Within the brightly lit cave abode, Ye Qinglian was unceremoniously tossed onto the bed at the side. Looking at the layers upon layers of magic arrays controlling her and confining her there, Ye Qinglian let out a helpless sigh.
“Junior Sister, could it be you’re still angry about what happened before~?”
“Since you knew I would be angry, why did you still come looking for me? To let me vent my anger, perhaps…”
Situ Xue’s gaze flicked sideways, glancing at Ye Qinglian, locked onto the bed. The chains she had originally prepared for Meng Li were now being used on this other person instead. Ye Qinglian struggled slightly, though it looked less like a struggle and more like cooperation.
“I know I was wrong, Junior Sister, please untie me, alright~? And besides, your alcohol tolerance is just poor, Junior Sister. It’s unfair to blame your Senior Sister for that now~”
Situ Xue had merely intended to teach the other a small lesson. But upon hearing these words, her anger instantly flared. She shot up from her chair, grabbed the other’s cheeks in a pinch, her icy eyes utterly devoid of warmth, practically brimming with killing intent.
“My alcohol tolerance is poor? Senior Sister is truly an expert at playing dumb…”
“Ehe~”
“‘Drunken Beauty’? The moment I took that first sip, I knew there was no alcohol in it at all…!”
Seeing the other’s furious expression, Ye Qinglian directly played dumb. After all, giving the other half a cup of potent aphrodisiac disguised as wine was not something you could casually admit to. But Ye Qinglian feigned complete ignorance, putting on an act of total innocence.
“Aiyaya, Junior Sister, you truly wrong me. Your Senior Sister had a homemade fine brew, specifically brought to share with her Junior Sister, yet in the end, I get no gratitude, only blame. I’m so heartbroken~”
“I don’t have the time to fool around with you here…”
Seeing the other playing dumb and wasting her time, Situ Xue turned to leave. But at that moment, the Ye Qinglian who should have been locked on the bed gently tapped Situ Xue on the shoulder.
“Junior Sister, so impatient, truly unappreciative of subtlety. No wonder you can’t keep little junior sister by your side~”
“When did you use an illusion technique on me…?”
“Which time do you mean~?”
[Spirit Art: Absolute Array]
Situ Xue’s gaze flicked backward slightly. In the next instant, an ink-black magical array appeared beneath Ye Qinglian’s feet. Before the latter could even react, sharp longswords shot straight up from beneath the array.
“Ah! Junior Sister, you! Why would you want to kill me?!”
Without any time to react, longswords pierced upwards from every corner of the array towards Ye Qinglian standing at its center. They stabbed straight into her heart, some even passing clean through her body. Ye Qinglian coughed up blood, her eyes wide, looking at Situ Xue before her with utter disbelief.
“Ju-Junior Sister…”
“Are you done playing…?”
Situ Xue looked at the other’s unseeing, dead stare, expressing no emotion whatsoever. She simply uttered a flat sentence. Just as those words finished, the sound of footsteps came again from within the room.
“Junior Sister, you’ve truly grown stronger again. To see through my illusion clone so easily~”
In the softly lit room, white lotus blossoms bloomed one after another. Ye Qinglian stepped forward with light, graceful steps, her toes touching upon the heart of a lotus. In just a few strides, she was before Situ Xue.
“Being seen through, there’s nothing I can do. I had wanted to tease my Junior Sister a bit longer~”
“No, I didn’t see through it. I merely wanted to test it…”
“Ah, then that’s truly cruel. You really wanted to kill me, didn’t you~?”
Situ Xue didn’t reply. Facing Ye Qinglian following behind her, even though she felt annoyed inside, she still didn’t really want to engage. After all, even if she struck again, this was probably another fake body.
“If you have nothing else, then please leave immediately…”
Although Situ Xue had no great fondness for this Senior Sister, she was ultimately still her senior sister. She would at least speak a bit more politely. Right now, Situ Xue’s heart was only concerned with that little pink plaything. She just wanted to confirm where exactly the other was.
“So boring. Then I won’t leave this thing for you…”
Ye Qinglian slowly took out a tightly sealed jade bottle from her sleeve. Situ Xue, who had already activated the magic array intending to leave, still sighed. She turned her head back, wanting to see what new mischief this Senior Sister was attempting to stir up.
“If Senior Sister doesn’t want to give it to me, you can just take it back with you. Why bring it out now?”
“After all, Junior Sister needs this thing, doesn’t she~?”
“Do you think I lack cultivation pills…?”
“Who said this was for cultivation? Has Junior Sister ever heard of a secret medicine that can make someone fall in love with you at first sight~?”
Situ Xue, who had been fully prepared to throw the other out, visibly reacted. At Ye Qinglian’s description, the expression on her face noticeably shifted, and even her body paused momentarily. Such a small reaction naturally couldn’t escape Ye Qinglian’s eyes.
“This is something your Senior Sister painstakingly researched based on an ancient secret recipe. No matter the person, just a single drop is enough to make them fall utterly in love with you~”
“…”
Listening to the other’s description, that pink silhouette in Situ Xue’s mind somehow grew even more vivid. She had originally intended to thoroughly conquer the girl using her own efforts. But having already experienced the pain of loss, how could Situ Xue’s heart not be tempted by what was before her eyes?
Even though what she had experienced was merely a fleeting dream, the pain felt within that illusion still pierced her like a burning blade, searing her heart. Even after waking, the other’s words of rejection still lingered in her ears.
“Use it on little junior sister. After all, it seems little junior sister has quite a few red threads of fate around her~”
Situ Xue only hesitated for two seconds before snatching it away. She immediately uncorked the bottle. Before Ye Qinglian could react, the item had been taken from her hand. She was just about to call out a warning, but Situ Xue had already dipped a finger in, taking a single drop into her mouth.
“Junior Sister, what are you doing?! What if you consume this and fall in love with me?!”
“No matter what ancient remedy you found, I am absolutely certain such a thing does not exist…”
“Really, even if you thought it was a fake, you shouldn’t test it so recklessly! Or else, your Senior Sister might think you have designs on me~”
“Hmph. Immediately telling me to use it on little junior sister—who knows what strange concoction Senior Sister has made this time…”
“Well, about that…~”
Situ Xue looked calmly at Ye Qinglian beside her. Yet even after waiting a long while, there was still no reaction. She was just beginning to think she’d been tricked again when suddenly, a violent, dizzying sensation assaulted her heart. Following it, her entire body began to heat up intensely.
“Not good!”
The bottle in Situ Xue’s hand fell to the ground, pink liquid continuously flowing across the floor. Furious, Situ Xue grabbed a longsword and made to stab Ye Qinglian. But by this time, Ye Qinglian had already fled to the doorway.
“Honestly, I told you to use it on little junior sister. Yet you just had to be greedy and take it yourself~”
“Bastard, you tricked me with Aphrodisiac Powder…!”
“To be precise, it’s Aphrodisiac Powder, Seductive Bone Pill, Tender Affection Powder, and Blood Qi Pill~”
“Just die…!”
Leaning against the table, Situ Xue was now utterly enraged to the extreme. She wanted nothing more than to hack the other to pieces. But the moment Ye Qinglian had seen the other swallow the drug, she had long since disappeared without a trace, leaving Situ Xue completely alone in the room.
“YE!! QING!! LIAN!!!”
……………
…
