Chapter 41: Su Li’er is emo.

There were several bedrooms in the Sword Sect.

Su Li’er’s bedroom was on the other side, a little farther from the courtyard.

Looking at it now, it seemed to be a good thing.

Being a little farther away from the Sect Master allowed her little heart to calm down.

“You child, why are you so downcast?”

Tang Yingyue had appeared by her side at some point.

Su Li’er glanced at her, then lowered her head again, listless.

“Ah… Big Sister Dragon, you’re still here.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, just a little cold, ha… haha.”

“You child, you’re so silly.”

“I’m not silly… what is Big Sister Dragon doing here?”

Su Li’er rubbed her chubby little cheeks, forcing herself to cheer up. ‘Persevere, Little Li, you must persevere. You can’t lose the persona of a sweet little junior sister!’

Tang Yingyue raised her eyebrows in annoyance.

“What, can’t I stay at the Sword Sect for one night? I’m already so far away, I won’t disturb you and your Sect Master’s intimacy.”

“Ah… haha, that’s true. Then if there’s nothing else, Big Sister Dragon, Little Li will go back to her room to sleep first.”

“Hey, wait. Does Little Li want to go together tomorrow?”

“Go… where?”

“Didn’t Song Ruoxue tell you?” Tang Yingyue was puzzled. “She’s looking for the Nirvana Undying Herb.”

“I… I don’t think I’ll go?” Su Li’er smiled wryly. She had a feeling that she would accidentally expose her identity. This feeling… was so frightening.

“…You’re not going?” Tang Yingyue was surprised and looked at Su Li’er’s worried face strangely. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so strange? I thought you would go with your Sect Master…”

—Strange.

This word suddenly woke Su Li’er up. The hair on her body stood on end. She quickly smiled and said, “No, it’s nothing. I’ll go. I’m just a little sleepy and don’t have much energy right now.”

“Alright, your constitution is quite weak. Then you should rest quickly. Get up early tomorrow,” Tang Yingyue said.

“Mmm, okay.”

Su Li’er kept her head down and quickly walked to the door of her own bedroom, pushed the door open, entered, and then quickly closed the door, locking it with a click.

“Phew—”

Only then did she feel a sense of relaxation throughout her body.

Su Li’er slowly slid down the door and sat on the cold wooden floor. The doubts and panic that had been suppressed in her heart gushed out like a spring.

‘Why… does the Sect Master know what I’ve done?’

‘Is it because I exposed something…’

All sorts of clues kept circling in her mind. In the end, Su Li’er’s expression was dazed as she thought of something.

That day, the old customer in the Wishing General Store who claimed to be a relative of the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, Song Ruoxue, and had even gotten a few fox hairs from the Cloud Sea Sword Pavilion.

‘That Big Sister Song is really a relative of the Sect Master. This is too unlucky.’

‘And then the matter of me lurking here was passed on to the Sect Master’s ears.’

‘Wuwu.’

‘So difficult.’

Su Li’er curled up her legs, shrinking her small self into a ball, seeking a trace of security.

‘A nine-tailed fox is lurking in the Sword Sect, and there’s only me and the Sect Master in the sect. Wuwuwu, this kind of thing… the Sect Master will soon notice that something is wrong with me.’

‘Even if I disguise myself well, the facts are right in front of her. It’s only a matter of time before the Sect Master suspects me…’

‘Once I’m suspected, my fox tail will be caught immediately.’

‘Should I just forget it?’

‘I should escape now and go back to the general store… I won’t come to the Sword Sect again.

‘In the future, I’ll just hide in the general store and won’t go anywhere!’

The outside world is too scary. This fox wanted to go home.

‘But, after I go back to the general store, then what?’

‘When my lifespan is about to run out again a month later, what should I do?’

‘Should I hope that a customer will come?’

‘Those one or two scattered customers are not enough to sustain my lifespan… in the end, I’ll still have to leave the general store to find lifespan.’

‘Ahhhh, so anxious, so frustrated!’

