The usual place where Yun Mu cultivated.
After learning the so-called strange “Technique” from Eleven, which, according to her, had nothing to do with actual cultivation, he arrived here early to wait.
He sat cross-legged in his familiar spot, bathed in the gentle morning light.
At his waist, there was now a small pouch as black as ink, reminiscent of a sachet, with no embroidered words or patterns, only a single strand of gold thread wrapped around the opening, shining brilliantly.
This was the Qiankun Pouch that Eleven had personally tied at his waist before he came to cultivate.
In the cultivation world, it was the most convenient item for storing things.
According to her, he should have gotten it much earlier, but choosing what to put inside had taken quite a bit of time, so it wasn’t until today that she finally gave it to him.
Although he hadn’t checked what was inside yet, Yun Mu knew it must be some things he couldn’t use right now.
After all, the two little gadgets he could actually use were already stuffed into his pockets by his Eleven Master, who claimed they were “wonderful little things to make girls happy.”
‘Judging by the time, she should be here soon, right?’
Letting out a slow breath, he stretched his arms, loosening up his long-unmoved body.
Instinctively, he wanted to look around, but he froze in place.
He had become so engrossed in cultivation that he’d forgotten he couldn’t see anymore.
When did I start making such foolish mistakes?
Could it be, as heard occasionally at the Shangguan Residence…
“When troubled in heart, one cannot sleep, tossing and turning all night.”
He couldn’t help but mock himself with a joke.
Before his thoughts finished, a soft “rustle rustle” came to his ear.
He turned his head instinctively, and as he released his spiritual sense, an even louder sound of grass brushing against itself came from nearby.
Outside the cave entrance not far away, amidst a sea of lush green grass, a hint of pink was moving gently.
“Who is that? Lady Huai Zhi?”
Yun Mu murmured to himself but did not approach.
Instead, he quietly gathered some strength in the direction of the pink figure.
After confirming who had come, he sat right back down and resumed his meditation posture.
Of course, he did not withdraw his senses, but silently “watched” every move of this little Fox Demon.
At that moment, Tu Shan Huaizhi was covering her ears and hiding in the grass thicket, her tail wrapped around her waist, her face full of panic, like a child who had almost been caught doing something naughty.
In truth, the young girl had arrived much earlier, before Yun Mu had even begun to meditate.
Originally, she had planned to arrive early to practice her own Technique, lest she become too nervous when guiding Yun Mu today and make a mistake.
She did not want to leave a bad impression in front of him.
Of course, she also intended to do some other things, such as—offering a little apology for her bad temper yesterday.
What she didn’t expect was that her Brother had arrived even earlier than her, totally unlike her usual sneaky observations.
She had no choice but to hide in the grass and watch him cultivate for nearly half an hour.
But interestingly, when Tu Shan Huaizhi watched him train, most of the time she was just staring at his face.
She would even fix her gaze on a certain feature for a long while before moving her eyes away.
His nose, his lips… even his eyebrows were not spared.
She couldn’t help but marvel at her own sharp eyesight.
However, when she moved her gaze from his face to observe his cultivation posture and movements, she quickly lost interest.
Within seconds, she started nodding off.
Nodding, looking up, nodding, looking up—no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t fight off sleepiness.
She couldn’t help it.
As the daughter of Tu Shan Yunxi, the Hundred Demon Ancient Kingdom’s only Princess, the Qingqiu Tushan Clan’s sole heir, and a little Fox Demon with monstrous talent for cultivation, her dislike of training was well known.
That’s why, after hiding for so long, she had ended up making noise—she had simply gotten confused from dozing off and brushed against the grass thicket.
She squatted there for a long while, and only after no one came near did she relax her hands from her ears and let out a long sigh of relief.
“Seriously, wasn’t that just scaring myself?”
She patted her rather flat chest, her curled-up tail subconsciously stretching and wagging, “I almost forgot, Yun Mu Brother can only sense things within a dozen meters,” she comforted herself as she carefully crawled out of the grass, her ears twitching.
“Hmph, so as long as I hide twenty meters away, it’s absolutely safe… Wait, where did he go?!”
Tu Shan Huaizhi had barely begun to feel happy when she saw the empty Valley not far away and almost cried out in shock.
She could only cover her mouth and try to crouch down again, but suddenly felt a tightness around her neck.
Whipping around, she found herself face to face with the one figure she missed most—Yun Mu.
“Y-Yun Mu Brother? Good morning!”
“Hmm? So it’s you? I thought some little animal had gotten lost,” Yun Mu let go of her neck and gave a bright smile, “Good morning, Lady Huai Zhi… Huai Zhi.”
“Haha, what a coincidence! You must have come to cultivate too, right? So did I, then we can… wait, Yun Mu Brother, what did you just call me?”
The little Fox Demon, desperate to avoid awkwardness, suddenly realized what he’d called her.
In a flash, she stood bolt upright—so fast that she bumped right into Yun Mu’s chin, who was standing only a step away.
It happened in an instant.
