Chapter 13 - Li Hong Goes Missing

13 – Li Hong Goes Missing

A girl was squatting on a stout tree trunk.

Her figure was rather petite, her height should lie between that of Qi Qiqi and Xue Qilin.

What left Xue Qilin surprised was the short hair that just reached the girl’s shoulders. Since she came to this world, this was the first time that she saw such “short” hair.

Following the principle of “the body, down to hair and skin, was received from the parents, and so one doesn’t dare damage them – that is the beginning of filial piety”, both men and women had long hair in ancient times.

But the strangest thing was that she was holding a big branch full of leaves in each of her hands, covering her face.

What is this lass up to?

Xue Qilin has been here watching for a while now, but the girl still kept her posture in the tree, sticking her head out and looking around, and occasionally clicked her tongue.

Is she peeping? A strange expression on her face, Xue Qilin called out to the girl: “Hello!”

The girl was clearly startled. She trembled, and then turned her head in a flurry: “Who? Oh, it’s you, Young Ancestor!”

The girl patted her plump chest.

She and Seven Seven-Seven are worlds apart… Inexplicably, Xue Qilin felt sad for Qi Qiqi.

“You scared me nearly to death! I thought you were Junior Disciple Sister Luo…”

She seems afraid of Luo Qing. Thinking mischievously, Xue Qilin deliberately raised her voice and shouted: “What are you doing there?”

The girl quickly put her index finger in front of her lips and shushed several times.

She extended her neck and nervously looked into the distance, then moved her gaze back to Xue Qilin and beckoned the latter.

Xue Qilin frowned. Is she really peeping?

Hurry up – the girl mouthed so, urging Xue Qilin

Curious, Xue Qilin followed the other party’s wish. With a light jump, she leaped towards the tree and landed next to the girl.

“Is there anything interesting?”

“Keep your voice down, you scoundrel!”

Blinking her eyes, Xue Qilin nodded her head, and then the girl handed her a branch.

“Do you think this thing is of any use?” A strange look on her face, Xue Qilin took the branch and shook it in front of the girl.

“Hey, you’re so annoying! It’s better than nothing.” The girl deliberately lowered her voice and answered, and Xue Qilin made an “oh” sound.

“Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you peeping?”

The girl’s crafty eyes rolled in thought, and the corners of her mouth curled into cunning arcs.

“I’m watching a play!” She said meaningfully

Perhaps because she saw Xue Qilin’s blank expression, the girl scolded the latter, saying “how can you be so slow on the uptake,” and then pointed with her mouth in a certain direction: “Look over there.”

Xue Qilin looked suspiciously in the direction the girl pointed to, and finally fixed her eyes on a yard.

There stood a man and a woman, who seemed to be quarreling.

Is it “You have a mistress!”, “I said I don’t, why are you being so annoying!” kind of melodramatic plot? This was Xue Qilin’s first guess.

But clearly, she guessed wrong. Because the man and woman were Qin Chen and Li Wanting respectively.

What’s the matter? Aware that there was enmity between the both of them, Xue Qilin’s eyebrows jumped up.

She channeled her true qi into her ears. This was a very simple application of true qi that could improve the body’s functions. Then she heard…

“Elder Li, you’re funny. I said I haven’t seen your disciple.” This sentence, which was spoken in an impatient tone of voice, was naturally uttered by Qin Chen.

By contrast, Li Wanting was in a rage: “Stop pretending! You scum, how could my disciple go missing without rhyme or reason?”

Little Ting’s disciple has gone missing? Isn’t it that Li something? Xue Qilin thought.

“You crazy girl, don’t think that you can take a mile when I give you an inch! Even if I have seen your disciple, what of it? Does it mean that I must be involved in his disappearance? You’re being ridiculous.”

“So you won’t admit? The other day, you must have born a grudge when Hong’er called you scum, and then found an opportunity to take revenge! Tell me where you hid Hong’er!”

Sure enough, it’s Li Hong!

“Hogwash! If you have any evidence, take it out. Without evidence, your accusation is mere slander! Even if you go complain to Palace Master, reason is still on my side!”

If Li Hong really went missing, then Qin Chen is indeed a suspect. Yet Xue Qilin could see a look of resentment and helplessness on Qin Chen’s face, looking like he was being accused wrongly.

