Dual Cultivation

"Stop dawdling around and tell me already..." Qiuyue said with a frown after Su Yang kept staring at her with a mysterious smile on his face.

Although she couldn’t guess what he had in mind, her heart was filled with an ominous feeling, and her hands were squeezed into fists.

"Once upon a time, a young female Cultivator fell in love with an older Cultivator..." Su Yang began telling her a story, and Qiuyue became silent.

"The female Cultivator followed him as a traveling companion in order to seduce him, following him from city to city, continent to continent, even from stars to stars. This female Cultivator had followed the man for dozens of years. However, despite spending so long with him, she never managed to seduce him. Why do you think such a thing happened?" Su Yang looked at Qiuyue and asked.

"How should I know? Maybe she just sucks at it, or she has a really unattractive appearance." Qiuyue admired this female Cultivator’s determination inwardly despite her rude words.

Su Yang smiled and said, "The female Cultivator was no doubt a beauty, even a top beauty."

He then continued, "It’s simple, really. The female Cultivator believed that because of her beautiful appearance, all she needed was to stay beside the man to seduce him, and because of her mindset, she never shared with the man her feelings for him."

"..." Qiuyue was speechless. That was it?

However, after thinking about the story for a few more moments, Qiuyue came to a realization that her previous situation was near identical to the female Cultivator’s situation in the story.

Because she was confident in her peerless appearance, it was one of the reasons why Qiuyue didn’t bother to share with Su Yang her feelings and only silently followed him around, hoping that he’d eventually fall for her.

Qiuyue began sweating underneath her robes. Is Su Yang trying to tell her something with this story? If she didn’t express her feelings to him at the Four Seasons Academy, would she have also ended up like that female Cultivator in the story? Traveling with Su Yang for hundreds of years without having her feelings realized because of her own arrogance?

Qiuyue shuddered at the thought.

However, Su Yang continued, "Here’s another story..."

"A renowned couple traveled together, husband and wife. They went around the world in search of something. One day, however, someone asked the husband what he really thought of his wife. And when the husband heard the question, he only expressed confusion and bewilderment. He then replied with a question of his own, ’Wife? What are you talking about? I don’t have a wife!’"

When Qiuyue first listened to this story, she didn’t think much of it because the first story had lowered her guard.

"Why do you think the husband said that he had no wife when the entire world recognized the two as husband and wife?" Su Yang then asked her.

"Because he has amnesia and forgot that he had a wife?" Qiuyue casually responded with a doubting tone.

Su Yang could tell that Qiuyue wasn’t aware of his intentions and chuckled, "That’s a reasonable guess, but that isn’t correct. Go ahead, give it another guess."

Qiuyue frowned and began pondering — but she wasn’t pondering about the story. Instead, she was trying to figure out why Su Yang found these stories to be even slightly interesting, as she couldn’t see him as someone to find joy in these stories that are seemingly meant for children.

"Wait a second..." Qiuyue’s eyes suddenly widened, almost like she’d just received enlightenment, and her body began to tremble.

If the first story resembled her situation before, then this second story could possibly also be meant for her...

Qiuyue forcefully swallowed and spoke in a shaky voice, "B-Because their relationship as husband and wife... was all made up by... t-the w-wife?"

By this point, the smile on Su Yang’s smile turned into a large grin, and he spoke in a mysterious voice, "Oh? That’s quite an interesting reasoning... Why do you think the wife did such a thing?"

"..."

Seeing his expression, Qiuyue realized that he was testing her and did not immediately reply. She remained silent with her head slightly lowered.

Su Yang did not rush her and patiently waited for her. However, the silence only made Qiuyue feel even worse.

After a few more moments of silence, Qiuyue slowly opened her mouth, "B-Because the wife was lonely and really... really wanted her dreams to become a reality..."

Although Qiuyue’s head was lowered, Su Yang could tell that she had an expression that wanted to cry.

He sighed inwardly, wondering if his teasing had gone too far.

"Why are you crying? It’s just a story." Su Yang casually said, sounding innocent.

"Huh?" Qiuyue looked up to stare at him with a dumbfounded gaze.

"H-He doesn’t know?" she wondered inwardly.

Qiuyue was sure that Su Yang had somehow found out her secret identity as Su Yue, hence why he was telling her such a story, but it seems like she was just too paranoid.

However, just as Su Yang was prepared to tell Qiuyue the truth, Xiao Rong, who had been silently following them from behind, opened her mouth and said, "Master, who is this ’Su Yue’ you keep thinking about?"

"..."

Both Qiuyue and Su Yang looked at her with wide eyes.

"W-What are you talking about?" Su Yang asked her.

But before Xiao Rong could even answer him, Su Yang remembered that Xiao Rong, as his Spiritual Beast, could hear his thoughts if he’s not careful, as that’s how many people communicate their thoughts with their Spiritual Beasts.

And Xiao Rong, being at the Ancient Realm and also a beast that specializes in mental abilities, her capability to read his mind is far stronger than any average beast.

Hearing his question, Xiao Rong looked at him with a puzzled expression. She obviously heard it from him... or to be precise, inside his head.

Su Yang slowly turned his head to look at Qiuyue, and sure enough, she was staring at him with puffed cheeks and a frustrated expression, her face flushed red, and there were even tears in her eyes.

"So you knew all along!" she cried out loud.