Although Ye Ye’s wounds had been healed by the treatment web, he remained unconscious. Bai Ligelin stared blankly at his pale face. In this sudden reunion, she hadn’t even had the chance to look at him carefully like this.
Why wasn’t her sister with him? Had he abandoned her sister? How could he not search for her?
As she gazed at Ye Ye’s face, her thoughts drifted back to that snowy morning many years ago. She had found a boy half-buried in the snow in a small alley. When she reached out to help him, he bit her hand fiercely. She cried out in pain, only to be shoved hard against the wall, hitting her forehead. Her cries alerted her sister, who came and punched Ye Ye hard. That punch brought him to his senses, and from that moment on, her sister was the only person in his heart and eyes.
The three of them had always been together, they were family. But her sister was stolen away by Ye Ye, and she was no longer the most important person in her heart. The two of them were always together, leaving her lonely and trailing behind. Every day, she laughed and chased after them, but could never catch up.
Sometimes, when she stood between them, she felt so far away. She had her sister and gained Ye Ye, she shouldn’t have felt lonely anymore. But such moments became more frequent. Even though she talked and laughed with them, living together, she felt as if she didn’t belong in this family.
Her sister, who was once hers alone, had been stolen by Ye Ye.
She was the one who first discovered Ye Ye, but he never saw her. He was stolen by her sister.
Now, she was no longer that confused little girl forcing a smile. She couldn’t tell if it was because her feelings for Ye Ye were too deep or if she was afraid of loneliness. Her entire life seemed to have stopped on that snowy day. Even now, she was still that frightened, naive girl.
She would never grow up. There would never be a place for her in her sister and Ye Ye’s world. She would forever be that lonely little girl, wailing in the snow.
Bai Ligelin suddenly stood up, as if stung. She retreated several steps, quickly leaped off the centipede spirit, and walked towards the seaside without a word.
“Junior Sister Bai,” Xia Li called out as he approached, only to see her eyes red and her face alternating between flushed and pale. He was slightly startled. She brushed past him like a shadow, and Xia Li instinctively grabbed her, saying softly, “Junior Sister Bai, you just now…”
Unexpectedly, she suddenly spoke: “Do you like me?”
Xia Li felt bewildered: “What are you saying?”
“Let go of me, or hold me tight. You choose.”
Xia Li quickly released his hand, wordlessly watching her walk towards the seaside and stop on the beach. He wanted to go over, but something seemed to be holding him back.
Bai Ligelin stood by the sea for a long time, like a statue. Suddenly, she moved. Xia Li saw her light red robes flutter, and then her entire body was swept away by the seawater. He was greatly shocked. What was she trying to do?!
Xia Li rushed to the seaside, staring blankly at the calmly rolling sea surface. Why did she suddenly jump into the sea? To catch fish? Or to play in the water? Cultivators had water-avoidance techniques to protect themselves, so there was no need to worry about drowning. But he had an ominous feeling. What did she mean by what she said earlier? And that expression… was she trying to end her life?!
He waited on the shore for a long time. The sea had long since washed away her footprints, but she still didn’t emerge. His anger gradually grew. This Bai Ligelin was truly incomprehensible! He had never seen such a messy, willful, and annoying woman!
Xia Li could no longer hold back. He plunged into the sea, summoning his water-avoidance technique and crab spirit. After swimming for a while, he saw Bai Ligelin with a water-avoidance bubble around her head, using a knife to pry shells off the rocks at the bottom of the sea. Seeing him approach fiercely riding the crab spirit, she widened her eyes in surprise, questioning him with her gaze.
In that instant, Xia Li felt extremely embarrassed. What was he thinking? Why would he worry about such a frivolous and unrestrained woman? Jumping into the sea to end her life? How could he have such a ridiculous thought? A myriad of emotions – shame, anger, embarrassment – rushed over him. He was so flustered he didn’t know what to do, except pretend nothing had happened and turn his crab spirit to leave.
The next moment, Bai Ligelin swam towards him as swiftly and gracefully as a fish, grabbing his arm. Xia Li shook her off violently. He didn’t want to hear or say anything now; he just wanted to find a place to cool down. His mind was a bit muddled.
“Senior Brother Xia, look at that!” Bai Ligelin urgently pulled at him again, pointing behind them.
Xia Li collected himself. Seeing that her expression seemed genuine, he turned back and saw a lush, green area in the depths of the sea opposite them. It was as if a small island had sunk here. Strangely, the trees on the island hadn’t been killed by the seawater but were growing very luxuriantly.
“Isn’t that island strange? Should we go take a look?” Bai Ligelin’s expression was excited, eager to try. The desolate, ghost-like girl from before jumping into the sea seemed like an illusion.
Xia Li gave her a cold glance, pulled his arm away, and wordlessly commanded his crab spirit to surface. After this trial, he never wanted to have any interaction with this woman again.
“Hey, Senior Brother Xia?”
Bai Ligelin, arms full of freshly pried shells, chased after him. As soon as they surfaced, they saw Li Fei and the others standing on the shore. Even Ye Ye, who had been unconscious, was now awake, sitting on the shore waiting for them to come up.
