Chapter 7

"Brother!"

Xiao Aiai hurried down the steps in no time.

The hard, cold lines on Xiao Rangchen's face softened a little, and he stepped forward to meet her.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Xiao Aiai said, already bending over to check the blackened, burnt wound, only to be pulled back by Xiao Rangchen.

"It's nothing." His tone was calm and unconcerned.

"Don't try to fool me!" Xiao Aiai's pretty brows knit into a tight frown, huffing angrily. "No matter how bad your injury is, you always downplay it as a casual 'nothing'."

Xiao Rangchen patted her gently to soothe her. "It really is nothing. Don't you trust me?"

Xiao Aiai dodged his hand, her eyes stubborn. "It's already in such a state, and you still say it's nothing. I could clearly help, but you always treat me like a little kid!"

Xiao Rangchen paused for a moment. "As long as your big brother is here, Aiai, all you need to do is be happy. I promised Mother I would protect you forever."

Xiao Aiai looked straight into his eyes, her expression earnest. "Brother, I've already decided to go to Xuandu with her."

Xiao Rangchen's hand, which had been hanging mid-air, dropped to his side. "Aiai, her words can't be trusted."

"She didn't even persuade me. I came to this decision on my own." Xiao Aiai bit her lower lip.

"No, I won't allow it." Xiao Rangchen's face darkened, his tone turning sharp. "Lou Yue is frivolous and unrestrained, no good person at all. If you follow her, you'll only get hurt." He stared at Xiao Aiai, pressing her in a low, stern voice. "Is it because you have a crush on her?"

Xiao Aiai's almond eyes went wide. Unbidden, the memory of that day when sunlight streamed through the window and fell on Lou Yue's profile flashed through her mind. Her cheeks burned instantly, and she quickly turned her face away to deny it. "No! Brother, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Xiao Rangchen had watched Xiao Aiai grow up, so that flustered, shy look could not be hidden from him. Remembering how Lou Yue had tricked and teased him the day before, his lips pressed into a tight straight line, and his voice carried clear irritation. "You are not allowed to go with her!"

"Why not?" Xiao Aiai was so angry and upset that her eyes turned red.

"Don't be fooled by her appearance. Even if she's a little interested in you right now, with her flighty, romantic nature, how long do you think that will last?" Every word he said was laced with overpowering firmness. "Aiai, stay far away from her."

But his warnings did no good at all. Xiao Aiai stood her ground firmly. "No matter what you say, I'm going to Xuandu with her."

"We can go there by ourselves."

"It's not the same!" Following him would only be a burden to her, and the only way to get the rare Buyan Flower that grew in Xuandu was to go with Lou Yue. "Brother, stop talking. I won't go with you!"

Xiao Rangchen only thought she had been bewitched by Lou Yue. His anger toward Lou Yue flared up even more, and he reached out to grab Xiao Aiai's wrist, determined to take her away by force.

Just then, a group of people stepped down from the cloud boat.

Little Qiu walked at the front. His eyes landed on their clasped wrists, and he wore a smiling, obsequious expression. "Have you two finished your talk? My master is here to ask for Miss Xiao's decision."

"Aiai." Xiao Rangchen's voice was icy and commanding.

Xiao Aiai gritted her teeth, looked up at Little Qiu, and said, "My decision hasn't changed."

Little Qiu smiled and stepped to the side, holding his hand out in a gesture of invitation.

"Brother, I'll come back for you." Xiao Aiai gave Xiao Rangchen one last look, steeled her heart, and turned to step quickly onto the cloud boat.

Xiao Rangchen's expression instantly turned stormy. He lifted his foot to chase after her, but two guards blocked his path.

"Young Master Xiao," Little Qiu's voice rang out from behind the guards. "My master told me to remind you not to forget the agreement."

As if sensing something, Xiao Rangchen suddenly looked up toward the top deck of the cloud boat.

The morning sun was just rising, spilling thousands of golden rays that gilded the magnificent cloud boat with a shimmering edge. The carved doors of the top cabin were wide open, and Lou Yue, dressed in a new red robe, was leaning lazily on the white jade railing.

Her uninjured right hand propped casually under her chin, the corner of her lips tugged up in a half-smirk, half-amused arc. The sidelong gaze in her eyes carried an innate air of noble arrogance, glowing like a burning fire under the golden sunlight, bright and scorching.

The formation patterns carved into the hull lit up one after another, and as streams of light coursed across its surface, the cloud boat slowly lifted off the ground, kicking up a strong gust of wind.

