IVYSCP - Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Qiu Feng couldn't bear to see Yu Liuli wronged or disappointed, so she agreed to let Ling Qingyue stay and keep Yu Liuli company for the night.
Yu Liuli saw her reluctant, barely-consenting look, pulled her aside, wrapped her arms around her and coaxed her for a good long while, and finally gave her two kisses before letting it go.
On the other side, Ling Qingyue held Pei Yin's hand and secretly transmitted a message.
"In a bit, when you and Qiu Feng leave, feel her out about her attitude toward Liuli."
Pei Yin stared fixedly at her, not answering.
Ling Qingyue shook her hand and asked again, "Did you hear me?"
Pei Yin lowered her eyes. "Mm."
An extremely curt reply. Ling Qingyue tilted her head to look at her, then a faint smile pressed at the corner of her lips. She reached out and tapped Pei Yin's shoulder, murmuring, "What's this, jealous again? You get jealous over Yue Shouming, and now you're even jealous of Liuli? Did a vinegar jar cultivate into a spirit or something?"
"No." Pei Yin kept a straight face, raising her eyes to look at her seriously. "You and she haven't seen each other for years. It's only right that you talk more."
Ling Qingyue nodded with a smile. "Glad you understand."
Pei Yin looked at her, the line of her lips pressed flat.
Ling Qingyue couldn't hold back a laugh. She glanced over and saw that Yu Liuli and Qiu Feng still hadn't come over, so she stepped forward and hugged the person radiating cold air. "All right, all right, just one night."
She patted the woman's back lightly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow moving, so Ling Qingyue let go and put some distance between them.
Qiu Feng led Yu Liuli over, raised her eyes, and said to Ling Qingyue, cool and neither warm nor cold, "Go to sleep early. Don't stay up too late talking."
Yu Liuli, beside her, immediately nodded and agreed. "Yes, yes!"
Ling Qingyue nodded as well and agreed.
The little courtyard had only one room, and there were no spare rooms to leave Qiu Feng and Pei Yin. Before leaving, Qiu Feng took the initiative and offered to escort Pei Yin to the guest hall. Pei Yin's expression was indifferent; she gave a slight nod and followed behind her.
Yu Liuli watched the two of them leave her little courtyard, then excitedly tugged Ling Qingyue into the house, talking as they walked. "How is it that Pei Yin is still the same as before, ignoring everyone?"
Ling Qingyue coughed twice and couldn't help but speak up in her defense. "No, she's… she's fine."
Yu Liuli glanced at her and gave a smile of ambiguous meaning. "Right, she's fine to you."
The moment they entered the room, Ling Qingyue noticed that the furnishings were exactly the same as Yu Liuli's old room. Only the low daybed by the window was wider and larger than usual, big enough for three or four people to lie down on. A small low table sat on the daybed, laid with a tea set and a fresh bunch of vibrant spiritual flowers. The flowers were sustained by spirit stones, their petals so delicate and dewy they looked as if they had never been picked.
The two sat down on the daybed. Yu Liuli stared fixedly at Ling Qingyue's face for a long while before she spoke. "Can't you get that stuff on your face off?"
Ling Qingyue gave her a look. "Guess why I don't get it off. You think I find it pretty?"
Yu Liuli laughed too, probably realizing she'd asked a foolish question.
After the laughter, the air went quiet. Ling Qingyue clenched her hands, unsure what to say. Just as she lifted her head, Yu Liuli suddenly leaned in and hugged her, holding her very tightly.
Ling Qingyue slowly raised her hands and hugged her back.
"Qingyue, I really am so happy." Yu Liuli's voice broke. "That you could come back to life, I'm truly, truly happy. Do you have any idea, when you died back then, Xiao Yue and I nearly cried our eyes blind. The two of us even set up a grave with your clothes in the Peach Grove Secret Realm. Around that time, something happened to Sister Yue, and then you… and Xiao Yue, she… she wasn't doing well either. I was really afraid she couldn't get past it. Thank goodness, thank goodness she pulled through."
"Oh, that's right. Have you seen Xiao Yue yet? She'll definitely be overjoyed to know you're still alive!"
Ling Qingyue's throat tightened, and she felt dampness at her eyes. "I… I've seen her, but…"
"But I didn't tell her who I am."
Yu Liuli let go and looked at her, confusion in her eyes.
Ling Qingyue said softly, "My resurrection came amid a scheme. I don't want to drag her into it."
Even though the very start of Pei Yin being pulled into this was because of Yue Shouming, she still didn't want to drag Yue Shouming in.
Yu Liuli said, "I see."
Right after that, she remembered something else. "You said earlier that Sister Yue's death was connected to Senior Sister Lou. So… does Xiao Yue still not know?"
Ling Qingyue nodded.
Knowing Yue Shouming's temperament, if she found out her older sister had died an unnatural death, she would certainly raise an enormous uproar.
