Chapter 184: The Middle Finger with Trimmed Nails~
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After finishing those matters, Lin Muyu decided to complete her own business first and make contact with the girl named Xuanxuan.
After all, she had already accepted the mission, and the day after tomorrow she would set out with her to the secret realm.
She’d also find an opportunity to make her see Xiao Huo’s true colors!
“Junior Sister, she lives in this courtyard. You can go in first.”
Li Menghua led Lin Muyu to the entrance of an elegant small courtyard, stopped, and gestured sideways.
“Eh? Senior Brother, aren’t you coming in with me?”
Lin Muyu raised her eyebrows slightly, her face showing some confusion.
“Of course it’s to avoid suspicion, you silly girl~”
As soon as the words fell, Yunduo popped out from some corner, reached out and lightly tapped Lin Muyu’s forehead, teasing with a smile.
“Junior Sister, who is this young lady?”
Li Menghua turned to look at the suddenly appearing Yunduo, his tone carrying some inquiry.
He had seen Yunduo at the banquet before and had originally thought she was just some young lady from a prominent family that Lin Muyu had newly met at the gathering, but judging from their current interaction, they were obviously much closer than ordinary friends.
Lin Muyu grabbed Yunduo’s little hand that was messing around in front of her, turned her head to glare at her, then turned back to explain to Li Menghua.
“Her name is Yunduo, and like me, she’s also a disciple of Qinglan Sect.”
“So she’s also a junior sister from Qinglan Sect…”
Li Menghua had a moment of realization and nodded with a smile.
“What junior sister, junior sister? I’m your… senior sister!”
Yunduo immediately became unhappy, broke free from Lin Muyu’s hand, put her hands on her hips and retorted to Li Menghua, her tone full of dissatisfaction.
“Huh?”
Li Menghua was completely stunned.
In his view, Lin Muyu was already young enough, but Yunduo before his eyes looked even more youthful than Lin Muyu. No matter how he looked at it, she didn’t seem like a senior sister.
“Senior Brother, don’t pay attention to her. She’s like an eternal loli, nobody knows how old she really is.”
Lin Muyu quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, afraid that Li Menghua would be teased by the scheming Yunduo again. As she spoke, she pulled Yunduo’s wrist and walked toward the courtyard entrance, preparing to knock on the door.
This Yunduo was full of mischief. Senior Brother Li was actually quite nice, so she couldn’t let him fall into Yunduo’s hands.
“Eternal loli? What does that mean… But come to think of it, this Miss Yunduo does look somewhat familiar? Like I saw her once over 10 years ago? If you calculate it that way, she really should be a senior sister…”
Li Menghua stood in place, watching the backs of the two walking side by side, muttering quietly to himself, lost in thought.
“Yunduo, why did you suddenly come here?”
Walking to the courtyard entrance, Lin Muyu moved closer to Yunduo and asked in a lowered voice.
She remembered she hadn’t mentioned anything to Yunduo about coming to find Xuanxuan, so how did she suddenly appear here?
“Muyu, that’s not very loyal of you! You didn’t even call me when there’s something fun happening?”
Yunduo puffed up her cheeks, her face slightly swollen, looking at Lin Muyu with complete dissatisfaction.
“…Your nose is really sharper than a dog’s? You can sniff out any excitement.”
Lin Muyu helplessly rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but complain.
“What do you mean by that?”
Yunduo instantly flared up, reached out and seized both of Lin Muyu’s hands, then used her other hand to pinch Lin Muyu’s soft cheeks, gently kneading them and molding her face into various strange shapes.
“I was wrong, I was wrong, Sister Yunduo! I was wrong, okay…”
Lin Muyu struggled, trying to break free from Yunduo’s control, but didn’t expect that her seemingly delicate little hands had surprisingly strong grip.
Seeing that she couldn’t escape at all, and to spare her face from further suffering, Lin Muyu decisively gave in and apologized.
Seeing Lin Muyu soften and admit her mistake, Yunduo finally let go, but the dissatisfaction on her face hadn’t completely dissipated.
She raised her right hand and waved her middle finger, which was the only one with trimmed nails, threateningly.
