On the first morning after waking up in the fluffy carpet, Luo Ningning made a suggestion. “Wolf Lord, do you think it might be possible for me to play my qin? I’m a musician cultivator, and I’m skilled at regulating the breath through music. If you let me play, it would definitely help your injuries recover. Of course, if you think it’s too dangerous, then forget it.”
Xie Shiqi considered it for a moment before replying solemnly, “It’s worth a try.”
Luo Ningning immediately brightened. She genuinely loved music, and practicing it had never felt difficult to her, which was why her cultivation had always been fairly decent. She had not had the leisure to play her qin these past few days, and she had rather missed it.
She went to the stream to wash her face and hands, then carefully dried her hands with a silk handkerchief. Beside the large tree was a small stone stool. Luo Ningning cast a cleaning spell on it, but a breeze happened to blow some dust over it again. So Luo Ningning crouched down and blew on it several times, confirming that she had cleared away the dust before sitting down with dignity.
Changqin appeared out of thin air. Her slender, pale fingers, as delicate as green onion shoots, lovingly stroked its entire body inch by inch. Luo Ningning lowered her eyes for a moment, then plucked, drew, and lifted the strings. A deep, flowing qin melody rang out.
Xie Shiqi watched coldly from the side as she went through this entire series of actions. He had just been about to mock her with, “Do you want to bathe and burn incense too?” when the aura around the girl playing the qin changed.
Her black hair slid smoothly over her shoulders, tangling across her plain white, wide sleeves. Those lively, alluring eyes settled into stillness, inexplicably reminding him of the misty Jiangnan waters he had once been fortunate enough to glimpse while fleeing for his life.
Xie Shiqi suddenly seemed to realize that Luo Ningning’s waist was exceptionally slender. Her magical robe pulled her waist into a supple, resilient curve. It looked no wider than one of his human-form palms. At that moment, she looked like a true little fairy…
The thought suddenly appeared in Xie Shiqi’s mind. She should not be playing the qin here. She ought to be in an immortal residence beneath the gentle spring sunlight, beneath brilliant flowering trees. Petals should be falling onto her qin strings, and she should be smiling faintly as she picked them up and boiled them into tea.
He could not describe her icy bearing and jade-like bones, nor how her skin was smoother and whiter than snow. Yet from that distant glance at their first meeting, he had felt that she resembled a peony blooming across an endless, black-brown desert.
She was utterly out of place in this desert, out of place in this secret realm, and even out of place in the entire cultivation world. Everyone was pursuing higher cultivation, power, the Great Dao, ascension…
Yet all the serious effort she put in was spent fussing over trivial matters that many people did not care about at all. He could not understand what she was pursuing, just as he could not understand her finickiness.
And she really was a musician cultivator. The music flowed like a rippling stream, enveloping his unique spiritual energy and moving gently through his meridians. He had to admit that this was far more effective than directly transferring spiritual energy. When she transferred spiritual energy, most of it was devoured by the demonic energy as soon as it entered his body. The music, however, could affect the meridians throughout his entire body.
Xie Shiqi felt that if she had several days, then even if she could not remove the demonic energy in his body or completely cure his old injuries, she would have no trouble helping him recover enough to deal with those pursuers.
When the piece ended, Luo Ningning let out a long breath. She turned to Xie Shiqi and asked expectantly, “Wolf Lord, how do you feel?”
Xie Shiqi gave a quiet “Hmm.” “It is indeed more effective.”
He stood and lowered his head, but this time he did not bite the back of her collar. “Take out your little boat. A great demon is approaching. We’re leaving.”
And so Luo Ningning began spending her days treating him, fleeing, and engaging in hit-and-run tactics, while spending her nights mooching off the self-heating carpet.
Several days later, at noon, with no pursuers in sight, Luo Ningning piloted the little boat through the air to relocate. The giant wolf followed behind her at a leisurely pace. On the black-brown sand, Luo Ningning spotted something with her sharp eyes.
The little boat flew beside the giant wolf’s head. Luo Ningning raised her hand and gently patted his large ear. “Hey, Wolf Lord, do you see that thing on the ground? Is it a Qiankun Bag?”
Xie Shiqi glanced over and indeed saw a small satin bag, half buried in the sand. “Yes.”
