Transmigrated as the Villainous Love Rival of the Abusive Novel's Heroine [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 23.1

Chapter 23.1: Defining Ties

Three days later, Yun Qianxue stood at the edge of the Zhou Tian Pavilion, waiting for Long Qin.

A breeze blew past, and the cloying, sweet fragrance made Yun Qianxue’s brow furrow slightly.

Long Qin appeared along with the scent, having changed her demonic aura once again; this time, it felt like the essence of an osmanthus demon.

She circled Yun Qianxue twice, tilting her head and winking with a coquettish laugh: “I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Yun Qianxue glanced at her coldly and said flatly, “Since you’ve already returned the Zhou Tian Seals you stole from Jiameng, hurry to Senior Qing’s side. Do not waste time.”

They had previously agreed on a ruse: they would deceive Yin Shaoqing by claiming Long Qin was taking Yun Qianxue out to the world for experience and training.

“Fine, fine~”

Sensing Yun Qianxue’s displeasure, Long Qin backed off with a wave of her hand.

“I’m going now,” she said.

But after two steps, she turned back. After a moment of thought, she said, “I did this for the sake of the entire Demon Race. I apologize for forcing you into a difficult choice, but I had no other way.”

“I hope you can understand.”

With that, Long Qin headed toward the Kuixing Pavilion.

Once Long Qin was out of sight, Yun Qianxue let out a cold laugh.

Understand?

Understand what? Long Qin’s greedy selfishness, or her double-dealing nature?

If it were about understanding her “ugly face,” Yun Qianxue already saw it clearly; she just didn’t know if Senior Qing would realize it too.

Yun Qianxue took out the handkerchief and pressed it against her lips.

Though no one saw it, it was a bold gesture. Her cheeks flushed slightly. She gave a light cough, put the handkerchief away, and walked toward the Diming Gate.

Since there was a good show to watch, she had to bring her “daughter” along.

Unaware of Yun Qianxue’s movements, Long Qin was currently in the Kuixing Pavilion, smiling broadly as she engaged in a battle of wits with Yin Shaoqing.

“That little girl of yours wants to go to the Demon Realm with me to see the world and gain some experience. What do you say? Will you let her go?”

Long Qin was all smiles, looking harmless and cute.

Hearing this, Yin Shaoqing lazily lifted her eyelids. Her dark eyes flickered with displeasure as she asked coldly, “She told you that?”

“Of course~”

Long Qin leaned on the table, looking at her straightforward, easily-deceived old friend. With a sliver of guilt, she said, “She probably didn’t want to keep troubling you, which is why she approached me two days ago.”

Yin Shaoqing’s hand, which was lighting incense, stopped.

Suddenly, she laughed.

The laughter made Long Qin uneasy. She sat up straight, alert: “What are you laughing at?”

Yin Shaoqing didn’t answer, but her laughter gradually subsided, and the curve of her lips fell into an expression of extreme displeasure.

She looked Long Qin directly in the eyes, peering through the deceptive layer of “cute” skin into the soul hidden within.

“Did you tell her?”

“What?” This abrupt question nearly caught Long Qin off guard, but she reacted quickly. “Tell her what? You mean about the Demon Race?”

Long Qin nodded with a look of feigned distress. “I did mention many things about the Demon Race. After all, if she’s going to visit the clan, she shouldn’t be completely ignorant.”

Yin Shaoqing swept her wide sleeve, dispelling the sweet scent clinging to Long Qin. She frowned in disgust. “Did you tell her about the Heaven-Locking Chain, the Heavenly Gate, or did you tell her about me?”

She hated beating around the bush; it was better to speak directly than to play guessing games.

Long Qin’s heart thumped. She instinctively defended herself: “I did not. I said nothing. How can you wrong me? We’ve been friends for so many years, yet you don’t understand me at all.”

“I don’t understand you.” Yin Shaoqing didn’t even look at her. she flicked a stray peach blossom petal off her hem—one could never be too careful with things trying to cling to her.

“I only understand her.” She spoke the words effortlessly.

It was calm and natural, like the flow of spiritual energy.

She believed that Yun Qianxue would never let a stranger take her to the Demon Realm, for the girl was neither mindless nor ignorant.

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong~” Long Qin let out a long breath.

She intentionally elongated her tone: “Cultivators prioritize training. Gaining experience is a must.”

“If there’s training to be done, I am here. Why would it fall to you?”

Yin Shaoqing sneered. She swung her sleeve, and the doors of the Kuixing Pavilion slammed wide open.

