Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 162 The Charming Maiden Technique is Not a Good Technique
The two women stood facing each other, listening to him with blank expressions.

Lu Xingzhou opened his mouth, but for a long time he didn't know what to say.

Meeting the sidelong glance from the little white-haired boy, it took him a long time to finally manage to utter, "Chu Yun... Chu Yun is one of us."

Dugu Qingli's gaze became incredulous, and she lowered her eyes with a touch of melancholy.

It's hard to believe that Lu Xingzhou would fall for the allure of the Hehuan demoness while fully conscious, mingling with his enemy and even having his acupoints sealed for it.

She had mistakenly thought he was being harmed and wanted to rescue him, only to find out that she had been deluding herself.

Pei Chuyun, however, wasn't buying it and said angrily, "Then why did you seal my acupoints too?"

Lu Xingzhou said cautiously, "You...you wanted to capture her before, and I'm afraid you'll try to harm her again. You provoked Qingli first. If I hadn't been there, Qingli would have been in danger of losing her cultivation. It's normal for her to be angry with you. Could you apologize to Qingli for my sake and let this matter go?"

Dugu Qingli: "..."

Pei Chuyun was furious: "Your condition for letting me go was that I not target her, and I already agreed. I never intended to target her at all. Now she's causing me trouble, and she wants me to apologize! In your heart, am I that much worse than her?"

Dugu Qingli paused for a moment, then pursed her lips.

The implication of these words is that Lu Xingzhou once captured this woman, then released her on the condition that she would never target him again.

His dejected mood suddenly improved. Little White Hair had a hard time figuring out what was going on with his fluctuating emotions. The stoic and unyielding heart that he always maintained in the outside world seemed to crumble instantly in front of him, and he didn't even recognize himself.

This is very detrimental to cultivation; how can one break through to the third rank in this state...?

Pei Chuyun was still angry: "Yes, I provoked her first, but I also suffered a great loss. Has the person who wronged me apologized?"

Lu Xingzhou silently wheeled himself to her side, released her acupoints, but still sealed her cultivation: "Scrape it off."

Dugu Qingli: "?"

Pei Chuyun was stunned for a moment, her anger completely gone, and she found it somewhat amusing: "Hey, you've been manipulating me for so long, and you've never let me pluck a single hair from your head. Now, for her sake, you're asking me to shave?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled apologetically: "It's good that you've calmed down. It was my fault after all..."

"Fine, fine, fine." Pei Chuyun didn't know whether she was angry or amused. She grabbed the back of the wheelchair and pulled it into the hole. As she passed the table, she also picked up a pair of scissors.

Dugu Qingli stared wide-eyed as she watched her wheelchair disappear behind her, scissors in hand.

After a moment, Lu Xingzhou let out a scream.

Pei Chuyun turned around with a smile, twirling a tuft of hair between her slender fingers.

Dugu Qingli stared blankly at her, not understanding what they were doing: "You shaved his hair?"

"Mmm." Pei Chuyun brought the hair close to Dugu Qingli's face, brushing it against her red lips like a brush: "Would the pure and innocent Tianyao Saintess vomit if she kissed a man's 'hair'?"

If it were any other man's hair brushing against her lips, Dugu Qingli would truly feel disgusted and want to vomit. But since it was Lu Xingzhou's, Pei Chuyun scrutinized him for a long time without seeing any expression on his face, seemingly quite accepting of it.

Pei Chuyun was initially having a good time scrolling, but the more she scrolled, the angrier she became: "Fine, I thought it was because I started it and I had to apologize. Turns out it's just a lover!"

Dugu Qingli said, "Lu Xingzhou has another mistress, surnamed Shen. And now it seems that you are either a mistress or a concubine."

Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth: "And you? What room are you in?"

"Since he's associating with you, I'm breaking off all ties with him."

Pei Chuyun was so angry she almost laughed. Just as she was about to say something, Lu Xingzhou rushed out, pulling up his pants, and grabbed her, saying, "I've already cut them for you, don't bully Qingli..."