Luo Ningning’s beautiful eyes widened slightly. “Why would there be a Qiankun Bag here?”
Xie Shiqi answered blandly, “It’s normal. When cultivators accidentally enter spatial rifts, some things are always swept in with them.”
Luo Ningning understood. She stared at the Qiankun Bag for a moment, then poked the giant wolf’s ear again with her soft fingertip. “Wolf Lord, I want that. Could you pick it up for me?”
Xie Shiqi’s ear twitched, and he turned his head to evade her hand. “Why don’t you pick it up yourself?”
“What if it’s dangerous? I’m afraid of getting hurt.”
Xie Shiqi: “…”
Xie Shiqi stepped forward, picked up the Qiankun Bag with his sharp teeth, and flung it toward Luo Ningning. She caught it and examined it carefully.
The Qiankun Bag was made of silkworm gauze. Although it was not as good as jiao silk, it was still a fine material. She patted the dust off the bag and tried to open it, only to discover that she could not.
Luo Ningning pouted. “It won’t open. There’s a restriction on it.”
She was somewhat disappointed, so Xie Shiqi stepped forward. “Give it to me.”
Luo Ningning obediently handed him the Qiankun Bag. Xie Shiqi swung one paw!
The Qiankun Bag ripped apart, and everything inside clattered onto the ground.
Luo Ningning cried out, “Wow! There’s so much stuff!”
She happily jumped down from the little boat and rushed first toward a silver object that was gleaming brightly. “A mirror! It’s a mirror!”
She looked up and smiled at Xie Shiqi, then picked up the mirror to examine herself. “You really do need a magical artifact. It’s so much clearer than a water mirror formed with a spell. Ah, my complexion really does look a little bad when I look at it this way. A cloud blanket! There’s a blanket too!”
Under normal circumstances, Luo Ningning would never have thought much of such ordinary items. But now, she had spent half a month surviving in the wilderness with Wolf Lord. At this moment, she felt as though Robinson Crusoe had been stranded for several months and had suddenly discovered a five-star hotel.
She no longer minded that someone else had used these things. Happily picking through them, she piled her unexpectedly acquired treasures into the little boat amid Wolf Lord’s doubtful question of, “What use are these to you?”
She began casting cleaning spells over the pile of supplies she had scavenged. But after casting one spell, she suddenly thought of something and stopped.
She abruptly turned to stare at Xie Shiqi, her eyes filled with excitement, delight, and anticipation. Xie Shiqi frowned slightly under her gaze. “What?”
Luo Ningning could barely get the words out. “Wolf Lord! You—you—you! Could you help me break these few Qiankun Bags too?!”
How had she forgotten? Although she still could not repair Qiankun Bags, she could have the giant wolf break their restrictions for her! As long as she could get the things inside, it did not matter if the Qiankun Bags were destroyed! Then she would never again have to live in fear or endure hardship!
She hurriedly jumped down from the little boat, her movements light and cheerful as her skirt billowed around her. Several Qiankun Bags were placed before the giant wolf. Luo Ningning stared intensely at Xie Shiqi, her longing for a happy life almost shining from her eyes.
Xie Shiqi seemed unable to withstand her gaze and looked away. “Move aside.”
Luo Ningning obediently hid to one side. She watched as the giant wolf brought one paw crashing down!
Then another paw!
And another…
After a brief pause, ice spikes shot out! Flames erupted!
After unleashing a round of his strongest attacks, the Qiankun Bags remained as quiet as chickens, without the slightest reaction.
Luo Ningning and Xie Shiqi: “…”
Xie Shiqi planted one paw on a Qiankun Bag and sensed it for a moment before giving a light cough. “I have not yet recovered. I still have no way to destroy them unless I use demonic energy.”
Luo Ningning wilted instantly.
She could not possibly have the giant wolf use demonic energy just to break open Qiankun Bags. Even with miraculous pills and medicines, the damage demonic energy inflicted on the body was irreversible. Her exceptionally excellent Qiankun Bags still could not be opened.
