Chapter 27: A-Yue, Talk to Me

Shen Zhiyue’s voice was colder than a midwinter frost.

It was so cold that Bai Xiaoxiao immediately shivered—so violently that several people nearby caught the reaction.

She had no reason to tremble, and her face instantly turned pale. The others took in the sight, their expressions wavering between shock and suspicion.

Ye Xingtong glanced at the dinner table, her pupils nearly quaking. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Don’t tell me the food is poisoned?”

At her words, Ming Jingqiu instinctively pressed her hand against her sword hilt.

Jing Ying froze for a moment. Though she sensed something was off, she didn’t hesitate to begin condensing a spell, ready to hurl it out and run at the first command.

Rong Yuzhuo looked at their alert, ready-for-battle expressions, then at Bai Xiaoxiao’s awful complexion. For a moment, she wondered if her own bad luck had dragged her benefactor into trouble. So she asked nervously, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Fellow Daoist Bai, did something—”

Bai Xiaoxiao forced a smile uglier than a grimace and hurried to soothe them. “I’m fine. I just… got hit by some spice.”

Shen Zhiyue had gone silent after dropping that one sentence. The Sea of Consciousness was eerily quiet—very much the calm before a storm.

Bai Xiaoxiao swallowed hard.

She really was fine right now. But it was very possible she wouldn’t be fine a little later.

From the tone of it, Shen Zhiyue was seriously angry.

Bai Xiaoxiao barely managed to steady herself, then pretended nothing was wrong. “The Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion gets more crowded by the minute. Let’s finish up and leave quickly. Aren’t we attending the auction tomorrow? We should get back and rest early.”

The others studied her for a moment and only relaxed when they confirmed she really was all right.

Ye Xingtong shoved a mouthful of food in and chewed sloppily. “Rest? Huh? Aren’t we going to look around? Xiaoxiao, didn’t you say you’d never been to a city before? This is the perfect chance. Besides, night just fell. It’s still early.”

Jing Ying calmly dismissed her spell and nodded in agreement. “Right, right. Though Fengdu City can’t compare to the bustle of Floating Gold City, it’s still one of the top cities around. Besides, the Cultivation World doesn’t have as many rules as the mortal world. Night is exactly when things get lively. There’s plenty of fun to be had.”

Bai Xiaoxiao knew very well how lively it would be outside—she’d already felt it on the way over. Tempting as it was, the thought of an angry Shen Zhiyue made her grit her teeth and refuse. “It’s fine. There will definitely be… other chances to look around. It’s mainly that after going through the secret realm, I still haven’t fully recovered. I’m exhausted. The city is safe, so I can actually get some proper rest.”

The others exchanged glances, but since she was set on going back to rest, they didn’t try to persuade her.

“In that case, let’s find an inn and check in first. Once we’ve settled on a place, whoever wants to rest can rest, and whoever wants to play can play. How about that?”

Jing Ying was reliable when it counted. She immediately offered a suggestion.

The group thought it over and decided to accept, and so the rest of the night was settled.

After dinner, Bai Xiaoxiao left the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion without looking left or right, never once turning her head. Her expression was so firm it bordered on suspiciously righteous.

All of it was simply to make sure Shen Zhiyue saw that coming to the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion had never been her idea.

It wasn’t until they were far away from the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion that Bai Xiaoxiao finally let out a slow breath. Still, unease churned in her heart. After all, Shen Zhiyue hadn’t made a sound since dropping that single sentence.

How was this any different from a stay of execution?

Bai Xiaoxiao felt like a condemned prisoner who should have been executed on the spot, only for the sentence to be delayed for one reason or another. Fear gnawed at her.

She took a deep breath and, with a nervous heart, went with the others to an inn and booked several rooms.

Luckily, they’d arrived relatively early—because of the auction, quite a few cultivators had come, and any later and there wouldn’t have been any rooms left.

Bai Xiaoxiao felt slightly relieved. She flat-out refused Ye Xingtong’s second invitation and hurried to her room, eager to explain things to Shen Zhiyue.

Ming Jingqiu, however, surprised her. Bai Xiaoxiao had assumed the woman wasn’t the type to enjoy strolling around, yet she actually proposed going out for a walk.

In the end, only Bai Xiaoxiao and Rong Yuzhuo stayed behind.

Bai Xiaoxiao stayed because she felt guilty and didn’t dare go out.

As for Rong Yuzhuo, she wasn’t familiar with the other three. Tagging along and making herself uncomfortable was worse than simply turning in early. After the auction was over, she could go home.

She had assumed that everyone except Bai Xiaoxiao disliked her, but to her surprise, when booking the rooms, Ye Xingtong naturally included her as well.

Rong Yuzhuo was still staring blankly when the shop attendant swiftly opened several superior rooms.

Her grip on her storage bag tightened. For a moment, her expression grew complicated.

The storage bag was ordinary, its space small. It held everything she owned—a hard-won spirit plant that would earn her a decent sum once sold.

But that sum wouldn’t cover a superior room. Rong Yuzhuo had planned to book the cheapest room for one night and save the money to take home.

After all, in the entire Rong Family, only the main branch enjoyed the best resources. The side branches—especially hers, which was nearly cut off from the main branch—had little to work with and lived far from comfortably.

Still, Rong Yuzhuo vaguely remembered that when she was young, her family had been well-off. When she was tested at age five, she’d been found to have a water-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root and extraordinary comprehension.

