Gu Qingwan nagged with reddened eyes about Chu Yuan’s injuries, while he could only lower his head and chuckle sheepishly.
Smelling the sour-sweet stench of love permeating the air, Ji Xuanyuan narrowed her phoenix eyes, an inexplicable surge of irritation rising in her heart.
‘This beast truly has some tricks up his sleeve!’
‘If he’s an Evil Cultivator who has taken over the shell of this girl’s childhood friend, is he actually using it to toy with a young girl’s heart?’
‘Miss Gu is clearly sincere, but she has no idea that the person in front of her is no longer the boy she grew up with. He was possessed long ago… Truly a beast!’
‘But what if this really is my Junior Brother?’
Ji Xuanyuan thought of the sliver of hope she still harbored.
‘What if the youth before me is the same Junior Brother who was reborn after I ran him through with my sword?’
Ji Xuanyuan’s phoenix eyes narrowed further, a cold light flashing within them.
‘Then it’s even more unforgivable!’
‘He’s already hundreds of years old! Even if he doesn’t adhere to Male Virtue, how can he still be here toying with a young girl’s heart?’
‘How can I sit idly by and watch such wicked behavior?’
‘As a member of the Righteous Path, I will never allow this scoundrel to succeed!’
With that thought, her gaze became sharp.
Faced with such a look, Chu Yuan shuddered.
‘Is she… jealous?’
‘In that case, would she attack my childhood friend just to have me for herself?’
‘Given the Crown Princess’s personality, her damned possessiveness would definitely drive her to do it!’
To protect his childhood friend, he immediately withdrew his hand from her grasp.
“Miss Gu, it’s really fine. Men and women should maintain a proper distance; it’s better if we don’t get too close.”
As he spoke, he imperceptibly took half a step back, his expression cooling slightly.
Gu Qingwan froze on the spot, looking down at her empty hands.
His warmth still lingered on her skin.
But now, there was nothing.
Her hands… had once wiped away his sweat, brewed his medicine, and clumsily bandaged his wounds whenever he was hurt.
Now, when she reached out, she was pushed away.
Could she not even… treat his wounds anymore?
She recalled the time she fell into a cave. He had rescued her but ended up covered in scratches.
Seeing the youth covered in injuries, she felt deep self-reproach.
The boy had only smiled to comfort her. “It’s fine, it’s fine! Just a minor injury!”
She had wailed and cried, not forgetting to clean his wounds.
The bandages were wrapped so crookedly that even she couldn’t stand to look at them.
The youth, however, looked down at the messy bandages and grinned. “Wan’er, you bandaged me so well. If I get hurt in the future, I’ll have to rely on you to heal me!”
From then on, he really did come to her every time he was injured.
He came when he cut his hand practicing the sword; he came when he lost a fight; he even came when he was scratched by wild beasts in the mountains.
Every time, he would stand before her with a silly grin. “Wan’er, I’m hurt again. Help me wrap it up?”
She would always complain irritably, “Why do you always come to me? You’re certainly not being polite!”
He would always scratch his head and laugh foolishly. “Hahaha! Why should I be polite with you?”
Back then, though she complained with her mouth, her heart was sweet.
Being “not polite” meant he treated her home like his own and saw her as one of his own.
With every small injury, she would carefully bandage him. Then, using her increasingly skillful hands, she would gently press the bandages, fearing they were too tight and would make him uncomfortable.
But now… he was being polite.
He called her “Miss Gu” and withdrew his hand.
Before Gu Qingwan could dwell further on her sorrow, Ji Xuanyuan stepped forward with graceful strides and a faint smile.
“Master Yuan, there is no need to hide it anymore. Did you not go outside the city yesterday to scout the Demon Path Alliance’s stronghold?”
As she spoke, she reached Chu Yuan’s side and naturally raised her hand to straighten his collar.
“My apologies, Fairy Gu. Master Chu Yuan was injured for my sake, after all. I will take responsibility for him!”