Her clear voice carried a terrifying fury: “Get out. You aren’t worthy of accompanying her!”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Long Qin felt her pride wounded and grew angry.

She was a dignified Demon King; how humiliating would it be to be kicked out by a mere witch!

“I told you to get lost. Do you not understand human speech?” Yin Shaoqing stood up, the Tiangang Sword in hand, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Seeing this, Long Qin’s face turned pale and green with embarrassment. She bit her lip and shouted, “You can’t be this unreasonable! You have to at least tell me why you’re kicking me out!”

“You want to know?” For the sake of the Heaven-Locking Chain she brought from afar, Yin Shaoqing deigned to explain.

“Qianxue’s cultivation may be lacking, but her mind is much sharper than yours.”

She suspected Yun Qianxue had been threatened by Long Qin and feigned agreement to some demand. Instead, she had suggested Long Qin lie to her as a way to “report” the situation to Yin Shaoqing.

She trusted Yun Qianxue’s caution and intelligence, and Yun Qianxue trusted that her care and understanding were genuine and would see through the ruse.

Recalling what Jiameng had told her, Yin Shaoqing was certain: someone so clingy to her would never allow anyone else to accompany them on a journey.

“In cultivation, you are beneath me. In worldly experience, you are inferior to me. In teaching others, you cannot compare to me.”

Yin Shaoqing walked forward slowly, looking down at her selfish old friend. “But there is one thing where I am indeed inferior to you.”

Long Qin remained silent, her hands clenched in her sleeves.

Sure enough.

The woman in black, with her cold and graceful bearing, said indifferently: “In backstabbing and plotting, I am not one ten-thousandth of your equal.”

Others use intimacy to help friends; Long Qin used it to scheme against them.

It was just a pity. In the past, when Long Qin schemed against her, she was too lazy to bother with this “hybrid dragon.”

But now, even if she didn’t care, someone else was watching out for her.

Yun Qianxue had suppressed her cultivation and wasn’t sure what kind of “friendship” existed between the two, so she couldn’t choose how to handle this double-dealer.

So, she made an excuse to let Long Qin deliver herself to the door. From beginning to end, Yin Shaoqing knew every word Long Qin spoke was a lie.

She understood Yun Qianxue’s intent: the young girl wanted her to make her own choice—whether to keep this person around after seeing the ugliness of the Demon Race.

“Therefore, I forbid you from pestering Jiameng.” Yin Shaoqing pressed the Tiangang Sword against Long Qin’s throat, forcing her out of the pavilion.

Her voice was chillingly cold: “You are not worthy of her.”

Long Qin was a qualified King—she loved her people and would sacrifice everything for her race—but she was by no means a good person for a relationship.

This turn of events left Long Qin in disarray. It wasn’t until she was pushed out of the Kuixing Pavilion and saw Yun Qianxue standing outside with Jiameng, casually peeling lotus seeds and watching the show, that she realized she had been played.

“You dared to lie to me?!”

Long Qin’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe a mere Golden Core human cultivator had dared to set a trap for her.

It had been years since anyone dared to play mind games with her; she had grown complacent.

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare,” Yun Qianxue waved her hand with a smile.

The moment Long Qin entered the Lotus River Dock, she had used her pressure to intimidate her. Yun Qianxue didn’t dare to have a fallout then.

What if she had refused and Long Qin flipped out and kidnapped her?

If she were taken hostage, wouldn’t that threaten Senior Qing?

Moreover, since this disgusting person was actually Senior Qing’s “friend,” Yun Qianxue feigned agreement to trick her into going to Yin Shaoqing herself, forcing her to reveal her own ugly interior.

She had set the stage; it was up to the clown, Long Qin, to decide if she would perform.

Clearly, she had zero regard for her friendship with Yin Shaoqing, opening her mouth only to spill lies.

Long Qin instinctively looked at Jiameng, who was eating lotus seeds with Yun Qianxue. Her gaze was so intense that Jiameng shifted uncomfortably.

Jiameng pursed her lips and whispered, “Don’t look at me. I can’t help you.”

Yin Shaoqing remained silent, wanting to see what Jiameng would choose.

Yun Qianxue let out a snort, stuffed the bowl of lotus seeds into Jiameng’s arms, and asked her directly: “Do you like this bastard?”

A shameless creature who hung around flower houses and made all sorts of excuses?

“How is that possible?” Jiameng’s eyes widened as she blurted out: “I only treat her as a daughter!”

With Long Qin’s small, petite body and cute face, it was no different from raising a daughter.

How could a mother get involved with her daughter?!

Furthermore, now that she saw Long Qin’s true colors, Jiameng decided to kick this rebellious child out of the house!

