The Cold And Aloof Senior Sister Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 53.1

They had temporarily stayed in Fang Sheng’s home, but soon his doorway was crowded with villagers who had come from near and far just to catch a glimpse of them.

“…”

Qi Xianqing understood well the principle of keeping a low profile while traveling. She had Fang Sheng relay the same message again and again: “This matter is not for outsiders to know.”

Eventually, the number of visitors dwindled.

Yan Jue sat in her room, slowly sorting through everything that had happened recently.

First matter:

She removed the Northern Sea Black Iron hanging around her neck, closed her eyes, and silently recited the Spirit Linking Incantation.

A faint light glowed from the black iron in her palm. It slowly lengthened turning into a sword.

Yan Jue stared, her pupils tightening.

The sword’s hilt was an ivory white, warm and smooth to the touch like polished jade. The blade shimmered faintly with the same pale gold glow unique to Northern Sea Black Iron.

She tried swinging the “Black Iron Sword.”

The air rang faintly, like tiny bells chiming.

The golden blade seemed to merge into the very air the moment it moved, only to slowly reappear when still.

Yan Jue then tried reshaping the black iron into a staff, a saber, and other weapons.

The metal transformed into every shape she desired.

Delight rose in her heart. It seemed she truly had mastered the complete Spirit Linking Technique!

Second matter:

Yan Jue closed her eyes again.

When she opened them, a faint golden light flickered within.

Her consciousness sank sharply, her back tensing instinctively.

Something slowly emerged from above her head. Yan Jue looked into the bronze mirror before her and saw a horrifying, ferocious red fox head.

The red fox’s teeth were razor sharp, its eyes glowing gold.

“…”
A bit frightening, honestly.

It seemed the original body’s Red Fox bloodline was far stronger than she had expected.

At least she would have one more method of protecting herself in future fights.

While she was experimenting with her newfound abilities, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Yan Jue opened it and found the soft, rosy face of little Jia Ni.

After a few days of rest, the girl no longer looked like the malnourished child from the cave. Dressed in a clean white shirt, she had regained some color.

Yan Jue smiled warmly. “How have you been resting?”

Jia Ni said, “I’m doing very well.”

She looked up at Yan Jue, bit her lip, and asked, “Big Sister… are you leaving?”

Yan Jue sat down at the table. The girl followed her like a little tail.

Yan Jue said, “We’ll be leaving Little Apricot Village tomorrow.”

Jia Ni whispered, “Sister, I don’t want you to go.”

Yan Jue smiled. “I don’t want to leave you either.”

The little girl blushed, then reached into her bag and slowly took out something.

Yan Jue blinked.

A piece of broken purple jade.

Jia Ni held it out to her. “Before I came to Little Apricot Village, my mother gave this to me. It’s my favorite thing. I want to give it to you.”

Jia Ni probably didn’t realize that while whole jade could be valuable, broken jade sometimes wasn’t worth anything.

But seeing her offer the most precious thing she had, Yan Jue was moved. She accepted the jade with a gentle smile. “Thank you.”

Fengxian Town was the last small town of the Southwest Region.

Though the Southwest had vast territory, there were few towns only Qingye Town, Nanxing Town, and Fengxian Town.

Villages made up the majority.

Originally, sword flight would have been much faster. But when Qi Xianqing expressionlessly asked if Yan Jue would stand with her on Candle Shadow, Yan Jue had immediately refused with righteous indignation.

She said, exasperated, “The two of us riding on one sword? Does that sound proper?”

“Candle Shadow likes you very much.”
Qi Xianqing sat on a chair, slowly cleaning her immortal sword Candle Shadow, eyelids lowered. “And in the past, I often carried a junior sister when I left the mountain.”

As if to prove her words, Candle Shadow trembled happily in her arms.

Yan Jue muttered, “…So you’ve taken other junior sisters down the mountain too.”

For some reason, a faint, unpleasant feeling rose in her chest weak, but uncomfortable then vanished.

