Chapter 32

Yu Tao hurriedly grabbed the fallen Liuli mirror, stuffed it into her arms, and rushed to the door to open it.

“Good, good morning, little senior brother.” She placed her hand on the doorframe, gripping it tightly, too nervous to look up at him, quietly swallowing her saliva.

“Did you need something from me?”

“Mm.” Yu Li slowly glanced at her, as if not noticing her abnormal behavior, his tone calm.

“We will be going to Xuanyue Sea for at least half a month. Have you prepared everything for the journey, like food, clothing, and supplies?”

Yu Tao was petite, and the young man was tall and slim, making their height difference immediately obvious. She barely reached his shoulder.

At this moment, she didn’t raise her head, but slightly lifted her eyes, enough to see the young man’s fair neck, his collar tightly fastened, and as he spoke, his Adam’s apple moved like a smooth jade.

She found herself staring, her face suddenly flushing red, a little dizzy.

Last night… she seemed to have pulled him down by his neck, close enough to feel the warmth of his body, his breath on her neck also warm and intense.

“Yu Tao.”

“Ah, ah?”

Yu Tao snapped out of her thoughts when her name was called, looking up at him with a dazed expression, “What is it?”

“…” Yu Li’s pale gold eyes were cold, “What were you thinking about?”

After hearing the question, Yu Tao nervously bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before finally asking, “Little Senior brother, did I do something strange last night after I got drunk?”

The young man answered plainly, “Yes. It’s surprising that you still remember what happened after drinking.”

Yu Tao’s heart skipped a beat. So that means what happened last night was real?

She stammered, “W-what did I do?”

Yu Li’s gaze casually swept over her hand still gripping the doorframe, and he spoke slowly, “After you returned last night, no matter what I did, you refused to sleep. You lay on the bed, eyes wide open, and asked me…”

He suddenly stopped at this point.

Yu Tao didn’t have much of an impression of this part, scratching her head. She vaguely remembered there being someone at her bedside.

“Little Senior brother, what did I ask you?”

The young man paused, his eyes dimming slightly, “You held onto my sleeve tightly and wouldn’t let me leave, asking: ‘Can I kiss you?'”

Yu Tao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She looked at the young man’s face, his expression calm and indifferent, completely not like someone who was lying. Moreover, he had no reason to deceive her.

So… she really did say that.

Help, how did she end up teasing her little senior brother after getting drunk! Although she did have a crush on him, still, how could she possibly say something like that normally?!

Yu Tao painfully covered her face, wishing she could crawl into a hole: “I’m sorry, little senior brother, you probably didn’t agree, right…”

“Naturally not.”

Yu Li answered plainly: “But you were quite persistent, refusing to sleep, and insisted on going to the Training Platform to find your cat.”

Training Platform—this was the key. The scenes in her mind had happened at the Training Platform.

Yu Tao inhaled sharply, then slowly exhaled: “Little Senior brother, did I do anything else at the Training Platform?”

Yu Li didn’t respond immediately. He lowered his gaze slightly, then asked in return, “It seems like you still remember a bit about what happened yesterday?”

“…Mm, just a little.”

Yu Tao nervously fiddled with her fingers, speaking slowly: “It was raining at the Training Platform, but my cat… for some reason, turned into your appearance, with cat ears and a tail.”

Yu Li’s tone was indifferent: “Does that mean you remember what you did?”

His calm reaction made Yu Tao unsure whether what had happened yesterday was real, or if she had just imagined it, or perhaps it was just a dream.

Obviously, she had done some very inappropriate things to him, but the person involved had shown no special reaction. This wasn’t right.

She lowered her head, hesitating to speak, only mentioning what she could: “I… I patted his head last night, and even put a collar on him.”

“Indeed.”

Yu Li nodded slightly, responding softly.

Yu Tao suddenly looked up. Did he just admit it?!

She was just about to speak when a black figure appeared in front of her. A slender jade-like finger gripped the back of a black cat’s neck and tossed the cat into her arms.

“Last night, junior sister really did some… well, not very easy to describe things to this cat, and even forced it to wear a collar.”

The young man lowered his long lashes, hiding the faintly dim gaze, and spoke in a relaxed tone: “But I didn’t expect that in junior sister’s eyes, this cat was actually seen as me. That’s quite surprising.”

Yu Tao was a little stunned. The black cat in her arms was soft and purring, with the collar she had made herself still around its neck. The light golden cat’s eye stone shimmered in the morning sunlight, vibrant and enchanting.

She cradled the cat in both hands and stared at it. “Lili?”

The black cat gave her a cool, indifferent glance, then looked away without acknowledging her.

Yep, this was indeed her Lili.

Yu Tao stroked the collar, and the “Tao” she had engraved was still there—it was definitely her cat.

This meant that little senior brother was right. After getting drunk, she had mistaken Lili for senior brother, and those vivid images in her mind were just her own imagination. In reality, she had merely been petting and rubbing a cat.

Yu Tao finally sighed in relief, feeling reassured.

“So that’s what happened. I understand now, little senior brother.”

She felt lighter now, but Yu Li wasn’t going to let her off so easily. He raised an eyebrow slightly and said slowly, “Junior sister said this cat suddenly turned into my form, which means you originally intended to…”

Yu Tao immediately thought of what he had said earlier about asking for a kiss. Her mind raced, and she blurted out, “Don’t worry, little senior brother, I just got drunk and wasn’t thinking straight. I absolutely didn’t have any improper thoughts about you!”

When Hua Lian walked in and heard that resounding assurance, he paused, unable to hold back a laugh.

He shot a meaningful look at Yu Li, the meaning in his eyes clear: ‘Still need some more effort, junior brother.’

