Although the courtyards provided by the Chancellor's Manor for retained elders were hardly grand mansions, they were at least the size of a standard siheyuan compound. Even so, an area this size was practically negligible compared to a Grandmaster's range of perception.
In other words, from the moment Ran Qingmo arrived at the courtyard gate, every movement in the entire compound fell within her passive perception, even without actively channeling her cultivation. If Xu Yuan were to leap out the window and slip away now, he would be caught red-handed without fail.
The only feasible option was likely to have Bai Muxi speak up, claim that tonight was inconvenient, and ask Ran Qingmo to leave.
The problem was that while he had casually shut the door to the guest quarters, the courtyard gate remained open. There were his footprints in the snow outside—and they only led in, never out!
While throwing on his clothes, Xu Yuan swept his spiritual vision across the exterior.
As expected, Ran Qingmo's dark, pitch-black eyes were drifting over the footprints on the ground, which were on the verge of being buried by falling snow.
They were broad footprints, clearly belonging to a man.
While the Big Ice Block was a bit airheaded, she was by no means stupid.
She might not overthink beforehand, but if Bai Muxi were to turn her away, she would surely mull it over afterward and sense that something was off.
After all, in the entire Chancellor's Manor, what man would come looking for Bai Muxi under cover of night?
Even as he pondered, Ran Qingmo at the courtyard gate had already begun taking slow, deliberate steps toward the guest quarters.
Crunch... Crunch...
In the silent night, her footsteps fell lightly upon the snow.
Ran Qingmo's voice carried a hint of confusion:
"I have something I want to ask Mister Bai, but Xu Yuan, why are you here?"
"Delivering something. That wretched girl Xinyao refused to run errands for me, so I had to come in person."
His prepared excuse tumbled out of his mouth. Seeing Ran Qingmo already step into the courtyard, Xu Yuan's pupils constricted once more.
With a swift glance at the intricate brocade robe he had just put on, he stripped it off decisively and tossed it into his Sumeru ring alongside the dark-patterned boots beside the bed.
This brocade garment was an inscribed Dharma robe with an exceedingly complex structure; even if he threw it on, it would look loose and sloppy without spending time adjusting it. It was far better to slip into a loose scholar's robe paired with a set of wooden clogs, giving off a relaxed, domestic feel. Besides, the Big Ice Block was long accustomed to his casual, rakish attire anyway.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan hesitated no further.
Ran Qingmo's delicate steps were measured, but she was only seven or eight breaths away from reaching the door.
It was already a race against time!
"..."
While Xu Yuan pushed his cultivation technique to its absolute limits just to get dressed, Bai Muxi still lay quietly upon the bed. One hand rested on her forehead, fragrant sweat dampening her hair, her face flushed red, while her soft chest and flat stomach rose and fell with her slightly hurried gasps.
She was even in the mood to casually draw up one slender, pale jade leg as though unintentionally.
In any case, this had nothing to do with her. She had merely pleased the Young Master as he wished. As long as she didn't fan the flames and simply lay there quietly doing nothing, she was already winning.
If that airhead got angry and threw a tantrum at the Young Master over this, she could seize the opportunity to step in. Unfortunately, given what she knew of that airhead's personality, even if caught red-handed, the other girl probably wouldn't beat her up...
Midway through her thoughts, Bai Muxi suddenly sensed Xu Yuan's dark, brooding gaze fixed upon her.
Motherfucker.
The moment their eyes met earlier, Xu Yuan had realized this Biluochun was planning to play dumb, slack off, and showcase her green tea act, but he hadn't expected her to actually dare put it into practice.
Crunch... Crunch...
The footsteps on the snow drew closer.
Without a second thought, Xu Yuan retrieved a proper, plain white robe from his Sumeru ring, threw it squarely onto Xiao Bai's face as she continued playing dead on the bed, and sent a crisp, curt voice transmission:
"Stop playing dead. Put some clothes on, and conjure a wind spell to air out the room."
"..." Bai Muxi.
After a moment of silence, Bai Muxi sat up from the soft bed with obvious reluctance, holding the plain robe. Broad expanses of fair skin lay exposed as she slowly, deliberately began straightening her disheveled dudou and undergarments.
