Chapter 45: Forty-five spiritual entities, You need it too. (1/2)

In the end, everyone gathered together for a full mushroom feast.

Ran Wu maintained a lofty demeanor the entire time, but apart from Ran Wu, nobody cared.

These kids were truly easy to please—just a few grilled mushrooms and they were satisfied.

But Ning Li was different; she was not so easily coaxed.

Xu Feng stood patiently by, teaching the children how to roast skewers, which made her feel somewhat ignored by him.

He treated everyone with the same gentle manner, even showing endless patience with a bunch of grimy kids, as if she was nothing special at all.

Actually, this had happened often before.

But the bamboo cake was no longer the original bamboo cake.

And Xu Feng was no longer the Xu Feng of before.

So, things she could tolerate before now seemed intolerable.

Taking advantage of Xu Feng’s inattention, Ning Li suddenly hugged his spirit form, smothering the little dolphin with kisses and embraces.

The dolphin’s skin was just so bouncy, and its calls were incredibly cute: chirp chirp, like a little bird.

Could real dolphins make sounds like this?

Ning Li didn’t know.

All she knew was that Xu Feng’s spirit form sounded so affectionate whenever it called out.

“Tuntun.”

[Chirp]

“Kiss kiss.”

[Chirp.]

“Bamboo cake!”

Ning Li noticed that the dolphin’s skin was visibly turning pink, and even the skin behind Xu Feng’s ear had flushed a large patch of pink as well.

Whether it was the spirit form or its master, both were unbearably adorable.

That one word, ‘big brother’, seemed to have flipped some strange switch inside her, making Ning Li unconsciously want to get close to Xu Feng.

Clearly, she’d just arrived today, yet it felt like she’d been with Xu Feng for a long, long time.

“Tuntun, you’re so cute.”

[Chirp!]

Tuntun wagged its tail fin energetically.

With a soft thud, Xu Feng recalled the spirit form back into his Seaspirit Domain.

Ning Li, unwilling to give up, scooted closer.

“Xu Feng, are you mad?”

Xu Feng lowered his gaze under the teasing looks of the children.

“No.”

“Then why won’t you let Tuntun come out to play?”

“It’s not suitable.”

Ning Li generously released her own Princess Sea Anemone.

“I’m not like you. My little sea anemone can play with you as much as you want.”

Ning Li noticed this time even Xu Feng’s whole ear had turned red.

Princess Sea Anemone was very shy and timid, but still obeyed Ning Li’s command and lay flat on Xu Feng’s head.

All the nearby children stared in amazement.

“This sea anemone is so beautiful.”

“The colors keep changing.”

“It’s just obediently lying on big brother’s head, how well-behaved.”

Ran Wu got up, looking impatient.

“Let’s go.”

This time, their destination was a stretch of coast in Zone 77.

The waves there were wild; every time the tide rose, it was like the end of the world, but there were always those who managed to find treasures after the tide receded.

But picking up treasures was no easy task—there were many Abnormal Species from the sea in that area, each bizarre in shape and fiercely aggressive, making tidepicking both dangerous and thrilling.

Ran Wu and Ran Wu were headed there to seek Divine Gifted Relics.

Bamboo cake and Xu Feng were looking for ways to become stronger.

Each group had its own goal.

The group of kids trailed cautiously behind.

They had no families left, and they wanted to try their luck at Zone 77’s coast.

Life or death didn’t matter to them, and no one was responsible for them, so Ran Wu couldn’t be bothered to drive them away.

On the way, suddenly, with a soft thud, a gentle, squishy little dolphin appeared at Ning Li’s side, the moist scent of seawater rushing over her—not unpleasant, but rather refreshingly cool.

“Tuntun?”

Xu Feng massaged his brow, somewhat exasperated.

“It kept fussing, wanting to come out.”

Ning Li immediately understood—Tuntun liked her!

She hugged the irresistibly bouncy little dolphin, showering it with kisses and hugs again.

Every so often, Tuntun let out a tiny chirp, as if shy, but also as if expressing affection.

