063 The Pixiu’s Lie
Like most men, Qin Ren had two things he liked.
One was watching women fight.
The second was watching women get close.
Yu Ling’er and Yu Yourong held each other’s arms, their eyes shimmering. The feeling they gave off was both sisterly and motherly. Calling them master and disciple was a perfect compromise.
“Yourong, Master missed you so much,” Yu Ling’er’s voice was slightly choked.
“I missed Master too.”
…
Yu Yourong’s expression was calm, her heart steady. But what replayed in Qin Ren’s mind was her sentence from yesterday: “Master? What master?”
…
“You have no idea how Master has gotten through these past few days.”
“Mhm, me too.”
“I was arrested and then ended up on the streets, with nothing to eat…”
“Master is fine now.”
“Sigh, I almost lost my sword too…”
“?!”
Yu Yourong’s gentle gaze sharpened, her pupils rapidly constricting.
“No, no! Just almost, I didn’t lose it. Look.”
Yu Ling’er held up her sword with one hand, while the other reflexively covered her bottom. The movement was so practiced that it reminded Qin Ren of a certain Pixiu.
“Huh?”
Where’s the Pixiu?
When Qin Ren had just entered the house, he had seen Luo Yao and Yu Yourong sitting on the sofa together. How had she disappeared in the blink of an eye?
“You two probably have a lot to talk about. Take your time and chat. Yourong.”
At the end, Qin Ren gave Yu Yourong a look, indicating that she was enough to explain what needed to be explained. He, on the other hand, went back to the bedroom and found the Pixiu wrapped in the blanket.
“Didn’t you already get up?”
Qin Ren patted her bottom through the blanket. After lifting it, he saw the little girl looking sullen, curled up on her side like a little shrimp.
“A second sleep?” Qin Ren also lay down on his side, behind her, and poked her tender cheek.
“The meaning of waking up early is to go back to sleep.”
She argued in a small voice, then shrank her body again, her thin eyelids and dense eyelashes slightly lowered. There was no extra expression on her face, like a doll casually thrown on the bed.
“What’s wrong…”
Qin Ren gently wrapped an arm around her from behind. His palm was soft and tender. Luo Yao’s expression changed a little. She frowned her delicate brows and squirmed shyly.
“You’re touching my chest again…”
“I told you, this is called touching.”
No wonder it’s so soft…
Of course, Qin Ren didn’t do it on purpose. Could anyone in the world have any dirty thoughts about fried eggs? Qin Ren had just accidentally touched them. There was no need to feel guilty. So he pulled her in closer, letting her turn around and nestle in his arms.
“Tell me what’s making you unhappy. Don’t you usually tell me?”
“I’m not unhappy.”
If she really wasn’t unhappy, Luo Yao would have already started to hug Qin Ren and continue sleeping, or started to play Landlords on her phone.
But if it was to make Qin Ren care a little more, the little girl would say “it’s nothing” while looking even more downcast for him to see.
Her tiny lips were pursed with a sugary pearl-like sheen. Her long, beautiful hair was quietly scattered all over the pillow, making her body look even smaller, thus particularly highlighting a lonely and pitiful weakness.
Of course, Qin Ren couldn’t bear to see her like this. He lowered his head and nuzzled his chin on her forehead. Only then did she finally speak.
“Qin Ren, you lied to me.”
“?”
“You said before that Little Fish would leave when she found her master.”
Qin Ren fell into deep thought. Had he said that before…
“But now you’ve brought her master back too. The Flowing Cloud Sect still has so many disciples. If they all come, are you going to bring them all back for a meeting?”
Luo Yao burrowed into his arms, as if to fill his chest, his heart, with her small body. The shoulder strap of her light yellow nightdress slipped down, revealing the cute shape of her fried eggs, puffed up by the squeeze of her arms.
“What are you doing, Qin Ren? This home is not even a home anymore…”
“…”
This kid, where does she learn these lines every day?
The little girl was getting better and better at acting cute. Qin Ren felt a little heartbroken, and also a little amused.
Luo Yao didn’t think she was acting cute. She fluttered twice very seriously to express her dissatisfaction.
