Qu Qi choked on her breath and flopped onto Sheng Xizhu’s shoulder, attempting to play dead.
Sheng Xizhu’s brow twitched as she reached out to pin down the “playing dead” salted fish. “Get up. Have you no decorum?”
Qu Qi muttered gloomily: “Cultivating is impossible. It is impossible to cultivate in this lifetime.”
From the day she transmigrated into this book, she had decided to be a salted fish who lived in peace with the world—no competing, no grabbing, and no interfering with the plot. How could she betray her original intentions?
Sheng Xizhu hit the nail on the head: “If you do not cultivate, how will you protect me in the future?”
Qu Qi froze, falling into deep thought.
After a long moment, she took a deep breath, her gaze filled with determination: “At worst, I will take you with me to live a secluded life in the countryside, leaving the world behind forever!”
Sheng Xizhu: “…I shall not be joining you.” She still had things she must do.
Qu Qi read a hint of inexplicable disdain from her cold tone and instantly wilted. “Wu, how can such a cold sentence come out of your thirty-something-degree mouth?”
As the girl spoke, her lips were extremely close; her warm breath brushed against Sheng Xizhu’s ear from time to time, sending a strange, tingling itch rippling through her.
Sheng Xizhu pursed her lips and shifted her gaze uncomfortably.
In over a hundred years, Qu Qi was the only one who had ever gotten this close to her and managed to retreat unscathed. Had anyone else dared to approach even a step closer, they would likely have already become a dead soul beneath her palm.
She did not understand. She was rarely kind enough to supervise someone, yet this girl not only failed to appreciate it but even began to push her luck.
“In any case, you cannot watch this kind of…” Sheng Xizhu looked at the storybook in her hand and tossed it aside casually. “This kind of filthy thing anymore.”
Qu Qi watched the book fly out the window and slowly mentally typed a question mark: “?”
Please, she was an adult! Even if this body was technically a minor, her mind was very mature. What was wrong with a hot-blooded adult reading a little smut!
Are people not allowed to satisfy their spiritual needs anymore?
Sheng Xizhu pinched Qu Qi’s chin, forcing her to look back. “Enough. Get up and cultivate.”
Qu Qi, deprived of her smutty literature, felt an out-of-body rage. Her rebellious streak flared up, and she refused defiantly: “I will not!”
Not only did she refuse to get up, she reached out and snatched Sheng Xizhu’s slender waist in a firm hug.
The thin fabric transmitted the vivid heat of the girl’s palms. Sheng Xizhu’s entire body suddenly stiffened like a frozen cat.
She gritted her teeth and whispered: “Get… up!”
Qu Qi: “I am not getting up unless you stop forcing me to cultivate.”
“No.”
“If you do not agree, I am not getting up.”
Qu Qi clung to her tightly, even pushing her luck by burying her cheek in the side of Sheng Xizhu’s neck and wrapping her arms around that slim waist. The two were practically pressed together from head to toe.
The fluffy head rubbed against the crook of her neck over and over; with her waist held in a tight embrace, Sheng Xizhu was like prey caught in a spiderweb—the more she struggled, the more useless it became.
The girl’s warm breath made her waist itch, causing her to soften in Qu Qi’s arms. A flush of humiliated anger appeared on her jade-like face.
Sheng Xizhu looked down and let out a low sigh: “Rotten wood cannot be carved.”
A hundred years ago, she had been the most gifted disciple in the inner sect. Even though her talent far exceeded others, she still cultivated hard every day, forgetting to eat and sleep. She strove to be the strongest and best at everything, taking first place in almost every lesson and competition.
Yet this girl was dull-witted and still refused to work hard, content to be at the bottom of the rankings. It was truly exasperating.
Sheng Xizhu asked: “Do you truly have no interest in cultivation at all?”
Qu Qi whispered: “A little interest, but not much.”
Sheng Xizhu frowned: “What if I said I could help you become an immortal?”
She supervised Qu Qi’s cultivation not entirely for the girl’s sake, but also to facilitate her own revenge plan.
