Liu Xiaolou finally squeezed his way inside and lay stiffly on the felt blanket, afraid to move. This was Fifth Lady’s sister beside him. What was he supposed to do? He had no experience at all.
“Bamboo Lady, you… what stage are you at? Have you reached the Foundation Establishment yet?”
“Not yet. I’ve completed Qi Refinement, but I haven’t been able to find the chance to form a foundation. So… I’ve just been wandering around.”
Liu Xiaolou took a deep breath, and the thread of Bewitching Fragrance hidden in his wrist quietly stirred. Fifth Lady was already at the Foundation Establishment stage, the gap in cultivation too great for him to risk using it on her. But this Green Bamboo beside him hadn’t reached the Foundation yet. Even if she had perfected Qi Refinement, she could still be affected. It was worth a try.
The tent was so small, the night so long… He had more than enough opportunity. If it turned out to be a trap, then so be it. Thirty-four spirit stones weren’t the end of the world.
His nerves made his breathing heavier, and the girl beside him chuckled. “Relax. No need for that. We know each other well enough. Let’s just speak openly.”
“Huh?” The Bewitching Fragrance thread instantly shrank back, startled by her words. Liu Xiaolou was left dazed, turning to look at her.
She went on, unhurried: “Actually, I know more or less what’s going on with you. We’re all sisters here, so there’s no need to keep up pretenses.”
“Sisters?”
“You don’t like women. If that doesn’t make us sisters, then what are we? Of course, if you’d rather call us brothers, I don’t mind.”
“So Bamboo Lady has been traveling with me all this time just for that?”
“Not really. I only meant to say… forget it. Oh, right. Earlier you mentioned wanting to ally with the master of the Purple Pole Sect, but he wasn’t interested? I was thinking, why don’t we ally instead? Two sects… no, three sects together. What do you say?”
“Is that even possible?”
“Of course! I think it sounds fun.”
She reached out her hand, and she and Liu Xiaolou shared a light clap of palms.
“There. We’re allies now, nothing needs to be left unsaid. Xiaolou, do you know something? Back then, I really enjoyed being with Fifth Lady, and she enjoyed being with me too. What are you thinking? Not what you think!” She gave him a playful punch on the chest.
Liu Xiaolou swallowed hard and forced a laugh. “No, no, I wasn’t thinking anything…”
“We were the same in everything. Slept in the same bed, woke at the same hour, broke through our first meridian together, entered the second stage of Qi Refinement together… Even after we went our separate ways, it was always like that. I even reached the seventh stage two months earlier than she did.”
After a pause, Green Bamboo said, “But later she changed. Maybe it was just that we grew up… She was better than me in everything, even in cultivation she advanced faster. I had no idea how to catch up. Sometimes I felt so jealous I thought I might lose my mind.”
“You… does she know?”
“I don’t know if she knows or not. Why would she ever notice such petty feelings of mine? Or maybe even if she did, she wouldn’t care. The only things in her heart are cultivation and the Su family.”
Almost without thinking, Liu Xiaolou squeezed Green Bamboo’s hand and agreed wholeheartedly. “She really is a cultivation fanatic.”
Green Bamboo squeezed his hand back. “That’s true… but she’s still my dearest sister. I’m happy for every achievement she makes, and I feel sad for every setback she suffers. When I heard that her husband had a fondness for men…”
Liu Xiaolou was speechless. “That rumor’s spread everywhere already? Really…”
Green Bamboo replied, “If you want to keep a secret, you don’t get married. But once you do, why be afraid of people finding out?”
In a last-ditch effort, Liu Xiaolou tried to defend himself. “If I didn’t like women, how could I have crafted that formation? Do you even know I made one?”
Green Bamboo’s eyes suddenly lit up. “They say there’s a whole circle of ‘powerless young masters,’ and that you built that formation to make yourself stand tall again. Once you step inside, it feels so real, is that true?”
Liu Xiaolou made one last desperate attempt. “I’m straight! I’m not bent!”
