C42 – Is There a Snake in the Room?

Liu Yuan hid under the table and looked at the feet of the two women.

Under her soft white skirt was Ning Xiangrong’s bare feet.

Every inch of her body was flawless, and her snow-white skin was so delicate that it was as though a breeze might leave a cut on her skin.

And she had the most beautiful pair of feet in the world, and her toes were exquisite like pearls and her toenails were neat with a pink luster.

Compared to Fuhuan’s skinny, bony feet, Ning Xiangrong’s were cute and supple and so adorable that it made people want to pinch her.

Ning Xiangrong was tense, sitting stiffly there with her two feet placed together on the ground. Somehow Liu Yuan felt like teasing her a bit.

In comparison, Gu Siyin seemed very restless.

Her little feet in wool embroidered shoes were rubbing together, swaying. One could tell that she was very nervous as well.

Liu Yuan could imagine that her feet in the embroidered shoes must be as cute as Siyin herself.

Somehow Liu Yuan felt this whole situation was a bit funny.

Edgy, Gu Siyin looked at Ning Xiangrong while trying to hold her head high to show more confidence, “Sister Ning, I want to talk to you about Brother Junxuan, but I don’t want him to know about this conversation between us.”

But apparently, this was no going to happen, because her Brother Junxuan was right under the table as they spoke.

Ning Xiangrong pulled up an awkward smile. But she couldn’t just ask Liu Yuan to come out now. It was probably better to keep things this way for the time being.

She replied softly, “If you want to talk about our relationship, then you don’t have to say anything… I’ve been looking for him for so long. Tomorrow, I will bring him to Water Moon Dock to see my father.”

Besides, if the girl didn’t come tonight, he would have been her man by now.

Ning Xiangrong felt a bit resentful of Gu Siyin’s presence.

Gu Siyin was again disheartened, even though she had already braced herself for it. She lowered her head as her face puckered and her eyes were filled with sparkling tears. She said in a muffled voice, “I… I know. I’m not here to pick up a fight. I just want to know what Brother Junxuan was like in the past…”

Seeing the girl’s pitiful look, Ning Xiangrong could actually empathize with her. She didn’t know, either, if this man had had any affairs with other women in the past three years.

The more Ning Xiangrong thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, so she secretly kicked Liu Yuan under the table.

Then she caressed the girl’s head and softly comforted her, “I don’t really know. Back then…”

The two women began to chat.

Liu Yuan held Ning Xiangrong’s foot while listening to their talk, and, as the person being talked about, he had an awkward look on his face.

Ning Xiangrong continued, “Back then, he just appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t know who he was or how he managed to come near my bathing pool despite all the patrolling guards inside Water Moon Dock…”

Gu Siyin blinked her eyes, “Bathing pool?”

Ning Xiangrong blushed and nodded. It was the first time that she had ever talked about this to someone. “He stole my clothes and smiled shamelessly at me while I was taking a bath. Of course I was furious, but, without my clothes, I couldn’t go up and argue with him properly. I could only yell at him to go away.”

She emphasized the word “shamelessly”.

Gu Siyin was stunned. She pictured the scene and blushed as well. “Why… why would Brother Junxuan do such a thing?”

Ning Xiangrong thought that she was jealous and explained, “It’s not what you think. He only stole my clothes and hid them. And then he chatted with me about many interesting stories. At first I was very angry. But he came to visit me every day, and later, I was attracted to him… He was honestly the biggest weirdo I’ve ever met in my life. He was nothing like the people in Water Moon Dock, who lived their lives like the walking dead. It’s like he came from another universe, full of queer and funny ideas, and for the first time I realized that my life before I met him was so boring.”

Ning Xiangrong squinted as she recalled. It was more like she was talking to herself.

“I’m not exactly sure when it started, but I was looking forward to seeing him, to listening to his stories outside Water Moon Dock. I wanted to hear from him that there was so much more to life than fighting against each other and pursuing profits and success, that, one day, I could break free from this tiny cage of the mortal world.”

But then the sparks in Ning Xiangrong gradually dimmed, “Until one day, he stopped coming. I felt so empty and lonely. I left Water Moon Dock to find him. I also wanted to see for myself the bigger world he wanted me to see.”

She raised her head and smiled, “And it did not disappoint me. In the past three years, I’ve been to the central, western and northern parts of the Middle Continent, and I’ve seen so many people and things, but I’ve never been able to get over Liu Junxuan.”

Gu Siyin listened attentively as she learned to see Liu Yuan in a new light. She asked curiously, “Sister Ning, so you had never been outside Water Moon Dock before?”

“Never. At that time, I only wanted to focus on my cultivation.” Ning Xiangrong smiled, “What about you? Have you ever been outside Pool Feather Mountain Manor?”

Gu Siyin puffed her cheeks and said with envy, “No. I want to go out, but my father always says that I’m not mature enough, my martial cultivation is not strong enough and that I’d be easily deceived.”

Ning Xiangrong laughed, “And you’ve been deceived by someone indeed even though you stay in the manor, haven’t you?”

After the long conversation, she finally remembered that her foot was still in the hands of the man under the table.

Ning Xiangrong blushed and struggled to get free of his grip.

Gu Siyin’s cheeks turned red as well, “Don’t make fun of me! Brother Junxuan did not deceive me. I like him. He’s very sensitive and taking good care of me. He’s always patient, generous and reliable. He is a real gentleman.”

“So I really can’t imagine him stealing your clothes while you were taking a bath.” The girl frowned in confusion and continued in distress, “I guess three years can really change a person…”

Ning Xiangrong thought of the change in Liu Yuan’s cultivation and sighed, “I didn’t ask him, but I’m sure he must have suffered a lot in these three years… Ouch!”

The smile on Ning Xiangrong’s face suddenly froze.

Then she sprang to her feet and took two steps back, looking at her feet.

Gu Siyin followed her line of sight and saw that there was a red bite mark on her white, bare foot.

“Oh my god! Is there a snake in the room?!”

Gu Siyin panicked and cried out in alarm. She quickly pulled off the table cloth.