Chapter 31

Dark, heavy shadows roiled in Xiao Rangchen's eyes.

Lou Yue found herself frozen in place, caught fast by that gaze.

The next moment, Xiao Rangchen lowered his eyes, hiding all those murky shadows away.

Lou Yue snapped back to her senses.

A moment of silence stretched between them.

After a while, she hopped down to the ground on one foot, her Manifestation Square coalescing into a long staff in her grip. Limping, she walked around him.

Seeing that he was still standing rooted to the spot, she spoke without turning her head, deliberately lacing her tone with lightness, "What, have you suddenly decided the scenery here is nice?"

Xiao Rangchen did not answer. He walked over silently, his eyelashes hanging low, and a cold chill seemed to settle over his whole body, as if he had reverted back to the aloof man he had been before.

This ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‍was the way he had always been, yet Lou Yue felt strangely unaccustomed to it all at once.

The two walked one after the other along the path strewn with bones, neither of them saying a word.

After a long while, Lou Yue could not hold it in any longer and turned around. "You're trailing behind me, don't you find that slow?"

The clear thing they needed to do right now was move quickly, find the path to the core zone, and get out of this godforsaken place.

With one of her legs injured, she could not pick up the pace. As a perfectly able-bodied man, why couldn't he go scout the nearby area first? With his speed, by the time she walked a few hundred meters, he could have already surveyed the entire surrounding area.

Yet the able-bodied man replied indifferently to her words, "I'm in no hurry."

Lou Yue: "..." But she was in a hurry, very much so!

Lou Yue took a deep breath, turned back around, and continued moving forward, straining to speed up her steps. Her staff tapped against the hard ground, leaving a string of crisp "clack clack" sounds.

She pushed her perception to its absolute limit, searching for any possible clues.

In the book, Long Aotian spent five years in the Wasteland. The four great clans discovered the ancient sage ruins hidden in the Wasteland in his fifth year there. Even though the current timeline was much earlier, the settings of the ruins and the inheritance should not have changed.

Entering the core zone was when the inheritance trials truly began. Most of the book's plot was set in the core zone, and after the male lead entered the ruins, he only stayed briefly in the inner zone before heading straight into the core zone.

Before they came, she and Liufeng Xin had sorted through the Wasteland plot she remembered. But the book was a thousand chapters long, with countless settings packed into its pages, and the parts she could recall were all related to the core zone. She could not remember a single detail about this inner zone right now.

Originally, it would have been best to let Xiao Rangchen, who had the male lead's protagonist halo buff, find the way out. After all, he was blessed with immense luck. But this man was just not cooperating.

Lou Yue looked at the fork in the road ahead, then turned to glance at the man beside her who was strolling along as if he had all the time in the world. She asked him, annoyed, "Which way do we take?"

The man paused for a moment, then said, "Either is fine."

"Which way does your gut feeling say leads to the exit?"

The man stared at her, as if trying to find the reason behind her odd decision to ask for his opinion on her face.

"Hurry up and answer, use your gut feeling," Lou Yue urged him.

"You trust my gut feeling?"

Lou Yue nodded. Of course she did. This man came with a built-in buff, and trusting him meant tapping into that good luck.

Seeing her eager expression to find the exit, Xiao Rangchen stayed silent for a short moment, then pointed to a path opposite to what his actual gut feeling told him. "Left."

Lou Yue moved down the left path, her staff making that familiar "clack clack" sound.

Half an hour later, staring at the dead end right in front of her, Lou Yue glared at the man beside her and ground her teeth out, "Did you deliberately point me the wrong way?!"

Xiao Rangchen met her sharp, accusing gaze, and calmly denied it, "No."

Lou Yue was full of suspicion. She stared hard at his face, trying to find any trace that he was lying, but he already had a naturally impassive expression, and half of his face was covered by a mask. There was simply no hint of anything out of the ordinary to spot.

Lou Yue looked back at the towering mountain of bones stacked right in front of her.

There was no reason for Xiao Rangchen to lie to her about finding the exit. Dragging their way would not benefit him in the slightest.

Could it be that the exit was actually hidden inside the pile of bones? Was it that well-concealed?

Xiao Rangchen saw her staring so intently at the pile of bones that she looked like she was about to burn a hole right through it, and said softly, "Let's go, we'll take the other path."

Lou Yue did not move.

After a moment, he heard her say very seriously, "The exit is very likely hidden inside this pile of bones."

She turned to look at him. "Go clear away all these bones and search for the exit." Her expression and tone were completely earnest and certain, not like she was joking at all.

