Brother, how come you're a witch?

Su Yan was unaware that Ye Jingqiu was breathing on him from behind.

He came out of the alley where the shop was located and began to look for Liu Baishuang.

It was already late, but the market was still bustling. At this hour, there was not much secondhand trading, and each stall set up its pots and pans to sell snacks.

The practice of renting out a stall both during the day and at night is a unique feature of the Xuanqing Sect.

Su Yan's gaze swept across the rising smoke and quickly found the girl in front of a wonton stall.

The wontons here are sold individually. The little girl stands in front of the stall with a bowl in her hand, taps it with her chopsticks, and the stall owner uses a wooden spoon to scoop a wonton from the hot pot and put it into the bowl.

The little witch probably just thought it was fun, she just kept knocking without eating, and the wontons were already piled up in her bowl.

She was so focused on tapping the wontons that she didn't notice Su Yan until he walked up behind her. She turned around, winked at him, and didn't say anything, but simply handed one of the chopsticks she was using to tap the wontons to Su Yan.

Although she sneaked out tonight to cause trouble, she was also really bored from cultivating every day and wanted to play. Making wontons was quite fun, and she didn't want to leave.

Su Yan took the chopsticks, but instead of tapping them, he said in a low voice:

"The principle of concealing one's aura and changing one's appearance lies in using spiritual power to outline one's features and change the direction of bones and muscles. This is the foundation, and you should have already mastered it."

Liu Baishuang nodded, her gaze still fixed on the wontons bobbing up and down in the pot.

The moment the largest and plumpest wonton floated to the surface of the hot soup, she gently tapped the rim of the bowl with her chopsticks. With a soft "clang," the vendor skillfully scooped up the wonton and placed it in her bowl.

"Finally caught it."

Liu Baishuang's eyebrows curved into a smile.

"Actually, there are nuances to this basic approach. If you just make assumptions, the disguise will be unrealistic and look out of place. Others will immediately recognize it as a fake face. On the other hand, if you follow your real facial features too closely, the effect will be poor."

Su Yan continued, his voice low, just loud enough for Liu Baishuang to hear clearly:

"Ideally, you should imitate real faces, taking parts of faces with similar characteristics and piecing them together to create a completely new face. Of course, this requires you to observe each imitation subject very carefully, including their expressions, movements, and eyes, so that the piecing together will blend naturally."

As he spoke, he raised his chopsticks and tapped them on the rim of the bowl, his movements mirroring Liu Baishuang's earlier actions, even down to the way he raised his wrist and the brief pause.

A hint of surprise flashed in Liu Baishuang's eyes, which were visible through her veil, then she narrowed them as if to laugh: "You're imitating me."

"There are readily available teaching examples, so why not make use of them?"

Su Yan put the wonton into his mouth and mumbled:

"Once you're skilled at disassembling and sewing faces, you can stack them up. Each face has several different parts taken from the same face, which can reduce the sense of incongruity when stacking them. It's also best to choose these places for the spiritual energy to connect."

He swallowed the wonton, held up his chopsticks, and pointed them at his face like a Western Desert monk holding a staff.

A faint spiritual energy brushed across his face.

Liu Baishuang stared intently, only to see Su Yan's face blur for a moment before quickly becoming clear again. At first glance, it was still him, but her lips and ears had changed, and he looked somewhat like... the old wonton stall owner.

The little demon girl was slightly taken aback, and before she could react, Su Yan's attitude changed again.

This time, his nose and eyebrows had changed, his skin had become more delicate, and his long eyelashes trembled slightly with his blinks.

Liu Baishuang opened her mouth wide:

"You're copying me again."

"Ready-made examples."

Su Yan shrugged, and the smile on his face, a face stitched together from a young girl and an old man, looked utterly incongruous.

"Watch closely, next I'm going to sew your chin and jawline together with that auntie selling candied hawthorns over there to create a second layer of your face, and then... eh!"

Liu Baishuang also raised her chopsticks like a staff and tapped them with her hand.

