A fierce gale suddenly rose from the flat ground a few meters away, terrifying Tongmu, which was huddled in the dark, waiting for the wrath of the heavens to pass, into trembling. Yellowed leaves drifted down from the branches.
“What disaster is this again…?”
The surrounding space rippled like the surface of water, and the affected area spanned dozens of meters.
Tongmu watched with wide eyes as the scenery close at hand distorted. From the tiny cracks that inexplicably appeared, it sensed a terrifying and powerful aura that made its heart palpitate.
Within the invisible internal space, a massive spiritual energy storm seemed to be tearing everything into chaos.
“Even the ‘Dao’ has been thrown into disorder…”
On Tongmu’s wooden face, an intensely human-like expression of shock and terror appeared. Even when it had just seen bolts of heavenly lightning hurtling directly toward it, it had never displayed such a flustered demeanor.
Fortunately, the spatial fluctuations did not last long. After a short while, the gale gradually subsided, and the surroundings returned to normal, as calm as if nothing had ever happened.
“If only that were really the case…”
Tongmu thought, its gaze lingering on the clearing a few meters ahead.
That area, which was originally covered with trees and weeds and even featured a small hill, was now reduced to a hundred-feet-wide deep crater.
Many living creatures must have perished right then and there…
This peace-loving old tree also possessed a compassionate heart. It sighed softly for a few moments, mourning the demise of life.
Although it could not figure out why the disaster had occurred, Tongmu’s intuition vaguely guessed that this incident was likely related to some “big shot” currently playing around inside someone else’s dream.
The Great Dao seemed to think so as well.
The heavenly lightning that had accumulated in the clouds for a long time failed to strike, only leaking majestic sounds to deter the mortal world.
After a long stalemate, the sky above finally “muttered” a sound, forcibly suppressing that bolt of lightning back into the cloud layer and letting it dissipate.
Afterward, the clouds gathered in one place dispersed outward. The sun finally managed to peek out, and the sky cleared once again.
Tongmu let out a turbid breath, shook its canopy, and re-rooted itself in the bright sunlight.
It had unexpectedly turned misfortune into a blessing; the danger was temporarily averted.
“…Would you like me to sing you to sleep?”
Sensing that she might not have heard clearly, the person repeated the question patiently, her voice carrying a hint of a smile.
Song Wenqing bit her lower lip slightly, her cheeks growing warm.
“Th-this person… how can she be so… so…”
Her mind went completely blank, and at that moment, she could not find the exact words to describe the other person.
No one had ever spoken to her in that tone, nor had anyone ever asked her such a strange question. So when the stranger sitting next to her spoke those words, Song Wenqing froze for a split second, barely able to maintain the expression on her face.
Even stranger was that her heart suddenly began to beat very fast.
Heat washed over her face, dyeing even her earlobes red.
“…No need.”
After a long while, Song Wenqing finally regained her composure. As if afraid of exposing her previous awkwardness, she hurriedly feigned calm and added that sentence.
Her voice carried a barely perceptible tremble, which, paired with her deliberately pursed lips, instead revealed the instability within her heart.
“Are you really sure you don’t need it?”
As if deliberately teasing her, the other person asked again, the smile in her voice even thicker than before.
The human silhouette in front of Song Wenqing gradually magnified. She blinked, realizing that the person was walking toward her.
A wave of fragrance enveloped her, followed by a pair of smiling, curved eyes drawing close.
“Why do you always keep such a cold face? Are you trying to act fierce?”
Song Wenqing’s heart fluttered in disarray for a brief moment. By the time those eyes drifted away, a sense of shyness and annoyance belatedly welled up between her brows.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, yet unsure of what to say.
, That is clearly the attitude one would take toward a small child!
Song Wenqing finally understood why she had felt such a persistent sense of oddness when speaking with this person all along.
Yet she had no way to vent her frustration.
The other person maintained her sense of boundaries exceptionally well, and no malice could be perceived from her actions either.
Moreover, what she said… inexplicably made her feel a surge of delight.
It felt as though a feather had gently brushed against her skin, leaving behind a persistent, itching sensation.