“Ye Ye!” Bai Ligelin instinctively called out to him, quickly walking to his side and crouching down to examine him. She suddenly frowned and snorted, “You fool, you’re finally awake!”
Ye Ye flicked her forehead hard: “What kind of attitude is that? You’re always playing around. What were you doing diving for shells now?”
Bai Ligelin laughed: “To eat, of course. One fish isn’t enough to fill my teeth. Look at you, your face is still so pale. Still want to brag about how amazing you are? Getting beaten up like this almost died.”
“They attacked suddenly, I really couldn’t react in time. Tongzhou just told me what happened. You guys already have six Spirit Fruit?”
“What do you mean you guys? We’re all one team now! Oh right, where did you leave my sister?”
A look of disappointment crossed Ye Ye’s eyes as he said softly, “I haven’t met her at all. I’ve been searching for a long time but haven’t seen her.”
Xia Li saw how intimate the two were in their words and actions. At this moment, Bai Ligelin’s entire attention was focused on this man called Ye Ye. This kind of unusual focus, he had never seen before. So she already had someone in her heart, was it him? So, her seemingly flirtatious and fickle eyes could also look at someone so attentively and seriously.
He suddenly remembered her earlier words, “Let go of me, or hold me tight,” and felt ridiculous. What did she take others for? Approaching frivolously and unrestrained, but not caring about anyone at all. Since she already had someone in her heart, why couldn’t she be faithful? He felt a vague anger, and this anger made him unwilling to stay here a moment longer. He retreated silently.
Ye Ye’s awakening was naturally another cause for celebration, and it called for some good food to feast on. Ji Tongzhou picked up the shells, which were as hard as steel, probably due to being infected by demon energy. They could be forcibly broken with the Tai’a technique, but the meat inside would certainly be a mess. He grandly arranged the shells one by one, preparing to use the Fire Departure technique directly: “I think we can just roast them with fire!”
Lei Xiuyuan kicked him in the back: “If you don’t know how to do it, don’t touch it.”
Ji Tongzhou flipped over and jumped up, returning a kick. The two began to fight messily again. Li Fei sat on the beach, eating fruit while watching them fight back and forth. Suddenly, something fell out of Ji Tongzhou’s sleeve, landing lightly in the sand. She picked it up and saw it was the long-lost purple jade cricket. She was immediately overjoyed: “Oh? You’ve been carrying this cricket with you all along?”
Ji Tongzhou avoided Lei Xiuyuan’s fist, retreating several steps and feeling his sleeve pocket, which was indeed empty. He didn’t know how it had fallen out.
“Oh, I later found I quite liked it too,” he said, a bit embarrassed.
Originally, he didn’t think it was anything special, but Jiang Li Fei liked it so much that he was infected and also found the cricket very interesting. He had been carrying it with him all along, and it had become a habit over the past five years. This typical childish mentality was embarrassing. He reached out to take it back, but seeing that she still liked it so much after five years, holding it in her hands and looking at it non-stop, he said, “If you liked it so much, why didn’t you accept it when I offered it to you back then?”
Li Fei smiled and placed the cricket in his palm: “A gentleman doesn’t take what others cherish. Besides, this thing is too valuable. I didn’t have anything worth enough to give in return, so I couldn’t accept it.”
Ji Tongzhou snorted: “It’s my thing, I can give it to whoever I want. Who said you need to give something in return?”
Uh, unexpectedly, after five years, his answer hadn’t changed a single word.
“You’re a noble prince,” Li Fei said with a smile. “Everything you casually give away is worth thousands of gold. That’s why you can’t just give things to people randomly. It feels like you’re using money to pressure people, making them uncomfortable.”
Seeing his bewildered expression, she guessed he had never thought about this before and regretted speaking out. Ji Tongzhou had always been straightforward, his likes and dislikes very obvious. He didn’t have, and probably disdained, such convoluted thoughts. Her speaking so plainly made things awkward instead.
Li Fei simply reached out to snatch the cricket back: “Let me play with it for two more days, I’ll return it to you later.”
Ji Tongzhou hid his hand: “Who said I’m lending it to you!”
“Hey, how did this generous prince suddenly become so stingy? What’s wrong with letting me play with it for two days?”
“Now I don’t feel like lending it to you.”
Li Fei reached out to grab his arm, but unexpectedly, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her back a few steps. She stumbled and bumped into him, hearing his cool voice from above: “Do you think you’re still ten years old?”
Li Fei was a bit annoyed and was about to struggle when he suddenly released her and gave her a pure smile: “Since you’re so free, why don’t you help me wash the shells?”
Ji Tongzhou, seeing him suddenly grab her away, felt a bit upset. He hadn’t finished speaking yet! Moreover, as the saying goes: men and women should be careful about physical contact. The two of them pulling and tugging in broad daylight, what kind of example were they setting? Oh right, come to think of it, they had already been pulling and tugging at the academy.
“Jiang Li Fei!” he suddenly called out to her, lightly tossing the purple jade cricket over. Li Fei hurriedly caught it, fumbling. Thankfully, this delicate little thing wasn’t broken. She sighed in relief.
Ji Tongzhou smiled smugly: “I’m lending it to you to play with, remember to return it to me!”