It was night.

Flowing Cloud Sect, Green Lotus Peak, small courtyard.

Inside Luo Qingyan's room.

Normally, the room's owner should already be asleep, so the room was not lit, shrouded in darkness.

But in the darkness, a young girl sat upright at the table.

It was the room's owner, Luo Qingyan.

Today, she didn't indulge in her usual unhealthy fantasies about Xiao Lin before going to bed.

Luo Qingyan was waiting.

Waiting for everyone else in the courtyard to fall asleep.

Then, she would go find Gu Qingqing.

Having observed everything from the shadows during the day, Luo Qingyan had already made up her mind—since Gu Qingqing came looking for her, she would go and fight her, and naturally, she would leave.

By then, Gu Qingqing would have no further interactions with Senior Brother, and she could prove to him that that wretched woman was no match for her.

Simply perfect!

Initially, Luo Qingyan hadn't planned to do this, but seeing Xiao Lin and Gu Qingqing exchange smiles today had truly pierced her heart.

Senior Brother hasn't even exchanged a smile with me yet!

Xiao Lin: You always have a stern face and never smile, how can I exchange a smile with you?

In any case, after witnessing that scene, Luo Qingyan could no longer sit idly by.

She was very worried that Xiao Lin might be taken away by Gu Qingqing.

Although in terms of status and position, she and Gu Qingqing were similar, and in terms of appearance, figure, cultivation level, and combat power, Gu Qingqing was slightly inferior to her, but... what if Senior Brother just liked that type?

Senior Brother had always remembered that wretched woman and even praised her!

Moreover, sparring can easily lead to mutual admiration, then unforgettable feelings, then mutual affection, then being together, then having children...

"Bang!"

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "p𝑎wread.com".

Just thinking about it, the teacup in Luo Qingyan's hand shattered.

Her fists clenched hard.

"Calm down, Luo Qingyan, there's still a chance..."

Taking a deep breath to calm her turbulent emotions, Luo Qingyan looked at the sword on the table, her resolve even firmer.

Since Master and Sect Master Gu hadn't returned yet, this was the perfect opportunity. As long as she fought that wretched woman in advance, she could prevent Senior Brother from falling for someone else...

Thinking of this, Luo Qingyan turned to look at the moonlight outside the window, confirming that Senior Brother and the others should be asleep by now. She picked up her sword and headed for the door.

Wretched woman, prepare to meet your end!

With this thought in mind, Luo Qingyan opened the door.

...and saw Xiao Lin standing in front of it.

"…"

"Second Junior Sister, good evening... huh?"

"…"

Luo Qingyan quickly closed the door, silent for a moment, taking several deep breaths, thinking she must have opened the door the wrong way.

Then, she opened the door again.

...and Xiao Lin was still standing there.

"…"

"Second Junior Sister, good evening... hey, hey, hey! At least let me finish speaking!"

Seeing Luo Qingyan about to close the door again, Xiao Lin quickly raised his hand to stop her and spoke swiftly.

"Senior Brother, I'm going to sleep," Luo Qingyan said coldly.

Oh, she's actually saying so many words, she must be really flustered...

Listening to the repeated thoughts of "Why is Senior Brother here? Why is Senior Brother here?" in his ear, Xiao Lin's mouth twitched slightly, but he still pointed inside the room, "Can we talk inside?"

"Sleeping," Luo Qingyan still said coldly.

[Senior Brother, I'm happy you want to come into my room, but I'm not happy you're doing it now... come another time! Then you can see whatever you want! Do whatever you want!]

I didn't say I wanted to see or do anything! Don't overthink it!

Xiao Lin's mouth twitched again, so he decided to lay it all out, "Then, Second Junior Sister, what are you planning to do so late?"

"Training."

"Training this late?"

"Is that not allowed?"

Tsk, this girl...

Xiao Lin looked at Luo Qingyan's indifferent face, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Second Junior Sister, you're not planning to go find Fellow Daoist Gu, are you?"

[Aaaaahhhh!!!]

Startled by the sound of a groundhog-like scream in his ear, Xiao Lin was a bit dazed, then heard Luo Qingyan quickly ask, "Why?"

[Could Senior Brother read minds? No, a more reasonable explanation is that Senior Brother and I are connected!]

Congratulations on successfully avoiding the correct answer...

Thinking this, Xiao Lin then spoke the excuse he had prepared, "I noticed today that Second Junior Sister seemed a bit unsettled, and the more I thought about it after returning, the more it seemed wrong, so I wanted to come talk to you. As for why I thought you were going to find Fellow Daoist Gu, you could say it's intuition? After all, Second Junior Sister volunteered to face Fellow Daoist Gu before, so I thought you must really want to spar with her, and naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity... but I don't know if my intuition is right?"

[Aaaaahhhh!!!]

...and then he heard another wave of groundhog-like screams in his mind.

[Senior Brother guessed what I was going to do? Connected! Minds as one! Senior Brother really likes me! What to do? What to do? Senior Brother, let's have a child now! No! Twins!]

Success...

Forcing himself to ignore Luo Qingyan's thoughts, Xiao Lin took a deep breath, understanding that the love-struck Luo Qingyan didn't delve into his "prediction" but instead started to fantasize—this kind of preemptive action to stop someone is hard to explain unless it's at the moment Luo Qingyan actually takes action, so he had to come up with this reason.

Xiao Lin had considered using the Breath Concealing Cloak to follow Luo Qingyan or hiding near Gu Qingqing's room and appearing to stop her when she approached, which might be more reasonable... but he worried that if Luo Qingyan saw him near Gu Qingqing's room late at night, she might have some bad thoughts, and he wouldn't have a convincing reason. If Luo Qingyan became obsessed and turned into a sickly adorable type, that would be a big problem, so he abandoned that plan.

In short, after hearing Luo Qingyan's thoughts while hiding during the day, he roughly understood her plan and decided to stop her.

He couldn't let Luo Qingyan go to Gu Qingqing alone. Even without mentioning the damage to Flowing Cloud Sect's already limited reputation from "a disciple attacking a guest's residence at night," or the awkwardness of claiming you're in seclusion only to go pick a fight, the fact that there were no elders on Green Lotus Peak at the moment meant he couldn't let Luo Qingyan act recklessly—

Sparring, in essence, is fighting, and fighting can easily escalate, with many instances of things getting out of hand and people getting seriously hurt. Formal sparring with elders present is fine, as they wouldn't allow the participants to seriously injure each other, and would intervene if things went wrong. But without elders, if things got heated, sparring could turn into a battle, or even a duel, leading to big problems... especially with Luo Qingyan's current view of Gu Qingqing, Xiao Lin was very worried that her first move might be a killing blow.

So Xiao Lin decided to stop Luo Qingyan in the courtyard.

...