| Author: Azure Studio | Original Source: iQing | Word Count: 3466 characters |
| Translator: Nexus Flamehart | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 2217 words |
Trails of white steam fluttered past the eyes of those gathered and the heat of the teacup warmed their hands up comfortably.
Her teacup was a bit hot, but Sue Kirin couldn’t put it down because the table was gone, since Qi Qiqi had destroyed it earlier.
Luo Qing went to make dinner for Sue Kirin, so now Qi Qiqi and Sue Kirin were left alone in the room.
Sue Kirin’s face was puckered into an ugly expression and Qi Qiqi couldn’t even keep up a smile, instead her face held an uncomfortable expression.
When the two sat down, Sue Kirin asked about Ye Zhen and Situ Wood.
Perhaps it was because she felt guilty about what happened to Ye Zhen, but Qi Qiqi held nothing back and told Sue Kirin what she wanted to know.
After listening to Qi Qiqi’s explanation, Sue Kirin did not immediately respond. Instead, she put her elbows on the chair’s arms, rested her hands on the stumps, and stared at the tea in her hand.
“So?” She started, placing a finger on her cheek, “you used Ye Zhen to test me?” She finished with a tone steeped in dissatisfaction.
Suddenly being attacked by a person with an ‘if you can’t do it, then you’ll really become a skewer,’ attitude, well anyone treated that way would be angry.
Sue Kirin considered herself to be a well-educated and fair tempered person, while Qi Qiqi could only be described as someone who didn’t know what they were getting into. If that weren’t the case, Sue Kirin might have broken his lifetime rule of not hitting women by laying her out.
“Well, it was my fault.” Qi Qiqi admitted frankly and without a fuss.
“Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them-” Sue Kirin started, her expression tranquil before suddenly turning sharp with fury, “is that what you thought I was going to say?
“What do you want?”
Perhaps the image of her knocking out Sue Kirin was still strongly imprinted in her mind, Qi Qiqi was not afraid of Sue Kirin. She was, however, angry and a tad shy.
“Oh, oh oh! Everyone come take a look around! The Scorpio Temple’s Matriarch is so shameless!” Sue Kirin waved and shouted from her seat, acting as if there were a crowd listening.
“Hey, please don’t shout nonsense.”
Sue Kirin wrinkled her nose at Qi Qiqi and raised her voice, “IS SOMEONE SHOUTING NONSENSE!? WASN’T THAT NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! THE NAKED TRUTH!”
“What naked truth, don’t make it sound so bad. I admit that I was wrong, but you shouldn’t lie.” Qi Qiqi said, squishing her hands on the little ancestor’s face to shut her up.
“Oh, you still can reason with me?! How was I lying?”
“Who told you to hide your strength?”
“I have a mysterious power! I don’t know what to tell you? Don’t you know that I was kept in there since I was young? I wasn’t even wearing clothes when I first got out! You think I was always like this? Idiot, if you’d gone through what I did, would you know how powerful you are?”
“Well… when you put it like that.” Qi Qiqi’s eyes fluttered wildly as she gaped at a loss for words. “Ok, I was in the wrong. I apologize.”
“So how are you going to pay me back?”
“Ah! You really are a dirty trickster!” Qi Qiqi shouted angrily, stretching her palms out and slamming them down hard.
“Kya!” She slammed at the empty air and staggered.
Sue Kirin stared at Qi Qiqi, surprised by the sudden show of excessive force.
Qi Qiqi on the other hand had planned to slam the table, but she probably forgot that she’d already destroyed the table earlier.
At first Sue Kirin was silent, but after a moment of tense awkwardness, she suddenly began to heartily laugh.
“Haha! Good shot! Good shot! You’re killing me!”
Sue Kirin fell to the floor laughing, slamming her empty hand on the floor, and just barely avoided rolling around in amusement.
“You’re not allowed to laugh!” Qi Qiqi screamed at Sue Kirin, who simply ignored her and continued to laugh.
“Stop already, you’ve laughed enough!” Qi Qiqi yelled, slamming her fists into a nearby wall.
I almost forgot how violent this woman is. Sue Kirin thought to herself, taking a long moment to suppress her smile.
