Chapter 156 Senior Sister, We’re Putting on a Show
Cicada—cicada—
The mist was vast, the cicada song mournful.
Xiao Yunluo felt a sudden heat rise in her chest, flooding her cheeks, and her mind went blank.
The slightly rippling pool water splashed against her navel. Clang, clang. But she remained motionless for a long time. It wasn’t until the deep purple eyes looking at her blinked that she snapped back to attention.
Xiao Yunluo quickly covered her chest and bent over, involuntarily opening her mouth to scream.
“Ah…”
However, seeing her reaction, Ye Anping’s eyes narrowed. He thought that if she screamed, it might cause bigger trouble. He instantly weighed the pros and cons and raised his right hand to the water’s surface, pressing his thumb against his middle finger, making a flicking motion.
With a “biu,” a water droplet, propelled by his fingernail, flew rapidly towards Xiao Yunluo.
Xiao Yunluo didn’t even have time to react. Just as she let out the first sound, the flying water droplet flew into her wide-open mouth, hitting her uvula. As a result, she instinctively closed her mouth, gasped for air, and coughed violently.
“Ah… cough, cough, cough—cough, cough, cough—”
Tears streamed from her eyes as she coughed. After a while, she looked up at Ye Anping again and saw him place his right index finger to his lips, shaking his head slightly, as if telling her to be quiet.
Xiao Yunluo’s lips parted slightly, and she stood there covering her chest, unable to react. She now felt Ye Anping was utterly unreasonable!
How could he… how could he…
How could he remain so composed in such a situation.
He had clearly seen both her and Li Longling, yet his face didn’t even flush.
She had read in books that gentlemen who accidentally glimpsed women bathing or changing would turn away and apologize, while those who peeked intentionally would show a hint of lewdness in their eyes and on their faces.
But Ye Anping’s expression was calm and steady, as if… he had no interest in her body at all.
For some reason, Xiao Yunluo wasn’t too repulsed. Instead, she felt a bit annoyed and angry.
“Senior Sister Xiao, what’s wrong? Did you choke on water?”
Li Longling’s worried voice came, snapping Xiao Yunluo back to attention. She quickly half-crouched, submerging herself below the pool’s surface from the neck down. A layer of water and wood spiritual energy spread above the water, blocking both vision and spiritual sense, serving as her covering.
She glanced at Ye Anping’s expression again. After a moment’s hesitation, she replied:
“I accidentally tripped on a rock at the bottom of the pool. I’m fine.”
“That’s good. Senior Sister Xiao, be careful… I should have had someone come and repair it earlier, perhaps by laying glazed tiles at the bottom.”
“Mm…”
Xiao Yunluo’s gaze couldn’t help but shift from Ye Anping’s face downwards. Upon seeing his collarbone, a blush uncontrollably spread across her cheeks. She suddenly realized that Ye Anping was also unclothed right now…
Now that Ye Anping had seen her naked, perhaps she could ask him to show her something later? Back when she was building her foundation in the Hundred Lotus Sect, she had found Ye Anping’s physique very alluring, but at least he had been wearing trousers then.
Moreover, although there were illustrations in the ancient texts, even with animated black and white ink, they couldn’t compare to seeing it with her own eyes.
As the book described: A flexible iron rod, a wish-fulfilling golden cudgel. A sky-supporting jade pillar, a mountain-propping purple gold beam. It can be long or short, thick or thin, retractable at will, capable of both stabilizing mountains and seas and causing chaos in the heavens.
She was so curious, so very curious.
Besides, Ye Anping was the one she admired. What was wrong with looking?
What if Yun Xi was right, and she was Ye Anping’s cultivation partner? Then Ye Anping could see her every day.
Thinking this, Xiao Yunluo suddenly felt it wasn’t such a loss. She patted her cheeks and slowly moved closer to Ye Anping.
?
Why are you coming closer?
Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo’s expression, his eyes narrowing. He suspected her intentions, but since Li Longling was also present, he couldn’t speak up. He could only frown and signal her not to come closer, lest Li Longling notice.