"How could that be?" Pei Chuyun rolled her eyes, braided the hair in her hand into a small ring, and put it on Dugu Qingli's middle finger: "Sister, I'm sorry. I didn't know we were family back then... I see that you are very lonely. I'm giving you a nice ring so that when you use your middle finger to solve some things in the future, it will be as if someone is involved."

Dugu Qingli didn't understand at all: "What can you do with your middle finger? How do you use it? Show me."

Pei Chuyun: "..."

Seeing Pei Chuyun's face contorted with suppressed rage, Dugu Qingli was truly baffled... But it was strange that this vixen was actually willing to apologize... What did she mean by saying that we weren't family back then, and we're not family now either? Lu Xingzhou's lover is Shen Tang.

Lu Xingzhou was also quite flustered by their conversation, but dared not expose what those "hairy" things were, so he could only smile apologetically at Dugu Qingli: "Well, Chu Yun didn't mean any harm... She was wrong before, and she apologized, you see..."

Dugu Qingli said expressionlessly, "The debt of being ambushed can be discussed separately... but Lu Xingzhou, you know perfectly well that what angers me most is not being ambushed."

Pei Chuyun blinked her innocent eyes, then suddenly realized, "Oh... so that's how you were cured of the Love Aphrodisiac spell back then..."

Her gaze swept back and forth between Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli, and she sighed softly, "If you blame me for this, then there's no need to blame me. I've already made amends for myself. Can you forgive me?"

Dugu Qingli remained silent, offering no reply.

"Sister doesn't believe me?" Pei Chuyun turned around and snuggled into Lu Xingzhou's arms again, kissing him loudly. "Sister, did you see? I'm in a terrible state..."

Dugu Qingli subconsciously clenched her fists, her white hair misting over, faintly revealing a greenish sheen.

"No, why is my sister even angrier?" Pei Chuyun was on the verge of tears. "What will it take for my sister to forgive me? Should I try to be more sincere?"

As she spoke, she reached out to untie the belt that Lu Xingzhou had just tied.

"Slap!" Lu Xingzhou, unable to bear it any longer, pointed a finger at her, and the little demoness, who had been overjoyed, was unable to move.

Lu Xingzhou stood up and placed her in the wheelchair: "It seems I can't count on you."

Pei Chuyun looked up at the sky, almost whistling.

Dugu Qingli said, "Lu Xingzhou, when will you release my acupoints? I won't kill her." Lu Xingzhou quickly released them for her, and whispered, "I was afraid you'd be exorcising demons... Chu Yun isn't actually bad. She didn't know her background before, but now that the Pei family has taken her back, she's on the right path. We should give her a chance, give her a chance..."

Dugu Qingli completely ignored these words, raised her finger to look at the hair wrapped around her middle finger, and said with some surprise, "Your hair isn't curly."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

"Pfft..." Pei Chuyun finally burst out laughing.

Dugu Qingli didn't remove the fur, but simply said, "In my opinion, her becoming a young lady of the Pei family is a conspiracy by the Hehuan Sect of the Maidens, not a case of her turning over a new leaf."

Lu Xingzhou said, "There is indeed a conspiracy involved. I'm keeping an eye on this matter. Do you believe me?"

Dugu Qingli said expressionlessly, "You're just a lecher."

Lu Xingzhou shut his mouth.

Dugu Qingli was silent for a moment: "Since you vouched for her, I believe you and will not expose her for the time being. But Lu Xingzhou, throughout history, how many people have tried to seduce the Hehuan demoness? None of them have had a good ending. Aren't you afraid that your lifelong reputation will be ruined by a woman?"

Lu Xingzhou still didn't answer, but Pei Chuyun was actually answering for him in her heart: He's on guard.

She just wouldn't say that to Pei Chuyun's face.

Dugu Qingli's anger had actually subsided when he said that the condition for releasing the demoness was not to target her. Now, standing opposite each other, they were both silent, not knowing what to say next.

After a long silence, Lu Xingzhou finally asked in a low voice, "How have you been these past few days?"

