Hua Qiyue stared unblinkingly at everything before her. She saw that jade stone give off a gentle white glow after being dripped by blood. Pffft! The jade stone had disappeared!
Inscriptions soared out from where the jade stone originally was, disappearing into the cliff face.
"Ha ha ha ha... I am finally free! Ha ha ha ha, 11,000 years, 11,000 years!" The little creature emitted a dazzling white light. After that light, the wings on its body disappeared. It landed gently. Hua Qiyue focused her sight. It was a hare!
A hare could become a spirit animal at deity level?
Hua Qiyue was completely stunned, quietly admiring the power of Qi Art.
They stared at each other. After half a day of tests, their clothes were completely drenched in sweat. They were looking awkward.
Suddenly, from outside the cave came a flurry of footsteps. The little hare heard it and immediately leaped onto Yun Shimo's shoulder. "Someone's here. I will shrink myself and hide in your robe sleeve."
With these words, the little hare turned into a ray of white light. It hid into Yun Shimo's robe sleeve.
Hua Qiyue walked out of the cave. Her spiritual energy had gradually recovered and she was looking lively. Her cracked lips had regained their former luster after ingesting the Ginseng with Nine Souls.
Yun Shimo followed behind her. The two of them walked on silently. After an experience which resembled a trip to hell, they now felt that they would never abandon each other, even in death. They had come to completely trust the other person.
Hua Qiyue did not mention what Yun Shimo did to quench her thirst. She understood that gratitude is better expressed through action than in words.
Outside the cave, the light was even more glaring. Someone strode in quickly. "Hua Qiyue? Brother Yun?"
The newcomer was Huangfu Xuan. He was perspiring profusely as he dashed in. When he saw Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo, he was instantly stunned.
Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo's robes were disheveled and dripping wet, their hair unkempt. They looked like... they had just been intimate with each other.
Although Huangfu Xuan had no experience of intimacy with a woman, he had heard some racy accounts of sex from other people. He could guess how intimate they had been.
"Young Master Huangfu, why are you here?" Yun Shimo asked blandly. Huangfu Xuan stared at Hua Qiyue, rooted to the spot. He did not know what to say.
Should he tell her that although he wasn't very quick during the hunt, he had felt desperately anxious after realizing that Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo had disappeared together?
Should he tell Hua Qiyue that his heart was full of anxiety and pain... that his mind had been haunted by her pretty face and elegant figure?
Should he tell her that he thought of her every night? That even in his dreams, he would see her conceited face?
No, no...
"His Majesty... was the one who asked me to look for you! Two of you have been gone for nearly a day. Even Shui Qianruo is back. The Stone Gnawing Tiger wasn't caught... but you two have disappeared. Humph, what you are up to, Brother Yun?"
Huangfu Xuan's final words had directly ignored Hua Qiyue.
Yun Shimo glanced at Hua Qiyue. Of course, he would not tell Huangfu Xuan what had just ensued.
"We leaped into the abyss after Shui Qianruo. Then, the Stone Gnawing Tiger attacked us and we fell into a river. When we got out, Princess Jinghua became poisoned. I was treating her injury in the cave just now." Yun Shimo spoke quietly.
Huangfu Xuan cast Hua Qiyue a glance, the expression in his eyes complex. "Have you neutralized her poison? You wouldn't die, would you, woman?"
Of course not. She was standing completely in one piece in front of him. But for some strange reason, he felt worried about her.
"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Young Master Huangfu. Let's go!" Hua Qiyue also spoke quietly. Of course, she would not be so stupid as to expose Yun Shimo's lie.
Huangfu Xuan snorted coldly. "But it's better for you to die by poison. Then, there won't be an offensive person before my eyes"
He was sounding quite jealous. Yun Shimo heard him and curved the corner of his lips slightly.
They were both men. Of course, he understood what Huangfu Xuan had felt toward Hua Qiyue.
The three of them walked out of the cave. Hua Qiyue inhaled a deep breath of the outside air. The mysterious little hare had streaked out, gambolling on the ground. "Ha ha ha, I'm finally out. Ha ha ha, the air outside is so fresh. There's always a staleness in the cave. How can it be as bright as the outside?"
Seeing a little hare suddenly pop out of Yun Shimo's body, Huangfu Xuan suffered a great fright. "This is... this is... "
"A little hare that I have just subdued."
Yun Shimo said quietly.
The little hare heard him and at once brandished its claws and bared its fangs at him. But it could not reveal its name. After all, this was the continent more than 10,000 years later. If there were still superiors, the revelation of its true identity would attract countless assassins.
So the little hare had to pretend.
Huangfu Xuan had seen a spirit animal before, but not one that could talk.
"Have you reached deity level? How can you talk?"
Huangfu Xuan stared perplexedly at the pink bunny.
"Of course, I am extremely talented. Naturally, I can learn how to talk like a human." The little hare said. It bounced up and hung on a tree branch. Its every action did not resemble a hare's.
Hua Qiyue twitched the corner of her mouth. This little creature sounded so convincing when it lied, just like Yun Shimo.
