Le Cailing, impatient with the lecture, simply rose on a cloud. She coldly looked down at the group below, her gaze finally settling on Lei Xiuyuan. She said grimly, “No need for more nonsense! I’ve noted all of you here today! Especially you, Lei Xiuyuan!”
Without waiting for anyone to respond, she turned and sped away.
Su Wan immediately flew into a rage: “I’m so scared! I’m terrified! She’s remembered us, is she planning to assassinate us?!”
How could Elder Qingle, such a kind and gentle person, have a disciple like this?!
Ying Yuankai and the others could only laugh bitterly. However, none of them truly believed this delicate junior sister could do anything. Honestly, the feeling of being on a beauty’s mind wasn’t bad, even if it was being disliked rather than liked! At least they occupied a place in her heart!
After searching the area once more and confirming there was nothing else to find, Ying Yuankai stepped forward and cupped his hands in salute: “Junior Brother Deng, Junior Brother Lei, Junior Sister Su, Junior Sister Jiang, we have completed our demon hunting and will take our leave now. We wish you all success in completing your trials soon. Let’s meet again when we’re out.”
At this point, Ying Yuankai and his group had no intention of lingering around Li Fei and the others. They had witnessed Lei Xiuyuan’s abilities earlier; he was indeed a genius, able to summon even a flying sword with the Tai’e Technique. If he hadn’t blinded Zhu Yan’s eyes, they might all be in Zhu Yan’s stomach by now.
They had worked together to fight against Zhu Yan, forming a bond of shared peril. Although these male disciples were a bit unreliable with too many schemes, they weren’t bad people. Su Wan immediately smiled and said, “Thank you, senior brothers. Farewell.”
Li Fei stood dazed for a good while, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked around. Before she fainted, hadn’t Ri Yan appeared? Her mind had been very confused then, everything seeming like a dream. Now thinking back, she really couldn’t be sure if it was an illusion or if she had seen him.
“Are you alright?” Lei Xiuyuan looked down at her.
She hurriedly shook her head: “I’m fine. Let’s go, continue hunting demons.”
Not seeing any sign of Ri Yan, might have been an illusion.
Deng Xiguang smiled bitterly: “Good junior sister, don’t you see it’s already dark? Some of us were injured, and some fainted earlier. How can we hunt demons now? Let’s find a place to sleep first!”
Neither Lei Xiuyuan nor Su Wan objected. The healing net could only heal wounds, but couldn’t recover lost yuan qi. In their current state, they absolutely couldn’t hunt demons; they had to rest.
There wasn’t a trace of demonic energy within ten li of this area, and demons from elsewhere didn’t seem inclined to come here. After searching for half a day, they finally decided to rest by the water’s edge. Deng Xiguang’s wood-element immortal technique came in handy, as he immediately used his magic to build a modest wooden cabin. It was empty inside, only divided into two rooms by wooden boards, one for the men and one for the women.
Given that the other three members of the group had all suffered severe injuries, Li Fei insisted on keeping watch for the night. The other three couldn’t argue with her and had to go in to rest. Li Fei put concealment spells on the entire wooden cabin; as long as demons didn’t directly bump into it, they wouldn’t discover them even if they came very close.
As the moon rose to the center of the sky and all was silent in the forest, Li Fei suddenly let out a long sigh.
For some reason, she was very reluctant to think about the things that had happened that afternoon. In her heart, she would rather it had never happened. This was the first time she didn’t want to know anything about her background. If she didn’t think about it, she was still just an ordinary disciple with some special qualities. She had never wanted so much to be just an ordinary cultivating disciple, working hard to cultivate, eventually becoming an immortal, and repaying those who had given her various kinds of warmth. But she was ultimately different, completely unlike others. That palace in the sealed ground of Li Liegu now gave her a vague feeling of familiarity and nostalgia.
The strange people of the thousand islands beyond the sea… She suddenly hugged her knees tightly, as if trying to hide all her secrets.
She had an intuition that if people knew the truth about her, she would lose everything she currently had, lose the warmth of those people’s hearts. This was what she feared most in the depths of her heart.
“Is the romance over?”
A familiar, hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ear. Li Fei was startled, looking right into Ri Yan’s narrow, pale green eyes. These huge eyes, full of intelligence, were now filled with anger, glaring at her fiercely.
“…Ri Yan?”
It wasn’t a dream earlier? So it was real? Why was he so big now?
The fox suddenly started cursing loudly: “You stupid fool, you only mess things up! Useless at everything except ruining things! Ever since I attached myself to you, nothing good has happened!”
Li Fei was stunned by the scolding. How long had it been since she’d seen this fox? How long since anyone had called her a stupid fool? Hearing it so suddenly now, she felt a thousand emotions.
“Ri Yan!” She called out excitedly, pouncing towards his large, fluffy body. However, she passed right through him and almost fell flat on her face.
She looked up in confusion: “You’ve slept for five years and still haven’t materialized?”
