When light seeped through the gaps in the window lattice, Bai Shuangshuang woke up.
No, to be precise, she hadn’t really slept at all.
Being held all night by a girl, her back pressed against the other’s chest, unable to even turn over—how could she possibly sleep well?
She carefully lifted Zhao Qingyue’s arm that was draped around her waist.
The moment she tried to move it away, the arm automatically dropped back down, as if it had eyes.
Bai Shuangshuang: “…”
‘Forget it, I’ll do something else first.’
She closed her eyes and looked inward, sending her spiritual sense into her meridians.
Then she froze.
Completely clean.
Not a single trace of the residual Soul-Calming Decoction toxins that had been lurking in her meridians remained.
Spiritual Qi flowed slowly through them, warm and smooth as jade, as unimpeded as a mountain stream.
She could even feel every acupoint faintly glowing, like scattered stars in the sky.
The Triple Fire Marrow Cleansing Powder had worked even better than she’d expected.
Bai Shuangshuang took a deep breath, feeling an unprecedented lightness spread from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
It was like carrying a heavy boulder for a very long time and suddenly setting it down.
As for the black-dressed girl in her dream…
Bai Shuangshuang thought back carefully.
‘No, I didn’t dream anything last night. The moment I closed my eyes and opened them, it was already dawn.’
She couldn’t help but curl her lips.
‘Hmph, all that bluster—kissing and biting, releasing pressure that almost scared me to death—yet a tiny talisman was enough to suppress it? Not so impressive after all~’
She was about to get up when her arm was suddenly grabbed.
“Don’t go…”
Zhao Qingyue’s voice was muffled, still carrying a sleepy nasal tone.
Her fingers curled around Bai Shuangshuang’s sleeve with slight force.
“Qingyao… don’t go…”
Bai Shuangshuang froze.
Qingyao?
Who’s that?
She turned her head to look at Zhao Qingyue’s face.
The girl’s eyes were closed, brows slightly furrowed, mouth drooping downward, as if she were chasing something in her dream but couldn’t catch it.
That expression was entirely different from the usual shameless Lady Zhao—she looked more like a wronged little girl.
The name “Qingyao” was just one character off from “Qingyue.”
A younger sister? Or someone else?
Bai Shuangshuang sat there for a moment.
Seeing that Zhao Qingyue showed no signs of waking, she had to gently pry open her fingers.
After an immense struggle, she finally rescued her hand.
She quietly slipped out of bed, threw on an outer robe, and tiptoed over to sit at the table.
The morning light was just right, filtering through the paper window, casting a gentle warm glow across the tabletop.
Bai Shuangshuang pulled out the Qingyun Sword Array Fragment from her bosom, spread it on the table, and studied it carefully.
Previously, she had always thought it was a fragmentary scroll—missing parts here and there, lacking structure.
But looking at it today, she suddenly realized something—this thing wasn’t so much a fragment as it was a complete piece.
This diagram was actually a complete small formation.
The entire Qingyun Sword Array was assembled from such small formations pieced together.
That meant she could follow this diagram and set up a small formation for fun.
Back then, her master had said she was a formation prodigy, but unfortunately, the Qingyun Sword Sect prioritized swordsmanship and didn’t offer her any formations to study.
Now, with a formation diagram and a body that had just had its meridians cleansed, capable of channeling spiritual energy…
Bai Shuangshuang’s gaze fell on the longsword hanging on the wall—she had noticed it last night.
She took down the longsword and found a few small objects: a bronze incense burner, an inkstone, and several paperweights.
She arranged them on the table according to the positions on the formation diagram.
At the formation’s eye, she placed the longsword.
Done.
She tried injecting a wisp of spiritual energy into the formation’s eye.
In an instant, the entire room changed in her eyes.
The flow of spiritual energy was no longer invisible but as clear as flowing water.
The meridians of spiritual energy circulation throughout the entire room were completely under her control.
Bai Shuangshuang held her breath and tried to nudge one of the wisps.
She discovered that the spiritual energy was blocked at the threshold—a strange point severed the connection.
She gently redirected that wisp around the point, reconnecting it.
The spiritual energy flow instantly accelerated.
The stagnant energy seemed to have found an exit and surged joyfully.
She could even feel that if she sat in meditation and breathed now, her efficiency would be several times faster than before.
Bai Shuangshuang withdrew her hand and let out a long breath.
Although she still didn’t know what practical use this had, her master was right—she truly was a formation prodigy, and the Qingyun Sword Sect’s mountain-protecting formation was indeed profound and mysterious.
