Chapter 12: Tattling to Shen Zhiyue Part 2

“…I’m just a string of data, Host. Please don’t torture my code.”

Bai Xiaoxiao mercifully let it off the hook and smiled as she thanked her. “Thank you, Your Eminence!”

After saying that, driven by curiosity, she poured out a pill from the little white bottle.

The pill wasn’t large. It was milky white all over, with a faint, glimmering luster. The scent it gave off was fragrant, somewhat sweet. But woven into the fragrance was a hint of medicinal bitterness.

That was only natural. It was a pill, after all. If it didn’t smell medicinal, it would be no different from a sugar bean.

With that thought, Bai Xiaoxiao placed the pill into her mouth.

The fragrance was rich upon entry, but all the fragrance ended the moment she bit into the pill.

Bai Xiaoxiao had never eaten a pill before, so out of sheer curiosity, she bit down.

The instant her tongue touched the inside of the pill, a towering bitterness flooded her mouth. Her eyes flew wide, and she made to spit it out.

But the moment she moved, her mouth was quickly covered by a hand.

“Don’t spit it out. Swallow it.”

There seemed to be a note of amusement in Shen Zhiyue’s voice, but the hand covering her mouth didn’t relax in the slightest.

Tears rapidly welled up in Bai Xiaoxiao’s eyes. Her expression contorted beyond control from the bitterness. In the end, she swallowed the bitter pill through her tears.

What a torment. Why on earth had she bitten into it?

This was a question Shen Zhiyue very much wanted to know as well. Seeing the person swallow it down, she finally slowly released her hand and said with a half-smile, “Pills are medicine. Little snake, your curiosity really is far too strong.”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s mouth hung slightly open, her sense of taste already obliterated by the bitterness. When she heard Shen Zhiyue’s words, her lashes fluttered, and a single tear slid down, landing on the snow.

“I… I’ve never eaten a pill before…”

Curiosity killed the snake.

Bai Xiaoxiao was so bitter her mind went blank. It took a long, long while for her to come back to her senses.

Shen Zhiyue’s lips curved slightly, though she hid the smile behind a sip of tea.

Bai Xiaoxiao was immersed in the bitterness and didn’t see it.

Even when she woke up the next day, she could still taste the bitterness at the root of her tongue.

In truth, because the bitter taste from biting the pill last night had refused to disperse from her mouth, when she’d been intimate with Shen Zhiyue, she’d been cruelly refused kisses.

Bai Xiaoxiao had hugged the person aggrievedly, afraid of making the other taste bitterness, yet unable to restrain herself. So she’d pressed all the rejected kisses onto Shen Zhiyue’s body, only stopping when the fair skin was covered in scattered red plum blossoms.

Unfortunately, Shen Zhiyue’s cultivation was too high. After a single night, her body had already recovered completely.

Bai Xiaoxiao glanced at her with regret, wanting to lean in and kiss her. But when she tasted the lingering bitterness, she stopped.

This pill was far too persistent.

Bai Xiaoxiao thought gloomily, her expression still downcast even while learning sword flight with Ming Jingqiu.

…

“You’re saying… you bit the pill open and were bitter from last night all the way until now?”

After a moment of silence, Ming Jingqiu repeated Bai Xiaoxiao’s words in a shocked and bewildered tone, one word at a time. The further she got, the more hesitant her expression became.

Bai Xiaoxiao sensed Ming Jingqiu’s profound speechlessness from her voice and explained helplessly, “I’d never eaten a pill before. I was just curious…”

Ming Jingqiu fell silent again. After a long while, she said in a rather shaken tone, “Live long enough, and you really do see all kinds of things.”

Bai Xiaoxiao laughed awkwardly. “Y-yeah.”

After the little interlude, the two continued the lesson.

But Bai Xiaoxiao could feel the incredulous looks Ming Jingqiu kept sending her way the entire time.

It wasn’t until the end that Ming Jingqiu suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, thank you for yesterday, Fellow Daoist Bai. It’s still early today—perhaps I could treat Fellow Daoist Bai to a meal at Spirit Cuisine Peak… Fellow Daoist Bai?”

Seeing the perfectly fine person suddenly brimming with tears of emotion, Ming Jingqiu grew hesitant.

But Bai Xiaoxiao’s mind was entirely occupied by the words “Spirit Cuisine Peak” and “can eat.”

Originally, hearing Ming Jingqiu’s tone suggesting she wanted to repay her, Bai Xiaoxiao had already thought of a refusal. But what did she hear instead?

“There’s actually a Spirit Cuisine Peak?!”

Ming Jingqiu was taken aback, then nodded with a bemused expression.

Bai Xiaoxiao had always assumed cultivators simply skipped meals and went straight into inedia. After all, Moon-Gazing Peak had nothing to eat, and Shen Zhiyue didn’t consume food either.

It turned out there was a cafeteria.

“Then I’ll gladly accept, Fellow Daoist Ming.”

Suppressing her inner excitement, Bai Xiaoxiao politely agreed.

So the two went to Spirit Cuisine Peak together. It was mealtime, bustling with activity. But looking closely, the atmosphere today seemed somewhat unusual.

