IVYSCP - Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Chu Qianshan was so angry she left.
Pei Yin took some fish food from Ling Qingyue's palm and tossed it into the pond.
Ling Qingyue noticed nothing and kept chatting idly. "So do you know why my master cried?"
Pei Yin followed her lead. "Why?"
She was genuinely a little curious herself. Senior Wang Changming was stern and dignified before others, her Emotionless Path cultivated to perfection. What could make someone like that weep?
Ling Qingyue leaned a little closer to her and whispered, "Actually I don't know either. I'm guessing. It seems like my master has someone she likes. My senior sister knows too, but my senior sister doesn't really like that person. Every time I ask, her face goes grim."
"Senior sister has followed Master for over a hundred years, so she definitely knows something. Probably that person treated my master badly, hurt her heart, so my senior sister hates hearing me bring her up."
As she spoke Ling Qingyue leaned against Pei Yin. "Your master must have been the same. Before, I hurt your heart, and you were always getting hurt because of me. So she doesn't like me either."
Pei Yin looked down. "Who says? She likes you."
Ling Qingyue tilted her head up to look at her, witnessing firsthand what it meant to tell a barefaced lie with a straight face.
She was finding Pei Yin more and more different. On the surface a cold, aloof person, with an air that kept others at a distance, appearing utterly indifferent. But in truth she was black-hearted, fond of teasing, and carried a streak of rebellion and stubbornness.
Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together and laughed, then saw the black-hearted woman raise an eyebrow and ask, "What are you laughing at?"
Ling Qingyue shook her head and refused to tell her, then stuffed all the fish food into her hand. "You keep feeding them. I'm going to check on Xue Zizai."
Pei Yin looked at the scattered fish food in her palm, lowered her eyes, and smiled a little.
Earlier, the look Ling Qingyue had given her had been far from proper.
Saying she was going to check on Xue Zizai was just an excuse, but Ling Qingyue still ran over for a round anyway. Xue Zizai was wearing Piaomiao Sect robes, her complexion rosier than before. Though still thinner than she had been in Linshui Town, her features had gained even more grace with cultivation, and the fierce sharpness between her brows was fiercer than ever.
Her hair was still braided as before, adorned with exquisite, pretty little bells. Ling Qingyue knew those were from her mother.
When Xue Zizai finished circulating her qi through her meridians and opened her eyes to find someone standing before her, she startled slightly, then rose and saluted. "Master."
It wouldn't change no matter what she said, so Ling Qingyue had long stopped bothering to correct her. She raised a hand, summoned a sword from the side through the air, and passed it over. "Take it. Today I'll teach you four more Sword Moves."
Just as with the mental formulas, Ling Qingyue taught her the Sword Moves in separate parts.
Xue Zizai was a little surprised because, according to what they had agreed before, the next sword lesson should have been three days later.
She didn't ask why. Learning was all that mattered.
Xue Zizai truly had talent and was suited to the sword, possessing a near photographic memory for Sword Moves and forms. But starting at her age was far too late, her foundation unsteady, so after teaching her the moves Ling Qingyue had her repeat the swings over and over and practice relentlessly.
Because Pei Yin had just undergone Meridian Reforging and could not use Spiritual Energy, she spent all her time in the West Courtyard writing and sketching, or else going to the East Courtyard to study that seal with Chu Qianshan.
Aside from feeding the fish and teaching Xue Zizai, Ling Qingyue also learned how to make tonic soup from Lu Yao, delivering it to the East Courtyard like a fawning offering. She hoped to both replenish Pei Yin's body and improve her impression in Chu Qianshan's heart.
The tonic soup was delivered, but Pei Yin didn't give Chu Qianshan a single drop. She even carried the whole pot back to the West Courtyard, provoking Chu Qianshan to curse at her across the courtyard, nearly packing her things to leave.
Pei Yin drank the tonic soup with elegant movements, as if she hadn't heard any of the scolding at all.
"Isn't it a bit much to anger her like that?" Ling Qingyue thought she was still sulking at her master.
