Chapter 426 : Do You Like Me
426: Do You Like Me?
The tavern in Luoxin Town had lost its owner, yet customers came and went in an endless stream.
Some came to gather news, others to meet associates, and some chose this location specifically to avoid bringing outsiders to their lodgings... Cultivators possessed numerous techniques, and with sufficient power, there was no need to worry about having one's identity discovered or conversations overheard—the simplest barrier formation could solve such problems.
Just like Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue, who had been sitting by the window all afternoon. No one could glimpse their appearances, much less hear their conversation. Through the barrier, even actions witnessed with one's own eyes could hardly be confirmed as real!
A group of newcomers entering the tavern possessed considerable cultivation, each at least at the Spirit Division stage—truly rare specimens in this small Luoxin Town. Thus, they boldly chose to meet at the tavern and planned to conduct their discussion here as well. For this purpose, they had specially sent someone a day in advance to secure a private room and arrange formations for concealing auras and blocking sound.
Everything had been arranged perfectly until they entered the tavern and their gazes inadvertently swept past the window seats...
The leader paused slightly, and those following naturally noticed. After collectively stopping, they followed her line of sight, and all eyes turned toward the window.
At this sight, the others fell silent—they had just been priding themselves on their profound cultivation, only to have their pride shattered before they'd spent even an incense stick's time in Luoxin Town. Looking at the barrier by the window, which had clearly been casually placed, they couldn't see through it at all. Truly, there were great masters present, and they had been too presumptuous.
Upon realizing this, the group immediately became hesitant, with all eyes turning toward their leader.
After a brief pause, she withdrew her gaze. Hesitating for only a moment, she said to everyone: "Let's go to the private room."
She led the way, and after exchanging glances, the others followed. They had no choice—with such a powerful cultivator already in Luoxin Town, who knew what other experts might be present? Besides, turning around and leaving now would be too conspicuous.
And so, the group passed through the main hall as if nothing had happened, heading upstairs to their private room. The tavern's private rooms weren't lavish, but they had clearly been carefully arranged. More importantly, while the rooms offered privacy, they had channels to hear conversations from the main hall below, naturally earning the favor of cultivators.
As the group passed through the main hall, they deliberately avoided looking back at the window seats.
However, even so, the moment they stepped onto the stairs, Jiang Mo shifted her gaze from her Senior Sister's face and briefly gave them a glance.
Yun Qingyue also looked back, noticing the female cultivator who led the group. She raised an eyebrow: "What's this? Spotted someone more attractive?"
Jiang Mo immediately jolted, nearly sliding from her propped-up palm onto the table. She hastily shook her head, her posture instantly becoming obedient: "I didn't! Not at all. I only looked longer because these people have much higher cultivation than the others."
Yun Qingyue nodded in understanding: "I see, beautiful women with profound cultivation."
Jiang Mo choked momentarily. Though she vaguely felt her Senior Sister was deliberately teasing her, she dared not leave it unexplained: "There are many beauties in the cultivation world, and no shortage of beautiful women with profound cultivation. But I'm not someone who changes affections so easily."
Truthfully, Yun Qingyue was extremely beautiful. After reverting to her ancestral Phoenix bloodline, her originally cool temperament gained three parts nobility and two parts allure, becoming even more captivating. But the cultivation world never lacked beauty—without looking far, just consider Fei Yuan of the Harmony Sect, whose appearance and temperament were no less impressive than Yun Qingyue's. Though Jiang Mo certainly appreciated beauty, she was single-minded, and hadn't felt the slightest attraction to anyone else over these years.
Now she spoke with utmost sincerity, her round tiger eyes carrying a hint of grievance. She stared at Yun Qingyue so pitifully that Yun Qingyue's heart softened, and she finally took the initiative: "Alright, alright, I understand. I was just joking."
Jiang Mo pouted, seemingly dissatisfied.
Seeing her eyes dart around, Yun Qingyue knew she was waiting to be comforted.
However, Yun Qingyue had no intention of comforting her, so she quickly changed the subject: "Enough joking. That group has gone up to the second-floor private room—don't you want to do something about it?"
The little tiger gave her a deep look, but ultimately went along with the change of topic: "Then let's listen to what they're saying."
Yun Qingyue nodded, her fingertip tracing a line in midair, sending a streak of light through the barrier to follow those people.
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The story began several days earlier. At that time, Yun Qingyue had just completed her transformation and recovery, and together with Jiang Mo, left the mountain range where they had been in seclusion facing tribulations. The two flew for a long time before finding inhabited areas, only to hear that the war between the Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect still hadn't reached a conclusion—this wasn't due to perfunctory delays from either sect, but genuine mutual attrition. The continuous fighting over months had even resulted in Fusion stage elders perishing.
Without being told, both realized that if this continued, the Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect would surely be severely weakened, possibly unable to maintain their positions among the Four Major Demonic Sects. But Sect Leader Zhu and the Nine Abyss Sect Leader weren't fools—how could they allow the situation to deteriorate this far?
Neither Jiang Mo nor Yun Qingyue could understand. Originally, they didn't need to concern themselves with Demonic Path affairs. But since the matter involved Zhu Baiyi, and given that the Crimson Blood Sect and Xuanqing Sect had long formed a secret alliance, they couldn't truly ignore it.
