“There’s no point in remembering anyway,” Jiang Yuan thought, realizing she couldn’t out-argue the white-haired woman.

That serious, earnest expression and calm tone delivered a series of soul-searching questions, making one want to die from the expression, tone, and content.

“How can a white-haired woman who is having an affair with her shigong be so self-righteous?” Jiang Yuan couldn’t understand.

What she understood even less was that the white-haired woman started ushering her out the next moment: “Thank you, Miss Jiang, for the clues. Cooperation will commence once our injuries are healed.”

Jiang Yuan remained seated.

Du Gu Qingli repeated very seriously, “We need to heal our injuries now.”

Jiang Yuan finally realized what she was saying: “You mean, I should leave?”

Du Gu Qingli nodded earnestly.

“Isn’t that obvious? This is No Man’s Land for us. We were having a nice, intimate healing session. Why are you standing there, even deliberately showing off your skin? It’s not even that fair; healthy wheat-colored skin, right? Not attractive. Xingzhou prefers fair skin.”

Jiang Yuan nearly exploded, seeing her self-righteous look: “It’s freezing outside! I at least provided clues about your ambushers. You don’t even thank me and want to kick me out?”

Du Gu Qingli was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “While I understand you really want to stay with him, I was here first.”

Jiang Yuan: “???”

“Ahem,” Lu Xingzhou finally couldn’t maintain his composure and tried to smooth things over: “We are indeed still recovering from our injuries and are not fit to go out. Well, this space isn’t small. I’ll set up a formation, effectively creating separate rooms. How about Miss Jiang rests in her room for now?”

Jiang Yuan was furious but knew she couldn’t force them if they were genuinely injured, so she grudgingly said, “I can set up a room myself; I don’t need your shoddy formation.”

With that, she casually tossed something, and a wooden wall rose from the ground, instantly dividing the space in half.

Lu Xingzhou observed the wall with interest for a long time, walking back and forth, then knocked on it.

Jiang Yuan’s voice came from the other side: “Scram.”

Lu Xingzhou withdrew his hand. He wasn’t knocking on the door; he was just studying the material composition.

This Jiang family seemed to belong to the lineage of organist or artificer practitioners. This unique cultivation method was unseen in this world, truly one of the greatest differences between the Ancient Realm and this realm.

However, Jiang Duxu and Jiang Yuan usually looked more like martial cultivators in daily combat, with these contraptions only serving as aids. It was unclear if they were hiding their true abilities or if these methods weren’t suitable for combat. Honestly, Lu Xingzhou was more interested in these things than other forms of cultivation, but now wasn’t the time to ask, otherwise the little white-haired one would get jealous.

Another benefit of the wall was that the two could now sit against it, which was more comfortable, though the soundproofing wasn’t great.

Lu Xingzhou sat against the wall and immediately set up a sound-insulating formation.

Jiang Yuan pressed her ear to the wall but heard nothing.

Jiang Yuan: “…”

“Trying to stop an Ancient Realm master with such a trick?”

Jiang Yuan pulled out another set of mechanisms and secretly extended them from underground.

A small wooden snail extended its antennae from beneath the ground.

Du Gu Qingli naturally sat next to Lu Xingzhou, feeling much more comfortable leaning against the wall: “I didn’t expect Miss Jiang to be useful in this way. Their Ancient Realm cultivation is so strange…”

Lu Xingzhou asked in surprise, “Your attitude towards her is what’s strange. Why are you so hostile… You even served as bridesmaids together.”

Du Gu Qingli was expressionless. Who said being bridesmaids together means you’ll become best friends?

Who could be in a good mood after their intimate time was interrupted… Just when she first noticed movement in the water, Lu Xingzhou was still stroking Xue Tuantuan. To be caught in such an intimate moment by an intruder would make anyone embarrassed and angry.

Moreover, she barged in acting as if she caught them in the act. Why? Even his dearest Tinglan hadn’t said anything. When was it a bridesmaid’s turn?

Seeing the little white-haired one’s attitude, Lu Xingzhou somewhat guessed her feelings, finding it rather amusing. The little white-haired one had visibly become more human-like these past two days, even throwing small tantrums over such things. So much for fearing demonization; having a man is the strongest form of humanization.

Lu Xingzhou gently put his arm around her shoulder again and whispered in her ear, “Anyway, she can’t see now. Shall we continue healing?”

Du Gu Qingli struggled a bit; the mood was gone. Now she was a little grumpy and didn’t want to kiss.

Lu Xingzhou said, “By the way, your first reaction was to say she had no right to catch us, not to deny our relationship… I’m very happy.”

Jiang Yuan: “…”

How disgusting.

Du Gu Qingli also paused. Not to mention her first reaction, she hadn’t even thought of denying it now.

“So there was a denial move?” The little white-haired girl scratched her head.

It feels a bit silly, who would believe it? Like Master claiming to be Ye Zhuoyu? The entire Tianyao Sacred Land is begging, everyone’s expression when Master is stubborn is indescribable, it’s simply a negative example, why learn that? Isn’t it better to just retort?

But in a way, it truly seemed to prove that her so-called “limited to this place” was disingenuous; deep down, she clearly already considered them lovers, which is why she acted this way.

Du Gu Qingli pursed her lips, then suddenly said, “Lu Xingzhou…”

“Hmm?”

“Why am I different from them?”

“Huh?”

“Back then, I saw Shen Tang, her eyes smiling when she spoke of you, her neck stretching long when you weren’t around, just wanting to see you appear in your wheelchair. Later, I saw your dear Tinglan doing the same; she tried very hard to maintain her previous aloof demeanor, but as soon as you were mentioned, her eyes would immediately curve into a smile, which even dogs would find distasteful.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Jiang Yuan secretly recorded it.

