Chapter 81: Night Falls, Gossip Rises

As night fully enveloped the forest, the entire woodland seemed to shift modes.

The roars of various beasts echoed, one after another, and even the very air became thick with a primal wildness.

Ye Xingchen led the vanguard, his senses keenly attuned to every rustle and stir around them, each step he took meticulously cautious.

Mu Wanqing suddenly leaned close to Su Liyue, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper:

“Yueyue, your Xingchen’s performance tonight is anything but that of an underachiever~”

These words immediately struck a chord with Lin Yueyao’s gossipy instincts.

The young woman pretended to adjust her pocket, yet her ears subtly perked up, straining to catch every detail.

Though Chixiao maintained an unwavering gaze, scanning his surroundings with vigilance, the slight deceleration in his pace betrayed his burgeoning curiosity.

Sensing the fervent stares from behind, both Su Liyue and Ye Xingchen found their lips twitching involuntarily.

Indeed, once this woman indulged in gossip, she proved a match for any of the nosy aunts and grandmothers back on Earth.

A sly smile suddenly played on Su Liyue’s lips.

“Qingqing, don’t tell me… you’ve taken a fancy to our Xingchen?”

She deliberately emphasized the word “our” with a teasing bite.

“Shall I play matchmaker for you? We could even form a ship together?”

She had specifically used the Earth-derived term ship.

Firstly, she had already explained its meaning to Mu Wanqing; secondly, she was certain that Lin Yueyao and the others would be utterly clueless.

Mu Wanqing’s face flushed crimson.

“What nonsense are you spouting! I—I was just curious…”

Before she could finish, her foot caught, and she stumbled, nearly tripping over a tree root.

Fortunately, Su Liyue steadied her in time, averting an awkward fall.

Up ahead, Ye Xingchen’s shoulders gave a suspicious tremor, clearly struggling to suppress his laughter.

Admittedly, the trendy term shipping left Chixiao and Lin Yueyao utterly bewildered.

However, Su Liyue’s intimate address, “our Xingchen,” conveyed far more directly than any explanation could.

Their eyes widened instantly, and their minds began to play out various scenes filled with ‘pink bubbles’ – the quintessential imagery of budding romance.

Who exactly was this Ye Xingchen, capable of making the aloof campus belle openly acknowledge their relationship?

For the unapproachable beauty, Chief Su, to use such a possessive term, Ye Xingchen’s standing in her heart was undeniably significant.

Lin Yueyao’s spirit of gossip ignited in an instant, her mind already concocting eight hundred melodramatic scenarios.

Could it be that the aloof campus belle was, in private, a fiercely protective wife?

And was she even trying to drag her best friend into this entanglement?

The plot was simply too thrilling!

Lin Yueyao nudged Chixiao with her elbow, lowering her voice.

“Could it be… that this Ye Xingchen truly possesses some ‘special talent’?”

She intentionally emphasized a particular word, causing Chixiao to nearly choke on his own saliva.

Exchanging a knowing glance, the two swiftly formed a strategic alliance.

Lin Yueyao would be responsible for digging up inside information from the female camp, given Su Liyue’s notoriously cold demeanor towards men.

Meanwhile, Chixiao would take on the task of ‘conquering’ Ye Xingchen.

From their interactions today, it seemed the rumored underachiever was surprisingly approachable.

“Interesting…” Chixiao murmured, his gaze sweeping over the three figures ahead.

A boy capable of making Su Liyue break character could not possibly be as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Could it be… that peculiar alchemical weapon was merely the tip of the iceberg?

Lin Yueyao, unable to contain herself any longer, sidled up to Mu Wanqing, feigning an accidental bump.

“Um… is Chief Su usually this… lively?”

Lively?

Su Liyue, standing nearby, clearly paused in surprise, but Mu Wanqing had already picked up on Lin Yueyao’s query.

“As long as they’re not male, Yueyue is actually quite easy to get along with.

It’s just that… not many girls seem to approach her for a chat?”

Lin Yueyao pondered this silently after hearing the explanation.

Su Liyue’s usual aloof demeanor, coupled with her outstanding magical prowess, invariably exuded an unspoken sense of oppression.

Over time, rumors spread among the girls that she was unapproachable, and everyone naturally maintained their distance.

After all, between a genius and an ordinary person, there seemed to lie an insurmountable chasm, did there not?

“So that’s how it is! I thought Chief Su’s ‘do-not-approach’ aura was indiscriminate of gender,” Lin Yueyao exclaimed, a sudden realization dawning on her.

Listening to their conversation, Su Liyue found herself unconsciously reflecting.

While it was true she typically avoided contact with other males, she thought she was quite amenable to girls who approached her, provided they harbored no ill intentions.

Perhaps, she mused, her intense focus on finding a way back home these past few years had inadvertently created this misconception?

Yet, she decided to let it go.

As a cultivator, some matters were best left to fate; overthinking them only invited unnecessary trouble.

Meanwhile, Chixiao had quickly moved to Ye Xingchen’s side, striking up a conversation with feigned familiarity:

“Brother Ye, I trust you don’t mind me addressing you this way?”

Hearing this overly familiar address, Ye Xingchen instinctively felt that there was something amiss with this fellow, a clear sign of ulterior motives.

“Cough… whatever makes you happy.”

“Brother Ye, I’ve noticed you’ve been quite close with Chief Su recently, so I specifically came to ask about it.

After all, in her three years here, she’s never once interacted with a male student.”

Chixiao asked cautiously, terrified that Su Liyue might overhear from behind, and equally anxious not to utter a wrong word that might anger Ye Xingchen, which would prove terribly awkward.

Little did he know, from the moment he began speaking, Su Liyue had already caught every word.

After all, the two of them were essentially one entity.

Well, another gossipmonger.

It seemed the matter of the familiar spirit had already spread throughout the entire academy, and there was no hiding it now.

Ye Xingchen’s mind raced for a moment before he slowly began, “Actually… she’s my younger sister.”

This was a common trope in novels: whenever faced with an unexplainable relationship, one could simply trot out the ‘younger sister’ setup, which always seemed to fool people.

“Younger sister?” Chixiao clearly looked bewildered.

He turned to compare their appearances, not even factoring in their immense talent disparity.

“With one of you having black hair and the other white, and such different looks… you both seem almost generations apart…”

Chixiao’s comment was remarkably restrained, just short of explicitly stating that they didn’t resemble relatives in the slightest.

Hearing this, Ye Xingchen suddenly realized his oversight.

On Earth, among people of the same ethnicity, hair and skin colors were generally similar, making the ‘sibling’ excuse somewhat plausible.

But this was a world of magic, where, regardless of race, hair colors alone came in a multitude of shades.