Thinking that Zhao Qingyue would probably wake up soon, she withdrew her spiritual energy, put all the items back in place, and hung the longsword back on the wall.
Just as she was about to put away the fragment, a lazy voice came from behind her.
“What are you looking at?”
Bai Shuangshuang’s hand trembled.
The fragment slipped into her sleeve with a shwoosh.
She flung herself onto the table, covering the area tightly with her arms.
“Nothing!”
Zhao Qingyue sat up in bed, her hair a mess, eyes still squinting—clearly she hadn’t seen what Bai Shuangshuang was doing at all.
She yawned, walked over barefoot, and grabbed the back of Bai Shuangshuang’s collar, lifting her like a naughty cat.
“Get up, let me see.”
“No!”
“The more you refuse to let me see, the more I want to see.”
Bai Shuangshuang pressed down desperately on the table, while Zhao Qingyue pulled upward.
They struggled for a long time, but in the end, Bai Shuangshuang’s strength gave out, and she was lifted up, arms and all.
On the table lay two books.
One was Records of the Southern Frontier, the other was Under the Moon and Before the Flowers.
Zhao Qingyue’s gaze landed on Under the Moon and Before the Flowers.
She paused, then slowly curved her lips.
The arc widened little by little until it turned into an indescribable grin.
“Under the Moon and Before the Flowers?”
She read it out word by word, her voice full of delight.
“Bai Shuangshuang, you like reading this kind of stuff?”
Bai Shuangshuang looked down and froze completely.
Those were books that had originally been on Zhao Qingyue’s table.
When she had pounced just now, she had accidentally pressed this—whatever it was—under her arm.
“I didn’t!”
“Two girls together under the moon and before the flowers, pledging eternal love—”
Zhao Qingyue picked up the book, flipped a couple of pages, and read aloud with perfect enunciation, deliberately drawing out the syllables.
“‘She gently untied her sash and whispered in her ear—'”
“Stop reading!”
Bai Shuangshuang snatched the book away, her face bright red.
“This is your book! From your table!”
“What does it matter if it’s my book?”
Zhao Qingyue said with complete confidence.
“It’s normal for me to read it, but it’s not for you. You’re a little maid I picked up; instead of thinking about repaying my kindness, you’re stealing your master’s private collection—”
“I did not steal it!”
“Then why were you pressing down on it?”
“I—”
Bai Shuangshuang opened her mouth and found she couldn’t explain at all.
Tell the truth? That she was secretly studying a formation fragment?
That would be worse than admitting to reading romance novels.
She gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride.
Zhao Qingyue watched her frustrated look, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
She reached out and poked Bai Shuangshuang’s puffed-out cheek.
“Alright, alright, so what if you read it? This princess isn’t that petty. If you like it, there are several more on the bookshelf—I’ll lend them all to you later~”
“Thank you for your boundless grace, Your Highness…”
Bai Shuangshuang’s face was expressionless.
“You’re welcome. After you finish reading, we can exchange thoughts~”
“…Enough.”
Bai Shuangshuang cursed silently eight hundred times in her heart.
‘So this is the kind of book you usually read, you little brat. No wonder you talk to me all sweet and sticky, calling me “Little Burning Cat” all the time—you learned it all from these pulp novels. Bah!’
Completely oblivious to being cursed in silence, Zhao Qingyue stretched lazily, walked over to the bronze basin, and washed her face and combed her hair.
While brushing her hair, she said, “Today I have to go to the National Academy for lessons. You’re coming with me.”
Bai Shuangshuang was startled, her little face falling.
“Do I have to study too?”
“Yep—”
Zhao Qingyue glanced at her from the mirror, smiling.
“And I’ll let those scholars see what a celestial beauty looks like~”
Bai Shuangshuang’s face remained blank.
She was starting to get numb.
“Can you stop showing me off all the time?”
“I’m not. I’m talking about myself. Are you being a little narcissistic, Little Wildcat?”
Bai Shuangshuang took a deep breath.
Her fists suddenly itched.
“Let’s go, let’s go~”
Zhao Qingyue changed her clothes, grabbed Bai Shuangshuang’s hand, and pulled her out the door.
“The osmanthus cake at the National Academy is amazing. If you don’t have any, it’s your loss.”
Dragged by the sleeve, Bai Shuangshuang stumbled out the door, with only one thought in her mind.
‘When will I ever get to hang this little brat up and give her a good beating?’