Chapter 190: When False Becomes True and True Becomes False
***
“Knock knock knock…”
The dull sound of knocking echoed through the candlelit room, carrying a hint of urgency.
“Come in.”
Xiao Huo took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open, his face bearing a grave expression.
“No need to say more.”
Youxiao’s voice rang out first, cutting off the words that were about to leave Xiao Huo’s mouth.
“There must be an unknown expert at the Nascent Soul stage or above here. The plan we’ve been scheming for days has likely already been discovered by them.”
She sat upright at the table, her expression equally grave, as if covered with a layer of frost. In her arms, she tightly clutched the ancient zither that had several of its strings torn by the fierce wind.
Xiao Huo suppressed the irritation in his heart and asked.
“Then the plan… do we still proceed as originally planned?”
At this moment, a fire burned in his heart. The opportunity he had finally obtained had been intercepted by an expert of unknown origin.
What was even more frustrating was that he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of their figure!
“We continue with the original plan!”
Youxiao’s tone suddenly shifted, filled with determination. She raised her eyes to look at Xiao Huo, her gaze sharp as a blade.
“Huh?”
Xiao Huo’s head snapped up, his face full of shock.
They had already been discovered by an expert, so shouldn’t they be hastily retreating at a time like this? Why would they continue executing the plan instead?
Youxiao gently tapped the ancient zither in her arms, and the instrument’s body resonated with a faint hum as she patiently explained.
“Think about it carefully. Since that Nascent Soul expert has already detected our movements but hasn’t directly attacked us, there are only two possibilities.”
“Either her target is solely that bottle of Azure Dragon blood and she doesn’t care about small fries like us, or she’s under some kind of restriction and can’t casually attack people like us. Regardless of which case it is, it means we still have a chance.”
Xiao Huo’s brow remained tightly furrowed, clearly still harboring many concerns.
“But what if… what if that expert suddenly changes their mind and attacks?”
He had gotten involved in this matter precisely because of the high compensation Youxiao had promised. If he lost his life for this small benefit, that would be far too much of a loss.
He didn’t consider himself some desperate criminal with nothing to lose, and there was no need to gamble his life on an uncertain future.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
Youxiao’s tone carried a hint of reassurance, while also concealing a trace of temptation.
“If that expert really wanted to attack, they would have done so when they first discovered us. Why wait until now? Besides, the Ten-Thousand-Li Teleportation Talisman we gave you earlier is enough to ensure your safe retreat in a critical moment.”
“As long as you can successfully complete the mission, I can apply for another drop of Azure Dragon blood from our side as compensation for this lost one.”
She clearly understood that Xiao Huo was currently the most crucial piece in their plan and couldn’t be easily abandoned due to a minor setback. No matter what, she had to make Xiao Huo continue with the operation.
Xiao Huo fell silent for a moment. Youxiao’s words were like a stone thrown into the lake of his heart, causing his originally wavering resolve to firm up again.
He gritted his teeth, as if making up his mind.
“You’re right, I’ll continue!”
Just as Youxiao had said, if the other party was truly an expert at the Nascent Soul stage or above, with that level of cultivation.
Their every move, even their objectives, had probably already been seen through completely.
The fact that the other party hadn’t attacked yet indicated that they indeed had some reservations.
Fortune favors the bold. Since he had the Ten-Thousand-Li Teleportation Talisman as a safety net, plus the temptation of the Azure Dragon blood, this risk was worth taking!
However, neither of them noticed that just 100 meters away from this building, floating in mid-air, was a white cloud so pure it was nearly transparent. Without careful sensing, its existence would be completely undetectable.
“I truly cannot attack at will, but everything in this world has already been marked with a price by karma. Can you really bear the weight of karma?”
……
“Lin Muyu, how have you fallen so low, falling asleep again?”
In the warm bedding, Lin Muyu groggily opened her eyes and looked at Yunduo, who was still nestled in her arms. For a moment, she felt somewhat dazed.
She remembered clearly that she had only intended to accompany Yunduo for a short while, planning to get up and resume her cultivation once Yunduo fell asleep. How had she unknowingly slept for so long?
One must know that Foundation Establishment stage cultivators no longer needed to rely on sleep to recover their energy like mortals.