“You…” Li Wanting pointed at Qin Chen with a trembling finger. Perhaps because she knew that she was in the wrong, she only made a sarcastic remark in a suppressed tone of voice: “Qin Chen, mark my words – you reap what you sow.”

Li Wanting doesn’t seem to know much about swearing! Besides, she seems to be thin-skinned. No wonder she and Seven Seven-seven are like sisters, they are birds of a feather.

But then again, what about Li Hong’s disappearance? Is it really like Li Wanting said, did Qin Chen harbor a grudge because Li Hong called him scum? Xue Qilin wrung her eyebrows for a long time, but still could not come up with a verdict.

There was no evidence, and she knew it.

Well, there’s no point in thinking about it. Xue Qilin shook her head, then thought that this matter should be brought up to Qi Qiqi.

“Hey, why are you staring there foolishly? They’re already gone.” The girl said angrily. Her words brought Xue Qilin back to her senses.

As she had said, Li Wanting and Qin Chen have already left.

“Palace Master said that you’re unhinged, which is indeed true! But I think that you’re not only strange, but also foolish! You’re as stupid as the silly bear Red Dragon [1] guarding the gate!”

Previously, when the other party spoke harshly, Xue Qilin hadn’t bothered with her, but what was the outcome? Her words became even harsher.

Reaching the end of her patience, Xue Qilin retorted: “You’re the stupid one, you big-chested monster. Anyhow, I’m your Young Ancestor! Aren’t you afraid that I’ll spank you when you curse me like that?”

“What? Is it envy that I hear in your voice?” The girl puffed up her chest proudly, giving off a strong sense of pressure.

She’s the baby-faced and big-chested type. Xue Qilin nearly stared. If she were not a lolicon with a unique interest in fairly flat chests, she might have taken advantage of her current identity as a loli to cop a feel.

Xue Qilin forced herself to move her gaze away and pretended to be unconcerned. She asked back: “Aren’t you the complacent one?”

“Better than some people who are without.” The girl said as she played with her hair. At the same time, she glanced at Xue Qilin’s flat chest from the corner of her eyes, a look of pity in her eyes. Her gaze resembled Xue Qilin’s when she looked at Qi Qiqi’s chest.

Anyway, Xue Qilin felt that the girl was being deliberate in her actions. She was being too obvious.

“It’s not that I’m without, I just haven’t grown up yet! Besides, do you know what well-proportioned is? I felt bad for you the moment I saw that disproportional chest of yours!”

“Disproportional…?”

Perhaps her complacency was just a front. Now only an empty shell of a smile remained on the girl’s face, no longer looking carefree and unconcerned.

“Isn’t it? What can be grasped with a hand is best! Otherwise, it’s too much!”

The girl seemed to have found holes in the counter-attack, and quickly struck back: “Young Ancestor, you’re such a jokester. As far as I cal tell, that pair of yours can be grasped with a single hand.”

The girl’s face was a bit flushed.

“Mine fit just right in my hand!” After she finished speaking, Xue Qilin groped her chest. Then, she suddenly showed a look of realization, and stared at the girl.

“You’re so indecent! You had others touch yours!”

“No one has touched mine!” She refuted, her face bright red.

Compared with Qi Qiqi, this girl was clearly much more thick-skinned, and her mental endurance was far greater.

Even so, she could not withstand the dirty heart of Xue Qilin, and was bound to be defeated.

“As a senior of the sect, how can you be so lacking in demeanor, and quibble with a junior, Young Ancestor! That’s not a behavior worthy of an elder!” Unwilling to lose the battle, the girl changed tactics and attacked again.

“How dare you!” Xue Qilin suddenly shouted and startled the girl, who looked at the former in astonishment.

Although Xue Qilin sniggered in her heart, but her face didn’t betray her inner feelings, and instead showed an angry expression.

“You know that I’m your Young Ancestor, and you still dare talk to me like that? You’ve insulted your senior! Even if I beat you to death with a piece of tofu, there’s nothing you can do about it! If you retaliate, that’s akin to bullying your teacher and betraying your ancestors!”

However, the girl couldn’t help but laugh.

Huh? Is she acting?

“Young Ancestor, don’t pretend, you don’t look the part.”

“Huh, I don’t?” Xue Qilin was stunned for a moment, then tilted her head and asked.

“Even if you puff up your cheecks, you’ll look like an angry little girl at most. The word imposing is incongruous with you. And you still said that you’d beat me to death with a piece of tofu. Ha-ha, you’re so amusing, Young Ancestor!”

