Chapter 38 - Is It Funny That the Reincarnated Senior Sister Is Also Being Pursued?

Mu Jian Li, already emotionally engaged, was caught off guard when Bai Lian abruptly pushed her away. She stood frozen in the position she was left in, her mind blank for a moment. Bai Lian finally found a moment to catch her breath. She clutched her heaving chest, fear still lingering in her heart. She had an inexplicable feeling that if she had willingly given herself to Mu Jian Li just now, her mind would have been reduced to a singular obsession as if she were a soft plush toy. She couldn't pinpoint where that feeling stemmed from, but as a cultivator, intuition and insight couldn't be disregarded. So this is what "strategy" means... Bai Lian sighed softly in her heart. This method of strategizing was eerily similar to what she encountered in games. In a sense, the ultimatum of dying without dual cultivation was a straightforward plot device. To "conquer" the female leads, she didn’t need to achieve a high level of affection with them; as long as they were willing to sleep with her, it counted as a success. However, she took the route of a pure love harem, aiming to genuinely raise each female lead's affection to the highest level rather than just dealing with them perfunctorily. Yet, when it came to her turn, the heavens seemed to reverse this process, not requiring a high affection from the female leads for her, but instead assessing her willingness to grant herself to them. This was understandable given she possessed memories of every experience in the game, and her affection with the leads was inherently maxed out... This could make things easier when interacting with the female leads. After all, the notion of willingness provided a lot of room for maneuvering. As long as she maintained the right distance, she wouldn't have to worry about suddenly turning into a simple-minded plush toy. Perhaps she could even satisfy some of their demands without actually being willing... Wait, wait, wouldn’t that mean she's the one being pursued by the female leads?! Bai Lian couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile. What a tangled mess... Thankfully, the first to discover her true identity was Jian Li. Among the many female leads, her relationship with Mu Jian Li was the closest, even more intimate than with her longest companion, Master Gu Qing Qing. This intimacy stemmed from the complexity of her relationship with Mu Jian Li. Early in the game, Mu Jian Li was a very cold girl; due to her transparency in sword heart, she had almost no friends, and her life had only been about the sword before she met Bai Lian. After meeting Bai Lian, she gradually changed this increasingly aloof girl, helping her tackle life’s trivialities, guiding her through cultivation difficulties, and teaching her to express her emotions. She gradually began to open her heart, learning to feel joy, anger, jealousy, and even to act spoiled. In their interactions, beyond the identities of senior and junior disciples or Dao companions, they played roles akin to father and daughter, or master and apprentice. It was this depth that assured Bai Lian of one thing: of all the female leads, Jian Li posed the least threat upon discovering her true identity. Jian Li was a good kid; surely... she wouldn't do anything excessive to her, right? While Bai Lian was lost in thought, Mu Jian Li finally snapped out of her daze. She tilted her head, intensely staring at Bai Lian's face. So strange. Her senior sister’s reaction was so strange, just like it was in the hot springs before. Usually, when facing her teasing, her senior showed a nearly indulgent attitude, yet whenever Mu Jian Li wanted to get closer, her senior would suddenly display an intensely resistant reaction. No... it’s not resistance so much as it’s fear. What is senior afraid of? “Why did senior push Jian Li away?” she asked. “You used to like Jian Li the most.” Mu Jian Li's question was so direct that Bai Lian had no idea how to answer. What could she say? Could she really confess that sleeping together would immediately turn her into a simplistic plush toy? That would probably just excite the girl even more! She could only make an excuse, “I still like you now too...” “But we're at Taixu Villa, and we have tasks at hand; it’s really not the time for such matters.” Hearing this, Mu Jian Li’s eyes immediately brightened. “Does Senior mean once the Suzhou City affair is settled, we can do that?” Bai Lian: ? Wait a minute, you’re the second seat disciple of the current generation at Taihua Sword Sect, a personal disciple of Sword Sect Leader Ning Shuang Immortal, and a future supreme Sword Immortal—why is your mind filled with such thoughts?! Who's supposed to be the harem protagonist here—you or me? Bai Lian slightly parted her cherry lips, unable to voice the retorts in her mind, and could only helplessly say, “Well, Jian Li, it’s not that I don’t want to with you...” “But you see, in my past life, I indulged recklessly, harming so many girls, and ended up with a tragic end.” “Now that I’ve been reborn as a girl, I’ve decided to reform my ways.” “Isn’t pursuing the path to immortality more worthy of focus than that kind of thing?” Mu Jian Li suddenly realized and said, “So that’s what Senior thinks, I understand now.” But she didn’t believe it. She didn’t know how many of those girls harmed by Bai Lian in the past had been reborn, or if she and Aunt Gu were simply exceptions. Regardless, she couldn’t just stand by. Because she wasn’t someone who would choose to sit back and do nothing, just like with the current Suzhou cult affair. Senior could have rejected her request, having Master send another disciple along. But she didn’t; even knowing the risk of exposure, she resolutely agreed to come along. That’s the senior she knew; the senior who would never change in her heart. Yet it’s precisely because of this that Senior will inevitably walk the same path as in the past, encountering those same outstanding women. She might not want to repeat history, but what about those women? Mu Jian Li knew clearly how wonderful Bai Lian was this time around, destined to attract the attention of those women once more. And then, can Bai Lian really stay uninvolved? She didn’t believe it for a second, which is why she must firmly grasp Bai Lian in this life. This joint investigation of Huanshi Temple was her opportunity... Though many unexpected things had happened so far, she hadn’t anticipated how deep the waters of Suzhou City would run. But it didn’t matter, as long as Senior once again picks up the dual-cultivation secrets hidden within Huanshi Temple, she can trigger the allure scent inside Senior. And then... Senior will belong to her alone, forever. Mu Jian Li’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed, a hint of fiery emotion lurking within them. Seeing Mu Jian Li being so understanding, Bai Lian breathed a sigh of relief. It was truly fortunate that Jian Li was the one who discovered her true identity. No wonder she was the female lead who had stayed by her side the longest—despite occasionally using allure scent to secretly take advantage of her, at the core, she was still an innocent and kind-hearted child.