Chapter 57 I think, I must have started liking you.
"What's wrong?"
Zhen Dan heard the noise behind him, feeling as if ants were crawling under his skin, but in order to maintain his image, he had to forcibly endure it.
"Nothing, nothing."
The voice of Liu Ruoxue sounded somewhat panicked.
"I was playing with Fang Yuan and accidentally bumped into her."
"That's good then."
Liu Ruoxue leaned half into Xu Yuan's embrace, lightly biting her silver teeth. Her delicate and fragile appearance added a hint of captivating charm not seen on ordinary days, stimulating the appetite.
He caressed her translucent, flushed earlobes and under her indignant gaze, moved closer to whisper, "Leave this to me, how about that? Don't start the talking."
"..."
Liu Ruoxue didn't speak, but sometimes, silence is consent.
The reason she didn't speak was actually quite simple.
She feared she couldn't help but cry out, as that suddenly accelerating bead made her body feel strange again.
Xu Yuan did not continue further.
Training had to be approached gradually.
He wanted to train Liu Ruoxue to become his sword, so he could not be overly eager and needed to gradually break her boundaries.
Only after the suggestive noise from behind had disappeared did Zhen Dan turn around, and what he saw was the two of them leaning closely together.
Zhen Dan took his seat, smiling and inviting them to partake of the desserts on the table.
Xu Yuan did not hesitate either.
After all, those items were Spirit Fruits beneficial to cultivation.
Zhen Dan casually brought up another topic and began to talk at length about it.
However, throughout the conversation, Liu Ruoxue remained as silent as Xu Yuan had instructed.
Even when Zhen Dan specifically brought up a topic he thought would interest her, Liu Ruoxue continued to appear indifferent, nodding or showing a lack of interest.
Luckily, Xu Yuan was present.
Liu Ruoxue didn't speak, but he took the initiative to do so, thereby keeping the atmosphere from turning awkward.
As time passed, Zhen Dan's attitude towards Xu Yuan changed significantly.
At first, he found him somewhat annoying, but gradually, he felt fortunate that Xu Yuan was there.
Otherwise, the atmosphere between them would definitely have been awkward.
In the end, the conversation was mostly between two people, with Liu Ruoxue listening nonchalantly, her eyes half-closed, lost in thought.
After a while, Xu Yuan suddenly acted as though he had just noticed Liu Ruoxue's silence and said cheerfully, "Sister, it's okay, even if there are no cultivation resources, it's not a big deal to me. Today is a rare time to relax, so we should really enjoy it."
Liu Ruoxue, although confused, quickly responded by nodding and said, "Okay."
Upon hearing this, Zhen Dan's eyes suddenly lit up.
Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to show off himself?
"What resources are you lacking?"
Xu Yuan was startled, then subconsciously answered, "Spirit Stones, Elixirs, things like that, all gone."
"How much do you need, I'll give it to you."
Zhen Dan, hearing this, was even more delighted.
Originally, he had worried that the resources she lacked were extremely scarce.
Now it seemed, it was just Spirit Stones and Elixirs, which were easy to handle.
"No, no, that wouldn't be right."
Xu Yuan gestured with his hand, saying.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it, you are Liu's fellow disciple, which makes you practically my fellow disciple as well," Zhen Dan laughed.
"No, it can't be, I can't accept reward without merit," Xu Yuan still gestured, shaking his head.
Zhen Dan looked at Liu Ruoxue, but she still maintained a calm demeanor, without speaking.
"There's nothing wrong with it, trust me, you're in the midst of cultivation, how can you do without resources for cultivation?"
"Then... consider it borrowed from Brother," Xu Yuan said.
Xu Yuan pretended to be extremely reluctant.
"Okay, then let's do it this way."
Zhen Dan took a storage bag from his waist and said, "Here are a thousand spirit stones, can you use it, Sister Liu?"
"..."
This took not only Xu Yuan by surprise, but also Liu Ruoxue, who was slightly startled too.
A thousand spirit stones was no small sum.
Originally, Zhen Dan had planned to give only a few hundred, but after hearing that she intended to borrow them, he immediately changed his mind.
Moreover, most importantly, he trusted Liu Ruoxue's judgment. Anyone who could become her friend surely wouldn't have a poor character.
"Alright, then I will write an IOU to Brother Zhen," she said.
Xu Yuan readily agreed, didn't refuse, and turned to write an IOU bearing Fang Yuan's name.
Liu Ruoxue watched the scene with a peculiar look in her eyes, but she did not speak. Instead, she quietly waited for the two to write the note.
...
The moonlight, frost-like, lightly coated the ground; the two watched as Zhen Dan departed, until his figure disappeared into the horizon. Only then did Liu Ruoxue finally speak softly.
"You came to the Sword Sect, claiming it was to find out from Master the source of the news that you are an Outer Domain Demon, but so far, I have never seen you take any action in this regard; instead, you have been..."
At this point, she lightly bit her lip. The moonlight fell upon her picturesque features, adding a touch of sorrow.
"Flirting with me."
Her voice trembled slightly, and her eyes shimmered faintly as she said, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Xu Yuan was slightly stunned; he hadn't expected Liu Ruoxue to suddenly question him like this, and he was somewhat caught off guard.
But fortunately, it shouldn't be a big problem.
"I already have a plan regarding investigating the source of the news," he said.
"Oh?"
Liu Ruoxue looked at him coldly.
"Isn't the upcoming grand competition of the Sword Sect the best opportunity?"
Xu Yuan said indifferently.
Upon hearing that the grand competition of the Sword Sect was about to be held again, he instantly abandoned all other plans and focused on this.
"Are you suggesting?"
Liu Ruoxue was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood what he meant.
"Exactly, this competition targets disciples of the sect who are under fifty years in their cultivation. The victor will have the chance to select a Cultivation Technique from the Sword Pavilion and make one request. I plan to use that request to get an answer from your Master," he explained.
"Then we... are opponents now," she said softly.
"As for why I did those things to you."
At this point, Xu Yuan's eyes lost their usual playfulness and sarcasm. Instead, he turned his head, looked into her eyes very seriously, and said, "I think, I must have fallen for you, Fairy Liu. It's just that you already had a bad impression of me, so I had to attract your attention in this way."Nôv(el)B\\jnn
The young man said these words with deep affection and sincere emotion, as if they were truly heartfelt.
Snow fell silently.
The young girl's heart momentarily stopped. Those eyes, usually calm and indifferent, widened in shock; her mouth slightly agape, her body trembled sharply, seemingly unprepared for such an answer from Xu Yuan.
"Hmph."
But soon, she averted her gaze and lightly snorted, rebutting, "You're talking nonsense... Why then did you do that to Sister Yun? Cutting open her clothes in public, especially at that spot."
Her voice had a rare nervousness and tremble.
"I was just trying to teach her a lesson," he said.
"Hmph, I don't believe it," she said.
Liu Ruoxue quickly regained her usual calmness, and when she turned her head again, the faint shimmer in her eyes had already disappeared. She turned to leave.
As she stepped over the threshold, she paused without turning back, forcing calmness into her voice as she asked, "Are you really not an Outer Domain Demon?"
"Of course not," Xu Yuan shook his head.
"Hmph."
The response he received was another cold snort, much like before, showing no change.