Xiao Rangchen stared at her, momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing that he still did not react, a clear look of exasperation crept into her eyes. "You wouldn't make an injured patient like me do it, would you?"

Xiao Rangchen was about to speak, but stopped himself.

The disdain in Lou Yue's eyes was almost spilling over. "Fine, if you won't go, I'll do it myself!"

Xiao Rangchen pressed down the long staff she had raised, pressed his lips together, and finally relented. "...Fine, I'll go."

Lou Yue finally deigned to look at him properly. "Hurry up," she said. Then she picked out a relatively clean piece of bone nearby to sit on, and raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you waiting for? Go on!"

Xiao Rangchen lifted his head, his gaze falling on the pile of bones that was more than ten zhang tall and stretched for three li across.

"Go now!" Lou Yue urged him again, not forgetting to add a reminder, "Be careful when you move the bones. The exit could be hidden on any single bone, so keep your perception spread out the whole time."

"..." Was it too late for him to be honest right now?

Over an hour later, Lou Yue, who had been sitting upright at first, had long since sprawled out on her side. She called out loudly, suspicious, "You're not slacking off, are you?"

The pile of bones had almost been flattened to the ground, and there was still no sign of an exit. That made it really hard for her to believe he was working hard.

The tip of the spear Xiao Rangchen was using to move the bones paused. He straightened up, put his spear away, and glanced sideways at Lou Yue, who was supervising his work while lazing around comfortably. The words that came to his mind—why don't you come over here and try this—turned into, "...No, I'm not."

Yu Youchun, who had been watching the whole time: "..."

"When did you stop being the Wasteland Asura that everyone feared a year ago? You've turned into a total henpecked husband! You're a man, stand up for yourself, get mad at her!" Yu Youchun fumed inside his head.

Xiao Rangchen lowered his head and continued to move the bones. [As long as she can stay by my side like this, I don't care what I have to do.]

Yu Youchun felt both heartbroken and pained for him. He howled silently at the sky, then simply shut off his five senses so he would not have to see this scene that pained his eyes.

In the end, they still did not find any exit. Lou Yue had to admit that even Long Aotian's protagonist buff could fail sometimes.

They set off on their path again. This time, Lou Yue no longer asked for Xiao Rangchen's gut feeling, and instead decided which path to take by the divination method of tossing a stone to see which side landed face up.

As it turned out, that little bit of mysticism actually worked.

They arrived at a huge sunken basin. On the ground overgrown with dry grass and dead branches stood several giant eggs as tall as two people, their shells dark brown. In the middle of the cluster of eggs, there was a fist-sized gray stone, its surface shimmering faintly with a golden glow.

Lou Yue recognized that it was the Starstone that was supposed to appear in the core zone in the book, an item that could raise the quality of a magic weapon by a huge margin. Long Aotian had gotten it and used it directly on his spear.

She darted a quick sidelong glance at Xiao Rangchen, who was surveying his surroundings, then bent over abruptly, her fingers moving as fast as lightning to tuck the Starstone into her storage ring.

Her movements were smooth and fluid. Then she straightened up, pretending to sigh casually, "Wow, these eggs are huge."

A faint trace of a smile flickered across Xiao Rangchen's eyes.

Lou Yue had no idea he had seen through her. She circled the eggs slowly, her fingertips brushing against the rough eggshell as if she was looking at them out of curiosity, while secretly thinking to herself who she could find later to forge the Starstone into her Manifestation Square.

Just then, a loud, clear cry suddenly rang out from the sky. The sound waves shook the bones all around them until they hummed, and bits of broken bone came tumbling down.

Xiao Rangchen's expression turned sharp in an instant. He swept Lou Yue up into his arms, pushed off the ground hard with his toes, and carried her speeding off into the distance.

Lou Yue's body was suddenly lifted into the air. She wrapped her arms around his neck instinctively, too caught off guard to think about anything else. The howling gale in her ears and the sharp cry echoing from the sky made her heart leap up to her throat.

A ferocious Wasteland bone eagle came diving toward them, sharp piercing sounds tearing through the air. Lou Yue summoned her Illusory Conjuration Shield to guard their rear.

"Bang!" The eagle's talons slammed hard against the conjuration shield. The terrifying brute force sent a backlash surging through Lou Yue, and a coppery taste rose instantly in her throat.

Xiao Rangchen glanced down at her pale face, then pushed his speed even higher, holding her as he wove nimbly through the narrow gaps between the giant ancient skeletons.

