Sheng Xuan walked to the kitchen. Wen Zhi was stirring a wok, Wei Lan was chopping some tomatoes.
"Why are not you resting?" Wen Zhi worriedly asked, coming close and grabbing his arm, checking his condition.
"I feel better now, Mom. I don't want to lay on bed all day," he said.
"Your injuries have stabilized, so that's fine to do," she said. "Just don't overextend yourself and cause them to worsen."
"Mhm," he nodded. "Mom, Dad just left." He probed.
"Why are you telling me?" she grumbled.
"Are you mad at him?" he curiously asked.
She snorted. "Why would not I be? I told him you got badly injured while fighting a beast and you know what his following words were?"
"Hm?"
She huffed. "He said 'Not bad. That's my son!'"
Sheng Xuan raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with that?
"He did not seem concerned at all. How could I not be mad?" she said.
"Ah, I see," he said. "Don't stay mad, Mom. Dad just checked on me, and said he will help me with a new weapon."
"Oh did he? At least, he has some conscience," she scoffed. "Forget him. Food is nearly ready. Sit down and eat."
"Sure." Sheng Xuan did not linger on this matter, knowing this was not a big deal. Wen Zhi already had breakfast, so she left early to prepare for pill refining.
With her gone, Sheng Xuan looked at Wei Lan and opened his mouth. "Food, ah~"
"You look so silly," she said, sitting down beside him. She tore a piece of hot flatbread, picked gravy meat and fed him, wiping the gravy from the corner of his lips.
"Mmh~" He chewed happily. His eyes fell on her green-white robe, tightly clinging to her narrow waist. This was a recent change. Before she used to keep the black belt around the waist loose, hiding the curve.
"Come sit here," he lifted her and placed her on his lap.
"Hey!" she shyly called out, careful to not drip the gravy on his robe. "What are you doing? Auntie will see us." She sounded anxious.
"Let her, she won't think much of it," he reassured.
"You! You just want to embarrass me," she huffed, stuffing his mouth with a large bite, making him chomp. Gravy nearly trickled down the corner of his lips, only to be wiped away by her fair finger.
Sheng Xuan touched her soft tummy, rubbing and caressing it. This was like his stress ball. At first, Wei Lan found it a little too much but over time she also started to like it.
Sheng Xuan was not a glutton. Soon, his stomach was full. Making sure he was fine, Wei Lan ran off to do alchemy.
Sheng Xuan went to find Wei Rou to take stock of their harvest yesterday. His eyes drifted along the many plots of spirit herbs. A majority of them were colorful flowers; red, yellow, blue and more. Some half his size, emitting sweet fragrance.
Besides flowers as herbs, there were also leaves, roots, vines, and fruits. Sheng Xuan enjoyed the blend of fragrances, purposefully staying away from the north-west corner, full of ugly and smelly herbs.
Not finding Wei Rou outside, he knocked on the house door.
"Auntie!" he called out.
Footsteps echoed. The door opened up to reveal Wei Rou in a floral white robe. Her dark-green hair was parted in the middle, glistening.
"Woah, Auntie. You look gorgeous," he exclaimed.
"Aw. You are so sweet, thank you," she softly said. "What are you doing here? You should be resting!" Her face wrinkled with concern.
"Well, I came to see you," he softly said. "You worked so hard yesterday."
"That little bit of running is nothing. Don't worry about me," she said. "You should be taking care of yourself. I have been so worried for you."
"See for yourself, I am doing fine," he said. Wei Rou gently grasped his arm and quickly checked. Her worries easing.
"If not for my negligence, this would not have happened at all," she sighed.
"Auntie!" He embraced her, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Xuan'er..." His manly scent infiltrated her nostrils. She did not know what to do. Should she push him away? This was a little too close...
Sheng Xuan looked down at her face. "Stop blaming yourself. It was not your fault."
"But-"
"No buts. If you still blame yourself, I will get angry," he said.
"Fine, I will not," she sighed. "You are holding me really tightly." She pointed out, wishing he would get a hint.
"What's the problem? Can not I hug you?" he sadly said. "Does Auntie not like me?"
Wei Rou experienced a sense of deja vu for a moment. Didn't he say the same thing before? Except she was not as reluctant toward it as before.
"No, that's what I meant," she quickly said.
"I don't believe you. You probably think I can not handle a single beast. I am weak and pathetic," he sighed, loosening his hold around her waist.
"Eh? No!" She hugged his waist. "Auntie did not mean that at all. Actually, I find it very impressive. Instead of turning your back, you struck head on, which looked very cool and was actually the correct move!"
Sheng Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
She nodded heavily.
"Hehe," he wrapped his arms around her waist again, a little lower this time. "Looks like I did not fail entirely."
"Yes, you did great," she emphasized.
"Thank you, Auntie," he said. "We should go out again soon."