The four who had ascended had passed through the immortal gates; their strength far exceeded the Tribulation Transcendence stage and was not something she could face alone. If Qu Qi could contribute even a bit of strength, it would be for the best.
The cultivation of a Nightmare was different from that of a cultivator. Cultivators had to face the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation upon reaching the Tribulation Transcendence stage, but very few had survived it in the last century. Those who succeeded were usually the elite few with extraordinary talent.
After the lightning tribulation, the immortal gates would open, and the cultivator could soar upward to become an immortal.
While a Nightmare starts at the Tribulation Transcendence stage upon rebirth, to progress further, they need to claim massive amounts of negative emotions. Furthermore, no one knew what a Nightmare would become after passing their own tribulation.
This meant that in the short term, the possibility of her coming into contact with those four was slim.
However, if Qu Qi underwent the tribulation and became an immortal, she could accompany her to the immortal realm to face those four again. This meant that the success of her revenge depended on Qu Qi’s cultivation speed; the faster she cultivated, the more opportunities she would have.
Qu Qi was startled by the solemnity in her voice and waved her hands repeatedly: “Better… better not…”
Putting aside the fact that the original host’s constitution was completely unsuitable for cultivation, even if she did start, she would inevitably cross paths with the female lead or other supporting characters, getting sucked into the plot and drawing attention.
Moreover, the more people who knew her, the more likely she would be found by the villain!
Help, she did not want to become a snack for the Great Demon King!
Under Sheng Xizhu’s silent gaze, Qu Qi felt inexplicably guilty and shrunk her neck. “I have no ambition. I really just want to live a quiet life.”
She promised sincerely: “Trust me, as long as we stay steady, we can win!” Striving to survive until the end!
Sheng Xizhu closed her eyes, a faint, almost imperceptible sigh escaping her lips: “Fine.” Fortunately, she never expected Qu Qi to be diligent, nor did she like placing her hopes entirely in the hands of others.
She had other plans.
If she could not ascend to the immortal realm, she would force them down.
Lately, the mortal realm was in chaos. The core disciples of the three major sects were gathered on Penglai Island—each one a standout among cultivators and the future backbone of the mortal realm.
At worst, she would kill one today and a pair tomorrow.
Sheng Xizhu’s eyes were pitch black and void of light. A twisted killing intent brewed quietly in the dark. Once she had slaughtered her way through the three sects and absorbed enough negative emotions, she would see if those “gods” could still sit comfortably on their high pedestals, acting as if none of it concerned them.
Looking at the woman’s fluctuating expression, Qu Qi called out cautiously: “Mimi?”
Sheng Xizhu glanced at her, her expression returning to normal. She pressed Qu Qi’s shoulder and pushed her away: “Get up.”
Qu Qi asked: “You won’t force me anymore?”
Sheng Xizhu gave a shallow nod.
Qu Qi breathed a sigh of relief. She propped herself up over the woman, her toes accidentally brushing against Sheng Xizhu’s slender calf.
Sheng Xizhu shuddered, staring at her with reached the limit of her patience.
Qu Qi moved off her gingerly. In the process, she accidentally mussed the other’s collar, revealing a patch of snowy skin.
Her face flushed instantly, and she practically bounced from the bed to the floor in embarrassment: “So-sorry!”
Sheng Xizhu sat up with a cold face and turned her back to her, looking down to straighten her collar.
Qu Qi looked at her slender back, recalling the soft body she had just held in her arms, and her face couldn’t help but burn. This cat-turned-human, how did she have a better figure than her?
She felt a bit awkward and didn’t know what to do. For a while, the two sat in silence.
At dusk, the crimson sunset covered the sky, resembling a beauty’s blushing cheeks. Qu Qi felt her stomach was empty and took the initiative to break the silence: “Mimi, are you hungry?”
Sheng Xizhu was still immersed in the embarrassment of the physical contact just now and said in a low voice: “Aside from eating and sleeping, is there anything else in your head throughout the day?”
Qu Qi didn’t catch the sarcasm. Instead, she thought about it seriously and said with crescent-moon eyes: “There is also you!”