“What are you doing here?” Qu Weiying pulled her back, lowering her voice, her expression stern.
“Why is Senior Aunt Qu here?” Luo Jinxiu turned her head and stood still.
Qu Weiying, unable to pull her back, was at a loss for words, feeling so frustrated that she couldn’t speak.
Qu Chengzhou, however, watched the two of them with interest and then smiled kindly. “Luo Jinxiu, it has been many days since you came to the Wuhui Sect. How’s your cultivation going? Are you getting accustomed to it?”
Seeing his benevolent appearance, Luo Jinxiu pretended to be polite and gentle like him and replied, “It’s going well. Thank you, Elder Qu, for your concern.”
Qu Weiying, hearing this insincerity, felt a surge of anger. She was about to say something when Luo Jinxiu tightened her grip on Qu Weiying’s hand and suddenly pulled her away. Unprepared, Qu Weiying almost collided with her.
“Luo Jinxiu!” Qu Weiying was furious.
“Shh.” Luo Jinxiu turned her head and motioned to her to be quiet.
The distance between them suddenly became too close. Qu Weiying instinctively leaned back a little, her heart seemed to suddenly stop, and she felt dizzy.
Luo Jinxiu’s profile was truly beautiful, her eyes calm like water, her eyebrows like distant mountains. As she came so close, a light fragrance and the warmth of her presence enveloped Qu Weiying.
Qu Weiying wasn’t sure whether she was angry or nervous, and she felt her cheeks heating up.
“Weiying is magnanimous and has many responsibilities on ordinary days, while I, as an elder, have more leisure. I invited you personally. If you need anything in the future, feel free to ask for my help. You don’t need to bother others,” Qu Chengzhou said half-jokingly, then stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
Feeling Qu Weiying’s sudden outburst of anger, Luo Jinxiu smiled and stood in front of her, then replied, “Thank you, Elder.”
Qu Chengzhou’s gaze lingered on the two of them as if pondering something, and then he added, “I just happened to be patrolling here. Now I have a lesson to teach, so I’ll leave first.”
Luo Jinxiu was eager for him to leave, so she nodded quickly. Qu Chengzhou turned around and disappeared like a puff of smoke carried by the wind.
She breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could say anything, Qu Weiying threw her hand away, turned around, and walked off without a word. Not knowing what had happened, Luo Jinxiu rushed to stop her.
“Senior Aunt, wait!”
“Don’t touch me!” Qu Weiying raised her arm to avoid Luo Jinxiu’s touch and sternly warned, causing Luo Jinxiu to stagger backward.
Luo Jinxiu was puzzled as to why the female demon was so angry.
As Qu Weiying was about to leave, Luo Jinxiu, who had gained some experience, took a few steps forward and directly blocked her path, grabbing her arm. With a look of sorrow and helplessness, she said, “Senior Aunt, why is this? If I hadn’t intervened, you would have fought with Elder Qu. You’re powerful, but you can’t beat him.”
Qu Weiying looked at her questioningly, raised her hand to free her arm, and coldly said, “Of course, I know I can’t beat him, so I won’t hit him. It’s none of your business.”
Luo Jinxiu raised an eyebrow and thought to herself that even though she didn’t hit him, Qu Weiying almost fell into evil.
“Then why are you so angry?” Luo Jinxiu asked.
Qu Weiying’s slender eyes lifted slightly, still showing a hint of redness, but looking clear and spirited, diminishing some of her ferocity.
“I am not angry,” Qu Weiying said.
Luo Jinxiu looked incredulous.
Qu Weiying no longer bothered to hide her feelings. She averted her eyes and suddenly asked, “So, who do you trust, him or me?” sounding irritated.
Luo Jinxiu was on the verge of laughing at this question and tried to suppress her amusement as she realized why Qu Weiying was so angry. She had misunderstood and thought that she would trust Qu Chengzhou and be on his side.
“Of course, it’s you. Even if Qu Elder, He Elder, Li Elder, or Liu Elder were here, I would still trust you,” Luo Jinxiu said with a hint of teasing. However, the words sounded like a solemn vow. She stood there helplessly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Qu Weiying was even more confused. Her face was already pale and flushed, and her blush was even more obvious. She hastily turned around and looked at the quiet valley where a gentle breeze was blowing her hair freely.
“Why aren’t you chopping wood? What are you doing here? Go back quickly,” Qu Weiying said.
“Just taking a short break,” Luo Jinxiu smiled ingratiatingly as she stood on the cliff with her, looking down together.
