A Yun Ne

"Where's Yun?" Su Luo asked Little Yu and the others.

Little Yu shook her head.

Jiang Ningshu said, "No idea. I saw her running off in a hurry earlier. What did you say to her?"

"Nothing much. By the way, why are you still here?"

"Can't I be here?"

"It's not that, but you really have a lot of free time."

Jiang Ningshu was still lying there, looking utterly relaxed, and Su Luo couldn't help but sigh.

But Su Luo's remark was rather odd, so Jiang Ningshu retorted, "Aren't you just as idle?"

How could someone fifty steps ahead laugh at someone a hundred steps behind?

Hearing this, Su Luo sighed, feeling like he wasn't idle at all. The events of the past few days had kept his mind busy.

He was practically becoming an expert in being shocked.

"Call me if you see Yun."

With those words, Su Luo went out for a walk, searching for Nangong Xiyun.

Truthfully, if Nangong Xiyun wanted to hide, Su Luo wouldn’t be able to find her.

And until this matter was resolved, Su Luo felt strangely unsettled. At the very least, she should come out and explain herself.

Kissing him and then running off—that made no sense at all.

After searching for a while with no luck, Su Luo spoke to Little Yu privately.

"Let me ask you something, Little Yu. What do you think Peak Master Nangong could do that would completely shock you?"

"Stealing sweets?" Little Yu didn’t know why Su Luo was asking, but after thinking, that was the first thing that came to mind.

"That would be surprising, but..."

The image was indeed hard to imagine, but right now, Su Luo’s shock had nothing to do with that.

He recalled the moment Nangong Xiyun had kissed him—and the look in her eyes then. It was hard to describe. Tender? Affectionate?

At that moment, he had been utterly stunned.

Su Luo wanted to tell Little Yu, but how? Should he just blurt out, "Nangong Xiyun kissed me"?

That wasn’t something he could casually spread around.

Seeing Su Luo hesitate, Little Yu asked, "Did Peak Master Nangong do something to you?"

Little Yu hadn’t even considered that possibility.

"Yeah, so I need to find her." Su Luo grew more agitated and went back out to search for Nangong Xiyun.

Little Yu thought to herself—he hadn’t explained anything at all.

Was Su Luo still angry at Peak Master Nangong? But it didn’t seem like it. She couldn’t figure it out.

Two days passed, and Su Luo still hadn’t found Nangong Xiyun.

Meanwhile, Little Yu happened to see her—or rather, Nangong Xiyun had sneaked back while Su Luo was out searching.

"Su Luo’s looking for you."

"I’m sorry, Little Yu."

Little Yu was puzzled: ?

Shouldn’t the apology be from Su Luo, since he was the one running around searching?

"It’s good that you’re back." Though she didn’t understand why Peak Master Nangong was apologizing, at least she had returned.

"No, I might still need to hide for a while."

"Why?"

"It’s complicated."

"But avoiding things won’t solve the problem," Little Yu said earnestly.

Nangong Xiyun fell silent. She knew avoidance wouldn’t fix anything, but what was she supposed to say to Su Luo now?

Tell him again that she liked him?

Just thinking about it made her too embarrassed. How had she even managed to say it the first time?

"Give me a little more time," Nangong Xiyun said, still choosing to retreat.

"It’s better to clear things up sooner. You and Su Luo have known each other for so long—I’m sure you can make up."

Little Yu still assumed this was about Nangong Xiyun deceiving Su Luo.

In her opinion, given Su Luo’s personality, he shouldn’t be hung up on this for so long. Was it really so hard to accept that Nangong Xiyun was Yun?

Besides, hadn’t Nangong Xiyun and Su Luo interacted before?

Even after Su Luo joined the Demonic Sect, they had crossed paths a few times. He shouldn’t be unfamiliar with her.

Su Luo had even said that Nangong Xiyun wasn’t a bad person—just on the opposite side.

That’s why Little Yu couldn’t understand why Su Luo was struggling so much. What was there to agonize over?

Of course, Little Yu wouldn’t realize that it was "stereotypes" that made this so hard for Su Luo to accept.

In all his past lives—dozens of them—Nangong Xiyun had never done anything like this.

To put it simply: Your character is ruined!

And this time, it had happened completely out of the blue. Su Luo couldn’t fathom why Nangong Xiyun had changed like this.

Hearing Little Yu’s words, Nangong Xiyun also found herself reminiscing about the days she had spent with Su Luo.

They hadn’t been grand or adventurous—most of the time, they just idly chatted.

But it was precisely those ordinary moments that made Nangong Xiyun feel more and more that being Su Luo’s subordinate wasn’t so bad.

Thinking of this, she smiled.

"Little Yu, like you, I’m really glad I met Su Luo."

Hearing praise for Su Luo, Little Yu brightened. "Right? So don’t be afraid. Su Luo is a good person. Just talk to him properly, and everything will be fine."

"Mm, I know. I’ll prepare myself a bit more, then go find him."

"Good luck!"

Nangong Xiyun felt encouraged, but looking at Little Yu, she still felt guilty.

"I’m sorry, Little Yu."

With that, she left.

Little Yu still didn’t understand why Nangong Xiyun kept apologizing to her.

Not long after walking away, Nangong Xiyun was stopped by Jiang Ningshu.

"Su Luo’s looking for you."

The same familiar words.

"I know."

"And yet you’re hiding? What happened?"

"What could have happened? Nothing." Nangong Xiyun avoided the topic. There was no way she’d tell the Demon Lord.

"Then I’ll go tell Su Luo you’re here."

"Don’t."

"So you plan to hide forever?"

"No. I just need a little more time to prepare. I’ll go find him soon."

"Is it really that serious? Someone as strong as you—what could you possibly be afraid of?"

"It’s not about fear. It’s just... complicated. I’ll talk to Su Luo later."

"Did your identity get exposed?" Jiang Ningshu suddenly asked, sounding pleased.

"It’s something else."

Her identity being exposed was old news. The real issue now was how to muster the courage to confess her feelings to Su Luo.

"Fine."

Seeing it wasn’t that, Jiang Ningshu lost interest. To her, nothing was more entertaining than Nangong Xiyun’s cover being blown.

So she left Nangong Xiyun alone and went back to lazing around.

She had only come out because she didn’t want to lie around alone in the Demonic Palace.

But even here, things had happened, and she still ended up lounging by herself.

Still, this place was better than the palace—at least she could chat with Su Luo and Little Yu sometimes.

Su Luo returned from his search.

"No luck, huh?" Jiang Ningshu could tell at a glance. Besides, Nangong Xiyun had just left.

"Nope. Whatever, I’ll wait for her to come out." Su Luo lay down on a chair next to Jiang Ningshu.

"Giving up already?"

"Guess so."

Su Luo didn’t want to, but if she couldn’t be found, she couldn’t be found. Maybe she needed time to think.