After being thrown onto the bed, Bai Qianqian rolled a few times before lying still like a lifeless doll.
After covering her with the blanket, Lin Xinyi walked straight out of the grotto-heaven.
After all, she wasn’t in the habit of staying to watch over someone until they woke up.
“Tch,I clearly passed out, so why do I feel more and more exhausted after waking up…?”
Lin Xinyi stretched her shoulders after leaving the Mini Grotto-heaven, but for some reason they were extremely sore.
After taking a few steps, she also felt a dull pain in her lower back.
“Could it be that I slept without a pillow and got a stiff neck?”
Lin Xinyi was deeply troubled, still unable to figure out what method Luo Qingyao had used to make her lose consciousness, especially since she hadn’t sensed any spiritual energy fluctuations.
“It’s problematic even when nothing’s happening. If I encounter an enemy and she suddenly pulls this on me, wouldn’t that be the end…”
Lin Xinyi stared at the ring on her finger as she walked, wondering if she should just find a place to get rid of it.
But as soon as this thought appeared, she shook her head.
The array formation on it was something she had invented specifically for this situation—it could restrain souls.
However, it also required continuous maintenance with spiritual energy.
If she went without spiritual energy for a few hours, the formation would likely collapse before long.
Then Luo Qingyao would take the ring and find Bai Qianqian, and she would be finished.
“What a hot potato…”
Lin Xinyi had originally hoped the other would become a significant asset, but now she seemed more like a burden—and an inescapable one at that.
Just then, Luo Qingyao’s figure slowly materialized, quietly watching Lin Xinyi before her.
“Oh, Immortal Venerable, finally willing to show yourself? Not hiding from me anymore~”
“I had a feeling you were thinking something disrespectful, so of course I had to come out and see…”
“You can sense what I’m thinking?”
“Not exactly sense it, but I get a general impression. After all, the two of us are somewhat soul-connected…”
As she spoke, Luo Qingyao pointed to the ring on the other’s finger, implying that the so-called soul connection meant that wearing the ring allowed for faint mutual perception of thoughts.
“Is that so? Good. If you really could read my thoughts, I’d have to find a way to destroy you…”
“Ah, you’re truly terrifying…”
Luo Qingyao said this, but for some reason her words carried a hint of sympathy for the Lin Xinyi before her.
Seeing that the other only offered a perfunctory to brush someone off response before falling silent, Lin Xinyi found it somewhat puzzling.
Just earlier, when she heard that Lin Xinyi planned to to instill all those garbage techniques to Bai Qianqian, she had begged pitifully—a sight Lin Xinyi found absolutely delightful, immensely satisfying.
Now she had suddenly gone quiet.
“Bai Qianqian has already cultivated the Heartless Sword Formula and the Jade Maiden Dual Cultivation Art…I guess it won’t be long before my meridians break and I go into cultivation deviation.”
“Oh…”
“And with her heaven-defying cultivation talent, learning things terrifyingly fast, if I teach her two or three more incomplete techniques, her life is probably finished~”
“Mm…”
Lin Xinyi painted a vivid picture, but to her surprise, Luo Qingyao’s responses were extremely perfunctory, not even interested in trading barbs.
“Has the Immortal Venerable given up? Letting things take their course? It saves me some effort, but also deprives me of some pleasure ~”
Lin Xinyi glanced sidelong at Luo Qingyao floating beside her, only to find her still to lower one’s head , seemingly lost in thought, completely ignoring Lin Xinyi’s words.
This feeling of being disregarded irritated Lin Xinyi immensely.
“Weren’t you just insisting on protecting Bai Qianqian? Not even a day has passed, and you’ve given up!”
Lin Xinyi’s gaze carried a hint of mockery, but facing her derisive stare, Luo Qingyao seemed not to notice, sitting beside her with a melancholy expression.
“What’s with her? Coming out and acting like that. Is she putting on a show for me, or trying to lower my guard…”
Lin Xinyi watched as the other neither spoke nor came over to mock her, just sat there silently like an aged elder, or someone who had seen through life itself. It was deeply unsettling.
“Showing up on her own, then saying nothing—what exactly is she doing sitting there…”
“Ah, I… I’m fine…”
Luo Qingyao looked somewhat dazed, completely lacking her previous arrogant demeanor.
