Two women stood face to face, both listening to him expressionlessly.

But Lu Xingzhou opened his mouth, yet for a long time didn’t know what to say.

Meeting the little white-haired girl’s sidelong glance, it took him a long time to finally blurt out, “Chuyun… Chuyun is one of us.”

Du Guqingli’s gaze became incredulous, then she lowered her eyes, a little crestfallen.

It was hard to believe Lu Xingzhou would fall for the beauty of a Huanxi demoness while fully conscious, associate with his enemy, and even acupoint-seal himself for her. She had mistakenly thought he was a victim and needed rescuing, but it turned out she was simply deluded.

Pei Chuyun, however, wasn’t having it, and huffily asked, “Then why did you seal my acupoints too?”

Lu Xingzhou cautiously replied, “You… you wanted to capture her before, and I was afraid you’d attack her again. You provoked Qingli first in this matter; if I hadn’t been there, Qingli would have been in danger of having her cultivation crippled. It’s normal for her to be angry with you. For my sake, could you apologize to Qingli and let this matter go?”

Du Guqingli remained silent.

Pei Chuyun was furious. “The condition for you releasing me back then was that I wouldn’t target her,” she exclaimed. “I agreed, and I never intended to target her. Now she’s causing me trouble, and you want me to apologize! Do I rank so much lower than her in your heart?”

Du Guqingli froze for a moment and pursed her lips.

The implication of her words was that Lu Xingzhou had once captured this woman and then released her, with the condition that she would no longer target Du Guqingli. Her recently crestfallen mood suddenly lifted considerably. The little white-haired girl found it hard to understand her fluctuating emotions. Her heart, which had always been as cold as frost and ice to the outside world, seemed to instantly lose its power in front of him; she didn’t even recognize herself.

This was very detrimental to her cultivation. How could she break through to the third rank in this state…?

Meanwhile, Pei Chuyun was still fuming. “Yes, I provoked her first,” she said, “but I suffered a great loss too! Has the person who wronged me apologized?”

Lu Xingzhou silently pushed his wheelchair to her side, unsealed her acupoints but still sealed her cultivation, and said, “Go ahead and shave.”

Du Guqingli: “?”

Pei Chuyun paused, her anger completely gone, a little amused. “Hey,” she said, “you’ve had me under your thumb for so long, and you never let me pluck a single hair. Now, for her, you’re letting me shave you?”

Lu Xingzhou forced a smile. “As long as you’re no longer angry, that’s good. It was my fault too…”

“Alright, alright, alright.” Pei Chuyun, whether from anger or amusement, grabbed the back of the wheelchair and dragged him into the cave, casually picking up a pair of scissors from a table as she passed.

Du Guqingli watched wide-eyed as Pei Chuyun, pulling the wheelchair and holding the scissors, disappeared into the back.

A moment later, Lu Xingzhou let out a pained shriek.

Pei Chuyun emerged, smiling sweetly, a tuft of hair dangling in her slender fingers, which she twirled around and around.

Du Guqingli stared at her blankly, not understanding what they were doing, and asked, “Did you shave his head?”

“Mm-hmm.” Pei Chuyun brought the hair close to Du Guqingli, brushing it back and forth across her red lips like a small brush. “A man’s ‘hair’,” she purred. “Will the pure and chaste Heavenly Jade Saintess throw up if she kisses it?”

If it were any other man’s hair being swept across her lips, Du Guqingli would indeed feel disgusted and want to vomit. But since it was Lu Xingzhou’s, Pei Chuyun watched for a long time but saw no expression on the little white-haired girl’s face, as if her tolerance was remarkably high.

Pei Chuyun had initially been quite amused by her actions, but the more she brushed, the angrier she became. “Fine!” she exclaimed. “I thought it was truly because I provoked her first, and that’s why I had to apologize. Turns out, she really is a mistress!”

Du Guqingli stated, “Lu Xingzhou’s mistress is someone else, surnamed Shen. And now it seems you’re not a concubine’s daughter, you’re the concubine herself.”

Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth and retorted, “What about you? What ‘room’ are you?”

“Since he’s involved with you,” Du Guqingli said, “I’m cutting ties with him.”

