“If what I seek… is you.”
“Can I have my wish?”
His eyes were close enough to touch, deep and dark, enclosing a dazzling blaze of fireworks as they quietly watched Lou Yue.
Lou Yue remained in the same position, facing him without moving. She quietly returned his gaze, saying nothing.
She couldn’t give him an answer.
If this had been when she first arrived in the Wasteland, she could have answered with absolute certainty: “No.”
But now, those two words would not leave her lips. She didn’t want to say them, either.
She could no longer regard him as the cold Long Aotian from the book. The Xiao Rangchen standing before her was a living, breathing person, capable of joy and anger, sorrow and happiness.
She wasn’t repulsed by him. In fact, she had felt something that could be called pleasure when he kissed her just now.
Xiao Rangchen had been focusing intently on the Heart-Linked Seal. If even the slightest trace of disgust or resistance came through it, he would immediately pull away, returning to the position he ought to occupy.
Yet what came from the other end was always peace and tranquility.
The same could be seen in her eyes. She did not look as though she disliked him.
Xiao Rangchen gently rubbed the delicate skin beneath her chin with his fingertip, testing her attitude and giving her time to push him away.
After waiting several breaths, he tilted his head slightly and slowly moved closer.
Then he kissed her.
His kiss was feather-light. He first brushed her lip corner, then the seam of her lips, and only in the end did he take her full lower lip between his own, sucking gently, bit by bit.
The sweet, warm fragrance of flowers continuously filled his lungs. He allowed her scent to occupy every one of his senses.
Lou Yue could feel his caution, as well as the restraint and longing transmitted through the Heart-Linked Seal.
She slowly closed her eyes.
Then, with equal gentleness, she kissed him back once.
Xiao Rangchen froze, thinking he had imagined it.
But in the next moment, those soft lips lightly touched the corner of his mouth again.
He no longer hesitated. The hand resting against her cheek slid to the back of her head and supported it. With a slight exertion of strength, he gradually deepened the kiss.
The night magnified every sensation without limit—the softness between their lips, their mingled breaths, the warmth of their bodies pressed together. Everything was astonishingly clear.
The kiss was neither long nor short. It was merely a tender rubbing of lips, yet it soothed the restless emotions that had plagued them throughout the day.
When their lips parted, Xiao Rangchen lightly bit her lower lip.
Lou Yue lifted her lashes and met his dark eyes, where a trace of unease was hidden.
After a moment, she said, “Passable, I suppose.”
Her tone still held its usual pride, but her breathing was unsteady, and her voice had turned husky.
Xiao Rangchen let out a low laugh. His chest trembled faintly, and the heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settled.
“Thank you for the praise, Young Master Yue.” His voice was deep and warm, yet husky enough to be alluring.
Lou Yue responded indifferently, “Mm. Keep practicing.”
“Then, Young Master Yue, might you give me more opportunities to review?”
Lou Yue cast a sidelong glance at the man shamelessly climbing up the ladder she had offered him and coldly tossed out three words: “Depends on my mood.”
“Good.” He deliberately drew out the final note.
Heat spread across Lou Yue’s lips. She looked away and gazed once more at the low-hanging night sky. Without her control, the fireworks had already ended, yet the stars had grown even brighter.
Not long afterward, she heard the man beside her ask, “How long can the Heart-Linked Seal last?”
“One day.” It would lose its effect very soon.
Xiao Rangchen fell silent.
“What is it?”
He merely shook his head and said nothing more.
Lou Yue glanced at him from the corner of her eye. After a while, she said in an indifferent tone, “Xiao Rangchen, don’t push your luck.”
A faint smile curved his lips. “I haven’t said anything.”
He didn’t need to. His regret was written all over his face.
“Once we leave the ruins, I’ll have to undergo the lightning tribulation.”
Xiao Rangchen went still.
Only those who reached the Deity Transformation stage had to undergo a lightning tribulation. There were sixty-four bolts in total, each more dangerous than the last. Over the years, countless exceptionally gifted cultivators in the cultivation world had lost their lives at this very stage.
Lou Yue’s tone remained calm. “The lightning tribulation can’t sense me right now, but the moment I step out of the ruins, it will descend within half an hour.”
