Chapter 421: Lingxiao Meeting

"Fairy Yun? Who's that? Little Longevity brought someone back to the mountain gate from outside!?" Jiu Jiu was stunned when she heard the news in the card room, and Jiu Yushi next to her was also caught completely off guard.

Jiang Liner, the true matriarch of Little Qiong Peak, chuckled at Xiong Lingli, who had rushed over with the news. "Don't any of you use your immortal sense to survey your surroundings?"

Jiu Jiu and Jiu Yushi honestly shook their heads. Xiong Lingli tilted her head. "What's that?" "Soul Perception! It's a sensory ability all Qi Refiners possess!"

Jiang Liner helplessly patted her forehead, genuinely at a loss for how to scold these young cultivators practicing in the mountains. Having not ventured out for decades, Jiu Jiu had lost all her vigilance.

"Huh?" Jiu Jiu wondered. "Why can I only see Ling'e and Little Longevity? The person opposite Ling'e is just a cloud of mist." "That's an incredibly advanced illusion spell, you dummy!" Jiang Liner shook her head, speechless.

Jiu Jiu quickly asked, "Master-aunt, what does that woman look like?" Jiang Liner couldn't help but scoff, "As if I could see through it." Jiu Jiu rolled her eyes.

"She's incredibly beautiful," Xiong Lingli added from the doorway. "I was stunned when I went to deliver tea just now... I don't even know how to describe it. Cousin is also very gentle with this fairy, and Ling'e even called her 'sister.'"

"What?" Jiang Liner's tone sharpened. She had been lounging in the armchair, but now she sat up straight, gritting her teeth. "Doesn't etiquette dictate who arrived first? How can Little Longevity let Ling'e call someone else 'sister'? Ling'e was here first! Hmph, I wasn't going to pry into others' private affairs, but I can't stand it anymore! Watch me!"

After speaking, Jiang Liner gently waved her slender hand. Two fallen leaves floated in from outside the door and settled at her fingertips. She cast the 'One Leaf Blinds the Eye' spell; the two leaves stuck to her eyes, shining with green light. Jiang Liner instantly saw through the dense forest, spotting the three people drinking tea by the lake.

The fairy, previously undetectable by immortal sense, finally revealed her true form. "Oh... so beautiful..." "Right? Right?" Xiong Lingli echoed excitedly, though she wasn't entirely sure why she was so excited.

Jiu Jiu and Jiu Yushi came closer. Jiang Liner gently waved her hand, drew in a few more leaves, and cast the spell for both of them. All three then remotely observed.

Jiu Jiu first softly praised, then mumbled, "Ling'e isn't bad today either; she looks even better than usual." "This Little Longevity, quietly trying to enjoy the blessings of having multiple partners?" Jiang Liner cursed through gritted teeth. "If he dares to wrong Ling'e, I'll chop him with a knife!" Jiu Jiu, however, frowned and mumbled, "But Ling'e seems quite happy."

"They're competing," Jiu Yushi's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Look at Ling'e's neck... she's wearing her most precious inner collar, the one she prepared for her wedding!"

Jiu Jiu pinched her chin. "Really, it feels so delicate. Look closely at Little Longevity's expression; he seems a bit nervous now. The atmosphere there is probably quite tense."

"Alas, such a foolish girl Ling'e is," Jiang Liner sighed, adopting a resigned expression and reciting in a pinched voice, "Mistakenly giving her heart to the ungrateful, only wishing in this life not to let down her lord."

Jiu Jiu suddenly said, "Ling'e is about to lose! That fairy said something, and Ling'e's face is slightly flushed." Jiu Yushi hummed a few times and suggested, "Should we give Ling'e a hand?"

"How can we help with this?" Jiang Liner retorted. "After all, this is their private matter. If Ling'e has no objection to having one partner with two companions, then Longevity can take advantage; it's not something we can control. Speaking of which, what's the cultivation level of this newcomer? Why did my spiritual sense jump as if I were facing a life-or-death tribulation when I just thought of playing a prank on her? Lingli, did you hear Longevity and Ling'e call this fairy by her name?"

"Cousin just called her 'fairy,' and Ling'e called her 'sister'..." "I have an idea!" Jiu Jiu clenched her fists, one slender foot in a soft straw sandal propped on a stool, her pretty face filled with fighting spirit. "If you don't care and I don't care, Ling'e will fall, and so will we! If you don't help and I don't help, Ling'e will be heartbroken and flustered! Think about it, if Little Qiong Peak gets a new master, can we still be so carefree and leisurely? We must let Ling'e know that she has support behind her too!"