"..." Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched.
Just as Xu Yuan was about to send another transmission, Bai Muxi's movements suddenly accelerated. In barely the blink of an eye, she was neatly dressed in the plain robe he had tossed her, flitting about the room to tidy away all traces of disarray.
Bai Muxi knew very well when to do what.
If the Young Master didn't address her, she could lie by the side waiting for Ran Qingmo to walk in; but once he commanded her, continuing to play dead might stir up friction between Ran Qingmo and the Young Master, but it would backfire on herself as well.
For a moment,
Outside the door, snow crunched beneath light footsteps; inside the room, two people rustled in a frantic flurry to clean up.
In the end,
As a gust of pure breeze swept away the room's faintly scandalous scent, everything was in order.
Under the bright lamplight,
Xu Yuan sat draped in a loose scholar's robe, sipping tea with an air of nonchalance, while across from him, Bai Muxi knelt respectfully, pouring tea for him. The water in the kettle bubbled and boiled, and the entire scene was the very picture of peace and serenity.
Producing the tea table and teaware from a Sumeru ring had been Bai Muxi's suggestion.
To make things look more natural.
After all, if he came over in the dead of night, he had to be doing something.
And the boiling water and flame that instantly materialized had naturally been conjured by Xiao Bai using Dao Charm.
A Five Elements Dao domain was truly convenient.
If he had encountered Bai Muxi when he first transmigrated, he would at least never have had to worry about freezing to death.
While his mind wandered through these rambling thoughts, Xu Yuan suddenly noticed that Bai Muxi's delicate, lovely face across from him was still excessively flushed, and there were even lingering damp stains on the bed that hadn't been cleared away.
Dammit, they forgot to change the bedsheets!
His heart gave a violent jolt. Just as Xu Yuan moved to rise,
he heard:
*Screeech—*
The door was pushed open from outside. A young girl clad in ink-black appeared in the doorway. Her puzzled gaze swept across the room, only to find the two of them seated opposite each other before a tea set.
Forcing his slightly trembling hand holding the teacup to steady itself, Xu Yuan turned his head with a calm gaze.
He didn't even know why he was so nervous; he had never felt this nervous back when he was caught red-handed by someone's fiancé.
After their eyes met for a moment, Xu Yuan set down his teacup, pushed up from his knees to rise from the futon, and asked with a smile:
"Ran Qingmo, what brings you here looking for Muxi?"
Ran Qingmo stepped forward slowly. She stared for several breaths at Bai Muxi, who sat with lowered eyelashes and slightly tousled hair, and murmured softly:
"I want to discuss the Dao with Mister Bai."
"Discuss the Dao?"
Xu Yuan spoke up, forcibly drawing Ran Qingmo's gaze back to himself:
"Discuss what Dao?"
As he spoke, Xu Yuan guided the Big Ice Block toward a square table in the corner of the room.
The tea table was small, made for two. While three people could crowd around it, it would be cramped, so Xu Yuan's action seemed entirely natural.
Ran Qingmo followed beside Xu Yuan and replied candidly:
"Mister Bai cultivates the Five Elements Dao Charm, whereas my profound ice Dao Charm can be considered an offshoot of the Five Elements Dao Charm. There are many aspects that share common ground."
Seeing that the Big Ice Block's attention was completely captivated by him, Xu Yuan continued along her train of thought:
"That makes sense. Both of you have reached the peak of Grandmaster and are on the verge of Dao fusion, so it's in—"
Midway through his sentence, Xu Yuan's scalp tingled with numbness.
The gift box that Lou Ji had half-unwrapped earlier that day was currently resting quietly upon that very square table. Earlier, they had only been in the flirting phase; they had merely broken the seal and hadn't used the little gadget yet.
Seeing it again now, Xu Yuan's words faltered for a second:
"...indeed quite beneficial to exchange experiences with each other."
Time had simply been too short.
There hadn't been enough time to clean up all the incriminating evidence.
On second thought, however, Xu Yuan suddenly calmed down.
Even Bai Muxi hadn't recognized it earlier today; there was no reason the Big Ice Block would have any idea what it was.