Su Li’er grabbed her beautiful snow-white hair. The hair tie slowly came off, and her neat ponytail came loose, messily draped over her shoulders. A few strands of hair stuck to her mouth.

“Pfft—peh!”

‘I accidentally ate my hair again.’

‘Forget it, I’ll let myself off the hook. I won’t pull my hair anymore. If I go bald, it’ll be hilarious. This is already one of the few hairs I have left on my body…’

After all this torment, Su Li’er’s mood had improved slightly, and her mind was much clearer.

‘Since I can’t escape, then I’ll face the problem head-on!’

‘Am I the kind of fox who’s afraid of trouble?’

‘I’m so smart, I’ll always be able to think of a good way to solve the problem… if all else fails, I’ll just find a way to create a fake message that the nine-tailed fox has left the Sword Sect!’

Su Li’er launched into a brainstorm. Suddenly, her eyes became dark and deep, as if Newton had discovered the apple, full of surprise and uncertainty.

‘Wait a minute?’

‘It seems I’ve overlooked something important?’

‘What the Sect Master said just now was…’

The Ten Thousand Immortals said that a nine-tailed fox is hiding in the Sword Sect… because it’s the Ten Thousand Immortals, with heaven and earth as their witness, they naturally wouldn’t lie.

‘Was it when I asked the Ten Thousand Immortals to escort Song Ruoxue… and later, the Ten Thousand Immortals told the Sect Master the truth?’

‘Then, why did the Sect Master say that she had come into contact with my nine-tailed fox main body several times?’

‘Why does she hate me so much?’

Su Li’er rubbed her small chin and thought carefully.

‘The esoteric arts shop, the esoteric arts shop owner, treating all diseases… no way?’

‘Could it be that the Sect Master was talking about the Wishing General Store?’

At this thought, Su Li’er’s brain short-circuited a little. An incredibly terrifying thought rushed into her mind. Her back felt as if it were pressed against a glacier, the cold seeping into her bones.

‘The Sect Master… has been to the Wishing General Store.’

‘And she’s been there several times…’

‘No, impossible!’

There have only ever been two customers in my general store from beginning to end!

‘How could it be the Sect Master…’

‘No, no!’

A terrifying answer that had never been imagined before appeared, and Su Li’er’s face turned pale.

‘I remember… the Sect Master has no relatives. She’s always been alone… which means, that—Big Sister Song in the general store, who claimed to be a relative of the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, that person… could it be the Sect Master?’

If so, then it all makes sense.

‘Why the Sect Master hates me so much, why the Sect Master is so convinced that a nine-tailed fox has infiltrated the Sword Sect, why the Sect Master won’t let me go to the esoteric arts shop…’

No.

‘Su Li’er, this is just your deduction. Even if it’s very convincing, the real situation might be that the Sect Master is avenging her relative.’

‘Alright.’

‘Stop it.’

‘The Sect Master has no relatives.’

Su Li’er only felt that her mind was in a mess again, and her temples were throbbing with pain.

It was as if Song Xiaoxiao’s perfect, jade-like body had appeared before her again, with her angry and resentful blushes.

And it gradually merged with Song Ruoxue’s noble and cold back.

Very abstract.

Su Li’er felt that even if the sky were to fall, such an abstract thing shouldn’t happen!

‘How is that possible?’

‘The customer whose lifespan I’ve been absorbing in the general store, and the person I’ve been trying to get along with, are the same damn person!’

‘You mother… fucker.’

‘When I was in the general store, I was quite tyrannical… all sorts of force, trickery, I’ve accumulated so much hatred, the hatred value is almost at its peak!’

‘And now, my sweet and obedient little junior sister persona… the affection I’ve worked so hard to cultivate with Song Ruoxue is almost at its maximum!’

Su Li’er’s face was mournful, and her mentality collapsed.

—Pop.

A pair of fluffy fox ears popped out from the top of her head.

Behind her, nine snow-white, fluffy tails hung listlessly on the ground.

Due to the severe damage to her mentality, the disguise art had failed.

Su Li’er was emo.