"Sure, of course, absolutely!"
Upon hearing that Xiahou Che would be shopping with them after school, Ruan Mianmian was even more excited than Su Xiaoyuan: "That's Senior Brother Xiahou we're talking about!"
"What about Senior Brother Xiahou? He's a really nice person." Su Xiaoyuan admitted that Xiahou Che was handsome, but Ruan Mianmian's reaction still surprised her.
"Don't you know?" Ruan Mianmian said in astonishment. "Many inner disciples have tried to dual cultivate with him, and he turned them all down. He's been in the inner sect for years and has never even gone on a mission—his Primal Yang is probably still intact."
The Yunyu Sect forbade disciples from harvesting each other's cultivation, but dual cultivation was permitted. Harvesting involved the transfer of cultivation, while dual cultivation was about mutual progress—far less efficient than harvesting, but beneficial to both parties.
Hearing that Senior Brother Xiahou kept himself pure, Su Xiaoyuan was quite surprised. He didn't seem like the type to uphold male chastity. Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover.
"Xiaoyuan, you need to work hard and claim Senior Brother Xiahou's Primal Yang in one go!" Ruan Mianmian said.
"Shh—Kaishan, shh—" Su Xiaoyuan's face instantly burned hot. She looked around furtively like a thief, but thankfully few disciples walked to school, and on the rainbow bridge there was no one but them and her Puppet Human.
She stole a glance at the Puppet. Naturally, his face remained cold—more robotic than a robot.
Su Xiaoyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least the Puppet Human had no sentience.
"It's just that Elder Qin asked him to look after me—there's nothing more to it…" she explained hastily. "He's just being kind enough to help."
"Pfft, you really believe he has nothing better to do and would take just any outer sect junior sister under his wing? Why doesn't he come look after me?" Ruan Mianmian patted the back of Su Xiaoyuan's head. "Xiaoyuan, you really have a wooden head. If he didn't want to, could Elder Qin force him to come?"
"But I've never met him before."
"You've never met him, but maybe he noticed you long ago. You're that pretty."
Su Xiaoyuan recalled Xiahou Che's half-serious words from last night and felt a flutter of unease, but then she thought she might be overthinking it.
These days, even idol dramas didn't play out like this.
"It's impossible… and I don't feel that way about him anyway…" Su Xiaoyuan mumbled.
"I know, I know—your heart only has room for Immortal Venerable Lingyue. But you can never have too much Primal Yang. Dual cultivating with Senior Brother Xiahou won't stop you from harvesting Immortal Venerable Lingyue later."
The Puppet Human's footsteps suddenly halted.
Su Xiaoyuan looked at him in surprise: "What's wrong?"
The Puppet Human gave her a cold glance, then turned his face away.
Following his gaze, she saw a Biyi Bird flying low across the opposite shore.
He likes watching birds?
Just like a cat.
This Puppet Human's intelligence was probably on par with a cat's too.
A big cat over six feet tall… Su Xiaoyuan inexplicably found it endearing, as if a layer of fine fuzz had grown in her heart.
She had always wanted to keep a cat, but Ms. Su had a cleanliness obsession and would absolutely never allow it.
She watched for a while until the Puppet Human turned his head back, and she snapped out of it, saying to Ruan Mianmian: "Well, if you don't mind, then let Senior Brother come along with us?"
Ruan Mianmian tapped her forehead, disappointed: "What do you mean 'with us'? Of course it's just you and him!"
"No, no," Su Xiaoyuan shook her head vigorously and pleaded, "I can't do it alone. Kaishan, please keep me company…"
Ruan Mianmian's heart softened at the sight of her watery eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll go with you this once. But next time, you'll have to go by yourself."
Ruan Mianmian urged her on. "Quick, send him a message to set it up. Don't let the night grow long and bring trouble!"
Su Xiaoyuan took out her Communication Talisman, looking a bit troubled. She had a fear of voice calls—talking to someone she wasn't familiar with over voice made her more nervous than chatting face-to-face.
With Ruan Mianmian egging her on like that, it became even harder.
After building herself up mentally for quite a while, she finally mustered the courage to light the talisman.
The talisman could only be used once. As it burned away, Xiahou Che's gentle, magnetic voice rang out, as if he were speaking right by her ear.
"I was just thinking about whether to send you a message, and then yours came through."
