Chapter 416: Crave (1^st Update)

“I’m Mo Niancheng. How may I be of help?” Long Qingyue still continued with her role-playing. One must admit, Long Qingyue was quite the actress. If Ye Wenxin’s special ability hadn’t become so powerful, she wouldn’t have even caught on to Long Qingyue’s carefully laid plan.

Ye Wenxin thought back to the ‘Long’ character that she had divined, but Long Qingyue had never been interested in romance and carnal pleasures. How could she possibly be willing to participate in a script she herself constructed?

Ye Wenxin pondered Long Qingyue’s true intentions, but the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. She also didn’t dare to let her guard down, fearing that if her mind wandered, Long Qingyue might try to read her mind again, and read thoughts that shouldn’t be read.

As she looked around, she noticed that aside from the Second, Mo Rou, the other three leaders were all captivated by Long Qingyue’s portrayal of Mo Niancheng, and were eagerly promoting themselves. Even Xiao Zhang, who had previously cared about Ye Wenxin, seemed somewhat distracted, drawn towards Long Qingyue.

Long Qingyue maintained an appropriate distance, which won her even more favor from everyone. Ye Wenxin let out a big yawn, and saw Ghost Mother emerge from the umbrella sword to stare intently at Long Qingyue in the distance.

“Stop staring, or you’ll start drooling in a moment,” Ye Wenxin communicated with Ghost Mother in her mind. Ghost Mother actually wiped her mouth upon hearing this, then suddenly remembered that she was a ghost and couldn’t drool. She turned to look at Ye Wenxin with a clear expression of disdain. “If I could choose, I really wish he was my master.”

Ghost Mother made no attempt to hide her fondness for beautiful people. Ye Wenxin found Ghost Mother’s reaction quite normal and smiled as she said, “Then how about I give you to (her)him?”

She actually reached for the umbrella sword, intending to give it to Long Qingyue. Ghost Mother panicked. “I was just joking! I’d still rather stay with you.” She once again clung to Ye Wenxin, with a visibly anxious expression on her face. Ye Wenxin chuckled; although she felt conflicted, she wasn’t angry.

Long Qingyue was originally a charismatic villain, and sometimes the presence of a character like her could even overshadow a lead character’s halo. On top of her deliberate performance, Long Qingyue maximized her wicked charm, making people both love and hate her.

Long Qingyue wasn’t being particularly slick, but judging from the intense affection in those women’s eyes, it was clear they had fallen for her at first sight. After watching for a while, Ye Wenxin felt even sleepier. Noticing that Mo Rou was behaving differently from the others, she couldn’t resist teasing her a bit.

“Why aren’t you chatting with that old man, Second?” Considering Long Qingyue was already in her forties or fifties, calling her an ‘old man’ seemed quite reasonable to Ye Wenxin.

Mo Rou lowered her head, nervously fidgeting with her fingers as she quietly said, “I don’t like talking to people.” Her voice was so soft that it was hard to imagine someone like her could be a bandit clan’s Second.

The more Ye Wenxin looked at Mo Rou, the more she found her adorable. Realizing that no one else was paying her any attention, she whispered to Mo Rou, “Why don’t we go for a walk nearby?”

This was a very ordinary suggestion, but Mo Rou’s face turned even redder. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded in assent. So, Ye Wenxin led the way, and the two of them headed to the stronghold’s martial arts training ground.

It was already nighttime, and several young women were still training over there. When they saw Mo Rou, they just quietly greeted her. Mo Rou only gave a slight nod, but she still appeared very nervous and timidly followed behind Ye Wenxin.

Wherever Ye Wenxin went, Mo Rou followed, but she didn’t say anything. Ye Wenxin didn’t know what to say either, so she could only compliment the moon.

“The moon is really beautiful tonight.”

“Mm.”

“The breeze is nice tonight too.”

“Mm.”

After being asked a couple of questions, Mo Rou still didn’t give any other response. She just nodded along with whatever Ye Wenxin said.

Feeling the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, Ye Wenxin finally said, “Now that we’ve found Lord Mo, what are your thoughts on luring out the Jiangshi King?”

This finally got Mo Rou to raise her head. But when she saw Ye Wenxin standing so close, she quickly stepped back, looking startled, more like someone with social anxiety than an introvert.

Ye Wenxin realized she had scared Mo Rou and was about to say something else when she noticed a group of people approaching from a distance. They surrounded Long Qingyue, practically circling her as if they couldn’t wait to transform into wolves and devour her.

Long Qingyue continued to smile, refined and courteous, maintaining propriety. It seemed she had intentionally come out to look for Ye Wenxin.

“Mo Rou, help me out.” Ye Wenxin’s mind was racing. Mo Rou replied with a soft “Mm”, and before she knew it, she was pulled into Ye Wenxin’s arms. She seemed even more like a frightened rabbit, desperately struggling to break free. Even though she was trained, against Ye Wenxin, who was a cultivator, her resistance was weak at best.

Unable to break free, Mo Rou continued to struggle. Seeing her face flushed with embarrassment and resentment, for some reason, Ye Wenxin felt an urge to tease her even more.

So, Ye Wenxin did just that—she held Mo Rou even tighter, and the group of people in the distance couldn’t help but burst into laughter seeing this.

“Little Sister Second is really lucky to have caught Miss Ye’s eye,” Chief said with a start, then couldn’t resist making a gesture towards Ye Wenxin, thanking her for her timely assistance.

“So lucky indeed. I wonder if there’s some nobleman who would embrace someone as lonely and empty as me,” Third chimed in, playing along to give further hints to Long Qingyue.

Although Long Qingyue’s expression remained unchanged, in her mind, she was surprised. “This isn’t proper; men and women shouldn’t have physical contact.”

At this point, even the Fourth, Mo Ziqian, couldn’t help but speak up, “You’re almost fifty years old—hugging a junior isn’t that big of a deal, is it?”

Long Qingyue found some truth in this, nodded slightly, took a few steps forward, gently pulled Mo Rou out of Ye Wenxin’s arms, and gave her a light hug.

Mo Rou was completely stunned. The sudden bliss made her head spin and swell, but the hug was so quick, leaving only an indescribable fragrance that caused her heart to race wildly.

Ye Wenxin raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing that Long Qingyue was up to something, and continued with a cold smile, “With so many juniors here, why does Lord Mo only hug Mo Rou?”

Long Qingyue forced a smile, but Ye Wenxin’s words carried a hidden meaning. She was cursed with ten times sensitivity when in contact with others. Hugging Mo Rou was fine, as it was just an elder greeting a junior.

If she were to hug those three other clan leaders, however, Long Qingyue felt like it would peel a layer of her skin.