Chapter 69 You and him look alike

Chapter 69 You and him look alike

"System," Lou Yuqing immediately asked the question that had been buried in her heart for a long time, "I want to know who that mysterious person who stole Yuan Shenxing's luck is?"

The system is not responding.

After a while, the sound of machinery came.

Please wait a moment, host.

The system panel appeared in front of Lou Yuqing, displaying an upgrade progress bar, which was currently loading to 10%.

upgrade?

Lou Yuqing paused for a moment, a hint of doubt in her mind. Did the system need to upgrade itself to answer this question? Was there something it didn't know?

She initially thought the system was deliberately hiding the melon, but now it seems the system might genuinely be unable to do it.

Just then.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

A sound like electricity flowed by.

Lou Yuqing covered her suffering ears, frowned and looked at the system panel. She saw that after the progress bar on the panel reached 100%, it instantly jumped to a graph, and then turned into a full-screen mosaic.

Finally, it came to a standstill.

"System?" Lou Yuqing's lips twitched as she asked tentatively, thinking to herself that the system seemed to be short-circuiting.

[...]

The system panel was cleared instantly, an ellipsis appeared, and then a faint mechanical sound rang out.

The system is powerless to help.

For some reason, Lou Yuqing sensed the implication of giving up. She paused for a moment, then said with a hint of disappointment, "Aren't you the system? The system is all-knowing, how can you be so useless?"

[...insufficient energy]

The gossip-eating system uttered a frustrated remark.

Lou Yuqing shut her mouth upon hearing this. They'd circled back to her, and she asked, half-believing, half-doubting, "You won't have energy if I don't eat melon seeds?"

【Yes】

The system answered very quickly this time.

Lou Yuqing reluctantly believed its explanation. The system had entered hibernation mode when it was low on energy, and now it was using this reason to cause the melons to be underweight. Logically, it did make sense.

She smoothed her wind-blown hair, appearing nonchalant, and said, "It's alright then. Next time, just say so directly, and I can understand. After all, you're just a gossip-watching system; we can't expect too much from you."

[…The system thanks you.]

Lou Yuqing waved her hand dismissively: "You're welcome!"

Just as she was about to shut down the system, she saw the search bar that had been opened and, unwilling to give up, typed in a line of text: "What is the identity of the person who stole Yuan Shenxing's luck?"

[This search requires 1,000,000 "gossip points". The system has detected that the host's gossip points are far from sufficient. Please work harder to earn more points.]

How many?

Lou Yuqing stared at the string of numbers in disbelief: Good heavens, six zeros! She just wanted to have some fun, but the system wanted her dead.

This face-to-face taunting is absolutely despicable!

Seeing that she was standing still, Si Nidie called out, "Junior Sister, let's go."

Lou Yuqing snapped out of her daze: "They're here."

She stepped on the white clouds summoned by Si Nidie, and as the scenery on both sides receded, she arrived smoothly at the sect's training room after a short while.

...

On the other side.

After leaving Qishan, Gu Qinghong and Xiao Siwen poured out their hearts to each other before reluctantly parting ways.

Watching Xiao Siwen's departing figure, the tenderness in Gu Qinghong's eyes gradually disappeared, and the smile vanished from his face. This woman was no longer of any use to him.

Yes, she did love him.

But what good is love? Can it help him gain a foothold in the inner sect? Or can it help him improve his cultivation and break through to the Golden Core stage?

Not only that, her elder father always looked down on him, often expressing his dissatisfaction and frequently reprimanding him. Even after he became a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he still showed him no respect whatsoever.

Gu Qinghong looked indifferent. It was time to get rid of this burden. Although he was sometimes pleased with her obedience, this love had now become a stumbling block to his progress.

He will get better things without Xiao Siwen.

However, a shadow of gloom flashed in Gu Qinghong's eyes. Xiao Siwen was rather difficult to deal with and probably wouldn't give up easily. This matter needed to be considered more carefully.

He arrived at the cave in deep thought. Just as he was about to open the magic array to go inside, he suddenly caught sight of a female cultivator standing at the entrance, carrying a sword box more than a foot long on her back, exuding a powerful aura.

Even from behind, she was undeniably beautiful, tall and slender, with her hair neatly tied up and secured with a single wooden hairpin, looking simple yet elegant.

Gu Qinghong's heart skipped a beat, thinking it was a romantic debt he owed. But after quickly recalling the person, he realized he had never seen them before and asked in bewilderment, "Who are you?"

Not long ago, because Lou Yuqing was punished, he no longer wanted to get close to beautiful women as much as before.

The female cultivator turned to look at Gu Qinghong, her cold gaze falling on his face. She paused for a moment, then went straight to the point: "I am Shao Qiuyan, an inner disciple. Are you Gu Qinghong's junior brother?"

Gu Qinghong nodded, feeling even more puzzled. It seemed strange that an inner sect senior sister had suddenly appeared to find him. He said warily, "I am indeed Gu Qinghong. May I ask why Senior Sister Shao has come? If I remember correctly, I am not acquainted with Senior Sister Shao."

