Xie Shiqi gritted his teeth, desperately wanting to force those disobedient ears and tail back inside. Unfortunately, once those things emerged on their own, he could not immediately retract them. After struggling for a long while, Xie Shiqi finally gave up. He could only jump down from the tree with those white wolf ears atop his head, his tail waving furiously behind him. Holding a stone in his hand, he ground his claws against it viciously. “What do you want?”
The stone was covered in pockmarks and scratches, looking as though he had tormented it for an entire night. Luo Ningning gave the tail thrashing wildly behind him a quick glance, then pretended not to care. “Nothing. I’m just here to give you some spiritual energy.”
Xie Shiqi threw down the stone, sat down on the grass in a broad-legged posture, thrust out one arm, and said irritably, “Come on.”
Luo Ningning had no idea what was wrong with this wolf again. She had not touched him indiscriminately today, yet he still looked extremely angry. She had originally been curious about the pattern behind his ears and tail appearing, but seeing how irritable he was, she decided not to provoke him. She began transferring spiritual energy into Xie Shiqi, occasionally sneaking a glance at those wolf ears. Suddenly, Xie Shiqi sat upright.
Luo Ningning immediately focused her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, intending to deny everything if Xie Shiqi made trouble. She had only been looking at him, after all. Was looking a crime? But Xie Shiqi merely gazed into the distance with a solemn expression. “A great demon is coming.”
Luo Ningning instantly tensed and quickly summoned the carriage. Xie Shiqi glanced at it and suddenly said, “Put it away.”
Luo Ningning said, “Huh? Aren’t we supposed to run?”
Xie Shiqi did not answer. White light flashed before her eyes, and the silver-haired, blue-eyed man transformed into a huge white wolf. His recovery was truly astonishingly fast. He was already a head taller than Luo Ningning, gradually regaining the imposing appearance he had possessed when they first met. The great wolf impatiently shook his head, causing the thick fur around his neck to ripple like waves. “Get on. I’ll carry you.”
Luo Ningning was startled. “You mean, sit on your back? But didn’t you say that among your kind, only parents and wives…”
The great wolf cut her off viciously. “Shut up! If your carriage were even a little faster, if you could produce some wind, would I need to do this?” He looked like an irritable warhorse, his wolf claws pawing up clouds of dirt as familiar air burst from his black nose. “Are you getting on or not?!”
Luo Ningning: “…”
Get on, get on, get on! Just wait—I’ll crush you to death, you stinking mutt!
Naturally, she could not crush Xie Shiqi to death. Carrying her on his back, the great wolf ran much faster than the small carriage. Luo Ningning buried herself in the fur at his neck, enveloped by its softness and warmth. Her face was not hurt by the wind in the slightest.
Even though they did their best to avoid danger, several days later, at dusk, they were still ambushed by a large-horned lizard. Luo Ningning finally understood why Xie Shiqi had not detected the joint ambush by the ferocious beasts and great demons that night. Some of the demon race in this world possessed innate abilities. That leading lizard was probably a horned lizard or something like a chameleon, and its innate ability was mimicry. It could use the surrounding environment to conceal its own aura.
As the two of them approached the oasis, the large-horned lizard suddenly burst out of the sand. Its dagger-like scales slashed open a deep wound on the great wolf’s leg, exposing the bone.
A low, beastlike growl rumbled from Xie Shiqi’s throat, but he slightly turned aside and lowered Luo Ningning to the ground before tearing into the horned lizard. They rolled and fought their way into the distance, flashes of spells and demonic power bursting out again and again. Luo Ningning fled toward the oasis and waited anxiously.
There was only one ferocious beast this time, and its demonic power was clearly not as formidable as that of the great demons before. But the great wolf had also been severely wounded, and he had been successfully ambushed. Luo Ningning had no idea whether he could handle it. Night had fallen. After waiting for half an hour without seeing Xie Shiqi return, she was almost convinced that something had happened to him. She was hesitating over whether to go look for him when, beneath the moonlight, she saw Xie Shiqi approaching her with a string of small fish in his hand, limping badly.
Luo Ningning: “??!!”
She hurried several steps forward and looked him up and down. Aside from the bloody, mangled wound on his left leg, the man had several fresh wounds on his arm and shoulder. Luo Ningning stared at the string of small fish he was carrying, utterly at a loss for what expression to make. “What happened to the giant lizard?”
Xie Shiqi said, “Bit it to death.”
Luo Ningning’s voice rose. “So? After fighting it, you went fishing?”
Xie Shiqi frowned slightly. He was about to say, I caught the fish for you to eat, when Luo Ningning unhappily shouted, “Didn’t you know I was waiting for you? I thought something had happened to you! I was worried sick and was just about to go look for you!”
Xie Shiqi’s anger immediately deflated. He had never experienced someone waiting for him to return safely after a fight, so he naturally had not thought to come back and tell her first. Xie Shiqi suddenly felt a little guilty, but he did not show it. “Haven’t I gone fishing for you every night these past few days? What were you so worried about?”
