It is late autumn, and the flowers that once vied for attention on the branches have long since faded, leaving only the towering, evergreen trees, still lush and verdant.
Lingyao, carrying Yinming's water pouch, hurried south.
The low growls of magical beasts echoed from time to time in the jungle, but they all subsided due to the powerful aura emanating from Lingyao.
Since the two had been wandering around the Forbidden Forest for a long time and had not seen any streams along the way, Lingyao decided to return to the entrance of the forest to fetch seawater from the Wangdu Sea.
Although the journey was not short, the known route was undoubtedly safer than continuing to wander around looking for water, and he didn't want to keep Yin Ming waiting too long.
Furthermore, if he can't find a water source, he'll still have to go to the sea to fetch water anyway, so it's better to choose this option from the beginning and solve the problem once and for all.
Finally emerging from the Forbidden Forest, Lingyao arrived at the shore of Wangdu. He bent down and casually washed the bloodstains off his body, then scooped up a handful of seawater to wash his face before picking up the water pouch he had placed aside earlier.
Lingyao opened the water bladder stopper, intending to rinse it before filling it with seawater, but while shaking it, he unexpectedly discovered that there were still a few drops of water in the bladder.
He paused in his hand holding the water pouch, suddenly feeling thirsty, and as if possessed, he brought the water pouch to his lips and drank the remaining water clean.
For some reason, the water in the water bag was exceptionally sweet. Lingyao licked his lips with lingering enjoyment, then filled the water bag halfway with seawater and drank it down.
Whenever his lips touched the mouth of the water sac, Lingyao would inexplicably recall the night he dressed as a woman and the orange candy he had snatched from Yin Ming.
It seems that no matter what kind of water is put into this water bag, it will taste as sweet as that orange candy.
Speaking of that day, Lingyao was actually quite puzzled as to why he did it.
However, he was very happy after doing that.
The reason he did that was because the couple he had seen in the teahouse were feeding each other mouth-to-mouth in that same way.
Perhaps it was just a whim, but after Yao Ling asked that question, Ling Yao immediately felt that he should do the same.
He originally only wanted to snatch the candy from Yin Ming's mouth, but for some reason, the sweetness spreading on Yin Ming's tongue was too tempting, and he couldn't resist lingering and taking a few more bites.
It wasn't until Yin Ming nudged him several times that he finally snapped out of his daze.
Later, whenever he inadvertently saw Yin Ming's thin lips, he would recall that soft touch and that sweet taste that seemed to reach his heart.
He had always wanted to repeat what he did that day and taste that feeling again, but every time he met Yin Ming's gaze, he would feel inexplicably guilty, so he could only give up.
Over the past year, Yin Ming had made many delicious and innovative dishes, but none of them could make him experience that sweet but not cloying feeling again. It seemed to be a taste that belonged only to Yin Ming's lips.
This made him even more preoccupied with it.
That feeling was like a deadly addiction disguised in a beautiful shell, constantly tempting him to fall into its trap.
He had actually considered it when he saw Yin Ming asleep last time, but Long Cheng interrupted him.
Thinking of Long Cheng, Ling Yao's eyes flashed with dissatisfaction. He and Yin Ming living together was already perfect enough; this dragon had to come and disturb them…
No... what is he thinking about here? Yin Ming is still waiting for him.
Lingyao snapped out of his daze, forcing himself to clear his mind of all the jumbled thoughts. He then filled both his own water pouch and Yinming's water pouch before turning and walking back the way he came.
As they passed a thicket, a red-eyed rabbit hiding inside seemed startled and leaped into another thicket.
Lingyao's eyes lit up. Yin Ming had only eaten a few bites of food at lunch and then stopped, seemingly in a hurry to get to this Forbidden Forest. Now that two or three hours had passed, he must be hungry too.
Moreover, Yin Ming is currently injured and needs to eat something to replenish his body.
Thinking this, Lingyao chased after the direction in which the demon rabbit disappeared.