Song Wenqing felt both embarrassed and annoyed, yet she also yearned to chat a bit more with her.
Never before had she experienced such a sensation.
“I am not… I am not acting fierce,” she took a deep breath, slightly adjusting her expression in an attempt to look even colder. “That is just how I am.”
Perhaps… no one had ever spoken to her like this in the past?
It felt simply… just like a friend…
At the thought of a “friend,” Song Wenqing’s dark eyes brightened for a split second before quickly dimming again.
“Alright then, you aren’t acting fierce, that is just how you are…”
Yan Zhu repeated right after, the corners of her mouth expanding uncontrollably once more.
, Song Qing was truly so cute when she was a little kid!
At six or seven years old, she was obediently cute; now, she was earnestly cute. Each stage had its own unique way of being adorable.
In truth, Yan Zhu did not particularly care for young children, but looking at the girl before her through filters thicker than a city wall, she found her delightful no matter how she looked. Still, she dared not tease her too frequently, lest she provoke the girl’s temper.
And what if Song Qing remembered all this when she woke up?
Thinking of that possibility, Yan Zhu reined herself in slightly.
She secretly glanced at the other person’s expression. Seeing no signs of anger on her face, she let out a soft breath of relief and set her mind at ease.
It was very obvious that Song Qing’s emotional defenses against others were much heavier now than when she was six or seven. Not knowing what she had experienced over the years, the child, who had already been precocious, now resembled a miniature adult even more.
Yan Zhu did not dwell deeply on the price paid for such premature maturity. With her beautiful eyes wide open, she quietly watched the girl at the other end of the bed.
She was wondering what the girl’s regrets might be.
The slightly overstepping tease just now had not been without effect; at least young Song Qing’s cold and polite aloofness toward her had diminished quite a bit, though this degree was still not enough to make them truly close.
However, she had always been a patient person; she could afford to wait slowly.
Yan Zhu untied her hair tie, and her raven-black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall.
There were no quilts here, but fortunately the weather was not cold, so sleeping in her clothes would pose no major problem.
Yan Zhu gathered the collar of her robe, the delicate and soft fabric sliding through her fingertips like cool sand. She suddenly remembered that this outfit had been a gift from the person beside her, a valuable, ready-to-wear “spiritual artifact” capable of providing a certain degree of protection.
Like high technology achievable only in a future era, this item could adjust its size according to the wearer’s figure and regulate the temperature based on the surrounding environment.
Indeed, in the world of cultivation, spiritual energy was the primary productive force.
Brushing aside her messy thoughts, Yan Zhu lay down on the bed.
This bed was slightly larger than the previous one, and if they squeezed together, having two people sleep on it would be no problem. She thoughtfully left some space for Song Qing.
However, the other person seemed not to understand her intention, startling herself so much that she sprang directly to her feet on the spot.
“Y-what are you doing?!” Her voice carried obvious panic.
Song Wenqing’s heart was beating rapidly. Today, her heart was exceptionally unsettled, and she had no idea how many beats she had missed.
Silky, slightly cool hair strands fell onto the back of her hand, carrying a lingering fragrance. Then, a wave of heat brushed against her skin, and the entire back of her hand burned as if scalded by fire.
, That person had lain down right beside her.
Almost the very next second after realizing this fact, Song Wenqing’s body instinctively leaped up, as though staying any longer would cause her to be swallowed alive by something.
A restless rabbit was hidden within her chest, refusing to stop pounding for even a moment.
“Rest.”
It was the sound of a hand gently patting the mattress.
“This side is left for you.”
“If practicing is too tiring at night, you can lie down and doze for a bit.”
“My sleeping posture is very good; I basically don’t move around.”
Within the span of a few sentences, Song Wenqing finally recovered her usual calmness.
“I… I understand.”
The overreactive response she had just made felt somewhat embarrassing in retrospect, causing her speech to become a bit halting.
Strange, I am becoming more and more strange today.
Song Wenqing pursed her lips, circulating her spiritual energy to forcibly suppress the palpitation inside her chest.
“I need to cultivate tonight; there is no need to rest.”