The wind blew straight against Xiao Rangchen's face, tangling the stray locks of hair over his forehead.

He stood rooted to the spot, his gaze trailing the cloud boat as it pulled further and further away, until it vanished completely into the thick layers of clouds.

"Woof?"

Xiao Rangchen bent down to pick up Qinglin, brushing the fallen leaves off its back. "It's nothing."

"Woof woof woof!"

"I'm not giving up," a flash of unyielding stubbornness flickered in Xiao Rangchen's eyes. "If the mountain will not come to me, I will go to the mountain." Even if he had to walk every step of the way, he would still reach Xuandu.

Qinglin nuzzled his palm, then suddenly froze and tilted its head to stare at the sky. Xiao Rangchen looked up too—

Beneath the sprawling morning glow, the cloud boat burst out from the depths of the clouds wrapped in warm golden light, dragging a trail of crimson-gold radiance as it descended right in front of him.

Xiao Rangchen's gaze swept past the empty white jade railing at the top deck and landed on the group of people who had just stepped off the boat.

Little Qiu wore a wide, ingratiating grin on his face. "Young Master Xiao, my young master couldn't bear to see Miss Xiao sad, so he specially invites you to ride the cloud boat with us to Xuandu."

Xiao Rangchen froze for a moment. He could not figure out what devious scheme Lou Yue was cooking up this time, but getting to travel to Xuandu together was the best possible outcome for him. The moment his foot touched the boat deck, the cloud boat swayed gently before shooting straight up into the air, darting into the clouds in the blink of an eye, so fast it seemed to leave no room for anyone to change their mind.

Meanwhile, in the luxurious top cabin of the cloud boat.

Lou Yue sat on the edge of the bed draped in snow fox fur, her eyes blazing like a wildfire. "What a Heaven’s Chosen One, indeed!"

She had felt a killing urge toward Xiao Rangchen, and the heavens had struck her with a lightning bolt.

She had tossed him off the cloud boat, and another bolt had struck her.

Just a moment ago, when she had abandoned him to leave with Xiao Aiai, the heavens had hit her with three lightning bolts in a row! If her control over spiritual power had not grown so much more skillful by now, she would have been charred to a crisp the very first time.

"Five lightning bolts, huh," she gritted her teeth. "I'm keeping count." Not to mention that other account of getting her butt dragged earlier. Even if Xiao Rangchen was just getting back at her for whipping him back then, she was never going to swallow that anger.

Lou Yue punched down hard, her voice ringing with sharp resolve. "Xiao Rangchen, this is just the start of settling the scores between us!"

"Why are you punching me when you want to vent your anger on the guy downstairs?" Xuanba poked its head out from under her fist, its tone dripping with exasperation.

Lou Yue grabbed it at once and held it right up to her face. "Why shouldn't I punch you? What were you doing when I was getting struck by lightning?"

"You were enjoying the show!" Lou Yue laughed angrily. "Were you just waiting for me to kick the bucket so you could get a new master?"

Xuanba flicked its long tail, sounding completely unconcerned. "You're not going to die. Besides, you'd better get used to this as soon as possible."

"You're cursing me to get struck by lightning every day from now on?!" Lou Yue could not believe her ears.

Xuanba simply tucked its head back into its turtle shell, refusing to engage with this nonsensical conversation.

Lou Yue stared at the bright red mark that looked just like the number 8 on its turtle shell, remembering the name she had blurted out when she fell off the boat earlier. A wicked smirk spread across her face. "Heh, I've unilaterally decided your new name is Xuanba! The 'ba' part is the same character as in 'turtle'."

Xuanba, the bastard, did not respond at all, acting like it was just going to laze around and not even care if its master lived or died. Lou Yue huffed in frustration, thinking that the original owner of this body really had led a pathetic life.

A contractual beast that was not even loyal to her, obsequious attendants, a father who never bothered to look after anything...

She flopped down heavily, then rolled over onto her stomach on the soft mattress, poking at the patterns on Xuanba's shell as she pondered. There was no way around bringing Xiao Rangchen to Xuandu now, but she was not about to just swallow all this resentment and let it go.

The original story only gave a brief account of Xiao Rangchen's journey to Xuandu, but he was destined to make a name for himself on the day of the Enlightenment under the Longevity Birthday Ancient Tree. Not only would he obtain the Buyan Flower that could restore broken spiritual veins, but later, he would also enter the "Queyun Sheng" and gain his golden finger — a senior expert living in his consciousness. The original host of this body was the one who suffered a crushing defeat to Xiao Rangchen at the ancient tree enlightenment, only to later discover that the white moonlight he had long admired had taken a special liking to Xiao Rangchen. It was that exact moment that twisted his resentment into a lifelong, all-consuming grudge.

