Chapter 34: 《034》
The moment a strip of red satin half a meter wide came flying at her, Lou Yue knew the person facing her was Hong Chou.
In the novel, Hong Chou’s weapon was a strip of red satin that could extend and retract at will and was roughly half a meter wide. The author had written no shortage of scenes where she flirted with Long Aotian using it, so Lou Yue remembered it very clearly.
Hong Chou cultivated the art of seduction. Though she was an unaffiliated cultivator, her talent was extraordinary—she had already reached the perfected Mahayana stage the moment she made her debut.
She was straightforward and disliked beating around the bush. Combined with the special nature of her cultivation method, every glance and smile of hers was enough to make countless men flock to her.
Lou Yue slipped aside. The red satin, seemingly alive, curled toward her. Ice condensed at her fingertips, and she slashed at it.
Hong Chou gave a soft laugh and flicked her wrist. The ice blade missed.
The red satin lashed, wound, whipped, and coiled, every move skimming dangerously close to Lou Yue’s body.
Lou Yue transformed the Yanxiang Fang into a long whip, meeting Hong Chou’s red satin in midair.
The two figures leaped and retreated across the black jade platform. Though the Appearance-Altering Pill had made Lou Yue look ordinary, her dignified purple-and-gold gown still gave her an unmistakable air of distinction. And with Hong Chou’s fiery red robes making her even more eye-catching, before long, everyone below had stopped to watch.
As the red satin fluttered through the air, it carried with it a faint, elusive fragrance. By the time Lou Yue realized something was wrong, her movements had already begun to slow.
Taking advantage of the moment they brushed past each other, Hong Chou lightly traced a finger across Lou Yue’s cheek and laughed softly. “Your skin is so lovely, little sister~”
Her laughter seemed to possess a peculiar rhythm. Every word tugged at the heartstrings, making people unconsciously relax and follow her with their eyes.
Lou Yue focused her mind and put some distance between them. With a wave of her hand, hundreds of ice spikes shot toward Hong Chou. Hong Chou giggled and used the red satin to block them all, while another strip quietly slipped behind Lou Yue in the moment of her distraction, wrapped around her waist, and yanked her over.
Hong Chou followed the motion and swept an arm around her. Her fingers quickly measured Lou Yue’s waist, and her tone turned suggestive. “Little sister, your waist is actually even slimmer than mine.”
The instant her words fell, an angry voice rang out from below the black jade platform.
“What are you doing?! If you’re competing, then compete! Why are you putting your hands on her?!”
Liufeng Xin glared with both eyes wide, her face flushed with anger. She looked as if she might rush onto the platform at any moment and throw Hong Chou as far away as possible.
Hong Chou casually glanced at Liufeng Xin before looking away. But the moment her gaze shifted, it met Xiao Rangchen’s from several people away.
Unlike the indignation in Liufeng Xin’s eyes or the avid interest of those around them, his gaze held nothing but killing intent—cold and vicious, with not the slightest attempt to conceal it.
The looks men gave her were usually either infatuated or covetous. At worst, they were indifferent and distant.
Women who looked at her with killing intent were nothing new either. They only did so when she had bewitched their men and left them hopelessly enamored.
But this man was different.
He was a man, not one of her enemies, yet he looked at her the way those women had looked at her when she stole their men away. A hint of amusement rose in Hong Chou’s heart, along with a trace of eager anticipation.
Yet in that brief moment of distraction, Lou Yue abruptly surged her spiritual power forward. Her long whip wrapped around the red satin and twisted the supple fabric into a tight knot.
“Oh, little sister, be gentle~” Hong Chou said in a lilting voice, as though she were flirting.
“You—you—you should speak properly! If you’re fighting, then fight! Stop acting all coy and coquettish!” Liufeng Xin grew even more agitated below the platform.
Hong Chou paid her no mind. She merely shot a quick glance at Xiao Rangchen, whose killing intent was so thick it seemed ready to burst forth. Then, the next time she brushed past Lou Yue, she leaned close to her ear and whispered, “The man in black down there—is he yours?”
Hong Chou still remembered the scene of the two of them arriving with their arms around each other.
Lou Yue answered without a second thought, “No.”
At the same time, an ice spike slammed viciously toward her from behind.
Hong Chou dodged it and smiled. “Then I’ll go after him.”
Lou Yue did not respond. She forced herself to concentrate on the battle before her. Hong Chou’s cultivation was already slightly higher than hers, and her techniques were strange and nimble. The slightest lapse in attention could leave her caught in Hong Chou’s seduction arts.
If she did not want to lose, she had to cast aside every distraction and give the fight her all.
