Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

Chapter 123: Chapter 108: It’s Not Like I’m Going to Steal Her Sweetheart, Am I?

Bai Ruxue stood outside Shang Jiuli’s courtyard gate, with no idea how long she had been there.

She felt a hollowness in her heart, and her mind was a complete blank.

Bai Ruxue couldn’t even feel the passage of time.

She had no idea how much time had passed.

When Bai Ruxue finally came to her senses, the door to the bamboo house was already open.

Bai Ruxue shuddered, her heart thrown into a panic.

Her eyes darted around. She concealed her aura and hid behind a tree.

Xiao Mo and Shang Jiuli came downstairs together and walked out of the courtyard.

Standing at the gate, Xiao Mo bowed to Shang Jiuli. “You’ve worked hard lately, Senior Sister.”

“It would be a lie to say it wasn’t hard, but you truly are talented, Junior Brother.” Shang Jiuli yawned. “Besides, my evenings have been very… fulfilling lately.”

“…”

In the past, Xiao Mo would have argued back whenever his senior sister made such ambiguous statements.

But now, he was used to it.

“Please get some rest, Senior Sister. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Xiao Mo took a pearl from his robes. “I have no use for this, so I’m returning it to you.”

Back when Xiao Mo had to sneak out of the courtyard, Shang Jiuli had given him a special Treasure Pearl to avoid being discovered by Bai Ruxue.

“Why don’t you keep it, Junior Brother? What if you get lonely again late one night?” Shang Jiuli said with a smile.

“Senior Sister, please don’t joke around,” Xiao Mo said, shaking his head.

“Alright, then.” Shang Jiuli accepted the Treasure Pearl. “Take care, Junior Brother. I’m going back to sleep. You’ve been tiring me out for over two months. I can finally get a good night’s rest.”

“No need to see me out, Senior Sister.”

Xiao Mo turned to leave.

But he had only taken a few steps when, under the bright moonlight, he saw the corner of a woman’s skirt peeking out from behind a tree.

A breeze blew past, causing the woman’s long, silver-white hair to drift in the air, shimmering with a moonlit sheen.

“Ruxue?” Xiao Mo called out.

Hearing Xiao Mo’s voice, the young woman behind the tree trembled and quickly ran off.

Seeing Ruxue’s reaction, Xiao Mo didn’t need to think to know what was going on. He immediately gave chase.

“So she was discovered after all. Looks like our little junior brother is in for a rough night.”

Standing at her courtyard gate, Shang Jiuli watched Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue leave, her eyes filled with the amusement of someone watching a good drama unfold.

“By the way, Senior Brother Luo, you’ve been peeping from the shadows this whole time. That’s not very nice, is it?” Shang Jiuli looked toward a rock to her right.

As Shang Jiuli’s words fell, Luo Yang emerged from behind the rock.

“Senior Brother, it’s the dead of night. Coming to my courtyard like this… that’s not the action of a Gentleman, you know,” Shang Jiuli said with a smile.

Luo Yang ignored her and tossed her a letter.

Shang Jiuli reached out and caught it. The envelope bore the seal of the Confucian Academy.

“I just got back from the Confucian Academy. The Palace Master asked me to bring you a letter, but I saw our junior brother was with you and didn’t want to make things awkward. I waited here for a whole hour, only to be told my actions weren’t befitting a Gentleman.”

Luo Yang shook his head helplessly and continued.

“You should prepare. In two months, the Confucian Academy will hold the examination for Academy Headmaster for you.”

“So soon?”

Shang Jiuli was stunned.

The scholars of the Confucian Academy had many ranks.

From lowest to highest, they were: Virtuous People, Gentleman, Righteous Gentleman, Academy Headmaster, Academic Palace Dean, Academic Palace Grand Sacrificial Officer, Companion Saints and Sages, Academy Director, and Palace Master of the Confucian Academy.

Shang Jiuli was already a “Righteous Gentleman.”

She had thought her next examination would be in four years, not that it would come so soon.

Luo Yang shook his head. “With your talent and scholarship, this isn’t fast at all. And Junior Brother Xiao’s examination for Gentleman should be coming soon as well.”

“They’re all just empty titles,” Shang Jiuli said, shaking her head as she casually put the envelope away. “But thank you for delivering the letter, Senior Brother.”

“No need for thanks.” Luo Yang looked at Shang Jiuli, not leaving right away.

“Is there something else, Senior Brother?” Shang Jiuli asked.

Luo Yang spoke calmly, “You seem to think very highly of Junior Brother Xiao?”

“What a thing to say, Senior Brother.” Shang Jiuli chuckled. “He’s our only little junior brother, isn’t he?”

Luo Yang, holding his Gentleman’s Sword, tilted his head. “At first, perhaps you really did just see Xiao Mo as a junior brother. But now, especially after spending your nights alone with him for over two months, I’m not so sure.

Then again, Junior Brother Xiao is certainly very popular.

Whether for his disposition or his scholarship, countless women at Bailu Academy secretly admire him.”

Shang Jiuli smiled. “If you didn’t have such a cold and icy demeanor all day, Senior Brother, plenty of women would like you too.”

“Women would only slow down the speed at which I turn pages and draw my sword.”

Luo Yang raised his head and looked at Shang Jiuli seriously.

“Junior Sister, the Lord of the North Sea’s reverse scale has never been herself. Her reverse scale is, and always will be, Junior Brother Xiao. The situation between the Human Race and the Demon Race may seem calm now, but there are undercurrents swirling beneath the surface.

The fact that the North Sea can maintain its neutrality, or even side with the Human Race, is largely because Junior Brother Xiao is human.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Shang Jiuli leaned against the fence.

“They say the Lord of the North Sea is ruthless and mature, but in front of Junior Brother Xiao, she’s like a little girl, as docile as a bunny.

To be honest, when I first met this Lord of the North Sea, I thought I was seeing things.”

Luo Yang shook his head. “Cultivators are not unfeeling beings. When some Cultivators meet the one they love, they will eventually reveal the softest side of their heart. This has nothing to do with their Realm.

But don’t assume that’s her true personality.

She’s only like that with Junior Brother Xiao.”

“Who knew you understood all this lovey-dovey stuff, Senior Brother?” Shang Jiuli said with a grin.

Luo Yang: “…”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. How could someone with your personality possibly understand the love between a man and a woman?” Shang Jiuli covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. “But back to the point, the North Sea isn’t a monolith. The enmity between the Human Race and the Dragon Race runs deep. Can Bai Ruxue really keep them in check?”

“That is not something we need to concern ourselves with.” Luo Yang looked directly into Shang Jiuli’s eyes. “You should just treat Junior Brother Xiao as a fellow disciple, Junior Sister. Don’t get any other ideas.”

Shang Jiuli’s eyes curved into crescents. “Now that’s not right, Senior Brother. Are you suggesting I could actually steal her beloved away from her?”

Luo Yang glanced at his junior sister, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

A long moment passed before Luo Yang’s voice drifted back from the dim forest: “Who knows.”

The man’s voice scattered on the wind.

The night wind rustled Shang Jiuli’s skirt.

She raised her head, gazing at the bright, clear moonlight.

Her slender figure resembled a stalk of green bamboo in the moonlight.

After a long while, Shang Jiuli broke into a captivating smile.

’He’s just my junior brother, that’s all.’