Chapter 75: She Said I Was Her Junior Sister
“Who exactly is she talking to?”
Huang Qi looked around. After all, the person being called was “Junior Sister Hong Ling.” He was neither called “Hong Ling” nor was he a junior sister.
“What are you looking at?”
Fairy Lingyu walked towards him, slapping Huang Qi on the shoulder casually. Her fair jade-like hand was as soft as boneless, like a spring willow branch brushing past, stirring up a faint, sweet scent. This intimate gesture contrasted sharply with her cold and stunning appearance.
Huang Qi’s entire body stiffened instantly, his heart almost exploding, because she was indeed looking for him.
“How is this possible?”
Huang Qi’s body trembled slightly. He was currently wearing a human skin mask, which meant that Fairy Lingyu recognized “it,” not himself. This could lead to a very serious consequence: once exposed, he would be suspected of impersonating someone, and worse, impersonating Fairy Lingyu’s junior sister.
If he were facing an ordinary person, Huang Qi could still argue his way out. But the person in front of him was a fairy from the HongHua Sect, with unfathomable cultivation, holding a treasure sword. It was possible he wouldn’t even get a chance to explain.
“Old Zhang, don’t stare at her like that. Haven’t you noticed the waist token the girl in white is wearing?”
“What’s wrong with a waist token?”
“That’s the identification token of a Grand Elder from the HongHua Sect. Do you want to die?”
…
Just then, the faint discussions of passers-by reached Huang Qi’s ears.
Huang Qi subconsciously lowered his head and saw that a rectangular silver waist token was indeed hanging from Fairy Lingyu’s slender waist. In the center, the characters “Grand Elder” were deeply engraved. The upper left corner bore the sect’s name, “HongHua Sect,” and the lower right corner had the owner’s name, “Ruan Lingyu.” This was the so-called Grand Elder’s waist token, an identification certificate issued by the Immortal Alliance to cultivators.
Seeing this Grand Elder’s waist token, Huang Qi’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. He had joined the HongHua Sect at the age of ten and cultivated diligently for fifteen years, all for the sake of obtaining this small waist token. However, he had never succeeded until he was expelled, and he was even ridiculed as a “cultivation hermit.”
“I have already been expelled from the HongHua Sect, and I am not familiar with Ruan Lingyu. If my identity is exposed, she will definitely not show me mercy.”
Thinking of this, Huang Qi fell into fear. Because he was afraid of being exposed, he dared not make a sound.
“What’s wrong with you? Why does your face look so strange?”
Ruan Lingyu stared intently at Huang Qi with a scrutinizing gaze, and the doubt on her pretty face grew heavier.
Huang Qi’s eyes flickered evasily, and his heart was about to leap out of his throat. He really didn’t want to sit and wait for death, so he resorted to a desperate measure, pointing at his mouth and shaking his head repeatedly.
“Do you have a toothache?”
Ruan Lingyu suddenly realized, and the doubt on her pretty face immediately disappeared.
Huang Qi instantly saw a glimmer of hope and nodded eagerly.
“That’s not right, Junior Sister Hong Ling! As the top expert of the HongHua Sect, how could you have a toothache?”
Ruan Lingyu asked again in surprise.
“The top expert of the HongHua Sect? Isn’t the Sect Leader the top expert of the HongHua Sect?”
Huang Qi was dumbfounded. He had stayed in the HongHua Sect for several years, but he had never heard of such a person. Could it be a genius who had risen recently in the past two years? But why was there no news from the outside? Was it because Ping’an County Town was too remote? However, regardless of the reason, impersonating the top expert of the HongHua Sect was an even greater offense. Once exposed, he would have nowhere to be buried.
Huang Qi almost burst into tears. He never dreamed that by casually picking up a human skin mask, he would look exactly like a peerless fairy from the HongHua Sect.
“That’s right, you wouldn’t have a wisdom toothache, right? You told me before.”
Ruan Lingyu thoughtfully analyzed after a moment of silence.
Huang Qi never expected that she would find an excuse for him and immediately nodded vigorously as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.
“It really is. Shall I take a look for you?”
Ruan Lingyu moved two steps closer with concern. Her body fragrance wafted in the wind, becoming more alluring.
Huang Qi retreated in panic. If it were any other time, he would have been delighted, but under the current circumstances, he absolutely could not let lust cloud his judgment, because the closer he was, the easier it would be to reveal his flaws.
“Heh, you’re still being polite with me. Do we need to be so formal between sisters?”
Ruan Lingyu did not insist but suddenly took Huang Qi’s hand.
Huang Qi felt that soft, boneless touch, and his whole body felt like it had been struck by electricity, his legs turning weak. This was the peerless beauty of the HongHua Sect. He had felt inferior just looking at her before, and now he had inexplicably had “skin-to-skin contact.”
“Huh? Why are your hands so rough?”
Ruan Lingyu seemed to notice something was wrong and lifted Huang Qi’s sleeve.
“It’s bad!”