Hong Chou was about to say something else when a pale-blue barrier rose once more from the center of the black jade platform, blasting the two of them apart. Red diamond-shaped marks appeared between their brows.
Hong Chou lifted a hand and brushed over the mark, laughing coquettishly. “Oh my, I rather like this outcome~”
“Get down. Don’t stand in the way.” Liufeng Xin’s voice came from behind her, low and ominous.
Being blasted apart was one thing, but why did the barrier have to send Hong Chou over to their side while sending her own sister to the opposite side, right in front of Cangya Xun and Lou Weixiao?
The more Liufeng Xin thought about it, the angrier she became. The corners of her mouth drooped dramatically.
Hong Chou turned around and flashed her a smile so enchantingly seductive it seemed to seep into one’s bones. “I say, little girl, did I steal your man or something? Why are you so fired up?”
“Oh, I simply don’t like you. Is that not allowed?”
Hong Chou leaped gracefully down from the black jade platform. “Of course it is. There are plenty of women who don’t like me. One more won’t make a difference.”
With that, she started toward Xiao Rangchen. Liufeng Xin followed her line of sight and suddenly realized what she was doing. She stepped forward and grabbed the red satin hanging from Hong Chou’s arm.
“What are you doing?! I’m warning you—don’t go over there!”
Lou Yue rose to her feet. Looking across at the three people who were practically standing together—Xiao Rangchen, Liufeng Xin, and Hong Chou—a strange daze swept through her heart.
Wasn’t this exactly the configuration from the novel...
Long Aotian, the white moonlight, and the Red Rose?
Her lashes lowered. In silence, she walked down from the black jade platform.
“You’d better stay away from him.” Cangya Xun suddenly spoke, his cold eyes fixed on her. His tone brooked no argument. “He’ll die sooner or later.”
Lou Yue shot him a sidelong glance without bothering to respond. She turned and walked straight past him, leaving.
Cangya Xun’s gaze lingered on her retreating back for a long time.
Lou Weixiao was surprised to see that Cangya Xun, who had always held himself above everyone else, had actually taken the initiative to speak with a woman—and was still staring after her even after she had gone. A trace of astonishment and contemplation passed through his eyes.
“If Young Lord of Cangya is interested, I could have someone look into her identity for you,” he offered. He had noticed that Lou Yue’s techniques faintly carried traces of the Lou clan’s methods. Since her face was unfamiliar, he guessed she might be a highly gifted member of one of the clan’s branch families.
“No need.” Cangya Xun calmly withdrew his gaze, his tone revealing nothing of his feelings.
Lou Weixiao could not tell whether Cangya Xun was truly interested in her. Seeing that, he decided not to say anything more.
Lou Yue did not go back to look for Liufeng Xin. Instead, she wandered to a quiet, deserted place, wanting to be alone for a while.
She should have been happy. She had barely managed to make it into the top hundred, after all.
Yet for some inexplicable reason, she felt stifled and could not summon even the slightest enthusiasm.
This was nothing like her.
She could not be bothered to move, so she simply leaped onto a tall stone statue and lay down on her back. She planned to take a nap and change her mood.
But the moment she closed her eyes, a calm, low voice came from below.
“Why aren’t you happy?”
Lou Yue slowly opened her eyes. Without looking down, she replied indifferently, “Who says I’m not happy?”
The man did not answer. He merely leaned quietly against the base of the statue.
Lou Yue closed her eyes again.
A gentle breeze drifted past, carrying with it the faint clamor from the distant black jade platform, the soft clash of spiritual power and magical weapons, and the cheers and murmurs of the crowd. The sounds were noisy, yet somehow they seemed peaceful.
She felt less stifled.
She even slept well. Though the nap was short, she slept deeply and soundly.
When Lou Yue woke, she sat up and glanced down at the base of the statue, only to find Liufeng Xin sitting there with her head lowered, fiddling with her pills.
Lou Yue instinctively swept her gaze across the surroundings, but she did not see the person she had expected to be there.
“How long have you been here?” she asked.
Liufeng Xin finished tidying herself up and rose to her feet, patting the hem of her skirt. “Huh? It’s been a while. I saw you sitting here by yourself, so I came over to keep you company. Aren’t I great?”
Lou Yue fell silent. Could it be that Xiao Rangchen had never come at all, and that what happened earlier had only been a dream?
“...”
She had actually dreamed about Xiao Rangchen?
Of all the people she could have dreamed about, why him?! She would rather dream about a bear than him!
Lou Yue pressed her lips together, suddenly grinding her teeth with annoyance.
