But the two of them were currently playing the roles of a young lady and her little maid.
Now that the little maid couldn’t work, they couldn’t possibly let the young lady handle trouble herself, right?
That would be seriously weird, okay.
“Simple, you play the young lady, and I’ll be the maid.”
Linglong didn’t see any problem with this. Wasn’t it just switching identities? Easy as pie.
Right now, Hua Jian looked like a little maid only because the clothes she wore were completely different from Linglong’s.
If they swapped outfits, Hua Jian could definitely pull off the young lady role.
At most, it’d be a switch from Linglong’s aloof style to Hua Jian’s mischievous little devil flavor—either way, both were young ladies.
“This…”
“Just do whatever I say, got it?” Seeing Hua Jian still a bit hesitant, Linglong immediately adopted her employer’s manner.
No need for so much willingness or unwillingness—the one who paid to hire Hua Jian was her, so shouldn’t Hua Jian do whatever she was told?
What, can’t the boss even enjoy a good fight when she wants to?
“Fine, but wait until we leave here. It’s not great to switch identities in front of all these people.”
Now that Linglong was using their roles to talk, Hua Jian had no room to refuse, and could only nod in agreement.
That strange feeling after killing someone… what on earth was that?
All night, Hua Jian tried to recall that sensation, but even as the sun rose the next day, she still hadn’t found it again.
It was as if it had been a dream—a dream that vanished completely the moment she awoke.
The morning sunlight warmed her face as Hua Jian opened her eyes and looked around.
Thanks to her show of strength the previous day, nobody dared come near to test her temper.
However… Though people didn’t approach, a rather fearless big white rabbit had somehow wandered nearby, nibbling grass while keeping a wary eye on her… and on Linglong beside her.
There was a glimmer of spiritual energy in the rabbit’s eyes, but not much. It had only just managed to step into the Spirit Beast rank, the absolute bottom of the food chain.
Combat ability? Please. Hua Jian could crush it with one hand—there was nothing to say about its fighting prowess.
It seemed attracted by Hua Jian’s scent, but dared not approach due to the Dragon Might radiating from Linglong.
Leave? It couldn’t bear to part from Hua Jian’s floral fragrance. Approach? It was scared of Dragon Might. It was completely stuck in place, unable to move forward or back.
And this wasn’t an isolated case. Hua Jian glanced around and discovered that the number of Spirit Beasts near her was a whole order of magnitude greater than elsewhere.
They all hovered nearby, wanting to come closer but too afraid to.
Most were mild-mannered herbivorous Spirit Beasts, but there were a few fierce-looking carnivores as well.
Whenever Hua Jian approached, their eyes lit up.
And then, these Spirit Beasts opened their mouths at her.
“So you really just want to eat me, huh!”
She slapped a Spirit Beast at the Spirit Master level that had bared its teeth, sending its head lolling sideways.
Hua Jian felt she’d been too friendly with the Spirit Beasts.
She’d thought they wanted to be friends, but it turned out they were eyeing her as food. Was she supposed to tolerate that?
The urge to kill surged up inside her. Even knowing there was little to gain from wiping out these little things, she still wanted to bathe the place in blood!
Just as she was gathering spiritual power and about to strike, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.
“Did you forget what you promised me?”
Linglong stepped out from behind her, Dragon Might flowing gently from her body and scattering all the Spirit Beasts surrounding Hua Jian.
“They’re just Spirit Beasts, it doesn’t count as blood on my hands, does it?” Hua Jian scratched her head.
She really had promised Linglong she’d try not to use force, but surely Spirit Beasts didn’t count, right?
It might get her scolded, but Hua Jian honestly thought humans and Spirit Beasts were not the same; she hadn’t considered Spirit Beasts at all when making her promise.
Most cultivators thought this way.
But not Linglong.
“No. You can’t get blood on your hands right now—whether human or beast.” Linglong shook her head.
She wasn’t sure what had triggered Hua Jian’s strange state, so for now, she had to ban it across the board.
After all, if the Lingcaifeng Master’s guess was correct, then for Hua Jian, cultivators and Spirit Beasts were no different: both were just food and nourishment.
If Hua Jian got weird from killing people, wouldn’t killing Spirit Beasts have the same effect?
Best to nip such things in the bud.
“All right, all right, I really don’t get why you’re so cautious.”
“Better safe than sorry. Besides, you’re really important—I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Linglong gripped Hua Jian’s hand tightly in her own.
The warmth from Linglong’s palm seeped into Hua Jian’s body, making her feel a little light-headed for a moment.
But what Linglong said sounded… odd.
It was almost like a confession… Wait, was she really—
“So you really are interested in me!” Hua Jian sucked in a cold breath. The little dragon lady finally couldn’t resist her desires and wanted to make a move?
The atmosphere Linglong had painstakingly created was completely shattered by Hua Jian. Fuming, Linglong let go of Hua Jian’s hand and gave her a chop to the head.
That’s what you get for saying nonsense, I’ll beat you to death, you infuriating girl!
Really, at times like this, all she had to do was nod and look moved—did she have to open her mouth and ruin everything?
Linglong thought if she could just sew up Hua Jian’s lips, her popularity would go up a whole level.
One mouth, ruined the whole person!
Rubbing her head where she’d been inexplicably chopped, Hua Jian looked aggrieved. What did she say wrong? Why did she get hit again?
“It’s time to go. We should reach the edge of this area’s Core Zone today, and come face to face with that Big Faction’s cultivators.” Linglong, face cold, started walking ahead, then turned and said to Hua Jian, “When we reach a place with no one around, we’ll swap clothes.”