Huang Qi instantly went from heaven to hell. His human skin mask could only disguise his face; his hands were still a man’s hands. Once she saw them, he was done for. However, facing a fairy, he dared not struggle, because that would only lead to a faster death.
Ruan Lingyu stared intently at Huang Qi’s hands, her expression becoming more and more serious.
Huang Qi was so scared he almost peed himself. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, Ruan Lingyu looked up with a sympathetic expression and said, “Junior Sister, you’ve done very well all these years. There’s no need to force yourself. Look, your hands have been trained like this? How can a young lady not know how to cherish her body?”
Huang Qi was dumbfounded upon hearing this. So, she thought his hands were trained from practicing martial arts? He was momentarily confused.
“Let’s not just stand here foolishly. Let’s find a tea house to sit down.”
Before Huang Qi could react, Ruan Lingyu had already pulled him to a tea house on the street.
The tea house shopkeeper had never seen such beautiful girls, especially one who was a fairy, so his hands trembled as he served tea.
Of course, Huang Qi was trembling even more!
“You should cover your face first.”
Ruan Lingyu suddenly said.
Huang Qi subconsciously wanted to question her, but as the words reached his lips, he realized the current situation and swallowed them back forcefully, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Your face is too eye-catching. Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble?”
Ruan Lingyu leaned in and whispered teasingly, her breath fragrant like orchid.
Huang Qi had long wanted to cover his face. Otherwise, what would happen if someone who recognized this face appeared later? Unfortunately, he searched everywhere but found nothing to cover his face with, so he could only smile helplessly.
“I really don’t know what to do with you!”
A pampering smile appeared on Ruan Lingyu’s face. She then took out a light pink handkerchief from her embrace and personally tied it on Huang Qi, covering his astonishingly beautiful human skin mask.
Huang Qi felt much more at ease. A pleasant fragrance entered his nostrils with his breath, and his head immediately felt dizzy.
“By the way, why did you come to a place like this?”
Ruan Lingyu sat down again and asked.
Huang Qi came back to his senses and vaguely shook his head. As the saying goes, “too much talking leads to mistakes,” and doing too much is the same.
“I understand. You’re here to relax, right? That’s good, walking around more can help you forget unpleasant things!”
Ruan Lingyu guessed shrewdly again.
“What unpleasant things?”
Huang Qi was very curious but didn’t dare to ask.
Ruan Lingyu continued, “I just arrived in the countryside to deal with a ghost haunting incident. I didn’t expect to run into you, such a coincidence. Shall we go back together?”
Huang Qi’s heart tightened, and he shook his head desperately again. After spending such a short time with her, he felt like he was going to collapse. How could he dare to follow her back to the HongHua Sect.
“Alright then, I won’t force you. But I think you should return to the HongHua Sect as soon as possible, otherwise, Master will worry.”
Ruan Lingyu advised earnestly.
Huang Qi nodded obediently, only hoping that this peerless fairy would leave soon. It wasn’t the time yet.
“By the way, this is the twenty taels of silver I lent you last time. Here you go.”
After sitting for a while longer, Ruan Lingyu finally got up to leave, leaving behind two ingots of gleaming silver.
Huang Qi’s eyes instantly lit up. He had never seen so much money in his life! Twenty taels of silver was enough to buy two oxen.
For a moment, Huang Qi even forgot his fear, but his conscience quickly overcame his desires. He wanted to speak up and stop her, but the words got stuck in his throat, and he forced them back. He could only frantically grab Ruan Lingyu’s jade-like hand and shake his head desperately in refusal.
“I know you don’t treat me as an outsider, but your cultivation is high, and you consume a lot of resources. You need money, so don’t refuse.”
Ruan Lingyu, however, was insistent. She broke free from Huang Qi’s hand and left gallantly.
Thus, Huang Qi could only watch the beautiful fairy leave. Not only did he trick her out of a fragrant handkerchief, but he also “embezzled” twenty taels of silver. What was even worse was that he also grabbed her little hand.
“Oh dear, if this noble fairy knew that not only am I not Junior Sister Hong Ling, but also a man…”
Huang Qi’s hair stood on end upon thinking this. He immediately grabbed the silver and fled towards the inn like a fleeing rabbit. After this narrow escape, he no longer dared to disguise himself as a woman. Let him lose face, it was better than losing his life.
Ignoring the innkeeper’s confused gaze, Huang Qi rushed headlessly back to his room and plopped down on a stool.
Huang Qi first found the edge of the human skin mask in the bronze mirror, then reached out to try and pull it off, but a terrifying thing happened. The mask was tightly adhered to his face and could not be moved at all.
“That’s not right. I’ve worn it a few times before, why could I take it off so easily?”
Huang Qi was puzzled. He pulled at it with both hands, but after several attempts, there was still no effect. Instead, it tore the skin around the edges.
“I can’t take it off! I simply can’t take it off!”
Huang Qi covered his face, bewildered. A chill suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.