With her current late Foundation Establishment cultivation, she had long since become accustomed to days and nights of continuous cultivation. How could she have suddenly fallen asleep?
Also, why hadn’t Yunduo woken up yet?
Suddenly, she noticed the slight upward curve at the corner of Yunduo’s mouth, as if she was suppressing a laugh.
Lin Muyu’s heart skipped a beat. She reached out and gently poked Yunduo’s cheek. Seeing that the other party still showed no reaction, she suddenly realized.
Well, well, so this girl had been awake all along and was just pretending to be asleep!
A glint of mischief flashed in Lin Muyu’s eyes as she quietly extended her hand toward Yunduo’s ticklish spot at her waist.
But just as her fingertips were about to touch Yunduo’s waist, Yunduo suddenly opened her eyes and precisely caught her wrist with one hand. The force wasn’t great, but it left her unable to move.
“Heh.”
Yunduo raised an eyebrow, her eyes full of mockery.
“Since you knew I was pretending to sleep, you should have obediently continued accompanying me, rather than thinking about tickling me, hmm?”
She narrowed her eyes, a hint of danger in her gaze, and the corner of her mouth curved into a wicked smile that made Lin Muyu’s heart race with panic.
“Um… Sister Yunduo, let’s talk this through, can we discuss this?”
Lin Muyu swallowed nervously. Looking at Yunduo’s familiar smile, her tone became meek, and her wrist struggled gently, trying to pull free from Yunduo’s grip.
“Too late!”
Yunduo chuckled softly. Before her words had finished, she leveraged her physical prowess that far exceeded Lin Muyu’s and suddenly flipped over, pinning her beneath.
Her movements were swift and decisive. One hand quickly grabbed both of Lin Muyu’s hands, restraining both wrists together above Lin Muyu’s head, leaving her completely unable to resist.
“Wait, this position… this position is so improper, can we change positions?”
Pinned beneath, Lin Muyu’s cheeks instantly flushed red. Feeling the warmth emanating from Yunduo’s body, her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
“Hehehe…”
Yunduo laughed softly, and that laughter fell on Lin Muyu’s ears like a pervert, making Lin Muyu’s heart increasingly flustered.
Next, she saw Yunduo’s other hand slowly rise, reaching toward her.
Lin Muyu had originally thought Yunduo just wanted to tickle her and was secretly thinking that at worst she’d just endure it for a while.
But when she saw Yunduo’s hand reaching toward some strange places.
“Wait, this isn’t right! What are you trying to do?”
Lin Muyu’s pupils dilated slightly, a trace of panic appearing in her voice. The force of her struggle increased, but her wrists were firmly restrained by Yunduo, making it impossible to break free.
“What am I doing?”
Yunduo leaned down, her warm breath brushing against Lin Muyu’s ear, carrying a hint of lazy amusement.
“Of course I’m collecting what you owe me~”
She hadn’t forgotten about the time Lin Muyu had tickled her until she was laughing and begging for mercy when she wasn’t paying attention. Now that she finally had the chance, it was the perfect time for revenge.
Just then, a soft “crack” sounded as the guest room door was pushed open from outside, and Xuanxuan’s clear voice rang out.
“Miss Lin, Miss Yun, are you awake? Breakfast is…”
Before she could finish speaking, Xuanxuan saw the scene inside the room.
Three pairs of eyes met in the air, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze instantly.
“Um… you’re busy, you’re busy, I didn’t see anything, really didn’t see anything…”
After Xuanxuan came to her senses, her cheeks instantly turned as red as a ripe apple. She covered her eyes with both hands, turned around, and ran out, her voice still carrying traces of panic.
“Wait! It’s not what you think, let me explain!”
Lin Muyu’s face instantly turned bright red with shame and urgency. The spiritual energy in her body suddenly erupted, and she forcefully pushed Yunduo away. Ignoring the lingering pain in her wrists, she got up and chased after Xuanxuan in the direction she had run.
In the room, Yunduo watched Lin Muyu’s flustered retreating figure and helplessly put her hand to her forehead, saying with a mixture of laughter and tears.
“This little girl is really quite innocent. It was just playing around, was that really necessary?”
Of course, no one knew that at this moment, her eyes held a hint of seriousness beneath the amusement.
When false becomes true and true becomes false, clouds exist in the space between illusion and reality…