Chapter 223: Hunting

Yun Shu covered her lips with a dainty laugh. “Me? Frighten? I’m harmless, Place Lord. Perhaps he just doesn’t like chatter.”

Her words were easy, her tone playful. But beneath the veil of her smile, her heart drummed steadily.

He suspected. She could feel it in the way his gaze lingered a moment too long, in the slight tightening of his jaw. He wasn’t convinced by her disguise. Not fully.

But he had no proof.

Because Yun Shu’s cultivation far exceeded his own, her spiritual sense was so vast and sharp that even his bond with the fox couldn’t pierce her veil. He could only sense the edges of something unusual, the hint of something deeper.

And that was not enough.

As they continued walking, silence stretched between them. Yun Shu kept up her chatter, but inside, she weighed her situation carefully. ’Ugh! My baby is so smart now. Too smart! If I slip even once, he’ll connect it all.’

Yun Shu was celebrating inside, even though it didn’t seem like that at all. ’For now… let him suspect. Suspicion is safer than certainty.’

Bai Yunxian, for his part, did not release the fox. The creature trailed behind them quietly, tails low, casting furtive glances at Yun Shu from time to time. Every time their eyes met, they quickly looked away, ears flattening again.

Yun Shu smirked inwardly. ’That’s right. Remember who holds the bigger stick, little guy.’

But Bai Yunxian noticed the fox’s behavior. And his suspicion deepened.

’If she were truly just a harmless person… this fox would never cower.’

Because he knew that none of the things given to him by Yun Shu was normal, so unless the person in front of him was someone special, this beast won’t act this way.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, the air between them was taut with unspoken tension. To the guards and other disciples, it seemed perfectly ordinary, Bai Yunxian who was cold as always, and the cheerful girl by his side. But beneath that surface lay a quiet war of perception, each of them watching, testing, guarding their truths.

Yun Shu sighed dramatically, throwing her arms out as if stretching. “Well, Palace Lord, what a day. You swallowed a dragon’s marrow, shook the heavens, terrified the crowd, and I ate three plates of pastries. Clearly, I was the true victor.”

Bai Yunxian’s lips curved faintly. But his eyes, when they met hers, were still searching. Still questioning.

“Perhaps,” he said softly. “But victory often hides teeth beneath laughter.”

Yun Shu blinked, her smile widening even more, though her pulse skipped. “My, what a poetic thing to say. You really should laugh more, Palace Lord. People might stop thinking you’re made of ice.”

They walked on.

Both are wearing masks. Both are unwilling to be the first to break.

But beneath it all, suspicion lingered like smoke after fire.

And Yun Shu knew: sooner or later, she would have to face the moment when his suspicion turned into certainty.

Well, not that she really cared. She was just keeping her disguise for the right moment, and also to tease him along the way!

***

The forest beyond the lake was a labyrinth of mist and shadow, filled with the cries of hidden beasts and the shimmer of rare herbs that glowed faintly under spiritual light. It was the kind of place cultivators dreamed of, the kind of place that could either catapult one’s cultivation forward or end it in blood.

Yet for Yun Shu and Bai Yunxian, it was like a playground.

They moved in perfect rhythm, though neither of them said so aloud.

When a Silver-horned Thunder Bull crashed through the trees, its hooves splitting the ground with arcs of lightning, Bai Yunxian stepped forward, his sword flashing like cold moonlight. Yun Shu stayed behind him at first, hands clasped casually as if merely watching. The system chimed cheerfully in her ear.

[Ding~ Host, careful! That thing’s hide is tougher than your skin care mask! Don’t get wrinkled, okay?]

Yun Shu rolled her eyes but smiled faintly. ’I wasn’t planning to fight fairly anyway.’

When Bai Yunxian’s sword cut across the bull’s flank, leaving only a shallow mark, Yun Shu flicked her fingers. A strand of her spiritual sense, invisible to everyone else, pierced the beast’s ear and sent it stumbling sideways, just enough for Bai Yunxian’s next strike to pierce its eye.

The bull bellowed, collapsing with a thud that shook the forest floor.

Bai Yunxian flicked the blood from his blade, his eyes narrowing briefly at Yun Shu. She only clapped her hands together like a delighted child.

“Palace Lord, you are so amazing! You looked so majestic, I nearly fainted! Ah, but don’t worry, I’ll stay conscious long enough to collect the horns.”

She scampered forward, pulling out a dagger and cutting at the shimmering silver horn with exaggerated effort. In truth, she could have snapped it off with a touch of spiritual force, but the disguise demanded clumsy theatrics.

Bai Yunxian said nothing, but his fox, perched on a nearby tree as it watched her with wide, wary eyes.

’Again,’ he thought, stroking his sword absently. ’Something nudged the beast at just the right time. This is just too coincidental.’

But he let it pass.

They continued to walk deeper into the forest.

A field of Crimson Moon Blossoms bloomed between twisted roots, their petals glowing faintly under the mist. Even novice alchemists knew such blossoms could refine into high-grade healing elixirs or deadly poison, depending on preparation.

Yun Shu crouched down, fingers brushing the petals with a scholar’s ease before she caught herself and quickly giggled instead.

“The flowers over there are so pretty! Should I make a hair ornament with them, Palace Lord?”

The system snorted.

[Ding~ Host, you sound like a kindergarten kid trying to trick her teacher. Tone down the fake voice, you’re too obvious!]

Yun Shu’s face twitched. ’Shut up, system.’

Bai Yunxian glanced at her. “Crimson Moon Blossoms. A hair ornament would kill anyone who smelled it too closely.”

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