“Ugh… Ouch, ouch…”
It was hard not to admire how hard the girl’s head was.
The blow sent Yun Mu’s chin skyward and made him stumble back several steps before stopping.
The girl clutched her now-red cheek, her ears twitching, mumbling, “Yun Mu Brother called me Huai Zhi…”
Her tail wagged in every direction, her eyes dazed.
It wasn’t until Yun Mu came over and gave her a light flick on the forehead that she was jolted back to reality by the pain.
“Ugh… Yun Mu Brother, you’re so mean… Why are you learning from Master Eleven and knocking on people’s heads now? Now Huai Zhi is hurting…”
Her aggrieved, coquettish cry finally brought Yun Mu back to himself.
“Uh… Sorry, maybe I’ve spent too much time with Master Eleven, so I did it unconsciously.”
‘But does a simple change in how I address her really have such a big effect, just like Master Eleven said?’
Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but recall how Shangguan Qiu Yue and Shangguan Xunyi reacted before, and suddenly understood.
He’d argued with them over a similar issue.
To be fair, he’d been rather stubborn back then.
If that’s the case, there seemed to be another action they also liked.
He wondered if Huai Zhi, this little girl…
He reached out and rubbed the pouting girl’s head.
“Mm! Yun Mu Brother, w-what are you doing!?”
Her already rosy face turned bright red to the tips of her ears.
She squeezed her eyes shut, folded her hands over her chest, her body bending forward, and her fluffy big tail wagged and swished behind her.
“Ah! Sorry, I just…”
‘Looks like I was being a bit presumptuous.’
Yun Mu quickly tried to pull his hand away, but before he’d gone more than a few centimeters, he felt his arm seized.
The girl pulled his hand back, and even began moving his hand herself, letting him rub her head all over.
“I-it’s fine, you can keep petting… It’s really okay… And if you pet me more, I can forgive you… You can just keep doing it!”
“Forgive you?”
“Mm…”
Feeling the silky hair and the occasional brush of a furry ear under his hand, Yun Mu was puzzled.
Something about this situation felt off.
“Um, Huai Zhi, can you tell me what I’m supposed to be forgiving you for?”
“It’s just… I was being petty yesterday, and then this morning I secretly watched you train, and then I bumped your chin just now… It was all Huai Zhi’s fault…”
The girl poured everything out in one breath, her voice getting smaller and smaller, until in the end, it was barely above a whisper.
Fortunately, Yun Mu caught every word.
After she finished, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Huai Zhi, you’re really being too hard on yourself, taking all the blame.”
“But… It really was my fault… I don’t want Brother to hate me…”
“Afraid I’ll… hate you?”
“Ah.”
“I see? Then you’re definitely overthinking. I would never hate you over such things.”
“Eh? Then what kind of thing would make you hate me, Brother?”
“I don’t know either. When you do something like that, I’ll tell you, and then you can change. How about that?”
As he said this, Yun Mu held his arm out in front of her and, as if performing a magic trick, produced two items—a peachwood comb carved with a cute fox face, and a jade hairpin hung with a tassel.
“Here, for you—my apology gift and a belated birthday present.”
“Apology and birthday present?”
She instinctively reached out, but stopped halfway, looking dazed.
“Yeah. The comb is my apology for making you upset yesterday. As for the jade hairpin, I heard your birthday was two months ago, so I worked hard for Master to earn it specially for you.”
“W-worked hard!?”
“Mm, like giving her shoulder massages and such. What’s wrong?”
“N-no, I just thought Senior Eleven sent you out to buy something for her. That’d be such a long trip, I’d be scared to death.”
“Buying things? Does the Hundred Demon Ancient Kingdom even have a market like that?”
“Of course it does! And, that place is… well… Anyway, I’ll take you there next time.”
“Mm… Since that’s the case, I’ll look forward to it. So, these two little items…”
“Mm, I’ll accept the jade hairpin, thank you, Yun Mu Brother.”
With that, the little Fox Demon took the jade hairpin, her face lighting up, “But as for the comb, you can keep it.”
“Mm… So you’re still not forgiving me? If that’s the case, Huai Zhi, can you tell me what would make you forgive me?”
Feeling her push his hand back, Yun Mu asked without thinking.
“Forgive you? I’m not mad anymore! After all, if there’s a problem, the culprit is to blame, it wasn’t you.”
‘Those awful women—just wait, once I, Tu Shan Huaizhi, work hard at cultivation, I’ll make sure they don’t dare get close to you!’
She put the hairpin deep into the core of her Qiankun Pouch, clenched her fists, and pumped them twice, as if ready for a life-or-death battle.
“So, you really won’t take the comb?”
“You’ll be my Brother from now on, so of course you have to help me comb my hair and fur. As for what happens after that, well, we’ll see in the future.”
“Mm-mm, anyway, starting tomorrow. But for today, let’s cultivate first.”
“Ah?”
“No more ah’s! Come on, let’s go.”
The girl stuck her tongue out at him, grabbed his hand without another word, and dragged him toward the center of the Valley.