"Mm." Sui Yi silently glanced at Shen Luoyan, then added lightly, "As for you, I was always going to take you along."

Yoho, that line...

Du Gourou lightly bit her lower lip. She really wanted to go too...

Natasha arched a brow, then suddenly, under everyone’s gaze, stretched out that beautiful, snow‑white arm of hers and hooked it around Sui Yi’s neck from behind. Her proud, soft curves under the Black Robe were pressed right up against Sui Yi’s back.

Sui Yi’s hand, still pinching the gauze, paused.

"What about me?" Natasha’s husky, sultry voice stood apart from her usual proud cold glamour, as if she’d reverted to that seductive heat from the night she slow‑danced with the Grand Prince of Yale.

Ancient folks simply couldn’t handle this kind of direct, deliberate flirting; even Shi Feixuan, who was standing off to the side, was stunned.

Sui Yi’s expression stayed calm; she acted oblivious to the delicate fragrance so close at hand, and only said mildly, "I thought we’d already reached the point where we don’t need to ask that."

Oh come on!

Natasha’s expression instantly turned radiant, but she still didn’t completely let Sui Yi go. Instead she lowered her head and softly asked a question in English.

"But the problem is... are you Sui Yi?"

Is this that second personality, or Sui Yi herself?

Natasha’s eyes were fixed on Sui Yi’s delicate, fair profile. Honestly, this woman really didn’t seem human. What human has skin this flawless, not a trace of blemish, as if there’s no blood and flesh underneath, only pearls and jade.

She really wanted to touch it.

"If I were her... you probably wouldn’t be able to question me like this right now." Sui Yi said calmly. Someone like the High Priest simply did not allow people close to their body; it had nothing to do with willingness, it was just that the latter’s majesty was too overwhelming.

Natasha of course understood and just chuckled, drawing her hand back, though she still lightly slung an arm around Sui Yi’s shoulder. Then she asked, "You once said a single side of the story can’t be trusted, so I really do need to ask you..."

"When was the first time we saw each other stark naked~?"

All right then, before it was some foreign language no one understood, and now the words are perfectly intelligible Central Plains speech—but the content...

Dugu Mingyue felt his HP bar had just been completely emptied.

The key thing was... Sui Yi actually started seriously thinking about it.

In the end, she slowly breathed out one word.

"Pajamas."

"Mm, I recognize you now." Natasha quickly cut Sui Yi off. Sweeping her gaze around and catching all sorts of expressions on certain faces, she finally stretched lazily in satisfaction. "Come on, little Xuan‑xuan, you’ve gotta come help me wash my face... this Face-changing Technique really is a bit uncomfortable, even if the effect is great."

Enjoys using it and still complains... and "little Xuan‑xuan~~" on top of that.

But faced with this mentally nuclear‑radiation‑proof empress type, the usually good‑tempered Shi Feixuan pressed her lips together in faint resignation, then lifted her feet and walked out.

As the two of them left the tent, they happened to see a figure on the grassy horizon in the distance.

"Wu Xie." Shi Feixuan raised her brows slightly.

Natasha shrugged it off. "Just a married man. He poses no threat to you."

Shi Feixuan: "..."

Did I say anything?

While Shi Feixuan was helping Natasha wash off the residual impurities from the Face-changing Technique, she suddenly asked, "My Teacher once said my temperament is far too twisted—that when I have doubts in my heart, I often don’t ask."

"Yeah, you’re definitely a tsundere case." Natasha washed her face with water.

"Then may I ask, Natasha, were you just now declaring your claim of territorial ownership?"

Natasha’s hand paused, then she kept washing. After she finished, she took the towel Shi Feixuan handed her and wiped her face. Her brows lifted, a half‑smile playing at her lips. "You’re giving me too much credit... If I could conquer her, I’d have taken you down long ago too."

Shi Feixuan: "...Miss Natasha is always saying things Feixuan doesn’t really understand."

Keep playing dumb, go on, keep at it!

Natasha smiled. "Of course you don’t understand. The target’s different; you can’t put yourself in my shoes."

This line I do get. Shi Feixuan said softly, "Mm... I can now be sure Miss Natasha really was making some sort of declaration..."

"So?" Natasha raised a brow, her gaze sharp.

Shi Feixuan answered with a smile, "A true friend of the heart is hard to come by in a lifetime. Feixuan fears she is loath to give up so easily."

With that, she turned and left.

Leaning against a post, Natasha let out a faint sigh. "This woman really does have a certain flavor when she smiles... This world, huh... there really are quite a lot of people who look good and actually live up to it. If we go back, I bet those people’ll just die of jealousy."

She was talking about that whole group around Gong Jiu—how they’d finally gotten their goddess Sui back, only for her to then hook one Martial Arts World goddess after another...

Shi Feixuan this, Shen Luoyan that, Shang Xiuxun this, Shong Xiufang that...

And Seo Ziling, and that Li Shimin or whatever...

"Forget swearing sovereignty; at least make sure the territory exists~" Natasha snapped her fingers with a crisp pop and pulled a cigarette out from her sleeve.

Yeah, cooked up in Persia.

She lit the cigarette and exhaled a stream of smoke. Wu Xie had already walked up and went straight past her...

Inside the tent, quite a few people were asking to go up Snow God Mountain with Sui Yi. After all, everyone was doing this for their companions or relatives. Sui Yi had no standing to stop them, and most of these people were quite capable; even if they didn’t go with her, they’d definitely form their own groups to climb anyway. Better to stick together—three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. Sui Yi had never thought she could single‑handedly shake mountains and sweep the world.

But some people still had to stay behind to look after the wounded—Du Gourou and the others, for instance...

In the end it was decided that Shang Xiuxun, Shen Luoyan, Shi Feixuan, Natasha, plus Fu Qian and the Yan Huifeng–Mo Ka brothers and a few others would all go up together.

Strictly speaking, Yan Huifeng and Mo Ka weren’t entirely doing this for their junior; they also had instructions from their sect.

"Our master sent the three of us to the Western Regions because not long ago a group of Cavalry raided our Turks pass, carrying off quite a few young children from the villages. Since Master is still in closed‑door cultivation, he had no time to come to the Western Regions himself... so he sent us three as vanguard to probe the situation." (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)