Wei Rou shook her head. "You saw how risky this was. Let's not do it."
"Auntie, how will I get stronger then?" he said. "You can not continue to pamper me."
Wei Rou's lips twitched. "You just really like arguing..." She exhaled a heavy breath.
Sheng Xuan chuckled.
Feeling they had hugged enough, she gently separated, only to feel a strange sense of loss. She suppressed it and looked at him.
"Did you come for the ram?"
"Yes," he said.
"I figured. Come with me." She took him to the room where she processed herbs. Sheng Xuan smelled a blend of sharp and gentle fragrances. Sunlight filtered in through the paper floor-to-ceiling windows.
Wei Rou placed a black tarp in the middle and took out the mangled Sunhorn Ram. Its lush gold fur with red streaks lacked its original vigor. The horns were a dim yellow. An intense smell drifted. His nose wrinkled.
"Where is the Sun Marrow, Auntie?" he expectantly asked.
"It should be in the horn," she said. "Have you ever processed a beast before?"
"No, I have no clue."
"Okay, then let Auntie show you, so you can do it in future too," she said.
"Uh, can I let someone else take care of it?" He cast a sidelong glance at the bloody, smelly carcass.
Wei Rou was at a loss for words. "You can. I can do it for you."
"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Auntie!" he said.
Wei Rou hummed, then she squatted down to separate the head, then the horns. Finally, she carefully divided one of the horns and pushed the soft, wobbly pale-yellow marrow onto a bowl.
"Is this the Sun Marrow?" he asked.
Wei Rou sighed. "No, this is just normal marrow."
"Ah, I might have been swindled," he frowned. He did not care about the loss. He cared about the scamming part.
"Hold on, let's try the other one," she said, carefully running the knife through it. Then she pulled it open, revealing vibrant yellow mass.
Sheng Xuan's eyes lit up.
Wei Rou inspected it for a while. A smile curling her red lips. "You did it, Xuan'er. This is true Sun Marrow!"
"Let's go!" Sheng Xuan exclaimed. Seeing his joy, her smile grew wider.
"You should consume it right away before it grows stale," she said, pushing the bowl toward him.
Sheng Xuan's face tightened. "Uh... do I have to eat it like this?"
Wei Rou giggled. "Try it. You will be surprised by how it tastes."
Sheng Xuan pressed his lips in a thin line, curious and hesitant. Under her reassuring, he scooped a small spoonful and brought it close to his lips.
It did not smell anything particular. Mustering his courage, he put it in his mouth. It had a jelly-like texture and did not taste like anything. He was surprised. A few chews later, he gulped it down. Soon, warmth rose from his stomach, spreading all around his body.
"Mm~"
"Quickly sit down and cultivate," she advised.
Sheng Xuan quickly sat cross-legged on a blue cushion. Closing his eyes, he saw many green wisps, surrounding him in the dark void. He could not refine these without worsening the chills he experienced. He ignored them and focused on the newly arriving yellow wisps of spirit qi.
From a few, it turned into dozens, delighting him. Even if he refined all the green wisps, with these yellow ones' help, the chills gripping him randomly would not worsen, and might even improve.
Opening his eyes, he looked at the bowl. There was still a whole palm-sized chunk left. The amount of yang-rich yellow wisps he could get from this might truly look like a sea. Greed flourished in his eyes, giving him a somewhat wolfish look.
He took a deep breath and looked at Wei Rou. "Auntie, I can not just take all of it. Without you, this hunt would have failed."
Wei Rou shook her head with a smile. "I don't need it. You can have the whole thing."
"No, that's not fair."
"You are going to make me feel guilty if you do this," she seriously said.
"I-"
"Just take it." She pushed the bowl toward him.
Sheng Xuan smiled. "I really appreciate it, Auntie."
Wei Rou nodded, resuming processing the beast while he watched. He took notes in his notebook. Afterward, he left to refine the Sun Marrow and Sun Dew, eager for the progress in his spirit qi accumulation.
In his room, he turned on the Spirit Gathering Formation and sat on his bed. He consumed more Sun Marrow and began refining the yellow wisps rich in yang qi one by one. The faint cold that wrapped him slowly faded away, making him feel warm and comfortable.
Gradually, he increased the number of subdued wisps in his spirit core. Feeling his body strengthen, he was thrilled. Even more importantly, they balanced out the ones refined from Lan'er, some of which were acting unruly. The newly arriving wisps made them behave and get in line, bringing a sense of harmony to him.
A sudden thought sparked in his mind.
'If I did not have these unruly ones, surely I would have been more successful with the third slash, no? I might have even successfully stopped the ram's charge...'
Looking back on that moment, he recalled feeling a faint and fleeting resistance. His eyebrows furrowed. Although the chills were uncomfortable and annoying, these unruly ones were a much bigger issue.
'So troublesome...'