inn.

However, out of the five charming, smiling beauties originally in the inn, only one remained!

The woman was sitting on the window of the inn, her face deathly pale.

“…”

Yan Jue stared at the bizarre painting, unsure what to say.

Was the woman she fought with yesterday in the inn, the one who had lost all her Yin essence, now permanently trapped in the painting?

As Yan Jue was spacing out, she saw Qi Xianqing speak: “This painting is likely an illusionary artifact. Illusionary artifacts can also function as storage artifacts, so they can naturally store people within the illusion. Furthermore, that woman’s Yin essence is lost. If a woman’s Yin essence is drained, she becomes a puppet for others. Since this painting was the Daoist’s treasure, after his death, no one can control it, meaning the woman in the painting can never get out.”

Yan Jue frowned: “Then what should we do?”

Qi Xianqing: “Bring the painting up the mountain. I will ask my master to look at it; perhaps there is a way to save her.”

Chu Fu and Duan Luxi woke up one after another shortly after.

Just like yesterday, Chu Fu took out the Hundred-Step Carriage from her bag. The Yin essence of the five women had not been completely absorbed; after one night of recovery, they were basically fine.

According to them, they were simply walking on the street in Nanxing Town when they were somehow sucked into this purple bamboo forest and couldn’t find a way out no matter how they tried.

After they got into the Hundred-Step Carriage yesterday, the carriage kept going in circles within the bamboo forest. Later, they just felt a darkness envelop them and were locked in a small, dark room by a Daoist. They couldn’t see anything, only feeling their energy slowly draining away. One of them lost consciousness first and was then taken away. The rest were transformed into camels by the Daoist and dragged to the inn.

“…”

The remaining five women tearfully boarded the carriage and were sent off to Nanxing Town with many expressions of gratitude.

Yan Jue and the others rested in the purple bamboo forest to conserve their strength.

About two hours later, the Hundred-Step Carriage returned, and the four of them boarded.

Looking at the slightly slanted bamboo shadows, the same as yesterday, Yan Jue was worried at first.

However, this time the Hundred-Step Carriage swayed, and after a short while, it successfully drove out of the purple bamboo forest.

Yan Jue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this illusion was indeed connected to the painting. Her heart could not take any more scares.

Five Dragon Mountain Gate.

In the small pine forest, many people were already ambushing, though no one knew when they had arrived. A group of Five Dragon Sect disciples, wearing various colored Daoist robes, squatted in the grass, waiting for the arrival of a major figure.

This major figure was Meng Hengjun.

There had been rumors circulating for a long time that Meng Hengjun had left the mountain for a mission. More recently, someone claimed to have seen Qi Xianqing in Qingye Town at the foot of the mountain, suggesting that Meng Hengjun was returning to the mountain after completing her mission!

The Kongqing Mansion faction had mobilized almost entirely. The disciples had been lying in ambush from this morning until now, all hoping to get some gossip. After all, the famous Meng Hengjun, Qi Xianqing, was known as Fairy Qi in the Five Dragon Sect. Not only was she as beautiful as a fairy, but her cultivation was also among the best of the younger generation of cultivators.

Qi Xianqing had a large following in Five Dragon Mountain, and stories about her were rare and precious gossip material for Kongqing Mansion.

In reality, Meng Hengjun was always polite but distant to people, with nothing much worth digging into. However, they heard this recent mission was very unusual. It was rumored that besides Meng Hengjun, Chu Fu, the prospective disciple from the Shuiyun Sect who was always rumored to be involved with Meng Hengjun, was also on the mission. And then there was Yan Jue, who was rumored to be infatuated with Chu Fu. How could they not be excited?

Some Kongqing Mansion disciples had already drafted their narratives, fantasizing about a dramatic scene of two women fighting over one man!

Of course, Du Ming, one of the Kongqing Mansion disciples, was among them. She had a troubled expression, unsure how to react. Although she was a member of Kongqing Mansion and inherently wanted gossip material, the main character this time was her neighbor…

After spending some time together, Du Ming genuinely felt Yan Jue was a good person. Alas… she knew what her peers were writing. She couldn’t stop them; she could only pray for Yan Jue in her heart. It was only because Yan Jue had a pretty face and was connected to Chu Fu, the most promising new disciple of the Five Dragon Sect.

Suppressing their excitement, everyone waited at the mountain gate. Suddenly, they saw a few blurry figures appearing in the distance. As they watched, their eyes widened in unison.

A gorgeously crafted small carriage slowly approached. A few people were sitting inside.

Qi Xianqing sat on the far left side of the carriage, looking out at the roadside with an expressionless face. Next to her was… Chu Fu!

Ah! Ah! Ah! All the Kongqing Mansion disciples present instantly widened their eyes.

Chu Fu was turning her head, looking intently at Qi Xianqing, seemingly asking her a question. Everyone present knew that having these few figures capable of igniting public opinion on the same mission was rare, so everyone’s mind had already conjured up a big drama.