"Pfft!" Jiang Liner couldn't help but laugh. "If you want to get involved, go ahead, but why drag us into it? Don't let the fairy misunderstand."

"Why would I get involved? I'm a generation above Little Longevity," Jiu Jiu snorted. "Master-aunt, are you helping or not? If not, I'll go tell Master all those things you said when you were drunk..." "Help, help! Isn't that enough?" Jiang Liner gave a helpless smile. "Your master is more thin-skinned than paper. If he knew I accidentally revealed our private bedroom affairs, he'd probably go into seclusion for thousands of years and never come out. Honestly, he's more easily embarrassed than a woman! What a waste of cultivating the Dao Fruit of Longevity! Alright, Jiu'er, tell me, what do you want to do?"

Jiu Jiu pondered for a moment, pinching her chin, then proudly declared, "Hmph hmph... the Wine Immortal always has a clever plan."

A moment later, a white cloud carried four figures, drifting from the card room towards the lakeside.

The three figures sitting around a low table, drinking tea and chatting in the shade by the lake, all looked over.

The white cloud descended a few yards away, gently dissipating on the grass, revealing the figures of four women. They were truly a sight to behold, each possessing her own distinct charm.

Their movements were synchronized; each carried a tray and gracefully moved forward. Li Changshou's forehead creased. He wanted to complain but couldn't bring himself to speak, so he just raised a hand and rubbed his eyelids.

First was Jiu Yushi, refined and charming, dignified and elegant. She bowed to Fairy Yunxiao, then bent down to place the tray she carried, setting a plate of pastries in front of Ling'e. The stacked pastries each bore the character 'Ling'.

Jiu Yushi bowed and stepped back. Jiang Liner, wearing the same standard Immortal Sect uniform dress, stepped forward, placing a plate of pastries, each inscribed with the character 'E', on the low table. She also bowed before retreating.

Fairy Yunxiao nodded with a smile, while Ling'e's cheeks turned crimson, and she couldn't help but cover her face with her hands.

Next, Xiong Lingli, moving like a miniature mountain, wearing a tight immortal dress, squatted in front of the low table. She chuckled, pinching the toy-like pastry plate with her fingers, put it down, and ran off. This plate of pastries bore the character 'Bi' (meaning "must" or "certain").

As Xiong Lingli retreated, Jiu Jiu, wearing the same immortal dress—a rare sight for her—stepped forward. She placed down the last character, 'Sheng' (meaning "win"), and gently said, "Please enjoy yourselves. Call us if you need more."

Yunxiao gently nodded, softly saying, "You've gone to great trouble." The subtle glimmer of the lake's reflection scattered upon Yunxiao's crystal-clear and delicate skin, illuminating her face, which was neither seductive nor gaudy, yet beautiful beyond compare. It made Jiu Jiu stare in awe.

"No, no problem, Fairy... eat well, drink well..." With that, Jiu Jiu quickly turned around, then slapped her forehead, and scurried away with quick, small steps. She hadn't uttered a single word of what she had prepared!

Ling'e truly couldn't bear to look at the scene on the low table. She hadn't figured out how to explain or smooth things over for everyone when she heard a wisp of her grand-master's voice transmission and looked up towards the nearby forest edge.

The four "fairies" of Little Qiong Peak's "retirement group" were now raising their hands high, swaying like water weeds. Then, in the same order they delivered the pastries, they successively jumped and turned around, revealing large characters pasted on their backs: 'Junior Sister Will Surely Win!'

Ling'e must win, Junior Sister will surely win? Because Xiong Lingli was so large, the character 'Wěn' (meaning "surely" or "stable") was prominently emphasized. Ling'e almost cried at the sight... Don't they even look at who the opponent is?

"Ahem," Li Changshou introduced from the side, "Those who just passed by include a closely related master-uncle of mine, my grand-master on Little Qiong Peak, and a master-uncle who was my master's childhood sweetheart in a previous life and returned to the sect after reincarnation."

"Sister, please don't overthink it, everyone, everyone is just..." Yunxiao's eyes held a hint of amusement as she softly said, "Everyone is very interesting."

"Junior Sister, Fairy," Li Changshou picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Why don't we go to the nearby Black Pool Peak? I'll prepare a meal there today."

Yunxiao softly said, "May I and Ling'e walk over a few steps slower? I have a few words I'd like to tell Ling'e." Li Changshou immediately frowned. "Fairy?" "Don't worry, I certainly won't bully Ling'e." But Li Changshou still said, "This might be a bit inappropriate..."

But for the first time, Ling'e interrupted her senior brother. "Senior Brother, let me have some time alone with Sister Yunxiao." "Alright, come over soon." Li Changshou stood up, watching the two with some unease, then turned and rode a cloud towards Black Pool Peak, activating the paper effigy hidden in Ling'e's sleeve along the way.

