novelA Pleasant Surprise Amidst the Danger
| ← Ch.133 | Ch.135 → |
Translator: Minotauruz
"You..." Ye Xiuwen let go of Jun Xiaomo's chin before using the same hand to touch Jun Xiaomo's cheeks...
It was warm and soft. It was definitely not an illusion.
"Ye... brother Ye, what's the matter?" Jun Xiaomo stammered as her face grew warmer with Ye Xiuwen's gentle caress.
Ye Xiuwen had not used much strength at all. He had simply rested his palm on her cheek. But it was precisely because of such an action that Jun Xiaomo could feel the warmth of Ye Xiuwen's palm on her cheek as well.
It was not particularly hot. In fact, his hand could even be described as slightly cool to the touch. Despite that, this only made the part of her cheeks that he touched ignite with a burning sensation.
Jun Xiaomo tilted her face slightly as she tactfully shrugged off Ye Xiuwen's palm. At the same time, she quickly lowered her head to avoid eye contact with Ye Xiuwen.
She was at a complete loss as to how she should deal with the present situation. Therefore, she reflexively chose the path of least resistance – otherwise, her face was only going to turn redder and redder.
Ye Xiuwen looked at the "young man"... or rather, the young, demure lady. Her cheeks were flushed with an attractive, pink hue, while her eyes seemed to bashfully avoid eye contact with him. His heart stirred. He subconsciously stretched out his hands and pulled Jun Xiaomo into a tight embrace once again.
Badump. Badump. Their heartbeats began to synchronize and beat in harmony.
"That... that..." Jun Xiaomo grew increasingly perplexed and bewildered by Ye Xiuwen's actions. Yet her heart knew that she was not resistant to Ye Xiuwen's intimate advances.
Jun Xiaomo's head was buried in Ye Xiuwen's shoulders. She stared vacantly at his clothes and she blinked listlessly.
"Xiaomo..." After some time, Ye Xiuwen suddenly called out Jun Xiaomo's name.
"Ah?" Jun Xiaomo responded ignorantly. She had thought that Ye Xiuwen was still referring to her as "Little Mo"[1]
Ye Xiuwen lowered his head as he looked at the top of Jun Xiaomo's head. A smile crept up the corner of his lips as he playfully added, "Xiaomo, you're incredibly mischievous. Do your parents know that you've come looking for me?"
Bzzt! Jun Xiaomo's brain almost imploded at this statement. She instantly drew a blank.
As this white, empty fuzz in her mind dissipated and rationality returned to her, Jun Xiaomo finally recalled something extremely important – today was the last day that her Alteration Talisman would remain effective. She had completely forgotten about this matter as a result of being trapped in the illusory world earlier.
Does this mean that I've completely reverted to my original body? Then why hasn't my voice changed back?
Jun Xiaomo was almost in tears.
Ye Xiuwen noticed Jun Xiaomo's body stiffen in his embrace, and he rapped Jun Xiaomo gently on the head as he chided, "What's the matter? Are you looking for excuses now?"
Jun Xiaomo struggled out of Ye Xiuwen's embrace. Then, she lowered her head as she obsequiously admitted her fault, "Martial brother, I was in the wrong... I shouldn't have run out like that."
The warmth in his bosom was now gone. Ye Xiuwen's eyes had once again become deep and abstruse. Yet Jun Xiaomo who had hung her head low failed to notice these slight changes.
"At least you're straightforward in admitting that you're at fault." Ye Xiuwen spoke placidly. It was unclear whether he was pleased or angry at this moment.
Jun Xiaomo lifted her head. Then, she strode over to Ye Xiuwen's side and clutched at his arms as she cajoled, "Martial brother, please don't be mad at me, hmm? Like I mentioned earlier, combat and skirmish are the most effective way of increasing my cultivation level. See? My cultivation level has already increased to the second level of Qi Mastery in no time!"
Ye Xiuwen had always welcomed Jun Xiaomo's efforts at drawing close to him. But somehow, the latter part of Jun Xiaomo's statement only invoked a peculiar feeling in his heart. He raised his eyebrows curiously, "Are you saying that your only objective for coming out on these travels is to improve your cultivation?"
