After Being Struck By The Love Gu, I Reached A Happy Ending With My Frail Best Friend - Chapter 14

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds—

Shen Fangzhou froze.

An intense crimson flush spread upward from her neck. The unfamiliar touch shot straight into her heart, and she struggled to speak through her trembling.

“Y-you, Sect Master, you… you…”

Xie Guiwan calmly withdrew her hand, looking perfectly composed.

“What did I do?”

Shen Fangzhou nearly exhausted every possible pronoun without managing to form a single complete sentence.

In the end, she could only feel the inexplicably accelerated pounding inside her chest as she stiffly followed behind Xie Guiwan.

Shen Fangzhou asked blankly,

“S-System, why does this feel so wrong?”

The system was equally bewildered.

“I don’t know, but I think I’m starting to ship the two of you.”

Shen Fangzhou: “Huh?”

The system: “Hah!”

Shen Fangzhou abruptly came back to her senses.

Only then did she realize that not only had she failed to trick Xie Guiwan, but Xie Guiwan had turned the tables on her!

What a familiar straight-woman tactic.

Shen Fangzhou became deeply worried for her senior sister’s future.

With Xie Guiwan so skilled at seizing control, how was her low-ranking senior sister ever supposed to win herself a wife?

The system nearly wanted to crack this woman’s head open.

After all that, you’re still thinking about finding the sect master a wife?!

The system said darkly,

“Shen Fangzhou, have you considered the possibility that your sect master and your senior sister don’t actually want to be together?”

“Huh?”

Shen Fangzhou blurted instinctively,

“Not being together might also be… Wait! No! Absolutely not!”

The strange thought had appeared far too suddenly.

Shen Fangzhou shuddered and immediately strangled the faint, inexplicable anticipation rising in her heart, then began furiously brainwashing herself.

“No, no, no. The official couple has to end up together! Anyone who tries to break up my ship will have to fight me…”

After hearing no movement beside her for a long while, Xie Guiwan turned back and found Shen Fangzhou still standing in place, muttering to herself.

Amusement flickered in her eyes.

She had finally made this person show an expression toward her that differed from ordinary friendship.

Xie Guiwan was in an excellent mood.

Tilting her head, she asked,

“What is it, Zhouzhou? What are you thinking about?”

Shen Fangzhou made a small sound and came back to herself.

Then she answered honestly,

“I was wondering who your cultivation partner will be in the future, Sect Master. When the time comes, I’ll definitely attend the ceremony.”

Xie Guiwan: “…”

Forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart, Xie Guiwan’s expression immediately cooled.

She truly wanted to inspect the swordswoman before her and determine whether she was human or some inanimate object.

How could anyone be this oblivious?

She was practically a stone.

Shen Fangzhou caught the sudden drop in Xie Guiwan’s mood almost instantly.

Although she had no idea why the sect master was upset, her instinct for mortal danger still prompted her to ask cautiously,

“Sect Master, are you angry?”

Xie Guiwan replied,

“No.”

Shen Fangzhou: “Oh—”

That’s what I thought!

She moved close to Xie Guiwan again and asked in a deliberately casual tone,

“Then, Sect Master, what do you think of my senior sister?”

Xie Guiwan: “…”

The system: “…”

Zhouzhou, stop talking. I’m scared.

Xie Guiwan clenched her back teeth.

Before she could put on a stern expression and admit that she was indeed angry, a commotion arose in the distance.

“Hey, hey, stop right there! Show us your demon identification. Temporary inspection!”

“Wait, why are you running? Oh, your travel permit expired. That’s nothing serious. Remember to renew it this afternoon.”

“You’re asking why we’re suddenly conducting inspections? What else could it be? Two wanted criminals broke into Yaodu!”

A squad of White Eagle guards had suddenly landed in the distance and begun stopping pedestrians to inspect their information.

Shen Fangzhou and Xie Guiwan exchanged a glance, then hurried away in perfect unison.

Passing through the city gate had already been a stroke of luck.

The two of them needed to leave quickly.

Zhou Xu had most likely planted a tracking talisman on them. Their first priority was finding somewhere capable of isolating spiritual energy.

The black-cat and fox identities they were currently using had been stolen from an inn a few days earlier.

They did not know why the two demon compatriots had handed over their identification so willingly.

Conveniently, however, the black cat had an elder relative who happened to be one of the Demon Palace elders, making it easier for them to gather information.

For example—

why Zhou Han had suddenly gone to Huizhou Pass.

With the city under such tight security, it would be better to hide at the elder’s residence for a while.

No matter which patrol force arrived, none would dare attempt to break into an elder’s estate.

Disguised as beast demons, Shen Fangzhou and Xie Guiwan quickly slipped away.

Following what the two demons had told them, they soon found a residence and handed a visiting card to the gatekeeper.

A short while later, the door creaked open.

A black-cat demon general with world-weary features pushed the gates open and rushed toward the guard, shouting anxiously like an ant on a hot pan.

“What? They came from my hometown? Is it my niece? Where is she? Where is she?”

Shen Fangzhou cautiously raised a hand.

“Elder?”

The Black Cat Elder looked at her.

Her feline body trembled, and she immediately wrapped Shen Fangzhou in a hug, wailing loudly.

“My eldest niece! My niece! Good heavens, look how thin that little face has become! Hurry inside and eat something good!”

Shen Fangzhou struggled to breathe and barely managed to poke her head out.

“Is the black-cat tribe’s homeland in the northeastern part of the demon realm?”

The Black Cat Elder led them all the way into the residence.

