Chapter 4

If this had been the Su Wanqing of her previous life, she would have pointed at his nose and berated him for not even recognizing his own fiancée. But the current Su Wanqing had been married to him for seven hundred years in her previous life. She no longer had the slightest bit of affection for him. There were only two words in her mind now. —What a show-off. He had already been told that she was his fiancée, yet here he was, asking question after question. Why not just ask his grandfather? Su Wanqing could not be bothered to deal with him. Her gaze fell to the hand tightly gripping Lu Renjia's wrist. The latter was still silently asking her for help. She had only been reborn for a day, and Su Wanqing truly did not want to reveal anything unusual in front of others. However, the young girl was looking at her with complete trust and dependence, as though she was certain that Su Wanqing could rescue her from this clutches of evil. —Forget it. Su Wanqing sighed inwardly. At the same time, she formed a hand seal and mobilized what little spiritual energy remained in her body. A green wind blade immediately shot from her palm. Xiao Yan was still thinking about how to say the words "break off the engagement" when he suddenly sensed a surge of spiritual energy sweeping toward him. Its power was so immense that it was absolutely impossible for a Qi Refinement cultivator to possess such strength. He reached out to block it, but the wind blade was astonishingly fast. It sliced through a layer of skin on the back of his hand and continued toward his wrist, seemingly intent on severing his hand. Hot blood flowed from the back of his hand. Before Xiao Yan could even frown, he heard the person whose wrist he was holding let out a startled cry, her voice trembling slightly. "You... you're injured!" Xiao Yan lowered his head, and only then did he belatedly register the pain. Yet he did not even crease his brows. His gaze merely settled on the girl's slightly furrowed brows before he answered after a moment of thought, "It's nothing." Naturally, Lu Renjia was not entirely worried about him. "Your blood... it's dripping." A sticky, damp sensation covered her fingertips. Lu Renjia's brows furrowed even more deeply, and the trace of disgust in her expression was completely undisguised. Xiao Yan was silent for a moment before finally releasing her hand. Su Wanqing seized the opportunity. She walked over, grabbed Lu Renjia by the arm, and pulled her behind herself. "Xiao Yan, I know what you're trying to do." Su Wanqing was tall and slender, completely shielding Lu Renjia from his view and refusing to let Xiao Yan look at her. She then raised her chin slightly. "If you want to break off the engagement, fine. I want ten thousand top-grade spirit stones. In addition, give me a high-grade magical artifact." Xiao Yan did not even furrow his brows. "Fine." Su Wanqing stared at him steadily, but Xiao Yan's gaze remained fixed on the person behind her. Su Wanqing knew exactly what he was looking at. She had originally wanted to add that he was not allowed to approach Lu Renjia, but she quickly realized that such a demand would be impossible. Just as this delicate young girl had somehow made even someone like her, who had always been too lazy to meddle in other people's affairs, step forward to protect her, Su Wanqing understood that Xiao Yan had undoubtedly developed some unusual feelings toward her as well. Sword cultivators had always been stubborn and rebellious by nature. If she told him he was not allowed to approach Lu Renjia, he would probably insist on getting closer to her. In the end, Su Wanqing said nothing. She simply took Lu Renjia and left. Xiao Yan was left alone, watching the two women walk away side by side. On the mountain path, Su Wanqing pulled Lu Renjia to a small pool of water. She made her squat down and carefully washed away the traces of Xiao Yan's blood from her fingertips. Her fingers were different from Lu Renjia's. They were longer and slightly rougher, with a thin layer of calluses on her fingertips. When they brushed across the back of Lu Renjia's hand, they felt a little ticklish. Lu Renjia could not help shrinking her hand back, but Su Wanqing held it more firmly. "Senior Sister Su..." Lu Renjia's eyelashes trembled lightly before she turned her head toward the woman beside her. Su Wanqing's long lashes were lowered, her expression serious as she stared at the back of Lu Renjia's hand, as though she were doing something extremely important. That expression inexplicably made Lu Renjia feel a little shy. "It's clean now," she said softly. She then opened and closed the hand Su Wanqing was holding. Her pale, delicate fingertips were still wet with droplets of water, soft and supple, with a faint pink hue on their pads. Only then did Su Wanqing give a quiet hum. She took a snow-white handkerchief from her storage pouch and carefully dried Lu Renjia's fingers one by one before finally releasing her hand. Lu Renjia squatted beside the pool and looked up at the tall woman standing before her. They were both women, and they had known each other for less than half a day, yet for some reason, Lu Renjia already felt an overwhelming sense of dependence toward her. She reached out and gently tugged at the hem of Su Wanqing's skirt. "Senior Sister Su, my full name is Lu Renjia. Ren as in benevolence, and Jia as in commendation. What's your name?" They had known each other for half a day, yet neither of them had actually exchanged names. All