Jun Xiaomo was an incredibly sincere and honest child in front of her loved ones. She rubbed her cheeks shyly as she replied, "Cough... that's right... having deliberated for some time, I felt that travelling out of the Sect was still the best way to increase my cultivation level. That's why I secretly followed you here. Furthermore, I was worried that martial brother wouldn't allow me to follow you, so I used an Alteration Talisman to change my appearances..."
Jun Xiaomo's voice trailed off towards the end, and the last part of what she had said was spoken with an extremely soft voice and filled with some measure of guilty conscience. She even glanced discreetly towards Ye Xiuwen to see if he was angry at her right now.
Ye Xiuwen was in fact rather frustrated at her. But even he found it hard to pinpoint which of Jun Xiaomo's statements it was that had incited his frustrations.
Even then, Ye Xiuwen's emotions rarely manifested outwardly. Therefore, Jun Xiaomo was still unable to tell whether her martial brother was angry or not. He was simply staring placidly at her, and there was no way she could tell what was going through her martial brother's mind right now.
"That... martial brother, please don't force me to go back now, alright? We've already reached the Mystic Woods. Let's go back together once you've completed the Sect's mission." Jun Xiaomo hooked her arm around Ye Xiuwen's as she swung it about.
If Yao Mo were not Jun Xiaomo, Ye Xiuwen would naturally be unable to send Yao Mo packing back home. This was because he did not know where Yao Mo lived.
But Yao Mo was none other than Jun Xiaomo. In turn, Jun Xiaomo was his master's beloved child...
Jun Xiaomo had already left home for so long. Master and his wife must be incredibly worried once they discover that she's missing, right? Ye Xiuwen's eyes darkened. Their surroundings were undoubtedly fraught with many dangers. It was obvious that home was the safest place for Jun Xiaomo right now.
Having thought about these things, Ye Xiuwen patted Jun Xiaomo's head lightly as he made a peremptory resolve, "No way. I have to bring you back first."
"I knew it was going to be like this!" Jun Xiaomo grew exasperated. She glared at Ye Xiuwen, "I should be the one saying 'no way'! If martial brother escorts me home right now, what's going become of your mission? Are you just going to abandon it?!"
"Be good. I'll come back once I've sent you home."
"No way! Each leg of this journey takes such a long time. How could you possibly complete the mission in time?! Furthermore, don't forget that the Inferno Kingdom's Grand Vizier is still looking for us. How can I allow you to run about alone in these Mystic Woods?"
The more Jun Xiaomo said, the madder she grew. In the end, her eyes widened into round, glistening globes of obstinance as she stared at Ye Xiuwen with slightly reddened rims.
This was anger.
Ye Xiuwen was slightly moved by the fact that Jun Xiaomo was not willing to abandon him and leave him behind. But he was also incredibly exasperated by her unbending attitude to the current situation.
"Be good, Xiaomo. It's not safe for you here. Do you want to make your parents worry about your safety unceasingly?" Ye Xiuwen's words had become slightly harsher as he began to speak in his capacity as Jun Xiaomo's elder martial brother.
"But I don't want anything to happen to you." Jun Xiaomo suddenly leapt into Ye Xiuwen's bosom and tightly hugged him at his waist. Then, she began to choke with emotions as she stammered, "Martial brother, I don't want to stay behind alone at the Sect, unaware of your fate and unable to ascertain whether you're alive or not... you don't understand... I'm so afraid... I often wake up in fear, thinking that all of this is but a dream..."
Jun Xiaomo stammered on incoherently. She was unable to speak about her previous life's experiences. To her, Jun Xiaomo had relegated those experiences to be treated as nothing more than a terrible, arduous nightmare. It was a nightmare that she had never wanted to revisit ever again.
