Hearing these words, a flicker of panic crossed Pei Ruyi’s icy-blue eyes.
She didn’t want to go back.
But with the Grand Tournament imminent and her Sword Heart remolded, what reason did she have left to not return to Heavenly Sword Peak?
She cast her gaze toward Ye Luqing, as if grasping for the only lifeline.
“See, you’re getting anxious again.”
Ye Luqing stepped to Pei Ruyi’s side and wrapped a hand around her slender waist.
Hua Sheng’s heart clenched. Since when had those two become so close?
“Junior Sister Pei’s Dao Heart hasn’t stabilized yet. As an Array Cultivator, I do know a few arrays to calm the Dao Heart,” Ye Luqing said.
“If she goes back to Heavenly Sword Peak now, can Junior Brother Hua find a better therapist than me?”
“This…” Hua Sheng was taken aback.
Ye Luqing had a point. The Elders on Heavenly Sword Peak who could guide a Sword Heart were mostly absent. The disciples themselves were still tempering their own Sword Hearts. They certainly couldn’t help anyone else.
But a sense of dissonance nagged at him. Something about Pei Ruyi seemed off.
Though Ye Luqing had taken Pei Ruyi in, he couldn’t shake the feeling that letting her stay here any longer would lead to trouble.
“Junior Brother Hua seems very worried about A-Yi staying with me.” Ye Luqing looked at Hua Sheng meaningfully.
A-Yi?!
Hua Sheng was shocked by the intimate address, but he couldn’t dwell on it now.
“Please don’t be offended, Senior Sister Ye…”
“Don’t worry, she’ll return by tonight.”
The day before yesterday, she’d arranged with Xiao Qingxuan to come over tonight for the second memory reshaping.
Xiao Qingxuan’s attainment in the Sword Dao far surpassed Hua Sheng’s. Leaving Pei Ruyi here could potentially reveal something.
Plus, that Destined Female Lead was a notoriously jealous person. She definitely wouldn’t miss any clues.
Most importantly, Ye Luqing couldn’t beat Xiao Qingxuan, but she could definitely beat Hua Sheng.
Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth lifted involuntarily. A fun little scheme hatched in her mind.
With a one-handed incantation gesture, she instantly activated a spell array in the courtyard designed to obscure perception.
Anyone with a cultivation lower than hers would be unable to sense any minor, hidden actions she intended to conceal.
This array could cloud the Soul, rivaling a Grand Array in power, but it had to be pre-arranged in the courtyard to be used.
Both she and Hua Sheng were at the Peak Golden Core Stage, but in terms of cultivation base and comprehension of the Nascent Soul, she far surpassed him.
Even so, she could only obscure his perception for about three minutes.
Still, three minutes was more than enough.
Ye Luqing’s hand slid down, gently squeezing the sensitive flesh at Pei Ruyi’s waist.
“Nngh…” Pei Ruyi’s brows knitted tightly. Her eyelids trembled violently as she suppressed the emotion trying to surface.
She bit down on her lip, as if to stifle any sound about to escape.
‘Qing…’ She glanced reproachfully at Ye Luqing beside her, while the other’s voice echoed directly in her heart.
“It’s fine, he can’t detect it.”
“Mn… Qing, you’re so bad…” Pei Ruyi’s body quivered lightly. Her jade face bloomed with two streaks of rosy cloud. She secretly glanced at Hua Sheng in front of her, only to find him completely unresponsive.
In Hua Sheng’s eyes, Pei Ruyi remained that Cold Fairy. It was just that her face had gradually become more flushed, taking on a more vivid life.
Ye Luqing’s hand around her waist grew increasingly restless, simultaneously using the Six Desires Triggering Array to tease Pei Ruyi’s desires.
Realizing Hua Sheng couldn’t see anything, Pei Ruyi gradually relaxed. Her brows and eyes turned soft and seductive, her gaze misty and unfocused, soft, suppressed moans continuously spilling from her lips.