The hope of a happy life shattered. Luo Ningning had become excited for nothing, and she could not summon any energy. She picked up the few Qiankun Bags and slumped into the little boat, murmuring blankly, “I brought so many treasures with me. Do you know about the Liushan Spirit Spring? I brought an entire springhead with me. I could bathe in the Liushan Spirit Spring. Do you know about the Kaiyang Cloud Blankets? Ordinary people have only seen magical robes made from Kaiyang jiao silk, but I have several cloud blankets made from jiao silk. You’ve never eaten Taiqing pastries, have you? One osmanthus cake is more effective than an entire bottle of Qi Condensation Pills…”
Xie Shiqi listened in silence before giving an impartial assessment. “None of those are practical. They wouldn’t be useful in a fight either.”
Luo Ningning: “…”
She gave Xie Shiqi a hollow look, and Xie Shiqi shut his mouth.
After a moment, he spoke again. “If you like those flashy things, I can give you some after a few days. My father collected many treasures that human cultivators like while he was alive. Things such as ten-thousand-year-old Lingxian Sprouts, thousand-year-old Dikun Fruits, and plenty of Chixia Jade, Suoyan Forge, Tianming Glaze… They have all been left unused in the treasury for years. When the time comes, you can choose whatever you want.”
Luo Ningning: “…”
Ten-thousand-year-old Lingxian Sprouts? Thousand-year-old Dikun Fruits? Plenty of Chixia Jade, Suoyan Forge, and Tianming Glaze?
Were these things really supposed to exist in this shabby inheritance ground of yours?
If you were so good at boasting, why didn’t you just ascend to the heavens?
Luo Ningning suspected that the wolf did not believe what she had said and had invented something even more outrageous to mock her. He was always like this. Nothing good ever came out of his dog’s mouth.
So she blinked and put on an emotional expression. “Thank you, Wolf Lord. You’re so kind to me. But I don’t want anything else. I only want you to help me open these few Qiankun Bags.”
Xie Shiqi: “…”
Luo Ningning continued gazing hopefully at the giant wolf for a moment. When the thick-furred head finally turned away to avoid her eyes, she gave a quiet snort inwardly and lay back down in the little boat.
That night, Luo Ningning did not sleep on the self-heating carpet again.
Although she loved fluffy things, she did not like sleeping with them, because animals had uneven bodies. Some places were soft and yielding, but if they turned over, other places might jab her. If the desert had not been so damp and cold, she would never have shamelessly crawled onto the giant wolf every night.
Now that she had found a blanket and several other bedding supplies, she could sleep in the little boat instead.
First, she spread the cloud blanket across the entire little boat. Then she used a spell to dismantle one gauze blanket and turn it into a gauze bed canopy, hanging it from the tree so that it draped down and covered the entire boat, preventing leaves and insects from disturbing her sleep.
After that, she lit mosquito-repelling incense. Although she had a bed canopy, Luo Ningning felt that adding incense would give her sleep a greater sense of ritual.
She then rolled the clothes she had scavenged from the Qiankun Bags into a pillow. As for the original pillow, since its fabric was soft, she removed the pillowcase and made it into an eye mask…
Xie Shiqi lay beneath the tree, watching her busy herself pointlessly. Suddenly, he spoke. “You’re sleeping there tonight?”
Only then did Luo Ningning remember that she had forgotten to inform him. She answered him while continuing to work. “That’s right. From now on, Wolf Lord, you can sleep well every night. You won’t have to be pinned beneath me anymore.”
Xie Shiqi: “Oh. That’s truly wonderful.”
A heavy breath blew from his black nose. He did not look as though it was wonderful at all.
Luo Ningning did not care. Although the conditions were still far inferior to her dwelling, she finally had a bed! She lay down, covered herself with a set of thick clothes, and put on the eye mask. “I’m going to bed early and getting my beauty sleep tonight. Good night, Wolf Lord.”
Because her mood had improved, Luo Ningning slept especially soundly that night.
In her dream, she left the secret realm and returned to the Heavenly Extremity Pavilion, once again resuming her days surrounded by the Liushan Spirit Spring, Shaoshan Cloudmist, Kunlun Spirit Dew, and Taiqing Sacred Treasure.
A whole group of fluffy creatures had missed her terribly. They all threw themselves into her arms, and the red fox even sneaked into her room while she was asleep, using its true form to jump onto her bed.