Green Bamboo frowned. “I’ve told you everything about myself, so why are you still pretending? If you really are straight, then prove it to me!”
“How am I supposed to prove it?”
“Like this!”
With a sudden roll, Green Bamboo pinned him beneath her. Liu Xiaolou froze, completely stunned.
For a moment their four eyes locked, until Green Bamboo urged him on. “Well? Hurry up!”
Almost by reflex, Liu Xiaolou pushed aside his distracting thoughts, holding his breath and focusing all his will, determined to prove his innocence. But heaven only knew why. The harder he tried, the harder it became. The more he struggled to concentrate, the more his mind wandered. Under Green Bamboo’s sharp, pressing gaze, his face flushed crimson.
A wave of panic rose in him.
Green Bamboo sneered. “Well? How’s that?”
Liu Xiaolou drew a deep breath. “Wait… give me a little time.” He summoned the Yin-Yang Art of the Sanxuan Sect, forcing his true qi into motion to strike at the crucial point below. But his wounds hadn’t healed, and the moment he gathered his qi, pain shot through the damaged Kidney Meridian. Cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.
Green Bamboo pressed down harder with her legs, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Well? How is it now?”
At last, Liu Xiaolou gave up trying to argue. He collapsed in defeat, panting heavily.
Green Bamboo rolled off him with a snort. “Still won’t admit it? Do I have to bring in a man who shares your tastes before you’ll confess? I know more than a few like that!”
“Don’t!” Liu Xiaolou cried in alarm.
She gave him a small smile and patted his cheek. “So you admit now that you and I are sisters? Good. Don’t be so downcast. I won’t spread it around. Really, it’s nothing. I’m a formation master too, and I can understand why you crafted an illusion formation. To be honest though, I used to underestimate illusions. But now… I see I was wrong.”
Liu Xiaolou just stared blankly. “Wrong about what?”
Green Bamboo thought for a moment. “Maybe the secret to crafting illusion formations is that you must first deceive yourself before you can deceive others. Only someone who has suffered, who has truly felt it in their own heart, can awaken such powerful illusions. By measuring others through your own experience, you stir the same desire and longing in those who step into the formation, making it feel utterly real.”
She looked at him then and added, “That’s why I want to try your illusion formation for myself, to experience it firsthand.”
Liu Xiaolou was utterly dejected. “If you wanted to try it, you could have just said so earlier! Instead you dragged me through all this trouble…” He was on the verge of tears. “You’ve practically made me impotent!” He rushed to explain, “No, no, that’s not it. It’s because I’m injured. The Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian is still damaged…”
But Green Bamboo ignored his protests and shook her head. “I’m not like those others. I want to enter your formation to probe its roots, to uncover the secret behind how you craft illusions, so I can break through the bottleneck in my own path of formations. Without speaking with you, without sharing in your feelings, how could I possibly gain that insight? As long as you’re willing to help me, name any condition you want. If it’s within my power, I’ll do my best to fulfill it.”
Liu Xiaolou looked at her pleadingly. “No problem! I only have one condition. However you bent me, you’ll have to straighten me back again!”
Her eyes lit up. “That sounds like a real challenge. I accept! Then show me your formation disk.”
“No,” Liu Xiaolou refused flatly. “Straighten me first!”
Green Bamboo huffed. “You’re the one who can’t do it, all right? At least give me some time.”
But Liu Xiaolou insisted. “If I show you the formation, you’ll learn it, then run off and leave me behind. What am I supposed to do then?”
“Don’t forget,” Green Bamboo said, “the Sanxuan Sect and Purple Pole Sect are already allied with my Scarlet Spirit Sect. We’re partners now. How can you still not trust me? If there’s no trust, then what’s the point of an alliance?”
Liu Xiaolou thought it over and gave in. “Fine. I’ll demonstrate it for you, but you have to give me a few days.”
“Why?”
“I’m injured. My true qi won’t gather! How many times do I have to say it before you believe me?”
She chuckled. “Heh…”
“You don’t believe me? Then try for yourself… I mean my meridians!”