Pei Yin blinked her eyes, looking somewhat innocent. "How am I angering her? Just because I won't share the soup she scolds me. She's clearly the petty one. Besides, you made this for me. She gives you a sour face. Why should I share with her?"
Ling Qingyue remembered what she had said before and gleefully brought up old accounts. "But earlier, Immortal Venerable, you told me that Senior liked me. How does this keep changing?"
Pei Yin lifted her eyes and cast a glance at her.
Under that single glance, both reproachful and vexed, Ling Qingyue felt her heart stir faintly, sensing that those pale brows and eyes had come to vivid life.
Improper again.
Pei Yin thought.
Late at night, the Water Cloud Dwelling lay silent. Pei Yin sat cross-legged by the bedside, her breath probing along her meridians. All at once her brow furrowed.
Watching beside her, Ling Qingyue tensed and hurriedly rose to go over. "What's wrong?"
Pei Yin lowered her head, looking as though the pain was hard to bear, and spoke in a very quiet voice. "There seems to be a problem with my meridians."
Ling Qingyue's heart panicked at once. She braced Pei Yin's shoulder, half crouching down. Her other hand touched her face, warm and satin-soft under her fingertips.
In her urgency, she didn't notice the faint upward curve that brushed the corner of those lips beneath her fingers.
"Where is the problem? Does it hurt badly? Is there an acupoint that wasn't reforged properly? I'm going to get Gu Huai right now."
She was about to rise in a flurry when her wrist was suddenly seized tight. Ling Qingyue's movements halted. Then she saw the face beneath her palm slowly lift. Pei Yin looked at her with one eye open, a hint of sly laughter in her gaze.
Ling Qingyue froze for a moment, then realized she had been fooled. She pulled her hand back in indignation and gave the woman's shoulder a soft, not-too-heavy thump. "What are you doing?"
It had truly frightened her. Her eyes were still hot even now.
"Is it really all right?" Ling Qingyue was still a little worried. She feared Pei Yin was hiding something from her.
Pei Yin drew her hand and placed it on her own body, tracing downward along the meridian at the side of her neck, her tone carrying an ambiguous meaning. "You can come examine it yourself."
Her fingertips curled as if scalded. Her palm pressed against softness. If Ling Qingyue still didn't understand what she meant now, then she truly was a block of wood.
Ling Qingyue blinked, her throat bobbing. "You, you haven't recovered yet."
Pei Yin watched her quietly, then lowered her eyes to glance at her hand.
The hand gripping her wrist had long since let go, but Ling Qingyue's hand hadn't withdrawn. Her fingers curved in complete conformity over it, fingertips pressing now and then.
Her mouth spoke hesitant, awkward words, but her hand was remarkably honest.
Eyes met. Those pale, light irises held a teasing smile. The other pair of black-and-white eyes had grown improper again.
"Do you like it?"
Pei Yin suddenly asked, her breath a little unsteady.
Ling Qingyue felt the soft pliancy beneath her hand and let out a short breathy hum through her nose.
From fingertips to palm, pressing, kneading, and kneading. Ling Qingyue saw the person on the bed half-close her eyes and lift her neck from her touch, the corners of her eyes staining a thin red.
So beautiful.
Ling Qingyue licked her lips. Unable to bear it any longer, she lifted one knee and set it between Pei Yin's legs, her other hand half cupping her face and pulling her close.
Their breaths tangled together. From the seam of their pressed lips escaped a soft laugh.
Embarrassed and vexed, Ling Qingyue bit the corner of her mouth lightly, then lifted her chin higher and deepened the kiss.
Gradually she pressed the person down onto the bed. The inner robes of both were equally disheveled and loose. Ling Qingyue's eyes grew hot at the sight. She shifted her thigh and heard a sob tangled with a whimper.
The bodies of both were equally fair, but Pei Yin's was a cold, stark white, like a piece of cold jade. Beneath that thin skin pale blue veins were visible.
