Jiang Yin said only one word.
She pinched Xue Zhuang’er’s arm, patted his shoulder, clicked her tongue twice, and finally raised her thumb.
“Awesome.”
Aside from a certain spinach-loving cartoon character from her previous life, Jiang Yin had never seen a real strongman.
Her tone could not hide her shock, but aside from shock, there was only genuine admiration.
There was no fear, nor the slightest trace of contempt or dislike.
Xue Zhuang’er could hardly believe it. “Sister Jiang, you’re not afraid of me?”
He felt uneasy, afraid he had misheard, after all Jiang Yin had only said a single word.
“Why should I be afraid of you?” Jiang Yin gave him the most sincere praise without holding back. “Xiao Zhuang, you did very well. You not only protected yourself, you also protected me… oh right, and it too.”
Jiang Yin shook the little yellow chick in her hand. A shallow dimple appeared at the corner of her lips, warmer than sunlight.
Xue Zhuang’er stared at her in a daze.
From childhood until now, no one had ever said such words to him. They were all afraid of his strange strength. Even he himself did not like who he was. He only knew how to break things, even hurt people.
This was the first time someone told him he had done well, that he had protected himself and others.
The grievance that had come too late broke through his defenses. Xue Zhuang’er clenched his teeth, his crying rising from suppressed sobs into loud wailing, as if he wanted to cry out all the cold stares and bullying he had endured over the years. Tears streaked down his face, washing lines through the grime.
Jiang Yin was stunned. How could she have known that just saying a couple of words would make Xue Zhuang’er cry like this?
Seeing him cry harder and harder, Jiang Yin said anxiously, “Don’t cry…”
‘Help, I really don’t know how to comfort a child.’
Just as she stood there at a loss in the face of the wailing child, a soft chuckle suddenly sounded from behind her.
Jiang Yin looked up and saw a tall, slender young man leaning leisurely against the doorway. The morning light coated him in a faint golden glow, making him appear even more detached from the mortal world. Even the crude surroundings seemed to take on a touch of elegance under the contrast of his jade-like bearing.
With such an immortal-like appearance, Jiang Yin could not help secretly swallowing. She felt that even his hair seemed to spell out the word “perfect.”
It was only when the perfect man parted his thin lips and teased, “Ah Yin, bullying a child?” that she snapped back to herself.
Jiang Yin said, “I didn’t. Don’t talk nonsense!”
Chu Nanci raised his brow slightly and glanced at Xue Zhuang’er, who was crying in utter heartbreak.
“…It really wasn’t me.” Jiang Yin recounted what had just happened and explained helplessly, “Then I praised him for doing well and for protecting me and the little chick, and he started crying. I didn’t bully him.”
“Is that so?” Chu Nanci cast a light glance at the ‘little chick’ in Jiang Yin’s hand, which had been playing dead ever since he came out.
‘Useless thing. It could not even deal with a few mortal children.’
“You came at the right time. Hurry and help me comfort him.” Jiang Yin frowned and asked him for help, not noticing the fear-filled look the little chick was giving her.
‘Say that again. Who are you asking to comfort someone?!’
‘Are you sure he knows how to comfort people, and not just kill them directly?’
Chu Nanci indeed did not know how to comfort people, but under Jiang Yin’s expectant gaze, he picked up the chick from her arms and walked over to Xue Zhuang’er.
The blood demon said, “Chirp chirp—”
‘Help!’
“Make another sound and I’ll kill you.” After threatening the blood demon, Chu Nanci lifted it in front of Xue Zhuang’er. His tone was like the warm sun of early spring. “If you keep crying, I’ll kill it.”
The blood demon said, “…” ‘Why am I the only one getting hurt?!’
Xue Zhuang’er’s eyes widened in shock. He actually felt that the young man in front of him, who looked even more harmless and gentle than Jiang Yin, was not joking.
“I… I won’t cry anymore.”
