Yu Gong Province.
“According to what you said, do the flood dragon clan really have no other youngsters left besides you now?”
An old woman followed behind a maiden of sixteen and asked softly.
“I have told you several times, just call me Xiao Jiu. We are not master and servant.”
Ling Yao first corrected Shizi’s form of address, then rested her index finger against her chin in thought. “That is not entirely true. Because I still have half a younger sister in the dragon race.”
Enlightening a stone spirit had little to do with cultivation level. It mainly depended on secret arts of the demon race.
But just like alchemy, Ling Yao had not used this technique for a long time, so it still took her one day and one night.
Fortunately, there was nothing urgent now. Ling Yao was not in a hurry, so she simply told Shizi her story while they traveled toward the imperial capital of the Zhao dynasty.
“Half a younger sister?”
Shizi was puzzled.
She had only recently been enlightened into human form and did not yet understand many expressions, but she still felt this sentence sounded strange.
Ling Yao suddenly stopped, turned around, and stared into Shizi’s eyes.
“Because my real younger sister died long ago. The one still alive now is a disgusting monster fused from her flesh and blood and other creatures.”
Shizi startled and instinctively held her breath.
She realized she seemed to have asked a very serious question.
Although Ling Yao had repeatedly reminded her not to address her as Miss or Lady, she had been enlightened by Ling Yao after all, and she could not change that servant mindset so quickly.
But soon Shizi noticed Ling Yao suddenly smile again.
“It is fine, because very soon, just like before, I will once again…”
The girl clasped her hands behind her back and smiled lightly. Bathed in the morning sun, she looked dazzlingly bright. “Kill her with my own hands.”
Yunmeng Prefecture, Liuli Valley.
“So… what exactly is going on? 0.0”
Jiang Keke stood twenty steps away from Yun Heng, staring with mismatched eyes at the strange scene before her.
Yan Qingli gazed into the distance with four parts sorrow, four parts melancholy, and two parts confusion as if she were exercising her eyesight, while Yun Heng held his left arm straight out like he was halfway through a stretch, and hanging from it was a living accessory.
The girl who had previously resembled a hedgehog had now fully exposed her belly, clinging to his arm with all four limbs like a koala.
The moment Jiang Keke stepped forward, the girl bared her teeth fiercely at her, as though in her eyes Jiang Keke and Yun Heng were completely different kinds of creatures.
For some reason, that made Jiang Keke angry.
She did not even understand what she was angry about.
She was just very angry.
“If I had to use an analogy, it is like a hatchling recognizing its mother, a stray dog recognizing its owner, or a drowning person grabbing driftwood,” Yun Heng said with a headache.
Fortunately, this time it was not a physical headache but a mental one.
‘How did I end up a dad again?’
Yun Heng remembered that in his previous life his relationship with Ling Yao had also started in a foster father and daughter pattern, and after only a few years she had forced herself on him.
Yun Heng sighed.
He truly did not want to recall anything related to Ling Yao, but it was foreseeable that for at least a while there would be many such reenactments.
“Can you come down first? We do not have much time. We need you to successfully shapeshift before Xuan Sun arrives.”
Yun Heng patiently repeated this for the twelfth time.
Unfortunately, nothing changed. The girl did not listen at all. She just kept shaking her head and hugging tighter, even rubbing her face against him.
The result was that she smeared a sleeve full of dirt onto him.
Ignoring the clanking sounds from Jiang Keke fiddling with the spikes on her wolf-tooth club, Yun Heng thought for a moment and changed his tone. “If you keep refusing to listen, I will not take you with me.”
The good news was that although the girl did not understand human relationships, she at least understood human speech.
The moment she heard that, she reluctantly climbed down from his arm. After hesitating a while, she switched to tugging on his clothes instead.
She looked up, eyes red and watery, and said, “Take… take me with you, okay? I… will listen to you. Okay?”
Yun Heng crouched so his gaze met hers.
“I do not need you to listen to me about everything. But when you do not know what to do, I want you to think about my intention. If you understand, nod. If you do not, shake your head.”
The girl blinked, then shook her head wildly.
“It is fine. I will teach you slowly in the future.”
Yun Heng reached out and ruffled her messy hair. She immediately grabbed his hand with both of hers, then two seconds later let go.
She was very strong, probably because of the demon race physique.
It was not impossible that Yun Heng’s body was simply too weak, but in that brief moment red marks had already appeared on the back of his hand.
“You… do not like? Hugs?” she tilted her head and asked carefully.
Her speech was strange, as if she could never say more than three syllables at a time.
“My health is not good. Being hugged affects my movement, so I do not really like being clung to,” Yun Heng explained.
Then he held the shapeshifting pill out to her again and coaxed gently, “Now let us eat this first, all right?”
The girl lowered her gaze and stared at the pill for a long time. Somewhat wary, she reached out, lightly touched it, then quickly pulled her hand back.
She frowned, puffed her cheeks, looked up at Yun Heng, then lowered her head again as if thinking.
Yun Heng was not in a hurry. He simply held the pill there and waited for her to finish weighing things in her mind.
“Is your young master the type who responds to gentleness but not force?” Yan Qingli asked curiously, having appeared beside Jiang Keke at some point.
“What else do you think your friend used to make the young master agree?” Jiang Keke snorted.
“Then is he also very popular with children?”
Ignoring the sarcasm, Yan Qingli continued asking.
“I suppose so. After all, he was born with a certain charm that makes people feel close to him.” Jiang Keke curled her lips.
“Not just children. Even middle-aged women and old grannies love chatting with the young master.”
“Oh.”
Yan Qingli held her teacup and took a sip, glanced at Jiang Keke, then at Yun Heng, and understood.
Some private matters between men and women were not convenient for her to ask about, but seeing how careful and patient Yun Heng was, Yan Qingli felt much more at ease.
If she had to nitpick, it would be that Jiang Keke might or might not cause trouble for this girl. But Yan Qingli felt that only an idiot would assume such a situation.
After all, Jiang Keke was not like Yun Heng. She was the type whose thoughts were all written on her face, so Yan Qingli could easily read her mind.
But with that comparison, the boy from the Yun family… his scheming was truly frighteningly deep.
Yan Qingli shook her head and took another sip of strong tea.
“I will eat. Big sister will not scold me, right?”
Mm, good tea.
Yan Qingli felt pleased with her slightly improved tea-brewing skill.
“Do not worry. She will not.”
Finally, after Yun Heng had explained who knew how many times that the thing was not poisonous and was beneficial, the girl steeled herself, squeezed her eyes shut, opened her mouth, and swallowed his entire hand along with the pill.
Jiang Keke could not hold back. She lifted her wolf-tooth club and was about to rush over.
If Yan Qingli had not stopped her, the club really would have come crashing down.
Fortunately, the girl did not do it on purpose. After swallowing the pill into her stomach, she spat Yun Heng’s hand back out.
Taking a handkerchief from his storage bag, Yun Heng wiped his hand. Just as he was about to stand up and discuss with Yan Qingli how to deal with Xuan Sun later, the girl tugged his clothes again.
Her face flushed as she stammered, “So, so hot.”
Jiang Keke: ?
Yan Qingli: ?
Yun Heng: ?
The three of them had different expressions, but they were thinking roughly the same thing.
Was the medicinal power not supposed to take at least seven and a half minutes to spread through the body? How did you finish in one second?