Chapter 2492 — Back Again

But the moment she stepped out the door, Yang Qiqi caught sight of Yu Xiaoke coming straight toward her and nearly jumped out of her skin, stumbling so badly she almost pitched headlong onto the floor. Guilt gnawed at her, and she dared not meet Yu Xiaoke's eyes; she hurried at a near-run toward her own room.

How could Yu Xiaoke fail to see the guilt written all over Yang Qiqi's face? It looked as though she had stolen the thing after all!

And how could Yu Xiaoke possibly let her carry it off so easily? So when Yang Qiqi passed by with her head lowered, Yu Xiaoke deliberately brushed past her, giving her a nudge. Yang Qiqi, desperate to get back to her room, wanted nothing to do with conversation—and even though she suspected the bump had been no accident, her guilt left her no choice but to swallow it.

Yu Xiaoke pushed open Wei Zhao's door and stepped inside, only to find the room empty. At the same time she caught the sound of running water from the bathroom, and understanding dawned on her: Wei Zhao was taking a shower, and Yang Qiqi had seized that window of time to steal the item!

As for why Wei Zhao had gone to take a shower, that needed no explanation—surely Yang Qiqi had seduced him into it, and it was precisely in that interval that she had made off with the thing. Otherwise, with her skills, she could never have gained the slightest advantage over Wei Zhao!

The more she thought about it, the more vexed Yu Xiaoke became. The Male Thief really was a great lecher, she thought—one little seduction and he took the bait, then went off to shower like a fool! If she hadn't sensed something was wrong and stolen the item back, his losses would have been enormous!

Yu Xiaoke sat on the sofa waiting for Wei Zhao to come out of the shower, and suddenly she found herself a little excited. Wei Zhao had been about to do something with Yang Qiqi before his shower, hadn't he? Now that Yang Qiqi was gone and she was here in his room, might Wei Zhao do something with her instead?

At that thought she grew nervous again. If Wei Zhao wanted to push her down, should she agree, or agree, or agree?

Just as Yu Xiaoke was fretting herself into a state, the bathroom door opened and Wei Zhao emerged in his bathrobe, his face free of the Male Thief mask—though he did wear the Thousand-Silk Mask that the Heaven-Rank Spider had given him.

In the bathroom, Wei Zhao had long since recognized the sound of Yang Qiqi leaving after her success. Faint as she had made it, she could hardly have hidden it from a master at the peak of the mid Earth-Rank like Wei Zhao.

He had also known when Yu Xiaoke came in—which was precisely why he had insisted on finishing his shower before coming out. He recognized Yu Xiaoke's footsteps, and knew there was no harm in her being in his room.

As for not wearing his mask, Wei Zhao simply couldn't be bothered anymore. Besides, Yu Xiaoke had repeatedly tried to pull it off him, so he might as well take it off himself. He still had the Thousand-Silk Mask on, after all, and he wasn't worried that she would recognize him.

"Xiaoke, you came? She's already gone?" Wei Zhao asked mildly, toweling his hair as he glanced at Yu Xiaoke on the sofa.

"Huh? You knew she left?" Yu Xiaoke was briefly taken aback—but then she noticed that this time Wei Zhao wore no mask, and joy and surprise flooded through her. She forgot all about Yang Qiqi and sprang to her feet. "Male Thief, is this your real face? You're finally willing to take off your mask in front of me—I'm so happy!"

"Heh heh, mm." Wei Zhao smiled. "Well? Disappointed?"

With the Thousand-Silk Mask on, Wei Zhao looked like nothing more than an ordinary man, stripped of his former handsome looks—the kind of face that would vanish into a crowd and never be picked out again. And that was exactly the effect the Thousand-Silk Mask was meant to achieve; a mask that drew attention would be something of a failure.

"Not at all!" Yu Xiaoke shook her head emphatically. "What you look like doesn't really matter. What I like is the person who protected me so carefully in that ancient tomb! And besides, even if your looks aren't especially striking, in my eyes you're the most perfect!"

Wei Zhao was momentarily taken aback, not having expected Yu Xiaoke to boldly bare her heart again. As for what to say to that—he had no idea...

"I... I'll go take a shower, then. That horrid little tart may be gone, but you've still got me..." Yu Xiaoke said boldly to Wei Zhao.

"That... Xiaoke, there's no need, you've misunderstood..." Wei Zhao was startled. Though his heart stirred somewhat, how could he let anything happen with Yu Xiaoke in a place like this? He hastily waved a hand to stop her. "The shower was my own suggestion—the whole point was to create an opportunity for her, to let her steal that blue crystal."

"What? You... let her steal it on purpose?" Yu Xiaoke's eyes went wide, and she was badly startled, unable to understand why Wei Zhao would do such a thing.

"Xiaoke, sit down first. I'll explain the details to you," Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile. "The truth is, she's a pitiful person too—she has her own convictions, enough to swallow her pride and endure humiliation."

"Oh?" Hearing Wei Zhao speak so highly of Yang Qiqi, Yu Xiaoke felt a little unhappy—but she obediently sat down all the same.

"The truth of the matter is this: what she stole was in fact her own to begin with. I merely took it from someone else's hands..." With that, Wei Zhao recounted to Yu Xiaoke what had happened earlier at the gate of the cultivators' market.

"Ah, so that's how it was!" Yu Xiaoke understood once she heard his account—the item really did belong to Yang Qiqi! Yet she still felt somewhat indignant. "Even if it's hers, she was too incompetent and let it be snatched away. You took it back from the ones who stole it, so it's yours now. What right does she have to steal it back?"

"That was exactly how I saw it at first—I thought she was repaying kindness with ingratitude. I helped her win back a Lesser Qi-Gathering Pill; she ought to have been content with that, since otherwise she'd have gotten nothing at all," Wei Zhao said with a nod. "So when she came throwing herself at me, I went along with it and deliberately toyed with her a little. It was only later, in the restaurant, when I overheard a phone call of hers, that I changed my view..."

Wei Zhao then told Yu Xiaoke about the call—how Yang Qiqi had taken it in order to save someone's life. When Yu Xiaoke heard this, she could not help but fall silent. Indeed, if what Wei Zhao said was true, then in some respects Yang Qiqi was very much like herself...

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