Ran Wu watched enviously, testing the waters, “I want to kiss it too.”

This dolphin spirit form wasn’t large, clearly not its full form; it had shrunk down to a doll’s size, just right for a girl to cuddle in her arms.

“No!”

Ran Wu and Xu Feng rejected in unison.

A little kid, biting his finger, mumbled, “Big brother, it’s so cute, can I kiss it?”

Xu Feng bent down slightly.

“Sorry.”

Refused, the child didn’t get angry, just asked innocently, “Then why can she?”

Indeed, why not Ran Wu, why not the other kids, but only bamboo cake?

Xu Feng fell silent.

Even when touched by bamboo cake, he didn’t feel offended at all.

It was as if their closeness was simply natural.

Ning Li hugged the little dolphin tightly, thinking, “We’ll always fight side by side…”

She could list the reasons:

“Because we grew up together, because I’m his most loyal companion, because I…”

There were simply too many reasons.

But was that all there was to it?

What was drawing them together by instinct?

Was it this new identity?

No—

It was their souls.

Ning Li couldn’t explain the feeling in her heart.

Rather than relying on Xu Feng, it was more like she was dependent on his soul.

If it had been the old Xu Feng, seeing her making such a fuss, he would have snapped at her, “What are you up to now?”

But the current Xu Feng would tolerate all her little tricks, even go along with her clumsy attempts to get close.

Princess Sea Anemone had shrunk even further, now just the size of a coin, carefully sticking to Xu Feng’s face, as if trying to make peace, or simply snuggling up.

Ning Li was serious when she said she wanted to mend her relationship with Xu Feng.

Along the way, under her instructions, Princess Sea Anemone kept making little gestures.

Sometimes it lay on Xu Feng’s shoulder, sometimes dangled from his ear like an earring, sometimes pressed against his face—always secretly sticking close.

Xu Feng had a great temperament and didn’t mind Princess Sea Anemone crawling all over his head at all.

Even when his hair got messy, he didn’t look disheveled, but rather acquired a charming sort of tousled handsomeness.

Ran Wu lay on Ran Wu’s back and suddenly said, “If only I had a spirit form too.”

That way, her spirit form could stick close to her brother’s as well.

She found herself envying the warmth between bamboo cake and Xu Feng, though it wasn’t excessive.

It just looked so cozy.

Bamboo cake suddenly seemed like a different person, no longer casting sticky, lingering glances at Ran Wu, nor mocking her with cold sarcasm.

Xu Feng, too, seemed like a different person, no longer glaring at Ran Wu with hatred—his frown had vanished entirely.

They both had changed strangely, and stranger still was the atmosphere between them.

Two people who’d always clashed were now slowly, tentatively drawing closer to one another.

Ran Wu couldn’t understand it.

After Ran Wu spoke, no one said a word.

Even those who joined later already knew Ran Wu’s situation.

A long time passed before Ran Wu finally spoke, heavily,

“You will.”

Although the children’s lives were not Ran Wu and the others’ responsibility, Xu Feng still looked after them along the way.

The children moved slowly, but Xu Feng never grew impatient.

Ran Wu, on the other hand, lost his temper daily, but after a private talk with Xu Feng, his attitude improved.

Some solitary, ungrouped sentinels also wanted to join their group but were turned away by Ran Wu.

He was always impatient with such people—or rather, except for Ran Wu, he didn’t want to bother with anyone else.

Xu Feng said nothing.

Ran Wu sneered, “I thought you’d argue with me.”

After all, Xu Feng would even protect a bunch of useless kids, so he thought Xu Feng would soften and take in the down-and-out sentinels too.

Xu Feng’s tone was calm.

“The team isn’t suitable for more members.”

Ran Wu was a little surprised.

The old Xu Feng could never find his place, thought a lot, did little—if a sentinel wanted to join, he would never refuse.

But now, Xu Feng knew exactly what he should and shouldn’t do—neither arrogant nor complacent, solid and reliable.

For the first time, Ran Wu looked at Xu Feng seriously.

***