The bone eagle stayed hot on their heels. Its wings, several spans wide, beat out fierce gusts of wind that shook the surrounding bones. Its sharp beak snapped through a thick bone pillar, and its massive body squeezed through the narrow crevice, refusing to let the two escape.

Lou Yue huffed in irritation. "Why won't this thing just give up!"

Xiao Rangchen's voice drifted to her ears through the wind, laced with a faint teasing tone. "You stole its baby's precious treasure, and you don't expect it to chase you to get it back?"

Lou Yue choked. So he had seen her hiding the star rock earlier.

Suddenly, the bone eagle let out a long, shrill cry toward the sky. Lou Yue's brows knitted immediately. "It's calling for its companions."

One of these things was already a nightmare to deal with. If a whole flock showed up, there would be no way they could outrun them.

Lou Yue spread out her senses, and caught the trace of a lake not far away. She quickly urged Xiao Rangchen to change direction.

The lake water was a dark, eerie crimson. Lou Yue hesitated for a split second, but Xiao Rangchen had already leapt into the water with her in his arms.

She hurriedly held her breath, as the sharp eagle talons barely broke the surface right where they had been, swiping past their sides and sending waves surging outward.

Xiao Rangchen tightened his hold around her waist, pulling her deeper into the water.

The shrill cries of the bone eagles came muffled from the surface above. The talons kept stabbing down again and again, churning the red water, and showed no sign of stopping for a long time.

The water pressure built up, and Lou Yue's chest grew more and more starved for air. A dull, swollen pain spread through her lungs.

She suddenly pried Xiao Rangchen's hand off her waist, twisting to break free and swim toward the surface.

Confused by her reaction, Xiao Rangchen grabbed her wrist and pulled her right back.

In her struggle, Lou Yue knocked the half-mask off his face, but she had no mind to pay attention to it right then. All she could think about was getting up to breathe.

Xiao Rangchen realized in an instant that she could no longer hold her breath. He had forgotten that Lou Yue had never trained her body to the same level as his, which allowed him to stay underwater for a full day without needing air.

He pulled Lou Yue close, his dark eyes fixed intently on her face.

The second Lou Yue saw that look on his face, the classic underwater air-kiss trope from all those romance dramas popped straight into her head. Her eyes went wide, and the moment he leaned in slightly toward her, she didn't hesitate to slam her palm hard against his chest.

Try to take advantage of her? Over my dead body!

The shove carried quite a bit of force. It didn't push him away, but she used the recoil to propel herself upward toward the surface.

Xiao Rangchen froze for a moment, and by the time he reached for her again, it was already too late.

Lou Yue quickly observed the pattern of the stabbing talons above, spotted a gap, and darted up to gulp a huge breath of fresh air before diving right back under.

She swam back to Xiao Rangchen's side, not forgetting to throw him a sidelong glance, a little smug glint in her eyes.

Xiao Rangchen looked at her bright, unruly expression, and a faint, soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Lou Yue repeated the trick twice more, stealing breaths when the eagle talons were out of the way, before the flock of bone eagles finally flew off.

She surfaced, watching the dark shapes of the birds vanish completely over the horizon, and let out a long, relieved breath. When she turned back, her eyes locked right onto Xiao Rangchen's, who had just turned his head too.

Back in the water earlier, all her attention had been on holding her breath and dodging the eagles, and the light had been too dim to see him clearly.

Now, in the bright daylight, every line of his face was sharp and clear.

His brow was as striking as ever. Drops of water slid slowly down the crisp, sharp line of his cheekbone, fell onto his straight, high nose bridge, then rolled over his thin lips, leaving a glistening sheen.

Lou Yue suddenly remembered the way he had looked two years ago, when he was dragged out of her water prison. Back then, his face had still held unyielding cold arrogance and ferocity, refusing to bow no matter what.

Two years had passed since then. Time had worn away the last of his youthful harshness, and his features had grown even deeper and more defined. The sharp, icy edge to him had softened into something far more calm and restrained.

She was looking at him, and he was looking right back, his eyes never leaving her face.

Those sharp, bright eyes of his held a depth like a whirlpool in a dark pool, heavy and hypnotic, as if they wanted to drag every part of her down into them to sink together.

The wind swept across the lake, rippling the crimson water, and disturbing the air between them.

A warm, thick haze wrapped around their breaths. Something new grew quietly as their gazes tangled, like spring water overflowing its banks, brushing light against the heart, sending tiny ripples spreading out.

Lou Yue snapped her eyes away at once, pressing down the strange, fluttering feeling that had just sprung up in her chest. After a short moment of silence, she said, "Let's get out of the water."

"Mm."

