Maiden’s Feelings
“Where?”
“Mount Dustfallen!”
“You sure?”
“Yes. That’s why I kept saying the spiritual qi here was so familiar. I didn’t expect it to be a spiritual qi core. I know better than anyone how the spiritual qi below Dustfallen Precipice tastes.”
“I’ll be damned. I’m still having a hard time believing this.”
Mu Yu wasn’t convinced Feng Haochen had Xiaoshuai block the core at Dustfallen Sect for no rhyme or reason. He speculated Feng Haochen might’ve been aware of the fiend king’s sealing location. It was pointless to ask Xiaoshuai since, one, Xiaoshuai was never told, and two, Xiaoshuai wouldn’t have known if the fiends couldn’t locate their king for millenniums.
Xiaoshuai clobbered Mu Yu’s head. “What are you spacing out for? Let’s go home!”
“Right! Let’s go home!” enthused Mu Yu, eager to see his shifu again and also glad to finally escape Second Heaven.
Mu Yu, controlling his wood spirit, entered the black void together with Xiaoshuai. Technically, it sucked them in. The journey home was a lot tougher; the pressure genuinely felt as if it’d fold him.
***
There was a paradise at the western side of Third Continent, which was where the population was tiny and was considered the slums. Said paradise was where the fiend race frequently gathered. Thanks to their efforts, they had a small town to themselves. They were still waiting for their ten kings to return. In the meantime, they were building themselves up and biding their time to rekindle the war they lost against humanity in the past.
There was a reservoir between the creeks at the foot of the mountain. The lotuses on the pristine water surface were in bloom. Qiao Xue, dressed in a light blue dress, kicked her feet as she sat on a smooth rock in the reservoir. Two pretty fishes played in the water, flapping their wings gently. The two of them were acquainted with Qiao Xue after meeting her in humanity’s territory. They loyally accompanied her after she tamed them. One sprayed water at the sky, and they leapt out of the water together, flying in the mist sprayed. Qiao Xue spaced out as she watched the two relish each other’s company.
“You know why I helped you? Because you said you like me in my dream. I’m going to give you a chance,” recalled Qiao Xue. For the past year, she kept recalling those lines Mu Yu said. Due to some personal issues, she was adverse toward humanity. Consider it her prejudice against humans.
“I don’t like you!” was what Qiao Xue wanted to say to him when she met him again; however, she refused to say it in the end. “Why do I have to waste my breath on him? It sounds as if I’m flirting. I don’t like him. He’s only on my mind because I feel indebted to him.”
Qiao Xue gently drew a shape in the air, attracted water in the reservoir toward her and transformed it into butterflies to dance for her. Watching them, she muttered, “When I meet him again, I’ll tell him we’re even because he made me worry for so long. Actually, that sounds about the same as Sister Iron Fan scolding Brother Niu. She’s always saying human men will abandon us and hate fiends. Besides, Mu Yu isn’t like those other humans. I don’t want to copy them with the strange way of expressing affection. He might misunderstand I like him. Why did he help me, though? Does he really like me?”
Qiao Xue saw her red cheeks in the water’s reflection. “Whatever. He can fawn over me if he wants.”
“Is this considered a token of your feelings?” Qiao Xue remembered. When she heard Mu Yu ask that, she wanted to say, “You wish,” but it was too late.
Qiao Xue couldn’t stop trying to make sense of what Mu Yu said, frustrating her. She asked the two fishes, “He’ll make it back, right? Our fiend race formation has shut down already, so why hasn’t he returned?”
The white ape fiend king flitted across the cave and made a soft landing behind Qiao Xue. He appeared less barbaric with his muscles covered and looked more mature. “What, you thinking about the brat again?”
Face ablaze, Qiao Xue corrected, “I am not! … Is there any news on him?”
“You were saying?”
“H-he did help us, after all!” Qiao Xue averted her gaze.
“Our scouts reported he’s considered a traitor to humanity now.”
“We can take him in if humanity does not want him.”
“Take him in? Did you not see his attitude toward me at Second Heaven? The only reason I would want to see him is to bludgeon his face!”
“He didn’t mean to. The emergency took priority.”
“Hahaha, backing your lover already?”
Qiao Xue jumped onto the water surface. “He’s not my lover!”
“It’s not a matter of me taking him in or not. Rather, it’s a question of whether or not races will trust him. You and he have different backgrounds when it comes down to it.”
The only human the fiend race wouldn’t wage war on was Qiao Xue because she grew up in their care. Plus, she possessed the aptitude to manipulate water. The white ape fiend king couldn’t change their sentiments of humanity on his own; their hatred for humanity ran too deep for that.
“I don’t think he’ll join us, either. Do you remember him picking and choosing who I could kill? That’s proof he sides with humanity. I would’ve taken a lot more lives at Pill Cauldron Sect that day, otherwise.”
“I can only hope he’s safe.”
“Don’t worry about what you can’t control anymore. My cultivation has recovered for the most part. Boss Dragon also has plans. It’s time we give those self-righteous humans a reminder.” The white ape fiend king, watching the two fishes, scrunched his fingers up into angry maces.
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