“Oh, oh! Don’t walk so fast, wait up!” Hua Jian hurried after Linglong.
Among the clothes Linglong had prepared for Hua Jian, there was indeed one set that could make her look like a wealthy young lady. Maybe Linglong had anticipated this scenario from the start?
But that outfit wasn’t Hua Jian’s favorite—too girly, she couldn’t move freely in it.
So after trying it once, she’d set it aside, never expecting to have to put it on today.
They walked for about an hour along the forest path before Linglong stopped, telling Hua Jian there was no one around and they could swap identities.
Changing clothes was easy. Hua Jian slapped a component of the Array of Bewilderment on the ground, activated her spiritual power, and colorful Magic Mist rose up to block any prying eyes.
It took only a few minutes to fetch clothes from the Storage Pouch and change. When Hua Jian retracted the Array of Bewilderment, their identities had swapped.
Now, Hua Jian looked every bit the young lady, while Linglong resembled a cold-faced bodyguard.
Actually, this combination made more sense than before. A mischievous young lady and an icy bodyguard fit the stereotype perfectly.
But Linglong still wasn’t quite satisfied with Hua Jian’s appearance. After circling her twice, she finally realized the problem.
Hua Jian’s hairstyle didn’t look like a young lady’s.
So Linglong took matters into her own hands, styling a slightly more complex hairdo for Hua Jian before nodding in satisfaction.
Hua Jian, however, had different opinions. She thought simpler hairstyles were better—wasn’t straight black hair lovely enough?
Other hairstyles were so much trouble.
But Linglong was the employer. What could Hua Jian do but obey?
“And don’t smile, keep a straight face…”
“I think that’s debatable. My style is different from yours!” For Linglong’s further demands, Hua Jian outright refused.
Her lively nature couldn’t be changed. She could fake seriousness for a short while, but for ten days or half a month? That would kill her.
Like a kitten, mischief was in her bones—forcing her to stop playing would only make her miserable.
Linglong glared at Hua Jian and, exasperated, pinched her cheeks twice.
“Ow!” Hua Jian’s eyes filled with tears.
Fake-crying and changing expressions—this was Hua Jian’s specialty. She could squeeze out tears in under a second.
But Linglong knew her too well and wasn’t buying it anymore.
“Let’s go!”
“Hey! I’m the young lady now. You, little bodyguard, should stand behind me!”
“I’m leading the way—is that a problem?”
“Hey! Makes sense, actually?”
After walking a bit further, Linglong’s brows furrowed. She felt something odd about the atmosphere nearby.
It was… too quiet.
They’d been walking a long time. Normally, they should have seen other cultivators searching for spiritual treasures, but there was no one in sight.
“Nobody wants this Lingcao growing right here?” Hua Jian’s gaze was already drawn to a Lingcao a short distance off the path.
The Lingcao brimmed with spiritual energy—a fine material even among Spirit Masters.
If sold, it’d fetch dozens of Spirit Stones, no problem.
A Lingcao like this shouldn’t be left here uncollected.
Cultivators ought to be fighting over it. Could it really be that they were the first to spot it?
The odds of that were so low that Linglong couldn’t believe it.
“I suspect it’s a trap—someone’s fishing for prey.” Hua Jian pointed at the Lingcao.
She herself was fond of setting up ‘fishing’ traps with Lingcao, so of course she’d be suspicious seeing such an obvious bait.
“Linglong, check here, here, and here—I think people might be hiding in these places.” Hua Jian swept her gaze around, quickly identifying several likely ambush spots.
But now, as the young lady, she couldn’t act herself—she could only send Linglong to check.
“Alright!”
With a flash, Linglong turned into a streak of lightning and zipped around the spots Hua Jian had indicated. She found no ambushers.
“Whoa, an expert! Linglong, let me tell you, our opponent this time is no ordinary foe—they managed to hide even from me.” Hua Jian grew interested. If not hidden in those places, then it was time to use her true skills.
Where could they be hiding…
“Here!”
“Here!”
“Still here?”
The Red Maple Leaves Hua Jian sent flying from her palm battered almost every big tree nearby, but not a soul was hit.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead. This enemy’s hiding skills were truly formidable—she couldn’t find them.
Could it be… they were underground?
Trying to be a potato landmine?
“Linglong, do you have a way to flush out someone hiding underground?”
This question made Linglong’s expression turn hopeless—this was truly her weak spot. She had no good way to deal with someone burrowed underground.
Thunder strikes wouldn’t reach, digging a hole… she was a lightning cultivator, not good at digging!
She was a dragon, not a mouse or rabbit! She couldn’t burrow!
“Looks like we can’t find them.” Hua Jian placed her hand on the ground, sending her spiritual power out as vines to feel around the Lingcao.
“Then I’ll try luring the snake out of its hole!”
She wanted to see just how patient the enemy was—let’s see if they’d let her just take the Lingcao.
But even as she used her Spirit Technique to remotely uproot the Lingcao, she wasn’t attacked, as if she’d been battling thin air.
Huh?
Finally, Hua Jian considered another possibility.
Could it be… there really was no one hiding, and it was all her own imagination?
“No way, someone really dropped the ball, huh!”
Hua Jian had Linglong go retrieve the Lingcao. When Linglong returned safely, she had to accept reality.
No scheme, no ambush—no one had discovered the Lingcao at all.
After putting the Lingcao away, Hua Jian gazed in melancholy at the mess of battered forest, feeling a bit sentimental.
After too many high-level matches, she really couldn’t get used to these beginner ones.