The incident had happened days ago, yet sohow, miraculously, even, word of what Chen Xi did to Elder Gong Xun's Jade-Eyed Moss-Crane hadn't reached him.
Not until today, at least.
Chen Xi wasn't particularly surprised when Ma Yuanyuan delivered the news. In truth, she'd expected the elder to have learned of it much sooner. But Elder Gong Xun was... well, an elder. That title ca with certain privileges, including the luxury of being shielded from the petty squabbles of disciples. No one would dare waste his ti with trivial gossip about a re scuffle with his spirit beast.
Unless, of course, soone had killed the damn thing.
Then it would be worth his attention.
"So it's reached him already," Chen Xi said finally, her voice flat.
"Mm." Ma Yuanyuan nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I heard about it from so disciples in the sect. It's been making the rounds."
Chen Xi's eyes narrowed, a flicker of cold calculation passing through them.
'That feathered nace. It must have sohow communicated with him. Beasts always had so way of tattling to their masters—'
"And no," Ma Yuanyuan cut in, her tone dry as old parchnt, "it wasn't the bird that inford him."
Chen Xi's head snapped toward her, and she found Ma Yuanyuan staring back with an expression that bordered on smug. The girl's gaze was pointed, knowing, the kind of look that said 'I can read you like an open scroll, and you're not as clever as you think you are.'
"Don't look at like that," Chen Xi said quickly, a little too quickly. "That wasn't what I was thinking."
Ma Yuanyuan didn't dignify that with a response. She simply looked, her eyes boring into Chen Xi's with the intensity of a cultivator examining a particularly stubborn formation. The silence stretched, and Chen Xi felt her resolve crumble like old mortar.
She looked away first.
'Fine. So maybe that was exactly what I was thinking.'
But could anyone bla her? If that feathered brat had sohow managed to tattle on her, she'd hunt it down and, well, she'd have words with it. Very firm words. Possibly involving a chokehold.
Ma Yuanyuan, ever perceptive, seed to sense the direction of her thoughts. The girl sighed, a sound heavy with the weight of knowing Chen Xi for far too long. She'd learned early on that when Chen Xi got that particular glint in her eye, the one that promised chaos wrapped in mischief, it was best to intervene before things escalated.
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"So," Chen Xi said, redirecting the conversation with all the subtlety of a collapsing building, "how did he hear about it?"
"Apparently, the rumors of what you did circulated through the entire sect—"
"Wait." Chen Xi's eyes went wide. "I'm popular?!"
Ma Yuanyuan didn't answer. She gave a short, dismissive nod, accompanied by the barest roll of her eyes, and continued as if Chen Xi hadn't interrupted.
"—and because it beca such a heavily discussed topic among the disciples, it eventually reached Elder Gong Xun's ears."
Chen Xi nodded slowly, absorbing this. That made sense, actually. Sect gossip was like water, it found its way into every crack and crevice, no matter how well-sealed. And if there was one thing so disciples loved more than cultivating, it was tearing apart soone else's reputation over tea.
Ma Yuanyuan paused, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Aren't you bothered?"
"About what?"
"About Elder Gong Xun knowing. About what he might do."
Chen Xi blinked.
"No."
"No?" Ma Yuanyuan's voice pitched higher in disbelief. "Why not?"
"Because I don't see the reason to be," Chen Xi replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And to her, it was.
Ma Yuanyuan's eyebrow arched, a single, elegant curve of skepticism.
"But aren't you afraid he might take action against you? For harming his bird?"
Chen Xi inhaled deeply, letting the breath settle in her chest before releasing it in a slow, asured exhale. Then she stepped forward, her hand finding Ma Yuanyuan's shoulder with a gentleness that seed at odds with her usual deanor.
"Sister..."
Ma Yuanyuan waited, her expression expectant.
"Don't be such a chicken."
Ma Yuanyuan clicked her tongue.
"Thought you were actually going to say sothing aningful for once."
Chen Xi laughed, the sound bright and genuine, and Ma Yuanyuan's face twisted into a scowl that only made Chen Xi laugh harder. The girl's expression was one of profound suffering, the kind of look that said 'I have made terrible life choices and this woman is one of them.'
"So you have no reason for not being bothered," Ma Yuanyuan said with a heavy sigh, shaking her head. "Why am I not surprised."
"What are you talking about? Of course I have a reason." Chen Xi folded her arms, the picture of defiance. "That bird is clearly still alive, isn't it? It's fine. I didn't kill it. I didn't cause any lasting harm. I barely touched it, really."
Ma Yuanyuan's eye twitched.
"Barely?"
"The old man suffered no real loss," Chen Xi pressed on, ignoring her. "There's literally no reason for him to co after . It's not like I did anything to him directly." She paused, then added with a shrug, "It wasn't even him I was angry with."
She shook her head lightly, the movent sending a few strands of hair dancing across her face.
"That's why I only held the bird by its neck, lightly."
Ma Yuanyuan rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they stayed in their sockets.
'Lightly. As if strangling sothing could ever be considered light.'
Chen Xi, either oblivious or choosing to be, continued.
"Any other action would have given it space to attack . And if it had attacked, I would've been forced to retaliate. Against sothing stronger than , you have to go with sothing that can't be escaped." She raised a finger, the gesture sharp and deliberate. "It's stupid to do anything less when facing sothing more powerful than you."
Ma Yuanyuan watched her, silent.
"So I hope that clears things up for you," Chen Xi said, tapping her own chest. "I didn't want to kill it. I just wanted to teach it a lesson, that I, Chen Xi, cannot be oppressed by a bird!"
The declaration hung in the air, grand and absurd and so utterly Chen Xi that Ma Yuanyuan felt the corner of her mouth twitch despite herself.
She raised her hands and began clapping slowly, each clap deliberate, almost mocking.
"Noted, ma'am."
"Better." Chen Xi nodded once, sharply, like a general acknowledging a subordinate's salute.
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