Sensing danger, the magic rabbit darted about in all directions.
Lingyao followed closely behind, but after parting some bushes, he saw something, and his expression instantly turned serious.
***
"Yin Ming, guess what I found?" From the moment Yin Ming's figure appeared in her sight, Ling Yao raised the corners of her lips and walked quickly toward him.
Yin Ming simply took the water pouch handed to him and silently took a few sips.
Seeing Yin Ming sucking on the water sac that his lips had just touched, Ling Yao felt a strange sensation. He unconsciously licked his thin lips and smiled with great pleasure.
"Yin Ming, you must be hungry. I caught a magic rabbit, and I'll roast it for you right now." Ling Yao waved the magic rabbit in his hand.
He had already disposed of the demon rabbit's corpse; all he needed to do was find some firewood and start a fire to roast it.
"What flavor would Yin Ming like to eat? I brought all the ingredients you made."
Lingyao took out all the bottles and jars from his spatial ring.
"Chili powder, cumin powder, five-spice powder..."
"Ah Yao, don't be in a hurry, come here." Yin Ming lowered his eyes, casually beckoned with his right hand resting on his bent knee, his tone unpredictable.
Upon hearing this, Lingyao put down the demon rabbit in her hand, washed her hands with water from her water pouch, and then walked towards Yin Ming, "What's wrong?"
Yin Ming's current state was indeed a bit strange. Ling Yao attributed it all to his injury, and gently held his right hand, asking with concern, "Is your wound hurting again? Shall we go back to Zhulu City now?"
“I have already advanced to the eighth realm. Once we leave the Forbidden Forest, we won’t need to wait for Long Cheng to pick us up.”
Lingyao smiled, her eyes crinkling, her dimples delicate and adorable. "I'll take Yin Mingfei back."
Upon hearing this, Yin Ming finally looked up at Ling Yao, but his eyes were dark, filled with complex and restrained emotions, and his lips were as pale as paper. "Is that so?"
"Yes, I just tried it. You really can't fly inside the Forbidden Forest, but it's okay, I can carry Yin Ming out."
"Before that, I have something good to give Yin Ming."
Lingyao smiled mysteriously, turned around in a pretentious manner, and magically produced a fluffy ball of fur.
"Yin Ming, take a look quickly, do you like it?"
Lingyao was holding a ball of orange-white fluff in his hands, which looked like a high-quality fluffy scarf.
The scarf was twitching rhythmically. As Lingyao gently stroked its orange-white fur with her fingertips, four small orange-white paws with pink paw pads suddenly emerged from under the scarf.
The front of the scarf was also flipped up, revealing a small fox head with a white mark on its forehead.
It turned out to be a red spirit fox.
However, this fox's fur was three-tenths lighter than that of a normal red fox, so at first glance, it looked like a light orange fox. Its body also seemed to be smaller than that of other fox cubs.
This action seemed to have exhausted all the fox cub's strength. Its little head slumped down again, and its four paws retracted, instantly transforming back into that fluffy scarf.
A soft light flashed in Yin Ming's eyes, and Ling Yao keenly caught this change. The corners of his lips lifted slightly; he knew Yin Ming would like it.
"When I was catching the Demon Rabbit just now, I unexpectedly saw the corpse of a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. There were signs of a fight all around it, and I could also sense the aura of the Eighth Realm Qiongqi from it."
"Then I remembered that one of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox's innate skills is called Charm, which can bewitch people's minds. That Eighth Realm Qiongqi must have been affected by this, which is why it became our enemy."
"Yin Ming, aren't all mothers great? When I found her, the nine-tailed celestial fox was already dead, but it had actually cut open its own belly, and this fox cub was lying quietly on its soft tail..."
"After I cleaned this fox cub, it became so fluffy. I felt sorry for it and thought that Yin Ming would like it, so I brought it back."
"Although it is a magical beast imbued with spiritual energy, and Yin Ming cannot form a contract with it, but..."
"Yin Ming, shall we raise it together?"
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