Why do you always want to be my Taoist partner?

"It's so difficult."

"In fact, Junior Sister Bai Sheng is already very powerful."

...Not every girl can accurately seek benefits and avoid harm. Girls like you who are cautious and can clearly recognize the danger are actually not common.

Bai Sheng looked around Jiang Li's room, picked up a bottle, and asked curiously, "What is this?"

"Perfume, you can spray some and smell it."

Bai Sheng hesitated and gently pressed the nozzle. A little rose scent emanated from the bottle, but the smell was not strong, nor was it purely rose scent. There was also a little pepper? Amber? There was also a little smell that she couldn't smell. The smell was surprisingly good when mixed together.

No woman can refuse!

This is one of the fishing baits in Jiang Li’s room!

"Does it smell good?"

Bai Sheng nodded.

"Then take it away." Jiang Li shrugged, but Bai Sheng subconsciously put the bottle back far away and shook his head, "No need."

"I prepared it to give to a senior sister, but she slapped me in the face yesterday." Jiang Li looked at Bai Sheng innocently, "So I just left it there."

Bai Sheng wanted to laugh, but she held it back the next second. She looked at Jiang Li in confusion, "What did Senior Brother Jiang Li do?"

"I was going to invite her to come over to my place at night to catch fireflies with me!"

"and then?"

"Then she came and spent the whole night catching fireflies with me. Finally, she came to my room and started taking off her clothes... I asked her not to, but she insisted. Then I went downstairs to sleep by myself. She waited upstairs for half an hour but I didn't come back. Then she came downstairs and slapped me in the face."

Jiang Li looked at Bai Sheng innocently. Bai Sheng finally couldn't help it and burst into laughter.

"Is it funny?" Jiang Li looked at her innocently.

"Pfft." Bai Sheng was still laughing, her slender shoulders shaking. Jiang Li's eyes seemed to be looking at her inadvertently, but in fact he was looking at her chest that was shaking slightly because of laughter.

Mm, very astringent.

In life, you must have a pair of eyes that are good at discovering bitterness.

Bai Sheng was laughing when he suddenly realized, "Is this the senior sister who doesn't like Dabai?"

"Yes." Jiang Li replied faintly, "I really just invited her to catch fireflies."

"But... I don't think that senior sister would think that you just invited her to catch fireflies, right?"

"..." Jiang Li's mouth couldn't help but twitch, "I've already told her that I'm a gentleman."

Bai Sheng laughed even more happily. When she finally stopped laughing, she held her cheek and looked at Jiang Li's face, "But... why is Senior Brother Jiang Li unmoved?"

"If I really slept with her, wouldn't that make me a scum?"

"Hasn't it always been like this, Brother Jiang Li?"

"They think I am, but that doesn't mean I have to be. No one can represent me. The only one who can represent me is myself. I get along with them because I hate loneliness. I can't stand loneliness. I hate those times when I am alone listening to the rain late at night, so I became what I am now."

Jiang Li's expression became a little more serious, "I could have tolerated loneliness."

Bai Sheng looked into his eyes and was silent for a long time. She suddenly thought of Mu Bingning's words. Mu Bingning said... Jiang Li was not at fault for what happened back then, but Mu Bingning refused to say anything more.

But it was after Mu Bingning rejected Jiang Li that Jiang Li gradually became what he is now.

Bai Sheng was unable to continue questioning Mu Bingning, so the truth of that year remained confusing, but she suddenly understood why Jiang Li was like this, even though it was ridiculous.

"So Junior Sister Bai Sheng should handle the perfume for me."

"Brother Jiang Li, you can keep it for yourself."

"That won't work. Different girls like different scents. Some girls don't like roses. If I spray rose-scented perfume around her, wouldn't that be annoying?"

Bai Sheng's eyes suddenly turned resentful. Jiang Li forced the bottle of perfume into Bai Sheng's hand and said, "It's just a small gift. It's not worth much anyway."

Bai Sheng finally accepted it hesitantly. It seemed that she had received a lot of gifts from Jiang Li recently, but she had nothing to give in return.

Although she is ranked fifth in Jijian Mountain, Bai Sheng is not really rich. She had used up all the spirit stones she had saved in training her Qi, skin, bones, and foundation before building her foundation. Her goal is to form a Heavenly Dao Pill. She has always been very strong-willed and did not take the spirit stones that her mother and old friends had given her. She practiced silently by herself, so she does not have many spirit stones left in her pocket now.

That's why she didn't want to accept Jiang Li's gift, but he stuffed it into her hands in a daze. Who told her that Bai Sheng was not good at refusing?

Jiang Li looked at the conflicted expression in Bai Sheng's eyes with a hint of amusement.