Ran Qingmo cast Xu Yuan a slightly puzzled glance, followed his gaze, and stared at the short-handled whisk for a moment. Her clear, dark eyes flickered, her voice tinged with surprise:
"Huh? Xu Yuan, how do you have one of these too?"
"..."
His brain crashed for an instant. Xu Yuan tested the waters and asked:
"You know what this is?"
Ran Qingmo answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world:
"It's a whisk soft sword, isn't it?"
A whisk soft sword?
What whisk soft sword?
Xu Yuan maintained a calm expression and asked with a light chuckle:
"You've seen one of these before?"
Ran Qingmo nodded without hesitation and replied:
"Mm, I saw something similar in Master's wife's room back then."
"Pfft—"
Xu Yuan couldn't hold it in.
Those two old geezers! They indulged in such kinky play themselves, yet raised their own disciple to be so conservative!
Ran Qingmo blinked in confusion, glancing back at him:
"...What's wrong?"
"No—nothing. It's just surprising to hear that even the Sword Sect has such a rarity."
In all honesty, such items were indeed quite rare in a feudal dynasty like Great Yan. The common folk held conservative values, and ever since dual cultivation methods were branded as heretical arts, cultivators' sensibilities had grown increasingly conservative as well, delivering a heavy blow to many related trades.
"Is it rare? The array patterns inside this whisk are just the most ordinary Spirit Conversion Array..."
Ran Qingmo felt puzzled. She reached out a fair hand toward the animal-tail plug, but hesitated for a moment before turning to Bai Muxi:
"Mister Bai, may I borrow your whisk soft sword for a moment?"
"You may..." Bai Muxi kept her head down.
"Thank you."
Ran Qingmo picked up the short-handled beast tail from the table and turned her eyes to Xu Yuan:
"Xu Yuan, I used one to practice swordplay when I was little."
"..." The black lines on Xu Yuan's forehead were practically visible to the naked eye.
Practicing swordplay with that thing?
What on earth were those two old fossils in the Sword Sect doing?!
He wanted to stop her, but felt that reacting that strongly would be too conspicuous. He could only watch helplessly as the pure-white Big Ice Block held the little toy in her hand.
Holding the "short-handled whisk," Ran Qingmo's placid face showed a hint of disappointment:
"Though for some reason, after Master's wife found out, she never let me use it again..."
The very next instant, accompanied by a faint pulse of Source Qi, the strange-looking short handle abruptly began to buzz and vibrate—*bzzz bzzz bzzz*—while the fluffy beast tail behind it swayed gently in the air...
Ran Qingmo clutched the buzzing, vibrating handle in her small hand, held it up toward Xu Yuan, and said clearly:
"Xu Yuan, yours looks just like the one Master's wife had."
As she spoke, the Source Qi Ran Qingmo channeled shifted slightly. The fur at the tip of the "short-handled whisk" instantly stiffened straight into a sword (or rod). Holding it in her hand, she twirled it into a sword blossom, a faint arc of sword light trailing behind it.
"..." Xu Yuan.
Huh?
It can actually be used as a sword?!
Xu Yuan suddenly wasn't so sure anymore whether this contraption was actually a whisk soft sword or an animal-tail plug.
Seeing Xu Yuan's face full of question marks, Ran Qingmo explained softly:
"When using this whisk soft sword, you have to control the dispersal and precision of your Source Qi; otherwise, the tail end remains limp and floppy. Furthermore, this sword is extremely blunt. If your swordsmanship isn't proficient enough, the fur will obstruct the sword light from trailing out. It's great training."
With that, her clear eyes glanced at Xu Yuan's palm, and she offered it forward:
"Xu Yuan, you seem to practice swordsmanship too. Do you want to try?"
"..."
Xu Yuan took the "whisk soft sword" from Ran Qingmo's hand and tossed it straight into his Sumeru ring:
"...No need for now."
With a sweep of his hand, Xu Yuan swept the animal-ear hairpiece along with the gift box into his Sumeru ring as well.
Seeing this, Ran Qingmo stared wistfully at Xu Yuan's Sumeru ring for a moment and asked in a low voice:
"Xu Yuan... can you tell me where you bought this whisk soft sword?"