Yu Liuli had guessed that too. She sighed, crestfallen. "After Sister Yue passed away, the Yue Family and Xiao Yue were both taken care of by Senior Sister Lou. Xiao Yue has always treated Lou Wudu like an older sister. If she were to find out…"
Halfway through speaking, Yu Liuli couldn't go on. Tears fell again, and she had to lift a hand to wipe them away.
Ling Qingyue had thought about this as well. She didn't know how she would explain all of this to Yue Shouming when the time came.
That the one who had brought about her sister's death was the Senior Sister Lou she had always respected and trusted… would she simply break down completely?
Yu Liuli wiped her tears away and smiled, changing the subject. "All right now, let's talk about you."
Ling Qingyue could pretty well guess what she wanted to ask and answered evasively, "What's there to say about me? Died, then came back to life. That's it."
Yu Liuli prodded her with her hand. "Tell me about you and Pei Yin. You two really did end up together."
Ling Qingyue frowned upon hearing this. "What do you mean?"
What did she mean, "really did end up together"? Before, she and Pei Yin clearly hadn't exactly been "close." They'd even "disliked" each other.
Yu Liuli gave a soft scoff. "Still playing dumb. Didn't you like her before?"
Ling Qingyue's eyes instantly went wide. "No, no, no. What are you talking about? I like her now. I didn't like her before. Didn't I find her pretty annoying back then?"
Yu Liuli narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Right. Your mouth said you found her annoying, but your heart liked her."
Only when she saw Ling Qingyue's face flush with urgency did Yu Liuli unhurriedly speak. "Back when the study sessions at Shangtianqiong first started, Senior Sister Lou had you in charge of receiving the disciples who came from all the immortal sects. Do you still remember who you received?"
Ling Qingyue recalled something, and her expression froze.
Yu Liuli saw her guilty look and gave a little laugh. "You received exactly one person: Pei Yin! Xiao Yue waited for you outside the mountain gate all day. She said she'd remember this her whole life."
Ling Qingyue argued, "That… that still doesn't mean I liked her. After that, I didn't get close to her anymore, did I? We were just friends who exchanged nods in greeting."
"Right." Yu Liuli went along with her words. "Just friends who exchanged nods in greeting. What kind of nod? The kind where you lower your head, raise your head, and look her up and down from head to toe? Xiao Yue says you sneaked looks at her eight hundred times a day."
Ling Qingyue: "…"
Nonsense! Clearly it was Pei Yin sneaking looks at her!
"And remember that day you brought back a pouch of Scarlet Flame Fruit? Didn't even check if they were ripe, just stuffed them right into my mouth and Xiao Yue's mouth. It wasn't until the two of us swelled up like pig heads that you realized the fruit wasn't ripe. Then you passed the fruit around to prank all the other people, the only one you didn't give any to was Pei Yin. Pei Yin stared at you, openly wanting some, and you just ate the rest of them all yourself. In the end you got poisoned and swelled up for seven days, didn't come out to see anyone." Yu Liuli tapped her with her gaze, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "And what did you say back then? You said Pei Yin was too good-looking, like a celestial being, couldn't let her swell up into a pig head."
"I… I said that?" Ling Qingyue asked hesitantly.
She did indeed remember the matter of swelling up into a pig head, but she never imagined it had any connection to Pei Yin.
Yu Liuli gave a cold hum. "The poison made your tongue swell up and your head all dizzy and muddled. It's normal you don't remember."
After she finished, Yu Liuli shook her head while sighing. "Who could've imagined it? Pei Yin actually likes someone like you."
Ling Qingyue's gaze halted. She asked softly, "You knew that Pei Yin liked me in the past?"
That so many people should know about Pei Yin liking her didn't make sense.
Yu Liuli poured a cup of tea to drink and smiled with curved eyes. "I knew. Not just me, Xiao Yue knew too. She was even the first one to discover that Pei Yin liked you. Don't even start, that girl's eyes are wicked sharp."
"When she first told me, I didn't believe her. Think about how Pei Yin was back then, that cold face of hers scarier than those sect leaders and elders. No one even dared to talk to her. Some people even said she cultivated the Emotionless Path. How could she possibly like anyone, much less like you? I was about to think Xiao Yue had written so many stories she'd gone crazy, seeing everyone as a perfect match."
"Later on, she kept dragging me along to secretly watch the two of you, and I did notice some things that didn't quite add up. Unlike you, sneaking looks at her all furtive, when Pei Yin looked at you, she didn't even hide it. Especially when you were together with Xiao Yue, her eyes practically had blades in them. To test this, Xiao Yue deliberately threw her arm around your shoulders or hooked her arm through yours quite a few times. I watched the whole thing clearly from the side: Pei Yin was about to commit murder."
"You have no idea. It was really something."
As she spoke, Yu Liuli laughed and flopped back onto the daybed. But Ling Qingyue felt as if icy cold had engulfed her whole body, like she'd fallen into a frozen abyss.
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