Below their feet, the vast, boundless forest stretched endlessly in all directions. When the wind blew, it created sparkling waves of light through the leaves. The sound of the wind through the trees echoed in the empty valley, creating a deep and solemn atmosphere.
Luo Jinxiu took a deep breath and felt the fragrant scent of the vegetation penetrate her senses.
“It’s so beautiful,” she couldn’t help but say.
“Year after year, unchanging. What’s so beautiful about it?” Qu Weiying replied, throwing cold water on the situation.
Luo Jinxiu looked at Qu Weiying and thought to herself, “She looks like a picture, but why is she such a spoilsport?”
She looked around and suddenly got an idea. She got excited and grabbed Qu Weiying, but Qu Weiying defensively avoided her touch as if she was avoiding a dangerous object.
“Could it be that Senior Aunt doesn’t trust me and is afraid that a useless person like me will bully you?” Luo Jinxiu goaded her.
As expected, Qu Weiying turned around and walked away.
Luo Jinxiu led her down the mountain, through a dense and stacked forest, and then plunged into a particularly lush patch of grass.
Qu Weiying was alarmed by this, fidgeting as if she wanted to reach out and stop her, but couldn’t bring herself to do so, and calmly asked, “What are you doing?”
Luo Jinxiu dug for a while and unexpectedly found a hole wide enough for one person. She turned around, winked at Qu Weiying, and beamed, “Senior Aunt, come with me.”
This time, Qu Weiying grabbed her and pulled her out, frowning as she looked inside. “Did you make this?”
“I’m not a rabbit,” Luo Jinxiu shook her head. “I found it by accident.”
Qu Weiying’s face showed contempt, but since she could not resist the temptation, she finally nodded and threw her sleeve into Luo Jinxiu’s hand, coldly saying, “Keep it.”
Luo Jinxiu looked at Qu Weiying and found her quite amusing, so she just grabbed her wrist directly.
“Stop it, Luo Jinxiu,” Qu Weiying became angry again.
Luo Jinxiu didn’t want to push her luck, so she immediately let go of her hand and pulled on her sleeve again.
Qu Weiying looked away, her skin still burning where Luo Jinxiu had touched her. She bit her lip lightly, trying to fade the blush from her face.
In an instant, the two of them vanished like smoke, and when they landed again, they were at the other end of the cave. Directly above them was a deep and long cavern. Sunlight poured into the opening, and dust motes danced and swirled in the beam of light, disappearing into the shadows.
In the part where the sunlight shone, there was a small, crooked tree with a patch of ground, water nearby, and some red-banded fish swimming in the clear water, seemingly wandering in the void.
“This is a quiet cave,” Luo Jinxiu said as she walked over to the tree and reached out to touch its canopy. This was a place she had discovered in her previous life, where she often came to read and relax. The tree had been nourished by spiritual energy throughout the year, and although it was small and grew poorly, the place had a beautiful serenity.
“It is just a tree. What’s so special about it?” Qu Weiying scoffed, but her eyes remained on the red-banded fish.
“Don’t try to catch them, if you do, they won’t be here anymore,” Luo Jinxiu said with a smile.
Qu Weiying remained silent, and when Luo Jinxiu turned away and placed her hand on the trunk, she sang softly. Streams of silver-white light flowed from her palms into the tree. Soon, the previously struggling sapling began to grow vigorously and flourish.
After that, several delicate white flower buds emerged from the branches, blooming with a shimmering silvery light that illuminated the cave walls.
“How about that?” Luo Jinxiu turned to look at Qu Weiying, only to see Qu Weiying pull her away with a frown so tightly knit that it seemed to be about to bind her eyebrows together.
“I told you not to use spiritual energy!” Qu Weiying was angry.
Luo Jinxiu smiled reassuringly, her gaze lingering on Qu Weiying’s hand. “Don’t worry, this amount of spiritual energy won’t cause any problems.”
“Is it beautiful?” she asked again.
“Uh-huh.” After a while, Qu Weiying nodded, released Luo Jinxiu, and looked up to watch the falling petals.
“It’s getting late. Let’s go back,” she said suddenly, then turned and walked away, leaving Luo Jinxiu alone, calling out a few times but only seeing her distant, forlorn figure.
“People change their minds quickly,” Luo Jinxiu muttered. After admiring the scene, she crawled out with a disheveled appearance.
When she returned to the area where she had been chopping wood, she stood there in astonishment, then burst out laughing.
The previously dense forest in front of her had been cut down by someone in one fell swoop, leaving a large, neatly cut swath with smooth, sharp edges.
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