The red fox’s true form was already over a meter tall and weighed several hundred pounds. That leap nearly flattened Luo Ningning!
Luo Ningning felt unable to breathe. She suddenly waved her hand and opened her eyes…
Only to see a vast expanse of white fur.
This was still the desert in the secret realm, and she was still sleeping in her little boat…
And the thing pressing down on her and crushing her bed canopy was not the red fox, but that white giant wolf.
Luo Ningning was dazed for a moment and tried to push the giant wolf off her. As soon as she moved, she sensed that something was wrong.
Warm liquid slowly flowed down, soaking her palm.
The giant wolf swayed as he rose to his feet, a dangerous, beastly growl rumbling in his throat. Only then did Luo Ningning see that he was injured again.
From the right side of his back to his lower abdomen, there was a long wound so deep that bone could be seen. Red flesh had torn through the snow-white fur, and blood was gushing out.
Then, in the darkness of the oasis grove, several pairs of ghostly green and blue eyes appeared.
They were approaching the man and beast in a tightening encirclement.
Luo Ningning’s heart sank.
Even though they had hidden with the utmost care, they had still been found!
No wonder the giant wolf, despite his formidable strength, had not dared to face them directly. It was not only because he was injured. It was also because there were too many enemies!
Those eerily glowing eyes drew closer and closer, as though they would pounce at any moment and tear their prey apart.
Although they were so close, Luo Ningning could not sense even the slightest trace of demonic aura. It seemed that among the demon beasts surrounding them, one of them had used an innate ability to conceal its aura, which was why the giant wolf had not discovered them in time.
In this situation, Luo Ningning really wanted to ask the giant wolf what exactly he had done to provoke so many powerful great demons into hunting him down.
But when she saw the way the giant wolf had covered her with his body to protect her, she could not bring herself to ask.
The giant wolf had clearly noticed the ambush. He had had time to react, yet he had not dodged. Instead, he had leaped onto her and taken the blow head-on.
Had he done that to protect her while she slept?
As the encirclement grew smaller and smaller, Luo Ningning held her breath, not daring to move even slightly.
Then countless black tendrils of demonic energy suddenly exploded from the giant wolf’s body, charging straight toward the surrounding great demons!
The great demons clearly knew how formidable the demonic energy was. They immediately retreated, resisting and dodging the attacks.
It was as if a barrier formed by a spell had been shattered. In an instant, demonic aura soared into the sky!
Half crouched in the little boat, Luo Ningning gripped the cloud blanket tightly, her face turned deathly pale beneath the pressure of that terrifying demonic power.
The giant wolf did not hesitate. He seized Luo Ningning by the back of her collar and leaped into the air, finding a gap through which to escape the encirclement!
He raced beneath the moonlight. His white figure tore through the night like a meteor streaking across undulating, endless dunes.
Luo Ningning was carried by the back of her collar, buffeted by wild wind. Her hair was disheveled and her heart pounded, yet she gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around the giant wolf’s head from behind, trying her best to transfer spiritual energy into him.
She had no time to be fussy.
Since the giant wolf had taken a blow for her and sacrificed his own safety to save her, and was now fleeing with her burdening him, he clearly did not want to abandon his physician.
Her life was already tied to this wolf’s. All she could do was hope that he could recover enough strength to defeat their enemies…
Although that hope was exceedingly slim.
But the giant wolf soon landed in an oasis and set Luo Ningning down.
On the horizon, the great demons pursuing them relentlessly could be seen as dense black dots, rising and falling across the dark blue-black canopy like bouncing specks. They were drawing closer and growing larger.
Beneath the pallid moonlight, half of the giant wolf’s body was drenched in blood. Red stains trickled into the distance.
He looked deeply at Luo Ningning. “I’ll lead them away. Be careful in everything.”
Luo Ningning froze, unable to speak.
The giant wolf turned and left without the slightest hesitation. Only his voice drifted back on the wind.
“…If I survive, I’ll come find you.”
The white figure quickly vanished into the horizon. Vanishing with him were several dozen great demons that swept past like the wind.
The trail of blood guided them along his path. They did not linger in Luo Ningning’s oasis, instead racing onward until, atop a dune at the edge of the sky, they saw the giant wolf standing there alone and proud.
