Chapter 174 - Interlude, Nighttime Talk Under the Moon (I)

174 – Interlude, Nighttime Talk Under the Moon (I)

It is midnight.

A huge moon haloed by a silver-white sheen bit off a corner of the field of vision and declared its existence.

In spite of this, Xue Qilin, bathing in the shiny moonlight, didn’t pay it any attention.

She is staring intently at the lass sitting in front of her eyes.

A pure white lass.

The snow-colored long hair is spread out, resembling a silk cloak.

The bushy, beautiful tail wrapped around the lass’s shapely waist looks warm and should be pleasing to the touch; the pair of fox ears on the head shaking slightly in the wind are adorable and irresistible, giving people the urge to play with them.

The purple eyes, which gave off a majestic feeling in the past, yet are currently limpid, appear particularly gentle. That’s probably because the shape of the eyes has become slightly rounder, and the corners of the eyes are no longer curved.

The lass’s petite silhouette outlined by the moonlight exudes a dreamlike, ethereal feeling.

Well, no matter how she changed, she is still pure white.

Even though she has shrank and her face became tender, it does not prevent people from recognizing her at a glance.

“– why do you keep staring at me? Xue Qilin.”

The lass placed the wine cup in her hand aside and crossed her small legs that are hanging from the edge of the roof. Her voice, which appears to come both from afar and from nearby, prompted Xue Qilin to snap out of it.

“What? I’m not.”

Xue Qilin looked away and raised her wine cup, trying to cover up the shade of guilt that involuntarily appeared on her face.

Consequently, Beiming Youyu pointed at a corner of Xue Qilin’s mouth and said indifferently, “You’re drooling.”

“What the deuce?”

No way! Xue Qilin blushed and wiped her mouth with a sleeve. When she found out that she was fooled, it was too late.

“Xue Qilin, you’re quite naive.”

— I was tricked!

In a moment of realization, Xue Qilin glanced contemptuously at Beiming Youyu.

“Yo yo yo, how could a magnificent Grandmaster trick people?!”

Beiming Youyu sneered.

“Courtesy demands reciprocity. Who told the Merak Temple’s majestic Young Ancestor to lie, humph humph.”

It turns out that Xue Qilin’s trick didn’t deceive the other party’s eyes.

“La la la~ A big pineapple costs 2 wen [1], four big steamed buns cost 5.5 mao [2] cents, Xianming wants to monopolize, Lin Yu acts according to character, half a jin [3] for 250 [4]…”

The embarrassed Xue Qilin hummed a song that she composed.

She has no talent for music, her humming is off-key. But it cannot be said that she’s a poor singer. After all, she has a pleasant voice.

However, Beiming Youyu cannot overlook Xue Qilin’s off-key singing. She put her tail in front of Xue Qilin’s mouth, preventing the other party from continuing to sing.

“Stop singing, it’s noisy.”

The tail’s fur made her nose itch, and so Xue Qilin puckered and pushed it away.

“People are really overbearing now, not even allowing others to sing.”

“How funny, was that supposed to be singing?” Beiming Youyu asserted with a smile that isn’t a smile, “That sounded like you were sawing a log.”

“What! People are not allowed to sing if they don’t sing well, is that it?”

Xue Qilin protested with dissatisfaction. Beiming Youyu propped up her head, indifferent.

“I suggest that you don’t display your subpar singing in crowded places, or else it may cause panic and confusion.”

With that, Beiming Youyu took a sip of wine.

Although Xue Qilin is self-aware and knows that she is not good at singing, but she couldn’t help gnashing her teeth at the way she was mocked.

“Ouch, Beiming Little Fish, is this how you repay your benefactor?”

“Benefactor?”

As if she heard the most funny joke in the world, Beiming Youyu showed a smile of amusement.

“Little Qilin, I think you’re mistaken about something here. If anything, you just returned a favor. Please don’t take yourself as a benefactor. There is nothing but a fellowship between me and you that can be capsized at any time.”

Although she’s well aware that Beiming Youyu’s words are perfectly reasonable and reflect the relationship between the two rather well, but Xue Qilin still felt a little dejected and disappointed.

However, she didn’t express her inner negative emotions on her face. She cheekily placed a hand on Beiming Youyu’s shoulder.

“Beiming Little Fish, aren’t you being a little fickle? No matter how you slice it, there is a not so shallow friendship between us!”

Beiming Youyu aimed a glance at the exquisite hand resting on her shoulder and asked with interest, “Oh — then according to you, how deep is our friendship?”

“Hey, friendship is not something that you can express in words, but something that you feel inside!”

“I finally understand.”

Beiming Youyu sneered, and then brushed Xue Qilin’s hand on her shoulder away.

“You are not only overfamiliar, but also an out and out shameless rogue.”

Being devaluated to a rogue, even Xue Qilin couldn’t laugh it off.

“Hey, why do you call me a rogue?”

“Because you stared at me in a daze and drooled.”

“I didn’t drool!”

Xue Qilin reiterated once again. But this is the “east wind” that Beiming Youyu has been waiting for a long time.

“Great, so you admit staring at me in a daze?”

At this time, Xue Qilin finally realized that the root of this farce lies in her unwillingness to admit that she “stared at the other party in a daze”.

“Hey, Beiming Little Fish, you wouldn’t be this petty, right? I was just surprised at your loli form, okay?”

Xue Qilin drooped her shoulders, gave up resistance, and told the truth.

Then, she gazed earnestly at Beiming Youyu and expressed her appreciation.

“Anyway, you look very nice like this.”

Unexpectedly, Beiming Youyu suddenly moved with her buttocks to the side, keeping her distance from Xue Qilin.

“… you, wouldn’t have any strange urges, would you?”

“He-he-he, what do you think?”

Xue Qilin assumed a lecherous expression.

“…”

Beiming Youyu, who can no longer maintain an aloof attitude, moved with her buttocks aside once more.

No matter how noble, a princesses is also afraid of rogues! As soon as this notion became clear in her mind, Xue Qilin finally could no longer suppress her long-standing desire and poked Beiming Youyu’s ear.

As a result —

“Ah!”

Beiming Youyu made a high-pitched scream and jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on. With the exaggerated movement, she lost the “footing” of her buttocks and ultimately fell off the roof. If Xue Qilin hadn’t intervened and quickly pulled her up, she would have really fallen off the roof.

“… could your reaction be anymore exaggerated?”

“Who gave you permission to touch this one’s [5] ears!”

Beiming Youyu’s voice exudes a heavy sense of oppression.

If she hadn’t covered the ears on top of her head and put on a tearful expression, Xue Qilin might be scared.

This contrast is really cute! Are ears her weakness? But isn’t it usually the tail? As her mind wandered, Xue Qilin covered her mouth and resisted the laughter that surged inside her.

However, her endurance is doomed to futility.

— slow down, how did she address herself just now? This one? Did she call herself this one? Xue Qilin was taken aback at first, and then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, can’t bear it! Beiming Little Fish, I didn’t expect you to actually… ha-ha-ha-ha.”

In Xue Qilin’s impression, Beiming Youyu is a noble and arrogant individual. It is really difficult for her to imagine that the other party would have such a girlish side.

However, at this moment, Xue Qilin suddenly felt that Beiming Youyu is much less ethereal, feeling a bit more intimate.

Beiming Youyu stood up and looked down at Xue Qilin, who is laughing.

[1] – wen

[2] – mao

[3] – 1 jin = 0.5 kg

[4] – 250 (二百五) is chinese slang for stupid

[5] – this one (本座), this is a form of address used by characters of remarkable ability in ancient times and xuanhuan novels