"Why, you want one too?"
"Mm. I asked Master's wife, but she refused to tell me."
It would be a miracle if she told you!
Silently roasting this airhead in his heart, Xu Yuan smiled and said:
"Don't worry about buying one. If you want one, I'll just gift you one in the future."
"Gift me..."
"Although it's rare, it's not actually that expensive."
"..."
Ran Qingmo parted her lips to say something, but Xu Yuan cut her off with a wave of his hand and gestured to Bai Muxi:
"Muxi, come over. You heard what Ran Qingmo said just now, right?"
Bai Muxi rose unhurriedly. The proper white robe hugged her slender curves, but as she walked, her bare feet, clad in white silk damask stockings, still swayed gracefully.
She wasn't wearing shoes.
Still, this was her own room, so it didn't seem out of place.
Stepping across the cold floor to stand before Ran Qingmo, she had already channeled her technique to restore her flushed face to its usual fair complexion. She offered a serene smile:
"Sister Qingmo, you can just call me Muxi. As for discussing the Dao, I have encountered a few bottlenecks of my own, so I will certainly share everything I know."
"Thank you." Ran Qingmo nodded.
"..."
Seeing that the crisis of being caught red-handed was thoroughly defused, Xu Yuan patted both women on the back and said with a smile:
"All right, none of us are strangers here, so let's dispense with the formalities. Have a seat and talk."
With that, Xu Yuan took Ran Qingmo by the hand and led her to the side of the square table facing away from the bed to sit down, while he and Bai Muxi took the remaining sides, sitting opposite each other.
Xu Yuan lightly tapped the tabletop and was the first to speak, bringing them back to business:
"If I recall correctly, Ran Qingmo walks the path of Dao transformation, whereas Muxi walks the path of Dao fusion. Wouldn't there be a conflict between the two?"
"There are slight differences, but they lead to the same destination by different paths."
Ran Qingmo offered a brief explanation and got straight to the point. Raising a slender jade hand, accompanied by a ripple of Dao Charm, a layer of ice crystals that seemed capable of freezing time and space instantly coated the surface of her skin as she began to describe the bottleneck she had encountered:
"The method of Dao transformation I practice is the Sword Sect's Ultimate Origin Preserving Unity, which continually tempers the physical body using Dao Charm. Just like now, I can already transform parts of my body into Dao Charm profound ice. However, unlike water and fire among the Five Elements, ice crystals ultimately possess a solid form and cannot achieve complete mimicry. Without being able to progress further, breaking through the bottleneck of Dao transformation remains indefinitely out of reach. Muxi, do you have any good suggestions?"
Seated upright in her chair with her slender waist and back held straight, Bai Muxi pondered briefly and flicked her delicate fingers.
A piece of profound ice condensed from Dao Charm instantly materialized before the three of them.
In a flash, the temperature inside the room plummeted once more.
Having done this, Bai Muxi said softly:
"Yin Water and Yang Fire condense into wind, and wind swirls Yin Water to form ice—such is the art of ice manipulation within the Five Elements Dao Charm. Sister Qingmo, the profound ice Dao Charm you cultivate seems to be condensed directly from the Taiyin Qi of the Dao of Yin and Yang..."
As she reached this point, Bai Muxi paused slightly.
Just as he wondered why, Xu Yuan's gaze suddenly froze, and he inconspicuously cast a downward glance.
Beneath the heavy square table, a long, slender jade leg stretched across. A translucent bare foot, wrapped in intricate white silk patterns, reached onto his thigh, its toes lightly stroking the inside of his leg and creeping steadily upward.
His eyelid twitched.
Xu Yuan inconspicuously reached down, caught the tender foot, and shoved it aside, glaring with a warning look at the Biluochun across from him who dared play with fire.
Yet in the very next breath,
Bai Muxi's jade foot crept right back over. Her expression remained as aloof and composed as ever as she whispered her suggestion to Ran Qingmo:
"Sister Qingmo... why not try deconstructing Taiyin Qi in reverse to differentiate your profound ice Dao Charm?"
Chapter 564