Chapter 82 082 When you like someone, you want to hold them on your lap...

The little monster smells terrible now.

Last night, it rolled around in the mud at the bottom of the well, its body covered in dried rotten leaves and black liquid. If you get close enough, you can smell a stench similar to that of a dead rat, which even the ambergris in the room can't mask.

The little monster raised its head and looked at her with a somewhat blank expression.

Lu Yuanyuan smiled at it and clapped her hands: "Let's do it today. I'm free today, so I'll take you to get washed."

This is the imperial palace, densely populated, so we can't just let it out of its cage. If it escapes, we won't know where to catch it. Therefore, Lu Yuanyuan specially summoned the Imperial Advisor.

After all, this little monster was captured by the Imperial Advisor, so he should have a way to control it.

The Imperial Advisor soon came to pay his respects to her.

The old man was still the same as Lu Yuanyuan remembered. There are always people more powerful than you, and in the world of Golden Core cultivators, this guy was nothing more than a bottom-tier cultivator. Lu Yuanyuan didn't hold any lofty, superior expectations of him. Upon meeting him, she went straight to the point: "That monster, you found it at the border between the mortal realm and the cultivation world?"

The Imperial Advisor cupped his hands, his expression inscrutable: “Your Highness, that is indeed the case. As Your Highness knows, besides relieving the Emperor's worries and praying for his longevity, I often take my disciples to various places for training, slaying demons and monsters. On one such journey, I captured this demon. I originally intended to kill it on the spot, but I discovered that it was impossible to kill, which is truly rare. It is just right to present to Your Highness to amuse you.”

"What a boastful person, making himself sound so righteous. He's clearly just using his position for personal gain, catching demons and crafting magical artifacts everywhere," Lu Yuanyuan thought to herself. She tapped the table with her index finger and said, "I want to let it out of its cage for a bit. Do you have any magical artifacts that can restrict it and prevent it from running around?"

Before the Imperial Advisor could answer, Lu Yuanyuan quickly added, "Don't use any magical artifacts that might harm it."

The Imperial Advisor choked, holding his whisk, and pondered for a while before taking out two golden rings, one large and one small, from his robes. The larger one was as thick as a pinky finger and resembled a necklace. The smaller one was a ring.

"This is a demon-suppressing ring. As long as the large collar is placed around its neck and the small one is placed on the princess's finger, the princess will have the power to restrain it."

Upon first seeing such a magical artifact, Lu Yuanyuan was skeptical. However, seeing the Grand Preceptor's confident expression, she decided to trust him and ordered the necklace to be placed on the little monster's neck. As for the ring, she wore it on her own middle finger.

The cold ring was pushed all the way down, and the golden light shone on the fair knuckles, almost blindingly so.

In this palace, no one has more experience dealing with all sorts of bizarre monsters than her. Therefore, even though the body she's currently using doesn't have a golden core, Lu Yuanyuan still feels that she's the most suitable person to take care of this little monster.

An open-air bath was built in Princess Manjushri's palace.

The sun shines brightly today, and the cicadas' chirping fills the sky. The pond water murmurs, warmed by the sunlight. Pink flowers bloom on several large trees by the pond, their petals drifting into the water, their fragrance intoxicating.

Lu Yuanyuan ordered the palace servants to wait outside, while she herself sat on a chaise lounge by the water, basking in the sun.

The cage was placed by the pool, the door open. She saw the little monster slowly crawl out, carefully submerging half its body in the water along the smooth stones by the pool, and then bending down to meticulously wash away the dirt stuck to its back and waist.

Its nature should be that it loves cleanliness.

A vague idea crept into her mind.

The pool was filled with fresh water, crystal clear, with dirt sloshing around in the flowing water, revealing the underwater scene clearly. As Lu Yuanyuan looked around, her gaze inevitably drifted to one spot.

...It turns out this little monster is male.

No, given its current appearance, should we say it's male, or more accurately, a masculine animal?

The afternoon was pleasant and quiet, and Lu Yuanyuan unknowingly took a nap on the chaise longue. When she woke up, the blazing sun had already moved to the west.

The little monster seemed to cherish this opportunity to leave its cage, remaining motionless in the water, hugging its thin, bony knees, and staring blankly at the petals floating on the water's surface.

Lu Yuanyuan rubbed her eyes and said, "It's getting dark soon, let you come wash them tomorrow."

The little monster looked over.

Lu Yuanyuan emphasized, "From now on, you'll have to wash once a day."

The little monster slowly crawled out of the water. Perhaps knowing it couldn't escape from the heavy guards, it didn't try to run away and obediently returned to its cage.

