Would she sit beside her?
Xu Qing’s hand, currently poking at the fire with a branch, paused for a fraction of a second. Earlier, when she was arranging the wooden stumps for seating, she had adjusted their positions repeatedly. She wanted to maintain a proper distance while ensuring they didn’t seem too estranged. After finishing, she felt rather foolish for overthinking it.
She looked at the stump next to her and ultimately decided not to move it again.
While she was lost in thought, the faint rustle of fabric sounded beside her. Xu Qing stiffened her back. From the corner of her eye, she saw Bai Muyao lifting her skirts and cautiously sitting down on the very edge of the stump. Her timid manner made her look like a ferret tentatively approaching a campfire for warmth.
“Give it a taste,” Xu Qing said.
The hand she used to ladle the soup was steady as a rock, but her heart was in her throat. This was the first time in three hundred years she had cooked—skills not even her Master had sampled. If it was…
Bai Muyao took the celadon bowl with both hands. The milky-white broth reflected the dancing flames. As Bai Muyao’s lips touched the rim of the bowl, Xu Qing’s knuckles gripping the branch turned white.
Is the soup too salty? Is the fish tender enough? What if she doesn’t like it…
A thousand thoughts churned in Xu Qing’s mind, yet she forced herself to appear nonchalant while stoking the fire. It wasn’t until she saw Bai Muyao’s brow relax and her throat move in an instinctive swallow that Xu Qing finally unclenched her jaw.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious!”
Xu Qing let out a soft huff, her branch sending sparks flying into the air. “Be more objective.” She knew that “delicious” was just a polite, standard response. Even if the soup were terrible, Bai Muyao would never say so unless she pressed her.
“Well…” Bai Muyao cradled the bowl, pondering. “The base is fresh but lacks a bit of depth from simmering. Fortunately, the fish meat is incredibly tender. However, the ginger used to remove the fishy smell should have been sliced thinner, and perhaps if a few mountain peppercorns were added…”
Bai Muyao froze, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the rim of the bowl. She suddenly realized she had been far too blunt. When she looked up, she met Xu Qing’s somewhat stiff expression. After all, as someone who cooked every day, she had a sharp eye for the strengths and weaknesses of a dish.
“Actually…” she hurried to compensate, “the flavor is quite good, and… I really like it.”
Bai Muyao was telling the truth. She genuinely liked the soup Xu Qing had made for her. While the preparation wasn’t particularly practiced, it was by no means bad.
Xu Qing hadn’t expected to have made so many mistakes. She had followed her Master’s recipe step-by-step, but there were still things she didn’t quite grasp—like that headache-inducing instruction: “add an appropriate amount of salt.”
Xu Qing stared at the words “appropriate amount” in her mind, wishing she could fly back to the sect and demand her Master explain exactly how much that was. Left with no choice, she had seasoned it by feel, leading to the current result. She silently noted down where she had failed and which spices were lacking, determined to do better next time.
Hmph, since Bai Muyao will be here for a long time anyway, I have plenty of time to practice! I will make a meal that leaves her absolutely speechless with praise! Xu Qing made a silent vow.
Seeing Bai Muyao’s panicked state, Xu Qing sighed and said, “You are always so serious. You were just like this back at the sect.” And that serious attitude of Bai Muyao’s always left Xu Qing at a loss.
Faced with such an assessment, Bai Muyao didn’t know how to respond.
“Say no more,” Xu Qing said. “Eat your dinner slowly.”
“Yes!”
In the night, the two sat in silence, save for the gentle bubbling of the fish soup in the clay pot. After the consecutive battles and the taxing refinement process, Bai Muyao was indeed famished. Without realizing it, she had already finished several bowls.
When she looked hesitantly at the remaining soup in the pot, Xu Qing had already seen through her.
“No need to be polite,” Xu Qing said, handing over the wooden ladle. “If you don’t eat your fill, it will only hinder the refinement.”
Bai Muyao smiled at that and finally let go of her restraint. The two of them ended up finishing the entire pot of soup an amount that could have easily fed five or six people.
“The quality of this fish is truly exquisite.” Bai Muyao patted her stomach contentedly. “I never tasted fish with this kind of flavor even when I was at the sect.”
