Chong Chong: Sister Xiaoyan, where are you? Weren’t we going to grind levels?
Chong Chong: You’re not still with Shen Qingqing, are you?
Chen Xiaoyan: Yeah, wait for me to get back before we talk about level grinding. Tell Xianyun and the others.
Chong Chong: ???
Chong Chong: We’ve been waiting for you for so long, and you’re still not back?
Chen Xiaoyan: I can’t leave right now.
Chong Chong: Shen Qingqing won’t let you leave? Take my advice and just teleport out of there.
Chen Xiaoyan: …
Chong Chong: What? Am I wrong? Also, Sister Xiaoyan, don’t you think she’s acting weird? Why does she insist you go there once every day? You didn’t know? There’s a barrier outside the back garden. If she didn’t have something to hide, why would she set up a barrier?
‘A barrier?’
Chen Xiaoyan reflexively glanced toward the back garden gate, feeling deeply confused.
‘I didn’t notice a barrier when I arrived. Did Sister Shen set it up during the medicinal bath?’
Chen Xiaoyan: Alright, Sister Shen is very good to me. Stop overthinking things.
Chong Chong: Then come back quickly.
Chen Xiaoyan: I’ll try my best.
Chen Xiaoyan: You all go ahead and do your own thing. I’ll be back shortly.
As soon as she sent that message, she closed the private chat interface and stopped replying.
Seeing this, Chong Chong was instantly filled with rage. She raised her foot and kicked the edge of the roof beam, shattering it to pieces. Her chest heaved with anger.
The fragments scattered into the courtyard. The loud commotion startled Yumeng and Xianyun, who came rushing out of the house.
“What’s going on?” Looking at the stones on the ground, Yumeng looked up at the roof. “What are you doing up there? Are you planning to demolish the house for no reason?”
“None of your business!”
Chong Chong’s fierce gaze scared Yumeng into silence. She could only mutter under her breath, “Hmph, you clearly have some kind of problem.”
Xianyun watched the scene and fell into thought. “Big Sister is…”
As soon as she spoke, she was interrupted by Chong Chong on the roof.
“She what? She’s left us here for half a day while she’s off having a good time at Shen Qingqing’s place!”
“You shouldn’t say that. Maybe something important came up,” Xianyun suggested.
“No way. Can’t you see Shen Qingqing’s intentions yet? How can there be something every single day? Why do you think she wants Sister Xiaoyan to go there once every day?”
Xianyun fell silent.
For an NPC to ask a Player to visit once a day, a normal person would usually think it was some kind of chain quest. But they knew that a chain quest was impossible with Shen Qingqing. If there was a quest, Chen Xiaoyan would have definitely called them over.
If it wasn’t a quest, what could it be? Based on Chong Chong’s tone, it seemed like she knew some hidden truth.
“Why?” Yumeng and Xianyun asked at the same time.
Chong Chong leaped down and sat on a wooden stool. She crossed her arms, her expression dark.
“Hmph, why else? Because she’s interested in Sister Xiaoyan, obviously! Can’t you see such a simple truth? Back when we were at the Abyss Canyon Replica, I already suspected this NPC.”
Yumeng and Xianyun glanced at each other, both seeing the utter confusion in the other’s eyes.
An NPC interested in a Player?
‘Sister, are you kidding me?’
“What’s with those expressions? If you don’t believe me, then fine.”
Xianyun said, “It’s not that we don’t believe you; it’s just too shocking.”
Yumeng nodded in agreement.
“Xianjie isn’t an ordinary game. Don’t treat it like one,” Chong Chong reminded them with a solemn expression.
Yumeng was completely baffled and clearly didn’t understand. Xianyun, however, lowered her head slightly, lost in thought.
“Besides, there’s a barrier in the Tianxin Pavilion’s back garden. It’s obvious Shen Qingqing set it up specifically to prevent others from going there. Do you two know any array-breaking formations?”
The two shook their heads. The Book Pavilion didn’t have any skill books related to formations, so how could they know?
However, speaking of formations, Zhenwu should have some.
“Go find a Zhenwu Player and ask. They should know something about formations.”
“Fine.”
Chong Chong shrugged, opened her Friend List, and sent a private message to Zhenwu’s Little Junior Sister.
—
Tianxin Mountain, Back Mountain.
A ray of rainbow light descended from the sky, landing on the highest peak of the Back Mountain. Then, the light dissipated.
Chen Xiaoyan shook her dizzy head and looked around. In the blink of an eye, how had they ended up at the Back Mountain?
“Sister Shen, why did we come here?”
Shen Qingqing gazed at the pink ocean below the mountain and smiled. “Since you like Peach Blossom Porridge so much, I came to pick some peach blossoms to keep as a reserve.”
“If we pick them so early, won’t they lose their freshness in a few days?”
“The Jiezi Bag is a separate space with no concept of time. No matter how long you leave things inside, they will remain as they were.”
“Oh—I see.” Chen Xiaoyan realized. “Then I’ll help too.”
“No need.”
“Eh?”
“Silly girl, Sister only needs a moment.” As she spoke, Shen Qingqing raised her hand and opened her palm toward the Taohua Grove below.
Suddenly, a series of pink glows shot from her eyes. The entire Taohua Grove seemed to be hit by a violent wind, swaying wildly.
Watching the peach blossoms fall to the ground one after another, Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes widened.
‘She doesn’t plan on packing up all the peach blossoms on the entire Back Mountain, does she?’
Remembering the bare peach trees in the back garden, the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Chen Xiaoyan could only offer them a few seconds of silent mourning in her heart.
‘In your next life, don’t grow on Tianxin Mountain again.’
Shen Qingqing didn’t intend to take all the peach blossoms; she only took one-fifth of them. This one-fifth already filled half the space in her Jiezi Bag, which was enough to make some crafts and Peach Blossom Porridge.
“Alright, here’s the basket. Come down with Sister to pick up the petals.”
“Huh?” Chen Xiaoyan took the basket Shen Qingqing handed her, looking confused.
She didn’t understand. Clearly, that *Wind Sweeping Clouds* move from earlier could have gathered the petals. Why did they have to pick them up by hand?
Indeed, as she thought, Shen Qingqing could have gathered the petals on the ground with a wave of her hand. But… that would have been meaningless.
She simply wanted to spend a little more time with Chen Xiaoyan.
Not far away, several Heavenly Fragrance Players were hiding behind the bushes, watching the scene with great interest. They had originally been nearby admiring the scenery when they were suddenly startled by a gust of wind.
Afterward, the group noticed something strange in the Taohua Grove. Driven by curiosity, they came to take a look. They hadn’t expected to see Shen Qingqing and Chen Xiaoyan.
“Wow, why is Big Shot Xiaoyan picking petals with Sister Shen?”
“I’m so jealous.”
“How strange. We’re both players, but last time I went to see Shen Qingqing, she completely ignored me.”
“It’s probably because you’re ugly.”
“Bullshit! Where am I ugly? I was the class beauty! Although there’s a bit of a gap between me and Big Shot Xiaoyan, I’m still a little beauty, okay?”
The other Heavenly Fragrance Player smiled mysteriously. “So you admit there’s a gap?”
“Ugh… fine.”
“Hey, hey, don’t you think this scene is beautiful? Dammit, why can’t we take screenshots or photos in this game?”
“Yeah, the lack of this feature is a big blow to us Scenery Party members.”
Shen Qingqing’s Divine Sense had long ago discovered the eavesdroppers, but she ignored them. Picking flowers didn’t require hiding from others.