Chapter 221: So I’m the Protagonist After All (17)
Although she didn’t take Su Mingxiu’s hand by the sea, she didn’t refute her words and tacitly agreed to her arrangement of returning to the Qiangshan Sect.
And Sui Yihuan seemed… to have recognized Su Mingxiu’s feelings for her and no longer resisted her approach.
Like now—
They bypassed the righteous sects’ blockade and successfully arrived at the territory of the Thirteen Schools, settling in a fishing village by the sea.
The situation here was not good. Because of the destruction of the Thirteen Schools, these fishing boats lost the protection of cultivators when they went out to sea, and suffered heavy losses against the sea monsters.
Also, because the barrier sealing the demons was damaged, many demons mingled with the crowd during the day and began to harm the villagers at night.
Now the righteous sects had also received the news. It was said that they were organizing a Righteous Alliance. Although the alliance matters were still under discussion, the Buddhist Sect had already sent a celestial master and disciples here.
For a time, the territory of the Thirteen Schools was quite lively, with various forces mixed together, and it was the most chaotic place in the nine continents.
“Please forgive us, two immortal masters, but there’s only one room left on our boat.” They finally found lodging in this fishing village, but this was what they heard.
If Su Mingxiu wasn’t sure that the Heavenly Dao was very unhappy with her right now, she would have thought that it had finally seen the light and arranged the script for her and Sui Yihuan.
However, the person under the black cloak beside her softly said, “It’s fine, one room is enough.”
Such initiative.
Su Mingxiu followed her upstairs thoughtfully. After entering the room, amidst the slight dizziness caused by the wooden house swaying with the waves, she saw Sui Yihuan take off her cloak. A golden hairpin with a pearl in the center of her hair shone brightly, much brighter than the oil lamp on the table, but very soft, not dazzling at all.
This was the head ornament she had made from the clam demon’s pearl a few days ago. Although Sui Yihuan was surprised at the time, she didn’t refuse her gift.
And after Su Mingxiu used the black jiao’s bones as sword-making materials, she went to the black market and bought many matching materials for her, spending at least a million high-grade spirit stones.
…They were like young lovers in the early stages of their relationship, happily accepting each other’s gifts, and then giving back what the other person needed.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Su Mingxiu’s face. She touched the roof of her mouth with her tongue and turned her gaze to the dark bed in the wooden house.
Perhaps because it was near the sea, even though there were formations carved on the house to control humidity and temperature, the dark bed in the corner still looked damp, very suitable for harboring those hidden desires.
Noticing her gaze, Sui Yihuan also looked over, her expression blank for a moment. Before she could react, a warm and husky voice fell into her ear:
“Or, should I ask the other guests if they can spare another room?”
Although that was what she said, her voice got closer and closer to her ear, clearly entering her ear, accompanied by a heat that seemed to ignite her blood.
Sui Yihuan’s entire ear was like a shellfish on a charcoal fire, burning red, and even her body under the cloak was trembling slightly.
But she resisted the urge to dodge, not realizing how tempting she was. Her voice trembled as she said, “N-no need.”
“I… want to share a room with you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt as if her ear had been captured by the other person, and the breath entering her ear became even hotter.
But in fact, Su Mingxiu didn’t touch her skin at all, just bit the… snowflake earring hanging from her earlobe.
The owner of the earring under her teeth didn’t seem to know the consequences of saying such things, always using that innocent face, speaking such honest words, which directly hit one’s heart.
If Su Mingxiu hadn’t been thinking about what happened on the cliff by the sea that day, she would have found countless opportunities to devour her, body and soul.
It was the same now.
Her eyes were deeper than the sea after sunset. Hearing Sui Yihuan’s answer, she chuckled softly, but naturally changed the subject, “The seafood in this small village has to be bought. What do you want to eat for dinner? I won’t let them do it for us.”
