Chapter 21
Xia Mo was squeezed between them, only its head sticking out as it gave a bewildered chirp.
Seeing the young woman he loved leaning against a tall, slender man, Jiang Yibai frowned unconsciously.
Though he knew perfectly well that the man was merely a demon beast, an inexplicable sense of wrongness nagged at him.
As the sect leader’s son, Jiang Yibai had certainly seen cultivators consorting with demon beasts that could take human form.
*No. How could I think such a thing? Junior Sister is as aloof and noble as a pure moonflower. How could I associate her with anything so filthy and contrary to nature?*
*Junior Sister is so innocent that merely holding hands with a man would probably make her blush.*
After imagining Yu Tai’s cheeks flushed red, Jiang Yibai said, “A leaf landed on Junior Sister’s shoulder just now.”
Yu Tai stepped out of Shu Li’s arms and nodded. “I see. Senior Brother only needed to tell me.”
The implication was clear: do not touch her without permission.
Jiang Yibai nodded repeatedly, making the junior disciples behind him shake their heads.
Alas, Senior Brother Jiang became utterly hopeless whenever he saw Junior Sister. At this rate, when would he ever win her heart?
Yu Tai still needed to find a way out of Bishui Secret Realm and had no intention of wasting time with them. She was about to leave when someone among them spoke first. “Junior Sister, you came at the perfect time. We discovered that this secret realm is about to collapse. Don’t wander off. Stay with us.”
Yu Tai: ?
“Senior Brother… how did you learn that the secret realm is about to collapse?” Yu Tai only knew because she had read the original novel. How had these supporting characters figured it out?!
Then again, several disciples from Qingshan Sword Sect had indeed escaped successfully in the original novel, making them some of the disaster’s very few survivors.
“Junior Sister entered with the first group, so you might not know. Something went wrong when we entered Bishui Secret Realm. For some reason, the entrance closed early.”
Yu Tai feigned surprise. “That happened? At the time, I only wanted to enter as quickly as possible so I could escape all those stares.”
At her words, those who had assumed she was overly eager for quick success looked ashamed.
So that was the truth. It was their failure to protect Junior Sister that had left her exposed to all those rumors.
“That’s right. I once read in an ancient book that only secret realms containing heavenly spirit treasures close their entrances early. When the realm can no longer withstand the treasure, this phenomenon occurs during its opening. It also means that the secret realm is not far from collapsing.”
Yu Tai took another look at the disciple who had spoken.
She remembered that his name was Wen Shu. Though he had only recently reached Foundation Establishment, he was known as a walking library.
She wondered who possessed greater knowledge, him or Shu Li.
“I see. Then how do we get out?” It would save her the trouble of searching on her own.
Wen Shu smiled confidently. “A secret realm always begins collapsing from its boundaries. We calculated our position based on where we first landed and determined that if we continue in this direction, we’ll reach the boundary.”
Yu Tai nodded in understanding.
When she woke to find herself in this ordinary forest, so different from the giant forest they had encountered before, she had already guessed that they might run into the Qingshan Sword Sect disciples.
After all, Shu Li had awakened here in the original novel and encountered this very group.
“Then there’s no time to lose. Let’s hurry.” Yu Tai urged them with a trace of impatience.
She brought Shu Li and Xia Mo to the back of the group, thinking that her emotions truly were abnormal.
She was far too irritable. It felt as though something inside her were constantly driving her onward.
[What should I do?] Yu Tai asked.
Delighted that she had taken the initiative to ask, the System answered cheerfully, [Just ask the male lead for some righteous qi like you did before. But as your cultivation increases, kissing alone may gradually stop being enough, so keep that in mind, Host.]
Kissing would not be enough?
Yu Tai glanced to the side. As though sensing it, Shu Li tilted his head beside her. The eyes concealed beneath his veiled hat seemed to be looking at her.
She immediately turned away.
Jiang Yibai, who frequently looked back at Yu Tai from the front of the group, caught the subtle exchange between them and frowned.
Why did it look so strange?
Was Junior Sister sulking at a demon beast? How could that be?
“Senior Brother, put away that sour expression. It’s nothing but a demon beast,” a carefree cultivator beside him whispered.
Jiang Yibai glanced at him. “You’re imagining things. Shut up before Junior Sister hears you.”
The cultivator did not care. “Don’t worry. My cultivation is so much higher than Junior Sister’s. She can’t hear me.”
Yu Tai: *Sorry, but I can hear every word.*
She moved closer to Shu Li, slipped a hand beneath his veiled hat, and took hold of his wrist. Her fingers circled the prominent wrist bone, then stroked it several times.
She had to admit, the male lead truly was a wonderful thing. Mere contact with him soothed some of the urgency and irritation in her heart.
The System: […]
She just wanted an excuse to hide the fact that she was sulking.
Shu Li did not know what she intended, but he made no effort to struggle and simply allowed her to hold him.
Yu Tai thought his attitude had changed remarkably. If she had done this a few days ago, he would have tried every possible way to make her release him. Now he was so obedient that it seemed he would not resist even if she did something far more outrageous.
Tsk. How boring.
Despite the thought, Yu Tai did not let go. She needed that small measure of peace.
The group traveled for a long time. Night was approaching, and they needed somewhere to rest.
Darkness fell faster inside Bishui Secret Realm than in the outside world. Fortunately, they found a cave unoccupied by demon beasts before nightfall.
Jiang Yibai cleared a clean spot and called to Yu Tai as she entered. “Junior Sister, sit here.”
Yu Tai wanted to refuse, but Jiang Yibai was a perfectly qualified simp. He had selected the quietest spot in the cave, and she took an immediate liking to it. She was not about to inconvenience herself by sitting elsewhere merely to reject him.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Jiang.”
Jiang Yibai’s eyes lit with excitement when Yu Tai sat in the place he had prepared.
But when he saw the demon beast about to sit beside her, his body reacted before his mind, and he quickly took the spot first.
Denied his seat, Shu Li paused. Xia Mo bared its teeth at Jiang Yibai in displeasure.
“Come here.” Yu Tai, who had already closed her eyes to meditate, suddenly spoke. She lifted her chin toward the empty space on her left.
Shu Li walked over and sat there.
He was even closer to Yu Tai than Jiang Yibai was.
Jiang Yibai’s gaze darkened.
The cultivator who had teased him earlier happened to witness the scene. He sent Jiang Yibai a private voice transmission. “Senior Brother, that demon beast is really getting in the way. Want me to think of a way to lure it off for you?”
Jiang Yibai refused his junior brother’s offer politely, unwilling to admit that a mere demon beast could obstruct his relationship with Yu Tai.
Yu Tai silently curved her lips.
A secret voice transmission from someone at Foundation Establishment was as good as nonexistent before a cultivator at peak Nascent Soul.