Chapter 314 : Who Could Refuse
Yun Qingyue awakened from her cultivation state and, upon opening her eyes, felt a warm sensation enveloping her body, as if she were wrapped in something warm—opening her eyes, she discovered this was no illusion, for wasn't she indeed being cradled within the embrace of an enormous White Tiger?
The situation traced back to last night, when Jiang Mo had come to find her in the middle of the night, and they had conversed for a long while.
However, no matter how much one talks, conversations eventually reach their end, especially given Yun Qingyue's naturally reticent character. After emerging from her rare bout of sentimentality, the atmosphere gradually grew quiet. Under normal circumstances, a perceptive person would find an appropriate moment to take their leave, waiting for the next opportunity to stir her emotions and further strengthen their relationship.
But Jiang Mo didn't. She had no desire to return alone to an empty room, so she promptly used cultivation as an excuse to bring her Senior Sister into her Innate Space. Afterward, what had been an excuse became reality, as they truly began cultivating within the space.
The cultivation world was in a tumultuous period, and to protect oneself, one needed to increase one's strength—how could they not take advantage of such a large dragon skeleton right before them?
Thus, Yun Qingyue resumed her cultivation, and as she utilized the dragon bone's power, Jiang Mo proactively assisted as she had done previously. However, while Jiang Mo had maintained her human form to help filter energy before Yun Qingyue closed her eyes to cultivate, now when she opened her eyes after completing her cultivation, she discovered that Jiang Mo had reverted to her original form and had completely encircled her... Being surrounded by something fluffy felt quite nice, even if it was a single fluffy creature surrounding her.
After eighty years, the Senior Sister who had never again attempted to raise any creatures remained a lover of fluffy things. Looking at the White Tiger, now large enough to completely encircle her, she found nothing amiss and even reached out to gently stroke the tiger's fur.
Unfortunately, an adult tiger's fur was no longer as soft as a cub's—though it appeared fluffy and soft, it felt somewhat prickly to the touch.
As Yun Qingyue was thinking this, suddenly the tiger fur beneath her palm became softer. After a momentary pause, she instinctively stroked it again to confirm it wasn't her imagination. Realizing what was happening, she turned her head and, sure enough, met a pair of golden tiger eyes. Those golden orbs seemed to conceal amusement while reflecting her furtive tiger-petting image.
"How is it? Does it still feel as good as before?" Jiang Mo's voice carried a hint of laughter.
Though she had once enthusiastically petted the tiger cub without restraint, now Yun Qingyue felt inexplicably embarrassed. She first withdrew her hand, then pushed against the tiger's back: "What are you doing circling around me like this?"
The White Tiger didn't move, but instead brought its massive head closer, first nuzzling against her Senior Sister's neck, then giving her face a little kiss—the White Tiger's current size was enormous, with just its head nearly half the size of Yun Qingyue's body, so when such a large tiger head approached to nuzzle and kiss, it was actually difficult to distinguish what was happening. At least from Yun Qingyue's perspective, all she felt was fluffiness against her face.
Inwardly, Jiang Mo was quite delighted. Though she had sneakily stolen a kiss in the chaos, her previous moments of attraction had retreated due to timidity. This time, she had genuinely kissed the person she cared for, making her so happy that her tiger eyes narrowed into crescents.
Yun Qingyue seemed not to notice the White Tiger's small intentions and pushed her again: "Alright, let me up now."
The White Tiger whimpered reluctantly but ultimately didn't delay too long. Seeing her Senior Sister grow serious, she finally released her—not only had she curled around to completely encircle her Senior Sister, but her long tiger tail had deliberately wrapped an extra loop around her waist, as if afraid she might run away, even clingier than the tiger cub of years past.
Yun Qingyue didn't mind this, and as the White Tiger loosened her hold, she secretly stroked the tiger's tail, finding the sensation unsurprisingly pleasant. But she was inadvertently discovered by the White Tiger, who gave her a deep look before deliberately placing her tail in Yun Qingyue's hand.
Well, it was a bit embarrassing, but petting a tiger—who could refuse such a thing?
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Early in the morning, Jiang Mo, with her inherent fluffy attributes, had thoroughly boosted her favorability with her Senior Sister. Yet even as she accumulated goodwill, she felt somewhat anxious, as her true goal wasn't to be a stress-relieving petting tiger for her Senior Sister. Moreover, this development seemed to render her previous plan to conceal her identity and influence her Senior Sister rather superfluous.
The system was much more open-minded than she was, saying matter-of-factly: "Favorability is something no one would find excessive—it's always good to secure it first. Besides, haven't you noticed that Senior Sister's attitude toward you differs from before?"
