Chapter 334 The Great Female Protagonist, Inside and Outside the Room
The blue smoke rising from the incense burner swirled above the chessboard. Xiao Yunluo had already calmed down and was seriously playing this game called “Five in a Row” with Pei Lianxue. For her, who had read many Go strategy books, this game with simplified rules posed no difficulty. She had lost many rounds to Pei Lianxue earlier because her mind wasn’t on the game.
But this round—
Tap—
Four pieces were connected in a row. Xiao Yunluo smiled slightly and said, “Hmph hmph~ Lianxue, you lost this time.”
Pei Lianxue stared blankly at the chessboard. She had been winning all along, but faced with a serious Xiao Yunluo, she lost in just ten moves. She immediately pouted, “Yunluo, why did you suddenly become so good?”
“I lost to you before because it was my first time playing this… once I got familiar with the rules…”
Dong—
A dull thud accompanied by a slight tremor broke the tranquility of the entire inn. Both Xiao Yunluo and Pei Lianxue immediately became alert. Even Parrot, who was struggling to gnaw through a dried fish, flapped its wings and turned its head towards the room door.
Immediately after, hurried footsteps echoed.
Tap tap—
Parrot’s beak parted slightly, and it chirped, “Ye Tianchong!! Ye Tianchong!!”
?
Before Xiao Yunluo could even ask Parrot where it learned that phrase, the room door was forcefully pushed open from the outside with a “crack.” Ye Anping, who burst into the room, had a very bad expression on his face. The veins on his forehead bulged like mountains, and it was clear that blood was surging through them as if they were about to burst.
Although Pei Lianxue had seen her Senior Brother’s Yang energy outburst many times, this was the first time she had seen him in such a state. She was extremely worried. Forgetting Xiao Yunluo’s presence, she immediately stood up from her seat and quickly ran to embrace Ye Anping, channeling her spiritual energy into his meridians.
Xiao Yunluo watched and reached out, intending to speak. But before she could utter a word, she saw Pei Lianxue stand on her tiptoes and kiss Ye Anping’s lips. She sat stunned before the chessboard, glancing at the game she had just won against Pei Lianxue. For some reason, her chest felt heavy, but she quickly let it go.
Xiao Yunluo gently picked up Parrot, who was still gnawing on the dried fish, and stood up from the chair, walking towards the room door. As she passed the embracing couple, she paused and quietly said, “I won’t disturb you.”
Then, she lifted her skirt, stepped out of the room, and closed the door. Thoughtfully, she took out two soundproofing talismans from her storage bag and affixed them to the outside of the room door.
Leaning against the door, Xiao Yunluo looked up at the inn’s ceiling, her lips pursed slightly. A crystal-clear tear rolled from the corner of her light purple eyes, tracing a path down her round cheeks to her Xuan Xing Sect uniform collar. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and then, holding Parrot, asked, “Parrot, if I hadn’t come out just now, do you think they wouldn’t have minded me staying?”
“In front of you!! In front of you!!”
“They wouldn’t have… they probably would have invited me to join… right?”
Parrot was silent for a moment, then opened its mouth, “You’re so cute!! You’re so cute!!”
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and took out another dried fish from her storage bag, feeding it to Parrot. “What’s so cute? Never mind, I won’t ask you. Let’s go back to mother! She must be terribly lonely all by herself…”
Parrot tilted its head, grabbed the dried fish, and spread its wings from the skylight bars, soaring out of the inn. As soon as Parrot left, Feng Yu Die, who had been cultivating Qi inside the room, also flew out. Seeing Xiao Yunluo squatting alone by the door, she asked in confusion, “Huh? Senior Sister Xiao, what are you doing by the door?”
“Ye Anping is inside with Lianxue… why would I not come out?”
“You could have helped Young Master Ye vent his Yang energy with Junior Sister Pei,” Feng Yu Die said, shrugging slightly. “Young Master Ye’s Yang energy acted up again. I helped him with it last time at Chi Long Mansion.”
