78. Natural Barrier (Part Six)
◎Excessive jealousy leads to major breaches of defenses◎
The events of that night seemed to be nothing more than an illusion. Ran Qinghe closed her eyes and pretended to sleep for several nights in a row, but nothing seemed amiss.
If there's anything unusual, it's that Wood is clinging to her more than before.
It was no longer content to simply sit at her feet or beside her pillow. If she was reading at the table, it would jump onto the table, curl up next to her arm, and flick its tail against her wrist.
If she raises her hand to brush it away, it turns back in less than fifteen minutes, pretending to be asleep, and no matter how she pushes it, she can't get rid of it.
That day, the disciples in charge were distributing their monthly stipends as usual. The other party was a young disciple she didn't recognize. Seeing her open the door, he politely handed her a storage bag, exchanged a few pleasantries with her, and then asked her for a simple method of beast taming.
Ran Qinghe originally didn't want to say much, but the other party's attitude was sincere, so she gave a brief explanation. As she was speaking, the snow-white little beast that had been quietly squatting at her feet suddenly stood up and squeezed itself between her and the young disciple.
It did not make any aggressive or demonstrative gestures; it simply sat there quietly, its tail unconsciously encircling her calves, as if it were imprisoning its own possession.
It tilted its head slightly to look at the disciple in charge, its gaze calm yet revealing a strange sense of threat.
The young disciple paused involuntarily, feeling somewhat intimidated by the beastly gaze. He gave an awkward laugh and quickly ended the conversation.
Ran Qinghe turned and went back to her room. Halfway there, she stopped and looked down at the spirit beast that was following closely beside her. Suddenly, she reached out and, before the beast could react, pinched the soft flesh on the back of its neck and lifted it up in front of her.
"Why have you been acting so strangely lately?" She squinted, meeting its gaze.
The wooden thing dangled in the air, but didn't struggle. It just let her lift it up. Its ears twitched back slightly, and its eyes still looked innocent and clear. Upon closer inspection, it wrinkled its nose and looked somewhat... aggrieved.
She must not be mistaken; its expression truly was aggrieved. She suddenly paused, loosened her grip, and it landed lightly on the ground, immediately sitting down beside her feet and looking up at her.
Its eyes always reminded her of someone... the person who had been stabbed twice by her, yet still willingly saved her from dire straits.
All unanswered questions and probing were silenced by that gaze. Ran Qinghe's doubts and subtle annoyance were like a soft cloud, finding no foothold and instead becoming somewhat entangled and helpless.
She only kicked her lightly, but was careful to hold back, saying, "Never mind, let's go back."
As night fell, she nestled on the soft couch, the wooden figure still pressed close to her side, breathing evenly.
For some reason, Wood has been sleeping more and more soundly lately, seemingly ever since that night.
But whenever he sleeps, he has to be close to her body, or even put a corner of her skirt under his head, before he can fall asleep peacefully.
It was at this moment that Hua Jin knocked on the courtyard gate.
The wooden creature's eyes remained closed. She carefully used a bit of her spiritual power to pull out the fabric that had been pressed down by its claws before walking to the door.
"Is there something you need so late?" She opened the courtyard gate and asked in a low voice, as if afraid of disturbing something.
Hua Jin replied, "Just because there's nothing wrong doesn't mean I can't come to see you. What kind of logic is that?"
He raised an eyebrow slightly and teased, "You can't be afraid of your spirit beast discovering our secret rendezvous under the moonlight, can you?"
Ran Qinghe: ...
Hua Jin persisted, adding fuel to the fire, "Spirit beasts can't always be kept by your side. Sometimes they should be let out to train. There's a saying in the mortal world: 'A doting mother spoils her child.'"
“Look at Meow Meow, I never take it with me all the time, I just let it run around freely.”
Ran Qinghe realized that if she didn't stop him, Hua Jin might go on and on about this topic, so she decisively interrupted him:
"For you to visit so late at night, it must be something important. Tell me, what do you need me to do?"
Hua Jin said, "So I already hold such weight in your heart. I haven't even said what it is, yet you're already willing to help me?"
Ran Qinghe narrowed her eyes warningly, signaling him to stop talking nonsense.
She has always been someone who doesn't like to owe favors. Since Hua Jin is protecting Fei Feng, whatever she does is to make it easier for the two of them to settle their differences.
Hua Jin finally suppressed his smile and said seriously, "There is someone you shouldn't be seeing who wants to see you. Originally, I should have come to find you a long time ago, but I hesitated and didn't know whether I should tell you. I thought about it for a long time before coming here."
Ran Qinghe frowned slightly. The first name that came to mind was Lou Tinglan, but she deliberately avoided it and simply asked:
"Are they from the Discipline Hall? Or from Qingxiao?"
Hua Jin shook his head. "No, she's from Mortal Valley. She calls herself Little Bell."
Seeing Ran Qinghe remain silent, Hua Jin continued, "She said she is your junior sister and has something to ask you, but when you ask her what it is, she won't say a word."
"But I think it's probably related to the recent occupation of Qingxiao Mountain by the mortals' valley for cultivation."
Although Ran Qinghe has been cultivating every day these days, she has also heard rumors about Qingxiao from the disciples of the sect when she occasionally takes on Feifeng missions during her spare time.