Pei Chuyun was almost laughing from anger. Just as she was about to speak, Lu Xingzhou hastily ran out, pulling up his pants, and grabbed her. “I already cut it for you,” he pleaded, “don’t bully Qingli…”

“How could I?” Pei Chuyun’s eyes darted around. She wove the hair in her hand into a small ring and placed it on Du Guqingli’s middle finger. “Sister, I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know we were family back then… I see you’re quite lonely usually, so I’m giving you a good ring. From now on, when you use your middle finger to ‘handle’ certain things, it’ll be like someone is participating with you.”

Du Guqingli completely misunderstood. “What can a middle finger do?” she asked. “How do you use it? Show me.”

Pei Chuyun was speechless.

Seeing Pei Chuyun’s face about to burst from holding back, Du Guqingli truly didn’t understand. But it was strange that this demoness was actually willing to apologize. What did she mean, ‘didn’t know we were family back then’? We’re not family now either, and Lu Xingzhou’s mistress is Shen Tang.

Lu Xingzhou also found the conversation between the two difficult to endure, and didn’t dare reveal what the hair was. He could only force a smile at Du Guqingli. “Uh, Chuyun doesn’t have bad intentions…,” he said. “She was wrong before, but she’s apologized. See…”

Du Guqingli was expressionless. “The matter of you ambushing me can be discussed separately…,” she said. “But Lu Xingzhou, you clearly know what angered me most wasn’t the ambush.”

Pei Chuyun blinked her innocent eyes and suddenly realized, “Oh… I wondered how you broke free from the Huanxi charm back then. So that’s it…”

Her gaze flickered between Lu Xingzhou and Du Guqingli’s faces, and she sighed softly. “Sister, if you blame me for this,” she said, “there’s even less reason to blame me. I’ve already paid for it myself. Can you forgive me?”

Du Guqingli remained silent, expressionless.

“Sister, don’t you believe me?” Pei Chuyun turned and snuggled into Lu Xingzhou’s arms, kissing him with loud smacks. “Sister, do you see?” she purred, “I’m so miserable…”

Du Guqingli subconsciously clenched her fists, her white hair began to mist, and faintly shimmered with a green glow.

“No, why are you even angrier, Sister?” Pei Chuyun said, on the verge of tears. “What will it take for you to forgive me, Sister? Or should I put in a little more effort?”

With that, she reached for Lu Xingzhou’s newly fastened belt.

“Snap!” Lu Xingzhou, unable to bear it any longer, pointed a finger at her, and the little demoness, whose joy had turned to sorrow, became immobile.

Lu Xingzhou stood up, placed her on the wheelchair, and said, “It seems I can’t rely on you.”

Pei Chuyun looked up at the sky and almost whistled.

Du Guqingli said, “Lu Xingzhou, when will you unseal my acupoints? I won’t kill her.”

Lu Xingzhou quickly unsealed them for her and whispered, “I was afraid you’d try to slay demons… Chuyun isn’t actually bad. Her past was unknown, but now she’s been recognized by the Pei family and she’s turning to the righteous path. You have to give people a chance, give people a chance…”

Du Guqingli completely ignored his words. She raised her finger to look at the hair wrapped around her middle finger, a little puzzled, and said, “Your hair isn’t curly.”

Pei Chuyun finally burst out laughing.

Du Guqingli didn’t remove the hair, but merely said, “Her becoming Miss Pei is, in my opinion, a conspiracy of the Huanxi Sect, not a genuine turn to righteousness.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “There is indeed a conspiracy; I’m keeping an eye on it. Do you trust me?”

Du Guqingli was expressionless and replied, “You’re just lustful.”

Lu Xingzhou closed his mouth.

Du Guqingli was silent for a moment. “Since you’re vouching for her, I’ll trust you and won’t expose her for now,” she said. “But Lu Xingzhou, how many have tried to make a deal with a Huanxi demoness throughout history and never come to a good end? Aren’t you afraid of ruining your lifelong reputation because of women?”

Lu Xingzhou still didn’t answer. In fact, Pei Chuyun was answering for him in her mind: He’s on guard.

He just wouldn’t say it in front of Pei Chuyun.

Du Guqingli’s anger had actually vanished when he said ‘the condition for releasing the demoness was not to target her.’ Standing opposite each other at this moment, they both fell silent, unsure of what to say next.

After a long silence, Lu Xingzhou finally whispered, “After all this time apart, are you doing well?”