Shen Fangzhou tearfully whimpered along to appease the elder while discreetly surveying the surrounding terrain.

This Black Cat Elder was at least at the Nascent Soul realm.

Shen Fangzhou therefore became more cautious with her answers.

The elder subtly tried to extract information from her.

Fortunately, the original little black cat had explained everything in detail.

Shen Fangzhou mixed truth with lies and barely made it through the interrogation.

The Black Cat Elder finally relaxed.

This time, her gaze shifted toward Xie Guiwan, who had remained silent beside Shen Fangzhou.

A trace of amazement passed through her eyes.

Curious, the elder asked,

“Eldest niece, is this fox-demon friend of yours?”

Xie Guiwan smiled without answering.

Shen Fangzhou hurriedly added,

“Yes, Elder. My friend simply suffers from an ear ailment and cannot hear clearly.”

So she was deaf.

The Black Cat Elder sighed regretfully in her heart, then turned to Shen Fangzhou’s graceful figure with a little more satisfaction in her eyes.

“Eldest niece, I’ll be honest with you. The reason I wrote to you this time was because I found something good for you.”

Shen Fangzhou’s thoughts stirred, and she cooperatively asked,

“Oh?”

The Black Cat Elder declared with resounding force,

“A blind date!”

Shen Fangzhou jolted and nearly fell from her chair.

“Wait…”

She spoke with righteous conviction.

“Elder, how can I think of starting a family before the human race has been destroyed? Rather than discussing this, why don’t you tell me about the current state of the war?”

“Her Majesty went to Huizhou Pass several days ago. Are we preparing to go to war with the humans?”

“What war? Her Majesty went to look for the Crane—ah!”

The Black Cat Elder suddenly stopped and rigidly swallowed the rest of the sentence.

Then she scolded,

“Is that something you should be asking?”

Look for what?

Shen Fangzhou keenly caught the unfinished word.

A crane.

Could she have gone to search for the remaining half of the Crane Feather?

But why would it be at Huizhou Pass?

Before Shen Fangzhou had time to think further, the elder immediately patted her right hand affectionately and spoke earnestly.

“Here’s the thing, niece. I know you like women.”

Shen Fangzhou: “?”

That sentence doesn’t seem quite right.

The Black Cat Elder continued coaxingly,

“Well, the child of the White Lion Elder next door happens to be a male lion.”

Shen Fangzhou: “???”

That doesn’t seem right either.

“He’s handsome and charming, though his character is rather poor! Although he enjoys drinking and causing drunken scenes, he is still…”

Shen Fangzhou cautiously prompted,

“Still?”

“He’s blind!”

Shen Fangzhou: “???”

Shen Fangzhou was utterly shocked.

She finally understood why the little black cat had surrendered her identification so readily!

Once she recovered, Shen Fangzhou immediately grabbed Xie Guiwan’s hand and solemnly made a false claim.

“No, no, Elder. I’ll tell you the truth. This fox and I are already together!”

Xie Guiwan raised an eyebrow.

A fox?

Shen Fangzhou quickly squeezed her hand.

Meeting the anxious, urging gaze of the person beside her, Xie Guiwan could not suppress her amusement.

Only then did she speak at an unhurried pace.

“It is precisely as the elder sees.”

Xie Guiwan’s languid voice flowed like a clear stream.

“She and I met when we were both poor and lowly.”

“Because of my deafness, I have always been frail and sickly. Over the past several years, I barely managed to preserve this life thanks to her meticulous care.”

“We met amid bitter hardship, and affection quietly took root.”

“Now my feelings for her are deep and unwavering. I hope the elder will grant us her blessing.”

She was currently wrapped in Shen Fangzhou’s cloak.

The slightly loose green robe could not conceal the flawless, snow-white curve of her neck.

At first glance, the woman’s tone sounded relaxed, yet every word was clear.

Affection gradually emerged within her tranquil gaze.

She resembled an exiled immortal who had fallen into the net of mortal love, every feature filled with lingering devotion.

Shen Fangzhou stared at her in a daze.

The Black Cat Elder paused.

She had not expected these two to genuinely seem as though they shared some history.

Helping a pair of lovers remain together did sound nice.

However, the Black Cat Elder needed a favor from the White Lion Elder and refused to give up.

She glanced sideways at Xie Guiwan and began searching for faults.

“From the sound of things, you don’t seem to have much money.”

Without waiting for Xie Guiwan to argue, the elder immediately seized Shen Fangzhou and pleaded earnestly,

“Listen to me, niece! His family is rich. Once you marry him, you’ll live in comfort!”

“Love without material security is like the fur on our bodies. One gust of wind, and it all blows away!”

Shen Fangzhou continued shaking her head firmly.

The Black Cat Elder simply frowned and launched an indiscriminate attack.

“But black cats and foxes aren’t compatible at all! Besides, this friend of yours is deaf!”

Shen Fangzhou could no longer endure it.

She shouted at full volume,

“What’s wrong with not being able to hear? My friend is incredibly kind and diligent!”

“Her work performance ranks first among the Immor—Demon Sects every year!”

“She’s a hundred times better than that lion—no, that lion isn’t even worthy of being compared to her!”

Seeing that Shen Fangzhou appeared genuinely angry, the Black Cat Elder coughed awkwardly several times to ease the atmosphere.

She forced a smile and reluctantly praised,

“Is that so? Then I suppose she could be described as disabled yet strong-willed.”

Shen Fangzhou sneered.

“You too, Elder.”

The Black Cat Elder blinked.

“Oh?”

Shen Fangzhou swiftly punched the elder.

Expressionless, she said,

“You’re mentally disabled.”