Chapter 86 My Sister Knows She Was Wrong
"Is it pretty?" Huo Lan's voice was soft, with a hint of a smile.
Bai Ye then snapped out of his daze, closed his eyes in a daze, turned around, and muttered softly, "Fellow Daoist Huo, the desert is very windy and sandy. Why did you take off so many clothes to sleep? You'll just end up covered in sand later."
Huo Lan glanced back at the little tiger with its ears burning red, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes. She knew it was a little coward.
She calmly took out a clean white undergarment and put it on, slowly tying the sash. Every movement was like a slow-motion video, captivating the viewer.
Bai heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Her gaze first fell on the air before slowly moving down, afraid of seeing that the other person was completely naked.
Fortunately, Huo Lan had already put on clothes, but the fabric of the clothes was unknown. It looked extremely soft and draped softly over her curves, perfectly outlining her graceful figure.
As she watched her approaching figure, Bai felt her heart pounding like a drum. She murmured, "Fellow Daoist Huo, could you change your face?"
"Hmm?" Huo Lan tilted her head slightly, puzzled. "Fellow Daoist Bai doesn't like my face?"
"No..." Bai shook his head, his voice a little hoarse, "I want to see you, as you are, is that alright?"
Huo Lan slowly curved her lips into a smile, leaning closer to Bai Ye, "This is how my sister truly is, whether you like it or not, it's always been this way."
No, you don't look like that.
"Then what do you want me to look like?" Huo Lan looked up, her eyes like water, looking straight into her eyes.
“You know that,” Bai said in a low voice.
Huo Lan remained silent, simply looking up at her in quiet contemplation.
The air between them seemed to freeze, their gazes locked, like dry tinder meeting a raging fire, just a spark away from igniting a full-blown blaze.
Just then, a gust of cold wind swept into the tent, extinguishing the sparks that were about to ignite.
Ye Rugo peeked into the tent, her gaze sweeping over the two people who were practically touching. "Oh my, you two aren't asleep yet? Were you waiting for me?"
Bai also snapped out of his reverie in an instant. His first reaction was to step aside and shield Huo Lan, quickly taking off his outer garment and draping it over her shoulders, afraid that his wife would be seen by others.
After doing all this, she turned to look at Ye Rugo standing in the tent, "Fellow Daoist Ye, why are you here again?"
"I'm here to sleep!" Ye Rugo replied matter-of-factly.
"Didn't you promise me that I would stay with Fellow Daoist Huo tonight?" Bai asked, somewhat exasperated.
Ye Rugo raised her chin slightly, nodded to Huolan, and then to Baiye, "Aren't you two asleep right now?"
Bai was completely defeated.
She said, enunciating each word clearly and gritting her teeth, "What I mean is that it's just the two of us sleeping!"
"Oh~" Ye Rugo nodded as if she suddenly understood, "So that's how it is."
"That won't do!"
She flatly rejected Bai Ye's suggestion, "I'm the captain, and I have to take care of everyone in the team, so we have to sleep together!"
"Heh~" Huo Lan chuckled softly, tossing the robe draped over her shoulders into Bai Ye's arms. "Let's go, Fellow Daoist Ye, let's go to sleep."
Bai, clutching his clothes, watched the two figures walking side by side toward the bed, and suddenly realized that he seemed to have been tricked by them.
Zhong Jiuli had no intention of doing anything with her, like taking off her clothes; he was just teasing her on purpose.
"Fire Orchid!!!"
"Did you already know that Ye Rugo would come to sleep in the tent?!"
Huo Lan and Ye Rugo turned around at the same time, "No, I didn't know Fellow Daoist Ye would come."
As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Ye Rugo, "Fellow Daoist Ye, don't you think so?"
Ye Rugo nodded in agreement, her face full of sincerity, "Yes, Fellow Daoist Huo didn't know I was coming."
The fact that the two of them weren't even willing to be perfunctory was infuriating Bai.
She angrily put on her clothes, "You guys go to sleep, I'm going out to keep watch!"
After saying that, he left the tent without looking back.
