Ye Chenyan’s peripheral vision swept over the window, which had quietly lifted a crack. Suddenly, he turned the mirror in his hand around and thrust it right in front of Yu Qingtang’s face.
The window gave a creak. The person outside had clearly panicked.
Ye Chenyan curved his lips and simply pretended he had not heard the sound. His gaze fell to the mirror’s surface.
The Object-Reflecting Mirror reflected Yu Qingtang’s face. Any cosmetic illusion vanished completely. Ye Chenyan leaned closer, carefully trying to distinguish where exactly there had been “a tiny bit” of illusion.
He frowned in confusion. “There’s no difference.”
At most, the color of his lips was a little lighter.
The window gave an even louder creak.
Yu Qingtang, who was pretending to sleep, felt his heart give a thump. This seemed to be Senior Sister reminding him that it was time to open his eyes.
He slowly turned his head and opened his eyes as naturally as possible, as if he had just woken up.
Ye Chenyan had already hidden the Object-Reflecting Mirror behind his back. “Was Miss Yu tired today? How come you fell asleep without even covering yourself with a blanket?”
Yu Qingtang guiltily looked away. Only a beat later did he realize—
Wait, no! This kid had barged into his room without permission, and he still had not questioned him about that!
He was just about to speak when Ye Chenyan first showed an apologetic expression. “Ah. I was a little worried just now, so I came in without permission. Miss Yu, please don’t take offense.”
“Earlier, the innkeeper told me that Jinzhou has not been very safe recently. Quite a few female cultivators have gone missing. The Heavenly Music Sect has probably suffered as well. I heard the one they lost was an inner disciple, which is why they are searching everywhere with such fanfare.”
Not merely an inner disciple. The one who had gone missing was their holy maiden.
Yu Qingtang sat upright and nodded seriously. “Mm. Then we should stay alert along the way. If we find any clues, perhaps we can still save someone.”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved with his smile. “Miss Yu has a Bodhisattva’s heart.”
Yu Qingtang laughed dryly twice.
“Oh, right.” Ye Chenyan suddenly took out the mirror from behind his back. “This mirror seems to belong to that cultivator from the Heavenly Music Sect.”
Yu Qingtang instinctively blocked his chest with his hand, but Ye Chenyan had the back of the mirror facing him, while the reflective side faced Ye Chenyan himself.
Ye Chenyan rubbed his nose, somewhat embarrassed. “The Green Fiend Monkey’s hair stole it.”
“I wanted to teach him a lesson, but there was no need to steal his belongings. I was thinking that since Eldest Senior Sister knows him, perhaps we could have Eldest Senior Sister return it on our behalf?”
Yu Qingtang’s gaze drifted. “This... Why don’t you keep it?”
If they returned it, wouldn’t that be the same as openly admitting they had stolen it? That middle-aged cultivator did not look like the type to listen to reason. Even if Eldest Senior Sister stepped in, there would probably still be trouble.
Ye Chenyan hesitated. “But...”
Yu Qingtang pushed the mirror back. “It’s fine. This is something the Heavenly Music Sect mass-produces. Losing one or two mirrors counts as normal wear and tear.”
“You keep it. Uncle Zhang won’t mind.”
In the plot, this mirror appeared at checkpoints all over the place. It was not some precious treasure. Besides, the Green Fiend Monkey’s hair could not steal any truly powerful magical artifacts anyway.
“All right, then.” Only then did Ye Chenyan reluctantly put the mirror away. He turned and took out a tray from his storage ring, setting it on the table.
Yu Qingtang followed the sudden aroma of food and looked over. His eyes widened instantly—
Nascent Soul pork hock!
Ye Chenyan had actually set out a whole table of good dishes.
Yu Qingtang instinctively swallowed. The moment Ye Chenyan turned around, Yu Qingtang immediately changed his expression again and turned his head away as if completely indifferent. “W-what do you mean by this? I already said I don’t like eating meat.”
Ye Chenyan laughed. “You only ate a little. I was afraid you would get hungry at night.”
“This pork hock...” Ye Chenyan’s gaze swept over his face. He cleared his throat. “I ordered it for Eldest Senior Sister. Call her over and eat together.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He looked at Ye Chenyan, then at the pork hock on the table. After a moment of silence, he gave up on himself and sat down at the table. “Forget it. I’ll admit it.”
“I like pork hock too.”
“Pfft... cough!” Ye Chenyan coughed hard, but could not stop smiling at all. He sat down in front of him and nodded firmly. “Actually, I could tell. You definitely like it.”
