Transmigrating into the world of Jade Dynasty, I was targeted by the female lead in a reverse romanc

Lu Xueqi's mind raced. She needed to find another reason. What reason could make him stay a little longer?

"you……"

She paused, then suddenly remembered the draw results she had overheard by the arena: "Your junior brother, Zhang Xiaofan."

"What's wrong with Xiao Fan?"

"He seems to be my opponent tomorrow."

Lu Xueqi said calmly, "Should we... hold back?"

Jiang Xiaochuan was taken aback.

What is Zhang Xiaofan's feeling towards Lu Xueqi?

In the original story, they only met in the final four, right?

We're in the quarterfinals now... pretty much.

Wait, if Xiao Fan loses and doesn't make it to the top four, then the plot of the Dead Spirit Abyss in Kongsang Mountain... Volume One of the Heavenly Book... Bi Yao...

A series of thoughts flashed through his mind.

If Zhang Xiaofan hadn't gone to the Abyss of the Dead, he wouldn't have encountered Biyao.

If he hadn't encountered Biyao, there wouldn't have been the subsequent ten years of waiting, the tragedy of blocking the sword... It doesn't seem like such a bad thing after all?

Biyao is a pitiful girl. It might be a good thing if she didn't run into Zhang Xiaofan.

He was getting a little tired of standing, glanced at the plain bamboo bed, and felt too embarrassed to sit down.

Lu Xueqi is a clean person; he's covered in dust and dirt, and he doesn't want to get dirty.

Lu Xueqi watched him stand there in a daze and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good to stay. Staying a little longer is fine.

"Sit down." She pointed to the only chair in the room.

"No need, no need, I can stand." Jiang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand.

Lu Xueqi frowned, somewhat displeased.

She walked to the bedside, sat down, and patted the spot next to her: "Sit here."

Jiang Xiaochuan glanced at the clean bed, then at his dusty clothes, and shook his head: "Really, it's not necessary, I..."

"Sit down," Lu Xueqi interrupted, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Jiang Xiaochuan had no choice but to slowly move over and sit on the edge of the bed, barely touching it, his body taut.

Lu Xueqi glanced at him, said nothing, but moved aside to give him more room.

The room fell silent again.

Jiang Xiaochuan was still thinking about the battle between Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi.

The reason why Fan Xue is so lovable in the original work is because good and evil cannot coexist, and they love each other but cannot be together.

But now that I'm here, Zhang Xiaofan definitely won't become Gui Li. So how do we proceed with the Fanxue storyline...?

Should we try to match them up?

Oh well, let nature take its course.

Tian Ling'er and Qi Hao... have nothing to do with each other now.

On the contrary, it was Tian Ling'er...

He was lost in thought when he suddenly felt a gaze fixed on his face.

He looked up and saw Lu Xueqi staring at him intently, her eyes unblinking, something swirling within her cool gaze.

He felt inexplicably guilty and forced a dry laugh.

"Um... Xiao Fan, you can hit him however you like."

Jiang Xiaochuan said, bringing his thoughts back, "Just stop there, don't go too far."

Lu Xueqi hummed in agreement, without looking away.

Jiang Xiaochuan felt uncomfortable under her gaze and stood up again: "Then... Senior Sister Lu, shall I go now?"

"Eat before you leave." Lu Xueqi also stood up, her voice quickening.

"Oh? No need, no need, I'll eat at home..."

"Our master doesn't eat with us."

Lu Xueqi interrupted, paused, and lowered her voice, "Besides... our female disciples of Xiaozhu Peak have small appetites, and some dishes are left uneaten, which is wasteful."

As she spoke, she glanced at him, then quickly looked away, her ears turning slightly red.

Jiang Xiaochuan was stunned.

Wasting food that can't be finished? That reason... he thought about it, and it seemed plausible. He was actually a little hungry.

He is absolutely not gluttonous, absolutely not.

"Well... okay." He nodded.

Lu Xueqi subtly curved her lips into a smile, then turned and pushed open the door.

The female disciples under the corridor hadn't dispersed yet, and when they saw them come out, their eyes became even more ambiguous.

Lu Xueqi kept her eyes straight ahead and led Jiang Xiaochuan to the side hall where they would be eating.

Several female disciples from Xiaozhu Peak were already seated in the side hall. When they saw Lu Xueqi bring in a familiar male disciple, they were all stunned for a moment, then exchanged glances and covered their mouths to chuckle.

Jiang Xiaochuan steeled himself and sat down with Lu Xueqi at a small table in the far corner. The food was served quickly: three dishes and a soup, simple and light, but it looked delicious.

Lu Xueqi didn't have much of an appetite, eating in small bites, but her eyes kept glancing at Jiang Xiaochuan. Seeing that he was eating with relish, she pursed her lips and ate a few more bites herself.

The probing, smiling gazes of her fellow students felt like fine needles gently pricking her skin, causing a slight itch and warmth. She knew what they were looking at and what they were thinking. Normally, she would have already given them a cold look or simply gotten up and left.

But not today.

She even... strangely felt that this wasn't so bad. Let them see that Jiang Xiaochuan was here, sitting with her, eating quietly. He wasn't just entangled with the fiery Tian Ling'er. He would also sit beside her, eating her food.