Because Su Mingxiu was powerful and understood the habits of the righteous sects very well, she could always take her away before the righteous people came looking for them using the Hundred Flower Sect’s soul lamp as guidance.
After leaving the secret realm, Sui Yihuan’s escape route was quite leisurely. She even had the chance to taste the other person’s cooking, vaguely realizing who had made the spiritual beast meat buns in the food box when she first arrived at the Hundred Flower Sect.
“Anything is fine.”
“Then let’s try the green rice balls you wanted to eat. I happened to buy some mugwort leaves earlier. Let me tell you first, if they don’t taste good, don’t dislike them.”
Su Mingxiu responded quickly. Before leaving the room, she checked the formation, specifically using spirit stones to set up the formation and added a defensive one. If anyone intruded, she would be able to sense it clearly.
Before the last stroke of the formation was completed, Su Mingxiu hesitated for a moment, but didn’t change anything in the end. She gave Sui Yihuan a smile before leaving.
But after she left—
The person who had been blushing and nervously anticipating like a new bride suddenly changed her expression, becoming completely indifferent. Her originally pure appearance, because of her red eyes, turned cold and glamorous, even revealing a sense of abstinence.
She calmly cut her palm and saw her blood consciously gather on the ground, becoming a bright red line, crawling towards the window of the small house. Her voice followed,
“Tonight’s operation will proceed as usual.”
But while speaking, because she didn’t like to look at these disgusting things, she closed her eyes in disgust, a slight ripple appearing between her eyebrows.
In her previous life, Su Mingxiu didn’t know what Sui Yihuan liked to eat or what her preferences were. But now she had a guess. However, on the way to choose seafood, she found a merman among the vendors.
But the fishermen couldn’t tell. They just thought he was a cultivator from somewhere. After all, there were few mortals who were so delicate and beautiful. The seafood he sold was also special, a few conch shells of various shapes, and a wooden box.
When she saw this wooden box, Su Mingxiu suddenly remembered what had happened in her previous life. At that time, after she returned from Zhenhai Tower, she didn’t have much time to recover from her injuries. Xiao Xingwei apologized for the incident in the secret realm and brought her to the Sword Sect. Later, she was sent by the Sword Sect to the Thirteen Schools, becoming a member of the front line against the demons.
Xiao Xingwei saw that she had been looking unwell and depressed, thinking of what happened in the secret realm, and wanted to use some rare trinkets to cheer her up. This wooden box was one of the things he gave her at that time.
“This is a mermaid pearl, a tear of the merfolk, and also their inner core. Although merfolk are cruel by nature and like to capture people from the shore to the sea, either to eat or to continue their lineage, once they fall in love, they will only recognize one person for their entire life.
If their loved one dies, the merfolk will leave a tear for them, and then go ashore at the place where they met, giving this mermaid tear only to lovers.”
“Unfortunately—”
Xiao Xingwei seemed to want to please her, but was afraid she wouldn’t like it, so he simply told the truth, “I wanted to buy it before, but the merfolk refused to sell it. It just so happened that the demons attacked this place, and he didn’t want to return to the sea, so he threw this wooden box away and fought desperately with the demons. I just fished it out of the water. But I couldn’t open it no matter what. If you’re interested, I’ll give it to you.”
Su Mingxiu certainly didn’t want it, but at that time, she stared at the box for a while, inexplicably feeling that she would need it in the future. So she bought the wooden box at the price Xiao Xingwei had previously offered to the merman, but she couldn’t open it either.
Later, the demon attacks became more and more fierce, and many elders of the righteous sects died. Even those of their new generation were forced to go to the most dangerous places to hone their skills, so she gradually forgot about this box. When she remembered it, the box was nowhere to be found, and she didn’t know where it had gone.
In the previous life, Su Mingxiu’s love threads were repeatedly cut, so she naturally didn’t have much interest in this kind of thing. But it was different now.
Thinking of the person waiting for her back in the room, she stepped on the wooden planks above the water surface, making creaking sounds, and walked to the merman.