Although the truth of the rumors is hard to discern, the general idea is that Qingxiao, out of consideration for the dignity of a major sect, mostly ignores the cultivators from the Mortal Valley at the mountain gate.
However, this approach allowed the cultivators of Mortal Valley to cultivate in Qingxiao Mountain. Some Mortal Valley cultivators even went back to boast that their cultivation, which had not improved for ten years, was broken through after a few nights of cultivation at Qingxiao Mountain.
These remarks attracted countless cultivators from the Mortal Valley who had been observing from the sidelines. They surged forward, their numbers nearly breaking down Qingxiao's mountain gate.
Later, it seems that a cultivator from Mortal Valley accidentally crossed the boundary and stepped halfway into Azure Sky. When the Azure Sky disciples guarding the gate tried to stop him, they were attacked by a group of Mortal Valley cultivators.
In short, the conflict between the two sides escalated to the point where it was almost impossible to resolve.
At such a critical moment, it's no wonder that Hua Jin would have reservations when Xiao Lingdang suddenly came looking for her.
Ran Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Fine, take me to see her."
She took care of them because of Ye Buchen. Ye Buchen had a moment of weakness and wanted to save all living beings, but she didn't want to add any burden to herself.
Hua Jin chuckled and replied, "I knew you would do that."
She has always been tough on the outside but soft on the inside; even if she appears cold on the outside, her heart is incredibly tender.
He guessed it when he came to see her.
If you don't want to get involved, you can simply avoid seeing the child and have someone send him away.
Ran Qinghe turned around and closed the courtyard gate. The little thing that always followed her was fast asleep on the bed. Not wanting to disturb it, she left the courtyard with Hua Jin.
As Hua Jin walked, he subtly instilled in her the conflict between Qingxiao and the Mortal Valley, explaining that provoking them would inevitably lead to endless trouble.
As Ran Qinghe listened, she couldn't help but recall the wooden carving that Ye Buchen had carefully preserved in his storage bag.
If he were still alive, he might not have been able to resist the children's gazes and would have stepped in to help.
Lost in thought, she suddenly stumbled and nearly fell heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, Hua Jin caught her quickly, but her body suddenly felt heavy and she uncontrollably sat down on the ground.
She gasped for breath, her heart feeling as if it were wrapped in a dense net, a pain so intense it felt like it was about to be crushed.
It was this sudden pain that caused her to lose her balance for a moment.
Hua Jin's usual smile vanished instantly. He frowned, put one arm around her, and slowly channeled spiritual energy into her with the other.
"Qinghe, what's wrong? Is it a backlash or some kind of hidden injury?"
But she couldn't answer; her lips trembled, and the excessive pain prevented her from uttering a single word.
She clung tightly to his clothes, so tightly that she almost tore the skin on his chest.
It hurts...it hurts so much...
Her face drained of color, and even her teeth were chattering. With the last shred of her sanity, she began to recall whether she had been secretly harmed by someone.
But suddenly, the pain vanished without a trace, and my heartbeat returned to normal, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.
What... is going on?
The pain came quickly and went without a trace.
As she sat on the ground in a daze, a snow-white ball of fluff pierced through the darkness and pounced on her.
The force was so great that even Hua Jin was knocked back half a step.
The small beast, originally the size of a long arm, suddenly transformed into a two-meter-tall creature, separating the burning embers and holding her tightly in its arms.
"You blockhead..."
Before she could even be shocked by its ability to change shape, her gaze suddenly fell upon its eyes, and she was startled.
In those azure beast eyes, possessiveness was so intense it almost overflowed. It growled softly twice, as if blaming her for abandoning it while it was fast asleep.
Ran Qinghe found it somewhat amusing and raised her hand to stroke its head as usual, but she could only touch its chin and scratch it symbolically.
"Alright, I didn't wake you up because you were sleeping in. You're a spirit beast, do you think you'd have a bad temper when you wake up?"
Hua Jin watched the whole thing from the sidelines and felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. So he asked, "Qing He, how are you feeling these days?"
The spirit beast stood between the two, completely blocking his view of Ran Qinghe, leaving only a faint shadow in the moonlight so that he could still be sure that Ran Qinghe was on the other side.
Hua Jin: ...
The two could not see each other and could only barely communicate with each other from a distance through the spirit beasts.
Ran Qinghe said, "It's alright. Perhaps it's because I've been trying to speed up my cultivation lately, causing a backlash of spiritual energy. I'll go back and adjust my breathing, and it should be fine. The important matter is more pressing."
Although she replied in this way, she still had doubts in her heart about the sudden, excruciating pain she had just experienced.
At this moment, Wood raised its paw and nudged Flower Ash's shoulder, as if signaling something.
Hua Jin looked down and saw that her clothes were wide open because of the sudden situation, the collar was torn and deformed, and there were a few red marks on her chest, making it look even more ambiguous.
Hua Jin couldn't help but chuckle. This spirit beast must have become sentient, even interfering in this matter.
Noticing Mu Tou's movements, Ran Qinghe seemed to remember something and asked in a raised voice, "Is your chest still injured?"
Hua Jin glanced at Mu Tou provocatively, deliberately making her tone ambiguous:
"It's nothing, just a few red marks."
"Qinghe, next time you hug me, you'd better hold back a little."
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