Although she felt it was inhumane to keep it locked in a cage all the time, given its history of escaping and its grudge against the original owner, Lu Yuanyuan couldn't guarantee that the magical artifact given to her by the Imperial Preceptor would work while she was asleep. What if this little monster suddenly attacked her in the middle of the night? Wouldn't that be the end of her?

She wouldn't forget that her purpose in returning was to revive Yue Hong. Only after ensuring the important matters proceeded smoothly could her compassion overflow.

So, we'll just have to make do with it for now.

Fortunately, to Lu Yuanyuan's delight, after spending only one afternoon with Xiao Yuehong, the reincarnation flower given to her by the system showed a delightful change. The tightly closed, tender petals began to open slightly.

From this perspective, the task was easier to complete than she had imagined, and her strategy of contacting Yue Hong was correct.

To recover as soon as possible, Lu Yuanyuan took medicinal baths and drank bitter soup every few days. In her spare time, besides learning puppetry, she spent her time with the little monster, observing so much that she could fill a diary. She discovered that the little monster preferred flavorful cooked food to bloody food.

The little monster was very quiet, never making a sound or answering. But it certainly wasn't mute, Grandpa Shen said, because it had made sounds when it was beaten before.

Lu Yuanyuan kept her promise and let the little monster take a bath every day, taking the opportunity to let it out of its cage and stretch its muscles.

Although it has a human-like shape, it is not good at walking like a human and seems unaccustomed to walking on just two legs.

The palace servants were all shrewd; they knew exactly what she liked and disliked. Before, seeing the princess's dislike for this little monster, they openly echoed her contempt. Now, witnessing the princess's change in attitude, they all put on smiling faces and served the little monster much more attentively than before.

The little monster remained silent as always. Perhaps realizing it couldn't escape, it seemed to have given up trying and accepted its captive existence, always listless and lethargic. The palace servants' approach, feeding, and cleaning failed to stir any emotion in it. Only when Lu Yuanyuan approached would it turn its eyes and meet her gaze indifferently.

As the saying goes, illness comes like a landslide, but recovery is like pulling silk from a cocoon. A month later, Lu Yuanyuan's cold finally showed signs of improvement.

God was also on her side. As soon as she recovered, she got a perfect opportunity to get close to Yue Hong.

At the same time, it's also a good time to let the little monster go.

That is—the summer hunting competition of Yong Kingdom is about to begin.

Lu Yuanyuan was quite familiar with the hunting process in Yong Kingdom. After all, she had been reborn seven years later during a hunting competition. Back then, as a princess of Yan Kingdom, she had rolled to the stream because her horse went out of control and was almost dried into a dried-up corpse by the scorching sun. Afterwards, Yue Hong used her as a punching bag and carried her back.

The hunting grounds for this year were still set at Langya Mountain.

On the day of the hunt.

As is customary, all princes and noble sons participate in the competition. Of course, the main contenders this year are the Crown Prince's generation.

The younger kids, like Yue Hong, are too young to participate in such potentially dangerous activities and have been relegated to the hunting area.

At midday, Langya Mountain was as hot as an oven. Palace servants piled cartloads of ice outside the tents in the hunting area, luxuriously letting it melt to alleviate the heat. As soon as Lu Yuanyuan stepped into the prepared tent, she felt as if she had entered an air-conditioned room.

She stretched, turned around, and suddenly noticed a small shadow cast by the sunlight on the tent.

Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback, and then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

She was just about to go find him. And sure enough, speak of the devil, and he appears.

She asked, feigning ignorance, "Who's outside?"

The shadow lingered outside for a while before finally peeking out and revealing its true form.

Yue Hong looked at her and said awkwardly, "I heard you were sick before, are you feeling better now?"

Lu Yuanyuan smiled gently, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "I'm all better now. Were you worried about your aunt and came to see if she's alright?"

Yue Hong gave a light snort, did not deny it, and walked in.

Lu Yuanyuan smiled and had the palace servants serve tea and snacks. Yue Hong sat down in a chair, suddenly feeling that he had pressed against something. He reached out and touched it, and his face instantly changed color: "What is this!"

Lu Yuanyuan looked at the thing he had thrown on the ground; it was a piece of something that was still twitching. She bent down and picked it up with great surprise: "It's a gecko's tail, look!"

When Yue Hong saw her pick it up directly, her eyes widened: "Why is it still moving! Move it away!"