Xiao Rangchen abruptly tightened his grip around her wrist, his knuckles paling.
Lou Yue turned her head and saw the grave expression on his face. She immediately raised a brow. “What’s with that expression? Are you cursing me to die?”
Xiao Rangchen’s voice instantly deepened. “Lou Yue.”
“Who asked you to look as though you’d just heard terrible news?” Lou Yue tugged at the corner of her lips, the tips of her eyes lifting. “I’ll get through it.”
“I will survive the lightning tribulation.”
“Believe me.”
Her voice was clear and resolute. Every word carried a reassuring strength.
Xiao Rangchen looked at her and slowly answered with a single word: “All right.”
Lou Yue rose to her feet. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To pick up Liufeng Xin.”
Xiao Rangchen’s movements halted, and the air around him turned cold.
Lou Yue ignored him and closed her eyes, using her spiritual sense to locate Liufeng Xin. But the moment she searched, she discovered that Qiao Qiniang was in danger.
She abruptly grabbed Xiao Rangchen by the wrist and said solemnly, “Let’s go!”
In the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived at the second level, the Realm of Illusion and Reality.
The moment Lou Yue appeared, she swept one hand through the air. An ice blade cleaved toward the two people attacking Qiao Qiniang.
The two were scions of prominent families. They had seen Lou Yue and Xiao Rangchen earlier, during the contest before the core area, and knew they could not afford to provoke them. They immediately activated their magical artifacts and fled as fast as they could.
Lou Yue’s attention was focused entirely on Qiao Qiniang, who had been stabbed in the abdomen, so she did not pursue them.
“Save the baby… Save him!” Qiao Qiniang collapsed on the ground, clutching the wound in her abdomen as blood continued to pour out. Tears streamed down her face. “Please, I can’t lose him…”
Lou Yue immediately turned to Xiao Rangchen. “Send your spiritual power into her and stabilize her injuries. I’ll bring Liufeng Xin here!”
Without waiting for Xiao Rangchen to respond, she took a step forward and vanished from sight.
Xiao Rangchen crouched down and continuously transferred spiritual power into Qiao Qiniang’s body through his palm.
“Brother Chen… I can’t… I can’t lose him! He’s the only blood Sixth Brother left behind in this world. I can’t lose him!”
Xiao Rangchen said in a deep voice, “Trust her.”
In less than fifteen minutes, Lou Yue reappeared with Liufeng Xin.
Liufeng Xin was still completely confused, but the moment she saw Qiao Qiniang’s condition, she rushed over to examine her.
“No. The stab wound severed the umbilical cord. The baby has to be removed immediately, or Qiniang herself won’t survive,” Liufeng Xin said urgently.
Lou Yue asked, “How many months?”
“Four.”
They both saw the gravity in each other’s eyes. How could a four-month-old fetus possibly survive after being removed from the womb?
Qiao Qiniang understood the danger as well. She wept uncontrollably. “Save him! Don’t worry about me. Just save the baby!”
“We’re saving both of you.” Lou Yue looked at Liufeng Xin. “Xin’er, think of a way. This is the cultivation world—there has to be a solution that can save you both.”
Before transmigrating, Liufeng Xin had not been a doctor. In the years since arriving in this world, she had focused mainly on refining pills. Being suddenly asked to save a pregnant woman made her panic, and her hands began to tremble.
The moment Lou Yue saw her wringing her hands and noticed her wandering gaze, she knew she was nervous.
She stepped forward and enclosed Liufeng Xin’s cool hands in both of hers. Her voice softened as she spoke slowly and steadily.
“Xin’er, you can do this. I’m here. I’ll help you. Whatever you need, I can get it for you.”
Looking at the steadfast and reliable sister who had always stood before her, Liufeng Xin’s panicked heart gradually settled.
She desperately searched through the texts in her mind, retracing the memories of this body. A moment later, her eyes lit up.
“There’s a way. The baby can still survive if we remove it.”
“But I also need a place with an extremely abundant and exceptionally pure concentration of spiritual energy—somewhere that can nourish the baby continuously.”