However, before Li Changshou could hear a single word, Yunxiao's slender finger pointed at Ling'e's sleeve, and Li Changshou's paper effigy instantly lost contact. Li Changshou felt a headache coming on. He immediately activated the paper effigies throughout Little Qiong Peak, only to suddenly discover that Ling'e and Yunxiao were already floating on the Spirit Lake in a cloud boat. Their immortal senses were blocked, appearing like a mist, making them impossible to hear or see through.

Li Changshou: ... Never mind, if they don't want me to listen, I won't. Landing on Black Pool Peak on his cloud, Bai Ze was already hurrying over from beside the pond, stroking his beard. Dispelling his previous gloom, he circled Li Changshou twice, tutted over a dozen times, gave a thumbs-up, and transmitted his voice: "Water God, on this point alone, Emperor Jun is far inferior to you! Fairy Yunxiao actually came to your door of her own accord, tsk tsk. I thought between you and Fairy Yunxiao... hehe. Impressive."

Li Changshou irritably transmitted, "What's impressive? What if they start fighting?" "Ah, relax. A great power like Fairy Yunxiao wouldn't quarrel with little Ling'e out of jealousy." Bai Ze continued to transmit with a smile, "She must genuinely have something to discuss with Ling'e. Relax, relax. But speaking of which, Water God, your romantic luck is truly extraordinary. Including Yu Qinxuanya, whom you and I have been discussing, and today's Master-uncle Jiu'er, she also seems to have some interest in you."

Li Changshou shook his head and sighed, "Don't speculate about these things. I say I'm devoted to the Dao, but I guess no one believes me." "This humble Daoist believes you," Bai Ze replied very seriously via voice transmission. "Otherwise, how could you, Water God, have attained such cultivation within a few hundred years?"

"Mr. Bai!" Li Changshou was instantly touched beyond words. Just as he was about to call him a 'confidant,' Bai Ze pursed his lips. "Unfortunately, Lord Tongtian doesn't believe it, and I estimate Lord Taiqing doesn't either." Li Changshou: ...

"Let's cook. I'm the head chef today. Come help me chop vegetables and wash pots!" "Don't worry, Water God, this humble Daoist is coming!"

"Um..." On the cloud boat swaying with the waves, Ling'e looked at the fairy sitting beside her, barely a foot away, wanting to break the silence but unsure what to say.

Yunxiao gazed at Ling'e's small face and softly asked, "Did I cause you trouble?" "No, not at all!" Ling'e immediately replied, "When Senior Brother looks at Sister Fairy, his eyes are always very gentle. You are definitely the most important person in Senior Brother's heart, and he wouldn't be... wouldn't be troubled because of this..."

Yunxiao's gaze shifted to Ling'e's somewhat flustered face, and she gently said, "Are you afraid I'll blame him?" "How can it be called blame? It's just... well, actually, I am a bit scared, but it's just a little bit, a very small amount, really."

"You truly are a silly girl, just as your Senior Brother said." Yunxiao gently raised her hand, took Ling'e's wrist, and sighed.

Ling'e gathered her courage and softly asked, "Fairy, sister, do you also have worries?" "Things one doesn't wish to tell others are naturally worries."

Yunxiao gazed at the lake water and slowly said, "Before coming here, I traveled in the mortal world for a long time, seeking an answer to this matter." Ling'e blinked. "An answer?" "An answer about affection between men and women, the way of yin and yang, and the destinies of living beings," Yunxiao softly said. "I am a primordial being; before interacting with your senior brother, I never had such thoughts. My sworn brother and two younger sisters are the same; they have only a superficial understanding of mortal emotions. To comprehend the Dao, one must first understand why. For this, I traveled among mortals to explore the way of destined love, but ultimately, I discovered that I seemed to be mistaken. The way of destined love for acquired beings is closely related to reproduction, driven by mundane desires. And these are what I lack."

She looked lost, her voice becoming increasingly ethereal. "Your senior brother and I are not yet Dao companions. His feelings for me have gradually grown from initial reluctance, and his affection is warming. But what he doesn't know is that after I fell into a love tribulation, my Dao heart changed every moment, to the extent that now his image cannot be erased from it; it's like a demonic obsession. Only when I suddenly awoke did I realize that the coldness of cultivating the Dao for so many years had transformed into an admiration, a desire to be with him. But I was ultimately mistaken."

"Senior Brother... well, he is indeed very interesting." Ling'e said, feeling a strange pang of sympathy looking at Fairy Yunxiao's increasingly lost expression. "What else did you do wrong, Sister? This matter originates from the heart. As long as you don't dislike me, I... I also wouldn't..."