She hadn’t felt this satisfied in a long time. Recently, she had rarely eaten hot meals, except for that one barbecue with Shi Hua and the others, but that didn’t compare to this.
Xu Qing felt wonderful after being praised. She thought that her Master’s usual wanderings had actually been of some help to her. As long as Bai Muyao liked it, she would make every single dish in that little booklet. But she wasn’t in a hurry; they had a long time ahead of them.
After the meal, Bai Muyao’s expression turned serious. “Senior Sister, would you like to hear about the progress of the demonic aura refinement?”
She remembered Xu Qing had shown interest in the demonic aura and assumed that was why she had stayed. Bai Muyao had already organized the entire process in her mind, ready to report.
Xu Qing actually lacked much genuine interest in the specifics, but such a strange occurrence was unheard of, so listening wouldn’t hurt. “Let’s talk about it slowly then, but it’s a bit boring to just sit here and talk.” Xu Qing looked toward the distant mountains. “How about going over there? We can discuss the matter while enjoying the scenery.”
Bai Muyao followed her gaze. “Alright.”
However, Xu Qing could not circulate her spiritual energy, and Bai Muyao’s spiritual power had been exhausted from the refinement. Are we going to walk up those steep mountain paths? As a cultivator, Xu Qing’s physical stamina was naturally abundant, but Bai Muyao’s stamina had waned along with her spiritual energy; she wasn’t sure if she could keep up.
Xu Qing had clearly thought of this. She took a strange object from her storage ring. It had two wheels, a seat in the middle, and two handles at the front for support.
Bai Muyao had never seen such a thing and asked curiously, “What is this?”
Xu Qing sat on the chair and pushed off with her feet; the object miraculously began to move. A person could stay balanced and move forward on it without needing spiritual energy. Bai Muyao watched, dumbfounded.
Xu Qing rode in a circle before getting off to explain, “Someone I saved once gave this to me. They said this thing can be driven forward by a chain to move the wheels and maintain balance. It’s called a ‘bicycle’.”
Bai Muyao crouched down to examine the strange contraption, then stood up and asked, “Does Senior Sister intend to use this to climb the mountain?”
“Sit here,” Xu Qing pointed to the rear rack.
Bai Muyao sat hesitantly on the narrow wooden board, while Xu Qing gripped the handlebars firmly in front of her. This scene caught Bai Muyao by surprise; she hadn’t expected to sit so close to Xu Qing. With the two of them suddenly so intimate, the tips of Bai Muyao’s ears grew slightly warm. Seeing that Xu Qing didn’t say anything, she didn’t dare move and kept her body stiff.
As Xu Qing’s feet began to pedal, the iron contraption actually carried the two of them forward smoothly.
“To think it could work like this…” Bai Muyao was secretly marveling when suddenly—
“Whoa!”
The bike hit a bump. Bai Muyao, who didn’t understand the concept of inertia, was instantly thrown off, taking a graceful tumble. She pushed herself up bedraggled, only to meet Xu Qing’s furrowed, confused gaze.
“It seems… you need to hold onto something,” Xu Qing said thoughtfully.
“Indeed I do!” Bai Muyao agreed.
Bai Muyao sat back down. But where was there to hold onto on this bare rear rack? she tried to grab the edges of the front seat, but she couldn’t exert any strength because the distance was too narrow.
Xu Qing suddenly turned her face sideways. “How about… you wrap your arms around my waist?”
“Alright…”
Bai Muyao’s fingertips circled Xu Qing’s waist, the warmth of her body radiating through the fabric. She flinched as if struck by lightning, but eventually, her arms slowly pulled tighter.
“Is… is this okay?” she asked softly, her earlobes already bright red beneath her hair.
Xu Qing looked straight ahead, her voice remaining cool. “Sit tight.”
“Yes!”
Once she received a response, Xu Qing pedaled again, and the wheels rolled forward. Bai Muyao leaned back slightly, her arms instinctively tightening, and she pressed her entire person against Xu Qing’s back. The soft sensation through their clothes made Xu Qing’s ears grow warm, but she didn’t dare get distracted and focused solely on the mountain path illuminated by the moonlight.