Ling Qingyue caressed the skin beneath her neck and thought, so thin, no wonder even a slightly firm kiss left a mark.
She bent down. The cool tip of her nose touched warm skin. She smelled that familiar fresh fragrance. Ling Qingyue kissed the place she had been stroking and cherishing for so long. The feel had been so good, and the taste was just as fine, like holding a cloud in her mouth. The vivid red bud was hidden in the middle of that cloud, fragrant and sweet upon the tongue. Ling Qingyue liked it very much.
Ling Qingyue showed no favoritism. Her palm consoled the other side in due time, her thigh slowly dragging, pressing lightly, rubbing slowly.
Pei Yin's panting sounded like encouragement and also like urging. Her index finger was woven through Ling Qingyue's hair, and when it became unbearable she would use that fingertip to pinch Ling Qingyue's ear.
Her body broke out in sweat from the heat, most noticeably on her thighs, in a long streak, beads of sweat rolling down.
"Qingyue…" Pei Yin made a sound. The hand pinching her ear applied a little force.
Ling Qingyue felt a bit of pain. She released the fragrant bud, leaned up, and kissed her lips. "I know," she murmured. "I know."
Her fingers were received with fervent welcome, arriving at a place of peach-blossom headwaters. She looked down at Pei Yin beneath her. The woman's eyes were shattered and dazed, the tail of each eye sketched with a stroke of crimson. Ling Qingyue felt her scalp go numb, as if she herself were submerged and wrapped in warm water, a fish swimming in it, joyfully thrashing its tail in delight, sending up splashes.
One low moan after another was drawn out. Ling Qingyue buried her head in the woman's neck, bringing her ear close to her lips, listening tirelessly to her voice. Even when that voice paused, she would mischievously press here and there to make it continue.
Her ear was pinched hard again. Ling Qingyue deliberately misunderstood and leaned close to her ear to whisper, "More? I understand."
Pei Yin opened her eyes and called her by her full name. "Ling Qingyue."
This utterance was nowhere near as clear as before. It carried an indescribable hoarseness.
Ling Qingyue lowered her head and answered, taking a bite of something soft. She did not torment Pei Yin much longer. Her drenched hand rested at the waist, glistening, whether from sweat or something else.
The person in her arms had not yet recovered, her chest heaving fiercely. She could not use Spiritual Energy for now and could not conceal her true reactions.
Ling Qingyue held her and kissed her sweat-dampened temple. Remembering that hoarse voice from moments ago, she asked softly, "Want water?"
Pei Yin nodded weakly. Her legs and waist were soft and numb with a tingling ache. In her ears only the rapid pounding of her heartbeat remained.
Ling Qingyue raised a hand and crooked her fingers toward the teapot on the table. The teapot poured a cup of water by itself, which was then delivered into Ling Qingyue's hand.
She pressed the teacup to the woman's flushed lower lip and tilted it slowly.
Ling Qingyue fed Pei Yin over half the cup. When she stopped drinking, Ling Qingyue finished the rest herself.
The cool tea went down her throat, carrying away much of the internal heat.
Afterward Ling Qingyue used an art to tidy them both up. Pei Yin lay beside her unmoving, as if utterly exhausted.
Ling Qingyue bent her smiling eyes and kissed her cheek, then lay down as well, wrapping her arm around her waist with practiced ease and tucking herself into her embrace, closing her eyes.
As soon as her eyes closed, she heard a faint, lingering remark. "You really do like it."
Like what?
Ling Qingyue didn't catch on right away. After thinking it over, she belatedly blushed.
She couldn't help that she liked it. Fragrant, soft, and beautiful. She had always liked such things, and Pei Yin in her entirety was fragrant. There was not a part of her that Ling Qingyue didn't like.
"You don't like it?" Ling Qingyue countered.
Pei Yin was momentarily silenced. Her palm patted Ling Qingyue's lower back lightly.
Ling Qingyue huffed righteously, then buried her head in, and fell asleep just like that, unafraid of smothering.
Comments
Post a Comment