“I’m fine,” Du Guqingli replied indifferently. “I came to the capital because I found myself on the New Talent Ranking, which means my master believes I no longer need to hide. So, naturally, I should challenge my peers to hone my skills. Currently, the top new talent is undeserving of the title; I need to find another opponent.”

She said a long string of words, but the meaning was clear: she didn’t come to find him.

Lu Xingzhou, of course, understood, and whispered, “There are many strong cultivators in the capital. You could stay for a while longer and perhaps gain something…”

“No need,” Du Guqingli replied indifferently. “I’ll visit my master, then leave tomorrow.”

Lu Xingzhou blurted out, “Why the rush?”

Du Guqingli’s lips curved slightly, as if in sarcasm. “Why are you keeping me?” she asked.

Pei Chuyun sat in the wheelchair, watching the two with great interest, and suddenly felt the joy of Sheng Yuanyao.

This is quite entertaining… The Heavenly Jade Saintess actually seems to have some special feelings for him, not just because she was caught in her charm and had an intimate encounter. Although these feelings aren’t very strong yet, even this little bit is quite shocking.

Lu Xingzhou was replying, “When old friends reunite after a long separation, isn’t it worth staying a few more days?”

Du Guqingli glanced at Pei Chuyun in the wheelchair and asked, “Are you sure you have time for friends?”

Pei Chuyun blinked her eyes and suddenly interjected, “Saintess Du Gu, if you’re worried about him indulging in our Huanxi pleasure grounds, shouldn’t you personally take action and tie him to your side?”

Du Guqingli was stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Pei Chuyun grinned. “It seems the Heavenly Jade Saintess isn’t very wary of us demonic temptresses,” she said. “She’s not even willing to make a tiny sacrifice of time.”

Du Guqingli pondered deeply, taking about ten breaths, and came to a conclusion. “Are you instigating me to fight you for a man?” she asked.

Pei Chuyun: “?”

*I just wanted to see you act seductive… I didn’t think for a moment that this counted as fighting for a man. My mistake…*

Du Guqingli made a judgment. “It seems the Chanyu Xuan Gong isn’t a good cultivation method after all,” she said. “It must have damaged your brain.”

Pei Chuyun was exasperated. “Then you said you were leaving, so why aren’t you going?” she challenged. “We Huanxi demonesses aren’t afraid to stay overnight in others’ caves, so the Heavenly Jade Saintess isn’t either, right?”

Du Guqingli was silent for a moment. “Whether I leave or not, it won’t have much impact for now…,” she said. “But I know if you don’t leave soon, your brother will bring people to block the entrance, and you won’t be able to stay the night at all…”

Pei Chuyun let out a wail. “Lu Xingzhou, quickly unseal my acupoints! I can’t be caught red-handed!”

Pei Chuyun stumbled out the door. Just as she left the cave, Pei Yu arrived with people at the entrance. From outside, Pei Chuyun’s calm greeting was heard: “Brother, what brings you here…”

Pei Yu asked suspiciously, “What’s going on with you? Why aren’t you home at night, and instead, you’re at the Imperial Academy?”

“Oh,” Pei Chuyun replied, “I just came to the Imperial Academy for some night reading after dinner; it has a better atmosphere… Later, I met Miss Du Gu and we exchanged a few moves. Afterwards, we discussed our sparring insights…”

“Is that all?”

“Of course, that’s all,” she said. “Oh, and before that, I ran into Lu Xingzhou and spoke a few words with him. He happened to witness my exchange with Miss Du Gu…”

“Save those lies for ghosts!” Pei Yu stomped his foot. “Given that you at least gained some renown this time, I’ll cover for you for now. But if you sneak out at night again, beware, Father will serve up bamboo shoots fried with pork!”

The voices gradually faded; one could almost picture Pei Chuyun, like a pathetic kitten, being dragged back by her brother, clutching her ear.

Du Guqingli crossed her arms and curled her lip. “This Chanyu Xuan Gong is even worse than the Imperial Extreme World-Shaking Scripture,” she muttered.

Lu Xingzhou took a step forward. “Qingli…” he began.

“Clang!” Her ice sword rattled, startled from its scabbard, and she exclaimed, “Don’t come any closer! We haven’t been charmed now, so we can’t kiss!”

Lu Xingzhou looked bewildered. *I didn’t say I was going to kiss you!* he thought. *What is that little white-haired brain of yours thinking?*