She didn’t want her anymore.

“Presumptuous!” Hearing this, the mock affection on Long Qin’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a surge of murderous intent aimed at Jiameng.

Jiameng and Yun Qianxue didn’t even bother to dodge. They continued eating lotus seeds while watching their domineering and cold Yin Shaoqing kick the bastard away.

After a heavy kick, Yin Shaoqing wasn’t satisfied; she swung the Tiangang Sword and slammed it into Long Qin’s face.

The force was so great that it actually cracked the golden dragon scales that had emerged to protect her.

“Among four people traveling together, there must be two elders, one child, and one grandchild.”

Yin Shaoqing stepped on the fallen Long Qin, grinding her heel down with a cold snort: “If you don’t want to be the grandchild, then crawl back to your Demon Race and don’t let me see you again.”

These words meant a total severance of ties.

Why keep someone who dared to threaten Yun Qianxue?

Long Qin’s face contorted, malice and killing intent flashing in her eyes, but knowing she couldn’t beat Yin Shaoqing, she had to endure in silence.

Once Yin Shaoqing withdrew her foot, she scrambled up in a sorry state, scurrying away.

But Yin Shaoqing called her back again. “Hand over the Heaven-Locking Chain.”

Long Qin completely lost it. Insulting her was one thing, but she wanted to snatch the artifact too?

“Don’t push it too far!” Long Qin hissed, her eyes blazing. “Do you really think my Demon Race has no one?!”

Did this damned witch think that because the Demon Race had been secluded, they lacked powerful masters?

“Stop the nonsense. Your entire clan added together isn’t enough to make a side dish for me,” Yin Shaoqing sneered.

If it weren’t so, would Long Qin, a Demon King, have allowed herself to be kicked and stepped on without fighting to the death?

“Damn it.” Long Qin let out a roar, golden scales faintly appearing—a sign of absolute rage.

Yin Shaoqing was fearless. Her slender finger nudged the Tiangang Sword out of its scabbard, telling Long Qin bluntly: If you dare show your true form, I’ll dare to butcher you.

Dragon roars echoed, dark clouds blotted out the sun, and lightning danced like golden serpents.

Vertical pupils appeared in Long Qin’s golden eyes.

But Yin Shaoqing always lacked patience when facing outsiders.

The Tiangang Sword left its sheath. With one strike, the clouds parted and the sun returned.

Dragon prestige and lightning tribulations were all torn apart like paper.

The instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm, combined with a powerful survival drive, made Long Qin drop the Heaven-Locking Chain and flee the Zhou Tian Pavilion as fast as she could.

She didn’t even dare to leave a parting threat.

Yin Shaoqing watched her pathetic retreat and frowned.

That thing actually possessed a trace of dragon blood; it was truly an insult to the divine beast.

A real dragon that commands the clouds and rends the heavens would never be as cowardly as this fake.

“Well?” Having sent Long Qin away, Yin Shaoqing flashed back to the outside of the Kuixing Pavilion and asked Yun Qianxue this cryptic question.

“Very good.” Surprisingly, Yun Qianxue understood.

She followed up naturally, “I am happy for you, Senior Qing, that you could see clearly and not be deceived by a villain.”

“Ahem…”

Being praised made Yin Shaoqing a bit awkward. She cleared her throat to hide it.

She saw Jiameng watching the excitement with bright eyes and simply grabbed Yun Qianxue. With the flash of a formation, she whisked her away.

Jiameng, who was reaching out to hand a lotus seed to Yun Qianxue, was left holding nothing.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Jiameng marveled at her Venerable One’s thin skin. Holding the bowl, she ran to the peach tree to collapse next to the fat calico cat that was sunbathing like a pancake.

She muttered, “Poor girl, to have fallen for the Venerable One, and to be unlucky enough to have the Venerable One fall for her too.”

“Eww~ how tragic.”

The fat cat nearby twitched its ears in agreement.

The female lead’s taste in people was truly poor.

She just got away from the scum Pan Yang, only to fall into the arms of its host—a sharp-tongued, heartless woman.

Oh boy, let’s have three seconds of silence for her in advance.

Meanwhile, Yun Qianxue, who had been transported to a peach blossom forest, had a deep blush on her face. She didn’t quite dare to look Yin Shaoqing in the eye.

Her heart was thundering, and the tips of her ears were burning. She was likely about to receive Senior Qing’s answer.

Her intuition was always right.

Yin Shaoqing’s arm circled Yun Qianxue’s slender, soft waist. Her throat felt dry, and she didn’t know where to start.

