Dressed and ready, Lu Qiancha let Shangguan Yunzhu hold her little paw, carefully stepping along the winding stepping stones across the babbling stream.
“Yunzhu sister, where are we going?”
Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but glance back and asked softly. The warm village lights and voices gradually faded behind them.
“Shh~ it’s a secret.”
Shangguan Yunzhu held a pale white finger to her lips, a sly smile playing at the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, as if hiding a huge surprise.
Lu Qiancha sighed helplessly and had no choice but to follow her footsteps. They passed through a sparse patch of trees, and suddenly, the view opened up before them!
Sunlight like gauze gently draped a flourishing peach forest. The pink and white peach blossoms shimmered with a hazy glow under the soft light, and a sweet fragrance filled the moist air.
The scene felt as if they had stumbled into a long-forgotten immortal painting.
Shangguan Yunzhu lightly leapt up and picked a plump, nearly dew-laden peach.
With a slight motion of her fingertips, she rinsed it clean with water, smiling as she handed it to Lu Qiancha: “Try it! The peaches here are a unique delicacy!”
“Mm.”
Lu Qiancha took the peach, so big she had to hold it with both paws, and carefully bit into the tempting pink skin—
“Crunch!”
The crisp, tender flesh burst between her teeth. After swallowing, a faint but distinct milky aroma lingered on her lips and teeth.
The crisp texture paired with the sweet peach juice instantly won Lu Qiancha’s heart.
“So sweet!” A faint light flashed through Lu Qiancha’s deep blue eyes.
“Hehe~” Shangguan Yunzhu folded her arms proudly, chin raised slightly.
“I tasted all the peach trees around here and found this to be the absolute best. Within ten miles, only this little patch of forest has them!”
Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but take another bite, her cheeks puffed full.
Quietly, she planned in her heart: Could she get a Heavenly Authority Seedling and plant it on Tianquanfeng? That would mean… every year, today’s peaches, every year, the same peaches.
Before the thought finished—
“Qiancha, watch out—!”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s sharp shout suddenly shattered the silence.
Lu Qiancha caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye—a sturdy wild boar with blood-red eyes and fierce tusks, like a raging bull, charging at her with a foul stench.
Thud.
“!!”
Danger at hand, instinct surged in Lu Qiancha’s body, overwhelming all else.
Her steps flowed like drifting smoke, her small figure leaving afterimages in place.
She narrowly dodged the deadly savage charge.
Buzz—
The Demon Cube in her paw flashed with flowing light. A condensed radiance of red and yellow suddenly shot out. The spear’s shadow sliced through the air with a whistle.
Pfft.
The icy spear blade pierced the massive wild boar without resistance.
Pinning it firmly against a peach tree behind. It struggled twice before falling completely silent.
Only then did Shangguan Yunzhu “clang” pull out the broken sword from her back.
Her hand gripped the hilt tightly, amber pupils fixed on the Demon Cube in Lu Qiancha’s paw…
The cube, having just retracted its sharp edge, now shimmered with a muted metallic glow.
A strong wave of familiarity struck her instantly.
She had seen this strange weapon before.
On the road through Bei Juluzhou, the Lu Qiancha Senior Brother who saved her from a desperate situation… often played with this cold shining metal cube.
In that life-or-death battle against Shigong… she had also seen this cube.
The mysterious weapon’s shifting shape… the cold, familiar aura…
Her gaze slowly moved to the small wolf cub’s paws before her, so similar in feel…
An absurd yet perfectly fitting answer was on the verge of surfacing.
“…Qian…cha…?”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s voice trembled slightly, barely noticed by herself, as it slipped out subconsciously.
“What’s wrong?”
Lu Qiancha’s wary eyes continued scanning the dark forest, habitually turning her head to respond.
Flash—
Two gazes unexpectedly collided under the sunlight.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Complete silence, as if a needle had fallen.
“?!”
Lu Qiancha felt as if pricked by a hot needle, her blue eyes widening in confusion: “…Did you just… call me… Lu Qiancha?”
“Ha.”
When Lu Qiancha turned back, Shangguan Yunzhu had fully confirmed her identity.
This seemingly soft little wolf cub was the very Lu Qiancha Senior Brother who had fought a fused realm powerhouse alone and saved her from death.
“Shangguan Yunzhu,”
Lu Qiancha’s voice regained its usual cold composure, “How did you figure it out?”
At that moment, she felt puzzled—she didn’t think she had exposed anything.
“Senior Brother Qiancha, your weapon is just too unique…”
Shangguan Yunzhu pointed at the metal-glinting Demon Cube in Lu Qiancha’s paw.
“…So that’s where I was exposed.”
