WWWASTJWTCAT?

61-65

Chapter 61

Xu Nian suddenly remembered something important. Delving into her storage bag, she retrieved a box of demon cores and carefully pushed it toward Ji Yuebai. “I want to return these to you,” she said, opening the box to reveal the glistening cores.

Ji Yuebai, observing the box of demon cores, inquired “What does this mean?”

Xu Nian’s eyes fell on the cores shimmering inside the box. “Today, at the auction, I realized how precious these ‘gems’ you gave me are. It’s wasteful for a demon beast like me to keep them. These were yours to begin with, and I thought they’d be more useful in your hands.”

Was this a gesture of guilt, a way to return what she felt she owed?

“Is this because of Mu Yanyu?” Ji Yuebai’s voice, delicate as shattered jade, trembled slightly.

Xu Nian paused, momentarily unable to grasp the implication behind her words, her beautiful black eyes staring blankly at Ji Yuebai.

Ji Yuebai’s fingers twitched inside her wide sleeves as she coldly refused, “There’s no need to return them. I never take back what I’ve given.”

But those demon cores were worth millions of spirit stones.

If they were to be used as jewelry or in alchemy, Xu Nian worried about losing them and the heartache that would follow. She neither had a suitable weapon for inlaying them nor knew how to refine pills. It wouldn’t be right to ask Mu Yanyu to do alchemy with them.

She understood it wasn’t right to give away Ji Yuebai’s presents, but accepting such lavish gifts without earning them made her feel uneasy.

Hesitating with the box in hand, Xu Nian wanted to say more.

But Ji Yuebai, without further words, left the room, as if not wishing to continue the conversation.

Xu Nian looked sadly at the box of demon cores. Since Ji Yuebai insisted on her keeping them, refusing further would seem pretentious. She had once dreamed of a wealthy benefactress providing for her, ensuring a life of luxury and ease.

But now that such wealth had literally fallen into her lap, she felt uneasy and anxious, believing she couldn’t reciprocate Ji Yuebai’s kindness with anything of equal value.

Although Xu Nian had indeed once saved Ji Yuebai, what she had received in return far exceeded her initial gesture of kindness. Her meager debt of gratitude had been repaid many times over. While she often likened herself to Ji Yuebai’s little pet, at heart, she still considered herself human. This self-brainwashing was actually her way of justifying accepting Ji Yuebai’s kindness.

Upon reflection, she realized how shameless her actions were.

Xu Nian silently closed the box of demon cores and stored it in her bag, vowing to remember Ji Yuebai’s kindness and repay her many times over if she ever became successful.

The autumn night’s sea breeze carried a bone-chilling coolness, and the tide roared, mercilessly crashing against the rocks before retreating silently.

Ji Yuebai stood rigidly on a cliff, her lips pressed tightly together, radiating intense hostility.

The room was filled with a warm and inviting sweetness, infused with her scent. If Ji Yuebai had stayed any longer, she didn’t know what she might have said or done out of jealousy.

She had thought about demanding answers from Xu Nian, questioning her.

For the sake of Mu Yanyu, you would give up being a sword cultivator.