Chapter 96 Brother Xiong Xiong, Your Light Has Turned Dark
"Ajiu, give it to me."
Ajiu hesitated for a moment, looked at Xiao Yu, and then looked at the grass in his arms.
She brought the grass to her lips and whispered in a voice only she could hear: "Little grass, little grass, don't be afraid. Go and help Brother Xiong Xiong heal his illness first. Later, I'll let Brother Xiong Xiong use his sword light to shine the moon for you, okay?"
After saying that, she reluctantly placed the Nether Grass, along with the soil at the roots, carefully in Xiao Yu's palm.
Not sure if it was an illusion, but Chu Xuanyi saw the leaves of the grass move slightly.
Xiao Yu took it and handed it to Chu Xuanyi.
"Then I'll go back to the Imperial Master's Mansion first!"
"My alchemy furnace hasn't been used at this level in eight hundred years! Refining the medicine requires 49 hours, and there can be no interruption. For the next few days, you'd better retreat and rest. Don't use your internal energy recklessly, lest evil spirits take advantage of the opportunity to enter. And!"
He walked to the door, then suddenly turned back and pointed at Ah Jiu in a very serious tone: "Keep an eye on this little ancestor. Don't let her run around and eavesdrop on what's going on in the corners and among the grass roots! I'm afraid she'll hear news like 'the sky is falling' or 'the earth is cracking' next time. Sooner or later, she'll scare me into retiring early!"
After Chu Xuanyi left, only Xiao Yu and Ajiu were left in the huge study.
Xiao Yu sat in the main seat, slowly closed his eyes, and began to regulate his internal breath.
He could clearly sense the cold, treacherous aura of evil, like a venomous snake coiling around his Dantian Qi Sea. Although it was suppressed by his powerful and overbearing internal energy, unable to move, the cold aura it exuded constantly sought to contaminate his pure body.
But he was not afraid.
Over the years, he had fought on the battlefields, shed blood on the battlefields, and faced countless life-and-death crises in the court. This little injury was not enough to move him.
But he felt a rare uneasiness.
This uneasiness did not come from his own injuries, but...
He opened his eyes, his deep gaze cast to the side.
Jiu didn't rummage through the drawers for snacks as usual, nor did he pester him to listen to stories.
At this moment, she was quietly hugging a cushion, her small body curled up into a ball, sitting on the couch by the window, staring blankly at a certain point in the void.
This is what she became after coming out of the underground palace.
A trace of prickling pain and worry flashed through Xiao Yu's heart, which he himself was not even aware of.
It was he who brought her out of the observatory and involved her in this turbid world.
It was him who hoped that she could grow up and have the ability to protect herself, and no longer be the weak and helpless little fortune teller in the observatory who needed him to protect her at all times.
But at this moment, he would rather she would always be that idiot who could only calculate corrupt officials, look at feng shui, and compete with him in wits and courage every day just to eat an extra piece of osmanthus cake.
At least at that time, she was happy and carefree.
This contradictory mood, like an invisible net, made the decisive and ruthless regent feel a little helpless for the first time.
"Brother Xiong Xiong."
Just as he was lost in thought, Ajiu suddenly turned around and looked at him intently with his big black eyes.
"Hmm?" Xiao Yu collected his thoughts and responded.
"Your light..." Jiu tilted his head, his little eyebrows tightly furrowed together, forming a cute little bump.
"Your light isn't as bright as it used to be."
Xiao Yu's heart moved, and a trace of ripples appeared in his deep eyes: "Really?"
"Yeah!" Ajiu nodded heavily.
She jumped off the couch, ran to his side, and pointed her finger carefully at his chest.
"This place used to be a huge ball of golden light, like the sun in the sky, so warm, I loved it. Now... now there's a tiny black bug crawling inside the sun. It's crawling around, dimming your light."
She raised her palm-sized face, and her eyes, which could see through the flow of fortune, were now filled with worry and fear.
"Brother Xiong Xiong, will you... be eaten by that little black bug?"
There was a tremor in the tender voice. She was not afraid of the bones in the underground palace, the elders of the Wugut tribe, or even the snoring monster.
But now, she was afraid of this little black bug that was "eating" the light of her fierce brother.
Xiao Yu looked at her quietly, looking at his own figure clearly reflected in her eyes. The lingering uneasiness and irritability in his heart caused by the evil spirit was easily soothed by her pure worry at this moment.
He reached out and wanted to rub her soft hair as usual.
But he stopped abruptly when he reached out his hand. He was afraid that the evil spirit in his body, which had not yet been eliminated, would inadvertently hurt her unpolished jade through contact.
Finally, he simply pulled his hands back and placed them on his knees.
"Won't."
"It can't eat me while you're here."
Jiu blinked and said, "Yeah!" She nodded vigorously and clenched her little fists.
"I'm not afraid! I will protect Brother Xiong Xiong! I will glare that little black bug away!"
As she spoke, she actually puffed out her cheeks, widened her eyes, and stared at Xiao Yu's chest.
Xiao Yu looked at her cute expression as if she was facing a formidable enemy, and the thousand-year-old ice in his eyes melted quietly, revealing a faint smile.
He knew that she really believed it.
She will really "protect" him in her own way.
For the next two days, a strange calm descended upon the Regent's Palace.
Xiao Yu followed Chu Xuanyi's advice and entered a semi-secluded state. He spent most of his time in the secret room of his study, holding his breath and concentrating, suppressing the evil spirit within him as he waited for the antidote to be produced.
The air in the entire palace seemed to be frozen. The servants walked on tiptoe and spoke in low voices, for fear of disturbing their master's recovery.
The only one in the palace who dared not take this solemn atmosphere seriously was Ajiu.
During these two days, she was like a loyal little guard. Apart from eating and sleeping, she would move a small stool and stand guard at the door of the secret room without fail for the rest of the time.
Uncle Fu, the palace's chief steward, tried several times to persuade her to go back to her room to rest, but she refused him righteously.
"Grandpa Fu, you don't understand," Ah Jiu sighed like a little adult, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "I'm standing guard for Brother Xiong Xiong! What if that little black bug sneaks out and bites someone while I'm away? I have to watch it here!"
Uncle Fu was completely bewildered. What little black bugs? Was the prince's injury so serious that there was an insect infestation in the mansion?
But when he looked at Ajiu's serious and earnest face, which did not tolerate any arguments, he finally did not dare to persuade him anymore.
He just silently instructed the kitchen to deliver Miss Jiu's snacks and hot milk to the door of the secret room on time.
Thus, outside the most heavily guarded secret chamber of the Prince Regent's Palace, a strange sight appeared:
A delicate little girl was sitting upright at the door, holding a piece of osmanthus cake in her left hand and a plate of milk-flavored crispy biscuits in her right hand. Her mouth was full from eating, but her eyes were fixed on the closed stone door without blinking.
While she was eating, she was mumbling to herself:
"Hmph, little black bug, listen up! Every time I eat a piece of osmanthus cake, I gain a bit of strength! When I finish this plate, my strength will be so great that I can knock you away with just one punch!"
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Do you want to eat it too? I won't give it to you! These are all mine! They're the energy I need to protect my fierce brother!"
The black armor guards standing in the distance were watching their noses with their eyes and their hearts with their noses, but their shoulders were shaking slightly uncontrollably.
Their god-like master now needs a little girl of about ten years old to accumulate "energy" by eating snacks for protection?
Who would believe this if I said it out loud?
But for some reason, looking at that small, serious figure, the depression and worry in their hearts caused by their master's injury actually dissipated a lot.
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