Lin Xinyi grew puzzled—could the side effect of making her lose consciousness be so severe as to affect personality?
“Ended up like this, huh? Well, fine. I’ll make sure you watch closely as the person you want to protect has her meridians destroyed bit by bit, then cultivates my techniques until she the fire goes astray and demons enter~”
The more Lin Xinyi spoke, the better she felt.
She even began to think that Luo Qingyao had completely surrendered—perhaps this life would be the perfect ending.
“Alright, since you’ve decided to give up, I have no reason to waste time arguing with you…”
Lin Xinyi glanced coldly at Luo Qingyao sitting nearby.
Despite being a spiritual entity, she still pretended to be normal—how pathetic.
But Lin Xinyi never pitied losers; she only kicked them when they were down.
“Wait!”
Lin Xinyi was about to return to the Mini Grotto-heaven to research what incomplete technique to torment Bai Qianqian with next when a sharp voice called out from behind.
She turned coldly to find Luo Qingyao, who had been to lower one’s head and think deeply moments ago, now standing with clenched fists, eyes full of unwillingness.
“What? Going to beg on your knees again, Immortal Venerable~”
Lin Xinyi’s lips curled slightly, her words dripping with sarcasm.
Luo Qingyao clenched her fists tighter, but her thoughts were entirely elsewhere.
“Could… could you please makes elegance suffering a little less…”
“I thought you were going to say something meaningful. Have you stooped this low…”
Lin Xinyi stared coldly at Luo Qingyao standing before her, especially when the other produced a jade slip.
Now she was curious to see what trick she had up her sleeve.
“This is the for the immortal-grade elixir ‘Drunken Life Elixir.’ Those who take it enter a unreal , ethereal state. Could you…”
“You don’t actually expect me to feed that to your precious disciple to ease her pain, do you? Don’t be ridiculous. I want to watch her suffer~”
Faced with Luo Qingyao’s plea, Lin Xinyi had no intention of accepting.
Although she could obtain an immortal-grade recipe for free, compared to the satisfaction of deepening the other’s despair, a mere formula seemed terribly boring.
“Is that so? Well then, nothing to be done…”
“Huh? Shouldn’t you beg me more?”
“Since you’ve already refused, what difference would begging make…”
Luo Qingyao didn’t seem surprised by Lin Xinyi’s rejection.
She simply sighed softly, tucked away the jade slip, and her figure vanished once more.
Lin Xinyi felt as if she had punched cotton—frustratingly ineffective.
“What’s her deal?! What’s she playing at? Is she doing this on purpose?!”
The more Lin Xinyi thought about it, the angrier she grew.
Deciding not to linger outside any longer, she wanted to return to the Mini Grotto-heaven and take out her frustration on Bai Qianqian.
After all, watching her torment Bai Qianqian while to peep would surely cause Luo Qingyao psychological pain, even if she on the surface endured it.
“Let’s see how long you can endure. I’ll break her fingers one by one, then heal them, then break them again, and then…”
Just as Lin Xinyi stepped into the Mini Grotto-heaven, she suddenly spotted Bai Qianqian on the bed not far away, struggling violently.
Her face was covered by the dharma robe Lin Xinyi had given her, and she was gasping for breath.
“!!!!”
Seeing this, Lin Xinyi rushed over anxiously and yanked the robe away.
Looking at Bai Qianqian with eyes tightly shut and face flushed red, she realized that if she had returned just a moment later, Bai Qianqian might have suffocated.
“What happened? Was she sleepwalking and trying to smother herself?”
Lin Xinyi stared puzzled at the discarded dharma robe in her hand.
After much deliberation, she put it into her storage space.
If she left it by the bedside, the other might grab it again and suffocate herself.
“Used to seeing her forcefully distorted self, this weak version feels strange…”
Lin Xinyi sat by the bed, watching Bai Qianqian whose face was still flushed from being covered.
Reaching out to pinch her cheek, she then closed her eyes to rest beside her.
“Ah, touched…”
Bai Qianqian slightly opened her eyes a crack, watching Lin Xinyi meditating with eyes closed by the window.
The dharma robe—she had placed it over her own head to suppress her inner restlessness, never expecting the other to return so suddenly.
“So fragrant… I’m feeling strange…”