Chapter 317 - 209: Lantern Festival (2)

Chapter 317: Chapter 209: Lantern Festival (2)

Situ Qin said with a grin:

"What’s the big deal about showing you? It’s not like you hid your Hundred-Change Profound Weapon from me, right?"

She hadn’t hidden her treasure from Xie Yuan, and he, in turn, had revealed many secrets when he described and showed her his own enchanted artifact. This left her feeling very satisfied.

Although she was sharp enough to pick up on a few ambiguous details in his story, she chose to play dumb.

’This is for the best. A Master Xie like this is one who hides nothing from me.’

Beaming, she thrust the Jade Buddha Pendant into Xie Yuan’s hands, then quickly pulled her own back and hid them behind her, looking like a petulant child who had suddenly lost her hands.

"It’s yours now! Take good care of it."

Seeing her like this, Xie Yuan figured she would get genuinely angry if he didn’t accept. He sighed, holding the Jade Buddha and chuckled.

"Well then, thank you for your generous donation, my lady benefactor. Amitabha."

He closed his hand around the Jade Buddha, feeling the warmth of Situ Qin’s body still clinging to it. His nostrils flared slightly, and he suddenly froze.

’This scent... it’s familiar. No, it’s more than that...’

The Jade Buddha suddenly felt scorching hot in his hand—so hot, in fact, that it seemed to warm his heart as well.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking carefully, "Miss Qin, perhaps you should take this back... and we can exchange for something else?"

Situ Qin, who had just been amused by his monk act, scoffed at his words. Without a second thought, she declared imperiously,

"I said I’m giving you this one, so I’m giving you this one! I’m not taking it back. You just hold onto it!"

"...Really?"

"Hey, why all the pointless chatter!"

Situ Qin glared, on the verge of losing her temper.

Xie Yuan could only nod silently and put the Jade Buddha away.

Situ Qin frowned.

"What’s wrong? You still don’t want it? Just put it on already."

Xie Yuan hesitated.

"I’d rather put it on later."

"Why are you being so wishy-washy today? Something’s not right! I already gave it to you, so what’s wrong with putting it on? Don’t tell me you dislike it? I offered you a jade pendant, but you didn’t want that either!"

Situ Qin stood with her hands on her hips, thoroughly displeased.

Xie Yuan sighed and said quietly,

"It’s not that I dislike it... But you’re the one telling me to put it on right now."

"So what if I am?"

"So I’ll be wearing it on my chest, too..."

"..."

"!!!"

With her hands still on her hips, Situ Qin stood frozen in place, instantly transformed into a stone statue.

Then, her fair, lovely face began to visibly change color, shifting from pale pink to a deep crimson. Like a shrimp boiled in hot water, the blush spread from her face all the way down to the base of her neck until she was completely flushed.

Seeing Xie Yuan’s innocent look, Situ Qin suddenly shuddered, let out a little "Ah!", and covered her face with her hands, burying her head in the sand.

"No, that’s not—it’s not... Wait, don’t say anything! Let me think!"

"Alright."

Xie Yuan shook his head.

After a long moment, Situ Qin’s delicate body was still trembling slightly. She remained silent, save for her ragged breathing, apparently unable to think her way out of this.

Xie Yuan cleared his throat and offered the Jade Buddha back to her.

"Miss Qin, please take it back. If you really insist on giving me a gift, we can swap it for something else..."

"You’ve already touched it and held it, and now you’re telling me you don’t want it? What’s the point!"

Situ Qin, her face still hidden behind her hands, exclaimed in exasperation,

"Shameless! Utterly shameless!"

Xie Yuan’s face stiffened. He instantly felt two waves of killing intent aimed straight at him!

He felt a surge of panic. ’Who’s being shameless here?!’

’My lady, your words are far too ambiguous!’

Fortunately, after taking a few deep breaths, Situ Qin forcefully dropped her hands, revealing a face still as red as a monkey’s bottom.

The crimson blush, combined with her exquisite features, created a different kind of captivating, vernal beauty.

She stared at the ground, not daring to look at Xie Yuan, and spoke quickly, "Forget it! A promise is a promise! Since I said I’d give it to you, how can I take it back! Just put it away—but don’t wear it yet, and-and don’t you dare think about... or do... anything funny with it!"

’I can understand ’don’t think about anything funny’... but what does she mean ’do anything funny’?’

’What kind of romance novels have you been reading?’

Xie Yuan wore a strange expression as he tucked the Jade Buddha into his pocket and nodded silently.

They fell into a mutual, speechless silence. Situ Qin sat there and chugged several cups of tea, downing all the water that had been prepared to soothe Xie Yuan’s throat.

Once her complexion had finally calmed down a bit, Situ Qin closed her eyes and muttered to herself:

"This never happened. I never gave him a pendant. The pendant never existed."

"This never happened. I never gave him a pendant. The pendant never existed..."

She repeated the mantra several times, eventually saying it loud enough for Xie Yuan to hear, leaving him at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

A moment later, Situ Qin opened her eyes, seemingly having forgotten the whole affair. She went to speak, but her words caught in her throat.

Seeing Xie Yuan’s curious, searching gaze, Situ Qin mumbled, "Where were we just now?"

"You gave me the pendant to protec—"

"No! I didn’t! What about before that?"

"Oh, we were talking about the Slaughter Tower. I promised you I wouldn’t be reckless. And I’d also like to hear you play the qin again. It’s truly beautiful."

Xie Yuan said with a small smile.

Only then did the color return to normal on Situ Qin’s face, and she felt like her little brain could think again.

"Right. So what happened next? What did you mean when you said something wasn’t right?"

"After that... Hmm, well, first take a look at these. Besides this Profound Weapon, I also brought back a lot of Treasure Medicine and Spiritual Materials."

Xie Yuan untied his satchel and showed its contents to Situ Qin.

When Situ Qin heard it was Treasure Medicine and Spiritual Materials, she was initially uninterested. Why would she ever be lacking in those?

But when she saw the crimson Lingzhi and the perfectly formed, symmetrical old ginseng in Xie Yuan’s satchel, she froze, her eyes widening slightly.

"Is that a Blood Lingzhi? And... a century-old Mountain King Ginseng?"

Situ Qin’s expression was one of astonishment as she said,

"I didn’t expect you to have some real treasures!"