Chu Nanci paid no attention to the expression on his face, which looked worse than crying. He turned back to Jiang Yin and said, “He’s been comforted.”
His voice was low, so Jiang Yin did not hear what he had said at all. She only saw that after he spoke, Xue Zhuang’er really did stop crying.
But that was not the main point right now.
Her gaze fell in surprise on his straight, upright legs. “Your legs are healed?”
“Mm.” After coming out of the beast trap pit, Chu Nanci had no intention of pretending to be lame anymore. He casually found an excuse. “Last night I remembered I still had some healing pills on me. After taking them, I recovered.”
Jiang Yin looked at the bloodstained clothes he had not yet changed out of.
Yesterday, in order to find the jade pendant, she had practically felt all over his body. How had she not found any pills? Where had he hidden them?
Her thoughts were written all over her face. Chu Nanci let her examine him openly and even leaned slightly forward. “Did you figure it out? Want to touch again and see?”
Jiang Yin swore she had no such intention, but hearing the young man say that, her gaze subconsciously drifted toward his chest. Beneath the bloodstained collar, the firm outline of his body was faintly visible, instantly reminding her of the warm, solid feeling beneath her fingertips yesterday.
‘To be honest, it really did feel quite nice to touch…’
In front of Xue Zhuang’er, Jiang Yin struggled to resist the temptation and instead showed concern and care toward her target. “You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Xiao Zhuang’s mother cooked some porridge. I’ll get you a bowl.”
Chu Nanci said nothing. He only looked at her with a hint of teasing in his eyes, as if he had already seen through all her little thoughts.
Under his gaze, Jiang Yin felt the tips of her ears grow hot and hurriedly turned around to avoid him.
She would absolutely not admit what she had just been thinking!
She ran over to the stove to ladle porridge, but the porridge in the pot was so thin that what she scooped up was basically just water. In the end, even Xue Zhuang’er could not bear to watch. He took the wooden ladle from her, skillfully skimmed off the watery surface, and scooped up some of the rice grains that had sunk to the bottom.
After serving the porridge, he went to the woodshed to carry in dry firewood, then crouched in front of the stove to rekindle the fire and boil water.
Jiang Yin felt a little embarrassed, but she truly did not know how to start a fire with a traditional stove. Standing there, she could not help at all and only seemed to get in the way.
She might as well take this time to go find Xie Huaian and get a little closer to him.
As the sun rose higher, the heat of summer gradually began to rise. The young man was leaning under the old locust tree in the courtyard to enjoy the shade. Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, scattering flecks of golden light across his face.
Yesterday, Jiang Yin had still been thinking that she should ignore the appearance of her target and focus on completing her task.
Now, ignore his looks? Sorry, she could not.
Jiang Yin admired him for a while before walking over, calling out sweetly, “Brother Huaian~”
The coarse earthen bowl in his hand was already empty. Perhaps because he was full, his mood seemed better. He was idly stroking the little chick in his hand. When he saw Jiang Yin approach, he flicked his hand lightly and said in a gentle voice, “Go on.”
The blood demon said, “…hic!”
‘Utter humiliation! This is simply utter humiliation!!!’
It was, after all, a fearsome great demon ranked among the top ten on the Eastern Profound Continent, one that fed on blood. Yet this man had actually forced it to eat the crude food cooked by humans!
Now he would not even give it time to digest!
A demon could be killed but not humiliated. It would fight him!
Rage surged from the blood demon’s heart, malice rising with it. It suddenly opened its tender yellow beak and fiercely pecked at the man’s long, jade-like fingers.
Chu Nanci smiled faintly. “Hm?”
The blood demon very naturally changed direction midair, flapping its still downy little wings as it huffed and puffed its way toward the courtyard exit.
A great demon could take revenge even after ten years. It would go store up energy first!
Jiang Yin watched curiously as the little chick made a full turn and flew off in a huff. “What’s wrong with it?”
She was only puzzled about why it had flown out, but she did not react much to the fact that a chick could fly.