The three of them walked to the south of the hills, where the hunting ground was. When they got on the pathway, white jade was paving the road. Countless leaves drifted down as the summer wind blew, bringing along with it a refreshing coolness.
The weather in the hills was much cooler than in the courtyard. Hua Qiyue recalled the Fire of Burning and had to admit that this was a wondrous and blissful moment... so perfect. She seemed to have been resurrected again, experiencing the value of life.
Hua Qiyue saw a tree on the side, laden with red fruits, giving off a strange scent.
Looking at the luscious red fruits, Hua Qiyue swallowed her saliva. One must say that she had really been frightened by the Fire of Burning. Her throat was still feeling very parched.
"What fruit is this? Can I eat it?" Hua Qiyue raced to the big tree and pointed at the red fruits which anyone could easily pluck.
"Yes. They taste very sweet!" The little creature answered first. It bounced and its little body arced elegantly into the air, its claws clipping onto the tree branch.
Hua Qiyue heard it and impatiently plucked a red fruit. She was about to put it into her mouth when Huangfu Xuan stopped her.
"You stupid? How can you eat this fruit?"
Huangfu Xuan scolded. "Do you still have the energy to eat this fruit? Humph!"
Hua Qiyue gazed curiously at the strange expression on Yun Shimo's face. What's wrong with this fruit?
The little creature guffawed, its laughter full of raucous mischief. Hua Qiyue instantly rolled her eyes. "What fruit is this? Why isn't anyone answering me? If no one objects, I will eat it!"
The corner of Yun Shimo's lips curled up. He seemed about to laugh but was also looking angry.
"Eat it? Eat it if you have the guts! Hua Qiyue, if you don't turn a whore, my surname isn't Huangfu! This is the infamous Lust Fruit!"
Huangfu Xuan glared at her, walking angrily away to one side. His face was flushing.
Lust Fruit?
Hua Qiyue gave a gasp of astonishment. She had heard that Lust Fruits were only reared in the palace. When an attendant girl was first presented to the Emperor, she would take one. It would make her body more pliant, her senses more intense and passionate...
She did not expect this fruit to be growing here. Hua Qiyue was speechless! The Changlong Emperor was so promiscuous. He had allowed this fruit to be grown here. Perhaps some palace concubines would pluck this fruit anytime they needed it?
If Huangfu Xuan hadn't stopped her... she would have eaten the fruit and goodness knows how she would act! Hua Qiyue's face also burned. She rolled her eyes at the little creature and lowered her head, striding south.
Since she was bowing her head, she did not notice a dried twig on the side. After taking a few steps, she stumbled on that twig. Her body immediately lurched forward.
A hand, warm and luscious like jade, held her right arm gently, pulling her into his arms.
"Can't you walk properly? Hua Qiyue, are you blind?" Yun Shimo's cold voice resounded in her ears.
Hua Qiyue immediately shoved herself out of his embrace. She could still smell the strange odor of the Lust Fruit.
"So what if I can't? Yun Shimo, who asked you to pull me back?" Hua Qiyue lost her cool. The little creature was chuckling eccentrically on the side. "Hey hey hey, two young lovers on a tit for tat... but lovers must argue, or it's no fun!"
As soon as it said this, Huangfu Xuan's face instantly turned black.
He had not expected their relationship to have gone so far!
At least in the eyes of the others, their relationship wasn't very "chaste."
Hua Qiyue's face went black and Yun Shimo walked coldly to the south. The more Huangfu Xuan thought, the angrier he became. He felt betrayed. He snorted and sped away, leaving Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo far behind.
The little creature sniffed. "Oh, the stench of jealousy!"
"Sir, can you please shut up? Will you die if you don't?" Hua Qiyue was feeling very upset. She could not understand why she would become so hot-headed every time she met Yun Shimo.
Her temper in her previous life wasn't so bad or quick.
Yun Shimo heard her and started to smile. The little creature snorted coldly. "In the future, you two must call me the Sun Moon Deity! This is my true name!"
Sun Moon Deity? An intrepid name, but not very appropriate for this creature's body. It sounded so awkward.
Hua Qiyue was still feeling very upset and Yun Shimo remained silent. Sunlight shone in fragmented pieces onto the ground through the crevices of the shady trees. The reflected light made Yun Shimo's handsome face sometimes dark and sometimes bright.
His handsome, dashing demeanor would exude the most dazzling radiance even in the darkest corner, Hua Qiyue thought to herself. Then, she hated herself with a deep contempt for this thought.
To be honest, Tianpi was good-looking too. But one of them had a righteous air and the other heretical. They each had their own handsomeness. Yet now Hua Qiyue only felt close to Tianpi.
But Yun Shimo... every time she met with him, she seemed to have devoured gunpowder. They must have been a feuding couple in an earlier life...
While she mused, they had already arrived at the hunting ground. The Changlong Emperor was at a side pavilion, resting. He heard from the eunuch that Hua Qiyue and Prince Nan had returned. His eyes brightened but when he saw the two of them empty-handed, his gaze became dim again.
Empress Liu by his side saw this and the corner of her lips curled up a little. But it soon returned to its former shape.