The voice was so low and deep that Lou Yue's fingertips trembled for no reason.

Xiao Rangchen lifted his hand, intending to wrap it around her waist, but at the last second, he rested it on her wrist through their soaked clothes, leading her toward the shore.

Lou Yue deliberately ignored the strong, firm feel of his hand on her wrist, and the second they stepped onto solid ground, she pulled her hand away quickly.

The red dye from the lake had stained their clothes, which clung to their skin and felt horribly uncomfortable. She shook her hem in disgust, not noticing at all how the wet fabric clung to her figure, and what that sight must look like to the man beside her.

Xiao Rangchen had no idea how Lou Yue had managed to change her appearance into that of a woman, but the disguise was undeniably perfect.

He swallowed hard, forcing his gaze back up to her face. But then a drop of pale red water slid down her temple, across the soft line of her neck, and dripped into the hollow of her delicate collarbone. His eyes turned dark as ink, and he forgot to breathe for a second.

"I need to change my clothes," Lou Yue said suddenly, looking up at him.

Xiao Rangchen's lashes fell to cover his eyes immediately.

Lou Yue threw him a confused glance, then scanned the surroundings for a hidden spot. The lakeshore was nothing but scattered skeletons, until her eyes landed on a giant beast skull sitting high up on a rise. The eye sockets of the skull were dimly lit, and while it looked a little spooky, it was far more private than the wide open space down here. The only problem was that it was quite high up, and with her injured leg, she would never be able to leap up there on her own.

She was hesitating about looking for another spot, when suddenly she was pulled tight against a firm chest. A faint, crisp scent of frost and snow wrapped around her completely.

He had carried her before, but back then all her attention had been on the chasing bone eagles. This time was different.

The warmth of their pressed bodies seeped through the soaked fabric, and his arms, one wrapped around her back and the other under her legs, were strong and solid, the lines of his muscles clear even through the clothes.

Every nerve in Lou Yue's body went taut.

Xiao Rangchen bounded up to the beast skull Lou Yue had spotted, and set her down on the flat top of it.

He was about to speak, but Lou Yue had already turned around, limping quickly into the left eye socket. He stared at her retreating back for a second, then stepped into the right one.

The two eye sockets were deep, making two separate little private spaces.

He didn't start changing his clothes right away. He just leaned back against the cold bone of the skull, loosened the collar of his shirt, and closed his eyes to steady his racing breath.

Separated only by a thin wall of bone, on the other side, Lou Yue had her hand pressed to her lips, leaning back against the skull in a daze.

She felt like something was very wrong with her. The thudding of her own heart was so loud it was almost deafening.

After a while, she exhaled a long breath, pushing all the distracting thoughts from her mind away, and reached to peel off her wet clothes.

On the other side, Xiao Rangchen also undid his belt.

A moment later, both of them froze.

The back of the skull's eye sockets were connected, and the hollow bone chamber carried every sound with an echo. The soft rustle of fabric, the faint slippery sound of wet clothes peeling off skin, all tangled and echoed through the empty bone space, sounding exactly like something else entirely.

Every single hair on Lou Yue's body stood on end, especially since she had just taken off her wet clothes and was completely bare at the moment.

It felt as if she could smell the crisp, cold scent of frost and snow again.

Lou Yue fumbled frantically to dig out a set of clothes from her storage ring, putting it on as fast as she could. She did not even bother to slip her shoes on properly before she hopped and scurried in a few quick steps, almost fleeing from that eye socket.

The clattering, tangled sounds from inside the bone cavity gradually faded away, leaving only a faint echo drifting softly around the space.

Xiao Rangchen looked down at his own fingers, which were frozen mid-air. After a long pause, he slowly lifted his hand and continued to tie up his inner garment, his movements far slower than they had been earlier.

Once he finished dressing, he leaned back against that bone wall again, and this time, he did not move at all for a very long while.

Lou Yue stood at the front of the skull, letting the cool breeze blow over her for a good while before she finally managed to suppress that strange, rising heat.

She lifted a hand to tuck the damp strands of hair stuck to her cheek aside, her gaze wandering idly over the distant bone wasteland, until it suddenly locked in place at a glance.

Beneath the sky at the very end of her line of sight, a ring of golden light hung suspended. It did not carry the vicious aura of a ferocious beast, but instead emitted a soft, gentle glow that stood out sharply against the dusky, gray expanse of this bone-strewn land.

The moment Xiao Rangchen stepped out, he heard Lou Yue's voice, bright with delight, ring out, "I found the exit!"

His footsteps came to an abrupt halt.