After leaving the camp, Bai stopped in her tracks, her neck stiff as she mentally asked, "Xiao Wang, can you check if Zhong Jiuli has chased after us?"
No, she and Ye Rugo both went to bed to meditate and regulate their breathing.
Bai Ye: ......
"Why doesn't she care about me at all?"
[Perhaps you don't seem like someone who needs much attention? There's nothing around here that could hurt you, so she's not worried.]
Bai squatted down unhappily, resting his chin on his knees, and said with a wronged expression, "She doesn't know anything about dating. When other people are in a relationship, if their girlfriend gets angry and runs away, they will rush after her!"
"If she doesn't come after me, I'll have no way to save face. It would be so embarrassing to slink back like that!"
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Wang said, "Why don't you pretend to sleepwalk and then sleepwalk back to the tent? That way you won't lose face."
"This idea is absolutely awful."
【What can we do then? If we don't go back, you'll have to sleep on the sand tonight.】
"Then I'm not going back. I'm going to have some backbone!" Bai stood up angrily and plunged into the depths of the desert outside the camp without looking back.
This ordinary night became extraordinary because of a little tiger with its fur standing on end.
Xiao Sha is a nocturnal sand snake that has roamed this desert for decades and is now invincible among its neighbors.
Tonight, it was just awakened by hunger and was preparing to leave its nest to catch a few gerbils to fill its belly.
It had just poked its head out of the cave and hadn't even had time to marvel at how warm the night air was when it saw a blazing fireball coming straight at it, and just like that, it met its great-grandmother in a hurry.
From afar, the Burning Heaven Valley disciples on duty could only see Bai Ye's figure deep in the desert, like a sun fallen to earth, illuminating the sand dunes for miles around. The cold night seemed to grow warmer because of her.
Bai wandered aimlessly through the sand dunes, not knowing what she was doing. Whenever she saw a monster, she would throw a fireball at it.
Sand hunting is about clearing out monsters, so this can be considered as her working overtime all night.
Only after exhausting all the spiritual energy in his dantian did Bai stop, panting heavily, and let himself lie on the sand.
The sun was still blazing all around, so it wasn't cold.
I felt a bit down, with a tightness in my chest, a vague sense of grievance filling my heart.
She was homesick, missing her mother and her own mother.
"Have you vented enough?" A clear, cool yet gentle female voice pierced through the flames and reached Bai Ye's ears.
Her slender figure emerged slowly from the firelight, her smiling eyes appearing exceptionally bright and captivating in the golden flames.
Huo Lan stopped in front of her, looking down at the little tiger lying on the sand throwing a tantrum.
"Hmph! It's too late to coax me now!"
Bai also turned over with great pride, burying his face in the sand and refusing to look at her.
"It's my fault, don't be angry anymore, okay?" Huo Lan sat down beside her, her fingertips running through her hair, gently combing it, as if soothing her own sulking cat.
"......snort."
A muffled response came from the sand, clearly indicating that the sulking little tiger wasn't so easily appeased.
Huo Lan leaned closer, her voice soft and gentle, "Sister knows she was wrong; she shouldn't have teased you with Ye Rugo."
"Our Little White is already a Nascent Soul cultivator who can stand on his own. I still treated you like a little tiger and teased you. It was my fault for making you suffer. Please forgive me, okay?"
Bai Ye, who was lying on the sand, had wanted to turn around as soon as Zhong Jiuli said the first sentence was wrong.
But Xiao Wang stopped her, which allowed him to hear her say a few more sweet words to coax him.
[If you act up again, she'll definitely hug and kiss you.]
Listening to their conversation, Huo Lan's smile deepened, and she asked cooperatively, "You won't forgive your sister?"
Bai turned his head angrily, looked up at her, and said, "Do you know what you did wrong?"
"Shouldn't I have let Ye Rugo into our tent?" Huo Lan asked tentatively.
Bai shook his head. "That's only part of the reason."
She didn't say that what hurt her even more was actually being abandoned for no reason back then.
The feeling of being suddenly abandoned was as if she were completely unimportant, like a kitten or puppy picked up from the roadside, kept for a few days, then abandoned because she didn't suit one's taste.
