Just Bluffing

"What are you up to, little San Dong?"

Qinghe leaned in slightly, eyeing San Dong curiously as she hugged a small tree.

To be honest, Qinghe and San Dong hadn’t been particularly close before. When Qinghe first arrived, Chu Xingchen had immediately roped her into being a laborer—hauling materials and processing lumber. With Chu Xingchen around, Qinghe had no choice but to work tirelessly.

When Chu Xingchen left, Qinghe was thrilled. After all, within the sect, aside from Chu Xingchen, Qinghe feared no one.

Back when Li Yingling was in Chizhou, she had treated Qinghe with courtesy, and Li Xingtian even invited her to meals every few days. At most, Qinghe would slack off a little, and those two would probably turn a blind eye.

But naturally, Qinghe had overestimated her luck. It didn’t even take Li Xingtian—Li Yingling alone easily kept her in check with just a few words.

Truly, the disciple taught by that scheming brat was just as cunning.

During that time, Qinghe was thoroughly exploited. Li Yingling even suggested—"Why sleep when you’re at the Nascent Soul stage? Might as well work all twelve hours of the day."

After all, at the Nascent Soul stage, not only was sleep unnecessary, but eating could be skipped too.

The perfect, inexhaustible labor dragon.

Qinghe was dumbfounded and quickly used her age as an excuse—"Even though I’m older than all of you, by dragon standards, I’m still a child!"

In the end, Li Yingling dropped the idea, or else Qinghe would have started plotting her escape that very day.

Those were truly grueling times.

Aside from chatting with a rather dim-witted snake, Qinghe spent almost every moment working. Back then, San Dong had been a little overseer, dutifully reporting Qinghe’s slacking.

If San Dong hadn’t been so tiny and pathetically weak, Qinghe would’ve given her a couple of punches.

Naturally, they hadn’t interacted much.

But recently, even though Bai Laolao had left, Xie Lingyu stayed behind. The spiritual energy here wasn’t as rich as in the Tianyan Sect, but it was decent enough. Besides, Xie Lingyu had regained her former privileges as a Tianyan Sect core disciple, so she had no shortage of spirit stones for cultivation.

Maybe it was because Bai Xuanling’s Zhuji Peak felt lifeless without her, or maybe Xie Lingyu simply enjoyed the lively atmosphere here, but she had already stayed for over two months.

Taking advantage of this, Qinghe naturally made sure to enjoy herself thoroughly in Wanhua Ridge.

When not cultivating, she wandered around with Chu Xingchen. Occasionally, they sparred, but after watching a couple of times, Qinghe realized it wasn’t a real fight—just Chu Xingchen indulging Xie Lingyu.

Losing interest, Qinghe sought out others to play with. Unfortunately, Li Yingling, Li Xingtian, and Lin Luoyu were busy cultivating.

Cui Hao was fun, but he always outsmarted her. Qinghe only ended up being tricked by him.

Earning spirit stones was fine, but willingly walking into a scam? No way.

Qinghe wasn’t actually that dumb.

If she wanted fun, she’d play with those who weren’t too sharp. That way, Qinghe naturally became the star of the group.

As the saying goes—"Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."

If she couldn’t be the smartest among the clever, she’d be the queen of the fools!

Through deliberate interactions, Qinghe discovered that San Dong was actually quite amusing—at least easier to fool than that green snake.

San Dong’s eyes were lightly closed as she answered softly, "Listening to the tree’s voice."

Qinghe blinked, tilting her ear in silence for a moment. Hearing nothing, she finally said, "San Dong… are you hallucinating?"

San Dong released the tree and turned to Qinghe. "This tree hasn’t fully gained sentience yet, but it’s on the verge. Since I’m a flower spirit, we can communicate spiritually. There’s no sound, but I understand what it wants to convey."

Qinghe’s curiosity flared. "So what’s it saying? Does it want water? Fertilizer? I heard fertilizer’s made of stinky stuff—does this tree eat stinky stuff?"

"It does NOT eat that!" San Dong hurriedly shielded the tree, afraid Qinghe might actually dump manure on it. "Moonlight is enough for it!"

"Oh…" Qinghe nodded knowingly. "Then what did it tell you?"

San Dong hesitated before admitting, "It might be asleep… It didn’t say anything."

Qinghe didn’t press further, only giving San Dong’s head a light pat with a slightly odd expression.

"Alright, keep at it. Let me know when it finally talks to you."

San Dong nodded firmly. "Don’t worry, if it says anything, you’ll be the first to know."

Qinghe nodded back before turning away without hesitation.

At that moment… Qinghe suddenly felt a twinge of fear.

If she spent too much time around fools, would she become one too?

Sure, she got tricked by Cui Hao… but wasn’t there a saying—"Fall into the moat, gain wisdom"?

Getting scammed by Cui Hao kept her sharp, and then she could return to being the queen of fools. Not a bad deal.

With a wave of her hand, Qinghe decided to seek out Cui Hao—maybe he had another profitable scheme.

The spirit stones she’d earned with him before had already been spent at the Tianyan Sect’s dining hall.

By the small pond—

"Third Senior Sister, brew me a cup, won’t you?" Cui Hao tossed fish food into the water before glancing at Chen Baiqing, who sat on a stone bench.

"Look how well I’ve fed your fish—they’ve got so much energy they could wrestle each other now."

Chen Baiqing’s gaze shifted slightly. "These fish have been replaced at least once since I was away, haven’t they?"

"Huh? What nonsense, Senior Sister? They’re the same fish."

"Should I call a few up to testify against you?"

Cui Hao froze, studying Chen Baiqing’s face to gauge if she was serious.

After witnessing fish grilling fish before, the idea of fish testifying didn’t seem impossible.

Chen Baiqing’s calm stare held a hint of scrutiny.

…Better not push his luck.

If he lost a debate to fish, he’d just add another embarrassing story to his name. He wasn’t ready to join Second Senior Brother in that regard yet.

"How’d you know, Senior Sister?" Cui Hao chuckled nervously. "Did you memorize every fish’s pattern?"

Chen Baiqing replied flatly, "Just bluffing."

Cui Hao’s expression twisted. But whether she was actually bluffing or saving the truth for his next lie was anyone’s guess.

If their master knew how to bait traps, there was no way his third senior sister didn’t.

Best to assume she had memorized every fish’s pattern.

"Baiqing! Cui Hao!" Qinghe bounded over cheerfully. "You’re both here—perfect! Let’s play!"

Chen Baiqing’s gaze shifted to Qinghe just as a surge of spiritual energy erupted from where the eldest senior sister had been secluded.

In an instant, both Chen Baiqing and Cui Hao snapped their attention toward it.

"The eldest senior sister has emerged."