Volume 4, Chapter 116 – Purple Qi (1)

After a round of cultivation, Bai Xiang leaned back against the headboard, idly playing with her phone as she used the information recorded by Jade Spirit to import the contacts from her old phone.

Bai Zhuqing, on the other hand, had it far worse. Just as naked, the little girl was lying limply facedown nearby, her eyes looking almost dazed, even her small tongue lolling out when she breathed.

Bai Xiang noticed the state she was in and thought, by rights I’m the one who got the worse end of it, yet you’re making it look as though I’m the one who reaped all the benefits. So she reached out, poked her younger sister’s cheek, pinched hold of that little tongue, and firmly stuffed it back into her mouth.

“Wulu wulu!” Bai Zhuqing rolled her eyes up at Bai Xiang. Her tongue made mischievous little noises, deliberately twining once around Bai Xiang’s finger, and only after a moment did she finally realize what she had just done.

She wilted on the spot, immediately pulled her tongue back in and shut her mouth, then looked at Bai Xiang pitifully. Sure enough, when she saw those beautiful golden pupils, the reproach in them had already faded.

But still… things really did seem different now.

Before, when Sister Xiang’er looked at her like that, there was reproach in her gaze too, but it had only ever been simple reproach.

Now, though, the look just now was less reproach than… fond chiding.

How to put it? It was as though she had become more… alive.

Bai Zhuqing was very happy inside, because she knew perfectly well that this liveliness, this tenderness, belonged to her alone.

No matter who anyone else was, they would never have the chance to glimpse this side of Sister Xiang’er. Only I do. Not only does Sister Xiang’er not mind showing such expressions to me, she faces me without the least burden, and she even agreed to those outrageous requests of mine…

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At the thought, the girl felt as though honey had been poured into her heart, leaving her dazed with sweetness.

Even so, she still did not dare go too far. She did not dare wrap her arms around Bai Xiang’s waist or say outright, “I like you so much.” Instead, she merely curled up like a small animal, facing in Bai Xiang’s direction, trying to press as much of herself against her side as possible, looking incomparably obedient.

It was only then that she heard Bai Xiang speak.

“Something seems to have happened in the Qi lands.”

Hm?

Bai Zhuqing froze for a moment, then scrambled upright. “What happened?”

“The network’s down.” Bai Xiang lowered her head and looked at her phone, her thumb sliding rapidly over the screen as she scanned information with terrifying eyesight and memory.

What she was looking at was not anything profound or mysterious, just Maozhou’s largest local information platform, Maozhou Blog.

According to a great many bloggers on it, at around 5:30 this evening, a batch of people all lost connection at the same time, whether on real-time communications or online games. After comparing notes, everyone realized they all had Qizhou IP addresses, with the main concentration in Qiyun Circuit.

“5:30?” Bai Zhuqing frowned. “Could it have something to do with Dao Master Wang… with Peak Master Wang bringing his people over?”

Wang Ran had come with a stated purpose. Externally, he had announced that he was coming to hold an internal tournament together with Shenming Sword Dao. The idea was to pacify those ill-intentioned guests coveting Wuqiu Mountain’s territory, to make it clear that Wang Ran had not left for good and would not simply fail to return. It was meant as a warning to them.

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But clearly, Wang Ran’s Divine Fetus sword cultivation was nowhere near enough for the current times. His Divine Fetus strength was arguably even less intimidating than Xiang Xian’s old Qi-path False Core, where she had been stuck for so long before. It was hard to say he had much deterrent force at all.

So Bai Zhuqing could not help wondering whether those people had taken Wang Ran’s departure as a sign of weakness and, the moment he left, moved directly against Benling’s forces in Qiyun.

“If that’s the case, then Taixu Monastery can’t avoid being implicated.” Bai Xiang’s tone turned somewhat cold.

She had already ordered people to send word to Taixu Monastery. Yet even now, there had been no reply.

And considering that Taixu Monastery was obviously the largest Void-realm faction and sect in the Qi lands, with all the other Void-realm demon folk crowded into Qizhou looking to it as their leader, this matter was probably tied closely to Daoist Fengxu and the others.

I originally thought sending those two to guard Li Sheng and Wang Ran would be enough, but looking at it now, I may have to go in person.

She glanced at the time. It was already nearly nine at night.

Public discussion had already fermented. The matter of the Qi lands losing internet access was causing a huge uproar online. Maozhou and Qizhou were deeply connected. Many Maozhou people had originally fled from over there during the demon disasters, and even many of the great families and prominent clans that had moved to Zhennan Circuit still had their main branches in the east before, with blood ties to the four circuits of Qizhou that could not be severed.

Bai Xiang immediately got up to dress, only to realize halfway through that Bai Zhuqing was in even more of a hurry than she was.

So she paused and looked at her younger sister. The girl had gotten off the bed and come over, one hand covering her chest, the other shielding herself below, and said shyly, “Auntie, don’t look… I… I just wanted to help dress you a little!”

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Help dress her? Or help with her appearance?

Bai Xiang did not stop her. She let Bai Zhuqing help her into her underlayer and stockings, then into a black inner garment woven from the finest cloth, and finally into a white-and-gold-patterned robe much like the one she had been wearing when she returned, carefully tightening her sash and slipping the matching boots onto her feet.

Naturally, the last step was her grooming.

When Bai Zhuqing did this, it was like a pilgrimage. She paid no heed whatsoever to the fact that she herself was still entirely naked. She carefully combed Bai Xiang’s hair, braiding part of it into fine little plaits, then gathering some of it at the back of her head and pinning it up with a dark gold lotus-shaped hairpin. The rest she let fall loose in a free, flowing cascade.

That hairstyle slightly reduced the volume of hair at both sides of Bai Xiang’s face, making her look more mature, more stately, while at the same time revealing both her earlobes.

The girl in the mirror now looked hesitant, as though she wanted to ask something but didn’t quite dare.

The earrings, right?

Bai Xiang turned a hand over and held up the pair of golden cicada earrings.

Bai Zhuqing’s expression brightened at once. She picked them up and put them on Bai Xiang, then made her tilt her head gently before the mirror, admiring how the earrings swayed back and forth with the movement.

At the same time, she admired Bai Xiang’s face, that exquisite beauty now made even more alluring by the jewelry and styling.

Ever since Bai Xiang had restrained the power of Golden-Pupil Illusory God, her face had only grown more severe and cold, giving others the sense that she stood high above them, untouchable, making them not even dare harbor improper thoughts.

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And yet… only I…

Only I, seeing these earrings, seeing them sway like this under Sister’s indulgence, know in my heart that this is a privilege that belongs to me alone…

The golden cicada earrings and Qingwu Sword.

Back then, did that count as us exchanging tokens of affection?

In that instant, the girl thought of many things, but her overall attitude remained one of reverent devotion. She continued by tugging Bai Xiang up and checking her over from top to bottom, only then nodding in satisfaction.

She wanted to help Bai Xiang as much as she possibly could.

These sorts of tasks—serving someone in ways that, in ancient times, would have belonged to maids—if the one being served was Sister Xiang’er, I’d gladly do them…

Bai Xiang could see her intentions, but said nothing. She only nodded to her and stepped down from the tower before her.

When she was nearing the front hall, a report suddenly came in: Li Sheng had found something on the road and had rushed back to see her.

The two met up. Li Sheng described what had happened, then handed over the seal she had found on the dead man’s body, along with that all-important letter.