Then, after some time, when he couldn't find a puppy that suited him better, he put on the mask again and went back to find the abandoned puppy, thinking that she wouldn't recognize him while he was wearing a mask, and continued to play and interact with her as if nothing had happened.
Huo Lan understood the grievance in her eyes, her heart softened, and she coaxed in a gentle tone, "I'm too stupid to guess the reason. Can you tell your sister?"
"It's alright now." Bai Ye stood up, supporting himself on the sand, and said with a relaxed expression, "You're good-looking, so whatever you say is right."
She then started walking back.
Huo Lan grabbed her hand, "But I don't want to see you unhappy. I hope you can be happy every day."
"Just like your mother said, I hope you can have a full stomach every day and be a carefree little tiger."
Bai turned to look at her, his eyes clear and serious, "But Zhong Jiuli, I'm not a little tiger anymore."
"Everyone has their own troubles when they grow up. Even a tiger cub has its troubles. It's just that when I was a tiger cub, my troubles were small."
After saying these words with deep emotion, she forced a smile.
With that smile, the sand on her face began to fall off in a flurry.
Bai Ye suddenly froze. Just now... was she with this face covered in sand, seriously and emotionally engaging with Zhong Jiuli?
Huo Lan couldn't help but chuckle softly. She raised her hand and gently wiped the sand off Bai Ye's face. "I was going to wipe it off for you, but you got up to leave, and I didn't have time."
Bai remained expressionless, letting her hands rub his face. "Laugh if you want, I won't be angry."
"I wasn't making fun of you, I just think you're very cute." Huo Lan said, then withdrew her hand. "Now that you're clean, you're a cute little tiger again."
"Oh," Bai responded softly, sounding quite dejected.
This feeling was terrible, as if she had meticulously prepared a performance, poured her heart and soul into it on stage, and thought herself to be radiant and flawless.
But it wasn't until the end of the performance that it was discovered that her fluorescent green thermal underwear with SpongeBob SquarePants printed on it had been sticking out of her waistband the whole time.
The audience wasn't laughing at her performance; they were just laughing at her eye-catching and ridiculous long underwear.
Huo Lan noticed her low spirits, leaned forward, and pulled her into her arms.
"It's almost dawn, would you like to go watch the sunrise with me?"
"I'm out of spiritual power, I can't fly anymore," Bai replied sullenly.
"This time, it's your turn to carry me." Huo Lan loosened her embrace, turned around, and left her back to Huo Lan. "Get on, I'll take our little tigers to the sky to watch the sunrise."
Bai Ye stared blankly at the woman in front of her, who was bowing slightly. She thought, in this entire land of Kyushu, there is probably no one else who can make Zhong Jiuli lower her posture and coax her so gently.
Except for her.
There doesn't seem to be any need to be pretentious. It's quite normal for Zhong Jiuli, an old man who has lived for tens of thousands of years, not to know how to fall in love.
Most importantly, she realized she had made a mistake, and immediately... or rather, not immediately.
He caught up with her a few hours later and patiently coaxed her, even offering to carry her to see the sunrise. So, I shouldn't be angry with her anymore!
Bai pondered for as long as Huo Lan waited, half-bent over. Only when a warm, soft body pressed against her back did she smile gently, then leap up with the person and soar into the sky.
The moment the two of them took to the air, the red sun, which was buried deep below the horizon, also rose slowly.
The rising sun was not dazzling; it was a red that was close to orange.
The orange-red light gradually spread across the sky, and the indigo sky gradually turned into a hazy blue, as the whole world slowly awakened in this sunlight.
Bai leaned on Huo Lan's shoulder, seemingly focused on gazing at the rising sun on the horizon, but his eyes were actually lingering on Huo Lan's profile.
"Why are you staring at me instead of watching the sunrise?" Huo Lan turned her head to look at her, her eyes reflecting the glow of the sunset.
Caught red-handed, Bai was startled at first, but then remembered that she was still angry and therefore untargetable, making her invincible at that moment.
"I can see whatever I want, that's my freedom," Bai muttered softly. Then he leaned forward and lightly pecked her fair cheek. "I not only want to see, I also want to kiss you."
