Song Yao really couldn't figure out what her Fourth Junior Brother was trying to do. She cleared her throat softly, trying to think of a way to brush him off, but he spoke up again. “You were the one who said you would do anything.”
“Since you'll do anything...”
He looked at her. Though those beautiful, usually indifferent eyes held no emotion right now, they somehow made him look a little aggrieved. “Then why can't I kiss you?”
“Why are you afraid of me?”
Song Yao: “...”
Heaven as her witness!
When she said she would do anything, she had meant a life for a life—letting him kill her to settle the score.
How was that the same as what he was thinking?!
In the elixir room, people began standing up one after another, opening the door, and leaving, finally shutting the door behind them.
Song Yao straightened up slightly to take a look.
Great.
Even these pill cultivators from the Beiyao Sect couldn't stand to watch any longer and had all fled.
No, wait.
She looked up at Xie Zhou suspiciously, a sudden realization dawning on her.
Given her Fourth Junior Brother's past shy and quiet nature, he would never say such outrageous things in public. He must have official business to discuss that shouldn't be overheard, so he had deliberately said this to drive everyone away.
She instantly felt much more relaxed. Standing up, she patted his shoulder with relief. “Not bad. Our little Zhou has learned how to adapt...”
Before she could pat him twice, her wrist was suddenly gripped by a cool palm.
Xie Zhou's knuckles were slightly pale, leaving her absolutely no room to break free. He looked down at her, his handsome face expressionless. “Adapt to what?”
Song Yao: “...”
Something was wrong.
Without a second thought, she turned to crouch back down in the corner of the elixir cauldron.
But she didn't succeed. With a stretch of his arm, Xie Zhou clasped her waist and scooped her out of the cauldron, placing her firmly on the edge of the rim.
With empty space behind her and Xie Zhou right in front of her, this position inevitably reminded her of the day she had been pinned down and kissed.
She pursed her lips and immediately put on a stern face to warn him, “Xie Zhou, no. You can't.”
Before she could finish, Xie Zhou let go and took half a step back. Hearing her words, he paused slightly. “What can't I do?”
“I only wanted to lift you out. What did Third Senior Sister think I was going to do?”
He stood quietly, his hands resting properly at his sides, his gaze calm.
Being stared at like this, Song Yao suddenly felt like she was judging a noble person with her own petty mind.
She choked on her words and jumped down from the cauldron, trying to act natural. “I thought you wanted to kiss me again. But it's for the best if you've gotten over it and won't do these messy things to me. After all, we are senior sister and junior brother. If you want revenge, you can choose another way. There's really no need to...”
Xie Zhou interrupted her. “I haven't gotten over it.”
Song Yao, who was speaking enthusiastically, paused. “...What?”
“I haven't gotten over it.”
Xie Zhou's dark eyes looked extremely gentle and innocent as he gazed at her, his voice slow and soft. “If you court death once, I will love you to death once. Those words still stand. Third Senior Sister doesn't need to worry.”
Song Yao: “...”
No, wait.
Who was worried?
Why did her Fourth Junior Brother change his attitude every second?
One second, he was pitifully and considerately lifting her out, saying he didn't want to do anything, and the next second, he could say something like this with a completely straight face.
A lunatic.
A pure lunatic.
Just as crazy as her Fifth Junior Sister, who had her love threads extracted.
After being reborn, why were these two good kids the ones who became the most severely corrupted?
Adhering to the principle of retreating whenever one encountered a lunatic, Song Yao silently took half a step back and tried her best to counsel him. “Fourth Junior Brother, your way of thinking is too dangerous. Who treats an enemy like this? You're hurting yourself more than you're hurting me. This kind of thing must be done with someone you love. Don't you agree?”
Rolling the words "someone you love" around in his mouth, Xie Zhou actually agreed with her for once. “Yes.”
Song Yao let out a sigh of relief.
Good, good.
He was still reasonable.
Drawing out her words, she adopted the posture of an elder and said in a solemn tone, “It's good that you understand. Once you have someone you love in the future, it won't be too late to talk about these intimate bedroom matters with them, instead of with your senior sister. Right?”
Under her expectant gaze, Xie Zhou slightly curled his lips, a half-smile playing on them. “But I am talking to the one I love right now. Is there a problem?”
Song Yao: “?”
She considered herself quick-witted, but although she understood every single word her Fourth Junior Brother just said, why did they sound so incomprehensible when put together?
What did he mean by "talking to the one I love right now"?
Wasn't the person he was talking to right now... her?
It couldn't be...
The one he loved was her?
She fell into a prolonged silence, finally unable to hold back. “Fourth Junior Brother, tell me the truth. Did you get things mixed up? Do you know the difference between a sweetheart and an enemy? Didn't I take you to read many storybooks and listen to many plays and storytelling sessions before? Did you somehow confuse the two?”
Song Yao talked far too much. Xie Zhou's gaze remained glued to her lips, which babbled incessantly as they opened and closed.
After she finished her long speech, he reluctantly pulled his gaze away and asked, “Then what do you want to be?”
Song Yao was stunned.
There was a choice?
Did this kid listen to a single word she said?
Before she could draft another lecture to persuade him, Xie Zhou came up with his own answer. “It doesn't matter. It's not important. They're both the same.”
Song Yao: “...”
How were they the same?
An enemy was an enemy, and a sweetheart was a sweetheart. Dragging an enemy to bed as a sweetheart—how could such logic exist in this world?
Her Fourth Junior Brother had definitely gone to the Hehuan Sect with her too many times!
Reflecting deeply on her past mistakes, she secretly swore never to take her junior brothers and sisters to play in such places again. She then tried to come up with a new angle to correct Xie Zhou's thinking, while also looking for an opportunity to run out and beg Zhu Zhao to save her.
Her Fourth Junior Brother wouldn't listen to her, but he might listen to Zhu Zhao.
Having Zhu Zhao persuade him should work.
But before she could speak, Xie Zhou glanced at the sky outside. As if suddenly remembering something, he said abruptly, “Ye Chongguang has sent people to attack Black Cloud Mountain.”
Song Yao: “?”
The sudden shift in topic was far too abrupt. She was still fully focused on her youth mental health lecture when she was caught completely off guard by this news, causing her to startle.
After all that sowing of discord and sending information directly to Ye Linchong, instead of coming to deal with Feng Qing first, why did they go and attack Black Cloud Mountain?
Was it to rescue Ye Chang'an?
That was unlikely.
Ye Chang'an had been trapped on Black Cloud Mountain for so long without them lifting a finger, yet they chose to act now.
Could they be targeting Wen Tang?
She knitted her brows slightly. “How is Tangtang? What's the situation there now?”
Xie Zhou: “...”
He pursed his lips, a flash of gloom crossing his eyes, and his voice turned a bit colder. “Ye Chongguang didn't go in person. Wen Tang won't die.”
“As long as she doesn't die, that's fine.”
Otherwise, it would be rather embarrassing if she had run back to the Nine Saints Hall only to leave a young girl like Wen Tang behind.
Once they stopped talking about that subject, Song Yao visibly became much more at ease. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the cauldron and asked, “Did you come to tell me this because something big is about to happen?”
“Yes.”
Xie Zhou nodded, keeping his words brief. “Ye Chongguang is on his way here now.”
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