bayedsolid Chapter 450 The Love and Career of the Beautiful Immortal Venerable 33
Chapter 450 The Love and Career of the Beautiful Immortal Venerable 33
The sound of knuckles striking the fabric was like a death knell, sending suffocating ripples through the silent room.
The sound struck Jun Li Que's heart again and again, startling the little fox so much that it held its breath, the fur on its tail standing on end, but it dared not shake its head even slightly.
Sui Si leaned against the carved couch, her hair cascading down her black robes, a faint smile playing on her lips.
He watched the brothers' confrontation with great interest, toying with the jade pendant at his waist, and suddenly reached out and gently tugged at Jun Sui's sleeve.
"A-Sui?"
His voice carried three parts languor and seven parts teasing, the last syllable lingering in Jun Sui's ear like silk threads.
"Why is the usually quick-witted Demon Emperor so taciturn now?"
The voice was as gentle as a spring breeze blowing through a peach grove, yet it contained a hint of inquiry that should not be underestimated.
Jun Sui slowly turned his head, his dark golden eyes instantly losing their previous intimacy, replaced by just the right amount of aloofness and restraint.
He bowed slightly, the jade crown in his hair swaying gently with the movement, casting dappled light and shadow.
"avoid arousing suspicion."
His tone was so solemn, as if he were announcing something important, and every word was clear and forceful.
"Ran Cang is your prized student whom you have carefully cultivated. Her life's most important matter should naturally be decided by you, her closest teacher."
At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice, his tone cautious and tentative.
"If I rashly intervene, I fear my intentions will be misinterpreted and spread, ruining the young lady's reputation."
As he spoke, he stole a glance at Sui Si's expression and saw that the smile in the other's eyes was getting deeper. Only then did his heart relax a little, but a fine layer of cold sweat had already seeped out from his back.
Jun Sui: Whew, that scared me to death.
Sui Si nodded in satisfaction, a hint of barely perceptible pleasure flashing in his eyes.
He reached out and placed his hand on Jun Sui's hand, his fingertips gently tracing the thin calluses on the other's palm, the warmth seeping through the fabric:
"It's rare to see someone so thoughtful."
His words were full of undisguised admiration: "Much more composed than some of those impulsive foxes."
His gaze shifted to Jun Lique, who stood silently to the side, his smile undiminished, but a sharp glint appeared in his eyes.
That casual glance sent the little fox plummeting into an ice cellar, its nine tails instantly stiffening into rigid arcs.
"As for certain people,"
Sui Si drew out the last syllable of his voice, picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and as the steam rose, his voice carried the imposing authority of a superior.
"You haven't even learned how to win a girl's heart, yet you dare to talk about marriage?"
Before he finished speaking, Jun Li Que's ears drooped down with a "whoosh".
The demon collapsed to the ground as if its spine had been removed, its tail hanging limply behind it, trembling slightly.
He looked at his older brother pitifully, his eyes welling up with tears:
I shouldn't have teleported so recklessly!
Not only did they fail to receive any help, they also completely lost face in front of their future master!
But the thought that Ran Cang might be taken away by someone else made his eyes redden with anxiety, and his claws unconsciously scratched several deep marks on the ground.
Taking advantage of Sui Si's inattention, Jun Sui quietly grasped his hand and gently drew circles on the other's palm with his thumb.
Feeling the familiar warmth beneath his fingers, he felt a secret sense of pride:
Thank goodness I didn't speak up for that clueless idiot!
Ah Si cares most about his apprentice's affairs. If he were to favor his younger brother, he would likely upset Ah Si again.
As for Jun Li Que's marriage... he glanced at his dejected younger brother on the ground and sneered inwardly:
Wait until you learn how to make a girl happy before you come begging to me!
Sui Si's hand holding the teacup was suddenly pulled as if by an invisible thread, and the halo of light reflected from the gilded rim of the cup shattered into thousands of cold glints in his amber pupils.
When his gaze swept over Jun Lique, who was curled up on the ground, his nine stiff fox tails, as stiff as wooden boards, were still trembling slightly.
He suddenly slammed the teacup heavily onto the jade table. The crisp sound of the porcelain colliding startled the little fox, making him tremble violently and even the tips of his ears turn pale.
"Why don't you tell me?"
Sui Si approached slowly, the hem of his black robe brushing against the blue bricks with a soft rustling sound, the trailing sound carrying shards of ice that lingered in the room.