Xiahou Che always sounded like he was in a wonderful mood—even his voice seemed to have basked in plenty of sunshine, and listening to it unknowingly lifted one's spirits.
He didn't use a form of address, his tone casual, which somehow carried a hint of intimacy and familiarity.
Ruan Mianmian kept winking at her, and Su Xiaoyuan's already flushed face burned even hotter.
After she finished explaining everything and they'd agreed on a time and place to meet, the transmission cut off, and only then could she breathe normally again.
Because of this, Su Xiaoyuan's nerves stayed taut the entire day.
After class, they first returned to the dormitory to drop off their things. Su Xiaoyuan changed into an outer robe for going out, washed her face, and neatly combed her hair again. Ruan Mianmian was ready too.
Su Xiaoyuan was about to bring the Puppet Human along with her.
Ruan Mianmian said, "You're meeting Senior Brother Xiahou—why would you bring a Puppet Human along?"
"But I wanted to take him to pick out clothes…"
Ruan Mianmian was exasperated by her lack of ambition. "You finally managed to arrange a meeting with Senior Brother Xiahou, and you want to take a Puppet shopping for clothes? You want him to accompany you while you try outfits on the Puppet?"
Su Xiaoyuan imagined the scene—it would be somewhat strange, indeed.
"Fine," she could only say to the Puppet Human, "Fu Tingyun, then you'll stay home today."
A Puppet Human shouldn't have emotions, yet she inexplicably felt like he was in a bad mood. Maybe she was overthinking it.
But she couldn't help it—she always let her imagination run wild, feeling that after they left, the Puppet Human would be alone at home with nothing to do, and would be very lonely.
She asked Ruan Mianmian, "Kaishan, when you go to class, what does the Puppet Human do at home?"
"Make him work," Ruan Mianmian said with her arms crossed, as if it were the most natural thing. "Oh, and remind me to buy some seeds later. Have Song Jinshu turn over the empty plot in the yard and plant a crop of radishes and baby bok choy."
Su Xiaoyuan couldn't bear to have such a handsome Puppet Human tilling the soil. After a moment's thought, she said, "Fu Tingyun, just do whatever housework you can manage at home—take out the trash and such…"
Ruan Mianmian clicked her tongue but ultimately said nothing more, urging her out the door.
Fu Tingyun stood quietly by the window, watching the girl's retreating figure. Her light footsteps, her breathing, her heartbeat, and the sound of blood flowing gently through her body lingered in his ears for a long time—faint, yet not drowned out by any other noise.
Only after those sounds had finally faded away did he begin to look around Su Xiaoyuan's tiny little nest.
Housework within his ability—there was nothing beyond his ability, so to make those words disappear, he would have to finish all the chores.
She'd gotten up late this morning, leaving the quilt and pillow in a mess.
Fu Tingyun first smoothed the bedsheet until it was flat as paper, then spread out the quilt, aligning the corners with meticulous precision as he folded it into a neat square, and finally fluffed the pillow and set it on top of the quilt.
He dragged a wooden basin out from under the bed—it held the clothes Su Xiaoyuan had changed out of last night. She had a habit of washing clothes by hand; using the Purification Art on outer garments was fine, but she never felt at ease unless her undergarments were washed with water and soap.
Fu Tingyun had observed her once and knew the steps.
The clothes still carried the lingering scent of the young woman. She didn't seem to like perfume, so her undergarments held only a faint, natural body odor.
Fu Tingyun's five senses were extraordinary. What would be an extremely subtle scent to others smelled rich and fragrant to him.
Expressionless, he carried the basin outside, drew a bucket of water, poured it in, sprinkled in the light blue powder Su Xiaoyuan had made herself, and stirred it evenly. Then he fished out a piece of fabric and began to rub it.
He didn't know what herbs or plants the powder was made from, but it had a green, grassy scent that masked Su Xiaoyuan's odor.
Most of her clothes were issued by the Yunyu Sect. The fabric was light and thin, made of a very pale pink gossamer silk. Soaked and wrung, it shrank to a tiny bundle.
After rubbing it clean, Fu Tingyun rinsed it in clear water, then used his spiritual power to steam it dry. Only then did he realize it was a close-fitting heart-garment, with two thin straps that tied around the neck and two longer ones that tied at the back of the waist.
Perhaps because it was too thin, two clusters of begonias had been embroidered on the front in a vain attempt at modesty. The embroidery was in the same style as her painting—clearly her own work.