Seeing Yan Jue sitting on the very edge of the carriage, as if excluded by the other three, everyone’s lips unconsciously curved into a knowing smile. It seemed that in this contest, Senior Sister had won! What happened during the mission was likely unknown.

Even before approaching the mountain gate, Qi Xianqing noticed the group of Kongqing Mansion disciples hiding in the nearby pine forest. She frowned almost imperceptibly.

Yan Jue deliberately sat in a seat far from Qi Xianqing because her chest had started to ache faintly for some reason again. Perhaps it was because she had stolen too much of the male lead’s spotlight this time. She figured the Heavenly Dao was punishing her for it. Yan Jue considered it and could only come up with this possibility. She was a bit timid and afraid of pain, so naturally, she didn’t want to get any closer to the main male and female leads. Yet, there was a faint sense of melancholy in her heart.

Yan Jue knew that returning to the Five Dragon Mountain after completing the mission meant Qi Xianqing would return to her Zhenhuo Sect, and she would have to return to the Shuiyun Sect. There would be no further interaction between them. Through this adventure, Yan Jue realized that although Qi Xianqing seemed cold on the surface, she was very good to her junior disciples. The next time they met might be when Qi Xianqing came to kill her.

It’s fine, I’ll just run away before that time comes.

Yan Jue turned her head and saw Qi Xianqing walking forward with a faint expression, not looking back.

After experiencing life and death, Qi Xianqing had truly reverted to her usual cold demeanor.

Yan Jue sighed and walked forward slowly with her hands behind her back. Her steps suddenly paused.

Qi Xianqing, walking ahead, was stopped by Chu Fu.

Yan Jue was stunned.

Chu Fu: “Senior Sister, I still have a few questions for you… regarding the operation of the Soul-Summoning Mirror.”

To some extent, Chu Fu was also a very obsessive person. She felt compelled to thoroughly understand any question she didn’t know the answer to. In the original author’s writing, this was considered one of the male lead’s merits.

Qi Xianqing hummed faintly with a detached expression and walked forward. Chu Fu walked beside her, diligently asking questions.

A breeze blew by, lifting both of their robes one black, one white. At first glance, it seemed there was no romantic interest, just a junior brother asking his senior sister questions. But Yan Jue knew it wasn’t that simple. Qi Xianqing was someone who admired strength; it was through Chu Fu’s continuous questioning and becoming stronger that she developed feelings for the male lead.

Yes, the female lead, from beginning to end, belonged to the male lead. It was like a girl who already had a boyfriend; no matter how good your relationship was with her, and sometimes even taking smug pleasure in a hint of ambiguity from her, you never imagined that she and her boyfriend would be doing more intimate things where others couldn’t see. Moreover, her relationship with Qi Xianqing… wasn’t that good.

Yan Jue couldn’t help but recall the original setting of the book: The Cultivation Genius Young Wolf Dog and His Cold Senior Sister. Qi Xianqing favored the humble and eager to learn perhaps she currently had a favorable impression of Chu Fu. Even though Chu Fu had made many foolish mistakes before, in Qi Xianqing’s eyes, it might just be the folly of an inexperienced junior brother.

“…”

Yan Jue had intended to say goodbye to Qi Xianqing. She was the type who was relatively warm hearted, and she had gotten along quite well with Qi Xianqing this time; saying goodbye wouldn’t be strange. But seeing the current scene, she naturally lost the desire to approach them. Forget it, forget it. I should stay away from those two.

Jingang Sect, Inner Sect Dormitory.

A disciple walked into a room and stood beside Li Hao: “Big Brother, she’s back.”

Li Hao sat in a chair, stroking the long sword in his hand.

“Finally… she’s back.”

It was an extremely sharp silver sword. There was a faint fissure in the center of the blade, showing traces of repair. When the Artifact Refining Hall sent the item over, Li Hao had people repair the immortal sword. This was the immortal sword “Count,” which his father had let him personally pick from the Ten Thousand Sword Mound for his birthday, and it was reinforced with a piece of Thousand Year Ice Crystal, carrying frost power with every swing. Unfortunately, it had been broken in half by some Foundation Establishment stage loser.

The other day, when Li Hao went to the Artifact Refining Hall to select a new magical tool, he happened to see two Fushi stones on sale there that looked unusually familiar. He unexpectedly discovered that the material of the two stones being sold by the Artifact Refining Hall was exactly the same as that of his sword! After inquiring, the junior disciple at the Artifact Refining Hall said that they were brought in by a girl a while ago. At first, they were two broken sword fragments. Li Hao was furious! It turned out that the person not only broke his sword but also sent it to the Artifact Refining Hall to sell! In short, Li Hao paid to get his two broken sword pieces back and added fifty-six Heavenly Thunder Runes to them, making the blade even sharper.

“I heard she’s only at the Middle Foundation Establishment stage even after cultivating for so long. Under my Rushing Thunder Count Divine Sword, won’t she just fall flat on her face?”

“And she injured my Yama Dog! I’ll make her pay!”