“Five years my foot!” The nine-tailed fox suddenly stood up, its nine long tails swishing back and forth excitedly. “Today your original spiritual energy erupted and woke me up! I was supposed to need two more months to fully absorb the demonic energy, but now it’s all messed up! Now the demonic energy is turbulent and uncontrollable, with no pattern at all. Who knows how often I’ll wake up now! I never should have attached myself to a fool like you!”
He, a thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox, had first been able to wake only once every ten days, and his manifested form had been tiny, truly pathetic. Now, just as he was about to regain his former majestic fox demon appearance, he had been disrupted. The feeling was indescribable, even with a thousand curses.
Li Fei was left stunned by his torrent of words. After a while, she softly asked, “You mean you’ll still fall asleep from time to time?”
“I’d rather sleep forever!” Ri Yan glared at her. “Why did you suddenly release your original spiritual energy?! Aren’t you afraid the immortals will discover you and chop you into pieces?!”
Li Fei looked bewildered: “Original spiritual energy?”
“Stop pretending! Your original spiritual energy purified everything within ten li! Don’t act like you don’t know!”
So that white light was the original spiritual energy? Was it because of her special constitution? Li Fei closed her eyes tiredly, then opened them again, forcing a smile: “Ri Yan, let’s not talk about this. I don’t want to know.”
Ri Yan’s eyes widened, and he suddenly burst into wild laughter: “You don’t want to know? For humans, you’re considered half an adult now, old enough to know, but now you don’t want to know? Hahaha! I’m going to die laughing! This is human nature! Fragile! Fickle! You’ll die from this sooner or later!”
Li Fei stared blankly for a while, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. She said softly, “I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me.”
The fox finally fell silent. His huge body slowly lay down, his nine long tails swaying gently. After a long while, he suddenly spoke: “That boy is actually with you?”
Li Fei looked puzzled: “That boy? You mean Lei Xiuyuan?”
“Who knows what his name is! That sneaky, crafty little brat! So young, yet so full of schemes! Of all the people you could be romantic with, why him!”
Seeing how angry he sounded, like a father-in-law disapproving of a son-in-law, Li Fei couldn’t help but laugh: “What’s wrong with him? Isn’t he quite good? And what do you mean by ‘romantic’? Do you even know how to use words properly?”
Ri Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought. He suddenly said: “Perhaps this is also fate… Alright, let’s not talk about this. Why did you suddenly release your original spiritual energy? I see there’s a lot of demonic energy here. Could this be a trial ground for some immortal sect?”
This fox had slept for five years and didn’t know about many things. Li Fei enthusiastically told him about all the interesting things that had happened in the past five years. His large ears kept twitching as he listened. In the end, he sneered: “Human hearts are unfathomable. Today they may treat you well, tomorrow they might gnaw your bones and eat your flesh! You fool are still so naive!”
These words happened to touch on Li Fei’s concerns, and she fell silent again.
Ri Yan suddenly stood up and said calmly: “Since you’ve entered Wu Yue Ting, cultivate well. Your spiritual energy has greatly increased now, you’ll surely achieve something. I’m leaving.”
Is he going to sleep again so soon? Hadn’t he slept enough in five years?
Li Fei urgently asked: “How long will you sleep this time?”
He was still angry when mentioning this: “The demonic energy is turbulent and shocking. It might be two or three days, or it might be ninety days! It’s all your fault!”
As he spoke, as if afraid she would say more, his huge body suddenly dispersed, vanishing without a trace.
Li Fei felt inexplicably lost again. She looked up at the night sky; the night was still long. To spend the long night alone, she could only try her best not to think about those worrying things.
Suddenly, the wooden door creaked. Li Fei turned back in surprise to see Lei Xiuyuan pushing the door open. His face still showed signs of deep sleep as he sat down beside her. His voice was hoarse: “Who were you talking to just now?”
“No one, I didn’t say anything.” Li Fei denied it naturally.
He made an “mm” sound, seemingly unconvinced. He lowered his head, his misty eyes staring intently at her.
Li Fei suddenly felt her heart start to race. He was looking at her like that again. This time, would he avoid her gaze? She gathered her courage and raised her head to meet his eyes.
He didn’t look away. In his pitch-black pupils, there was only her reflection.
Her body felt as if it was being wrung by invisible hands, weakening wave after wave. She suddenly felt afraid, wanting to avoid his gaze, yet unwilling to do so. She felt as if she wanted to beg him for something, to beg him not to look at her like this, or to beg him to give her a definite answer.
She hoped he would guide her, but he never said anything. She felt waves of disappointment in her heart. Even with all her courage, she didn’t dare ask him why he had kissed her. She didn’t understand men. Was he thinking the same as her? Being suddenly kissed on the forehead, he was overstepping, but she didn’t feel angry at all.
Her forehead suddenly started to burn, the place where he had kissed her felt like it was on fire. Her whole face was affected, burning hot. She was probably blushing so much it was unbearable to see. Fortunately, the night was deep, and he couldn’t see.
Suddenly, Lei Xiuyuan’s arm wrapped around her thin, slender shoulders, and the warmth from his embrace invaded her.
Li Fei froze in his arms, hearing his voice softly by her ear: “Sleep for a while. I’ll keep watch.”