By a stroke of coincidence, just as Fang Ren was bringing Liu Qianqian back to the bamboo grove, Bai Qi happened to be in the room, discussing some matters with Zhu Yuan.
Upon seeing the strawberry marks and bite marks all over Fang Ren''s neck, the corners of Bai Qi''s eyes twitched uncontrobly, and the room filled with an air of resentment.
It made Fang Ren wonder if he had actually married Mu Huaqing in the first ce or Bai Qi instead.
"I was looking for you the day before yesterday, why were you in such a hurry to go back? So it was for this reason. It seems Sister Hui Qing alone can no longer satisfy you!" Bai Qi clenched his fists, his smile was very "friendly".
"Why do you sound so sarcastic?" Fang Ren responded helplessly, "It was Hui Qing who asked me to go, alright?"
"Hehe, Sister Hui Qing asked you to find her, but did she ask you to nt strawberries? Did she tell you to be nibbled on?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Qianqian couldn''t help but recall the events of yesterday and the day before. The words "nibbled on," although a bit explicit, did actually hit the nail on the head.
"Why are you getting angry?" Fang Ren frowned.
"You are my fiancé, aren''t you! I haven''t even had our wedding night, and here you are, fooling around with the ss monitor right in front of me?" Bai Qi said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"How many years has it been, and you still bring that up?"
Bai Qi''s face turned cold and he stopped paying attention to him, turning to Liu Qianqian instead, "Now look at this, you''ve been talking about usurping the throne for twenty years, and you really did it!"
After speaking, Bai Qi turned and walked towards the door. Liu Qianqian smiled faintly; Bai Qi still seemed like a little girl, just a bit more open in expression than before.
Just before leaving, Bai Qi turned back at the door and said to Liu Qianqian, "I''lle find you when you have time."
"Find me for what?" Liu Qianqian didn''t quite understand. What was there to talk about with a little love rival?
The coldness on Bai Qi''s face faded away, reced by an extremely weird smile, somewhat lecherous, "To exchange some experiences."
After that, Bai Qi left.
Liu Qianqian looked at Fang Ren, "She still hasn''t gotten married?"
"Yeah, she''s turned into an old maid," Fang Ren said.
Smack—
Right as his words fell, the smartphone in Zhu Yuan''s hand was suddenly crushed.
Fang Ren''s face grew a bit panicked; he had forgotten that there was another eternal maiden right here.
"Cough cough." Fang Ren hastily changed the subject, "Just now, what were you discussing? I heard Bai Qi mention something about Taoist principles. Are you about to make a breakthrough?"
When Zhu Yuan heard him bring up cultivation, she dropped the old maid issue and said, "I don''t know what''s gotten into her these days, she''s beening to fill my head with all this talk about emotions and desires."
Fang Ren nodded, he quite agreed with this; Zhu Yuan had been single for tens of thousands of years, and it was possible that some of her Taoist practices had hit a bottleneck—I guess Bai Qi was right, sometimes external forces are needed to break through.
"I think it makes sense too. You might want to try dating a fellow male cultivator; maybe you''ll gain a new perspective on the whole world," Fang Ren suggested.
Zhu Yuan furrowed her brows, "Why do you say that too? Are you unhappy with me staying here?"
"That''s not what I mean. We''ve been together for twenty years. To me, a mortal who''s only lived a little over forty years, you''re already like a lifelong confidant. Of course, I''d be reluctant to see you leave. But when all of us familiar faces are gone, you''ll be alone again, focused only on your cultivation, not caring about anything else.
Haven''t you thought about whether the answer to your life is really immortality?" Fang Ren said.
"I''ve thought about it, but nothing else really interests me that much. Apart from these years spent with you all, looking at smartphones is pretty nice, but it also has its downsides; it makes me a bitzy," Zhu Yuan said.
Fang Ren responded, "Even if you achieve immortality, won''t you end up using eternity to experience all that life has to offer? These things, sooner orter, are all the same."
"Maybe," Zhu Yuan ended the conversation, then said, "Speaking of which, should I bring that girl Hui Qing over? You two can have a good chat?"
Her words had justnded when a figure suddenly appeared in the room.
"No need."
Mu Huanqingnded in the room, her voice filled with a sigh.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuan left the ce; she didn''t want to get involved in these mortals'' emotional entanglements.
After Zhu Yuan left, Mu Huanqing turned her gaze to the two of them.
Twenty years had passed since theyst met, and their mentalities had undergone earth-shattering changes.
"Don''t leave this time when youe back," Mu Huanqing said to Liu Qianqian while sitting on the couch.
Liu Qianqian nced at her, then again at Fang Ren. Mu Huanqing''s attitude surprised her; she had thought Mu Huanqing would be cold. But instead, without asking anything else, she started by telling her not to leave.
"Hmm," Liu Qianqian nodded.
"Sit down and talk," Mu Huanqing added.
Liu Qianqian then took a seat opposite her. The two of them seemed very rxed, without any hint of hostility.
Seeing this, Fang Ren let out a long sigh of relief. This time he did not deliberately get close to Mu Hui but instead chose a neutral position to sit down in.
"If I were you, I could never let my husband go to another woman," Liu Qianqian said to Mu Huanqing.
Mu Huanqing smiled wryly, "But I can''t just leave you to live a lonely life, can I?"
"I... am not that lonely."
"Right, with a physical body to keep youpany," Mu Huanqing nced at the marks on Fang Ren''s neck, then continued, "But it seems now, it''s him with a soul that you truly desire more. I don''t think you''re willing to settle for what you had in the past anymore."