"Don't be afraid, it's just a piece of its tail. When a gecko is frightened, it will break off its tail and run away. The piece of tail it leaves behind will continue to jump for a while, which is used to scare away enemies."

"I'm not scared, I'm disgusted." Yue Hong curled his lip and said, "You're useless to cut off your tail just because you were scared."

Lu Yuanyuan put her tail aside and said, "Don't underestimate these weak animals. This is called 'where there's life, there's hope.' To save its life, it can make a decisive choice to sacrifice a part of its body. Humans may not have such strong willpower."

Yue Hong pursed his lips, looking at the still-twitching gecko tail, as if pondering her words.

Lu Yuanyuan smiled slightly: "I promised you last time that I would tell you another story. But I've been sick for so long. The story of fighting the giant serpent is over, so let's talk about something else this time."

Yue Hong turned his head away: "Whatever."

"Then I'll begin..."

This time, Lu Yuanyuan chose a mission she had taken on in Mount Shu, claiming it was a story she had read in a book. Just as they were getting into the conversation, a cheerful bell suddenly rang out from outside the tent. The next second, a small dog with a black mane, yellow ears, and a bell around its neck came running in, sticking its tongue out at Lu Yuanyuan and Yue Hong, its fluffy tail wagging faster than a propeller.

"Xiaoyu!"

"Xiaoyu! Don't run around!"

Two children, one tall and one short, exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly chased after her. Judging from their clothes, they were probably children left behind in the hunting area. After picking up the puppy, they seemed to realize that they had entered a place they shouldn't have, and they shrank their shoulders in fear, looking at Lu Yuanyuan.

Lu Yuanyuan: "..."

There were too many children today. She didn't even recognize all of the original owner's younger siblings, let alone know who these two children were or how well they knew the original owner.

Fortunately, Jinzhong was good at reading people and whispered in her ear who the visitors were. It turned out that the two children were the son and daughter of Vice Minister Lin.

The children's servants arrived breathlessly, and upon seeing the scene, their faces turned ashen. They knelt down with a thud, saying, "This servant deserves to die for disturbing the princess and the imperial grandson!"

Was the original owner really that scary? Lu Yuanyuan was both amused and exasperated, and said, "It's okay, everyone go out."

The servants breathed a sigh of relief, quickly helped the two young masters up, and led them out.

The tent curtains were very thin, and sitting inside, you could clearly hear the argument between two children who hadn't gone far.

The slightly taller boy, acting like an older brother, scolded his younger sister: "I already told you it's too heavy, and you're not strong enough. I told you not to keep holding it, and to let the maid carry it!"

The little girl insisted, "No, I want to hold it myself."

The child said sullenly, "You really like this yellow ear."

"Of course! Just like how Mother loves us, she always holds us in her arms. Mother said that loving someone means cherishing her, wanting to hold her on your lap, and holding her tightly every moment..."

"Idiot, Xiaoyu isn't a person."

...

Deep inside the tent, the little monster lay in its cage, lost in thought. Fragmented, ethereal children's voices drifted into its ears. It lifted its eyelids slightly, and its beautiful eyes slowly moved.

.

That day, Yue Hong stayed in the tent for an entire afternoon before leaving, completely satisfied.

This hunting competition will last for three days. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Lu Yuanyuan also went for a walk in the neighborhood with Yue Hong on the second day, trying her best to let the Reincarnation Flower absorb his aura.

Before they knew it, it was the last day of the hunt.

That day, Lu Yuanyuan did not receive any guests. At noon, she quietly boarded a carriage. A golden cage was placed on the carriage.

Eunuch Shen helped Lu Yuanyuan into the carriage, and said with concern, "Your Highness, if you want to let this little monster go, why not let the guards handle it, or even have the Imperial Advisor come directly?"

Lu Yuanyuan simply didn't trust the Imperial Advisor's character. If she handed this little monster over to him, he would surely feign compliance and then use it for other purposes. She shook her head and said seriously, "This matter absolutely cannot be told to the Imperial Advisor, do you hear me?"

Eunuch Shen said in a panic, "Of course! This is Her Highness the Princess's decision. Even if you gave me a hundred mouths, I wouldn't dare to utter a single word!"

Lu Yuanyuan then hummed in agreement. Seeing that Eunuch Shen looked restless and kept wiping his sweat, she reassured him, "Don't worry, I won't get off the carriage this time. I'll stay in the carriage and watch them put the cage into the woods. There won't be another accident like last time, so don't worry."

Eunuch Shen nodded in agreement and lowered the curtain.

The carriage rolled across the grassland and headed deep into the Langya Mountains.