Clever Little Kitty

“What a lovely name.”

Su Wanqing nodded, desperately trying to keep the shock off her face.

She genuinely couldn’t understand—why did it have to be so perfectly coincidental?

Of all people, she ran straight into this witch?

She knew Shen Xianyue was somewhere in Xiangping Town, but the probability of actually meeting her was astronomically low—like winning the lottery.

Yet somehow, she hit the jackpot.

What rotten luck.

She finally got one chance to go out and relax, and it was ruined just like that.

Her heartbeat was racing now, nerves stretched to the breaking point.

If she survived this encounter, she swore she’d hole up in the inn for the next three days and never step outside again—just to avoid this demoness.

“So what’s your name, beautiful sister?”

Shen Xianyue smiled sweetly, still playing the pure, innocent young miss perfectly.

Her disguise was flawless—no trace of that scorpion-like danger underneath.

Since she was still maintaining the act, it meant Su Wanqing’s earlier flash of panic hadn’t been noticed.

Thank the heavens this witch’s perception wasn’t that terrifying.

Otherwise, that split-second shock would’ve already made her suspicious.

Of course, there was still the possibility that Shen Xianyue had noticed and was currently testing her.

“Chen Xueli.”

In her panic, not wanting to give her real name, Su Wanqing blurted out the first name that came to mind.

And because she was too nervous to think of a proper fake one, she actually said Chen Xueli’s name.

“Mm, I’ve memorized it.”

Shen Xianyue nodded, deeply engraving both the name and the breathtaking face before her into her mind.

She truly hadn’t expected that coming to watch some drama out of curiosity would yield such a massive reward.

She had seen hundreds, if not thousands, of so-called beauties—every one claiming to be the number one beauty of their region.

But without exception, they were all frauds.

Their looks didn’t even reach her level, let alone half of the woman in front of her.

And they dared call themselves number one?

Laughable.

What puzzled Shen Xianyue was why a beauty of this caliber wasn’t famous across the cultivation world—or at least in Mengyun Continent.

She had specifically looked into the famous beauties here and had never once heard the name “Chen Xueli.”

For someone this stunning to be unknown only proved how tasteless the people of this continent were.

Or perhaps this beautiful sister had been hiding very deeply and had only just emerged—only to be discovered by her first~

She had heard the name “Su Wanqing” before, but that woman was surely just another powdered mediocrity like the rest.

The one before her—both in looks and aura—was exactly her type.

A cold, aloof beauty like this would be so much fun to bully.

Just imagining that icy face crumbling, tears in her eyes, begging her to stop—

Shen Xianyue’s expression began to slip.

“Heh~”

The corners of her mouth curled upward uncontrollably, nearly breaking her innocent persona.

But she barely held it together.

She had smelled the strangely intoxicating fragrance on Su Wanqing but assumed it was perfume or a scented sachet and didn’t think much of it.

“…”

Seeing that smile, Su Wanqing was infinitely glad she hadn’t given her real name.

Right now, that witch’s head was probably filled with all the twisted “training” methods she had never even heard of.

At the same time, she silently apologized to Chen Xueli in her heart.

Please don’t blame me—it was an emergency!

Just don’t let this psycho actually investigate the name, or both of us are screwed.

Though one thing did make her curious:

With Chen Xueli’s current strength, could she actually go toe-to-toe with Shen Xianyue?

After all, Shen Xianyue was a demonic path genius—her methods and power were no joke.

But then again, Chen Xueli was the final villainess, the destined antagonist heroine, bearer of a legendary demonic art.

Cross-realm fighting wouldn’t be impossible for her.

At that thought, a bizarre scene suddenly flashed through Su Wanqing’s mind:

Chen Xueli and Shen Xianyue fighting over her.

…A shuraba?

Hiss—no no no, no matter who won, she’d be the one suffering in the end!

“By the way, beautiful sister, where are you staying?”

“Are you really an immortal cultivator?”

“Are you from the nearby Heavenly Sword Pavilion?”

Shen Xianyue snapped out of her fantasy, putting on the perfect act of an excited, grateful young lady meeting a cultivator for the first time.

“I’m just an ordinary cultivator.”

“But not from Heavenly Sword Pavilion—I’m from the Red Embroidery Sect.”

“I’m temporarily staying at the hot-spring inn on Night Market Street, Heaven-character Room 103.”

Compared to her earlier panic when giving a name, this time Su Wanqing answered fluently.

Since she had already blurted out Chen Xueli’s name, she might as well double down on the lie.

She had ready-made material right there—as long as she didn’t reveal her own information, it was fine.

After all, Shen Xianyue was only targeting her.

Even if she investigated the others, nothing would happen to them.

Chen Xueli, Red Embroidery Sect…

Even Su Wanqing, a transmigrator who had read the original novel, thought it was absurd.

But Shen Xianyue believed every word.

She didn’t know who Chen Xueli was, and certainly didn’t know that the woman before her was the very “number one beauty of Mengyun Continent,” Su Wanqing, whom she had once wanted to see.

“Shall I escort you back?”

Su Wanqing put on a warm, helpful expression and tested the waters.

She was certain Shen Xianyue’s interest had only sparked upon seeing her—that it was a sudden burst of lust.

The witch would never agree; it would blow her cover.

Of course, there was still the chance she’d say yes and then drag her into an alley to knock her out.

If she agreed, Su Wanqing would immediately find an excuse to refuse—or just run and blow everything wide open.

She couldn’t give her the chance.

“No need to trouble you, sister. My inn is nearby. I can go back alone.”

“I’ll definitely visit tomorrow to thank you properly.”

Fortunately, Shen Xianyue declined.

She clearly wanted to maintain her disguise and slowly close in on her prey rather than use brute force.

Which played perfectly into Su Wanqing’s hands.

“To avoid worrying my family, I’ll take my leave now, beautiful sister.”

“See you tomorrow~”

“Mm. See you tomorrow.”

Watching Shen Xianyue’s retreating figure, Su Wanqing finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

She no longer had any desire to continue shopping.

She randomly found an inn, checked in, and collapsed.

As for Shen Xianyue—once out of sight, she dropped the act completely.

She practically skipped down the street, grin so wide she couldn’t hide it even if she wanted to.

“Hehe~ Beautiful sister, you better wait obediently for Yue-er, okay?”

But her joy lasted exactly one night.

The next day—

The girl stood in front of the hot-spring inn on Night Market Street, clutching a slip of paper with Su Wanqing’s “information,” knuckles white.

Only after learning that Heaven-character rooms only went up to three digits did she realize:

She’d been tricked?!

This was the first time she had ever felt so stupid—blinded by excitement, believing every single thing the woman said.

“Heh… very nice… very nice—”

Shen Xianyue laughed in pure fury, all traces of yesterday’s delight gone.

She swore through gritted teeth:

“Deceiving this saintess comes at a price.”

“I will catch you…”

Her voice grew increasingly dangerous, like a predator whose interest had been thoroughly piqued.

Word by word, she hissed:

“Clever——little——kitty~♡”