Clear as Ever - Chapter 4

Junior Shishu did not break my legs.

The noble and aloof Lord Frostmoon neither lectured me nor agreed to my absurd request. When I insisted that Lanshu and I were truly in love, he merely slid a sound-recording stone across the table.

It contained Feng Lanshu’s voice accepting a wager with several other disciples.

“Junior Brother Feng, if your charm really is unmatched, what’s the point of flirting only with inner disciples? You just arrived, so you may not know that our sect has one very special senior sister.”

“She grew up on Bright Moon Cliff. She’s—pfft—a true fairy, dwelling high above the mortal world.”

Feng Lanshu sounded indifferent. “A fairy? No fairy could be more beautiful than my mother. I’m not interested in this Senior Sister Xie.”

The disciple kept provoking him. “Are you uninterested, or not confident you can win her? Senior Sister Xie is engaged to Kunlun’s foremost disciple and was raised beside the world-renowned Lord Frostmoon. Her standards aren’t ordinary.”

“If you can seduce her into ending that engagement for you, then we’ll believe your charm is truly unrivaled.”

Amid the cheering, Feng Lanshu accepted the wager to prove he was irresistible.

Our instant connection had been a lie.

His injury from saving me had been staged.

Every tender word was merely a sacrifice made to win a bet.

I was furious enough to curse, yet could not force a single obscenity from my mouth. After leaving Bright Moon Cliff with as much composure as I could muster, I burst into tears.

With my fiancé, I had imagined feelings that were never there. With Junior Shishu, I had failed to understand my place.

But Feng Lanshu had approached me.

He alone had said he liked me. He alone had called me special and made me believe that, for once, I was loved.

Yet the ending was exactly the same.

Covering my face, I sobbed until I could hardly breathe.

“So there truly isn’t anyone in this world who could love me.”

A person could not even sympathize with herself from four days ago.

Four days ago, I had wept because Feng Lanshu did not love me. After dual cultivating with him for a day and a night, I suddenly couldn’t care less.

I climbed out of bed and examined myself in a mirror. My face seemed more refined, as though a pearl were gradually being washed clean. My dull eyes had become clear and bright, my skin smooth and flushed. I looked as if I had swallowed a legendary marrow-cleansing pill.

While I admired my radiant reflection, Feng Lanshu lay sprawled across my bed, half asleep and without a patch of unmarked skin. His empty arms suddenly tightened.

Finding nothing there, he woke with a start and searched frantically until he saw me at the mirror. Only then did embarrassment catch up with him. He dragged the blanket over his naked body.

“Xie Qingru…” Staring down at the soiled bedding, he asked, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

I was in a good mood, so I praised him. “You performed well. You thoroughly proved your ability.”

His brow furrowed. “That isn’t what I meant. What are we now?”

I smiled at my reflection. “Senior sister and junior brother, of course.”

He stared at me as if he had misheard. “That isn’t what you said last night. Didn’t you promise to take responsibility if I let you sleep with me?”

“A phoenix can have only one lover in a lifetime. What am I supposed to do if you refuse?”

At last satisfied with my reflection, I put down the mirror and looked him over.

“Why should I care? You heartless, rotten bird. How dare you demand responsibility from me?”

“You wagered on my engagement. It’s only fair that I take revenge.”

The blood drained from his face, leaving only a red haze in his eyes. He was already devastatingly beautiful; looking fragile and broken made him even more pitiful.

His scabbed lips moved as though he were desperately explaining something. I ignored every word. All I could think was that his mouth looked very kissable.

Hmm.

I reached a decision.

“Feng Lanshu, come to me once every three days from now on, until I grow tired of sleeping with you.”

He looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut. After a long while, his eyes finally moved toward me.

“Impossible,” he rasped. “Don’t even dream of it, Xie Qingru.”

I spread my hands. “Or would you rather everyone learn that you failed to make me end my engagement, lost your own chastity in the bargain, and came away with nothing?”

He stared at me through tears as though I were the most heartless creature alive.

I remained unmoved. “Cheer up. I enjoy dual cultivating with you. Doesn’t that prove your charm?”

Feng Lanshu did not cheer up.

He gathered his clothes from the floor. Tears blurred his vision, and he fumbled every tie until his robes hung in complete disarray.

He left without looking back.

He had not agreed to my demand.

But he had not refused it either.

I gave a cheerful whistle.

Sooner or later, he would agree.