“Indeed.” Xue Qilin nodded her hear, deep in thought. Who told her to be so cute? She seemed to have forgotten the fact that she was once a man.

Xue Qilin suddenly clapped her hands and exclaimed, “That’s right.”

The girl next to her shook violently and almost fell off the tree. She was scared by Xue Qilin.

“Young Ancestor, don’t scare people like that, okay? Don’t you know that you could scare people to death?” She gave Xue Qilin the stink eye and grumbled angrily.

“Oh, I was careless for a moment.” Xue Qilin responded so.

Not bothering anymore, the girl asked: “What have you thought of?”

“I still don’t know who you are.”

“You don’t know who I am, yet you’ve been talking to me for so long?” The girl was stunned.

Xue Qilin asked irkly. “Do you have a problem with that?”

The girl sighed helplessly before saying: “My name is…”

“Young Ancestor, Senior Disciple Sister Xia, what are you doing?” Qi Qiqi’s voice suddenly entered their ears.

Xue Qilin looked in the direction from where the voice came, and she saw Qi Qiqi stand under the tree, looking at her and the girl beside her with an odd expression on her face.

“Oh, if it isn’t Junior Sister Palace Master.” Taking the lead, the girl jumped down, followed by Xue Qilin.

“Senior Disciple Sister Xia, what were you doing on the tree with Young Ancestor?” Qi Qiqi seemed curious.

“We were just chatting!” The girl suddenly looked around: “By the way, where’s your White Dragon [2], Junior Sister Palace Master?”

White board [3]? What the hell? Does Qi Qiqi carry a white board apart from a bowl and chopsticks?

“Over there.” Qi Qiqi pointed to some underbrush not far away with her chin.

There was a white cat – the Skycat Little White.

“Little Seven, is your cat called White Dragon?”

“Yes.”

Xue Qilin was shocked. Then she remembered that the girl surnamed Xia just mentioned that there was a bear called Red Dragon responsible for guarding the gate. Is there also a dog called Green Dragon [4]? Great Dragons [5]! Xue Qilin rolled her eyes. Who was the genius who named them?

“Junior Sister Palace Master, I’ll go ahead to play with White Dragon. You can talk with Young Ancestor.” The girl surnamed Xia waved goodbye. Without waiting for Qi Qiqi’s response, she walked towards White Dragon.

She just took a few steps, and then suddenly turned back and spoke: “By the way, just now, Young Ancestor said that you being flat is adorable, Junior Sister Palace Master!”

After saying that, she pointed to Qi Qiqi’s chest, and then gave Xue Qilin a complacent wink.

Before Xue Qilin could deny, Qi Qiqi has already smiled.

It was a fake smile, with the eyes arched into crescent moons radiating no warmth: “REALLY?”

Hearing the sound of teeth grinding, Xue Qilin trembled all over, and then immediately shook her head to show her innocence.

Although Qi Qiqi’s expression eased somewhat, but it still looked doubtful.

This doesn’t look good! Not at all! I guess that I’ll eat a punch! Xue Qilin’s mind revolved at a high speed. At the same time, she secretly cursed the mean girl for framing her.

“I said nothing of the sort!” Xue Qilin said solemnly with a straight face, and then changed the topic: “By the way, Little Ting’s disciple seems to be missing.”

Qi Qiqi’s looked rather surprised, as if she didn’t know about it: “What disciple?”

“Li Hong.”

Qi Qiqi twisted her eyebrows when she heard that name, “Okay, I’ll go ask Senior Disciple Sister Li what happened.” Qi Qiqi seemed to be a temperamental character, the kind that did what she thought. She left this sentence behind, and then turned around to leave. But in the next moment, she turned back.

“Right, you’re leaving for Jinling tomorrow morning! So don’t sleep in, got it?!”

Xue Qilin was stunned for a moment, then gestured with her hands grumpily to indicate that she got it.

After seeing Xue Qilin’s response, Qi Qiqi hurried away.

Then, Xue Qilin looked around and saw that the girl surnamed Xia had disappeared.

You’re really fast at running away! She snorted fiercely.

[1] – Red Dragon (红中) is a mahjong tile

[2] – White dragon (白板) is a mahjong tile

[3] – 白板 also means white board

[4] – Green Dragon (发财) is a mahjong tile

[5] – Great Dragons, use Ctrl + F