Lu Qiancha pondered briefly, a flicker in her blue eyes, then said, “I’ll be more careful from now on. Looks like I’ll have to design a weapon for my true form, or else it’s too easy to be found out.”
“Also, Senior Brother, you were way too calm facing that wild boar just now, nothing like a child could do.”
Shangguan Yunzhu suddenly added as if recalling something.
“That’s true.”
Lu Qiancha nodded lightly, frankly admitting it.
Shangguan Yunzhu said no more but fixed her burning gaze on her, her expression complex and unreadable.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
Lu Qiancha felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze.
“I just feel you’re too calm.”
Shangguan Yunzhu said flatly.
“That’s true.”
Lu Qiancha agreed, then continued, “But since I’ve been exposed, panicking won’t solve anything.”
After her words, the two fell into silence.
Shangguan Yunzhu’s expression slowly settled, like a deep pool frozen by ice. She stared into Lu Qiancha’s eyes and asked deliberately, “Senior Brother, don’t you have… anything else… you want to tell me?”
Lu Qiancha met her gaze seriously, seeming to consider for a moment.
“There is.”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s breath hitched slightly.
“Help me keep watch around here,” Lu Qiancha pointed to the massive beast pinned to the tree, “while I deal with this.”
Before finishing, she had already uncorked a small jade bottle. Flicking her finger, a clear liquid fell like fine rain.
Sizzle—
A harsh sound rang out. The huge wild boar’s corpse, like snow under the sun, melted instantly into a pool of dark red pus and blood, quickly soaking into the earth, leaving no trace.
“Now… do you have anything else you want to say to me?”
After cleaning the scene, Shangguan Yunzhu looked at her again, eyes resolute.
Lu Qiancha answered decisively. She tilted her head, then a nearly teasing smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Or rather… do you want me to say to you like Qingfeng: ‘Together in life’s robes, in death’s summons, to the next reincarnation?’”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes instantly sparkled like morning stars.
She almost without hesitation, resolutely replied, “Alright! I promise!”
Lu Qiancha glanced at her expressionlessly, “I don’t agree.”
With that, she picked up the half-eaten peach again and bit down with a “crunch,” clearly annoyed.
On the way back to the village, retracing the stream, the sunlight cast long shadows behind them.
Shangguan Yunzhu again took that small, soft-furred paw in hers, but her steps were heavier than before.
After a while, she finally couldn’t hold back her curiosity: “Senior Brother, if you need to hide your identity, why did you choose to disguise yourself as a boy to enter the Tianyuan Sect?”
Her voice was filled with pure confusion, “Wouldn’t it be simpler and safer to show yourself as a woman?”
“Because I…”
Lu Qiancha suddenly stopped, puffed out her small chest, looked up sternly, putting on what she believed was her most serious, most masculine expression, and declared with emphasis: “…I’m actually a boy!”
“Pft~”
Shangguan Yunzhu couldn’t help but laugh a little at this. She had personally confirmed earlier that this adorable little creature was hardly a boy.
But then she saw the unquestionable seriousness in Lu Qiancha’s eyes, and an odd thought flashed through her mind like lightning.
“Could Senior Brother Qiancha be under some curse to become like this?”
Lu Qiancha visibly stiffened for a moment. Then, that proud little head slowly drooped, and in a muffled voice almost too low to hear, said:
“More or less…”
That essence blood, to her, was little different from a curse.
“I understand.”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s expression turned solemn as she nodded firmly, her eyes filling with sympathy and comprehension.
“Good that you understand.”
Lu Qiancha seemed to breathe easier, raising her head again, attempting to show the authority of an elder brother as she seriously warned: “Remember to treat me as a boy, or else you’ll be taking advantage of me.”
“Oh.”
Shangguan Yunzhu replied softly. Looking at this little one who had saved her twice, she couldn’t help but recall her time in the cave…
She was covered in wounds, and applying ointment required removing all her robes…
“Boom!”
Heat instantly surged to her cheeks, burning her ears red. The world blurred before her eyes, leaving only the indescribable sensation of touch vivid…
“Why is your face so red?”
Lu Qiancha’s voice was purely puzzled as she looked up at the girl who instantly shrank like a mimosa.
“Ah?! N-no… no!”
Shangguan Yunzhu snapped back to herself, hurriedly turning her face away, fanning herself with her hand awkwardly, voice wavering, “It’s just… the weather… is too hot…”
“Oh.”
Lu Qiancha tilted her head suspiciously, her ears twitching. But she didn’t press the clumsy excuse and instead seriously pondered another important matter:
“Yunzhu junior sister, do you have a place here where I can wash?”
She glanced down at her paws, stained with dry, dark red spots, and thought of the dust and dirt from the past few days’ travels.
She just felt uncomfortable all over. “I have some dirt on me; I want to clean up a bit.”