“Alright, I’m done, I’m done. I’m not laughing anymore.” Sue Kirin said while wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Don’t worry Seven Seven Seven, you’re so funny. I’ll forget about your earlier ignorance. I forgive you.”
I’m so smooth. Sue Kirin thought to herself.
“Hmph!” Qi Qiqi sat down in a fuss. “And don’t call me Seven Seven Seven!”
Is this woman dumb? Sue Kirin thought to herself as she sat back in her chair and glanced over to the side. “Didn’t I already explain it to you earlier?” She asked with a calm voice.
“Doesn’t matter, you still can’t do it!” Qi Qiqi yelled imperiously, she was so embarrassed from the previous incident that she’d become unreasonable.
Although the two of them had only just met, Sue Kirin felt that he had a strong grasp on her personality. After all, it’s simple to understand. Wasn’t she just a prideful girl?
“Then what should I call you?” Sue Kirin ventured, spreading her hands to show she meant no trick.
“That’s… um, you can call me… Qi-er…” perhaps she was recalling memories of the past, but the vitality in the Matriarch’s fiery red eyes dimmed. “That’s what the old Sect Master used to call me.”
Naturally, Sue Kirin had already known that.
Although people from ancient times began to manage the household at a young age, Qi Qiqi was only a sixteen-year-old girl. The mage could only imagine the burden on her shoulders. Having realized that, she couldn’t help but feel for the young Matriarch.
“Qi-er is too formal, it feels a bit awkward, I don’t like it,” the little ancestor rejected the suggestion with a twitch of her nose. “How about instead of that, I call you Little Qi?”1
“Little… Little Seven! W-wait just a minute!?” Suddenly, the Sect Mistress realized something and grew incredibly still, “Did… you just mispronounce my name again?”
“D- did I?” Sue Kirin avoided eye contact.
“That’s suspicious! You’ve been doing it on purpose from the start, haven’t you?”
Sue Kirin sipped her tea serenely and answered, “Little Qi, the weather today was wonderful!”
“Ah, you’re such a jerk!” Once more Qi Qiqi raised her arm, seemingly wanting to slam the table, but when she recalled the awkward incident from earlier, she held herself back.
Sue Kirin shot her an innocent look with her big, adorable eyes.
Qi Qiqi coughed awkwardly and pretended as though it was nothing. At the same time, Luo Qing entered the room holding a plate of food.
“Little Ancestor, I brought your food.”
“Here you go Mistress and Little Ancestor,” said two younger disciples who followed behind Luo Qing, carrying a new bed and table into the room. When they saw Qi Qiqi and Sue Kirin, they quickly put the furniture down and stepped back.
The Sect Mistress nodded in appreciation while Sue Kirin copied her actions.
“Seventh Elder, where should the table go?”
Luo Qing pointed at the space between Qi Qiqi and Sue Kirin,
The two disciples nodded in harmony, “Alright.” In the blink of an eye, the two disciples replaced the bed and table before leaving the room.
Qi Qiqi instantly noticed that the table was no longer made of wood, and instead it was replaced with one made of marble.
Sue Kirin smirked, her eyes teasingly asked, ‘how are you gonna smash this one?’ as she made a show of knocking on the table.
Qi Qiqi glared at Sue Kirin but said nothing.
Luo Qing couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. “I heard little ancestor laughing a moment ago, did something happen?” She asked while arranging the food to distribute.
“Great question,” Sue Kirin said as she accepted a plate of food from Luo Qing, her face a picture of mischievousness. “Not much happened, it’s just that Seven Seven-”
Sue Kirin naturally wanted to share the funny tale of her time teasing the young sect head, but she couldn’t risk it due to Qi Qiqi’s growing anger. At any other time she might’ve continued, but it was one of her principles not to toy with a woman’s emotions, especially when the woman in question couldn’t take a joke. After all, no matter how much she fought back, in the end Sue Kirin would still be the one at fault. She wasn’t going to subject herself to that.
Luo Qing smirked gently and didn’t ask any more.
Sue Kirin accepted the gesture while taking her first bite of the food before her, starting with some of the cabbage. Instantly her face lit up in surprise, “Wow, this is good! It’s impossibly delicious!”