Luo Ningning stamped her foot furiously. “But tonight was a special situation! Couldn’t you be a little flexible and come back to tell me first? You just left me here worrying for so long!”
Xie Shiqi took one step back, then another. Suddenly, he thought of something. “I…I went back to pick up a Qiankun Bag!” He took a Qiankun Bag from inside his clothes. “I caught sight of it while I was fighting. After killing that lizard, I went back to look for it. This thing is tiny, colorless, and odorless, and the light was poor. That’s why it took me some time.”
He held the Qiankun Bag out to Luo Ningning. She froze, forgetting to take it for a moment. Xie Shiqi continued to emphasize, “It wasn’t because catching fish delayed me. Catching the fish only took a little while!”
He added, as though he had come up with it himself, “I’ll open it for you? There might be something you need inside.”
His fingers grew sharp claws. He aimed them at the Qiankun Bag, gathered his strength, and slashed!
The restriction on the Qiankun Bag was destroyed, but nothing fell out. Only two scraps of cloth dangled in the air before fluttering down at Xie Shiqi’s feet.
It was actually an empty bag! Xie Shiqi’s expression became wonderfully complicated, while Luo Ningning burst out laughing. She laughed openly at him until Xie Shiqi gave a light cough. “I’ll roast the fish for you.”
He casually found a place to sit down, his posture unrestrained. The bloody, mangled wound on his left leg was left blatantly exposed, and he did not even bother treating it. Luo Ningning hesitated for a moment, then took out some white jade salve from inside her clothes and reluctantly held it out to him. “You can borrow a little. Put some medicine on your left leg too.”
Xie Shiqi did not take it. He glanced at it without much concern. “No need. Keep it. It doesn’t hurt.”
Luo Ningning almost suspected that he was mocking her again. Otherwise, he was simply too proud to admit it. “What are you talking about? Do you have no sense of pain?”
Only then did Xie Shiqi look at her. “Pain in the meridians is real pain. An external wound like this is nothing. Keep it for yourself, or you’ll cry so hard you won’t be able to stop when you get hurt.”
The shadows of the trees dappled the ground, and the flames leaped. The man’s perfect, sharply defined features were illuminated in alternating light and darkness, making him seem even more alluringly otherworldly. The ends of his silver hair, which reached his waist, swayed slightly, reflecting a rippling, watery luster.
The thought that had appeared the moment she saw his wolf ears suddenly flashed through Luo Ningning’s mind again. She bit her lip, her gaze fixed on those icy-blue eyes, and suddenly said, “Actually, I’m a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect. I have a single spirit root and a Pure Yin Body…I can help a dual-cultivation partner repair his body. Do you want to try dual cultivation with me?”
Luo Ningning admitted that she coveted Xie Shiqi’s beauty just a little. After ten thousand years of conflict between the human and demon races, a turning point had arrived three hundred years ago: the Silver Wolf Demon Venerable of that era married a human cultivator woman, and the two races consequently entered a period of peace. Later, the Silver Wolf Demon Venerable died from demonic qi, and his subordinate, the Leopard Demon Venerable, succeeded him. The relationship between the two races was therefore not especially tense either. As a result, Luo Ningning had seen quite a few members of the demon race in the cultivation world. It was just that none of their human forms had struck her heart as much as this wolf’s. Some were too heavily beastified, as though they had not fully evolved. Some had strange aesthetics, being obsessed with excessively broad chests and overly abundant fur. Most of the rest were merely average-looking. None were as handsome as this wolf…
The man before her had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a shapely rear. His fitted trousers and tall boots accentuated his long, straight legs, giving him a perfect figure. His features were deep and sharply defined, while his silver hair and blue eyes gave him a distinctive appearance—his looks were perfect too. Add in the wolf ears atop his head and the wolf tail behind him…
His score was practically overflowing, all right?
Naturally, Luo Ningning would never admit that she was a visual person. She felt that the main reason she had asked what she did was that this wolf was easy enough to get along with. Although his mouth was vicious and he could be irritating at times, he had kept his promise and taken good care of her. Before entering the secret realm, she had already been looking for a dual-cultivation partner to improve her cultivation method. Now she had unexpectedly encountered an Ancient Ferocious Beast who matched her aesthetic so perfectly. He was this special and precious, a secret-realm-exclusive model. If she missed this chance…she would never have the opportunity to experience it again.
Moreover, although Xie Shiqi was injured, his cultivation was profound. He was at least at the early Deity Transformation stage, so he could definitely help her rapidly improve her cultivation method. And since he was suffering so deeply from demonic qi, her single spirit root and Pure Yin Body could help him as well…
Xie Shiqi’s movements as he gutted the fish came to a halt. After a moment, he raised his head. “Dual cultivation?”
He seemed to take quite a while to process it before asking in astonishment, “You mean you want to mate with me? Are you pursuing me?”
Author’s Note:
Luo Ningning: I feel like I forgot something…ummm, what did I forget?