After getting their food and sitting down, Bai Xiaoxiao looked at the appetizing dishes and couldn’t help eating until she was half full.

Only after satisfying her cravings did she curiously listen to the faint conversations drifting over from the surroundings.

The disciples seemed to be gossiping, and the topic sounded somewhat familiar.

Bai Xiaoxiao shoveled a bite of food, then suddenly looked up at Ming Jingqiu.

But Ming Jingqiu was already frozen. Her cultivation was higher than Bai Xiaoxiao’s, so she naturally heard more clearly.

Because those disciples were discussing—the very inner disciples who had come looking for trouble yesterday.

This kind of troublemaking over the little junior sister wasn’t a one-time thing. Ming Jingqiu could also sense that the other party didn’t like her, but she didn’t care.

Rong Qingqing had a good family background and could act spoiled and have others clean up her messes. But she was different. Although she had a powerful Shizun, she had no one behind her. No one would stand up for her.

Even telling her Shizun would only lower her standing in the other’s eyes. So on ordinary days, even when wronged, Ming Jingqiu was used to enduring.

As long as it didn’t delay her cultivation, it just meant a few extra fights. She’d treat it as practical sparring.

But today, she’d heard that those people had been punished.

Ming Jingqiu was dazed for a long while before reacting. She looked up and glanced at Bai Xiaoxiao, who was busy eating while listening to gossip.

It wasn’t hard to guess who had done this.

After being stunned for quite some time, Ming Jingqiu silently lowered her head and scooped some of Bai Xiaoxiao’s favorite dishes into her bowl.

But Bai Xiaoxiao was too busy listening to gossip and being surprised to notice Ming Jingqiu’s gesture.

She hadn’t expected Shen Zhiyue to act so quickly. But…

Did the other know that the root of this matter was Rong Qingqing? Then what about the punishment…?

Bai Xiaoxiao shook her head, thinking it was most likely impossible.

If Shen Zhiyue truly intended to punish Rong Qingqing, there would have been a result today. But in the gossip she’d heard, Rong Qingqing’s name had never appeared from start to finish.

Either she’d managed to extricate herself, or Shen Zhiyue was deliberately shielding her.

Bai Xiaoxiao felt both possibilities were plausible.

But what she hadn’t expected was that when she returned to Moon-Gazing Peak after dinner, she’d run into an unexpected figure.

It was Rong Qingqing.

“Junior Sister, what do you need?”

Ming Jingqiu asked in a calm voice.

Rong Qingqing smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Senior Sister. I came to apologize to you. The inner sect senior sisters are quite close with me. I didn’t realize that a casual remark from me would cause them to misunderstand and go find trouble with you.

But those senior sisters didn’t truly harm you, Senior Sister. Could you… plead with Shizun on their behalf and let them go?”

As she spoke, genuine worry appeared on her face, and her eyes gradually reddened.

“Senior Sister, please don’t be angry, alright? Shizun already gave me a talking-to just now. I won’t speak carelessly again.”

Ming Jingqiu pressed her lips together and said nothing, not really wanting to engage.

But seeing Rong Qingqing on the verge of tears, she hesitated for a moment and finally said, “Shizun’s decisions are beyond my interference. The inner sect senior and junior sisters were punished because they violated sect rules. They should be released in a few days. Junior Sister need not worry.”

Rong Qingqing seemed comforted and quickly smiled again. “As long as Senior Sister isn’t angry, then Qingqing is relieved. Since we happened to meet, let me also say goodbye to Senior Sister. Shizun has ordered me to go down the mountain for training tomorrow. I’ll need to set out by then.”

She sighed, a look of worry crossing her face. “This is my first time going down the mountain. I don’t know if it will be dangerous. Although Shizun gave me life-saving spirit artifacts and talismans, I’m still a bit uneasy.

But it’s fine. When I return from this training, I’ll be sure to bring Senior Sister a gift.”

Ming Jingqiu said “there’s no need” with a blank face.

Rong Qingqing blinked, her smile growing brighter. She pressed her lips together and said no more. After a hasty salute, she left.

Bai Xiaoxiao watched a good show, quite surprised that she hadn’t been given a role in it. It seemed that in Rong Qingqing’s eyes, Ming Jingqiu was still the foremost thorn in her side.

She glanced at Ming Jingqiu and said sincerely, “Fellow Daoist Ming, you’ve worked hard.”

Ming Jingqiu shook her head. “I’m used to it. Junior Sister is favored. Whenever she gets something from Shizun, she always comes to tell me about it. This sudden down-mountain training is probably because this matter is indeed connected to her, so Shizun sent her away to avoid the storm.”

She wasn’t a saint. She couldn’t truly remain unmoved. Sometimes she even wondered whether insisting on becoming Sword Venerable Mingyue’s disciple had been a mistake from the very beginning.

But there was no regret medicine in this world. Ming Jingqiu knew that if she had it to do all over again, she’d still make the same choice.

Bai Xiaoxiao’s gaze grew complicated.

Everyone said Ming Jingqiu was as cold and hard as stone. But she knew everything—she just pretended not to.

What a pity. She’d ended up with such an ending.