There are different strategies to deal with different girls. Fortunately, the gift was given to Bai Sheng. Although Bai Sheng looks soft and docile, she should be very strong in her heart and does not like to owe anything. But for some girls, once you give a gift, it is usually like throwing meat buns at a dog, which will never come back and will only make the other party despise you more in their heart.

You have to change your approach when dealing with that kind of girl. Find a way to trick her into giving you gifts, so that her sunk costs will be increased little by little.

Bai Sheng began to look at other things in Jiang Li's room. She found a bamboo flute and looked at Jiang Li curiously, "Brother Jiang Li, can you play the flute?"

"To be precise, there is no instrument that Senior Brother Jiang Li cannot play."

"I don't believe it." Bai Sheng muttered softly.

So Jiang Li used his spiritual energy to take the bamboo flute in his hand, put it to his lips, and gently played a tune for Bai Sheng.

Most of the songs he knew were sad and mournful, which were more touching and would make girls think that he was a man with a story. Bai Sheng listened to the flute music seriously and gradually became lost in thought.

When Jiang Li finished playing the song, Bai Sheng had not yet come back to her senses. It was not until Jiang Li stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her that Bai Sheng quickly came back to her senses. She looked at Jiang Li with a little more expectation in her eyes, "Brother Jiang Li... do you know that song?"

"Which one?"

"I, I don't remember the name either, I just remember my mother taught me to play a piece when I was a child..."

Bai Sheng lowered her head slightly, and Jiang Li handed her the bamboo flute in front of him, "Play a piece for me to hear. I know a lot of songs, maybe I can sing it."

Bai Sheng hummed softly, took the bamboo flute from his hand, and without hesitation, put it to his lips and played a short piece softly.

This is also a sad song, conveying the feeling of lovesickness.

"This is all I know." Bai Sheng was full of expectations for Jiang Li.

Jiang Li took the bamboo flute and put it to his lips again, which was the place that the girl's pink lips had just touched. He pondered for a moment, and the music score appeared in his mind.

“This is a song about a woman missing her husband.”

The faint sound of the flute flew out from the bamboo flute, and Bai Sheng's memories were evoked bit by bit. She remembered this tune. When she was a child, her mother would always play this tune beside her, then hug her body and gently stroke her head with her hand.

Her eyes gradually turned red, until Jiang Li finished playing the song, all the memories were brought back to her mind, and she could no longer hold back her tears, which fell down in a rush.

Jiang Li looked at her with slight confusion. After hesitating for a moment, he walked to Bai Sheng's side, stretched out his hands and gently hugged her body.

"What's the matter? Okay, okay, don't cry."

He patted Bai Sheng's back gently, and his voice became especially gentle.

Perhaps it was this tenderness that made Bai Sheng let down her guard. She buried her head in Jiang Li's shoulder, and big hot tears fell down.

Chapter 26: Chapter The Rain Stopped

Jiang Li roughly guessed why Bai Sheng was crying.

But there was nothing else he could do. At best, he could only pat Bai Sheng's shoulder gently. He couldn't even say something like "stop crying".

Because it makes no sense.

He listened quietly to Bai Sheng's crying for a long, long time, until the girl's tears wet his clothes. Bai Sheng's crying finally stopped slowly, she raised her head, and Jiang Li just let go of his arms around her.

He took out a handkerchief and handed it to Bai Sheng, but did not wipe away her tears himself.

Bai Sheng took the handkerchief, wiped away her tears, and then clutched the handkerchief, lowering her head slightly, "I'm sorry to have caused trouble to Senior Brother Jiang Li."

"Nothing." Jiang Li shook his head. After a moment, he lowered his head again, "It's just that I don't know how to comfort Junior Sister Bai Sheng..."

"No, no, I'm fine." Bai Sheng shook his head hurriedly.

There was a gentle look in Jiang Li's eyes.

He understood why Bai Sheng was crying, but he only understood it but could not empathize with her. In his previous life, he grew up in an orphanage. He didn't know who his parents were, but he knew that they sent him to the door of the orphanage. Jiang Li had imagined several stories in his mind at that time. Could it be that his parents were actually powerful people and had to send him to the orphanage for some reason, and would take him in when he became an adult, and he would have a warm home.

Unfortunately, as I grew older, I could no longer have such fantasies in my head. After much thought, it was probably that some scumbag abandoned me after having sex with me, and the woman was unable to have an abortion. The probability that she would give birth to the child and send it to an orphanage with a feeling of deceiving herself would probably be higher.

"Brother Jiang Li... have you come down the mountain to see our parents?" Bai Sheng looked at Jiang Li's face and asked softly.

Jiang Li shook his head with an indifferent expression.