But no one knew if it was the effect of Lou Yue crossing over into this world, or some other unknown factor, she had met Xiao Rangchen far earlier than the plot dictated. As if it was a punishment, or perhaps a necessary measure to keep the storyline on track, the Heavenly Dao forced her to bring Xiao Rangchen along to Xuandu.

In fact, judging from the five thunderbolts that had struck down earlier, it was true as Xuanba had said — those strikes were never meant to kill her. Maybe she could try once more to...

Lou Yue's fingers, which had been picking at the tortoise shell, suddenly paused, and she quickly cast that thought aside. There was no telling if the Heavenly Dao would unleash even harsher punishments next time, and more importantly...

All at once, Xiao Rangchen's cold, stern face popped into her mind.

Lou Yue ground her teeth, mentally crushing that imaginary face to pieces. More importantly, she, Lou Yue, could never be no match for Xiao Rangchen! How could she admit defeat before the game had even properly started?

"I am definitely going to beat Xiao Rangchen!" Lou Yue declared with full, bold resolve. She unceremoniously dumped Xuanba aside, jumped to her feet, and immediately began to cultivate.

A breeze drifted in from the depths of the sea of clouds, carrying a faint, crisp dampness that made the pennants hanging on both sides of the cloud boat snap sharply in the wind. Little Qiu led Xiao Rangchen past the flapping pennants and down to the cloud boat's lower cabin.

The lower cabin was divided into dozens of small rooms meant for the guards and maids. Each room housed eight people, fitted with two-tier wooden bunk beds, only partitioned off by rough linen curtains for a modicum of privacy.

Little Qiu stopped in front of one of the rooms that was not yet full. "I apologize for the humble arrangements, Young Master Xiao. Your meals will be sent to you here on time." There was a meaningful glint in Little Qiu's smile. "There are so many people on this cloud boat that rumors spread easily. I would advise you not to wander around without good reason, and especially not to meet people you have no business seeing. My young master has made it clear that once we arrive in Xuandu, you are free to leave whenever you wish, no need to report to anyone."

He deliberately observed Xiao Rangchen's expression as he spoke, and only after seeing that the man's cold face did not show the slightest ripple of emotion did he bow slightly and turn to leave.

Xiao Rangchen's eyes darkened. Lou Yue's intentions were still unclear, but those words had made it obvious that she was forbidding him from meeting Xiao Aiai. The very thought of Lou Yue stirred up an inexplicable restlessness in his chest, making him feel unwell all over.

He suppressed that discomfort, swept his gaze across the cabin, casually picked an upper bunk, and flipped himself up onto it. He had slept out in the wilderness before, and laid on frozen cold ground, so these conditions were already more than good enough. If Lou Yue had hoped to make things difficult for him with this, her plan was completely futile.

Qinglin let out a soft, whimpering cry. Xiao Rangchen whispered to soothe it to go back, and Qinglin, its little head drooping, transformed into a streak of cyan light and darted into his chest to hide away.

Using the linen curtain as cover, Xiao Rangchen loosened his belt and took off his outer robes.

The dim light outlined his firm, tall shoulders and back, the lines sharp and hard, brimming with raw power. Dozens of old and new scars crisscrossed across his back, and there was a piercing through wound on his right chest, the flesh around it turned outward, dark and gray.

Xiao Rangchen bit down on a strip of coarse cloth, and with deft, practiced movements, used his dagger to cut away the rotting dead flesh, his other hand quickly sprinkling hemostatic medicinal powder over the wound. After resting for a short moment, he lifted his arm to reach behind his back to treat the other end of the piercing wound. Since his view was blocked, his movements slowed a little, and the coarse cloth in his teeth was crumpled out of shape.

After he finished treating the wounds on his upper body, he followed the exact same process to deal with the purple flame burns on his legs. By the time all his injuries were properly bandaged, he released the cloth from his jaws, leaned against the cabin board, and panted softly. Beads of sweat dripped down his sharp jawline and onto his abdomen.

A strange, faint tickle came from his stomach. Xiao Rangchen slowly lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and picked out a slightly curled dark strand of hair from the crevice of his abdominal muscles.

In an instant, he knew exactly who it belonged to.

He flicked it away forcefully, then rubbed his fingertips against the fabric of his clothes.

After a moment, he twisted it again. After quite a while, he clicked his tongue in exasperation.

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Xiao Rangchen: This hair is just as annoying as its owner.