“Are you… selling this wooden box?”
Previously, her cultivation was not high enough, so the wooden box just looked like a wooden box. Now, looking at it again, she could see that the outer layer was just a sealing spell, meant to hide the thing inside. That’s why it looked so ordinary.
The merman leaned against the fence by the sea, looking lazy. Only his face emitted a faint light in the dim light, like a pearl. He glanced at Su Mingxiu, and after a while, he barely sat up straight.
Then he moved his hand and placed the wooden box among the conch shells, “One hundred high-grade spirit stones for a conch shell. If you buy all the conch shells here, I’ll give you this wooden box.”
Su Mingxiu: “?”
Listening to this profiteer’s price, she couldn’t see anything about this merman that resembled someone who had lost their love. After all, someone who was about to die wouldn’t think about making such money before they died.
This stall was completely like Jiang Taigong fishing, using a straight hook to fool fools.
Then the fool Su Mingxiu took out her interspatial bag and bought all these conch shells with beautiful shapes and patterns. She also threw the wooden box into her interspatial bag, preparing to take it back to show Sui Yihuan something new.
Before leaving, she thought for a moment and reminded him, “It looks like it’s going to rain. You should go home early after you’ve sold your things.”
The merman stared at her back with faint eyes for a long time. After she had gone far away, he said softly, “This is my home.”
After buying ordinary fillings like oysters, fresh shrimp, and fish, Su Mingxiu also saw the most important ingredient for seafood-flavored green rice balls, the meat of a certain sea beast. She realized that the taste of local specialties really depended on the unique local ingredients.
She borrowed the kitchen of the inn and seriously studied how to make this kind of green rice ball. After filtering the mugwort juice, she neatly prepared the ingredients on the cutting board.
People were coming in and out of the kitchen, sweating profusely, their skin tanned dark by the sun. Even though she had used a disguise spell, her skin was still exceptionally white, attracting the attention of passersby.
Some of the women who ran the household curiously asked her if she had a Dao companion, which was why she was making such an effort.
Everyone in the nine continents knew that cultivators didn’t need to eat mortal food. For someone as fair as her to come to such a humble place, it must be because of love.
Su Mingxiu just smiled and replied, yes.
The steam from the steamer was carried into the swaying, narrow room of the boat cabin an hour later, filling the entire room with its aroma.
By then, the sky had completely darkened. The clouds stretched out in the sky, and the last vestiges of the sunset had disappeared. A few stars could be seen outside the window.
Sui Yihuan saw the food she brought in and was stunned for a moment when she smelled the aroma. But she didn’t take it. Instead, she took the initiative to hug Su Mingxiu’s waist, and then—
Kissed her lips.
The person who was kissed so directly and intimately was stunned for a moment, resisting the urge to pluck the rose petals delivered to her lips, to peel off all her soft thorns, and crush the leaves. She took the initiative to pull away, “I was asking you to try the food I made, not inviting you to taste the chef.”
Sui Yihuan’s cheeks flushed red at her teasing, but she resisted the urge to dodge and said with difficulty, “I… I can’t suppress… the love poison is acting up again… can, can you help me?”
This kind of invitation was too difficult for her to say, as if she would faint from shame after saying it.
But thinking about what would happen later, she still spoke.
Su Mingxiu reluctantly placed the plate of green rice balls, which she had spent a long time studying, on the table. The previous batch had been given away because she had tasted them and found them to be a failure. So she really wanted Sui Yihuan to taste how far they were from the flavor in her memory.
But the person in her arms had a pinkish tinge to her skin, clearly showing signs of the poison acting up. No matter how important the food was, it couldn’t compare to her beloved. Su Mingxiu put the plate on the table and before hugging her, she smelled the sweet scent emanating from her, and asked with a sigh, “Are you sure you want my help?”
……
The person who politely asked would never be able to maintain this gentle facade at the crucial moment.