Take responsibility?
What kind of responsibility?
Gu Qingwan’s eyes went wide.
‘What… what does this woman want to do?’
Just as she was about to speak—
Ji Xuanyuan turned her body to stand between her and Chu Yuan, taking his arm in the process.
“Since you are injured, Master Chu, come back with me to recover!”
Seeing the Crown Princess’s forceful attitude, Chu Yunlan, who was watching from afar, clenched his fists.
‘It’s only been a few days. Is the Crown Princess already this in love? What kind of Incubus is that trash?’
As he spoke, he felt something was off.
‘Wait!’
‘What is the Crown Princess planning to do with him?’
‘She wouldn’t be planning to skip straight to the final step while “treating” his wounds, would she?’
‘No! I must stop this!’
[Fairy Gu…]
Before his Sound Transmission could finish, Gu Qingwan had already stepped forward.
This was supposed to be her date with Chu Yuan. How could the suddenly appearing Crown Princess just snatch him away?
Even a clay man has three tenths of a temper. Gu Qingwan instinctively wanted to argue.
To her surprise, Chu Yuan spoke first.
“Your Highness, although I am grateful for your concern, I already had a prior engagement with Miss Gu. Please grant us your blessing!”
What?
Hearing him say this, Gu Qingwan’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe her ears.
Ji Xuanyuan was also stunned.
‘What is wrong with this scoundrel?’
‘I caught him having a private meeting with someone else; shouldn’t he be prioritizing me?’
‘What game is he playing now?’
Ji Xuanyuan tested him. “Oh? A prior engagement? What kind of engagement is so important that Master Yuan would attend while dragging an injured body?”
Chu Yuan did not hesitate. “Of course. It’s an engagement with an important person…”
At this point, he felt a bit apprehensive and coughed a few times. “Ahem! Your Highness, the nature of the engagement is not important. Since I made a promise first, I must naturally fulfill it.”
Although Chu Yuan quickly changed his phrasing, both women heard him clearly.
An important person?
Gu Qingwan raised a hand to cover her lips. The bitterness that had accumulated in her heart for days instantly turned into honey, melting and spreading through her entire body.
Seeing Chu Yuan’s bright and clear eyes, Ji Xuanyuan once again remembered the figure who had invited her to the festival back at Medicine King Valley.
Old memories tugged at her nerves.
Intuition told Ji Xuanyuan that this man wasn’t lying.
‘He is my Junior Brother, and his feelings for his childhood friend are also real?’
‘Was I just being sentimental?’
‘Then what am I to him?’
Thinking of this, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss.
Chu Yunlan, watching everything through the Command Medallion, saw hope.
‘Good, good, good!’
‘It seems that trash still has Fairy Gu in his heart!’
‘Who said childhood friends can’t win?’
‘This is a total victory!’
On the scene, Ji Xuanyuan’s disappointment soon turned into anger.
‘No!’
‘Impossible!’
‘Absolutely impossible!’
Ji Xuanyuan recalled everything she had observed from the Demon Path Alliance stronghold yesterday. Her haughty pride made her stubbornly believe:
‘This scoundrel’s target is definitely me!’
‘He’s definitely playing hard to get!’
‘By doing this, he can continue to capture Fairy Gu’s heart while also provoking my competitive spirit!’
‘Good, good, good! What a strategy!’
‘How can this boy be so skilled?’
‘Is he my Junior Brother? Or is he an old Evil Cultivator master at playing the Path of Human Relations?’
‘Regardless, I cannot let Fairy Gu fall into his trap!’
‘I must find a way to sever the connection between them!’
Searching her memories, Ji Xuanyuan quickly found a strategy. She parted her vermilion lips and spoke.
“Since Master Chu Yuan says so, I will not force the issue. But speaking of which, Fairy Gu, you…”
Shifting the conversation, she pointed the spearhead directly at Gu Qingwan.