The hope Qiao Qiniang had only just kindled instantly dimmed again.
Places rich in spiritual energy had always been firmly controlled by the great aristocratic clans. Let alone an ordinary commoner like her—even the children of lesser noble families could not use them at will.
She wept in despair. “Heavens… are you truly going to take him from me?”
“There is one,” Lou Yue suddenly said. “I’ll take you there now.”
Qiao Qiniang suddenly froze, the dead light in her eyes rekindling.
Lou Yue took hold of Liufeng Xin’s hand. “I can only bring one person at a time. Qiniang, wait here. Xin’er, come take a look first and see whether the place is suitable.”
With that, the two of them vanished. After a while, Lou Yue returned, bent down, picked up Qiao Qiniang, and flashed away again.
Xiao Rangchen stood alone where he was. He waited for some time, yet Lou Yue still did not return.
The surroundings were deathly silent. The hand hanging at his side slowly clenched into a fist.
“What’s with that expression?”
A familiar voice rang out, carrying a hint of teasing and a hint of languid amusement.
Xiao Rangchen’s clenched hand abruptly relaxed. He raised his eyes and looked over.
A trace of laughter appeared in Lou Yue’s eyes as she teased, “I was wondering whose abandoned puppy this was.”
Xiao Rangchen did not argue. He merely lowered his gaze and said in a low voice, “You took so long to come back.”
Something in Lou Yue’s heart softened. She walked over, took hold of his wrist, and led him away.
The place she had mentioned was the leafless tree from which they had previously plucked the inheritance fruit.
What followed went even more smoothly than they had expected.
They enveloped the child’s tiny body in a barrier, then used the gu insects and a magic array to draw out the spiritual energy from the tree and transform it into the nourishment the child needed to grow.
When Qiao Qiniang saw that the child showed no signs of discomfort, the tension that had kept her wound tight finally eased, and she drifted into a drowsy sleep.
Liufeng Xin suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around Lou Yue. “I did it! I did it! I did it!”
Lou Yue’s eyes curved into a smile. She hugged her back and laughed. “Mm. I told you that you could do it.”
Still clinging to her, Liufeng Xin laughed and jumped for joy. “That’s wonderful! I—”
Her voice cut off the instant she met the icy gaze behind Lou Yue.
She immediately lowered her head and buried it against Lou Yue’s chest, whispering, “Girl, what’s going on? Why is Long Aotian here too?”
Lou Yue: “...Isn’t it a little late for you to notice?”
Liufeng Xin: “Why are you with him?”
Lou Yue: “That’s a long story.”
Liufeng Xin: “Then give me the short version.”
Lou Yue simply changed the subject. “Haven’t you noticed anything else unusual? I obtained the inheritance.”
Liufeng Xin immediately gave her a thumbs-up. “Girl, you’re amazing.” Then she turned back to the matter at hand. “I just don’t understand. Why does he look at me more viciously every time? I felt like I’d already been hacked to pieces by his gaze.”
“Why don’t you go check on Qiniang?” Lou Yue suggested casually.
Liufeng Xin eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then decided she must have been imagining things. She nodded and walked toward the simple bed placed nearby.
Only then did Lou Yue turn around and glance at the person behind her.
Xiao Rangchen approached step by step and stopped less than a pace behind her.
Lou Yue lowered her voice. “Why do you keep looking at her like that?”
Silence fell behind her. After a long while, his deep, cold voice sounded.
“I’m not a saint.”
“You two hug each other like that, and you expect me to pretend I don’t see it? Lou Yue, I can’t do that.”
To this day, Xiao Rangchen still believed that she was a man. From his perspective, she and Liufeng Xin were not sworn sisters but lovers entangled in a romantic affair.
She thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you think I’m two-timing you?”
There was no answer from behind her for a long time.
Just as Lou Yue thought he would not reply, that deep, low voice slowly rang out.
“If this is the only way to make you see me…”
“I’m willing.”
“To be the second boat.”
Lou Yue turned around and stared at him in surprise.
Xiao Rangchen’s expression was grim. Bloodshot veins threaded through his eyes, his jaw was tightly clenched, and his lips were pressed into a hard, cold line.
