Chapter 228 - News

Lou Ji pointed toward the door with a slender, smooth finger as pale as white jade, and Xu Yuan had the sudden urge to snap it in half.

He drew a deep breath and turned around. At once, he met a pair of cool, clear eyes he had not seen in far too long. With the light spilling from the eaves behind her, those eyes resembled still autumn waters, quiet and beautiful, just like the black sword in her hand.

Their gazes met for a moment.

“You’re here?” Xu Yuan asked. His voice was perfectly calm, without the slightest trace of panic.

“Mhm.” Ran Qingmo nodded softly and stepped into the room. Yet she seemed to catch sight of something from the corner of her eye, for her steps abruptly paused and her grip tightened around her sword.

Ran Qingmo glanced at the soft bed, then looked back at Xu Yuan. Her expression remained perfectly calm.

Xu Yuan maintained the same unruffled composure and casually glanced toward the bed as well. Then his composure nearly cracked.

At some point, Lou Ji had rolled over beneath the quilt. Her body was wrapped in the blankets, one fragrant shoulder left bare as she faced away from them. The full, graceful curves beneath the covers remained faintly visible.

The instant Xu Yuan looked over, Lou Ji chose that exact moment to turn around.

She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. At some unknown point, she had also changed into a red silk nightgown. Her bare shoulders, shamelessly smooth and displayed to perfection, gleamed beneath the sunlight streaming through the window.

Then she stretched languidly. Her eyes carried the hazy, languorous elegance of someone who had only just awakened. She did not even glance at Ran Qingmo. Instead, she met Xu Yuan’s gaze and gave him a soft, knowing smile. “Changtian... is it morning already?”

Xu Yuan said nothing.

Ran Qingmo looked at Lou Ji, then let her gaze drift slightly downward. She pressed her lips together. “Xu Yuan... who is she?”

Just as Xu Yuan could not sense Ran Qingmo’s presence, she could not sense the woman on the bed either. This woman was dangerous, very dangerous.

Countless possible explanations flashed through Xu Yuan’s mind. Then he remembered that the woman standing before him was Ran Qingmo. He chuckled, rolled his eyes as naturally as could be, and explained softly, “She’s one of my elder sisters from home. All she ever does is come here and cause trouble for me.”

With that, he lowered his eyes to the documents on the desk and resumed reading them, acting entirely unconcerned.

Ran Qingmo stared at him for several breaths. A thoughtful look passed through her beautiful eyes before she gently exhaled. “Oh. I see.”

After that, she paid no further attention to the half-dressed Lou Ji. She walked straight over, sat across from Xu Yuan, and quietly watched him handle his official business.

For a time, the sunlight remained warm, the faint fragrance of flowers lingered in the air, and the room fell utterly silent.

Lou Ji’s deliberately languid stretch froze halfway. She stared at the black robed girl in mild astonishment. This was not how the scene was supposed to unfold.

The silence dragged on for nearly ten seconds before a flicker of interest finally appeared in Lou Ji’s phoenix eyes. She chuckled softly, rose from the bed, and walked toward Xu Yuan. Her silk nightgown swayed with every step, displaying her long, shapely legs to full effect.

Xu Yuan caught sight of her from the corner of his eye. The fingers turning the pages of the document trembled slightly. He wanted to speak, but it was already too late.

Lou Ji had reached him. She dropped onto the armrest beside him, bringing her floral fragrance with her. Her hair spilled down as she spoke with just the right amount of wounded resentment. “Changtian, it truly breaks your big sister’s heart to hear you say that. I only helped you relieve all that pressure last night.”

Xu Yuan was speechless. She had merely massaged his head. Why did she have to phrase it like that? Still, it did not matter.

Ran Qingmo would not understand the implication anyway.

With that thought, Xu Yuan looked up.

Ran Qingmo sat across from him, watching in silence. After a brief pause, she asked again, “Xu Yuan... is she really your elder sister?”

Xu Yuan rubbed between his brows and nodded. “Yes. She watched me grow up.”