Shao Qiuyan said somewhat forlornly, "To be honest, Junior Brother Gu looks a lot like my old friend. We had a deep friendship, but unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. If Junior Brother Gu doesn't mind, we can keep in touch more often in the future. You've just entered the inner sect and don't understand many things, so you'll probably need a senior's help."

Did a pie fall from the sky?

Upon hearing this, Gu Qinghong's first thought was this. He had just been thinking about finding a new employer, but before he could take any action, the candidate had already come to him.

He suppressed his excitement and asked cautiously, "I appreciate Senior Sister Shao's kindness, but may I ask where you've seen me before?"

Although this seemed like a good thing, he was more afraid that there might be a trap. He would not lower himself to get acquainted with Shao Qiuyan unless he was sure that she was harmless and that there was something he could extract from her.

Shao Qiuyan smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to doubt anything. I saw you in the cultivation room a few days ago and asked around about you before I came here to wait for you."

It matches up.

In order to consolidate his Foundation Establishment realm, Gu Qinghong specially spent spirit stones to go to the cultivation room to thoroughly solidify his somewhat unstable cultivation.

Since that's the case, let's try to build a good relationship with her first.

Having made up his mind, Gu Qinghong smiled shyly and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I was busy cultivating at the time and didn't notice Senior Sister Shao."

"It doesn't matter."

Shao Qiuyan didn't mind at all. She knew very well that her sudden arrival would alert the other party, but what could she do when he had a face that resembled that of an old friend?

Especially his current youthful expression, which makes him look even more like the boy from back then. In a daze, Shao Qiuyan saw the boy practicing swordsmanship back then. When he realized someone was watching him practice, he smiled shyly and fled in panic.

"Senior Sister Shao?"

Hearing Gu Qinghong's call, Shao Qiuyan woke up with a start and looked at him with a very gentle gaze: "Junior Brother Gu, I live on Luoxue Peak, which is ten miles away from you. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come and find me."

As she spoke, she patted her storage bag, and a white porcelain jade bottle appeared in her hand. She then pulled out the stopper and said, "This is a gift for you. It contains pills to enhance your cultivation."

The moment the stopper was pulled out, a fragrant aroma of pills wafted into the air and filled Gu Qinghong's nostrils. He was startled; the pills must be incredibly potent.

Gu Qinghong hadn't expected Shao Qiuyan to be so generous, which showed that she and her old friend were indeed very close. With that in mind, he quickly made a decision.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Shao, but I cannot accept such a gift without having done so much." Gu Qinghong wanted to maintain a close relationship with Shao Qiuyan, so declining was necessary to avoid giving her the impression of being greedy.

Of course, he was determined to get this bottle of pills. If the other party was determined to give them to him, he certainly wouldn't be able to dismiss them with just a few words.

The next moment, Shao Qiuyan tossed the jade bottle into Gu Qinghong's arms, saying in a way that left no room for refusal, "Just accept it as I told you to. If you really feel bad about it, you can return the favor another day."

Finally, she added, "It's a small gift but a big sentiment. No matter what kind of gift it is, it's all from your heart. I won't mind, you can rest assured."

Gu Qinghong looked both amused and exasperated: "Then I, your junior brother, will accept your offer. To be honest, I am indeed short of money. If there is anything I can do to help you in the future, please feel free to call me. After all, I am a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

The difference between "Senior Sister Shao" and "Senior Sister" – just one word less – subtly shortened the distance between the two.

Shao Qiuyan's smile deepened: "Alright, I'll remember that. If you refuse to help me in the future, I won't let you off the hook."

Hearing these teasing words, Gu Qinghong smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Of course, if Junior Brother were to lie, I would surely suffer retribution in the future."

Shao Qiuyan raised her finger and shook it: "Don't make oaths lightly, this is your senior sister's advice to you."

Gu Qinghong was taken aback, not expecting her to react this way, and immediately agreed, "I'll listen to Senior Sister."

He scoffed inwardly. What was retribution? Only a fool would believe that. He had made at least a dozen oaths, and none of them had ever come true.

Once she was out of sight, Gu Qinghong couldn't wait to enter the cave. He poured ten pills from the jade bottle into his palm, each round and exuding a captivating fragrance.

It's of excellent quality; it's a high-grade Spirit Gathering Pill!

Gu Qinghong visibly showed interest, picked up a pill to try it out, but his hand stopped in mid-air, he hesitated for a moment, and then put it back.

No, this is the first time he has met Shao Qiuyan, and he knows nothing about her. On the contrary, she knows everything about his situation. How can he know whether he can take this pill or not?

Gu Qinghong's expression changed several times. He planned to have the pill's medicinal properties checked by an alchemist before making any further decisions. He also wanted to investigate Shao Qiuyan and see if the old friend she mentioned who looked similar to her actually existed!

Shao Qiuyan resides on Luoxue Peak. Judging from her cultivation level, she should be a personal disciple of the peak master. Moreover, she carries a sword box, so she is undoubtedly a sword cultivator. This narrows down the possibilities considerably.

He thought it was probably true.

Gu Qinghong tossed and turned, unable to sleep, thinking about the benefits he could squeeze out of Shao Qiuyan.