Yu Qingtang picked up his chopsticks and indignantly poked the pork hock.
He never should have bothered with some persona. It was not as though he planned to spend the rest of his life with this guy. What was he pretending in front of him for?
His Eldest Senior Sister would have to leave sooner or later. After she left, was he supposed to never eat pork hock again? He still had to travel with Long Aotian for about a month. If he only ate vegetarian food, wouldn’t he turn into a rabbit?
If Ye Chenyan disliked it, that would be even better.
Thinking this, he became perfectly confident. “So what! Just because I look like this and I’m a qin cultivator, I’m not allowed to like pork hock?”
“I’m going to eat it anyway!”
He picked up his rice bowl, tore off a piece of meat drenched in sauce, and stuffed a huge bite into his mouth. Then, cheeks bulging, he lifted his chin at Ye Chenyan.
Ye Chenyan propped his chin in his hand and looked at him, smiling even more happily. “You can.”
Then he touched his storage ring again and took out a second pork hock. “So you and Eldest Senior Sister can each have one.”
After a pause, he added, “Or, if you want to keep them all for yourself, you can eat both alone too.”
Yu Qingtang stared at him blankly.
For some reason, Ye Chenyan looked especially happy. Smiling, he reached out and patted Yu Qingtang’s head. “Eat slowly. I’ll leave first.”
He walked out the door, waved at him, and when he closed the door, the smile on his lips had still not gone down.
Yu Qingtang was completely dumbfounded.
The window creaked, and Eldest Senior Sister poked her head in. “Junior Brother, are you eating both?”
Yu Qingtang looked deeply at her. “One and a half.”
“Hehe.” Eldest Senior Sister beamed and skillfully climbed in through the window.
As Yu Qingtang ate the pork hock, he narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. “Eldest Senior Sister, I think he’s actually a pretty good person now.”
“Cough!” Eldest Senior Sister nearly choked on her pork hock. “Stay awake, Little Junior Brother! You know his romantic history. How can you still be fooled by one pork hock?”
Yu Qingtang smacked his lips and raised three fingers. “But today he treated us to three pork hocks.”
Eldest Senior Sister inexplicably grew a little tongue-tied. “Th-three pork hocks in one day does sound like a lot, but we’re cultivators, so... that’s normal.”
“You need to stay awake. He must be likable, or how else could he have tricked so many heavenly favored women into admiring him?”
Whether Yu Qingtang had listened or not, no one could tell. He nodded perfunctorily. “Mm-hmm. I’ll wake up after I finish the pork hock.”
“Tsk.” Eldest Senior Sister looked as if iron had failed to become steel. Suddenly, she slapped the table. “Right! He is not a good person. When you were pretending to sleep just now, he even used the Object-Reflecting Mirror on you!”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened, and he instinctively covered his chest. “Where did he reflect?”
Eldest Senior Sister deliberately kept him in suspense. “One piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
Yu Qingtang hesitated slightly. “The good one.”
Eldest Senior Sister said, “He only reflected your face. If it had gone down just a tiny bit more, your Adam’s apple would have been exposed.”
Yu Qingtang asked again, “And the bad one?”
Eldest Senior Sister clenched her fists. “He said there was no difference.”
Yu Qingtang was somewhat confused. “Aren’t those two pieces of good news?”
“He said there was no difference!” Eldest Senior Sister clenched her fists in disbelief. “I spent the time it takes an incense stick to burn doing your makeup. The curves I concealed, the eyes and brows I softened, my superb technique...”
Yu Qingtang quickly picked up a piece of meat for her to soothe her. “It’s normal that he couldn’t tell. Straight men are all like that.”
Eldest Senior Sister froze. “What does ‘straight man’ mean?”
“Uh...” Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “It means a man whose brain only goes in a straight line and whose thoughts are relatively direct. Mm. Someone who can’t see your delicate technique.”
“Hmph.” Eldest Senior Sister bit into the meat indignantly. “He may be generous, but you cannot be deceived!”
Yu Qingtang nodded vigorously.
“I’m going back to the sect tomorrow,” Eldest Senior Sister said, looking at him deeply. “In a moment, I’ll teach you all the hair and makeup techniques I’ve learned in my entire life. Don’t sleep tonight.”
Yu Qingtang: “...Do I have to learn?”
Eldest Senior Sister’s gaze was resolute.
...
