Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

”You can’t force matters of the heart.”

Xiao Mo shook his head, his tone calm and open.

”Sister Liu Shui is a wonderful woman, and she’s always taken great care of me. But I just don’t have any special feelings for her. Ever since we were children, I’ve only ever seen her as a sister.”

”’Just as a sister...’” Tushan Jing Ci’s curved, upturned lashes trembled gently, like the fluttering wings of a butterfly brushing past a flowerbed, hinting at some unspoken meaning.

”Yes.” Xiao Mo nodded. ”So I told Sister Liu Shui exactly what was on my mind.”

He paused, a flicker of guilt in his eyes.

”Seeing how heartbroken she was, I did blame myself a little. But some things need to be said clearly. You can’t be ambiguous, or else it would be irresponsible to her.”

”Xiao Mo...” Tushan Jing Ci clutched the hem of her dress, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Her voice was so soft it was as if she were afraid of startling something. ”You said... you see Sister Liu Shui... just like an older sister...”

She took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked straight at him.

”What about me, then?”

”Do you just see me as Miss Tushan?”

”Miss Tushan... what are you...?”

Xiao Mo was slightly stunned, and before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Tushan Jing Ci.

”I...” Her voice trembled slightly, but every word she spoke was exceptionally clear. ”During the three years you were in seclusion, I thought about a lot of things. Things like clan relations, the knowledge in books, matters of cultivation...”

”There are many things I still haven’t figured out.”

She lowered her eyelids, then slowly raised them again. Her alluring, fox-like eyes stared straight at Xiao Mo, shimmering as if about to overflow.

”But I don’t care about those things anymore. Because I’ve figured out one thing, and that’s enough...”

She pressed her lips together, as if gathering her last ounce of courage.

”Xiao Mo! I... I’ve figured it out!”

The young woman’s voice, clear and firm, carried all the feelings that had settled over three long years, echoing softly through the bamboo courtyard.

”I... I’ve fallen for you!”

...

「In Cold Mountain City.」

Two women dressed in Daoist Robes walked side-by-side on the street.

One was a mature, beautiful woman who looked to be around thirty years old, graceful and poised, with a calm demeanor.

The other was a devastatingly beautiful young woman in the prime of her youth, with bright, captivating eyes and a dignified bearing.

They had actually planned to head to Cold Mountain City two months ago.

But they were delayed by some matters along the way and also took the opportunity to visit a few old friends, which is why they were so late.

The young woman named Gui Junmeng followed beside her master, her clear eyes curiously sizing up the street scenes to her left and right.

Although her eyes revealed a hint of interest, she kept her emotions perfectly restrained. Her every move was elegant and refined, without a trace of impropriety.

”Jun Meng, what do you think of this city?” Daoist Yun Xi turned her head and asked her disciple in a gentle voice.

”Compared to other cities, Cold Mountain City is indeed a bit different,” Gui Junmeng began to speak slowly, her voice as clear and smooth as jade. ”The Demon Race here, while they might still look down on the Human Race in their hearts, are very restrained on the surface. There are even some members of the Demon Race who truly hold no prejudice against the Human Race.”

”Yes...” Daoist Yun Xi nodded lightly, her gaze falling on the side of the street.

She bent down and helped a human child who had fallen to the ground.

”Thank you, Auntie.” The human child stood up and said thanks in a soft, childish voice.

”You’re welcome.” Daoist Yun Xi ruffled the child’s hair, her tone gentle. ”Be careful when you play. Don’t get hurt.”

”Mhm.”

The human child nodded obediently, then turned and ran towards his Demon Race playmates waiting for him not far away. The group of small figures quickly ran off, laughing and playing.

Daoist Yun Xi stood up, watching the human and demon children run off side-by-side, laughing, until they disappeared around the street corner. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve up, a warm smile appearing in her eyes.

”You see,” Daoist Yun Xi said softly. ”The Human Race and the Demon Race can play together. Who says it has to be a life-and-death struggle?”

Gui Junmeng followed her master’s gaze. She said in a low voice, her tone tinged with a faint melancholy, ”It’s just that scenes like this... are too few.”

”Yes, far too few.”

Daoist Yun Xi sighed softly, turned, and continued walking forward.

”That’s why we must do our best to make more things like this happen.”

She paused, turned her head, and gave her disciple a small smile.

”Come on, it’s getting late. Maybe we can even make it in time for you to meet that fiancé of yours before dark.”

Hearing her master bring up the word ”fiancé” again, even the usually calm and composed Gui Junmeng couldn’t help but lower her head. A shy blush crept onto her cheeks, and even the tips of her ears turned a faint pink.

The sky gradually dimmed as the sun’s last rays faded.

Daoist Yun Xi led her disciple slowly into Cold Mountain Academy.

When the scholars of Cold Mountain Academy saw the master and disciple pair, they all stopped in their tracks, their gazes fixed on them, lingering for a long time.

They were amazed by the pair’s beauty and also found the young woman strangely familiar.

”Isn’t that Miss Tushan? Who is that with her? And... why does Miss Tushan have a cascade of black hair?”

The crowd couldn’t help but feel a sense of doubt.

Someone wanted to go up and greet them, but the cold aura emanating from the young woman made them shrink back.

For a moment, everyone wondered the same thing—was this person before them really Tushan Jing Ci or not?

By the time they came to their senses, Yun Xi and Gui Junmeng had already vanished from the spot, as if the scene just now had been nothing more than a collective illusion.

Passing through the dense bamboo forest, the farther Gui Junmeng walked, the faster her heart beat, and the tension within her grew ever stronger.

Gui Junmeng had imagined her fiancé countless times.

She had considered that he might be an ordinary, unremarkable man.

She had pictured a rugged, burly Martial Artist, boisterous and untamed.

She had even thought he might be a smooth-talking rogue from the city streets.

But no matter what he was like, since the marriage was arranged, in Gui Junmeng’s heart, he was her fated husband.

She had long prepared herself for this; no matter what kind of person he was, she was willing to accept him calmly.

However, when the moment to actually meet him arrived, Gui Junmeng suddenly realized all the mental preparation she had done somehow wasn’t enough.

An incense stick of time later, Daoist Yun Xi came to a halt.

Gui Junmeng also raised her head, her gaze passing over her master’s back to look ahead.

In the bamboo courtyard ahead, figures swayed.