"Were you also looking for me, Chuxi?" There was a lapse in Qin Xiruo's delicate smile, but she quickly recovered and masked her concern, continuing to speak in her carefully crafted tone of delicacy.
"Yes, I was." Ling Chuxi nodded, cheerfully maintaining her own artificial disposition. She casually turned towards the alley to check if Ling Xiaoting was still there to overhear all this. The alley was empty and he was nowhere in sight. He must have left quietly.
"What is it, Chunxi?" Qin Xiruo's hand trembled slightly, though no one could tell because it was hidden within her sleeve. She was desperately tamping down her own mixed emotions. She'd seen the exchange between Ling Xiaoting and Ling Chunxi earlier. 'Didn't Ling Xiaoting say he only had Qin Xiruo in his heart? Why then was he behaving in such a manner towards Ling Chunxi? He was regretting treating Ling Chunxi badly in the past because she was now beautiful and had a prodigious level of innate talent. Her transformation had cause him to make amendments in his heart. What a shallow and despicable man!' Qin Xiruo's feelings on this matter were fleeting but convoluted. She didn't like Ling Xiaoting romantically, but seeing him be flirtatious towards Ling Chunxi was extremely uncomfortable for her nonetheless. As though something that belonged to her had been touched by someone else without her permission.
"Oh, it's nothing." Ling Chunxi shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to you about something. It's the main reason why I suddenly became this awesome," said Ling Chunxi mysteriously with a playful wink.
"What? What do you mean by that, Chunxi?" Outwardly, Qin Xiruo appeared stunned, but she was incredibly happy on the inside. Ling Chunxi had just confirmed her suspicions without her having to do anything at all. She was right. Ling Chunxi had acquired her innate talent by means of a special encounter or treasure. Before she could even trap her into spilling her secret, this fool had gone ahead and told her. Qin Xiruo maintained her mask of surprise and confusion while joy and excitement leapt in her heart.
"Oh, Chunxi, whatever do you mean? Could it be that when you passed the assessment yesterday, you took some medical pills to change your level of innate talent? Or was it because you managed to obtain something special?" asked Qin Xiruo under the pretense of disbelief.
Ling Chunxi was too stunned to pretend otherwise. 'What logic was this? Qin Xiruo would actually believe that taking medical pills or obtaining some kind of treasure was the reason behind her transformation? What a joke. There were many amazing medical pills, but none had the ability to change someone's level of innate talent. It was unheard of! The most a medical pill could do was to improve one's cultivation speed. And yes, although treasure capable of altering one's innate talent did exist, where would Ling Chunxi have obtained it? Such heavenly-defying treasure would have attracted a lot of attention and caused the top warriors in the world to come to blows in pursuit of it. How would Ling Chunxi have possibly even attempted to obtain such a treasure?
Ling Chuxi's brow furrowed. She studied Qin Xiruo's profile thoroughly and saw an urgency in the depths of Qin Xiruo's eyes. She scoffed to herself. So that was it. Qin Xiruo was actually entertaining the improbable idea that Ling Chunxi had metamorphosized due to a treasure or medical pill of some sort and wanted a piece of it for herself. How laughable.
However... Ling Chunxi's lips curled into an evil smirk. In her heart, the decision had already been made. Since the idea was purported by Qin Xiruo herself, wouldn't it be rude not to entertain her conjecture?
'This woman, Qin Xiruo, is as vile as she is greedy. The people who think of her as kind and gentle are blind beyond belief.'
"You're so amazing Sister Xiruo! You've managed to guess my secret." Ling Chunxi feigned astonishment and shook her head in pretend admiration. "I did obtain a piece of treasure capable of not only improving one's innate talent but enhancing one's appearance to become beautiful as well. I'm a testimony of how well it works." Inwardly, Ling Chunxi was trying not to throw up at the mistruths spewing from her mouth disregarding her own hard work. 'Improving one's innate talent? Become beautiful? Oh, please! I had already possessed those qualities all along!'
Qin Xiruo could not disguise the ecstasy in her eyes when she heard Ling Chunxi utter everything she'd wanted to hear.