Innocent Revelations and Hidden Truths

Liu Ruyan, oblivious to the oppressive aura emanating from Ji Xue, entered the room, her large, innocent eyes wide with curiosity.

Clasping a thick comforter in her arms, she noticed the two still held in their peculiar postures, prompting her to tilt her head in innocent inquiry.

“Hmph!” Ji Xue let out a short, cold laugh.

Her gaze, sharp as a blade, sliced across Lin Mo’s instantly pale face before finally settling on Liu Ruyan.

Ji Xue’s lips curved into a smile utterly devoid of warmth.

“So, Little Sister Ruyan, you’ve also come to keep your ‘Sister Wan’er’ company for the night?” she asked, deliberately mimicking Liu Ruyan’s innocent and harmless tone.

Liu Ruyan nodded emphatically, even bouncing the thick comforter in her arms.

“That’s right! Ruyan is here to sleep with Sister Wan’er!” she chirped, hurrying to the bedside.

Her voice held a hint of eager affection, as if seeking praise, as she leaned closer, her moist eyes studying Lin Mo’s slightly rigid body with concern.

“Look, isn’t he trembling terribly?”

“Must be freezing, right?”

“Princess, you just got back, so you probably don’t know, but Sister Wan’er’s hands and feet used to get ice-cold several times in the middle of the night. He only warmed up when I held him!”

Boom!

These words were tantamount to detonating a powder keg in Ji Xue’s heart.

“No!”

Lin Mo shook his head frantically.

Ji Xue’s gaze, like a tangible ice needle, pierced Lin Mo fiercely!

Her eyes clearly conveyed: ‘You let her hug you?! And not just once?!’

“No!”

Lin Mo was shaking his head so vigorously, it seemed it might detach.

“I didn’t! She snuck over when I was asleep!”

“After all, Sister Wan’er doesn’t want to when he’s awake. But Sister Wan’er is so cold, so how can I secretly warm him up?”

As she spoke, she extended a small hand, her objective clear.

She spread the comforter, climbed onto the bed, and immediately tried to snuggle next to Lin Mo.

This was utterly unacceptable!

Ji Xue’s eyelid twitched.

She lunged forward, her fair fingertips moving with lightning speed, executing a precise side roll that landed her directly between the two.

Ji Xue suppressed the surging jealousy and the impulse to tear Lin Mo in half.

A forced, humorless smile stretched across her delicate face.

“Little Sister Ruyan, did you just say that for the past half month I was away, Sister Wan’er relied entirely on your care?”

Lin Mo knew this was an extremely dangerous signal.

He was doomed.

He quickly interjected before Liu Ruyan could reply, speaking at a frantic pace.

“Your Highness! Yes! For the past half-month or so, Ruyan has been… My internal energy was leaking, and my spiritual energy was in disarray. Ruyan used her Profound Qi daily to suppress the retrograde flow of malevolent energy for me, and she brewed warming medicinal concoctions. I also had her stay here often to guard against those who came, both overtly and covertly, to probe my injuries. After all! My injuries were not light!”

Lin Mo deliberately emphasized the latter part of his statement.

Although Ji Xue was pampered and proud, she was not unreasonable.

After listening, her scrutinizing gaze lingered on Lin Mo’s face.

While her jealousy hadn’t entirely vanished, reason had slightly gained the upper hand.

After all, the enemies Lin Mo had to deceive by feigning injury and enduring oppression must have been truly terrifying.

She had asked the surveillance personnel every day—indeed, Ji Xue also mentioned that she only learned a night later that the Hall of Clarity was constantly being monitored.

The individuals responsible for surveillance were at least Golden Core cultivators.

Furthermore, the Xuan Nv Sect’s “Physiognomy” technique was renowned throughout the world.

To deceive such individuals with a Foundation Establishment cultivation, there was no other way but to be genuinely injured.

Considering Lin Mo’s precise control over spiritual energy, it was highly probable that after his injury, he had memorized how spiritual energy flowed and how his aura withered during that time, then used this knowledge to maintain his disguise.

Otherwise, how could he possibly… now that he had decided to reveal his true state?

Ji Xue took a deep breath, yet her anger still wouldn’t fully subside.

After all, Liu Ruyan’s presence had objectively protected Lin Mo during his disguise, and it was understandable that Lin Mo, to maintain his pretense, lacked the strength to resist.

…

‘I just wonder if this fellow secretly enjoyed it,’ she mused.

Faced with Liu Ruyan’s… peak assets, even Ji Xue felt a pang of resentment.

Royal techniques, being acquired, ultimately could not surpass innate advantages.

In that moment, Ji Xue profoundly understood what true talent meant.

She ought to have been grateful to Liu Ruyan for subjecting Lin Mo to further “bullying,” yet she found herself utterly unable to feel thankful.

Those two weighty peaks seemed barely contained by her clothing, threatening to burst forth at any moment, causing waves of bashful jealousy to leap out intermittently.