"What heinous thing did Ayu do to turn the seemingly gentlest young master of the demon race into such a wretched state?"
Jun Lique's Adam's apple bobbed violently twice, and tears welled up in his eyes, shimmering in the candlelight, yet he stubbornly turned his face away into the shadows.
Unconsciously, he scratched at the cracks in the floor tiles with his claws, the resulting stone dust falling softly onto his pale fingertips.
"I... I just didn't want to put her in a difficult position..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Sui Si's sneer. As the Immortal Venerable bent down, the silver bells hanging from his sleeves jingled softly. The way he lifted the little fox with his fingertips seemed casual, yet it carried a force that left no room for escape.
"Don't want to put her in a difficult position? Your excuse is more entertaining than a storyteller's."
Jun Sui leaned against the carved screen, her fingertips repeatedly stroking the embroidered nine-tailed pattern hidden in her sleeve, watching her younger brother's flushed face gradually turn pale.
Memories suddenly surged back to that snowy night a hundred years ago, when he was also holding a little fox with its body burning hot, listening to the cub's faint whimpers in his arms.
A very soft sigh escaped his throat. Just as he was about to speak to persuade her, Sui Si suddenly let go of his hand. Jun Li Que staggered and fell to the ground, his nine tails hanging limply behind him as if their tendons had been removed.
"Let me ask you,"
Sui Si turned around abruptly, the gust of wind from his clothes overturning the bamboo slips on the table.
Do you know why she's angry?
Without waiting for a reply, he raised his hand and unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, which stirred up the fox fur on the ground and swirled it into a vortex in the air.
"If you can't even see why the person you love is sad, what makes you think you're qualified to talk about liking someone?"
These words struck Jun Lique's heart like a heavy hammer.
Suddenly, the image of Ran Cang's trembling shoulders as she turned around, and the jade hairpin in her hair soaked with tears, appeared before the young demon king's eyes, and his nose instantly felt sore.
Jun Sui stepped forward at the opportune moment, his palm resting on Sui Si's slightly undulating back. Even through the fabric, he could feel the other's suppressed anger.
"Ah Si, calm down."
He caught a glimpse of his younger brother huddled up out of the corner of his eye, and added, "Li Que is, after all... still young, and some things..."
"young?"
Sui Si suddenly turned his head, the flickering candlelight making the anger in his eyes even more intense.
"Does youth mean one can treat sincerity as a game?"
The moment the teacup was picked up and poured out, the scalding tea water meandered into a winding stream on the blue bricks.
"I taught her to ride the moon and control a sword, and to identify the properties of various poisons, not so that she would suffer this inexplicable injustice!"
Jun Li Que suddenly knelt upright, his nine tails exploding into a dazzling silver-white display behind him:
"Immortal Venerable!"
Back then, I... I was just afraid I couldn't protect her!
The hoarse voice, tinged with tears, was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
"Back then, I was just a newly transformed fox, with low magical power, and I was being hunted down, while she was just an ordinary person..."
Before the words were finished, the loud thud of Sui Si kicking over the stool startled an owl outside the window, its flapping wings and the sound of shattering wings echoing inside.
"idiot!
If you like someone, go for it; if you're afraid, just say so. What kind of behavior is this, all hesitant and indecisive?
Don't you have a mouth?
What misunderstandings can't be cleared up face to face?
What's wrong with me bowing my head?
Is it more precious than your self-respect?
Jun Sui picked up the conversation at the opportune moment, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at his waist, the twin lotus patterns engraved on it already worn smooth and warm:
"That's not called protecting self-respect, that's called arrogance."
He glanced at his younger brother, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.
"Think about it carefully yourself."
Also, don't bother me unless it's something extremely important!
The azure rune flicked out of his finger blossomed into a six-pointed star array in the air.
Jun Lique's body glowed faintly, and the next second he disappeared from the spot, leaving only a few flakes of fox fur.
The room suddenly fell silent, with only the crackling sound of the candle wick popping echoing in the empty space.
Sui Si stared at the dissipating embers of the talisman, then suddenly chuckled softly, his silver hair slipping down his shoulders with the movement.
"This Jun Li Que is just like you."
Turning around, I saw that Jun Sui had already unfolded a folding fan painted with green bamboo, covering half of his face, revealing only a faint smile at the corner of his eyes: