Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 424 410: The Withdrawn Mouse, Lu Ruoxi

Dan Yun Pavilion, Lu Mansion.

The Fairy's boudoir, once filled with the elegant fragrance of medicinal herbs, was now saturated with the overwhelming stench of alcohol.

Heavy brocade curtains sealed every inch of the windows, preventing even the most stubborn morning light from piercing the murky, self-imposed darkness.

"THUD—"

An empty wine jug rolled onto the carpet, making a dull thud. Fortunately, it didn't shatter and make the room even more of a mess.

Lu Ruoxi staggered to her feet. As she raised her arm, her loose lapels slid down, revealing one of her pearly white shoulders.

The simple white inner robe that concealed her Dao Fruit was hopelessly wrinkled, its sash long since lost somewhere in the clutter.

But Lu Ruoxi couldn't care less. Whether she looked presentable no longer mattered. 'No matter how beautifully I dress up, who is there to see this full, lovely body of mine anyway?'

She had lost her purpose in life; all that was left was to live out her days in a drunken stupor.

Lu Ruoxi pulled her robes together and walked barefoot across the trashed floor.

Her long, slender fingertips brushed along the corner of the wall, only to find a disorderly pile of empty jugs.

"Huh? The wine... Why is there no more wine? Didn't I just put a bunch of unopened jugs here yesterday?"

Lu Ruoxi picked up the jugs one by one and tipped them to her lips, but not a single drop fell out after a long while.

Her mind was so muddled she couldn't tell if her wine had been replaced or not.

"Xiaoxuan, go get your master some wine... I want to drink!"

She shouted to the door like a child demanding a sweet drink.

A moment later, the door opened.

Chen Sixuan entered the room. Seeing Lu Ruoxi with her black hair disheveled and her clothes in disarray, a pained look flashed in her eyes.

'How could the once elegant and dignified number one Fairy have fallen so low?'

"Master, you have to stop drinking..."

"You've already drunk all the wine in the mansion."

It was the first time Chen Sixuan had lied to Lu Ruoxi.

In truth, Lu Ruoxi's cellar still held plenty of wine, but Chen Sixuan couldn't bear to see her master continue down this path of self-destruction, so she had secretly disposed of it all.

She had even swapped out the full jugs in her master's room for empty ones.

"There's no more wine?"

The corners of Lu Ruoxi's drunken eyes turned a moist red.

She staggered and steadied herself against the cold wall. The Dao Fruit on her chest trembled, and her loose collar revealed a glimpse of her delicate collarbone.

"Then go buy more... I, Lu Ruoxi, come from a wealthy and powerful family. We have plenty of Spirit Stones.

Xiaoxuan, take fifty thousand Spirit Stones to buy wine. You can keep the rest as your spending money. HIC~"

"Master, you can't even stand steadily."

Seeing Lu Ruoxi laughing foolishly, Chen Sixuan rushed over to support her teetering body.

Just then, the buzzing sound of a Transmission Token echoed through the room.

"Huh? What's that sound?"

Lu Ruoxi looked around her dim room in confusion, but Chen Sixuan, who was supporting her, had her eyes light up.

'Junior Martial Uncle Pei is coming!'

'But I can't tell Lu Ruoxi directly. Master would definitely be angry that I acted on my own initiative.'

'I have to let Master discover that Junior Martial Uncle Pei and the others are coming on her own!'

"It's a Transmission Token, Master. I'll find it for you."

Chen Sixuan started to get up to search for the Transmission Token, which had been tossed somewhere in the messy room, but Lu Ruoxi stopped her.

"Don't bother... I don't want to talk to anyone from the outside world. It doesn't matter who's calling."

Lu Ruoxi murmured, but Chen Sixuan pretended not to hear.

Acting first and asking for permission later, she quickly found the constantly vibrating and buzzing Transmission Token in a pile of wine jugs.

"Master, it's Fairy Ye!"

'Ye... Fairy Ye?'

Lu Ruoxi, her eyes hazy with drink, first froze, then jolted sober.

"What? Are you saying my junior sister is calling?"

"Wait, don't answer it—"

Lu Ruoxi reached out to stop her, but Chen Sixuan had already quietly accepted the call.

[Senior Sister Lu~ It's Liyuan! Ah Han and I are coming to visit you in a little while. Are you home?]

Ye Liyuan's sweet voice came from the Transmission Token.

Lu Ruoxi's eyes went blank, and she stood frozen in place.

'Ye Liyuan said... she's bringing Junior Brother Pei over soon?'

'Junior Brother Pei is coming over, Junior Brother Pei is coming over...'

Lu Ruoxi sobered up instantly. She subconsciously glanced around her dim, filthy, alcohol-stenched room, and a sense of inferiority and anxiety flared up in her heart like a flame.

'How can a pathetic wretch like me let Junior Brother Pei see me like this?'

Lu Ruoxi opened her mouth, wanting to stop Ye Liyuan from bringing Pei Yuhang over.

But her full, sensual lips, now pale from her constant drinking, couldn't bring themselves to form the single word, "don't."

Because, even though she felt inferior, even though she had wronged him, even with everything else...

She still wanted to see Pei Yuhang.

She didn't want to spend the rest of her life holed up in this dark room, never seeing Junior Brother Pei's face again. The thought was too painful.

'I want to see him, right now!'

[Senior Sister? Are you there?]

Having not received a reply for a long time, Ye Liyuan asked again.

"I'm here... When are you and Pei... Junior Brother Pei coming?"

Lu Ruoxi swallowed, her voice a dry, hoarse mumble, like a lost traveler who had been trekking through the desert for a long time, desperate to see an oasis.

[We just left. We should be there in less than an hour.]

[Since you're home, Senior Sister, just wait for us~]

Ye Liyuan was unaware of what Lu Ruoxi had done to her Ah Han, nor did she know of the torment and strange feelings in Lu Ruoxi's heart.

She spoke affectionately to Lu Ruoxi, just as she always did, and was about to end the transmission.

"Wait..."

Lu Ruoxi called out. Then, her gaze fell, and her voice became very soft.

"I... I haven't seen Junior Brother Pei in a long time. Let me say hello to him."

[Senior Sister Lu, it's been a while. Liyuan and I will be visiting you shortly. We're coming in a bit of a hurry, so we didn't bring a gift. I hope you don't mind.]

A clear male voice, tinged with a hint of distance, sounded out.

Hearing that familiar voice, Lu Ruoxi swallowed. Her eyes began to sting.

'I'm sorry, Junior Brother Pei... I shouldn't have made you drink that tea. I shouldn't have hypnotized you into doing those bad things...'

BUZZ—

The Transmission Token went silent.

Chen Sixuan looked up and tugged on the sleeve of the dazed Lu Ruoxi.

"Master, do you still want to drink?"

Only then did Lu Ruoxi snap back to her senses.

She took a deep breath, walked to the window, and yanked open the heavy curtains that had sealed the room in darkness.

In an instant, warm sunlight flooded in, piercing the darkness that had represented her isolation.

Fresh air rushed in, cleansing the alcoholic haze that muddled the mind.

"Xiaoxuan."

Lu Ruoxi said softly.

"Yes, Master!"

"Help me clean up the wine jugs on the floor. I'm going to bathe... and put on makeup."

Seeing her master's Essence, Qi, and Spirit clearly improve, Chen Sixuan finally broke into a smile.

"Yes, Master!"