Amusement and scrutiny.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze, filled with extreme complexity, fixed on Lin Mo.

From her sharp, phoenix-like eyes, a silent, piercing question clearly conveyed itself: ‘Does she know your true identity?’

Lin Mo’s heart instantly leaped into his throat.

He fully understood the blatant question in Ji Xue’s eyes—she was confirming whether Liu Ruyan also knew his secret as a man!

Lin Mo met Ji Xue’s gaze and, with a subtle, almost imperceptible movement, gave a slight shake of his head.

The gesture was so minute, its speed so swift, that had Ji Xue not been entirely focused on him, she would have barely perceived it.

That silent denial was undeniably clear.

A sliver of the frost in Ji Xue’s eyes suddenly melted.

Her tense shoulders subtly relaxed.

With unhurried grace, she used the fingertips of her other hand to smooth her slightly disheveled collar.

Her eyes, still narrowed at Lin Mo, held a half-smile as she drawled, her tone so steeped in sourness it could curdle a vat of aged vinegar.

“Heh… so that’s how it is.”

Ji Xue’s gaze, almost tangible, scraped across Lin Mo’s face.

“Your days as a wounded soldier seem to be… truly… nourishing… and… quite… pleasant!”

Each word seemed to be squeezed from between her teeth.

“With a loyal, personal little medical immortal, keeping you warm with hugs and never leaving your side.”

Listening to her words, reeking of jealousy and laced with thorns, cold sweat began to bead on Lin Mo’s forehead.

“Your Highness, it’s truly not what you’re imagining. Liu Ruyan and I are completely innocent! She is merely… kind-hearted…” he explained urgently.

Ji Xue straightened up, regaining her outward composure, yet her demeanor held an undeniable assertiveness.

She raised her chin towards Liu Ruyan.

“It’s late. Since Little Sister Ruyan is so concerned about Wan’er’s body…” she deliberately emphasized “body” with a meaningful glance at Lin Mo, “…and has brought a comforter… then that’s fine.”

She rose gracefully, smoothing her skirt.

Under the bewildered gazes of Liu Ruyan and Lin Mo, Ji Xue smoothly lifted the corner of the comforter, her movements so natural it was as if she were the true mistress of the room.

“Everyone, sleep,” Ji Xue commanded, her voice calm but imbued with an invisible authority.

She settled herself squarely between the two, claiming a significant portion of the space, then pulled her own comforter over herself.

“Don’t you need to warm up Sister Wan’er?” Liu Ruyan asked, posing a question from the depths of her soul.

“I’ll do it,” Ji Xue replied decisively.

Lin Mo dared not utter a sound, merely nodding before lying down, his eyes squinted at the ceiling.

“Oh, I see.”

‘When did Sister Ji Xue and Sister Wan’er get so close?’ Liu Ruyan wondered, but she didn’t dwell on it.

A slight hint of regret crossed her face before she obediently lay down.

Ji Xue, drawing out her words with a teasing lilt, slowly stated:

“How could we not be close~? Your Sister Wan’er is carrying my child, you see~”

At these words, Lin Mo felt as though he had been struck by a thunderbolt, his soul scattering in fright.

He shot upright, his face filled with horror as he stared at Ji Xue.

However, catching her teasing, almost mischievous gaze, he instantly understood—this was no serious declaration, but clearly a deliberate prank!

“A child? Your child?”

Liu Ruyan tilted her head, her clear eyes filled with bewilderment and confusion.

“But that’s not right… how can two women have a child?”

“Hmph~ My naive little sister, have you truly never heard of…”

Ji Xue’s crimson lips curved slightly as she prepared to continue her teasing.

Unexpectedly, before she could finish speaking, Liu Ruyan suddenly flipped over without warning!

Her slender, pale hand, swift as lightning, “swished” into Ji Xue’s warm comforter, accurately probing downwards, and then lightly “patted”!

“—?!”

Time seemed to freeze abruptly.

Ji Xue and Lin Mo were both petrified, frozen in place!

‘This… this little girl… her audacity is simply… too much!’

‘How could she possibly do that?’

A monumental shock choked both of them.

Before they could react, Liu Ruyan, in a tone of utmost innocence and boundless curiosity, dropped her earth-shattering question:

“Huh? Sister Ji Xue, you clearly don’t have that thing that men have!”

She blinked her clear, innocent eyes, continuing her soul-stirring interrogation:

“Since that’s the case… then what method did you use to get Sister Wan’er pregnant?”

The air grew dead silent.

‘Men’s thing?! What in the world does that have to do with this?!’

Gazing at their two faces, almost frozen and etched with “shock and bewilderment,” Liu Ruyan, conversely, appeared extraordinarily puzzled.

She furrowed her brow slightly.

“Huh? Is there something strange about this question? Could it be… that neither of you knew?”