Liufeng Xin came over and handed her a bottle of pills. “I was worried something might happen after we went in, so I specially refined some Voice-and-Appearance Pills for you. Remember to take one every seven days. Keep them safe—the ingredients are all used up, so I can’t refine more for the time being if you lose them.”
“Mm.” Lou Yue accepted the bottle and immediately swallowed one, then put the rest into her storage ring.
She then took out the jade token engraved with the words “Riding the Wind.” “Keep this on you. If you encounter an attack that threatens your life, it can block one blow for you. It has two uses left.”
Liufeng Xin had already seen Lou Yue use the jade token the previous year, and had heard her explain its life-saving function at the time. She pushed it back. “I don’t want it. Keep it for yourself.”
“I won’t need it. Take it.”
“It’s your life-saving treasure. How can I take it? I’m the female lead, remember? I have the female lead’s halo. Nothing will happen to me! Relax, sis.”
Liufeng Xin refused to accept it. She knew how Lou Yue died in the book, and that ending had always hung over her like a sword. Over the past two years, they had discussed all kinds of plot developments, but they had always tacitly avoided this one.
But avoiding it did not mean it would not happen.
Lou Yue had been cultivating desperately, striving to become stronger, and Liufeng Xin had seen it all. At first, she had played matchmaker between Lou Yue and Xiao Rangchen simply because she enjoyed shipping them. Later, however, she had truly begun hoping they could end up together. Perhaps then, Lou Yue’s doomed fate could be changed.
Besides, she had noticed how much Xiao Rangchen cared about Lou Yue. Lou Yue was not entirely without feelings for him either; she simply had never realized it herself.
“If you really think of me as your sister, then take it.” Lou Yue untied the tassel from the jade token, threaded a sturdy red cord through it, and directly hung it around Liufeng Xin’s neck, pressing it against the layer of clothing beneath her outer robe.
The jade token was slightly heavy. Lou Yue guessed it would make Liufeng Xin’s neck uncomfortable, so she added softly, “Put up with it for now. I’m afraid you won’t have time to use it if you keep it in your storage ring, and you might lose it if you carry it loose.”
“Yueyue...” Liufeng Xin clutched her sleeve and looked at her, her eyes growing hot.
Lou Yue raised a hand, covered Liufeng Xin’s forehead and eyes with her palm, and pushed her away. “Don’t get sentimental. I don’t like it.”
Liufeng Xin sniffed and lowered her head to toy with the red cord around her neck. Her voice was deliberately lighthearted, though it still sounded a little hoarse. “What are you talking about? I just wanted to say that this cord is so ugly!”
“Then change it to a rainbow one. It’ll match the little fairy better,” Lou Yue said casually.
“Huh?” Liufeng Xin’s eyes lit up. “You’re right!”
She immediately took out thin cords in every color and eagerly began braiding a rainbow cord on the spot.
Lou Yue: “...”
At that moment, elsewhere among the stone statues—
“Bang!”
A long spear stabbed into the ground, and its fierce gust of wind forced the red silk ribbon to stop.
“Oh, don’t be so fierce~” Hong Chou batted her eyes flirtatiously and was just about to step forward with a coquettish laugh when the spear, planted less than half a step in front of her, began to hum and tremble. She stopped in her tracks.
“You patiently stand guard for that young lady, but you won’t show me even the slightest bit of tenderness. How heartbreaking.”
Her tone carried a deliberately aggrieved note.
Xiao Rangchen gave her a cold glance, raised a hand, and summoned the spear back. He turned and walked away, not sparing her a single unnecessary look.
“I just asked that little sister, and she said she had nothing to do with you.” Hong Chou gazed at his tall, straight back, the corners of her eyes curving into an amused smile. “I even told her I wanted to pursue you, and she didn’t object.”
His footsteps paused for the briefest moment, but he still did not stop.
Thinking of the result of her divination, Hong Chou steeled herself and hurried after him. Suddenly, the long spear swished up to her face. The icy force carried by its tip lifted the hair at her temple.
It was only a hair’s breadth from slicing her face open.
“Get lost.” Cold killing intent churned in Xiao Rangchen’s eyes.
“I can help you!” Hong Chou stopped beating around the bush and spoke quickly. “You’re in love with her, and you want her to notice you, don’t you?”
She understood matters between men and women better than anyone. A few encounters and a handful of details had been enough for her to figure it out.
“Women often only truly understand how much someone means to them when they see that person growing close to someone else.”
Hong Chou lowered her voice, coaxing him. “I’ll help you realize her feelings. In return, you and I will team up and enter the core area together.”
Xiao Rangchen’s expression did not soften in the slightest. He immediately turned to leave.