Yu Li gave him a neutral glance. “Came this early, are you ready?”

Hua Lian nodded. “All set, though there was a small accident yesterday.”

Yu Tao cuddled the black cat. “Second senior brother, what accident?”

“Weren’t we supposed to go together, the three of us? Yesterday, junior sisters Zhu Mingyu and Lu Qingyu decided to join us too. So we’ll pick up the sect’s task and head out together.”

As Hua Lian spoke, he walked over and peeked inside the room. He paused when he saw the black cat in Yu Tao’s arms, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

“Hey, they’re coming too.” Yu Tao had originally thought it would be a dull experience, especially since she would be with two senior brothers and was nervous, but now that she learned her two friends were coming along, she immediately began to feel excited.

“Mm.” Hua Lian replied absentmindedly, then asked, “Are you taking your spirit pet with you?”

“Yes! That’s exactly my plan.”

Yu Tao gently raised one of the cat’s paws, which still had a bow tied on it. “Its injury isn’t fully healed, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it alone at home.”

She looked up, a little hesitant, and asked, “Will it have a big impact on the trip?”

Hua Lian immediately recognized that the cat was a manifestation of Yu Li’s primordial spirit when he entered the room, which made him pause.

The primordial spirit is like a cultivator’s true self. Maintaining its appearance requires significant spiritual power, and the primordial spirit is vital to a cultivator’s life force. Very few cultivators would allow their primordial spirit to be touched by others, let alone casually placed in someone else’s arms.

His junior brother really is…

Hua Lian fell silent for a moment, then turned to Yu Li. “Junior brother, what do you think? Should this cat stay at home or go along?”

Yu Li replied casually, “If junior sister wants to take it, then let her take it. It’s just a cat.”

Yu Tao sighed in relief, gently rubbing the black cat’s head, and assured him, “Don’t worry, little senior brother, I’ll take good care of Lili and make sure it doesn’t run around.”

Since Yu Li said so, Hua Lian didn’t push the matter further but did remind Yu Tao, “Junior sister, we don’t know what kind of secret realm the Xuanyue Sea will be like. To ensure your safety—and Lili’s as well—don’t stray more than a hundred meters away from your senior brother.”

Yu Tao was taken aback and nodded quickly. “I understand!”

Afterward, Hua Lian went over the essentials of what she should bring on a long trip, checking for any forgotten items, and helped her pack her belongings.

After cultivating to the foundation establishment stage, cultivators no longer rely on grains for sustenance, food is mostly to replenish their spiritual energy. However, since Yu Tao was still in the Qi Refinement stage, food was necessary, so Hua Lian made sure she brought dry rations and cooking utensils.

Once everything was packed, the three of them left Yunjing Peak and headed to Wuchang Sect’s task center, Xingzhi Pavilion at Mingde Peak.

Many disciples wanted to go to the Xuanyue Sea’s secret realm. Fortunately, the sect did not limit the number of participants for this task, though for safety reasons, disciples were required to form small teams of at least three.

There were restrictions at Yunjing Peak, so Zhu Mingyu and Lu Qingyu waited here.

The two of them were standing by the wall—one was deep in thought with her head lowered, while the other was reading a book.

The commonality between them was their indifferent, cold expressions. They looked aloof, and fellow disciples walking by avoided them, not daring to speak.

“Good morning, Classmate Zhu, Senior Sister Lu.” Yu Tao jogged over to greet them.

“Have you been waiting long?”

As soon as Yu Tao arrived, Lu Qingyu’s expression softened, and she smiled, putting away the book. “Good morning, Junior Sister Taotao.”

“Not too long, I just got here. I was reading for a bit.”

Zhu Mingyu, who seemed to have something on her mind, also looked up. “I just got here too. Have you prepared everything? This trip is a bit longer, so you need to be careful…”

Yu Tao patiently listened and nodded. “Everything is prepared.”

She smiled. “Classmate Zhu, you’re just like Senior Brother Hua Lian said. It seems you both have a lot of experience.”

Upon hearing Hua Lian’s name, Zhu Mingyu immediately stiffened.

She glanced back, and sure enough, she saw the young man walking toward them. She quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere.

The question Yu Tao had asked her earlier in the morning still hadn’t been figured out.

She had only meant well, so how had it somehow turned into her behaving inappropriately toward him?

She wasn’t sure if he would remember this after he sobered up. Zhu Mingyu felt a bit of a headache. He should understand things better once he is sober, right?

Hua Lian and Yu Li walked over and stopped.

After greeting them, Hua Lian said, “Since everyone’s here, I’ll go find Shishu to take on the task.”

He collected the disciples’ jade tokens from everyone, and Zhu Mingyu paused. “I’ll go with you.”

Hua Lian was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding. Hadn’t they all arrived already? Was she still worried that he wouldn’t take them with him?

He nodded quickly. “Alright, no problem.”

The two of them entered the Xingzhi Pavilion, leaving the three behind.

Yu Li, who wasn’t fond of talking, and Yu Tao, who wasn’t good at initiating conversations, made the atmosphere quiet once Hua Lian and Zhu Mingyu were gone.

Lu Qingyu, wanting to tease Yu Tao and lighten the mood, deliberately leaned close to her and jokingly asked, “Strange, did I not dress well today? How come Junior Sister Taotao didn’t compliment me as usual?”

Yu Tao blinked a couple of times. “Huh?”

Lu Qingyu smiled, lips pursed. “Yesterday, you had too much to drink and were complimenting everyone. Even a stray dog on the street you called handsome, and you even patted its head.”

Yu Li: ?