Was this a silent declaration? She didn't know. She had simply pushed the plate towards him unconsciously when he reached for the dish of bamboo shoots in the distance. The action was natural, and she only paused slightly afterward, her ears burning slightly. She quickly withdrew her hand and pretended to lower her head to drink her soup.

The soup was very light, but she detected a very faint, unfamiliar sweetness. Perhaps it was because he was sitting opposite her, enjoying his meal.

At the dinner table, several gazes seemed to drift subtly towards the corner.

The round-faced, lively female disciple who had been standing in the corridor earlier gently poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks and whispered to her companion with twin buns beside her, "Hey, look, Junior Sister Lu... she actually invited him to stay for dinner."

The female disciple with twin buns smiled, her eyes curving into crescents: "Strange, isn't it? When has Junior Sister Lu ever invited a male disciple to stay for a meal? Especially at a separate table?"

"Who says otherwise?" A slightly older senior sister on the other side joined in the whisper.

The round-faced female disciple gestured towards Jiang Xiaochuan with her chin: "But this Junior Brother Jiang, it looked like Junior Sister Lu took the initiative to lead him to the dining table. Just now in the corridor, I even saw Junior Sister Lu staring at him, that look in her eyes..."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

The female disciple with twin buns gently nudged her, but couldn't help glancing over herself, whispering, "But speaking of which, Junior Brother Jiang is really handsome now, and he's also quite interesting. He can even make such delicious candy. If I were Junior Sister Lu, I would also..."

"What about you?" The round-faced female disciple winked mischievously.

"Get lost!" The female disciple with twin buns blushed and made a move to hit her.

Their voices were kept very low, but in the quiet side room, a few scattered laughs still escaped.

Lu Xueqi's fingers tightened slightly as she held the chopsticks, her face expressionless. She simply picked up a piece of stir-fried vegetables and ate it in small bites, seemingly oblivious to the stares and whispers around her.

Jiang Xiaochuan buried his head in his food, but his ears were sharp. He vaguely heard the words "sugar" and "interesting," and felt several gazes on his back. He couldn't help but speed up the process of eating.

Seeing how quickly he ate, the round-faced female disciple couldn't help but chuckle softly, whispering to her companion, "Look how nervous Junior Brother Jiang is... like someone's chasing him."

The female disciple with her hair in twin buns smiled, her gaze shifting between Jiang Xiaochuan and Lu Xueqi. Suddenly remembering something, she said in an even softer voice, "Speaking of which, didn't Junior Sister Tian come looking for Junior Brother Jiang this afternoon? She left in a huff... What do you think, Junior Brother Jiang, he..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear. The female disciples exchanged knowing glances, and their gazes towards Lu Xueqi held a hint of something ambiguous.

There was curiosity, surprise, and perhaps a hint of "I see" understanding.

Lu Xueqi paused almost imperceptibly in the bowl of soup, then continued to sip her soup as usual. However, the corner of her eye seemed to casually glance at the profile of the young man beside her who was engrossed in eating and oblivious to her presence, before she looked away.

……

After the meal, he did not go to Yunhai Square.

He went to find his master's wife, Su Ru, first. Near the small hut where the disciples of Dazhu Peak were crammed together, he saw Su Ru standing under the eaves, gazing at the deep night in the distance.

"Master's wife," he called softly as he walked over.

Su Ru turned around, a gentle smile on her face: "Xiao Chuan, is the competition over? You won easily today."

"Well, I was lucky." Jiang Xiaochuan scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, "Master's wife, there's something... I want to tell you."

Seeing his somewhat flustered expression, Su Ru's smile faded slightly, and a hint of understanding appeared in her eyes: "Is it about Ling'er?"

Jiang Xiaochuan was startled: "Master's wife, you... you know?"

"That girl, her worries are written all over her face." Su Ru sighed softly, walked over, and patted his arm. "Come with me, it's not convenient to talk here."

She led Jiang Xiaochuan to a more secluded corner, where they leaned against the cool bamboo wall.

"Tell me, what happened?" Su Ru looked at him, her gaze calm yet revealing a penetrating insight.

Jiang Xiaochuan briefly recounted how Tian Ling'er had stopped him from confessing her feelings that evening, omitting the details of Lu Xueqi's appearance and him being dragged away to dinner. He only mentioned that she was emotionally agitated, that he had persuaded her, and that they would meet at Yunhai Square that evening to clear things up.

"Master's wife, I..." Jiang Xiaochuan licked his dry lips, organizing his thoughts, "I think, Ling'er might... be too young to understand yet. We grew up together, she's more dependent on me, closer to me, perhaps... she mistook me for something else. After a while, when she's older and has more experience, maybe... she'll be fine."

He spoke somewhat haltingly, carefully observing Su Ru's expression as he spoke. Su Ru's face remained expressionless; she simply listened quietly, the moonlight illuminating her delicate profile, her gaze somewhat distant.

After he finished speaking, Su Ru remained silent for a moment before slowly asking softly, "Xiao Chuan, what do you think 'like' is? What is 'love'?"