This was one of the reasons why she had become so incredibly outraged at the illusions drawn out by the little red flowers. Ye Xiuwen's death had always been a huge stumbling block in her heart. Yet the little red flowers had captured these thoughts precisely and used it to draw out her despair and despondence. The illusion was then imposed on her, and she had thus been forced to relive that nightmare of her previous life once again. She had experienced every measure of bitterness, agony and anguish of her memories again. How could she not be furious at that?
Then, Ye Xiuwen found that his clothes began to feel damp.
This is... Xiaomo's tears?
Ye Xiuwen had never expected Jun Xiaomo to resist his intentions so strenuously.
He sighed helplessly. Ye Xiuwen's heart was filled with complicated, indescribable emotions right now. He patted the back of Jun Xiaomo's head as he finally relented, "Alright, then let's go back once I manage to complete the Sect's mission then. Don't cry, hmm?"
How could Ye Xiuwen still harden his heart after witnessing Jun Xiaomo's rarely-shed tears?
"I'm not crying!" Jun Xiaomo found that given the age of her soul, it was incredibly embarrassing and shameful to be throwing herself into her martial brother's embrace and sobbing uncontrollably.
Therefore, she secretly wiped off her tears before lifting her head and glaring straight at Ye Xiuwen before she murmured, "Martial brother, do you know that it's only to your benefit that you're keeping me around? My talismans and formation arrays are so powerful! Hmph!"
This was the manifestation of Jun Xiaomo's personality – she had to justify herself even after she had earned a concession from Ye Xiuwen.
Ye Xiuwen chuckled lightheartedly. There was even a light trace of pampering and indulgence in Ye Xiuwen's eyes as he placated Jun Xiaomo, "Alright, Xiaomo didn't cry. It's my benefit."
Yet Jun Xiaomo somehow found herself a little bit embarrassed by what Ye Xiuwen had just said. She coughed dryly as she shifted her attention away from Ye Xiuwen's body.
"But I must inform your parents that you're with me right now, understand? If they're still too worried for your safety and intend to personally bring you back, then you cannot be willful about it, okay? If that happens, I want you to follow them back obediently, understand?" Ye Xiuwen added.
"Mm... alright..." Jun Xiaomo responded unwillingly as she looked down.
She was currently thinking about how she should best phrase this letter so that her parents would allow her to continue following her martial brother until he completes the Sect's mission.
Little did Jun Xiaomo know that her parents were already making haste towards the Mystic Woods right now.
Ye Xiuwen looked at his little martial sister, and his heart softened – Fortunate. Fortunately, the illusion was all a lie. Fortunately, Yao Mo is none other than my little martial sister.
In fact, he had already had his suspicions about this. But he had never dared to hope for too much. Thus, he had time and again consciously dispelled his suspicions in this regard.
Ye Xiuwen's present emotions were still extremely complicated. The fact that Yao Mo was Jun Xiaomo was an incredibly pleasant surprise to him. But he did not have the luxury of time to sort out the rest of his complicated feelings right now. After all, there was still a throng of enemies hot on their tail.
It's just like Jun Xiaomo had said. It's best to finish the Sect's mission and breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment level before considering any other things.
Just as Ye Xiuwen shelved the complications in his heart and motioned to bring Jun Xiaomo away from these grounds, a clapping sound rang out from a short distance away.
Ye Xiuwen's senses perked up and he immediately cocked his head towards the direction the clapping sound had travelled from –
A middle-aged man wearing a cold smile on his face slowly walked out from behind a tree, leading an entourage of people behind him.
"That was such a touching moment. Who would've thought that Dawn Sect, Heavenly Peak's martial brother and sister duo would have such strong feelings for each other? I only wonder what this little lady's fiancé would think when he hears his own fiancée professing her feelings to another man."
As he said that, the middle-aged man glanced meaningfully at another man standing behind him. This other man stared frigidly at Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen. The bulging veins on his forehead were throbbing ostensibly. It was unclear how long they had been watching Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen for.
This man was none other than that "fiancé" of the middle-aged man's spiel, Qin Lingyu.
1. They sound the same in Mandarin
| ← Ch. 133 | Ch. 135 → |