After kissing him, she proudly raised her chin, her arrogant eyes filled with swagger, looking like she thought, "What can you do to me?"
Huo Lan shook her head and chuckled, "Since we're not going to watch the sunrise, let's go back. They should have already gotten up; we shouldn't keep them waiting."
"Okay." Bai replied softly, relaxing his body and burying his face in Huo Lan's shoulder. His soft cheeks were squeezed and slightly bulged, making him look particularly silly.
She leaned on Huolan's shoulder and went back to the camp with her.
When the two descended from the sky, everyone in the camp had indeed woken up, and most of the tents where they had rested for the night had already been dismantled.
Seeing the two return, Ye Rugo raised the corners of her mouth and teased, "Fellow Daoist Bai, what's wrong? Could it be that you were too tired from killing monsters last night?"
Bai glanced at the cunning woman, not wanting to talk to her.
Huo Lan chuckled and came to her rescue: "Fellow Daoist Ye, please don't tease her. It took me most of the night to calm her down."
Ye Rugo pretended to pat her mouth lightly, "Yes, yes, it's my fault for being nosy. Now that you two are back, let's set off."
After she finished speaking, she threw the spirit boat into the sky, and everyone leaped onto it, heading once again into the depths of the desert.
Bai had spent the entire night setting fires in the desert, and now that he was on the spirit boat, he felt quite sleepy.
Huo Lan led her back to the cabin, settled her on the bed, and said softly, "Rest well."
After she finished speaking, she tucked the blanket around Bai Ye and turned to leave.
Bai also grabbed her hand, not wanting her to leave, "Where are you going?"
"I'll go to the deck to keep watch." Huo Lan patted the back of her hand and explained softly, "It's sand hunting season right now, and the monsters in the desert are especially restless."
Upon hearing this, Bai immediately released his hand, saying, "Then go ahead."
She wouldn't be so clueless about such things; there were many young disciples on the spirit boat, not just the three of them.
"Good girl." Huo Lan praised her with a smile, then turned and left the cabin.
There aren't many cultivators in the desert who dare to travel in spirit boats like them. Most of the teams participating in the sand hunt choose to move on the sand and use lion-camel beasts for transportation.
Not long after Huo Lan left, Bai closed his eyes and fell asleep.
She slept very soundly, and in her half-awake state, Bai vaguely sensed the bed shaking. But it didn't wake her; she just mumbled something, turned over, hugged the blanket, and continued to sleep soundly.
When she woke up from her sleep, it was already pitch black outside the window.
Bai rubbed his eyes and pushed open the door. As soon as he stepped out of the room, he smelled a faint smell of blood in the air.
She quickly walked out of the cabin. On the deck, the disciples of Burning Heaven Valley stood in an orderly fashion around the perimeter, their spiritual energy surging, as if they had just experienced a great battle.
"Ye Zai, you're finally awake." Jiao Jiao flashed and landed on Bai Ye's shoulder.
Bai Ye's eyes searched for Huo Lan's figure in the crowd, and he casually asked, "Hmm, what just happened?"
"We were just about to land and set up camp below when we were surrounded by a swarm of fire bats. It almost scared me to death," Jiao Jiao said, patting her tortoise shell.
"And then?" Bai finally found Huo Lan. She was standing in a corner talking to Ye Rugo. They both seemed to be safe and sound, so the monster they encountered wasn't too dangerous.
"Then a huge number of fire bats lifted the entire spirit boat up, and the protective shield on the spirit boat was shattered in an instant."
"Hmm?" Bai Ye's previously nonchalant expression turned serious upon hearing that the protective shield had shattered. She pressed, "Then no one was hurt, right?"
Jiaojiao proudly shook her little head, "No, as soon as the protective shield broke, I was covered in golden light and used my tortoise shell shield to protect everyone very well."
Hearing this, Bai suddenly realized what was going on. Goodness, this little turtle has even learned to foreshadow things.
So all that rambling she went on about was just to brag about how she'd done something great today and wanted to be praised!