“Hmph, of course it is. Senior Sister Luo made it after all.” Qi Qiqi added disdainfully.
Sue Kirin looked at Luo Qing with eyes full of wonder, “Your skill in the kitchen is absolutely this sect’s greatest treasure, aside from me, of course. Your cooking is even better than a Michelin star restaurant; no ifs, ands, or buts!”
Even if she didn’t completely understand what Sue Kirin meant, it was hard for Luo Qing not to blush when her skills were complemented in such a heartfelt manner.
“Ah, you’re giving me too much credit, I’m not that skilled. Ah right, is Michelin some kind of famous restaurant?”
“Something like that,” Sue Kirin said under her breath, turning away from Luo Qing.
Qi Qiqi shrugged, “You’re really weird sometimes.”
Is this girl trying to pick a fight with me?! “Your whole family is weird!”
Qi Qiqi snorted and ignored Sue Kirin.
After finishing her meal, Sue Kirin stood and began to head for the door.
“Are you going out for a walk, little ancestor?” Luo Qing asked after seeing her move.
Sue Kirin shot her a curious look. What are you even asking?
Before Luo Qing could answer, Qi Qiqi spoke up. “Did the Vice-chief suggest that?”
After asking her question, she quietly went back to eating.
“Little Seven, where did you get that bowl?” Sue Kirin asked after realizing that Qi Qiqi’s bowl was noticeably bigger than her own.
Qi Qiqi’s face turned tomato-red in an instant and she struggled to find the right words until eventually she squeaked out, “Get your own.”
Get my own bowl? Sue Kirin thought, her face twisting to form a strange expression.
Seeing how embarrassed Qi Qiqi was, Sue Kirin couldn’t help but tease her, “Do you always carry that with you?”
“Leave me alone!” Qi Qiqi shouted, surprising the little ancestor who hadn’t expected such an exaggerated reaction. However, that reaction had told Sue Kirin everything she needed to know.
Honestly, Sue Kirin didn’t know what to say. Afterall, this was the first time she’d ever met someone who carried around a bowl and chopsticks with them. Maybe she’s a foodie.
“Little Ancestor, the Sect Mistress forgot to eat earlier and due to your sudden appearance she hadn’t gotten a chance to eat until now. You shouldn’t be so mean.”
“In that case, since Little Qing was kind enough to cook for us, you might as well dig in.”
Qi Qiqi snorted and ignored the stark change in Sue Kirin’s personality.
“It was a suggestion from the Vice-chief.” Luo Qing started flatly, finally answering Qi Qiqi’s earlier question.
“Then Senior Sister Luo, what of your own opinion?”
“Little Ancestor, didn’t you just exit from closed-door training recently? I guess you haven’t gone outside in a really long time already, so…”
Maybe she didn’t know how to continue, or perhaps she felt that was already enough to convey her meaning, Luo Qing smiled and didn’t say any more.
Sue Kirin was stunned. Honestly, she’d never thought about it, but there were a lot of things she hadn’t really adapted to since she’d arrived in this world. Maybe I should go for a walk.
Before that though Sue Kirin rushed up to Qi Qiqi.
“What do you want?” Qi Qiqi asked with eyes full of suspicion.
“Do you think it’d be inconvenient if I went out for a walk?”
“If you want to go, then go,” the scarlet-eyed matriarch raised her brow, “besides, it’s the perfect time to show those malicious wolves2 that our Scorpio Temple has not fallen so low that we are unable to retaliate when bullied..”
Sue Kirin could tell that Qi Qiqi was talking about more than merely letting her go out for a walk, but she didn’t care. Regardless, Qi Guiyuan asked her to help his granddaughter and she felt she could do that while also venturing out and exploring the world around her.
“Location?” Sue Kirin requested bluntly.
Qi Qiqi was stunned, “What?! So you’re not stupid after all!”
“Why? Do you want me to be?” Sue Kirin gave her a flat look, “just tell me what you need me to do. Tell me where to go and I’ll get what you want done in a flash.”
“Jinling’s Heavenly Sword Sect!” Qi Qiqi declared profoundly.