However, Xiao Yunluo completely lacked the courage to look directly into Ye Anping’s eyes. She lowered her head and walked to Ye Anping’s right, leaning against the rock. After a moment, she frowned and glared at Ye Anping.
—Why are you here?!
She tried to use her eyes to make Ye Anping feel guilty, thus gaining the upper hand.
After all, when a man saw a woman’s body, no matter the circumstances, the man was in the wrong. Otherwise, why could men walk around topless, but women couldn’t?
Of course, demonic cultivators were an exception.
However, seeing her demeanor, Ye Anping showed no intention of submitting. His gaze remained deep and steady.
—I was here first.
At this moment, hearing Xiao Yunluo’s prolonged silence, Li Longling seemed a little scared and asked:
“Senior Sister Xiao, where are you?”
“Ah… here.” Xiao Yunluo answered without thinking.
?
Ye Anping’s brows furrowed instantly. He looked at her in disbelief, his eyes filled with strong dissatisfaction, as if asking: Are you deliberately setting me up, or are you just stupid?
Xiao Yunluo didn’t understand Ye Anping’s gaze and didn’t react. Only in the next moment did she suddenly realize why he had such a frightening look.
She saw Li Longling pushing the pool water forward with her hands, following the sound towards Xiao Yunluo.
“Ah…”
Xiao Yunluo immediately reached out to stop her but didn’t know what to say and stood frozen.
“What’s wrong?”
Li Longling looked confused. At this moment, her hand touched Ye Anping’s left shoulder. When she felt his shoulder, she was startled.
“Sorry… Senior Sister Xiao, may I lean on you a bit? It’s quite scary being in the water alone and not being able to see.”
“…”
Xiao Yunluo was speechless. She watched as Li Longling touched Ye Anping’s shoulder and sat down to his right.
Ye Anping felt his vision darken.
If he had known Xiao Yunluo was so clumsy, he should have just shouted and escaped on his flying sword, enduring the maids’ scolding. Now, he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.
This incident was worth reflecting on. He hadn’t misjudged a situation in a long time. Next time, he would definitely slip away immediately. However, since the loss had already occurred, what he should do now was to minimize the damage and prevent Li Longling from knowing he was there.
Li Longling leaned on Ye Anping’s shoulder, but not too tightly. However, her sense of touch was quite acute. After a moment of silence, she asked:
“Senior Sister Xiao, your shoulder is so sturdy?”
Xiao Yunluo had no choice but to play along. She quickly grabbed Ye Anping’s shoulder and moved her face closer to Ye Anping’s, to prevent Li Longling from hearing that there was someone between them. She replied:
“Ah… yes. I developed it from practicing swordplay.”
“I see…”
Li Longling reached out and gently squeezed Ye Anping’s left arm, looking down and saying jokingly:
“So Senior Sister Xiao is like this. I heard your voice before, so sweet and melodious, and I thought you must be a slender woman. I didn’t expect you to have such a strong and graceful physique…”
“…”
“Ah… I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s good for a woman to be sturdy. And Senior Sister Xiao’s skin is quite smooth…”
“I usually add some medicinal solution when I bathe, um…”
“When I was young, I would bathe in the pools at Chi Long Mansion. My father would usually have maids accompany me in the water to prevent me from choking or anything… Although many years have passed, I’m still not used to this feeling of the water enveloping my body. Please excuse me, Senior Sister Xiao.”
“No, no, lean on me… okay.”
…
The two of them ended up chatting about everyday matters.
Ye Anping, squeezed between them, had a dark expression. In the end, he simply closed his eyes again, preparing to continue his Qi Cultivation, while also monitoring their conversation lest the clumsy Xiao Yunluo expose his presence.
However, speaking of which, Xiao Yunluo’s current posture made him somewhat uncomfortable.
To prevent being discovered, she had to bring her mouth close to Li Longling when speaking. Thus, she was now almost pressed against his body.
A few strands of light purple hair were lifted by the water surface, tickling his neck, causing a slight itch.
…