“If there’s a next time, hmph hmph…”
Lin Muyu’s gaze fell on Yunduo’s middle finger, and she was instantly a bit dumbfounded.
What exactly did Yunduo mean by this? Was she taunting her? But this world didn’t have the tradition of middle finger taunting.
Actually, it wasn’t strange that Lin Muyu didn’t understand. Although in a certain sense, she could be considered to have some experience.
But most cultivators who used swords wouldn’t keep their nails long in order to firmly grip the sword hilt… Well, those who understand will understand~
“You are…”
Just then, the courtyard door was opened, and it was Xuanxuan who opened it.
Her appearance was indeed as clear and beautiful as her voice. A head of light purple long hair fell softly over her shoulders, and a faint scent of lavender lingered among her hair strands. However, between those delicate eyebrows was hidden a trace of fatigue that was hard to conceal.
Lin Muyu quickly grabbed Yunduo’s hand that was about to make trouble again, preventing her from doing anything outrageous, then politely responded to Xuanxuan.
“Miss Xuanxuan, I’m Lin Muyu, a disciple of Qinglan Sect. I’ve accepted the mission and wanted to get acquainted with you in advance.”
“Please come in.”
Xuanxuan seemed to understand Lin Muyu’s purpose, nodded slightly, pulled the courtyard door fully open, and stepped aside to let the two in.
Lin Muyu followed Xuanxuan’s steps into the small courtyard, only to feel that this place was exceptionally quiet and plain.
The courtyard only had a few green bamboo plants and a stone table. It didn’t look at all like a place where a young lady from a prominent family would live. Instead, it had more of the refined elegance of a hermit.
The three eventually sat down in a small pavilion in the courtyard. Xuanxuan poured each of them a cup of tea, then said nothing more. The atmosphere in the pavilion instantly became somewhat silent.
Yunduo only busied herself with cracking sunflower seeds, seemingly not wanting to say anything.
Lin Muyu couldn’t stand the silence. Seeing the situation remain stiff, she took the initiative to break the silence.
“Miss Xuanxuan, I’d like to ask, why do you want to enter this secret realm?”
But Xuanxuan didn’t directly answer Lin Muyu’s question. Instead, she raised her head, her gaze looking straight at her, and asked in return.
“Miss Lin, would you be willing to marry someone you don’t like?”
“I won’t marry anyone, let alone someone I don’t like.”
Lin Muyu shook her head without hesitation.
She would never marry! But she could accept marrying pretty girls, hehe.
“I don’t want to either…”
Xuanxuan picked up the teacup on the table and took a light sip. The bitterness of the tea spread across her tongue, and her voice also carried some bitterness.
“If you don’t want to, then just don’t marry?”
Lin Muyu asked somewhat puzzled.
She retained the marriage views from her previous life. Marriage should be decided by oneself. If unwilling, just directly refuse.
“How could it be that simple?”
Xuanxuan let out a light sigh, her tone full of disgust.
“I’m nothing more than a bird kept in a cage by my family. When I’m useless, they lock me up here. When they think I’m useful, they’ll throw me into an even bigger cage to be manipulated at will.”
“Eh? So this time you’re participating in the competition because you want to use your own power to gain entry to the secret realm and take your fate into your own hands? What about Xiao Huo, who was very close to you before? Aren’t you two…”
Lin Muyu followed Xuanxuan’s words, suddenly remembering the scene she saw at the banquet before, and couldn’t help but ask about Xiao Huo.
“You’re right, I just want to fight for myself this once.”
Xuanxuan nodded. When mentioning Xiao Huo, there wasn’t the slightest ripple in her tone.
“As for Xiao Huo… I had originally planned to calmly accept my family’s arrangement, which is why I tried to get in touch with him, wanting to see if I could gradually accept this person. Unfortunately, he turned out to be disappointing, and he mysteriously lost his cultivation some time ago.”
Listening to Xuanxuan’s flat tone, Lin Muyu could clearly feel that she actually didn’t have much affection for Xiao Huo. The previous contact was perhaps just Xuanxuan’s compromise to fate.
“So there’s no drama after all…”
At this moment, Yunduo’s resentful voice came from the side.