Chapter 361: Eye Desire

"Hmm~"

Taozi stood on the peak of Bailong Snow Mountain, shaking its fur to shed the snowflakes from its body, then stepped forward, leaving a trail of small footprints in the snow until it reached the edge of the cliff at the summit, where it stretched its neck to peer down.

Bailong Snow Mountain was covered in thick snow; the temperature was very low and the air thin, its altitude of over six thousand meters already making it stand proudly above the mortal world.

Below, the sea of clouds rolled and surged, and the peaks of other mountains poked out from the sea of clouds, yet they were not as high as this one, appearing only like islands in the sea of clouds. Unknown exotic beasts flapped their wings as they surged up from the sea of clouds, turned their bodies leisurely, and dove back in.

The sky was an azure eggshell.

Ning Qing sat on the accumulated snow, quietly admiring it.

Among the "Six Desires" of Secret Sect cultivation, the first is "Eye Desire."

The so-called Six Desires can also be said to be the six pursuits and six yearnings of a person. They are established on a physiological level and are the six most basic desires of a human. Different desires drive people to move in different directions, step onto different paths, and do different things; they are, in themselves, an important part of what constitutes a person.

Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

The eyes are the most important interactive organ between humans and this world; naturally, Eye Desire represents a person's appreciation and pursuit of most of the beauty in the world.

Discovering the beauty of the world is also a kind of ability.

Secret Sect Practitioners often have a pair of eyes that are broader yet colder. They can see a wider world, see smaller things, see more details of the world and things invisible to ordinary people, know the origin and destination of all things, and even predict their trajectories, yet they often lack the ability to appreciate them like ordinary people.

Precisely because they see too much and see too finely, and precisely because they know too much, the world in their eyes is icy cold.

It should not have been like this.

A detached and indifferent personality is a prerequisite for practicing the Secret Sect System; in the early stages of cultivation, being able to be detached from external things is an important guarantee for comprehending the system, but at deeper levels, it will turn around and become a shackle to cultivation.

Therefore, the Eye Desire within the Emotion and Desire Dao is an attempt to allow Secret Sect Practitioners to regain the appreciation and pursuit of beautiful things through this practice.

Ning Qing watched the scenery before her quietly.

This scene was naturally extremely beautiful.

Not only was the scenery beautiful, but its extremely high geographical altitude also gave her a height of thought, which was different from flying. Bailong Snow Mountain had sat here, overlooking the entire world with a cold gaze, for who knows how many tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of years; in its gaze, the emergence of humanity and the composition of civilization were actually small matters that occurred in an extremely short period of time, and in its nearly boundless memory, the vast majority had nothing to do with humans.

This made her feel the insignificance of humanity, and also made her marvel at the miracle of life.

That they appeared here was very incredible, and that it was them, rather than someone else, who appeared here was also a very wonderful thing.

However, her gaze still could not help but move to the side—

That person scooped up the snow on the ground and splashed it toward the white cat. Once the white cat ran far away, he raised a cup of boiling water and waved it toward the sky; in that instant, the boiling water splashed into fine particles in the cold air and rapidly froze in the low temperature, and a wonderful and beautiful landscape was thus formed.

The white cat watched from afar, its eyes wide open, filled with curiosity.

"Wow..."

Zhang Suannai exclaimed repeatedly, stretching out her hands as she ran over: "Give me the cup! How did you do that? I want to do it too!"

Ning Qing revealed a slight smile.

Compared to the rolling sea of clouds and the holy sun halo, this person was more capable of provoking her Eye Desire.

After he handed the water cup to Zhang Suannai and taught her how to play this trick, letting her try it, he walked back to her side and sat down next to her.

"Ouch! What are you smiling at?"

"I felt like smiling."

"Is it beautiful here?"

"Very beautiful."

"Are you oxygen-deprived?"

"What do you think?"

"Let's take a group photo."

After Chen Shu finished speaking, he turned his head to look behind him.

Ning Qing also turned her head to look along with him.

They saw the little girl had just picked up Taozi, and Zhang Suannai had just finished splashing water into ice; seeing their gaze, the little girl was silent, her eyeballs rolling, then she immediately turned to ask Zhang Suannai: "Sister Suannai, do you know how to take photos?"

Zhang Suannai was in a great mood at this moment and said without thinking: "Of course I do... Did you see me just splash water into ice? Isn't it magical?"

"Please take a photo for us."

"Okay, okay!"

Zhang Suannai immediately put down the water cup and walked over.

A moment later—

Zhang Suannai held the Mobile Phone with a blank expression, her gaze looking forward through the phone screen; Chen Shu stood in the middle, hugging his big roommate, on the left her own little sister made a V-sign, and next to her was her little roommate, expressionlessly holding Taozi.

The four people and one cat were all staring at her.

Zhang Suannai's heart was bewildered.

Why are you guys taking a photo, and I have to be the one to take it?

"No, no..."

Zhang Suannai put down the Mobile Phone, used the principle of the Sword Control Technique to make it hover in the air, and then she herself stood over there too.

Only then could it be considered perfect.

Three or four o'clock in the afternoon.

In a homestay in New Ming City.

This homestay's building had some years on it; it was a traditional dwelling of the ethnic minorities in this area, with a wooden structure that made a dull thumping sound when stepped on.

Chen Shu still lived in a room with Qingqing.

The wooden house was antique, while the soft furnishings inside were all modernized, combining the aesthetic of a classical house with the comfort and convenience of a modern dwelling.