“But I can’t, I don’t feel that intensity. I used to think it was because you were my shigong, and I had to keep my distance. But now that we’re like this, I still don’t experience their kind of emotion. Is it because I don’t like you enough, or because I just don’t smile with my eyes?”

Actually, Du Gu Qingli had smiled before, a very faint one, but even that was rare.

So when there was a sign of her almost smiling earlier, Lu Xingzhou even forgot what he was going to say and immediately asked her to smile, which backfired and made her unable to smile.

The problem wasn’t with smiling; it was truly that her nature was more subdued than others, whether it was joy, anger, sorrow, or love.

“Everyone is different, why should you be like them?” Lu Xingzhou kissed her cool cheek: “My little white-haired one is unique.”

“Is that so? Not because I don’t like you?”

“Your not resisting my intimacy already says everything.”

Du Gu Qingli fell into contemplation.

Lu Xingzhou asked in surprise, “What are you thinking about?”

Du Gu Qingli said, “Then Miss Jiang, being stark naked in front of you, she must love you to death.”

Jiang Yuan: “???”

Lu Xingzhou: “…She’s just a bit naive.”

Jiang Yuan clenched her fists.

Du Gu Qingli said, “I need to heal my injuries.”

Lu Xingzhou was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately. Du Gu Qingli said, “Kiss me.”

Jiang Yuan’s expression turned into the “subway old man looking at phone” meme.

Lu Xingzhou realized that the little white-haired girl had just been clarifying whether she liked him or not, and after getting her answer, she was now being direct.

Since they were going to be lovers, then so be it. Is that what she meant?

Who would overthink so much at a moment like this? Just kiss her, and it’ll be fine.

Lu Xingzhou quickly kissed her, and Du Gu Qingli quietly savored the feeling.

Yes, she really enjoyed kissing him; she could be clear about that.

Lu Xingzhou’s hand began to wander again, continuing to seek out Xue Tuantuan. Du Gu Qingli didn’t resist, feeling very warm.

It seemed that all the tests proved she truly liked him…

Then let her like him; anyway, the one engaged to him was only Ye Zhuoyu.

Just as she was thinking this, her communication jade token suddenly vibrated. Du Gu Qingli, somewhat dazed, leaned in the man’s arms and answered the call.

Ye Tinglan’s voice came through, sounding a bit anxious: “I heard you went to Dongyue Hanchuan and even descended into the central ice layer?”

Lu Xingzhou’s hand froze on Xue Tuantuan, holding still.

Jiang Yuan was amused, the little snail’s antennae stood perfectly straight.

The calmest of them all was Du Gu Qingli herself; her voice, as unperturbed as ever, was faint: “Yes.”

Ye Tinglan said, “Si Han said you haven’t returned yet. Did something go wrong?”

“No, we discovered an ancient kingdom, possibly the Beihai Kingdom mentioned in ancient texts, where the entire nation was afflicted by ice demons.” Du Gu Qingli calmly explained what she and Lu Xingzhou had witnessed in the ice city, even mentioning Maha and Tianxun, finally concluding: “We are currently seeking a place to heal our injuries.”

Ye Tinglan said, “Indeed related to the ice demons… It’s good that you left. You must not get involved again; you scared your master to death.”

Du Gu Qingli looked down at her shigong’s hand on her chest and thought, “This would scare you even more.”

But then again, Ye Tinglan had contacted her first, in a panic, rather than her beloved Xingzhou, which showed that Master still cared greatly for her safety. This made the little white-haired girl, who was in the midst of an affair, feel a little guilty. So she reached out, wanting to pry Lu Xingzhou’s hand away, at least not to touch her at this moment…

She answered, “Don’t worry, your Xingzhou will handle it. If you don’t trust me, don’t you trust him?”

She tried to pull his hand away but couldn’t; her Xingzhou held on tightly. Du Gu Qingli instinctively let out a soft hum.

Ye Tinglan was alert: “What was that sound?”

Du Gu Qingli quickly said, “I’m injured, it hurts a little.”

Ye Tinglan sighed, “While I trust Xingzhou, that area is prone to accidents. Don’t stay there. There are other places for training. Go somewhere else.”

Jiang Yuan: “…”

“You trust him, you trust him completely. Your disciple stole your husband, and you still trust him.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “If we hadn’t come, this earthquake would have caused a major disaster.”

That was true… Ye Tinglan hadn’t expected that letting her disciple go on an adventure with Lu Xingzhou would immediately resolve a disaster that could have devastated countless lives. He was truly reliable. She felt happy and chuckled, “Good, good. Little hero, I’ll give you a reward later.”

Du Gu Qingli secretly reached out to pinch Lu Xingzhou’s soft flesh, thinking, “I also contributed a lot, so why am I only a ‘little hero’?”

Lu Xingzhou let out a muffled grunt.

Ye Tinglan: “…What was that sound again? Are you injured too?”

“Yes,” Lu Xingzhou said, “Don’t worry, we’re recuperating in a safe place now, and we even ran into Miss Jiang. After we finish things here, how about we head south? Far away from the ice demons.”

It sounded like peace and prosperity, so Ye Tinglan felt relieved: “You handle it, but don’t be careless. Also, don’t cause any more trouble with Miss Jiang. Qingli, help me keep an eye on this scoundrel.”

Lu Xingzhou squeezed: “…Don’t worry, I’m handling it.”

Du Gu Qingli: “…Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on him. He won’t have a chance to cheat.”

Jiang Yuan: “Don’t worry, I’ve recorded everything.”