Qi Xianqing said, “Often during the Enlightenment Stage. Much less after reaching the Fusion Stage.”

Yan Jue let out a breath. “Oh.”

Qi Xianqing glanced at her and subtly curved her eyes.

Having just bathed, Yan Jue looked refreshed and bright. Her dark hair was tied up high, and she sat upright as she asked, “When do we depart?”

Qi Xianqing replied, “There is something that must be handled first.”

She took out a glazed bottle.

The bottle shimmered with pale golden light, and a ghost suppressing talisman was affixed to its center.

Yan Jue immediately recognized it…it was the reward bestowed by Suyang Celestial Master in the cave.

Inside, sealed, was the headless vicious ghost that had tormented Little Apricot Village.

Qi Xianqing said, “We should release it.”

Yan Jue asked, “How do we do that?”

Qi Xianqing placed the Spirit-Transforming Pearl on the table.

After resting overnight, she had already fully attuned it to herself.

She closed her eyes and recited an incantation; the pearl glowed softly.

At the same time, the bottle cap sprang open. The headless female ghost drifted out in confusion, slowly turning her empty neck.

Gentle light fell upon her. She suddenly sensed something and began twisting violently, faint blue smoke rising from her body.

The smoke grew thicker and thicker.

After about half a cup of tea, the ghost dissipated completely, and the pearl’s light dimmed.

Such a gentle light…

Yan Jue looked at the pearl and couldn’t help twitching her lips.

Was this really the same Spirit Transforming Pearl that little Daoist boy used back then?

Qi Xianqing put the pearl away, picked up Candle Shadow, and stood. “Let’s go.”

Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue left Luoyun Mountain in their donkey cart. They rattled along the mountain road for a long while.

By late afternoon, Yan Jue, half-dozing in the cart, suddenly heard approaching hoof beats.

A group of mounted men rode toward them, pulling many large crates clearly a merchant caravan.

The leader saw people ahead and quickly reined in his horse. He bowed. “Miss, how much farther till the next village?”

Yan Jue pointed. “Follow this road for another hour. Once you go up the slope, you’ll reach it.”

The caravan leader bowed. “Thank you.”

Yan Jue smiled. “Where are you headed?”

He replied, “Jiangnan. Goods sell well in Jiangnan.”

Hearing the word Jiangnan, Yan Jue felt a wave of wistfulness.

The world was vast the Southwest Region where Five Dragons Mountain lay was only a tiny corner. There were countless places she had never seen.

Where would she go in the future?

After bidding farewell to the caravan, they resumed their journey.

Her original plan was to return to the sect, get her identity token, and then escape but once they reached Fengxian Town later, she still needed to explore its surroundings.

After all, Fengxian Town and the area around Luoyun Mountain were the routes she would have to pass through to escape…

Yan Jue had wondered many times whether she could truly flee.

If the Heavenly Dao intended her to be merely a fortuitous encounter for the male lead, then…

Her determination had been strong at first. But now, as the day approached, she was no longer so certain.

While she debated escape, Qi Xianqing suddenly asked, “Junior Sister said she was from the north. What customs does the north have?”

She was giving her another impossible question. Yan Jue could only improvise: “Northern girls are very warm and enthusiastic.”

Qi Xianqing pressed her lips together. “And what amusements does the north offer?”

Yan Jue replied, “We’re very poor there. For fun we play pitch-pot. Nothing as entertaining as the Central Plains.”

“Our northern women all love helping others and consider chivalry a life principle!”

For some reason ever since leaving the cave, Qi Xianqing had been acting oddly. Like she was looking for excuses to talk to her.

A bit… well-behaved.

After listening, Qi Xianqing murmured, “No wonder.”

Northern women were helpful by nature.

No wonder she was willing to guard my breakthrough, Qi Xianqing thought, feeling an inexplicable wave of disappointment.

Typically, only dual cultivation partners guarded each other’s breakthroughs.

And she had thought Yan Jue…!