After all, this was a fantasy world. Even a child like Xue Zhuang’er possessed immense strength, so a chick being able to fly did not seem all that surprising.
“Perhaps it’s hungry and went out to forage.” Chu Nanci straightened slightly, subtly drawing her attention back. “Have you thought about how to repay them?”
Before going to sleep last night, she had been muttering about repaying the Xue family for saving her life. Now that she had come to find him with this expression, there was no need to guess what it was about.
“I originally wanted to help them clear their debts and then build them a new house, but now it seems that might not work.” Jiang Yin looked at the shallow pits in the ground that had been smashed into shape and finally understood why Xue Zhuang’er had said that even building a house would not be enough.
Although she could leave them enough silver to repair the house, even with her limited life experience, she knew that in such a remote place, for an orphaned mother and child to possess a large sum of money would be like a child carrying gold through a busy street, it would only invite disaster.
To repay their kindness while avoiding bringing them harm, and ideally ensuring they would never lack food or clothing in the future, Jiang Yin had another idea besides giving money to build a house. It just required Xie Huaian’s agreement.
Chu Nanci grew a little interested. “Why do you need my agreement?”
“Well…” Jiang Yin glanced at Xue Zhuang’er, who was quietly boiling water by the stove, then beckoned to the young man, signaling for him to come closer. “Bend down a little.”
She had not noticed it when they were not standing together, but why was he so tall? Standing beside him and talking meant she had to tilt her head up, and her neck was already getting sore.
Chu Nanci had lived for over a thousand years. He had been disliked for being a demon and for having cruel methods, but this was the first time he had been disliked for being too tall.
She really was someone who could always bring him unexpected amusement.
“Alright.” He bent down obediently and even thoughtfully asked for her opinion. “Is this okay?”
Perfect. It even saved her the trouble of standing on tiptoe.
Jiang Yin leaned close to his ear and softly explained her idea.
Chu Nanci’s gaze shifted slightly, his eyes falling on her face at such close distance.
She seemed to sweat easily. After standing in the sunlight for just a while, a fine layer of sweat had already formed on her forehead, making her skin appear even more lustrous, like a tree full of blooming white locust flowers, carrying a fragrance that lingered unmistakably at the tip of his nose.
But even harder to ignore was the warm breath that slipped out as her red lips moved, lightly brushing against his ear.
A fox’s ears were naturally sensitive. That wave of warmth was like a soft, unusual caress, quietly slipping into his ear and reaching straight to the tip of his heart, stirring a strange flutter within him.
“…Is that okay?” Jiang Yin looked at him with hopeful eyes, a trace of nervousness hidden in their depths.
The nine-tailed fox, who had always possessed an extraordinary memory and never forgot anything he heard, cleared his throat. “Sorry, could you say that again?”
This time, he tried his best to listen to what she was saying, rather than thinking about whether he should turn her into a tiny puppet and keep her by his ear so she could speak to him like this all the time.
Jiang Yin patiently repeated, “I want to ask you to help recommend Xiao Zhuang, to let him go to the Xuantian Sect to cultivate. Is that okay?”
It was better to teach someone how to fish than to simply give them fish.
Instead of giving too much money at once and leaving hidden dangers, it would be better for Xue Zhuang’er to enter the Xuantian Sect. That way, his immense strength could be put to proper use, and the Xue family would have the Xuantian Sect as their backing, no longer suffering from others’ bullying.
Especially those foul-mouthed brats. Let’s see if they would still dare to call Xue Zhuang’er a monster.
Chu Nanci looked toward the figure by the stove, his tone carrying a hint of suppressed laughter. “You want me to recommend him to the Xuantian Sect?”
He imagined that scene for a moment and wondered what kind of spectacle it would be.
A nine-tailed fox demon recommending a stone demon to a sect dedicated to exterminating demons. If he said it was not a provocation but a sincere request to join the sect, who would believe it?