Su Zhiyun rubbed her eyes contentedly.
The fatigue from last night seemed to have been mostly dispelled by this sleep.
She turned her head and met A Ran’s thoughtful gaze.
“Sister A Ran, good morning.”
Su Zhiyun’s voice was still hoarse from just waking up, but a relaxed smile hung on her face.
“Did you sleep well? Last night was really… tough.”
A Ran nodded, but her gaze involuntarily drifted to Jiu Baiyun in the corner.
“Mm, fine… Big Brother Jiu, he…”
She hesitated, then finally asked in a low voice, “Sister Su, Big Brother Jiu sat like that all night. Is he really okay? His injuries…”
Su Zhiyun followed her gaze.
In the morning light, Jiu Baiyun was still sitting cross-legged, his posture unchanged from last night.
However, the faint golden glow on his body seemed to have faded.
Although his face was still a bit pale, it was much better than the deathly pallor from last night when he looked like he might collapse at any moment.
The most obvious change was that his tightly furrowed brows had relaxed, and his breathing was long and steady, as if he had truly entered some deep state of rest.
“See?”
Su Zhiyun pursed her lips toward Jiu Baiyun’s direction, her tone carrying a complexity she herself couldn’t quite articulate.
“I told you, cultivators recover quickly.”
“This method of meditative healing is much more effective than a night’s sleep. Probably in a little while, he’ll be full of energy again.”
She said this out loud, but internally, she couldn’t help muttering.
‘This guy’s recovery speed is really astonishing… Or is it that his “serious injury” last night was exaggerated?’
Thinking back to how he had been vague and evasive when she pressed him about the Fox Immortal, Su Zhiyun’s suspicion swelled a bit more.
A Ran, meanwhile, had put on her clothes and got off the bed.
She moved a little closer and carefully examined Jiu Baiyun’s condition.
Just as Su Zhiyun had said, Jiu Baiyun’s state had improved significantly.
However, A Ran keenly sensed a certain indescribable change in Jiu Baiyun.
The most visible sign was that at the very tips of his hair strands, a hint of white had appeared.
It was too dark last night to notice, but now with the morning sunlight streaming in, it was quite conspicuous.
Just as A Ran was wondering if Big Brother Jiu had other injuries he wasn’t willing to disclose, Jiu Baiyun seemed to sense A Ran’s presence.
His long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He habitually moved his neck, his gaze sweeping across the room, and met A Ran’s clear eyes filled with concern.
“A Ran?”
Jiu Baiyun’s voice carried a hint of confusion.
Though it still sounded somewhat tired, it was much stronger than last night.
“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
A Ran’s heart skipped a beat.
She had indeed been staring at Jiu Baiyun just now, her gaze involuntarily falling on the striking silver-white streak in the hair at his forehead.
She opened her mouth, the words “Your hair…” almost spilling out.
But seeing Jiu Baiyun’s slightly pale yet already calm face, A Ran forcefully suppressed all her doubts and astonishment deep in her heart.
‘Big Brother Jiu just went through a fierce battle and suffered such serious injuries. He’s barely recovered a bit. What he needs most now is rest and peace of mind, not being pressed about things that might trouble him or that he doesn’t want to talk about.’
‘Besides… Sister Su also asked similar questions last night, and Big Brother Jiu clearly didn’t want to go into detail.’
A Ran bit her lip, quickly adjusted her expression, and then gently shook her head.
“Nothing… nothing, Big Brother Jiu.”
“It’s just… just that I saw you sitting all night, and your face is still a little pale. I was a bit worried about your injuries… Are you really okay?”
As she spoke, she took a slight half-step back, as if her stare just now was really only due to concern for his injuries.
Her gaze shifted away from Jiu Baiyun’s hair tips and landed on his bandaged waist and back.
Seeing A Ran’s expression, Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help but smile.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
The injuries from last night, after a night of breath regulation and with the assistance of the Yao Fox Demon Venerable, had mostly healed.
Simply put, they were basically no longer a major issue for him.
As he spoke, Jiu Baiyun stretched his body and shook his arms a bit.
Seeing that Jiu Baiyun was indeed fine, A Ran finally let out a sigh of relief.
If she hadn’t asked Big Brother Jiu to buy incense, they wouldn’t have encountered this situation.
Thinking about it, A Ran always felt quite guilty.
She opened her mouth, the apology “It’s all my fault for making Big Brother Jiu buy incense…” almost surging to her lips again.
However, just as the words were about to escape, her stomach suddenly let out a soft gurgle.
This tiny sound was especially clear in the quiet ancestral hall at dawn, making even her pause for a moment.
Then, as if awakened by the sound, A Ran suddenly realized—it was already broad daylight!
She instinctively turned to look at the warm morning light coming through the window, then quickly glanced at Jiu Baiyun and Su Zhiyun.
They must be hungry too!
How could she have forgotten something so important!
“Ah!”
A Ran let out a light exclamation, a mix of frustration and urgency immediately appearing on her face.
“I… I’ll go prepare breakfast right now!”
Jiu Baiyun was about to say “Don’t bother,” and Su Zhiyun also opened her mouth to say “I’m not hungry yet,” but before they could form the words, A Ran had already moved the table aside and dashed out of the small room.
“A Ran!” Su Zhiyun called out instinctively, but only saw A Ran’s disappearing figure beyond the door frame and the sound of hurried footsteps outside.
Jiu Baiyun and Su Zhiyun exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness and a hint of understanding in each other’s eyes.
Jiu Baiyun let out a light sigh, stood up, and stretched his joints.
Then he walked to the door and leaned against the doorframe, looking outside.
Behind the ancestral hall, A Ran’s small figure was bustling about.
She skillfully carried a few stones of varying sizes from a corner and quickly stacked a simple stove in the sheltered corner of the wall.
Without even bothering to brush the dirt off her hands, she hurried over to a crude shed and brought back a small bundle of dry firewood and a few handfuls of dry grass for kindling.
Su Zhiyun then came to stand beside Jiu Baiyun.
She looked at A Ran, then at Jiu Baiyun, and couldn’t help frowning.
“Healed?”
“Almost there.”
Jiu Baiyun nodded.
“Then why aren’t you going to help?”
Hearing this from Su Zhiyun, Jiu Baiyun was momentarily stunned and didn’t snap out of it for a while.
‘Wait, are you serious!?’
He had thought Su Zhiyun would say something concerned, but instead she came out with that.
Seeing Jiu Baiyun’s expression of wanting to speak but holding back, Su Zhiyun couldn’t help smiling.
“Alright, just kidding. You rest yourself. I’ll go give A Ran a hand.”
Setting aside everything else, because of what happened last night, Su Zhiyun’s attitude toward Jiu Baiyun had changed.
At least in such a dangerous situation last night, Jiu Baiyun had chosen to lure those Mountain Sparrows away on his own.
As for Jiu Baiyun, watching Su Zhiyun walk toward A Ran, the corner of his mouth twitched.
For a long time, he didn’t know what to say.