“Oh.” Ran Qingmo’s cool, clear eyes swept over the alluring Lou Ji before lowering again.

“What is it?” Lou Ji cut in. She wrapped one slender arm around Xu Yuan’s neck and stared at Ran Qingmo. “You don’t think I look like Changtian’s elder sister?”

Ran Qingmo pressed her lips together before offering two words. “Not really...”

“Not really means no, doesn’t it?” Lou Ji chuckled. “Is it because I slept in Changtian’s bed?”

“That’s not why.” Ran Qingmo shook her head.

Lou Ji narrowed her eyes. “Oh?”

Ran Qingmo opened her mouth, then closed it again. She clearly wanted to speak, but hesitated. “I can’t say.”

“Why not?”

Ran Qingmo answered honestly, “It would be rude.”

Lou Ji raised one delicate eyebrow, then stood with a smile. “It’s fine. I hear your name all the time. We’re practically family, so you can say whatever you like.”

Ran Qingmo glanced at Xu Yuan. He did not look at her. He was too busy massaging his aching temples. She thought for a moment, then ventured cautiously, “Because... the way you speak and dress is a little like those aunties who sit beside the alleys in Calm Bay. So you don’t look like his sister.”

Lou Ji fell silent.

“Pfft!” Xu Yuan failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.

She had not even compared Lou Ji to a proper courtesan. At least the courtesans of the Bureau of Entertainment were officially employed.

Lou Ji continued smiling without saying a word.

Ran Qingmo, however, was not finished. She shook her head and added with complete seriousness, “But your cultivation is very powerful. Someone as strong as you wouldn’t do that sort of work.”

Xu Yuan lowered his head, shoulders shaking as he desperately held back his laughter. The iceberg of a woman insulting someone through a roundabout negative statement was far too entertaining.

Unfortunately, halfway through his silent laughter, a sharp cramp twisted through his stomach. The familiar punishment made him clamp his mouth shut at once. And the instant he stopped laughing, the pain vanished with it.

Xu Yuan tapped the desk and solemnly came to Ran Qingmo’s defense. “That’s just an occupational habit of my sister’s. How could you say something like—”

A sudden spike of agony in his stomach forced the rest of the sentence back down his throat.

Concern flickered in Ran Qingmo’s eyes, but before she could speak, Lou Ji leaned close beside Xu Yuan and asked in a soft, honeyed voice, “Changtian, are you all right?”

Xu Yuan stared at the alluring face mere inches from his own. “I’m fine...”

As he spoke, he slowly straightened in his chair.

Lou Ji was still using the same tricks she had used to discipline him years ago. After enduring the agony of countless marrow cleansings, something like this barely qualified as pain anymore.

His pain tolerance was no joke these days.

Still, torture happened to be this auntie’s professional specialty. To keep her from escalating to something nastier, Xu Yuan cautiously added, “Mhm... it was probably something I ate last night.”

After a pause, he gave Lou Ji no chance to make further trouble and dragged the conversation back to business. “Ran Qingmo, calling you here was my sister’s idea. She probably has something to discuss with you.”

He knew perfectly well that Lou Ji could not have summoned Ran Qingmo merely to stir up trouble for his amusement.

Ran Qingmo looked at Lou Ji in confusion.

Lou Ji, meanwhile, sighed. Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo’s reactions had left her thoroughly disappointed. How boring...

Next time she had the chance, perhaps she would tease that Su Jinxuan instead. She had heard the girl had obtained a rather decent cultivation art near Burial Village.

Heh... With that thought, Lou Ji waved a hand and turned toward the bed.

As she turned, the red silk nightgown around her quietly transformed into a fitted, low-cut robe of dark green embroidered silk.

She returned to the bed, sat down, and crossed one leg over the other. Her expression abruptly turned aloof and imperious, like a queen upon her throne.

Looking at the girl whose face remained as calm as ever, Lou Ji said casually, “Ran Qingmo, Ran Jianli asked me to pass along a message. He wants you to return to the Sword Sect within three months.”