"Not bad." Dugu Qingli said calmly, "I came to the capital because I found myself on the Rising Stars list, which means my master thinks I no longer need to hide. So naturally I should challenge my peers to hone my skills. As it stands, the title of the top rising star is just an empty name. I need to find another opponent."

After saying all that, the gist of it was: I'm not here to see you.

Lu Xingzhou could tell from this, and said in a low voice, "There are many powerful people in the capital. You can stay here for a while longer; you might gain something..."

"No need," Dugu Qingli said calmly. "I'm going to pay my respects to my master, and I'll leave tomorrow."

Lu Xingzhou blurted out, "Why the rush?"

Dugu Qingli's lips curled slightly, as if in sarcasm: "So, why are you keeping me here?"

Pei Chuyun, sitting in her wheelchair, watched the two of them with great interest and suddenly sensed Sheng Yuanyao's happiness.

This is quite amusing... It seems that the Holy Maiden Tianyao actually has some special feelings for him, and it's not just because she was tricked into intimacy by his seductive arts. Although these feelings aren't very strong yet, even this little bit is already quite astonishing.

Lu Xingzhou was responding: "Friends who have been separated for a long time, isn't it worth staying a few more days?"

Dugu Qingli glanced at Pei Chuyun in the wheelchair: "Are you sure you have time to deal with your friends?"

Pei Chuyun blinked and suddenly interjected, "If Saintess Dugu is worried that he'll become addicted to our love nest, shouldn't she take matters into her own hands and keep him by her side?"

Dugu Qingli was stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Pei Chuyun chuckled, "It seems that the Holy Maiden Tianyao isn't very wary of us demonic witches. She's not even willing to sacrifice a little bit of her time."

After deep thought, taking about ten breaths, Dugu Qingli came to her answer: "Are you encouraging me to steal your man?"

Pei Chuyun: "?"

I just wanted to see you act horny... I didn't realize for a moment that this was considered stealing a man, my mistake...

Dugu Qingli concluded: "It seems that the Charming Maiden Mystic Art is not a good technique either; it has ruined people's brains."

Pei Chuyun was furious: "Then you said you were leaving, why aren't you leaving yet? Do you think I, the Hehuan Demoness, am not afraid of staying overnight in other people's caves, and the Tianyao Saintess is not afraid either?"

Dugu Qingli was silent for a moment: "Whether I leave or not won't make much of a difference for now... but I know that if you don't leave soon, your brother will bring people to block the door, and you won't be able to stay overnight..."

Pei Chuyun let out a scream: "Lu Xingzhou, quickly release my pressure points, we can't be caught red-handed!"

Pei Chuyun stumbled out of the cave, and just as she left, Pei Yu arrived with his men. A calm greeting came from outside: "Brother, what brings you here..."

Pei Yu asked suspiciously, "What's wrong with you? Why weren't you home at night? Why were you at the Imperial Academy?"

"Oh, it's just that studying at the Imperial Academy after dinner creates a better atmosphere... Afterwards, I met Miss Dugu, we exchanged a few moves, and afterwards we discussed our sparring experiences..."

"That's all?"

"Of course, oh, I also ran into Lu Xingzhou earlier, exchanged a few words, and happened to witness my confrontation with Miss Dugu..."

"Keep that in mind for fooling ghosts!" Pei Yu jumped up and down. "Considering you've at least made a name for yourself this time, I'll cover for you for now. But next time you sneak off for a night run, watch out, Father will be serving you bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork!"

The sound gradually faded away, and one could almost picture Pei Chuyun looking like a pitiful kitten being dragged back by her brother by the ears.

Dugu Qingli crossed her arms and pouted, "This Charming Maiden Mystic Art is not as good as the Imperial Extreme World-Shaking Scripture."

Lu Xingzhou stepped forward: "Qingli..."

"Clang!" Even the ice sword was startled and drew its sheath: "Don't come any closer! We haven't been hit yet, so we can't kiss!"

Lu Xingzhou was completely bewildered. "I didn't say I wanted to kiss you. What are you thinking about with that little head covered by white hair?"

(End of this chapter)