After a moment of silence, she said: “After Jiameng’s teaching and my three days of careful consideration, I think I like you.”

It wasn’t the kind of liking one has for a pet. She spent too much time looking at Yun Qianxue; her every move affected Yin Shaoqing’s state of mind.

Therefore…

Yin Shaoqing tightened her hold on Yun Qianxue’s waist. The words in her mouth were a bit hard to say, so she used her “daughter” as a shield.

She lowered her voice and said, “Jiameng said you like me too… so, let us form a pact…”

“!”

So… so blunt!

Yun Qianxue was terrified by this leap in progress. Like a startled rabbit, she suddenly pulled back out of Yin Shaoqing’s arms.

Her fair, soft hand covered her pink lips. Her face was flushed, and there were faint tears in her apricot eyes.

She was so overwhelmed she couldn’t even speak.

Seeing the usually bold girl scared off, Yin Shaoqing was also at a loss.

She looked away, wondering for a long time how to handle this terrible confession scene.

Finally, she just went with it: “I don’t know how to say romantic things, but I can learn. I won’t lie to you either; as long as it’s possible, I will tell you anything you want to know. And no matter what you need, if you call me, I will be there.”

Yun Qianxue’s long lashes trembled, her heart melting.

She knew Yin Shaoqing wouldn’t say sweet words—this was a sharp-tongued senior who didn’t even know how to comfort people.

But she was willing to learn for her sake…

“You don’t have to answer me right away. Think it over carefully.”

With that, Yin Shaoqing let out a long breath, and her clenched fist hidden in her sleeve relaxed slightly.

Yun Qianxue couldn’t stop her body from trembling. Her soul felt the pain of being torn apart, her eyes were dry, and the face hidden by her hands seemed to be both crying and laughing.

She was so happy.

“Think first. I… I have affairs to handle.” Yin Shaoqing didn’t want to put too much pressure on the girl who was stunned into silence.

She found a random excuse to leave.

The moment she left, Yun Qianxue’s legs went weak, and she slumped to the ground.

She buried her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking—not with tears, but with laughter.

The clouds had parted, the sun had come out, and the spring light had broken through the haze to warm her long-chilled body.

After a hundred years of pain, how could she have ever dared to hope for someone’s true heart?

Now, she had won.

She took out the handkerchief. Lying amidst the peach blossoms that covered the ground, she clutched it to her chest.

Scenting the garden’s fragrance, feeling the wind of the heavens, having won the heart of the one she loved—she would trade it for a lifetime of never parting.

She had waited for this day. It hadn’t been long, but it was rare.

“One thousand one hundred fifty-one, one thousand one hundred fifty-two, one thousand…”

“Jiameng.” Yin Shaoqing’s sudden appearance interrupted Jiameng, who was counting seeds.

Jiameng curled her lip and said dismissively, “That was fast.”

Since she went to seek her love, shouldn’t there be hugging and kissing?

Tsk, her Venerable One was really no good at this.

“Venerable One, did you succeed?” Jiameng stood up, extremely curious.

Recalling Yun Qianxue’s reaction, Yin Shaoqing’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I don’t know.”

She had probably scared the girl; from beginning to end, the other hadn’t said a word.

Jiameng rolled her eyes. She knew it.

Letting a piece of wood pursue someone was a disaster.

Forget about sweet talk; she’d be thanking the heavens if her Venerable One just wasn’t sharp-tongued.

“Forget it. Venerable One, you should just use actions to prove how much you care.”

That was more effective than any sweet words.

True, that’s easier than learning to say nice things.

Yin Shaoqing nodded and drifted away like a wandering soul.

Leaving Jiameng to eat lotus seeds in exasperated silence.

How does someone missing a brain cell find a partner?

And why doesn’t someone as enlightened as me meet anyone good?

The Heavens are biased!

“Fine.” Jiameng sat back down, stroked the fat cat sleeping spread-eagled, and muttered to herself: “I’ll just wait for the other one.”

When those two hadn’t made things clear, they loved to flirt in front of her. Now that it was out in the open, wouldn’t they come to show off?

Tsk, how annoying.

The fat cat sunbathing lazily didn’t fall asleep but twitched its whiskers, mourning for the silly girl in its heart.

Poor child, not only do you have no partner, but you also have to endure those two ‘beasts’ showing off their love.

Tsk, tsk, tsk…

Sure enough, within half a day, Yun Qianxue arrived with a gentle and warm smile.

“Jiameng, if you have nothing to do, accompany me for a stroll around the Zhou Tian Pavilion.”

See?