For a moment, a bewitching pink atmosphere filled the air.
Hua Sheng inexplicably felt his mouth go dry, his qi and blood surging. But he quickly attributed it to the consecutive battles in the arena sapping his stamina.
“Ruyi, if you want to stay here, I can come pick you up tonight,” he offered.
“Nn… No, no need to pick… me up…” Pei Ruyi let out a soft grunt. “I… I can go back… myself…”
As Ye Luqing’s roaming intensified, her body began trembling uncontrollably. Her facial muscles twitched slightly from the stimulation, lips parting as she unconsciously extended her soft, fragrant tongue.
‘Being toyed with by Qing… it’s so thrilling…’
‘So letting go… is this pleasurable…’
Her sense of shame and guilt surged simultaneously, her reason crumbling like a bursting dam. But because her remolded Sword Heart was now anchored in Ye Luqing, so-called dignity and righteousness no longer mattered.
Whatever Ye Luqing ordered, she would obey.
Hua Sheng watched Pei Ruyi, puzzled. From his perspective, her expression was perfectly normal, yet her aura felt strangely disordered.
He subconsciously clenched his fist, an urge to drag Pei Ruyi away right now flaring within him.
“Alright, Junior Brother Hua, you should go back and rest first.” Ye Luqing narrowed her eyes slightly.
“You wouldn’t want Senior Sister Pei to lose her match the day after tomorrow, right?”
“Heh heh…” Hearing this, Hua Sheng’s fists tightened even more.
It was all his fault for being so useless, forcing Pei Ruyi to restore her Sword Heart in such a dubious place.
“Then… I’ll trouble Senior Sister Ye…” he gritted out, bowing toward Ye Luqing.
“Heh heh, of course…” Ye Luqing’s smile was deeply meaningful.
“We’re all Senior and Junior Sisters here. If I can help, naturally I won’t shirk.”
Without further pleasantries, Hua Sheng just wanted to leave this place.
As he reached the courtyard gate, he looked back.
At some point, Pei Ruyi was now seated on a stone stool in the yard, her body faintly trembling. Her face was blushed the pink of peach blossoms, her cherry lips slack and soft, her whole body as if drained of strength.
Before he could observe more details, Ye Luqing stepped sideways, blocking his view of Pei Ruyi, and waved toward him.
Under the setting sun’s glow, the very fingers that had just been wrapped around Pei Ruyi’s waist reflected shimmering, crystal-clear moisture.
…………
“Qing, I don’t want to go…” In the side room, on the bed, their gazes met.
Pei Ruyi’s eyes were brimming with tenderness, the love in them seemingly overflowing.
Ye Luqing pinched Pei Ruyi’s cheek. “Silly A-Yi, what if Senior Sister Xiao comes over later tonight?”
“She might be reluctant to hurt me, but she’d definitely land a sword strike on you.”
Pei Ruyi pursed her lips, the light in her clear eyes dimming slightly.
The mention of Xiao Qingxuan made her feel somewhat inferior.
Although Ye Luqing claimed it was fear of Xiao Qingxuan hurting them both, Pei Ruyi felt that in her heart, Ye Luqing was actually more concerned for Xiao Qingxuan, afraid she’d be jealous.
She was naturally willing to share Ye Luqing with Xiao Qingxuan. Rather, it would be her honor.
But whether Xiao Qingxuan was willing was a different matter entirely.
Imagining a future where her Qing might be monopolized by Xiao Qingxuan, tiny pearls instantly slipped from the corners of her eyes.
“Qing, I love you so much.”
“Will you love me forever, too?” She gazed at Ye Luqing pitifully like a puppy about to be abandoned.
Even if Ye Luqing was monopolized by Xiao Qingxuan, as long as she still held love for her in her heart, that would be enough.
But Ye Luqing just extended a finger, lightly pressing it to her lips.
“A-Yi, some things are useless no matter how many times you say them.”
“Let your body… remember it well…”