The pastry brought to her lips was too soft and delicate. With a light touch, the filling inside flowed out. While kissing deeply, Su Mingxiu realized how much Sui Yihuan was tormented by the love poison. Even with normal force, she left shocking marks on the pink and white peaches.
Even a slightly forceful kiss would exchange a faint metallic taste.
She didn’t want to leave such a rough impression on the other person, so she endured it again and again, not even wanting to continue. She just wanted to give the most appropriate comfort. But Sui Yihuan wanted to lead her into a darker abyss, “Can you… be a little harder?”
“You are too gentle, I don’t like it this way.”
Tears had already streamed down the corners of her eyes, like a mermaid about to condense into pearls, and kiss marks were left on her cheeks. But this pitiful person who was being bullied was actually asking for this.
Su Mingxiu, who heard this: “…”
She felt like she was going crazy.
The absurdity in the room reached its peak, and Su Mingxiu couldn’t tell whether it was the cabin swaying with the waves or if she was shaking the bed too violently.
She fell asleep contentedly, holding the person in her arms, only feeling that the starlight outside the window was too bright, making it hard to sleep.
Wait a minute.
Could the stars be so bright?
Su Mingxiu struggled hard, but because she had fallen too deep into the abyss, her consciousness couldn’t climb up. She finally opened her eyes, and a command filled with strong emotions flashed through her ears:
“Forget these past events, and never remember my face again.”
Who was it?
She finally opened her eyes and saw herself sitting on the seashore. The distant coastline was already ablaze, even the night was being burned.
Supporting her was… a long sword emitting a cold light, which felt very familiar and comfortable in her hand. There were still traces of blood on the blade, seeping into the already red-hot earth.
And around her were scattered corpses of demons.
Su Mingxiu’s eyelashes trembled, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood were reflected in her dark eyes. She saw a carefree figure walking towards her in the distance. The figure also saw the scorched earth she had created, was silent for a moment, and then said, “I didn’t expect that demon to be so capable of bewitching people. Daoist friend Su, you’ve worked hard.”
“If it weren’t for your sword tonight, we would probably still be unable to find the demon’s nest… My condolences for what happened at the Hundred Flower Sect. We have seen your determination.”
…What was he talking about?
Su Mingxiu thought in confusion, her nose twitching. But all that entered it was the dirty smell of blood and rust, not what she was looking for.
She stood up shakily. Even though her clothes were stained with blood, she looked extremely tired. But she was a Great Ascension cultivator after all, and no one dared to get close to her. It was this elder of the Sword Sect who came forward and asked, “Where are you going, Daoist friend?”
Su Mingxiu stared at him fixedly. There was still a trace of blood splattered on the corner of her eye, she didn’t know whose it was. It looked like rouge on her face, so bright and beautiful that even this elder, who was used to seeing the female cultivators of the Joyful Union Sect, had to look away.
“Elder Xuanling.”
After a moment, she finally recognized who the person in front of her was. Her expression softened a little, and she said, “I’m a little hungry, is there any food?”
“Of course.”
Cultivators with high cultivation levels always had some unusual preferences. Moreover, those high-quality spiritual fruits and the spiritual power possessed by spirit beasts were all excellent nourishment.
Although the righteous path had now come to the territory of the Thirteen Schools to fight against the demons, there was no shortage of good things to supply these powerful beings.
She followed him to the tent of the Sword Sect disciples, but before she got close, she saw people hurrying back and forth at the entrance, also carrying things in their hands. They were voluntarily helping these immortals.
The person passing by her happened to be carrying a plate of dark green pastries. Su Mingxiu looked at it for a while, and suddenly reached out and took one very impolitely. The other person was startled, and upon seeing her face, the words of protest were stuck in their throat.
The pastry she got was soft and cold. Su Mingxiu took a bite on her own and tasted the seafood filling inside, finding that it had become fishy because it was too cold.
So she listlessly held the rest, not knowing what to do with it—because it was really unappetizing.
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