“Xiaoyan, I have a question for you. You have to answer me sincerely—no lying,” Liu Yue looked at her with a serious, solemn face.
“What’s the question?” Chen Xiaoyan was a little baffled by Liu Yue’s sudden seriousness.
“Is this her idea, or yours?”
Chen Xiaoyan wasn’t stupid; she instantly understood, covering her mouth and letting out a stifled laugh.
“Haha, Xiaoyue, have you gotten the wrong idea?”
“Let me tell you, Qingxue never meant to let the Sword Pavilion’s Heavenly Fragrance players join the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion. That was all my idea.”
Liu Yue felt her face burning hot. Seeing Chen Xiaoyan’s reaction, she knew she’d just been overthinking, and tugged awkwardly at the corner of her mouth.
This is kind of embarrassing.
“Can you stop laughing?” Her tone carried a trace of grievance.
“Ahem.” Chen Xiaoyan faked a couple of coughs, immediately returning to normal.
“Xiaoyue, you and Qingxue are both my friends. Qingxue is a bit proud, but she’s not the type to play little tricks. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Liu Yue nodded slightly.
“I misunderstood earlier. Sorry.”
“It’s fine, don’t be so polite with me. Now, about that Heavenly Fragrance player—do you agree?”
Liu Yue hesitated.
If the Heavenly Fragrance players left, the Sword Pavilion would lose most of its healers. It would be tough to run instances and fight in guild wars.
Chen Xiaoyan seemed to know what she was worried about.
She immediately continued, “You don’t need to worry about the healing issue. The healers in Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion won’t only serve Snow Smoke Pavilion—they’ll help Sword Pavilion too.”
“Our two guilds are one, after all. Whether it’s instances or fights in the future, we’ll face them together.”
With that, all Liu Yue’s worries faded away.
Still, she smiled bitterly and said, “Xiaoyan, you know I don’t get along with Mu Qingxue, yet you’re still trying to put us together. Aren’t you afraid things will blow up one day?”
Chen Xiaoyan crossed her arms, her expression full of confidence.
“As long as we’re still friends, I won’t let that happen.”
“All right, I agree then.”
“Xiaoyue, that’s great! Thank you!” Chen Xiaoyan was overjoyed, and hugged her.
Liu Yue’s scent was different from Heavenly Fragrance—none of that peach blossom fragrance.
How to put it?
It smelled a bit like sandalwood.
“Xiaoyan, I should be the one thanking you. With Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, the Sword Pavilion won’t have to worry about having no healers in the future.” Liu Yue’s hands slowly slid around Chen Xiaoyan’s waist.
“Mm, let’s work hard together.”
After she finished, Chen Xiaoyan tried to get up, but those little hands around her waist clung tight, refusing to let go.
“Eh?” She was stunned, blankly staring at Liu Yue.
“Xiaoyue!”
“Mm?” Liu Yue’s face was expressionless, but her eyes were full of confusion as she looked at her.
“I want to get up.”
“Mm.”
She replied quickly, but her grip didn’t loosen one bit.
“Let go. Why are you hugging me like this?”
“Okay.”
Chen Xiaoyan nearly laughed in exasperation.
Okay my foot! You agreed so readily, but you’re still not letting go.
“Xiaoyan-jie?”
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from outside the door.
Chen Xiaoyan instantly panicked.
“Chongchong’s coming in! If you don’t let go now and she sees us like this, both of us will never hear the end of it!”
Liu Yue finally let go.
While Chen Xiaoyan let out a sigh of relief, she also felt a bit disappointed.
She quickly sat to the side, silently thinking what a pity.
Such a good opportunity—if only I hadn’t brought that girl with me earlier.
What a miscalculation.
“Xiaoyan-jie, are you done? If you’re done talking, let’s hurry up and run the instance.”
As for what they’d do after the instance—
No one knew, hehe.
“Okay, almost done,” Chen Xiaoyan replied, her tone obviously perfunctory.
Chongchong saw the two of them sitting on the wooden bed, feeling a little suspicious inside.
If the main door hadn’t just opened, dispelling her suspicions, she probably would have exploded on the spot.
“Xiaoyue, could you have all the Sword Pavilion’s Heavenly Fragrance players add me in-game? It’ll make allocation easier.”
“Okay.”
“Then we’ll go run the instance now, bye-bye.”
“Bye-bye.” Liu Yue’s face didn’t show a trace of emotion. She gave a slight wave, acting very cold.
Her reaction succeeded in dispelling Chongchong’s doubts.
The corner of Chen Xiaoyan’s lips curled up.
This girl knows what she’s doing—great acting, and she’s beautiful, too. As long as she’s not into girls, I’m definitely going to pursue her.
Stepping out of the small house, she was just about to open her map and teleport to Jinyang County.
She suddenly remembered something she hadn’t said yet.
“Chongchong, you go ahead. I forgot to tell Xiaoyue about the real-life party.”
“Huh? She’s coming too?” Chongchong pouted, looking unhappy.
“Yeah, the other Sword Pavilion folks aren’t coming, but she should—since it’s about our two guilds’ future.”
“All right, I’ll wait for you. Hurry up.”
She definitely wasn’t at ease letting Chen Xiaoyan and Liu Yue be alone together.
“Mm.” Chen Xiaoyan didn’t mind. She was just going to inform her, not do anything else.
As soon as the two left, Liu Yue lay on the wooden bed, thinking about her actions just now, and started rolling around in agitation.
Why did I instinctively put my hands around her waist just now?
Why didn’t I want to let go?
Why am I so taken with her?
Three questions rose in Liu Yue’s heart.
She knew she wasn’t into that sort of thing, but she didn’t know when she’d started to change.
She cared about her more and more, wanted to see her more and more, wanted to spend more time with her.
The moment they hugged just now, Liu Yue’s heart was pounding as if injected with stimulants—violent, frantic.
It was a feeling she’d never had with friends or family.
Maybe it could only be described as a kind of affection.
But when did I start liking Xiaoyan?
Was it the moment I first saw her outside Moonview Inn?
Or was it back in the Monster Village dungeon, when she put that ring on my finger?
Liu Yue lifted her left hand, looking at the Heart-Clearing Ring on her ring finger, and couldn’t help but smile.
“Xiaoyue, I forgot to tell you something.”
The sudden voice startled Liu Yue so much she nearly jumped.
She hurriedly lowered her left hand, sat up, and stared dazedly toward the door.
“Qingxue said she’s going to organize a real-life guild party in the next few days. Are you coming?”
Mu Qingxue’s organizing a guild gathering?
What’s that got to do with Sword Pavilion me?
“No…” Liu Yue subconsciously wanted to refuse, but in a flash remembered Chen Xiaoyan seemed to be from Snow Smoke Pavilion too, so she quickly changed her tune: “Is Xiaoyan going?”
“Me? Of course I’m going.”
“Then I’ll go too.”
Chen Xiaoyan nodded once. “All right, I’ll tell Qingxue in a bit, and send you the location when it’s settled.”
“Mm, okay.”
“That’s all. I’ll get going.”
She finished speaking and dashed out before Liu Yue could even reply.
Liu Yue lay back down, her heart suddenly all in a flurry.
I’ll get to see her in real life?
I wonder what Xiaoyan looks like in person…
“Ai, I really have played too many old-school MMOs—I’m an idiot.”
Can the Immortal Realm be just like a traditional MMO?
The game avatars are based on real people, so obviously, they’d look the same in reality.