"Don't you miss them?"

Jiang Li shook his head helplessly, "No need to meet him. Meeting him will only add to your troubles."

"what?"

Jiang Li was silent for a long time, then he slowly spoke, "In the city where I was at the beginning... half of the people died of starvation. Human beings are no different from animals in the end. Do you know what people want to eat when they are extremely hungry?"

Bai Sheng was slightly startled, then shook his head and asked tentatively, "Tree roots? Soil?"

"Those things can hardly fill one's stomach, how can they satisfy one's inner desires?" Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, "Junior Sister Bai Sheng, do you really want to listen?"

Bai Sheng hesitated for a moment, but decided to nod slightly.

“When people are extremely hungry, they can eat anything, and the thing they want to eat the most is, of course, meat.”

"But where would meat come from in this year of famine? So people began to eat the dead bodies. When all the dead bodies were eaten..."

Bai Sheng's face had turned somewhat pale.

"There was another junior sister who went up the mountain with me. She is now in the outer sect. I named her Jiang Jinbie. The first time I met her was in that city, by the river at night. My parents and her parents took her and me, and then we exchanged places and returned to our respective homes, closing the doors tightly."

"Then... I heard the sound of sharpening a knife."

In a year of famine, exchanging one's own children for food... this kind of thing... is not too shocking.

Bai Sheng stared blankly at Jiang Li's face in front of him, but Jiang Li was very calm when he recalled the past. This past could no longer stir his heart in the slightest.

In fact, he felt that he was very lucky.

Jiang Li looked at Bai Sheng in front of him and smiled at her. "Fortunately, I met the elder of Xuantian Dao Ji Zong at that time. He placed his divine consciousness in the city. Every household in the city with children can bring their children to the city center. If the children have the qualifications to practice cultivation, they can exchange them for elixirs that can be used to fill their stomachs for a month."

"My luck is pretty good. I happen to have the qualifications to practice cultivation. The little girl I exchanged with is also lucky. She and I were able to enter Xuantian Dao Jizong to practice together. We no longer have to suffer from famine, and we don't have to worry about... being caught by others and being gnawed clean."

This is also the reason why Jiang Li chose to recognize Jiang Jin as more than his sister.

He felt that the two of them had an inexplicable fate and were in the same situation, so he chose to hug the little girl and told her not to worry, I will treat you well in the future.

Jiang Jinbie was only four years old at that time, and perhaps he had forgotten that memory, but Jiang Li could not help but remember it very clearly, which shattered all his original desires for family affection.

Bai Sheng could no longer say anything at this time.

Jiang Li sighed softly.

"I… shouldn't have asked."

"What does it matter?" Jiang Li reached out and pinched Bai Sheng's face, alleviating some of Bai Sheng's self-blame. "Humans are animals, and it's normal for them to be driven by desires. Just like Brother Jiang Li is a scumbag, the more vacancies there are, the more they want to fill them up."

Jiang Li's fingers exerted a little more force, pulling Bai Sheng's cheeks into a cute shape.

"I felt a little emotional when I recalled it, but now that I see Junior Sister Bai Sheng's face, my mood suddenly improves."

"Pinch me again."

Bai Sheng's eyes suddenly became resentful again.

Jiang Li pinched her smooth little face again and smiled contentedly.

..........................................

The rain had not stopped yet, so Jiang Li asked Bai Sheng to stay for lunch.

Today's lunch is much lighter, with a pot of rice that is just enough for two people, a portion of stir-fried green bamboo shoots with mashed garlic, a serving of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a dish of vegetables simmering slowly on the stove. Jiang Li kept it a secret for the time being.

Bai Sheng gently picked up a handful of green bamboo shoots with chopsticks, and then his eyes became bright again in an instant.

"Brother Jiang Li...how did you do it?"

"Without him, only hands are familiar."

In fact, it was because there weren't many seasonings in the world, and Jiang Li himself didn't need any chemical technology to extract MSG and chicken essence. He purchased them directly from the system's points.

Coupled with his culinary skills which have already reached perfection, even a plate of green bamboo shoots with mashed garlic would be a rare delicacy in the world.

Bai Sheng held the bowl. Even though she wanted to be more reserved, she couldn't help her little hands. She had lived alone for so many years and actually had a little hobby, which was eating delicious food.

Jiang Li picked up his chopsticks very slowly. He was not very hungry. The dishes on the table tasted great to Bai Sheng, but he was already tired of them. Many things you no longer like after you get used to them, whether it's food, clothes, or girls, it's the same principle.

You will always get bored, and that is why you start constantly looking for novelty, but soon the novelty will disappear and you will get bored again, and then you will fall into this endless cycle, and the desire will become bigger and bigger, with no end.