“Are you going to bring girls home every now and then from now on?”
“Oh, so you’re not one I brought home?”
“I am too, but… but…”
Luo Yao was a little guilty. Her delicate knees rubbed restlessly against Qin Ren’s lower abdomen, and her eyes darted around.
“But I was the first. They are the second and third.”
Luo Yao remembered a chicken-soup-for-the-soul marketing account she had read not long ago.
“Everyone usually only cares about the highest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest. Do they care about the second highest mountain?”
“The second is K2, and then Kangchenjunga.”
Not only did Qin Ren say the second, but he also said the third. As a result, Luo Yao fluttered even more fiercely.
“See! No one else cares about the second and third, but you care a lot!”
“Aiya, my little lady, that’s not what I meant…”
Qin Ren thought he had cleverly broken the deadlock, but he didn’t expect her to be waiting for him here. He laughed helplessly and pinched her soft ear, which was slightly red from excitement.
“I get it. You’re jealous.”
“I don’t like to eat vinegar. The other sour things too…”
Luo Yao hummed and muttered, then thought for a moment and looked up.
“What does ‘eating vinegar’ mean?”
“It means you feel that if other people come to the house, they’ll take me away from you, so you feel a tight, uncomfortable feeling in your heart?”
A tight, uncomfortable feeling…
Luo Yao recalled. It seemed that she was like this when Little Fish first came. She was also like this when she saw Qin Ren holding Little Fish. Now that the Sect Master was here, it was random woman with big boobs x2, so it was doubly uncomfortable.
“Mhm…”
Luo Yao nodded. Her fair fingers, through his clothes, plucked at the little bumps on Qin Ren’s chest.
“I’m eating vinegar…”
Qin Ren felt a little pain and caught her fidgeting little hand.
“Then how can you stop eating it?”
Luo Yao’s request was actually very simple.
“As long as you promise me that you’ll always, always take care of me, and then… and then no matter who you bring back, you’ll never dislike me…”
Qin Ren didn’t understand what she was saying.
“You dummy, why would I dislike you?”
“Because…”
Luo Yao’s watery, bright gaze dimmed slightly.
“Because you lied to me. I actually… also lied to you…”
Qin Ren was stunned. Luo Yao’s shoulders trembled, on the verge of tears.
“I’m actually… not some Guardian Spirit Beast…”
Not a Guardian Spirit Beast?
But at least she was a Pixiu, and she was indeed from the Flowing Cloud Sect. The general direction couldn’t be wrong. After all, Yu Yourong had also been with her for so long.
But as for what Luo Yao’s specific identity was, the little girl refused to say, only telling Qin Ren to ask the Sect Master.
“Then you go back to sleep for a while. I didn’t sleep well last night anyway. I’ll come back to accompany you later.”
“Mhm…”
Qin Ren saw that the little girl was under a lot of psychological pressure, so he let her really take a second nap to rest. He went back to the dining room and saw Yu Yourong and her master sitting at the dining table, chatting. He cleared his throat and interrupted them.
“Sorry, um… Master Yu.”
“Eh?”
Yu Ling’er blinked and stood up carefully.
“No, no, sit down. I just have something to ask you.”
Qin Ren got straight to the point and roughly explained the matter of the Pixiu.
…
“Guardian Spirit Beast?”
Yu Ling’er looked at her disciple. Yu Yourong also nodded lightly.
“That’s what Luo Yao said after she came to Earth. She usually follows you, Master, so I didn’t pay much attention.”
Qin Ren took over the conversation.
“So what is Luo Yao, exactly?”
“Oh, she’s not a Guardian Spirit Beast. Our Flowing Cloud Sect doesn’t have a Guardian Spirit Beast.”
Yu Ling’er explained unhurriedly.
“That Pixiu is my mount for traveling on the Myriad Demon Continent.”
A mount?
“…”
Qin Ren’s expression instantly became complicated…
***
Translator’s Notes
-
K2, Kangchenjunga: The second and third highest mountains in the world, respectively.
-
Chicken-soup-for-the-soul marketing account (心灵鸡汤营销号): A term for social media accounts that post inspirational but often shallow or cliché content.