Fu Tingyun's Adam's apple moved slightly. He set the garment aside and fished out the second piece from the basin.
It was a pair of gauze underdrawers.
Fu Tingyun accidentally rubbed too hard. When he unfolded them, he found he had torn the delicate gauze pants.
He frowned at the torn fabric, too impatient to continue washing. He poured out the water, cleaned and steamed the remaining clothes with the Purification Art, quickly folded them, and put them away in the clothes chest.
There was also "taking out the trash."
Fu Tingyun first walked to the drawer cabinet and took out the half-jar of orange candies to throw away.
Candy that anyone could eat—there was no need to keep it.
Then he looked around. What in this room wasn't trash?
…
When Su Xiaoyuan and Ruan Mianmian arrived outside the main gate, Xiahou Che was already there. He had even rented a Winged Boat in advance—it was spacious enough for three people.
Whether because Ruan Mianmian was present or because he wanted to let his junior sister ease in gradually, Xiahou Che had restrained his incubus powers today. He didn't teach on a whim, nor did he tease her for fun.
Most of the time, he was like a good-natured older brother from next door, following behind the two girls, accompanying them as they shopped, carrying their things.
The taut string in Su Xiaoyuan's heart slowly relaxed. She even felt the comfort and ease that came only with familiar company.
Xiahou Che didn't play favorites between the two girls—he made both feel at ease—but it was still obvious that his attention was on one of them.
As they strolled, Ruan Mianmian suddenly grabbed Su Xiaoyuan's arm, sniffed, and lowered her voice: "Xiaoyuanzi, I think I smell Song Jinshu."
Su Xiaoyuan was stunned for a moment before she understood—she didn't mean the Puppet Human, but her scumbag former fiancé.
"Why would he be here? Impossible, right? Could it be a mistake?"
Ruan Mianmian frowned, her eyes like a hawk's as she searched the crowd carefully. "There's no mistake. I've smelled his scent since I was little—I'd recognize it even if he turned to ash… Over there!"
"You two go ahead, I'll come find you in a bit!" She threw out the words and dashed off.
Su Xiaoyuan wanted to chase after her, but there was no way she could keep up with the speed of a Golden Core Stage Body Cultivator, so she could only call out, "Mianmian, be careful!"
While Ruan Mianmian went off after the scumbag, Su Xiaoyuan could only stroll along slowly with Xiahou Che.
As they passed by a clothing shop, she glanced inside and her steps unconsciously faltered for a moment. Xiahou Che immediately said, "Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, would you like to go in and take a look?"
Su Xiaoyuan admired him even more—it had been merely a subconscious movement, and even she herself hadn't understood her own intention, yet he could catch it in time and respond with the most appropriate reaction.
Su Xiaoyuan hesitated a little. It was a shop selling men's attire, and she had spotted at a glance a sky-blue hair ribbon hanging on a rack, patterned with faint flowing cloud motifs.
It would suit Fu Tingyun perfectly.
"May we go in and take a quick look?" she asked cautiously.
Xiahou Che's gaze flickered slightly, and he gave a gentle smile. "Of course we can. I happen to need to look at clothes for the Wushan Festival as well."
The moment they stepped into the shop, before Su Xiaoyuan could even speak, Xiahou Che pointed at the sky-blue flowing cloud hair ribbon and said, "This ribbon is quite nice. Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, do you think it would suit me?"
Su Xiaoyuan couldn't bring herself to say that she had spotted it first, so she could only nod in disappointment. "It's pretty. Senior Brother Xiahou looks good in anything."
Xiahou Che burst out laughing. "I'm just teasing you. You had your eye on this ribbon the moment you saw it—how could I take what you love?"
Su Xiaoyuan hadn't expected him to have noticed even that.
"This is a man's hair ribbon," Xiahou Che asked, seemingly offhandedly. "Did Junior Sister Xiaoyuan buy it for someone in her heart?"
Su Xiaoyuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved her hands. "No, no… it's for a Puppet Human."
Her face flushed red as soon as she said it.
Xiahou Che suddenly understood. "Could it be that the ribbon from yesterday was also for the Puppet Human?"
Su Xiaoyuan nodded.
Xiahou Che lowered his head and gazed into her eyes. "So that means Junior Sister Xiaoyuan doesn't have someone in her heart yet?"