The great demons worked together with perfect coordination, spreading out and warily surrounding the giant wolf once more.
The lizard at their head spoke in a deep voice. “Xie Shiqi, you can’t escape. I advise you to surrender obediently!”
Xie Shiqi breathed heavily. A glaring red glimmer rose within his ice-blue eyes.
“Surrender obediently…”
He suddenly threw back his head and laughed aloud. His voice was filled with murderous madness and viciousness.
“This lord has never known what it means to surrender!”
Black demonic energy erupted once more, blotting out the sky and sun in an instant!
The great demons hurriedly fought back. The lizard’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Are you insane?! If you use demonic energy like this, you’ll die too!”
Blood gushed from the corners of Xie Shiqi’s mouth, yet he laughed with wild abandon, cold and sinister.
“Then we’ll die together!”
………………
Compared with the chaotic dunes, the oasis had already fallen silent.
Luo Ningning stood alone, staring at the backs of the great demons as they disappeared. She bit her lip tightly.
She felt that the giant wolf was likely doomed this time.
The pressure alone from those great demons had made it difficult for her to breathe. There was no doubt about how powerful they were.
She knew that she should stay where she was and behave sensibly. When she had originally agreed to travel with the giant wolf, it had only been to borrow his strength to protect herself while she safely waited for the male protagonist to arrive at the inheritance ground.
Now that he could barely protect himself, there was no point in going after him. Besides, a battle between great demons of this level was not something a little human cultivator like her could interfere in. Even if she hurried over, she would probably only be throwing her life away too.
But if she simply stayed here and did nothing, she could not help feeling that she would be unable to live with herself…
Perhaps it was because the giant wolf could have fought the great demons directly in the oasis, yet had deliberately fled for a distance because he was worried that she would be caught in the crossfire and injured.
Perhaps it was because he had not dodged the attack when they were ambushed, but had remained where he was and taken the blow head-on for her.
Or perhaps it was because they were merely partners who used each other, yet at the critical moment when his life was at stake, the giant wolf had still fought to give her a chance at survival…
Luo Ningning had always believed that, because she feared pain and death and was picky and spoiled, she would not risk herself for anyone in this life except her mother.
Yet when the moment of choice truly arrived, she still agonized for a long time before pulling a jade pendant from one of the Qiankun Bags she had picked up.
The little boat had already been destroyed. This jade pendant was the simple little carriage she had found earlier that day.
Luo Ningning climbed into the carriage formed by the jade pendant and controlled it as it flew forward along the blood trail.
At the very least, she could go and take a look. It was not as though she could do absolutely nothing.
If the giant wolf was gravely injured, she could do her best to save him. If he was dead…
She could at least help collect his corpse.
The carriage did not have as many functions as the little boat. When it flew, the wind made her face ache.
There was nothing Luo Ningning could do except cover her face and endure it.
As she hurried onward, she could initially still see the demonic energy on the horizon, black as clouds. When demonic power and spells collided, the commotion shook heaven and earth.
But as she flew closer and closer, the area ahead gradually fell silent.
Had the battle ended?
Luo Ningning cautiously formed a hand seal to conceal her aura and slowly approached.
Heavy demonic aura still lingered all around. The battle had been brutal, with severed limbs and corpses scattered everywhere.
Luo Ningning saw a charred tiger, a shriveled giant python, a black bear with its guts spilling out, and a lizard that had been cut in half…
But though she endured her nausea and searched all around, she could not find any sign of the giant wolf.
Her carriage slowly flew over the gloomy, cloud-covered dunes. Little by little, hope began to rise in her heart.
Could it be that the giant wolf had defeated his enemies and survived, then turned back to look for her?
The thought invigorated Luo Ningning, and she was about to turn back when she accidentally caught sight of something in a deep pit not far away.
There was a human-shaped object lying facedown inside.
…A human-shaped object?
Luo Ningning hesitated for a moment before urging the carriage closer.
It was a naked man, extremely tall and powerfully built. He looked to be a full head taller than her and a size larger overall.
The first thing that caught her eye was a pair of straight, firm, long legs, their beautiful, fluid lines concealing explosive strength.
Then came his firm buttocks, lean waist, broad shoulders and back, and…
A head of disheveled silver hair?
Luo Ningning: “??!!”