In the room next door, Ye Chenyan tossed the Object-Reflecting Mirror in his hand, bored, as he listened to his Little Junior Sister’s voice coming from the transmission stone.
“Senior Brother—” The young girl’s sweet, charming voice came through. “Why are you still in Jinzhou? The sword technique Master just taught is horribly hard. I can’t learn it. Come back and teach me!”
Ye Chenyan spun the mirror in a flourish. “If you can’t learn it, go find Senior Sister.”
“Hmph, I won’t!” his Little Junior Sister huffed. “Did you find that liar yet?”
Ye Chenyan raised a brow, and a faint smile appeared. “Found him.”
“If you found him, then shouldn’t you come back?” His Little Junior Sister dragged out her tone and wheedled, “Just beat him up and be done with it. He definitely can’t beat you.”
She muttered, “Master and the sect master are both indulging your nonsense too. They even made you a fake betrothal letter. Is a betrothal letter something you can just fake?”
“I have my reasons.” Ye Chenyan laughed. “I won’t be returning to the sect for now. I still need to take him to the Golden Core Competition.”
“What! You...” His Little Junior Sister was about to grow anxious, but seemed to think of something and laughed as well. “Oh—I get it. You’re going to make him lose huge face. Hehe, how wicked.”
Ye Chenyan scratched his chin. “Think of it that way if you like.”
“All right. If you can’t master the sword technique, why aren’t you practicing more? The clumsy bird flies early—”
“You!” His Little Junior Sister was furious. “You’re the clumsy one! I’m not talking to you anymore!”
The transmission stone went silent. Ye Chenyan casually stuffed it back into his storage ring and stared at the wall of his room. That person was just on the other side of it.
He suddenly smiled. “Yu Qingtang.”
Shaking his head, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
Inside the storage ring, the Green Fiend Monkey’s hair flashed.
...
The next morning, Yu Qingtang opened the door with a numb expression, wearing a face that had barely earned Eldest Senior Sister’s approval.
Ye Chenyan stood outside.
His back was turned to Yu Qingtang, and his ears were bright red.
Yu Qingtang grew alert.
What was going on?
“Um...” Ye Chenyan stammered a little, not daring to turn back and look at him. “Miss Yu, the Green Fiend Monkey’s hair, it... uh...”
Yu Qingtang had a certain ominous premonition.
Ye Chenyan suddenly took out his silver battle spear and slowly passed it backward to him. His ears red, he clarified, “I didn’t touch it with my hands!”
Yu Qingtang slowly lowered his head.
That scarlet mandarin-duck bellyband was hanging from the tip of that maniac’s spear.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
The two of them froze at the same time, like two motionless stone statues.
Yu Qingtang took a deep breath and looked away. “You must be mistaken. It might belong to the other room next door.”
Just then, Eldest Senior Sister opened the door to the room next door. “Morning... Hm? Little Junior Sister, your belly—”
Yu Qingtang snatched up the bellyband, threw it into his storage ring, and pounced over to cover her mouth, all in one smooth motion.
Eldest Senior Sister blinked.
Expressionless, Yu Qingtang gestured at her. Eldest Senior Sister nodded slightly, indicating that she understood, and skipped over the topic.
“Ahem.” Eldest Senior Sister cleared her throat, pulled Yu Qingtang over, and brought him in front of Ye Chenyan. “Junior Brother Ye, look. What’s different about him today?”
Ye Chenyan still did not quite dare look at Yu Qingtang. His gaze drifted. “Uh... today, she is wearing a white dress?”
“Tsk.” Eldest Senior Sister looked as if iron had failed to become steel. “I said his face. Look at his face.”
Only then did Ye Chenyan, face red, focus on Yu Qingtang. Somewhat uncertain, he said, “It seems... Miss Yu did not rest well last night?”
Eldest Senior Sister released her hand in disappointment. She shook her head and said with distaste, “Straight man.”
Ye Chenyan’s brows knitted tightly. “What does ‘straight man’ mean?”
Eldest Senior Sister crossed her arms. “It means a man whose brain only goes in a straight line and whose thoughts are direct.”
She even added embellishment on her own. “I think it can be used to refer to foolish men.”
Ye Chenyan instinctively denied it. “I am not a straight man!”
Yu Qingtang was so frightened he almost dropped to his knees. He hurriedly covered Ye Chenyan’s mouth. “You can’t just say things like that!”
Author’s Note:
As everyone knows, when Long Aotian speaks, his word is law. If he says he is not, then he is not.