“It’s getting late, Xiaoyou. I’ll walk you back to your room first,” Bai Shuanglian said, glancing at the time.
The two had been walking for a long time, and it was indeed time to return.
However, Bai Shuanglian did not intend to take Ling Xiaoyou back to the restaurant.
Instead, she planned to drop her off directly.
After all, Bai Shuanglian intended to discuss some matters with Bai Qiuyin afterward.
These matters concerned Ling Xiaoyou, and it was best if she were not present.
Ling Xiaoyou was momentarily stunned but didn’t suspect anything.
She simply nodded her small head with a hint of regret, seemingly unsatisfied, feeling that the time they spent together was far too short.
Seeing this, Bai Shuanglian gently rubbed the girl’s head and said, “It’s fine. We can meet tomorrow, the day after, and every day after that. We aren’t lacking for this bit of time.”
Ling Xiaoyou understood this logic as well.
She nodded and agreed to let Bai Shuanglian walk her back.
Returning to the floor where the Ghostly Resentment Office was located via the elevator, Bai Shuanglian looked at the floor display and noted, “Xiaoyou, the floor you all are on is in the upper section, while our floor is in the lower section. It seems the Host intended to separate the humans from the ghosts.”
“It’s possible.”
Ling Xiaoyou nodded. She didn’t find anything wrong with it.
After all, there was a saying that Human-Ghost Separation was the natural order.
It was normal to house the two groups separately, even if modern times had increased the communication between humans and ghosts.
Walking out of the elevator, Ling Xiaoyou was about to grab Bai Shuanglian’s hand to lead her to her room so she could recognize the path, when she suddenly saw an orange figure emerge from another elevator further down the hallway.
It was Miao Miaomiao.
It appeared she had also finished her meal and was preparing to return to her own room.
Ling Xiaoyou was just about to greet her when she noticed that Miao Miaomiao had already spotted them.
The cat girl’s reaction, however, became quite strange.
Miao Miaomiao first stole a subtle glance at the tightly clasped hands of Ling Xiaoyou and Bai Shuanglian, then recalled the intimate scenes she had secretly witnessed between them in the restaurant.
In an instant, she seemed to realize something.
Her cat ears suddenly stood upright, and her vertical pupils shimmered with the light of gossip.
Even the corners of her mouth curved into a cat-like grin.
Before Ling Xiaoyou could say anything, the cat girl waved her hands frantically with a look of sudden realization and began jogging toward her own room.
Only her parting words echoed through the hall: “Miao! I won’t disturb you two in your private world, Elder! I’m heading back now!”
With that, her figure disappeared around the corner, leaving Ling Xiaoyou with a face full of question marks and a smiling Bai Shuanglian.
It took a long while for Ling Xiaoyou to process Miao Miaomiao’s words.
‘Wait… could she… have mistaken us for a couple?!’
At the thought of this possibility, Ling Xiaoyou’s small face instantly flushed crimson, as if steam were rising from the top of her head.
She cautiously stole a glance at Bai Shuanglian.
Seeing that the other woman didn’t show any sign of disgust, she breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Wait, why am I sighing in relief? I don’t even like Bai Shuanglian!’
Ling Xiaoyou seemed to snap back to reality and hurriedly shook her head, trying to shake away those emotions and thoughts.
Then, ignoring the faint traces of happiness in her heart, she looked at Bai Shuanglian, cleared her throat, and said, “Don’t pay her any mind. She’s a cat demon, after all. Kitty—oh, no, you know how a cat’s brain is — their thoughts are extremely muddled. Don’t take what she said to heart!”
Bai Shuanglian merely smiled and said nothing.
As for what she was actually thinking, Ling Xiaoyou couldn’t tell.
To prevent the topic from continuing and to keep anyone else from coming out and seeing her behaving intimately with Bai Shuanglian, she hurriedly pulled the woman to the front of her door and said, “I’m here.”
“Mhm.”
Bai Shuanglian nodded, then glanced at the door plate to memorize the room number.
“You should head back too. Don’t keep Great-Aunt Qiuyin waiting too long.”
Ling Xiaoyou opened the door and spoke while stepping inside.
Then, she closed the door, only to suddenly pull it open a crack and poke her head out.
After hesitating for a moment, she plucked up her courage and said, “If you’re bored tonight, you can come and chat with me.”
Bai Shuanglian was stunned.
Then, she heard Ling Xiaoyou’s forced explanation, which was clearly an attempt to cover her tracks: “After all, I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight because of the time difference. I’ll have plenty of time. If you can’t sleep either, you can come find me to talk.”
After finishing her sentence, Ling Xiaoyou lunged back into her ‘burrow’ like a little rabbit, leaving Bai Shuanglian standing outside, laughing in spite of herself.
She nodded slightly toward the door, knowing that Ling Xiaoyou was watching her through the peephole.
“I will,” she said.
Then, Bai Shuanglian turned and left.
Watching Bai Shuanglian’s departing back, Ling Xiaoyou pulled away from the peephole with a flushed face.
She then threw herself onto the bed and began rolling around.
‘Ugh, why does it feel like my IQ drops drastically whenever I meet Bai Shuanglian!’
‘And what was I saying just now? That was way too embarrassing!’
***
“You’re back, Shuanglian. Have you already sent that girl back?”
In the restaurant, Bai Qiuyin was still eating dinner just as before.
It was as if time had not passed at all and remained stuck at the beginning of the meal.
However, the nearly empty tables nearby and the waiters who were so exhausted they were nodding off all served as proof of the passage of time.
Bai Shuanglian suddenly felt she should mention to the Host that these waiters should be given more overtime pay.
Otherwise, if every Cultivator ate like this, they would truly be worked to death.
“Mhm, I’ve already walked Xiaoyou back,” Bai Shuanglian nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside Bai Qiuyin.
After sitting down, Bai Shuanglian paused for a moment.
She looked into Bai Qiuyin’s eyes and suddenly said, “Great-Aunt Qiuyin, I hope you won’t use those kinds of methods to push the relationship between Xiaoyou and me again. I understand your good intentions, but I don’t like doing things that way.”
Seeing Bai Shuanglian looking so serious, Bai Qiuyin was taken aback.
She then realized what was happening, set down her utensils, and said, “But wasn’t that also to help that girl you like realize—”
Her words were interrupted by Bai Shuanglian before she could finish.
The younger woman gazed into the eyes of the elder who had raised her — someone who was technically her Great-Aunt but was more like an older sister — and spoke with a serious, solemn expression.
“But I would prefer it if she realized it of her own free will, rather than being pushed by others!”
Hearing this, Bai Qiuyin fell silent for a moment.
She looked at Bai Shuanglian and asked, “Even if she might never notice those feelings?”
“Even then!”
Bai Shuanglian nodded, responding with firm determination.