Ever since entering the Lingyun Dao Sect, she had lost count of how long it had been since she slept through the night like a mortal.
The fuzzy human silhouette seemed to tilt its head, and the familiar, smiling voice drifted into her ears once more.
“You still need to get a proper rest. You are growing taller right now, so be careful or you won’t grow tall in the future…”
Song Wenqing clenched her teeth, her cheeks dyed a faint red from anger.
“None of your business!”
How could I possibly not grow tall?!
The words sounded as if they were being forcibly squeezed out one by one from between her teeth.
Seeing her puffed-up, angry appearance, Yan Zhu found her cute once more and could not help letting out a soft laugh. “Alright, none of my business.”
It felt like punching cotton, unable to vent her anger, and instead accumulating a fresh chestful of fury all over again.
Yet a tiny spark of joy was quietly growing in the dark, and by the time she noticed it, a faint sweetness could already be tasted on the tip of her tongue.
Song Wenqing did not recognize that this was the audacity brought about by indulgence; she only felt as though she had been immersed in warm water, every part of her body relaxing, even the mask that had adhered tightly to her skin for too long peeling off miraculously.
At this moment, she was simply herself, a twelve-year-old Song Wenqing.
She did not need to shoulder the mission of reviving the sect, nor did she need to pretend to be strong, let alone strive to become a “genius.”
Yet this person was still a bit hateful.
Song Wenqing thought: How could she say that I won’t grow tall?!
Starlight filtered through the window into the room, quietly spilling over the two of them.
A faint, rustling sound arose, followed by warmth wrapping around her wrist.
A soft palm gently pressed against her skin, and she could almost imagine what the sensation would be like to truly clasp that hand.
Song Wenqing lost her focus, lowering her gaze to see that the figure with flowing hair had sat up from the bed at some point and moved to the edge closest to her.
Yet she still could not see the other person’s appearance clearly.
What kind of eyes did she have? What kind of nose? From what sort of lips were her words spoken?
Suddenly, an indescribable yearning welled up from the depths of Song Wenqing’s heart.
She moved her lips, and a few meaningless syllables slipped out. Even she had no idea what she had just said.
However, the person spoke as if she had seen right through her thoughts.
“What do you want? Is there anything you are yearning for right now?”
What do you want?
What are you yearning for right now?
As if heavily struck on the head by a weighty object, Song Wenqing widened her eyes, her dark pupils constricting fiercely. In that instant, the surroundings fell completely silent, and she could hear only the chaotic pounding of her own heartbeat.
“I want…”
“To see what you look like…”
What Yan Zhu had originally intended to ask was, “What is your regret?” But feeling that young Song Qing would surely find it baffling, she temporarily changed her question to ask what the girl wanted.
The goal she wished to achieve, the wish she hoped to fulfill… or perhaps, the person she wished to teach a lesson…
She had not expected the other person to actually give an answer; she had only hoped to glean a few clues. It had merely been an unexpected little trick to “bluff” her, and Yan Zhu’s initial goal had simply been to tease the child.
As a result, however, she heard the reply:
“I want…”
“To see what you look like…”
Almost the exact moment the words fell, space fractured once more like a porcelain vase.
Yan Zhu watched as the Song Qing in front of her grew further and further away, watched various sceneries flash past her sides at high speed, watched the shattered space distort and recombine into an entirely different appearance…
The odd thing was that she did not lose consciousness this time; instead, she witnessed everything that happened while remaining fully awake.
So many people, standing densely packed in the distance.
Yan Zhu turned pale, steadying her body by leaning against a nearby tree trunk, her thoughts still a complete mess of tangled hemp.
In the distance, numerous people surrounded a glowing formation layer after layer. They wore similar attire, looking like neatly placed chess pieces on a chessboard.
Almost everyone’s mouths were moving, countless words merging into a noisy stream where it was difficult to discern what exactly they were discussing.
While Yan Zhu stood dazed, staring at the surrounding scene, a sudden roar tumbled down from the cloud layer, startling her into stumbling a few steps and nearly falling over.
The majestic voice exploded abruptly beside her ear like a thunderclap, shaking one’s soul with a tremor.
“Rebellious disciple!”