?
Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo’s eyes widened, and she was so shocked that she could barely speak, “You… Second… you helped… helped Ye Anping…”
“Yes, and I even earned tens of thousands of spirit stones,” Feng Yu Die grinned. Then, she looked a bit dejected. “I was just about to offer to help him vent his Yang energy and earn some spirit stones, but he rushed out to find Junior Sister Pei. What a shame.”
After she said this, Xiao Tian, who had flown into the room earlier, also flew back out through the door. 『Alright, hurry back and continue practicing your Profound Yin Art, or Anping won’t buy you roast chicken tomorrow. Anping is fine, Miss Pei is helping him.』
Hearing Xiao Tian say that Ye Anping was alright, Feng Yu Die felt a little relieved and asked, “Young Master Ye has booked this inn. Senior Sister Xiao, why don’t you find a room to rest?”
Xiao Yunluo slightly raised her dislocated jaw. “Ah… no… no need.”
“Then I’ll go back to my room. Call me if you need anything!” Feng Yu Die turned and went back to her room to continue comprehending the Profound Yin Art.
Watching Feng Yu Die return to her room and close the door, Xiao Yunluo was still lost in thought. So, Lianxue wasn’t the only one who was ahead of her. Second… And… Chi Long Mansion? When was that? How did she not know? Back then, wasn’t Second with her in Chi Long Mansion? When did she…
“…Does Lianxue know?”
—
The stars shifted, and time moved towards the pre-dawn hours.
“Riiiiip—” A sound, accompanied by the opening of a door. The soundproofing talismans Xiao Yunluo had stuck to the door were torn in half from the inside. Ye Anping, fully dressed, stepped over the threshold and saw Xiao Yunluo leaning against the door outside, wrapped in a blanket. The blanket didn’t look like something she had put on herself; it seemed someone had seen her sleeping there and covered her with it.
Just as Ye Anping was wondering if Si Xuanji had secretly visited, Xiao Tian flew out from Feng Yu Die’s room. It landed on Ye Anping’s shoulder and poked his face with its hand. 『Fei Die covered her. Little Miss Xiao has been guarding the door for you two for half the night.』
“Is that so…”
Xiao Tian looked at Xiao Yunluo and felt quite pitiful. It covered its mouth and snickered, 『Anping, you’re quite heartless~』
“It couldn’t be helped.”
『Then when will you pamper Fei Die? Fei Die was worried about you just now.』
“How is her Profound Yin Art cultivation going?”
『While you and Miss Pei were busy, she reached the third level and her cultivation also broke through. She just came out to get a blanket for Little Miss Xiao and went back to sleep.』
“Just now?” Ye Anping was silent for a moment. The cultivation he received from the previous settlement was a bit more than usual. He had even shared some with his Junior Sister earlier. Now, he had broken through the bottleneck of Mid Foundation Establishment, and his Junior Sister had even reached the False Core stage. After a moment of silence, he decided to examine his and Feng Yu Die’s meridians later. He then crouched down, approached Xiao Yunluo, and picked her up from the ground.
“Ugh…” Feeling herself being lifted, Xiao Yunluo slowly opened her eyes. Upon seeing Ye Anping holding her, her drowsy consciousness instantly cleared. “You…”
“Sleeping here will definitely leave you sore. Go sleep on the bed.”
“Bed… on the bed?!” Xiao Yunluo seemed overly sensitive, her eyes widening. “Could it be… you’re going to… me too…”
Ye Anping made a clear clicking sound with his tongue and interrupted in a rather cold voice, “Calm down.”
“Ah…” Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo realized she was speaking nonsense out of nervousness. After a moment, she quietly asked, “Ye Anping, you and Second… Feng Yu Die…”
“What about me and her?”
“When you were at Chi Long Mansion, you already… did Dual Cultivation?”
?
『?』
Two question marks, one large and one small, instantly appeared above Ye Anping and Xiao Tian on his shoulder.
