Chapter 33: A Sachet for You
“What is a little girl thinking about? Smiling like that?” Ning Ke hunched over, pretending to shovel rice into his mouth while asking Ning Xiaoxiao.
“Can’t you see your brother is sitting on pins and needles right now? Instead of thinking of a way to help me, you just know how to laugh!”
Ning Xiaoxiao shrank her shoulders, hugging her bowl and whispering to Ning Ke: “Hehe, I just think you are too popular, Brother. I’m happy for you!”
“You child!”
At this moment on the second floor of the inn, Hong Yao leaned on the railing, chuckling as she watched her group of worry-inducing disciples: “I thought Yusheng was just playing around, but I didn’t expect him to be serious. Those of us who cultivate the Path of Emotion must undergo a Love Trial. I wonder if A-Ke is his Love Trial.”
After saying this, she raised her beautiful eyes, glanced at Gao Ze beside her, and said, “You said that the simultaneous appearance of Cangyin and Hongyun signifies the loosening of the Great Demon’s seal. I believe it.”
“And among the places where the Heavenly Dao sealed the Great Demon ten thousand years ago, several are within the Secret Realms. So, no matter which Secret Realm the children enter now, there is a chance of encountering danger. I was thinking, should we cancel the plan to let them enter the Secret Realm after the Grand Competition?”
“…I thought the same at first.” Gao Ze’s gaze was heavy. He sighed after a long while and said, “But we can protect them for a while, but how can we protect them for a lifetime?”
“The Great Demon is coming. If they don’t undergo tempering, how can they cope with future changes?”
“The Secret Realm is the best place for training. They must go.”
Hearing this, Hong Yao nodded.
“Then it depends on these children’s own fortunes.”
…
With no one helping to diffuse the situation, Ning Ke ate this meal like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
Finally, when everyone stood up to return to their rooms, Zhuang Yusheng looked at Lou Yunxiao.
He said, “From now on, we compete fairly.”
Lou Yunxiao didn’t reply to him and went straight upstairs with Ning Ke.
Zhuang Yusheng narrowed his eyes and muttered, “Coward.”
He could see it.
Lou Yunxiao had a different kind of possessiveness toward Ning Ke.
And the person Ning Ke said he liked before was likely Lou Yunxiao.
But Lou Yunxiao targeted him so much, yet didn’t openly say “I like A-Ke” like he did.
So, what was he if not a coward?
…
“Phew, I’m still not used to dealing with this kind of scene.” Ning Ke stretched his neck a few times and poured himself some tea.
He poured another cup for Lou Yunxiao in passing and pushed it over.
Lou Yunxiao didn’t move. Instead, he said, “Junior Brother, have you ever looked into how men and men become Dao Companions?”
Pfft—
Ning Ke sprayed a mouthful of tea. Fortunately, Lou Yunxiao blocked it with an ice wall, otherwise, his face would have been plastered with tea.
“Cough cough, Senior Brother, why do you suddenly want to learn about this kind of thing?”
Lou Yunxiao lowered his head, recalling the excitement in his heart and the physical reaction when he held Ning Ke last night.
That impulse felt foreign to him.
On the surface, he was disciplined and polite, but in reality, he was also a hot-blooded man.
He realized he had a different kind of obsession, selfishness, and… dirty desires toward Ning Ke.
He wanted to figure out the root of these thoughts.
“Just curious.”
“Oh, oh, curious.” Ning Ke breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression was still a bit unnatural. Luckily, Lou Yunxiao couldn’t see.
He asked Lou Yunxiao: “Then Senior Brother, do you want to understand why men and men fall in love, or do you want to understand how they… do that?”
He asked the second half of the sentence very quietly, feeling a bit embarrassed himself.
He prayed inwardly that Lou Yunxiao was only curious about the first half and absolutely not the second half.
As a result, he heard his usually aloof Senior Brother, who used to blush at the drop of a hat, spit out three words.
“…Want to know both.”
“…”
“Um…” Ning Ke could only brace himself to explain: “Men falling in love with men is no different from men falling in love with women. It still depends on the person.”
“You like him for who he is; it has nothing to do with his/her gender.”
“Mm, I understand.” Lou Yunxiao nodded, then continued to “stare” straight at Ning Ke. His intention to wait for the answer to the next question was exceptionally obvious.
“…”
Ning Ke felt his scalp go numb from the stare. Finally, he had a flash of inspiration. He pulled out the book Me and the Daoist Supreme’s Days and Nights from his storage ring and stuffed it into Lou Yunxiao’s hand!
“Senior Brother, if you really want to understand, you can read this!”
“If you touch it with your finger, the images will automatically appear in your sea of consciousness!”
Lou Yunxiao paused slightly.
His fingers subconsciously brushed over the characters on the cover.
He read aloud the words displayed in his sea of consciousness: “Me, and, the, Daoist, Supreme’s, Days, and, Nights?”
His voice was cold and pleasant.
Yet reading such vulgar text.
It made Ning Ke’s blood pressure spike off the charts!
Shame made his toes curl. He felt like the number one sinner for corrupting the upright and rooted male protagonist!
“F-Forget it! It’s fine if you don’t understand these things! Senior Brother, give the book back to me!”
Saying that, Ning Ke went to grab it, only to find Lou Yunxiao’s hands empty.
The book had been put into the Qiankun Bag by him a step ahead.
“There is no logic in taking back a gift once given.”
Lou Yunxiao pursed his lips.
A hint of a smile bloomed on his lips.
He closed his palm, then opened it again. A sachet appeared in his palm.
“Junior Brother, this is for you.”
“A sachet? Did you sew it yourself?” Ning Ke’s eyes widened.
“No,” Lou Yunxiao said. “I bought it.”
“I know you wanted one. But since I am not the person you cherish in your heart, I am giving you an ordinary one. I hope you can like it.”
Ning Ke took the sachet, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably, rising further.
[Host, do you know that your expression right now looks exactly like a maiden in love?]
Ning Ke: …
He was in a good mood and decided to ignore Xiao Yuan. He didn’t bother about the book anymore, happily hanging the sachet at his waist, the smile never leaving his face.
…
Two days later, the Sect Grand Competition began.
The disciples stood in rows according to their sects in the martial arts arena.
The Sword Sect was in the third position, with the Pill Sect on the left and the Buddhist Sect on the right.
This arrangement almost made Zhuang Yusheng cry from anger.
After all, he wanted to be next to Ning Ke.
Ning Ke stood behind Lou Yunxiao, his gaze falling mainly on the group of bald heads from the Buddhist Sect.
With the sun beating down, they were simply a row of shiny light bulbs.
Thinking that his next identity would have to be like this, Ning Ke couldn’t help touching his hair and sighing.
Then he discovered that all the young men and women from the Buddhist Sect were looking at him. Angry, he hummed and turned his head away.
Ning Ke: “…”
Sorry, he really didn’t mean it.
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