Hearing this, Jiang Mo's interest was immediately piqued, her eyes sparkling as she asked: "How is it different?"
The system replied with seriousness: "When you tried to steal kisses from her before, she always avoided them, except for this time when you openly stole one."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo was momentarily speechless, and looking closely at her expression, one could see her face slightly reddened with embarrassment. She promptly locked the unreliable system in a mental black room, but after calming down and reflecting, she suddenly realized the system might not be wrong—Senior Sister was too sensitive. Though she had a cold temperament, kisses and hugs between girls were quite normal; there was no need to avoid them like poisonous snakes and scorpions.
Of course, at this moment, Jiang Mo had completely forgotten that her previous heart-fluttering intentions weren't aimed at merely kissing a cheek. Nevertheless, because of this, when meeting her gaze, her thoughts became even more exposed before her Senior Sister.
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A night of cultivation couldn't exactly be called remarkably fruitful, but it wasn't wasted either. Additionally, having petted the tiger upon waking from meditation that morning, Yun Qingyue's mood was evidently good as she emerged from the space without driving Jiang Mo away.
The two first walked to the window for a glance, seeing that outside it was already broad daylight, and then left the room together.
With two days remaining before gathering at Skyreaching Peak, though the group had no urgent matters, there were still plans and discussions to be had before departure. Last night, due to the late hour and ample time, they hadn't rushed. According to Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo's thinking, today the group should gather to properly deliberate.
The ground floor hall of the pavilion was quite spacious, with no shortage of tables and chairs. The two found two adjacent chairs and sat down. Then Jiang Mo began pulling out items: pastries, fruit wine, fruits, jerky—various foods piled high on the table.
After emptying her pockets, Jiang Mo glanced upstairs, saw that the other two hadn't come down yet, and smiled at Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister, with nothing to do, eating something is a perfect way to pass the time."
Yun Qingyue scanned the food on the table and gave Jiang Mo a deep look, never having doubted her gluttonous nature.
However, Yun Qingyue had no interest in these snacks. She sat quietly for a while, also looking upstairs, and suddenly asked in a low voice: "Have you noticed anything unusual between them?"
Jiang Mo's eyes immediately brightened with the light of gossip—coming from the information-saturated modern society, she clearly dared to imagine more than Yun Qingyue, and her perception was keener as well. If Yun Qingyue had 1% suspicion, Jiang Mo had 90% certainty. Her only concern was their identities: one was her Senior Sister's birth mother, the other was the master who had raised her Senior Sister.
Discussing Senior Sister's elders in front of her didn't seem quite appropriate, did it?
Jiang Mo's eyes sparkled, but her heart held reservations, so she cleared her throat lightly: "Is... is that so?"
Yun Qingyue turned to look at her, her clear crystal eyes extremely transparent, as if seeing through all her little thoughts. In fact, this was mostly accurate—after all, this was the tiger she had raised since infancy. Even though they had truly spent less than two years together, how could she not know the White Tiger's true nature? Her current expression clearly indicated she had also noticed something.
Feeling self-conscious under her gaze, Jiang Mo began awkwardly covering: "There does seem to be something off." Having said this much, she collected her thoughts and continued: "I think they might be old acquaintances; otherwise, a righteous path Peak Master and a demonic path Sect Leader couldn't possibly have such a harmonious relationship."
This was certainly supporting evidence, but Yun Qingyue felt that the two together weren't merely harmonious.
Seeing her deeply contemplative expression, Jiang Mo couldn't help but speculate further, suddenly saying: "Senior Sister, if they truly are old acquaintances, then your appearance outside the Xuanqing Sect's gate, being taken in by Peak Master—wouldn't that be more than coincidence? Perhaps after Sect Leader gave birth to you, she encountered danger and specifically entrusted you to Peak Master for upbringing?"
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue slightly lowered her gaze, clearly considering this possibility, but after some thought, she felt it didn't fit and shook her head: "It shouldn't be so. When my identity was revealed years ago, Master clearly appeared to know nothing."
And during this reunion, Master's attitude toward her had been strange, seeming to want to be close yet not daring to be, particularly conflicted on the Merperson Island.
Jiang Mo hadn't observed this aspect; she could barely recall Master's reaction from years ago, and upon reuniting, her attention had been entirely focused on her Senior Sister. Now hearing her Senior Sister speak this way, she didn't doubt her at all, only looking at Yun Qingyue and asking: "Then... what relationship do you think they have? Was your appearance at the Xuanqing Sect merely coincidence?"
The relationship between the two elders clearly involved a complicated history of love and hate, and Jiang Mo was very curious—who was her Senior Sister's father?