"Jiaojiao is amazing!" Bai suppressed a laugh and touched her golden tortoise shell. "Thanks to your timely intervention, everyone was protected."
"Hehe, I'm telling you all this not so you'll praise me, okay?" Jiao Jiao shook her head a little shyly. "After all, Sister Ye and Sister Huo have already praised me."
"So you've been waiting for me to wake up, haven't you, since I haven't praised you yet?" Bai asked, following her lead.
No wonder this guy pounced on me the moment I stepped out of the cabin.
The thought that Jiaojiao might be holding her little head high, eagerly guarding the hatch, just so she could show off her achievements and get praise as soon as possible made Bai want to laugh.
"Don't think I don't know you're secretly laughing at me." Jiaojiao angrily patted Bai Ye's shoulder with her little paws.
"Impossible, why would I laugh at our Jiaojiao?" Bai Ye said while laughing, her eyebrows curving into crescent moons.
She took the still-grumbling and protesting little Jiaojiao and flew up to the observation tower at the top of the cabin, where they sat down cross-legged.
From this height, the entire layout of the spirit boat can be seen, and one can better monitor the surroundings.
Huo Lan had arrived at the watchtower at some point. She strolled over and sat down beside Bai Ye, naturally taking Jiao Jiao from her shoulder and holding the golden little turtle in her palm. "After the sand hunt, we'll treat our Jiao Jiao to a big meal at the biggest restaurant in Blazing Fire City."
"Okay~" Jiao Jiao giggled happily.
Bai glanced at the spineless little turtle, shook his head and chuckled. It really is true that people make friends like themselves.
She's useless, and neither is Jiaojiao.
Huo Lan pinched her cheek and said, "Don't make fun of Jiao Jiao. If it weren't for her today, we would have lost at least dozens of people."
“Yes!” Jiaojiao echoed loudly.
“I wasn’t making fun of her. What I meant was, one meal isn’t enough, let’s give Jiaojiao another hot pot meal,” Bai said, his words slightly slurred.
"Okay!" Jiao Jiao replied even louder.
Huo Lan then released her grip on Bai Ye's cheek.
Now that he was free, Bai stretched his facial muscles and asked, "However, how could the spirit boat's shield be so easily broken?"
Logically speaking, a spirit boat shield of this level should be able to withstand at least a full-force attack from a tenth-tier demon beast.
Firebats, being low-level demonic beasts, shouldn't be able to break through the shield.
Huo Lan rested her head wearily on Bai Ye's shoulder. "The fire poison in the heart of the desert has been intensifying, causing many demonic beasts to advance in rank."
"These things are highly poisonous to cultivators, but they are great tonics for demonic beasts to advance their level."
Bai also noticed the weariness in her voice and said softly, "Go and rest. I'll keep watch tonight."
"I want to stay with you a little longer." Her voice was soft, as if she were a little embarrassed.
Bai felt a sweet warmth in his heart. Had Zhong Jiuli, this old man, finally figured out how to be in love? He could even say sweet nothings now.
She didn't speak again, but put her arm around Huolan's shoulder. The two of them nestled together quietly, gazing at the Milky Way that flowed across the night sky.
Until a dark cloud drifted in from nowhere and obscured the starry sky, Bai gently patted her shoulder and urged softly, "Go and rest in the cabin. No matter how high your cultivation level is, staying up all night every day will make you ugly."
Upon hearing this, Huo Lan straightened up, her bright eyes gazing quietly at her in the night, her lips slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
In the end, he could only sigh, shake his head helplessly, and disappear in a flash, leaving only a faint fragrance lingering in the air.
Bai stared blankly at Jiao Jiao being taken away, wondering in his mind, "Did I... say something wrong just now?"
According to Xiao Wang's data analysis, if someone tells their girlfriend that they will become ugly while dating, there is an 80% chance they will get a severe beating from her.
"What about the remaining 20%?" Bai pressed.
[The remaining 20%... well, we broke up!]
Bai Ye: "......"
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Author's Note: Bai Ye: I'm writing this down in a little notebook. My wife lied to me again. One day she'll pay me back in one go! [Evil laugh][Evil laugh][Evil laugh]
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