"What I meant by 'wrong' is that I entered the love tribulation incorrectly. I should have overcome the tribulation first, then met him." Yunxiao chuckled softly, rubbing Ling'e's small hand, and sighed, "After meeting him last time, two confusions kept swirling in my heart. If my love tribulation passes and my Dao heart becomes clear again, will his image still remain? Can he and I truly cultivate a destined union?"

Ling'e blinked, genuinely surprised. "Can it still be like this?" "The higher one's cultivation realm, the closer one is to the Dao. If the day I cultivate a destined union with him is also the day I break free from my tribulation, wouldn't that break his heart completely? Someone like me, who is of no benefit to the Dao, is essentially a demonic obsession. It was for this reason that I went to the human mortal realm, but then I realized I was wrong again."

"What else did you do wrong?" "In a destined relationship, a primordial being like me actually cannot give him the response he deserves. Human affection lies in mutual protection, support, and closeness. I ultimately cannot give him these."

Ling'e couldn't help but frown in thought, trying to understand the meaning of Yunxiao's words. "Are you saying, Sister... that you developed feelings for my senior brother because your Dao heart was incomplete, and my senior brother is continuously opening his heart to you? And then you worry that by the time you become Dao companions, your Dao heart will be complete, and your feelings for senior brother will fade? And then you observed how mortal couples live, and you felt that as a primordial being, you couldn't give Senior Brother that kind of shared joy and sorrow, that kind of mutual support?"

Yunxiao smiled gently and said, "You are truly incredibly intelligent." Ling'e smiled bashfully, a wisp of white smoke rising from the top of her head. She was almost overwhelmed!

"Moreover..." The helplessness in Yunxiao's eyes grew stronger. "I've deduced that there might be a great tribulation in the future, one close to him, which would pull him into my tribulation. That would truly be unfair to him. But I... I cannot sever ties with him..."

Ling'e softly said, "Sister, did you come here today because you wanted to see me?" "That's right, I wanted to come and see you," Yunxiao placed Ling'e's small hand on her lap. "I also wanted to tell you that even if your senior brother and I become Dao companions, we would primarily be fellow travelers on the path of cultivation... You don't need to panic about this. The affection he needs, only you can always give him. After today, I will go into seclusion until the great tribulation arrives, trying my best to keep him out of it. If I can overcome the tribulation..."

"Senior Brother actually knows about your tribulation, Sister." "Huh?" Yunxiao was slightly caught off guard.

Ling'e gently exhaled and said firmly: "Although Senior Brother never told me these things, I'm sure he absolutely knows. When he first gave me this jade hairpin, whenever he mentioned you, Sister, the corners of his mouth would turn down slightly, his nostrils would flare a bit, and his eyes would show some helplessness and melancholy. And several times, his words hinted at some entanglement. Senior Brother must have developed feelings for you back then, but something made him hesitate! At first, I thought it was because Senior Brother felt his cultivation was too far below yours, but later it was proven otherwise. After Senior Brother mentioned you twice, he clearly made a decision and started planning something... Each time he planned, he would sit blankly for several years. I occasionally saw some of the planning diagrams Senior Brother drew. A cloud symbol must represent you, Sister, right? Later, I stayed in the mountains and didn't know what Senior Brother was doing outside, but from the traces of moved scrolls in his grass hut, I could tell he had already begun to put these plans into action. The most crucial part of these plans must be two copper coins with small wings. Before the underground secret room was rebuilt, images of those two copper coins were hung on the secret room wall, but then Senior Brother took them down..."

Yunxiao flipped her slender hand, and a copper coin appeared in her palm. "Yes, yes! That's it!" "If this is with you, I feel most at ease." Yunxiao was visibly stunned for a moment.

Ling'e, however, suddenly thought of something, turned her head, and vigorously pinched her mouth. How could she possibly compete now? She had already defected!

Suddenly, she felt two soft hands glide over her shoulders. Before Ling'e could react, she was embraced by the fairy beside her. Huh!?

"After I leave, help me transmit this embrace to him." "This, this can be transmitted?" "He and I haven't reached that stage yet, so I can't be so intimate," Yunxiao's eyes showed a hint of relief. "Ultimately, before him, it was I who should have called Ling'e 'sister.' After all, all I thought about was how I should treat him, but Ling'e, you never thought about yourself. This is where I am far inferior."

Ling'e's earlobes turned slightly red. She nervously smoothed a wisp of hair by her ear. "I'm so many eons younger than you, Sister... let's, let's go over there. Senior Brother's cooking is amazing!"