Lu Renjia knew was that this senior sister's surname was Su. Su Wanqing lowered her eyes and looked at the petite girl beside her feet. Lu Renjia? It was an extremely ordinary name, completely at odds with that face of hers. "Su Wanqing." She paused before adding, "Wan as in retention, and Qing as in clear." "Su Wanqing..." Lu Renjia repeated the name softly. Then her eyes curved into a smile, and she looked at her with undisguised delight. "Can I call you Senior Sister Wanqing?" Su Wanqing's expression remained indifferent. "Suit yourself." She reached out and pulled the girl to her feet, then told her about the two tasks they had accepted. "Tomorrow at Chen hour, we need to go to the Hundred Herbs Garden," Su Wanqing said. "It's a hundred li away from the Servant Disciples' Courtyard, so we'll need to rent two spirit cranes." Since Su Wanqing had made the arrangements, Lu Renjia naturally had no intention of refusing. However, when they reached the foot of Servant Peak, she became somewhat hesitant. "Senior Sister Wanqing, I... could I ride the same spirit crane as you tomorrow?" Lu Renjia looked embarrassed. "I don't have any spirit stones." Su Wanqing knew that the lower-ranking servant disciples were poor, but she had never encountered anyone as poor as Lu Renjia. She was about to say something, but when she saw the girl's face flushed with embarrassment and her long eyelashes trembling uneasily, Su Wanqing could only sigh inwardly. "All right." Lu Renjia's face immediately lit up with a smile. She even could not help reaching out and giving Su Wanqing a light hug. "Thank you, Senior Sister Wanqing." The girl's warm breath brushed against the side of Su Wanqing's neck, carrying a faint, indescribable fragrance. Su Wanqing's mind went completely blank for an instant. Having lived for nearly a thousand years across her previous and present lives, this was the first time she had ever been so close to someone. Even though they were both women. Their bodies were the same, yet somehow different. Lu Renjia was softer, more fragrant, carrying a rich warmth. She had gently brushed against Su Wanqing before quickly pulling away, completely unaware of what her touch and embrace had done to the person she had hugged. Even after she stepped back, Su Wanqing remained dazed. Now it was Lu Renjia's turn to be confused. "Senior Sister?" She waved her hand gently in front of Su Wanqing and looked at her strangely, unable to understand why she had such a startled expression. Could it be... that she disliked her? A trace of dejection suddenly rose in Lu Renjia's heart. She instinctively took two more steps back, and her previously cheerful voice became subdued. "I'm sorry, Senior Sister Wanqing. I shouldn't have—" Su Wanqing came back to her senses. "...It's nothing." She coughed lightly and suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, comforting both Lu Renjia and herself. "We're both women, so there's no need to worry about propriety between men and women. It was only a hug." Her words immediately made Lu Renjia happy again. She nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at grains. "That's right, that's right." Su Wanqing: "..." She composed herself and stopped allowing her thoughts to wander. She spent ten spirit stones to rent a spirit crane. With the spirit crane carrying them, the two soon returned to their small servant courtyard. As cultivators, cultivation naturally came first. Even though Lu Renjia was delighted by her new neighbor and would have loved nothing more than to stay by Su Wanqing's side and chat with her, she knew that she should not interfere with Su Wanqing's cultivation. Therefore, when they reached the doorway, she consciously waved goodbye. "Senior Sister, I'm going to cultivate too. See you tomorrow." Su Wanqing paused. "See you tomorrow." After returning to her little room, the excitement in Lu Renjia's heart still had not faded. She sat beside the table, happily resting her chin in both hands as she kept recalling how gently Senior Sister Wanqing had cared for her along the way. Ever since joining the Heavenly Evolution Sect, Lu Renjia had devoted herself entirely to cultivation. Apart from going to the Disciplinary Hall to receive servant tasks, she never left her room. As a result, she had never interacted with the other people living in the same courtyard. Three years ago, when Su Wanqing entered the Heavenly Evolution Sect and was assigned to the servant courtyard, Lu Renjia had secretly peeked at her from behind the door. At that time, however, Su Wanqing's expression had been cold and indifferent. She had not even shown the slightest courtesy toward the parents who had escorted her to the Servant Disciples' Courtyard. Because of that, Lu Renjia had concluded that she was difficult to approach and had spent the past three years avoiding her whenever possible. As fate would have it, when Lu Renjia left her room this morning, she happened to run into Su Wanqing, who was also heading out. When she sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy around Su Wanqing, Lu Renjia had felt both envious and bitter. She could not help asking her a question, fully expecting her to ignore her. Yet she never imagined that Senior Sister Su would actually be willing to speak with her today, and that she would even treat her so kindly afterward. Sure enough, what one saw with their own eyes was not necessarily the truth. Lu Renjia thought happily to herself. Senior Sister Su was actually such a good person!