The wheels rolled over gravel, and the bike swayed slightly. Bai Muyao held onto Xu Qing’s waist for dear life at first, but as the ride stabilized, her grip gradually relaxed. With the mountain breeze brushing against her face, she finally had the leisure to look out at the distance.
The view from halfway up the mountain was exceptionally open. The moonlight shattered into ten thousand silver scales on the lake surface, and the little cabin at the foot of the mountain stood quietly. Such a peaceful scene made Bai Muyao suddenly entertain the thought of living here permanently.
If it weren’t for that calamity… If I could be with Senior Sister…
She snapped the thought shut. There were no “ifs”! The demonic aura was not yet removed, and the path ahead was uncertain; this current peace was but a fleeting dream. She had to refine the aura quickly and leave this place as soon as possible.
“Hold me tight,” Xu Qing said suddenly.
Without thinking, Bai Muyao tightened her arms. The wheels then rolled over a rugged section of the mountain path. In the jolting motion, their silhouettes rose and fell under the moon before finally coming to a steady stop at the mountain peak.
They stood side-by-side at the summit. Xu Qing looked out at the scenery for a moment before turning to gaze at Bai Muyao. “Tell me about what you wanted to discuss.”
Xu Qing actually had words she wanted to say to Bai Muyao as well, but she wasn’t sure if now was the right time. The moonlight flowed in her eyes, her expression looking as if she were hesitating to speak.
Bai Muyao said, “First is the matter of the demonic aura. Additionally, I wanted to ask Senior Sister one thing.”
“Go ahead,” Xu Qing said.
“Regarding the demonic aura, I fear I will need at least a hundred years to refine it.” She then recounted the entire process of the refinement to Xu Qing, including how she could only refine some residue even after exhausting all her spiritual energy.
Xu Qing nodded. “If we have to take it slow, there’s no other way.” Xu Qing had anticipated this, but she hadn’t expected it to take a century. However, what was a hundred years? She would naturally protect Bai Muyao.
Xu Qing asked, “If you break through to the Soul Transformation stage, could you speed up the refinement?”
Bai Muyao shook her head. “I fear it still wouldn’t work, and I haven’t even touched the threshold of a breakthrough.” Her spiritual roots were mixed, making a breakthrough much more difficult than for a normal cultivator.
“Then what is the second thing you wanted to ask?” Xu Qing followed up.
“After I fell unconscious, did Senior Sister see the person from the Demon Realm who captured me?”
“When I arrived, the Demon General had already perished.”
Bai Muyao frowned. She had wondered if Xu Qing had captured the Demon General and taken them back to the sect. The system’s prompt indicated the mission was incomplete, which meant she hadn’t fully defeated the opponent.
Why is that?
Bai Muyao believed Senior Sister Xu Qing wouldn’t lie to her. Of course, even if she did, Bai Muyao wouldn’t press her on it. “I have nothing else then,” Bai Muyao said.
Xu Qing pursed her lips. “Then, it’s my turn to ask.”
“Please ask, Senior Sister.”
Xu Qing stared at Bai Muyao and said in a deep voice, “Why did the Demon General drag you into the barrier? Do you have any inkling?”
Bai Muyao’s heart skipped a beat.
“Perfect… absolutely perfect!” “Why would such a perfect creature exist in this world!” “As long as I have this treasure, I can leave this place and unify the Demon Realm… No! I can conquer the Three Realms!”
She remembered the black-haired woman’s words clearly. Since waking up, Bai Muyao had been pondering the meaning behind them. But no matter how she thought, she couldn’t understand what value she had to that woman to make her act that way.
Bai Muyao lowered her head and answered truthfully, “I… I don’t know.”
She truly didn’t know. But it seemed that if she were forced to give an answer, she did have a slight clue. The incantation Zhuang Youbai had written for her was something she had recognized instantly as a demonic spell. Furthermore… when she was near the black-haired woman, she had felt the demonic aura emanating from her. Even though her consciousness was blurred at the time, she felt a strong sense of familiarity.
She seemed to be very well-acquainted with matters of the Demon Realm, yet she had never come into contact with anything related to it.
Can I tell Senior Sister Xu Qing these things?