So after some hesitation, they decided to go to Mount Xuanyin to assess the situation.
Initially, they hadn't concealed their cultivation levels, as high-level cultivators traveled more conveniently in the cultivation world than lower-level ones. Setting aside other privileges, at least some minor characters would recognize they couldn't be provoked, saving the two much trouble.
That was their thinking, but unexpectedly, once they truly headed toward Mount Xuanyin, their high-level cultivation instead attracted scrutiny and probing.
Yun Qingyue, already in a poor mood, disposed of these people with a wave of her hand. Afterward, they continued to Luoxin Town without any concealment, brazenly appearing before others with their high-level cultivator auras. Sitting at the conspicuous window seat in the tavern for half a day was also intended to see if any ignorant fools would approach them—and indeed, someone did.
No one came to spy or provoke them, but she detected familiar auras—among those who had just gone upstairs, several had auras very similar to those who had probed them earlier. If not mistaken, they likely belonged to the same sect.
Not only had Yun Qingyue noticed this, but the little tiger had discovered it too.
Though she wasn't as knowledgeable as her Senior Sister, from her high vantage point, these similarities couldn't escape her eyes, hence the eavesdropping. Still, curious, she asked her Senior Sister: "Ah Yue, do you know their identities?"
Yun Qingyue glanced lightly at Jiang Mo, watching as she moved her big head closer under the pretext of asking, and promptly pushed her away: "I don't. The cultivation world has a countable number of major sects, but countless minor ones. Unless we've encountered and fought them before, how could we recognize them so easily?" As she spoke, her palm turned over, producing a stack of jade slips from nowhere: "These record the characteristics of many sects' techniques. If you're interested, you can take a look."
A jade slip's information storage capacity was comparable to a flash drive—a thick stack represented far more than just a thick stack of books. Jiang Mo's eyes immediately widened, and she shrank back like a frightened animal, waving her hands repeatedly: "No thanks, no thanks. They can't defeat me anyway, so I'll figure it out when we meet."
Yun Qingyue gave her a meaningful smile but didn't insist, putting the jade slips away.
Jiang Mo felt uneasy, but her confidence had indeed grown. Seeing Yun Qingyue put away the jade slips, she boldly moved closer again, then looked at her with a pitiful expression: "Ah Yue, did you just push me away? You don't dote on me anymore? You've been so cold to me lately. Have you changed your heart and stopped liking me?"
She asked in rapid succession, each question more outlandish than the last, until even someone as cool-tempered as Yun Qingyue changed expressions several times. Finally, she unceremoniously pressed her hand against Jiang Mo's face and pushed her away again, chiding: "What changed heart? When did I ever say I liked you?"
Pushed away again, Jiang Mo immediately gave a light snort.
Just as Yun Qingyue wanted to see what else she might say, Jiang Mo suddenly transformed, reverting to the tiger cub form from when they first met. She pounced into Yun Qingyue's arms, her fluffy head rubbing against Yun Qingyue's cheek again and again, whimpering with a surprisingly childish voice: "You say you haven't changed your heart, that you don't like me—if you didn't like me, why did you take me in back then?"
A perfectly-sized ball of fluff, with smooth and soft fur, nuzzling against her cheek, so soft and tender. How could Yun Qingyue, who had always loved fluffy things, bear to push her away again? Besides, it had been so long since she'd petted the little tiger—her heart and hands both itched to do so.
The ice she'd tried to maintain on her face shattered. Yun Qingyue secretly stroked the little tiger's neck fur, intending to pet its head too. However, the little tiger who had been so affectionate just moments before stopped nuzzling her and raised a paw to block her hand, saying with a serious expression: "If you don't like me, don't pet me. My fur is reserved for those who like me."
After transforming back into a tiger cub, Jiang Mo's speech and behavior seemed to have become more childish. Yun Qingyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Seeing this, the tiger cub tilted its head and asked again: "So do you like me now?"
Yun Qingyue suppressed her laughter without answering, changing the subject: "Enough playing around. Didn't you want to hear what those people are saying? They've started now." With that, she tapped her fingertip, and a clear female voice sounded within the barrier.
The tiger cub, dissatisfied with her changing the subject, whimpered and turned its head away, intending to cover its ears with its paws in protest.
However, this action wasn't successful. The paw she had used to block Yun Qingyue was caught by the other. Her Senior Sister showed no courtesy, not only squeezing her soft paw pads but also stroking the fur on her paws.
She looked up with dissatisfaction, only to meet a pair of smiling phoenix eyes—those eyes were exceptionally beautiful, clear as glass, with what seemed like gentle starlight hidden in their depths, causing anyone who looked into them to become captivated and unable to break free.
Taking advantage of the little tiger's daze, Yun Qingyue raised her hand and stroked her ears—the fur there was the softest.
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TN: It’s been too long since I worked on this novel, as you can see in the picture, the last time I touched this novel was in March.
My apologies if there’s a term change or whatnot. All the guidelines I will use are only the notes that I have from working on these novels. I'm too lazy to re-read all 400+ chapters again.