Su Yan immediately dodged, then used his chopsticks horizontally as a sword, exchanging a few blows with Liu Baishuang in the steamy heat.

"Senior Sister Liu, your swordsmanship is excellent."

"Ha, it's you! You're clearly just a Qi Refining stage cultivator, yet you can unleash the strength of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, and you even know how to use flying swords and disguise. Who exactly are you?"

"I didn't say it that night on Xiaozhu Peak, but I'll add it now—I was just an outer disciple passing by."

The two of them tapped their chopsticks like swords, making a clanging sound, while bantering with each other.

"An ordinary outer disciple wouldn't attract Ye Jingqiu."

Liu Baishuang suddenly exerted force with her wrist, and the chopsticks faintly carried a sharp sword intent.

Su Yan's forearm went slightly numb from the shock, and he couldn't help but feel helpless. Liu Baishuang and Ye Jingqiu were really like oil and water. They had been at odds with each other since they were young because of their sects, and they had fought each other a lot since they grew up.

Liu Baishuang gets angry whenever anything involves Ye Jingqiu.

"Senior sister, you know Ye Jingqiu has some mental issues. She insists that my sword energy is extremely mysterious."

Su Yan smiled wryly, "To save the world, I have no choice but to sacrifice Ye Jingqiu's reputation."

"Actually, when I was a child, I jumped off a cliff and fell into a cave. I accidentally found a sword manual and some spell manuals. I practiced them haphazardly for a while, but my skill level was actually quite average."

Liu Baishuang stared at Su Yan for a moment, then chuckled, dispelling her sword intent and tossing her chopsticks back into her bowl.

"These days, even those who hide their talents don't write such clichéd plots anymore; even traditional storybooks don't use them."

Su Yan took the opportunity to put away his stance, tapped the rim of his bowl with the chopsticks that had been slightly cracked from the little vixen's antics, and asked for another wonton, mumbling as he ate:

"The cliché explanation works, but if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."

Amidst the rising steam, the wontons tumbled and simmered in the pot.

Liu Baishuang was quiet for a while, then suddenly said in a low voice, "Never mind, as I said before, everyone has their own opportunities. I won't ask or say anything, but..."

She squinted and pointed a finger at Su Yan:

"Our sect and the Sword Sect are rivals. You are a disciple of my Xuanqing Sect. It's not proper for you to hang out with people from the Sword Ruins all day. I have high hopes for you, so don't ruin your future and be fooled by her into doing things that are harmful to the sect."

"Senior sister is right. I'll go and sever all ties with Ye Jingqiu later," Su Yan readily agreed.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Liu Baishuang's fingers twirled in circles:

"I just heard those sword cultivators call you group leader, and Ye Jingqiu is still in charge of the money inside. Did you open this shop based on a training group? Is Ye Jingqiu in your group?"

Su Yan's lips twitched. The thing he feared had happened. The little demon girl discovered that he and Ye Jingqiu were group members, which would confirm that he was a traitor to the sect.

Just as he was holding half a mouthful of wontons, unsure how to explain,

Liu Baishuang chuckled softly and lowered her fingers:

"Forget it."

She took out a few fragments of spirit stones from her purse, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Su Yan:

"Consider this wonton soup as my tuition fee. It's about time; I should head back."

"So fast?"

Su Yan wanted to persuade her to stay, but he felt that the little demoness wanted to sever ties with him and become irreconcilably opposed to the traitors within the sect.

That won't do! At least listen to my explanation. Give me another half a cup of tea's time and I'm sure I can make it up!

"Master will be back from the meeting soon."

Liu Baishuang winked at Su Yan, then walked past him with her hands behind her back, her eyes flashing mischievously.

"As for the fact that you and Ye Jingqiu are in the same group..."

"It's nothing."

"Why don't you just promote me from your outsourced employee to a team member?"

"With me watching over you, Ye Jingqiu won't be able to sway you into doing anything that harms the sect's interests."