Chapter 458: Are You Possessed?

Whether she should accept the gift or not wasn’t even a question anymore. Ye Wenxin took the clothes, feeling the top quality fabric between her fingers. She was dying to try it on right away but, not wanting to seem too eager, awkwardly cleared her throat and said, “Thanks, Fairy Fengya.”

Even as she spoke, she couldn’t stop running her fingers over the material, and wondered if she ought to show off the Clothing Immortal’s craft to her best friend next time. In the midst of her admiration, she noticed the embroidery. White flowers were stitched into the fabric, along with a small insignia.

[Ye]

It was a common practice in this world. With so many members in the Azure Wings Sect, people would add personal symbols to their clothes to keep track of them. Ye Wenxin used the Earthly version of the ‘Ye’ character, so no one native to this world would understand what the character represented. The Clothing Immortal, though, had used the local version of the character, written in simple, elegant strokes.

Ye Wenxin wondered if Fairy Fengya had any markings on her own clothes. She circled around her and spotted two small characters stitched in.

“School Master Fengya, you wouldn’t happen to have seven of these outfits, would you?” A bold thought suddenly crossed Ye Wenxin’s mind. Fairy Fengya might have identical outfits for convenience’s sake, and each outfit had a different number.

“No,” Fairy Fengya responded coolly. She remained standing upright, as if completely unaware of the awkwardness of her posture. Her back was straight, like a proud swan that would never bow to anyone.

Ye Wenxin exhaled in relief. For a moment, she really thought Fairy Fengya might be that extreme, until Fairy Fengya added: “I have about a hundred of them.”

“……”

Ye Wenxin was at a loss for words. She realized that Fairy Fengya was always more intense than she could ever anticipate—almost stubbornly so. Only someone as extreme as her would even consider having a hundred identical outfits.

No, it was more that the Clothing Immortal understood her well. Fairy Fengya, dressed in nothing but pure white, outshone others by a long mile.

However, it was precisely because of her all-white attire that Fairy Fengya seemed to lack a bit of the vibrancy of life. It made her appear as if she stood above the common populace, creating a profound sense of distance.

“Fairy Fengya, besides these hundred white outfits, do you not have any other clothes to wear?” Ye Wenxin asked again, and felt she might have lost track of her original purpose. But teasing Fairy Fengya was proving to be more entertaining than searching for Abbess Jiunan, who was likely off somewhere abusing herself.

Fairy Fengya appeared confused by the question, but nodded. “I have another hundred in black, but I don’t really like them.”

Ye Wenxin froze for a moment, then instinctively glanced at the black outfit she still held in her hands. A suspicion crept into her mind—perhaps Fairy Fengya had just given her one of those hundred identical outfits to dupe her. Feeling a twinge of disappointment, Ye Wenxin sighed inwardly.

“They’re different from the one I gave you.” Perhaps Fairy Fengya had finally learned to read Ye Wenxin’s expression, or Great-Grandma just gave her a subtle reminder, she casually pulled out one of the black outfits.

The small label on it read ‘32’, which didn’t confirm if the ‘hundred outfits’ claim was exaggerated, but at least proved that Fairy Fengya did have a lot of clothes.

“What about anything besides these?”

“Are these not enough for a lifetime?” Fairy Fengya replied, genuinely puzzled by why Ye Wenxin would ask such a seemingly foolish question. Yet, she still responded.

With a slight flick of her hand, her Cold Soul Sword seemed to move with a will of its own, instantly sliding back into its sheath. Elegance truly did befit one called Fairy Fengya.

Her every movement was fascinating in a way that made it hard to look away. Unfortunately, on this quiet night, no one else but Ye Wenxin was there to witness the beauty amidst the moonlit scene.

Ye Wenxin, having seen enough, sat casually on a nearby rock. Fairy Fengya remained standing, her gaze drifting to some distant point. There was no wind tonight, and even moonlight was a luxury. Moments ago, the moon had shone brightly, but now dark clouds had obscured its light.

Growing bored, Ye Wenxin finally decided to resume her search for the elusive Abbess Jiunan. However, as soon as she stood up, Fairy Fengya moved to follow her.

“Why are you following me?” Ye Wenxin halted, looking back at Fairy Fengya in confusion.

Fairy Fengya had only come to retrieve her dudou, so there was no reason for her to linger any longer.

“It’s late,” Fairy Fengya responded, her words as succinct as ever, leaving Ye Wenxin to fill in the gaps herself. Ye Wenxin wasn’t one to fear danger. In fact, her inherited memories convinced her that there was little reason to be afraid of the demons and ghouls in this world.

A mere grove certainly wasn’t going to scare her.

“Exactly; it’s late. Shouldn’t you be going back to rest?” Ye Wenxin tried to send her away, worried that Fairy Fengya’s presence would interfere with her search for the abbess. She was even more worried that the longer Fairy Fengya delayed her, the more likely she would miss whatever show Abbess Jiunan had in store.

Despite Ye Wenxin’s urging, Fairy Fengya persisted in following her, simply replying, “I’ll watch you go to sleep first.”

Fairy Fengya’s unexpected attentiveness made Ye Wenxin feel even more unsettled. She turned to glance at Fairy Fengya, trying to determine whether the person before her was really Fairy Fengya, or Great-Grandma.

“Fairy Fengya, are you possessed?”

“No.”

Fairy Fengya gave a straightforward response, but she still followed Ye Wenxin. As she grew frustrated with her tail, Ye Wenxin finally decided to make a break for it. She couldn’t believe that Fairy Fengya would be so shameless as to keep trailing her.

However, Ye Wenxin had overestimated her own importance. After running for a short while, she found that Fairy Fengya had disappeared without a trace.

……

Meanwhile, Fairy Fengya watched as Ye Wenxin walked off in the opposite direction. With practiced ease, she quickly moved to a concealed spot where a figure was awkwardly looking at her.

Despite Fairy Fengya’s steady gaze, her expression remained impassive, as if she were observing an inanimate object. The person opposite her appeared even more embarrassed but managed to say, “Thank you, Ya’er. If it weren’t for you, she would have seen me in this humiliating state.”

The figure stepped out from the shadows, revealing a woman with delicate features undiminished by her grey monastic robes. Strangely, she had her back exposed, and there was a leather whip lying beside her, leaving little to the imagination about what she might have been doing by herself here.

“She wouldn’t care.” Fairy Fengya gave the woman a dismissive glance before leaving with a wave of her sleeve. It seemed she had followed Ye Wenxin earlier to help the abbess, who had been indulging herself, avoid embarrassment.

Yet, little did she know, Abbess Jiunan was precisely Ye Wenxin’s search target.