Hong Chou hurriedly called after him, “Don’t you want to be with her?!”
Xiao Rangchen stopped.
The wind stirred his black robes, making his solitary figure seem all the more resolute.
“Her not liking me is my problem. She’s done nothing wrong, and she doesn’t need to deal with pointless trouble.”
After a brief pause, he turned his head slightly. His gaze was as sharp as a blade, and every word carried murderous intent.
“Stay away from her. And don’t even think about making a move.”
With that, he tapped the ground with his toes. His figure flashed several times before disappearing completely from Hong Chou’s sight.
Hong Chou’s shoulders slumped. Dejected, she muttered, “Why can’t I ever meet a man who pours his whole heart into someone and swallows all his grievances in silence? Hmph!”
**
The trials atop the Black Jade Platform were still underway.
Only after Liufeng Xin finished braiding and putting on the rainbow cord did a thunderous sound come from the Black Jade Platform. The raised platform slowly sank back into the ground.
“Let’s hurry over and see whether Big Brother Wei and the others made it in.”
From the earlier contests, it was clear that the Black Jade Platform did not judge matters based on a simple win or loss. It would not have been surprising if Big Brother Wei and the others had all made it in, yet no one had expected that, in the end, only Qiao Qiniang would qualify.
Xiao Rangchen was there as well. When Lou Yue was pulled over by Liufeng Xin, his eyelashes lifted slightly. His gaze lingered on their clasped hands for quite a while before he looked away.
When Lou Yue noticed that he was there, she stopped looking in his direction.
“Qiniang, give up already. How can we possibly feel at ease letting you go in alone?” Big Brother Wei urged Qiao Qiniang.
“You don’t need to persuade me anymore. I’ve made up my mind.” Qiao Qiniang gently rested a hand over her lower abdomen. A trace of tenderness hid within her stubborn features. “Sixth Brother always said he wanted to find a good magical treasure for our child. Later, we had the child, but he was gone.”
“Now that I have this opportunity, I want to fulfill his last wish. After I come out, I’ll retire to the mountains and forests, give birth to the child in peace, and raise them properly.”
“We can look for magical treasures somewhere else!” Fat Second urged anxiously. “The child hasn’t even been born yet. Qiniang, don’t rush into danger!”
Lou Yue spoke up. “What kind of magical treasure do you want? I’ll give you one as a birth gift for the child.” Her storage ring contained quite a few magical artifacts, which Lou Chengfeng had probably prepared for her.
“That’s right, Qiniang. You’re pregnant, and it’s too dangerous to go in. My sister and I can give the child a magical treasure,” Liufeng Xin quickly added.
Qiao Qiniang shook her head and smiled gently at them. “Thank you for your kindness, but I still want to go in myself. This may be an opportunity granted to me by heaven. I’m a cultivator too, and I don’t want to miss it. You don’t need to persuade me anymore.”
In the end, it was Qiao Qiniang’s own choice. Lou Yue could not say much more. She simply decided that if Qiao Qiniang needed help after entering, she would lend a hand.
She gazed at Qiao Qiniang, her tone carrying a layer of meaning that others could not understand. “There are dangers lurking everywhere inside. Remember: do not be greedy, and do not act rashly. The more you yearn for something, the more you must hold yourself back. Sometimes, when you stop forcing the matter, you may actually get your wish.”
“Understood.” Qiao Qiniang took it as an ordinary warning, nodded, and gave it no further thought.
Beside her, however, Xiao Rangchen’s gaze fell upon her.
The look was neither sharp nor fierce, but it was heavy, silently winding itself around her. It seemed as though something else was about to burst forth.
Lou Yue noticed it from the corner of her eye and immediately turned her head away.
Perhaps Xiao Rangchen’s gaze had been too obvious. One by one, the others noticed it as well. Big Brother Wei and the others had already been brimming with curiosity when the two of them appeared with their arms around each other. Now, they were even more certain that something was going on.
Seeing this, Qiao Qiniang said softly, “Why don’t you two—”
Lou Yue cut her off at once. “Qiniang, you’re coming in with us later.”
With that, she pulled Liufeng Xin away, leaving that lingering gaze behind her.
She had come to the Savage Wasteland for only one reason: to obtain the Ancient Sage’s inheritance.
Other than that, she should not care about anyone, anything, or any emotion. Most of all, she ought to stay as far away from Xiao Rangchen—her greatest rival—as possible.
Yet it seemed Heaven itself loved playing tricks.
The more deliberately one tried to avoid something, the more surely it would be brought together.
For example: her, Xiao Rangchen, Liufeng Xin, and Hong Chou.
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