If nothing unexpected had happened, she would have grown into a mighty figure one day.

But she was too young then to understand the worth of such talent. She only knew her parents were happy, so she was happy too.

As time passed, though, she didn’t advance at lightning speed as the talent stone had promised. Instead, the older she grew, the more ordinary she became. To this day, she hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment.

Could talent actually disappear?

If anyone else had said such a thing, Rong Yuzhuo would have doubted it. But it had happened to her.

When she’d grown old enough to understand, she’d been downcast. But her family noticed her unhappiness and didn’t pressure her.

They only told her to let it go. As long as she lived well and happily, that was enough. If she had no talent, so be it—at least she wouldn’t be in as much danger.

Cultivators defied heaven by nature, and those at the top inevitably braved great peril, perhaps even endless scrutiny.

Being ordinary wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

So Rong Yuzhuo let it go. She still felt a twinge of regret now and then, but if talent could vanish, then perhaps it was never truly hers to begin with. Heaven had merely taken it back.

She thought openly, so she lived freely.

But even the freest cultivator had to eat. Her family wasn’t wealthy, so Rong Yuzhuo had long since started traveling, scraping together spirit stones to support her household.

Along the way, she’d met all kinds of people—but never anyone quite like Ye Xingtong.

She clearly found Rong Yuzhuo’s face unpleasant, yet because of some connection with Fellow Daoist Bai, Rong Yuzhuo got to share in the benefits.

Rong Yuzhuo hesitated for only a moment before accepting. She truly wasn’t well-off, after all.

Face wasn’t worth much. But this kindness she would remember. If a chance ever came, she would repay it.

Bai Xiaoxiao had no idea what was going through Rong Yuzhuo’s mind. She had already hurried back to her room. She closed the door and was just about to sink into her Sea of Consciousness when her vision blurred. Her body realized before her eyes that Shen Zhiyue had emerged from it.

Before Bai Xiaoxiao could react, Shen Zhiyue raised her hand and set up a barrier. Then she turned and looked at her coldly.

“Your Eminence, I was wrong.”

Bai Xiaoxiao immediately dropped to her knees, honestly confessing her mistake.

Shen Zhiyue looked at her with calm eyes. “Is that so?”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s head hung lower, her face full of shame. “I truly know I was wrong.”

Shen Zhiyue stared at her for a while before slowly speaking. “Whose idea was it?”

Bai Xiaoxiao kept her eyes down, not daring to hide anything. “It’s because I’ve never been to a human city before. Xingtong said she’d show me the world, and then we went to the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion. But we really only ate. We didn’t do anything else.”

Her tone was sincerely earnest—she would have sworn on heaven itself if she could.

Then Bai Xiaoxiao quickly racked her brain, reviewing the night’s events. She couldn’t find a single problem. She hadn’t even so much as looked, let alone done anything. She’d honestly just been eating the whole time.

Shen Zhiyue said nothing. Instead, she suddenly appeared right in front of Bai Xiaoxiao.

Bai Xiaoxiao looked up, confused. Before she could react, a cool fingertip brushed her cheek.

At first she was dazed. But when she saw the still-frigid look in Shen Zhiyue’s eyes, a flash of insight struck her, and she suddenly remembered why Shen Zhiyue would gently touch her face like that.

During dinner just now…

Caught off guard, Moyen had touched her exactly like that.

Bai Xiaoxiao felt as if struck by lightning. All she could think was that Shen Zhiyue had seen it!

“Your… Your Eminence, I didn’t—it’s not—please, let me explain!”

She was doomed. Why did that sound so much like a two-timer’s excuse?

Bai Xiaoxiao’s face was full of despair, but she didn’t forget to explain. The problem was that she was too flustered, stuttering and failing to get a coherent sentence out for a long while.

Shen Zhiyue merely watched her, her expression unchanged, as if she hadn’t taken any of it to heart.

The longer Bai Xiaoxiao looked, the colder her heart grew. When she finished and received no response, the panic doubled.

“Your Eminence?”

She called out cautiously.

Shen Zhiyue lowered her eyes slightly. “Are you done?”

Bai Xiaoxiao nodded dumbly. “Done… I’m done.”

“I see.”

What did “I see” mean? Bai Xiaoxiao’s face froze as her mind raced to dissect the sentence.

But whether she broke it apart or looked at it whole, the meaning of those few words seemed obvious.

After saying that, Shen Zhiyue returned to her Sea of Consciousness. Before Bai Xiaoxiao could ask another question, the chance was already gone.

A few seconds later, she snapped back to her senses. She hurriedly sat cross-legged and sank into her Sea of Consciousness in pursuit.

Inside, the miniature figure was still meditating, eyes shut tight, as if her consciousness had withdrawn from the Soul Fragment.

Bai Xiaoxiao had a feeling Shen Zhiyue hadn’t actually left. She was just angry and didn’t want to talk to her.

That guess made her both happy and anxious. The happiness came from knowing the woman was jealous—it proved Shen Zhiyue cared about her. The anxiety came from having made Shen Zhiyue angry.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ignored her even when the Gu Poison was about to flare up.

Bai Xiaoxiao looked miserable. She stared at the little figure, wanting to speak but holding back, wanting to approach but afraid. Hesitantly, she moved closer—only to be hit by a wave of cold emanating from the figure that chilled her to the bone.

But she didn’t retreat. Gritting her teeth, she wrapped her arms around the little figure.

“Your Eminence… no, A-Yue, please talk to me, okay?”