Chapter 980: Something’s Wrong With You

“The bad news is…” said Long Qingyue, “your Iceborn Constitution is long gone.”

Ye Wenxin could hardly believe it. Yet, it was true that her body stopped showing traits of the Iceborn Constitution after she’d consumed the corpse worm’s core.

However, considering all the trouble it had caused her, losing the constitution should be a good thing.

“How is that bad news?” Ye Wenxin began to worry about the good news. “Don’t tell me the good news is that it evolved.”

Long Qingyue’s lips curled in a small smirk. “The bad news is,” she slowly revealed, “your body hasn’t been whole since long ago.”

Long Qingyue unceremoniously took off her clothes. Ye Wenxin felt awkward seeing her own face and body appearing before her eyes.

But looking closely, her right hand exhibited signs of festering, and there were floral tattoos across her body.

Ye Wenxin gasped, carefully circled Long Qingyue once, and asked, “What’s going on?”

“I guess your body is rejecting my soul.”

Long Qingyue remained smiling, her tone calm as if she weren’t talking about herself.

“Then do you feel any discomfort?”

The curve of her lips deepened at Ye Wenxin’s rare concern. “It’s not too bad. Given what I have to put up with every day, this pain doesn’t count for much.”

Ye Wenxin assumed she meant it didn’t hurt and let out a breath. “That’s good. If it hurt, that’d be terrible. I hate pain.”

What had seemed like a warm moment instantly fell apart. Despite herself, Long Qingyue wanted to knock some sense into Ye Wenxin’s dense, straight-girl mindset.

Ye Wenxin didn’t notice what she’d done. She stared at her body, her eyes shining with anticipation at the thought of getting it back.

“Already bored with my body?” Long Qingyue wasn’t willing to return Ye Wenxin’s body so soon. Even though the right hand burned sharply, she didn’t want her rejoicing yet.

“It was fun at first. But after hearing everyone’s thoughts, it felt like I’d seen all the ugliness in the world. It got me losing interest real quick. Also, your brother’s thoughts disgusted me. Who does he think he is, wanting to put his hands on you?!”

Ye Wenxin vented all her anger in one breath, crouching in front of Long Qingyue. It was a habit that started years ago, when she was worried Long Qingyue might feel sad over losing her legs. So, whenever she spoke to her, she’d position herself lower and eventually settled with crouching.

Decades of habit couldn’t change, and as they grew closer during the body swap, the gesture felt natural.

Smiling slightly, Long Qingyue lowered her head to look at Ye Wenxin. “Then what kind of person is worthy of me?”

The familiar question was an obvious trap. Ye Wenxin awkwardly forced out a few words: “The most outstanding person in the world—”

“Oh? You truly think so?”

“—still wouldn’t be good enough for my Yue’er. They must at least be on par with an ascendant.” Her survival instinct was in full force. She had a good guess at what Long Qingyue wanted to hear but simply didn’t want to say it.

Their relationship was an equal one. Neither Ye Wenxin nor Long Qingyue had an obligation to fall for the other. Ye Wenxin didn’t reject the idea but intended to let things take their natural course.

There was no need for deliberate sweet talk or attention, like always.

“I love hearing that, Qingcheng. Since I must be too exceptional, only I get to choose who to be with. So you’d better be content. Don’t go flirting around behind my back.”

No matter how awkward Ye Wenxin got, Long Qingyue could always smooth things over. The body swap didn’t seem to have affected her emotional intelligence or intellect.

Ye Wenxin wondered if these parts belonged to the body or the soul.

When Ye Wenxin stayed silent, Long Qingyue plucked a hair strand stuck to her. “What? Am I wrong?”

The hair instantly turned to frost and vanished with the surrounding warmth.

Ye Wenxin immediately knew who had left that on her. “Han Shanxue.”

But it made sense after she thought about it. That person was a female lead, possessing qilin luck and various supreme martial arts. Ye Wenxin didn’t find it strange that she knew a tracking technique.

But Han Shanxue now knew where she was. Ye Wenxin worried about how to talk her way out of things once she got back.

Noticing her concern, Long Qingyue reassured, “Relax. She got lost before even reaching the tunnel.”

Not that she had done anything to intervene. Han Shanxue’s sense of direction was just that bad, and she got lost in the woods all on her own.

But Long Qingyue didn’t plan to reveal that, enjoying seeing Ye Wenxin looking helpless for once. It had been a long time since she had shown any vulnerability.

One was the Golden Age Dynasty’s Eldest Princess while the other was the Demon Lord of the demon sects. They were no longer the naïve girls they once were.

“I’m not surprised.” Ye Wenxin smiled in realization, which was a little cute. “Miss Han is hopeless with directions.”

She had never shown such a side in front of Long Qingyue, perhaps because Long Qingyue had been too fond of teasing her when they were young. Seeing Ye Wenxin so guarded, loving yet scared of her, told Long Qingyue how difficult the path she wanted to take would be.

But the more challenging it was, the more interesting it felt to someone as easily bored as her. The corners of her mouth rose imperceptibly. She reached out to touch Ye Wenxin again, and pain shot through her right hand.

The rejection felt intense even without the tenfold sensitivity.

Seeing Long Qingyue’s face turning pale, Ye Wenxin reminded, “Let’s switch back before my hand rots away entirely.”

Long Qingyue looked reluctant but still took out the umbrella sword from her bag of holding.

A furious Ghost Mother shot out from the sword, baring her fangs at Long Qingyue. But having heard their conversation, she only cursed a few times before yanking Long Qingyue’s soul out and flinging it far.

Only Ghost Mother would enjoy such childish revenge.

“Gui Gui, quit messing around. Can’t you see my body’s starting to rot?” said Ye Wenxin, half exasperated.

Though still sulking, Ghost Mother quickly stretched out both hands, pulling Ye Wenxin’s soul from Long Qingyue’s body.

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Author’s notes:

Ye Wenxin sees Long Qingyue as her teacher.

She feels awe and respect for her teacher, yet the teacher suddenly says she wants to start a romantic relationship.

She can’t refuse, worried it would break some unspoken rule.

She also can’t accept, worried about being drained dry.

By the way, when I started writing this story, its placeholder title was “What Do I Do If All My Masters Like Me Too Much.”