Zhu Na Ran laid in bed awake as she listened to her senior sister's soft, even breaths.
'Senior Sister, shouldn't be awake after so long,' she thought as she turned her head to the small window across from her, just above the area Ye Lian Hua was resting. The moon was nearly full as it hung from the inky night like a shiny chipped coin.
Looking over at Ye Lian Hua, Zhu Na Ran slowly sat up and quietly pulled off her quilt. 'Senior Sister is a notoriously light sleeper, so I gotta be careful this time around, or I'm dead!'
She was not about to copy the sect rules several times. Not this time around.
To avoid getting caught, Zhu Na Ran used the puppet technique that Ye Lian Hua had taught her. Soon, in her place was a replica of herself, quietly sleeping.
Carefully slipping on her boots, Zhu Na Ran slipped out the door with ease.
Once she was at least a hundred yards away from their small sleeping quarters did she finally let out a sigh of relief. 'Hopefully, I can get back before Senior Sister notices anything.'
And with that, Zhu Na Ran disappeared into the darkness of night.
---
"Xiao Niao!"
The small bird awoke to the sound of its name. Cocking its head around in the dark, it attempted to find the source of the call. However, as it wasn't a nocturnal bird, darkness was its only vision.
"Xiao Niao! I come bearing food," suddenly, a spark of light appeared from the brush, as Zhu Na Ran appeared with a lantern in hand as she waved over to the little bird.
"Caw!" Xiao Niao was now fully awake at the sound of food. It hadn't eaten all day, and finally, its food supply had come!
Checking behind her to see if anyone had followed her, Zhu Na Ran continued over to Xiao Niao with a few grains of caution.
"Sorry, I'm late," Zhu Na Ran sheepishly grinned. "I had some things that I needed to deal with." Taking out a small bundle, she unwrapped it to reveal a handful of seeds. "Here, you must be starving."
Placing the seeds in Xiao Niao's nest, the little bird started to peck away at the pile of seeds.
"Whoa, slow down," Zhu Na Ran chuckled as she patted the little bird's head. "You're going to choke at the rate you're eating. Plus, the seeds aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so take your time."
At this, Xiao Niao slowed down slightly, however still pecked away at its seeds at a steady pace. Soon enough, the seeds were gone, and the little bird had seemingly grown plumper.
"Satisfied," tapping Xiao Niao's head, Zhu Na Ran smiled at the bird's happy expression. "How are you going to live on your own now? There isn't going to be bird feeders out in the wild, you know?"
'Ah, maybe I shouldn't have spoiled Xiao Niao so much.'
"Xiao Niao, how's your wing?"
Cocking its head at her, Xiao Niao displayed it's nearly healed wing. It even flapped its wing for effect.
"It's good you're doing well, especially after that storm the other day. Unfortunately, I have encountered trouble along the way back, got lost a few times, slipped, and sprained my ankle.
Yeah, hadn't had one of those in a long time. Hurt like a b*tch for a while.
Oops, don't say those words, Xiao Niao. It's not good to say vulgar words so casually."
Xiao Niao looked at Zhu Na Ran dead in the eye with a 'are you an idiot,' kind of look.
"Anyways, after getting lost for a bit, I gave up and started to have an existential crisis inside a cave until my senior sister found me."
"It must have been hard on you."
"Yeah, it was-" She suddenly froze at the sound of response.
'Since when does Xiao Niao talk?' Suddenly Zhu Na Ran felt an ominous chill go down her spine. Colder than a spring breeze.
'Haha, wait. There's no way that Senior Sister could be out here. I didn't even show her the route here.
Unless…
Senior Sister knew that I was going to leave this whole time!' Ahh! How was she going to get out this now!
Instantaneously, she felt the faint ache in her hand as she recalled writing for several hours straight.
A cold and slender hand clamped down onto Zhu Na Ran's shoulder as she shivered at the cold contact. "You don't listen, do you?"
"Haha," turning back, Zhu Na Ran almost lost her soul when looking at her senior sister's icy expression. "S-senior Sister, ah, what brings you here at this time of night?"
Holding up a paper puppet, Ye Lian Hua stared hard at Zhu Na Ran's shifty expression. "You think I can't see through your tricks? Maybe if you cultivated more, then you would've had more success."
"Hah, oh, that," Zhu Na Ran laughed nervously. "By the way, Senior Sister, how did you find me here?" She was curious as to how Ye Lian Hua found her so quickly.
And whatever it was, Zhu Na Ran was ready to throw as far away from her as possible!
"I merely followed you," Ye Lian Hua lied smoothly. It wasn't entirely false, a half-truth at most.
The real reason she was able to discover Zhu Na Ran's location so quickly, was the little jade ball that Zhu Na Ran kept in her breast pocket, the Ling Shou jade.
Other than being the key to the entrance of Yu Lan Peak, it had two additional functions.
One, as described in its name, stored and protected the wearer's soul. And should they encounter the worst, the jade would collect the wearer's soul fragments.
The second use was one that their master added, per Ye Lian Hua's request: a tracking array. Wherever the wearer goes, others who also possess the Ling Shou jade will be able to find them.
And seeing as Zhu Na Ran has a tendency to get lost and cause trouble, she thought it was a necessary precaution.
Fortunately, Zhu Na Ran had yet to learn of this addition. 'Perhaps it's for the best.'
"Oh…"
"Come on, it's late," letting go of Zhu Na Ran's shoulder, she grabbed onto her junior sister's arm, "let's go back."
"Wah! Uh, okay. Bye, Xiao Niao! I'll see you later," Zhu Na Ran waved at the little bird as she was being pulled away by Ye Lian Hua. "Ah, Senior Sister, you don't need to tug so harshly. I'll go back willingly, ah."
---
"Congratulations, Host. You've successfully reached the peak of Foundation Establishment. You're now on your way to Core Foundation."
The holographic screen illuminated Long Yuan's face as he scrolled through his progress. "Even so, this is just the beginning. We have a long way to go before we reach our final goal."
"Yes. So, Host, keep working hard."
"Of course," a cold smile made its way on his handsome face. "To abandon something halfway is to fail entirely. And as you know, I won't let myself taste such bitterness."
Long Yuan remembered the pain of eighty-one lightning strikes coming down upon him, each bolt causing him to bleed from every pore of his body. As a city person before, he never experienced such gruesome pain before. If he weren't determined to live, to win, surely he would've curled up and disintegrated into dust by the morning.
Fortunately, it was worth it.
Laying in a pool of his blood, exhausted, Long Yuan felt a slow flow of energizing power flow through his dantian and meridians.
"Heh, even if I must go through such hellish torture, if I get rewarded with such strength, then it's no issue," Long Yuan mindlessly scrolled through the system interface before he landed on an old photograph.
The photo showed three teenagers standing side by side in front of a prestigious looking high school. Long Yuan's old self was standing to the right and his cousin to the left. However, the most eye-catching part of the photo was the person in the center.
Upon seeing this person again, a noticeable trace of softness flashed on Long Yuan's face. Something that Zhuang Zhi hadn't seen the entire time that they were with Long Yuan.
Or at least a genuine one.
"Host, who is that girl in the center," they were already informed about the details of their Host's past life; however, they could never comprehend the relationship between humans, even after going through centuries of various hosts.
"A childhood friend," he smiled as he stroked the surface of the young woman's face. However, Zhuang Zhu noticed a slight shift in their Host's expression.
Long Yuan's expression no longer was that of nostalgia, rather a look of fondness one might have when looking at a hard-won trophy.
"And the only person that my cousin could never have."