“Hmm, I found her, isn’t she adorable?”
Xun Xue slipped her hands under Lu Qiancha’s armpits like presenting a treasure, lifting her high up and holding her right in front of Huang Hua’s face, mere inches away.
“Ugh…”
Lu Qiancha, suspended in midair, struggled helplessly, twisting her stiff little body twice, but in the end, she couldn’t escape the fate of being held up like some lion king’s cub.
Finally, Lu Qiancha could only meet Huang Hua’s moon-white eyes. She tried to keep her voice steady, carrying the reverence due to a high-ranking deity: “Lu Qiancha pays respects to the Taiyin Star Lord.”
After speaking, Lu Qiancha extended her paw and offered the last remaining twenty-some incense offerings on her, along with a bottle of the previously brewed Clear Heart Jade Dew Wine.
Then she said, “A humble offering, not worthy of respect…”
Lu Qiancha strained to keep her expression serious as she handed the “tribute” before Huang Hua, her voice steady: “Please, Your Grace, don’t disdain it…”
“Oh? Incense offerings, how interesting.”
At last, a faint ripple of amusement surfaced on Huang Hua’s face.
With an elegant lift of her slender jade-like fingers, the strands of pure incense spiritual power seemed drawn by an invisible force, lightly drifting into her palm and then disappearing without a trace.
Huang Hua’s expression turned like someone who just tasted a sweet dessert, clearly pleased.
As for the bottle of Clear Heart Jade Dew Wine, she barely lifted her eyelids to gesture for it to be placed on the nearby ornate table where the Moon Laurels were being crafted.
Then Huang Hua’s gaze shifted to Xun Xue standing behind Lu Qiancha. A dazzlingly beautiful smile, both mesmerizing and teasing, curled at the corner of her lips: “Xue Xue~”
Her voice was soft and gentle. “Your daughter is far more capable and sensible than you, her mother.”
Huang Hua’s smile deepened, and a faint moonlight flickered in her eyes. “I’m almost about to fall for her myself~”
“You dare!”
Xun Xue’s previously proud smile froze instantly.
In the next moment, a terrifying divine aura burst forth, chilling the entire palace.
She slapped Lu Qiancha back behind her protectively, her voice filled with hostility: “If you dare lay a hand on my daughter, I’ll stew every single rabbit from your Guanghan Palace mountain for my wine!”
The captivating expression on Huang Hua’s face showed a hint of helplessness. With a gentle wave of her hand, the piercing cold spreading throughout the hall quietly dissipated.
She glanced at Xun Xue lazily and leaned back into the icy jade chair, completely dropping her haughty posture: “Enough, enough. No jokes today…” Her voice carried a faint tone of wearied teasing.
Then her eyes flickered, settling back on Lu Qiancha with that condescending scrutiny: “Since your daughter knows the rules and brings a proper gift, naturally, I, as an elder, can’t be stingy.”
No sooner had she finished speaking—
With a grand, elegant sweep of her wide sleeve, a cold moonlight poured across the table, revealing a simple yet profound jade bottle shimmering with deep azure radiance, and beside it, an ancient-style token carved from pure white jade, smooth as congealed fat, with natural flowing patterns resembling the waxing and waning moon phases, quietly resting on the table.
“That’s it? Who cares about these lame trinkets?”
Xun Xue cast a sidelong glare at the table, snorting in disdain.
Waving her hand broadly, she said, “Bring out all your secret techniques and good stuff. Don’t just let them gather dust in your Moon Palace. Those things don’t even produce offspring.”
Lu Qiancha—
She fought to maintain her composure, but beneath her disguise, her wolf ears twitched uncontrollably, and her gaze was irresistibly glued to that bottle of elixir.
Truth be told, she was quite fond of the pill given by the Taiyin Star Lord.
“The items for your daughter are already a generous gift.”
Huang Hua finally rolled her eyes at Xun Xue, tapping the table lightly with her jade fingers, her voice tinged with mild exasperation:
“One Taiyin Ruming Dan, which condenses a strand of pure yin moon essence to protect her fate; and one Yue Shen Tong Ling, which links to the Yue Hua Baoguang zhi Men, allowing her to enter and exit this palace star domain at will.”
She leaned slightly forward, her moon-white eyes carrying a penetrating power as she looked straight at Xun Xue: “Xue Xue, with this treatment, try and find me a second one like her in all heaven and earth!”
“Wait!”
Xun Xue’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she caught the crucial detail.
Scanning Huang Hua like a fierce mother protecting her child, she snapped, “Yue Shen Tong Ling?! What do you want with that for my daughter?! So you can kidnap her anytime for your little ‘chats’?!”
Recalling Huang Hua’s earlier declaration of “almost falling in love with her,” alarm bells rang wildly in Xun Xue’s mind.
She knew the Taiyin Star Lord all too well.
Beneath that world-shakingly beautiful face hid a silver tongue that could mislead anyone.
The first time they met, wasn’t she fooled by Huang Hua’s cold, aloof yet gentle and intellectual facade? Almost walked right into her trap!
“Oh, don’t be so suspicious. I’m no villain.”
A faint smile blossomed on Huang Hua’s lips like the halo of a bright moon, her tone lazy but tinged with deliberate grievance:
“I’ve been stuck deep within the chill of Guanghan for so long, spending my days with those moon rabbits and golden toads, having no one to talk to, it does get a bit dull.”
At the end, Huang Hua sighed softly, her voice like frozen beads of ice dripping from the eaves, carrying a trace of loneliness:
“They say the Qionglou Yuyu fairy realm is wonderful, that immortals live forever, roaming free without worries.”
“But who knows, within this eternal lifespan, there is greed, anger, foolish delusions, and one must also taste the torment of solitude—ten thousand years without a single soul to speak to….”
“Enough with your melodrama.”
Xun Xue cut off her long sighs without mercy, her eyebrows rising as her azure eyes sharpened like knives:
“I warn you! If I find out you dare use your ‘sweet words to deceive true feelings’ tricks on my daughter, I won’t hold back at all!”
“Heh… I already said, I’m not interested in your daughter.”
Huang Hua stopped pretending and retorted straightforwardly.
Then a mischievous, teasing smile curled at her lips: “We’ve known each other for so long, and yet you still don’t see who this heart of mine—unchanged for billions of years—is ‘interested’ in? Hmm? Little Xue?”
Huang Hua’s eyes flickered meaningfully toward Xun Xue.
Xun Xue ignored her, folding her arms and bluntly saying, “Your Moon Palace isn’t some Dongtian Fudi. Chatting here won’t help her cultivation. A venerable Taiyin Star Lord, and the first gift for a junior is this? Huang Hua! What, did you lose your face and hand it to the golden toad as a pillow?”
Lu Qiancha—
She sat obediently and properly, paws folded on her lap like the perfect little figurine.
But upon hearing that, she couldn’t help but look up at Xun Xue.
Actually, the spiritual energy here was so dense it practically dripped with moisture—perfect for cultivation. Much better than those so-called Dongtian Fudi.
“Who said I brought your daughter here just to chat?”
Ignoring Xun Xue’s unreasonable protests, Huang Hua finally threw out her real hook.
Her voice regained its usual elegant and commanding calm: “I actually want to make a little ‘deal’ with your daughter.”
“Deal?”
Alarm bells rang loudly in Xun Xue’s heart as she stared intently at Huang Hua. “My daughter doesn’t possess any rare treasures you’d be interested in.”