A sofa with distinct ethnic characteristics was placed by the window; the two sat here, the wooden outward-opening window having a very ancient charm, and looking down through the window, the host had built a trellis in the courtyard, planted grapes, and had some cold-resistant flowers and plants.

"This place must be very cool in the summer."

"There is no summer."

"Can you plant Chinese roses?"

"You can, but the winter is a bit cold, and it's too long." Ning Qing paused, "As long as they can survive the winter, and there is no summer, the flowers will bloom very well."

"What is that he planted?"

"Traditional Chinese roses, snowball viburnum, and ornamental maples."

"But it's winter right now..."

"These varieties are relatively cold-resistant."

"Why do you keep looking at me?"

"I want to look."

"It makes me feel quite embarrassed..."

"..."

Ning Qing pursed her lips and shifted her gaze elsewhere, yet she still couldn't help but let her peripheral vision fly toward him.

Having been kissed by him for two hours last night, even she couldn't help but have some subtle changes in her heart; it didn't manifest much on the outside, but if one had to say there was something, it was probably just wanting to look at him a few more times, and coupled with Eye Desire, no amount of looking was ever enough.

"Am I very handsome?"

"Average."

"!"

"Sorry."

"!!"

Damn it! To think she would apologize so readily!

Ning Qing ignored his thoughts, just pursed her lips again, and asked in a low voice: "You came down from the snow mountain, are you oxygen-deprived?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm asking you."

"Not deprived, but I can still feel dizzy."

After Chen Shu finished speaking, he turned his back to her and fell toward her, easily collapsing into her arms.

Ning Qing's breathing was steady, her expression calm as usual; she covered Chen Shu's eyes with one hand and stroked his hair with the other, looking down at him closely. Perhaps it was the result brought on by the heavy Eye Desire; the person she had watched for over a dozen years was, at this moment, a source of endless Joy no matter how she looked at him.

In the end, she couldn't resist.

Ning Qing lifted his head, leaned down, and pressed her lips onto his.

"Go for it, go for it! Just go for it, you!" Zhang Suannai was impatient and said to the little sister beside her, "What are you doing? You're not even moving!"

"Oh, don't be in such a rush!"

"You're too noob..."

"You're the one who's noob!"

"See! This round is lost!"

"Let me tell you..."

Chen Banxia put down her Mobile Phone and suddenly said to her little sister: "When I went back to the room just now, I think I saw Qingqing and my younger brother enter the same room."

"How is that possible?"

Zhang Suannai waved her hand without even thinking: "How could the progress be that fast? With Qingqing's personality, she wouldn't let him succeed so easily! And when they were at the home of Qingqing and Xiaoxiao in Yujing, it was always either Chen Shu sleeping on the sofa or Qingqing sleeping on the sofa; if they were going to live together, they would have done it long ago."

"It's true!"

"Impossible, impossible." Zhang Suannai waved her hands repeatedly, "You must have seen wrong."

"How could I have seen wrong!"

"How is it impossible? It must be that you didn't wear your protective gear properly when making medicine, and accidentally inhaled poison, causing you to be dizzy and lightheaded." Relying on her own cleverness and wit, Zhang Suannai quickly proposed a possibility.

"You're the one who's dizzy and lightheaded!"

"Look at how noob you are at playing games; it's mostly because you've been poisoned." Zhang Suannai thought for a moment, "You and Chen Shu are biological siblings, yet he grew so tall while you are only a little bit taller than Xiaoxiao; that's likely the reason too."

"??"

This hit Chen Banxia's sore spot, and she immediately countered: "Then what is the reason for your brain damage?"

"Who are you calling brain-damaged?"

"You! I advise you to apply for a national disability certificate so you can collect government subsidies in the future!"

"You're not much better yourself! You're pushing thirty! And you're still being bossed around by your younger brother!" Zhang Suannai paused, "And you just admitted you were brain-damaged!"

"Who is being bossed around by him?"

"It's true! I heard it when I was eating noodles this morning! Your tone and demeanor, I saw it all clearly!" Zhang Suannai asserted, "The tone your brother uses when talking to you is just like how he talks to Xiaoxiao; he is your guardian!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? It's more like I'm his guardian!"

"It's plain for all to see!"

"Then it's also common knowledge that your IQ is low! My brother, Qingqing, Xiaoxiao, and Taozi all know it!" Chen Banxia thought for a moment and shook her head, "Sigh, why am I arguing with a low-IQ brain-damaged person? Forget it, forget it, you're right."

"Ahhh..."

Zhang Suannai instantly jumped onto Chen Banxia's bed.

A Sixth Stage Peak Traditional Sword Cultivator and a modern pharmacist who refused to cultivate after reaching the Fifth Stage wrestled together using the most primitive methods, rolling from the bed to the floor and back onto the bed, inseparable.

Until they didn't want to fight anymore.

At this time, both of them had disheveled clothes and loose hair, lying on their respective messy beds, with the wooden ceiling before their eyes.

Chen Banxia spoke first, saying again:

"I really saw it."

"Emmm..."

Zhang Suannai pondered for a moment; on one hand, she still could not believe the fact that Qingqing would abandon Xiaoxiao to go live in the same room as Chen Shu, and on the other hand, she could not imagine such a scene or Qingqing's... motive? So she said:

"How about we go scout it out?"

"Sure!"

The two looked at each other, instantly scrambled up, straightened their clothes, and began to discuss a scouting strategy.