Several hours later, at the residence of the Winged Dragon Family.
-And that's the story,- Xiangju finished telling Xiao Ning'er. He had been there for some time, recounting the events of the previous day. The girl's family had been uncomfortable with her receiving a boy, so they had to stay in a room next to the Elders' Hall.
Xiao Ning'er didn't respond. She was tapping her foot frenetically on the floor, arms crossed, and kept her head down. Xiangju looked confused and decided to ask:
-Are you okay, Ning'er? You seem a bit nervous.-
As soon as he said that, Ning'er slammed her hand on the table. It felt like an earthquake hit, knocking everything off it.
She stood up from her chair, irritated, and pointed her index finger in Xiangju's face.
-Do you still DOUBT why I'm upset?-
The guards were startled by the girl's reaction, maybe she really hated this boy.
"What reaction is this? I've never seen Ning'er act like this before," Xiangju thought, scared. He began to think about many things, even the most absurd hypotheses.
Then he thought of something. Xiangju widened his eyes before speaking.
-You... like Nie Li?- Xiangju asked apprehensively, moving his chair back a little from Ning'er.
-What? Are you stupid or something?- Xiao Ning'er replied immediately, with a look of confusion and even some disgust.
"Phew... thank God."
Xiangju stayed quiet, putting his hand on his chin to think.
The girl rolled her eyes, he was really silly.
-I'm mad because of this!- She leaned over the table to reach Xiangju and poked his head, right where he had been kicked by Nie Li.
The boy felt a shock; he had forgotten about the injury, but his beloved Ning'er had remembered it in the worst way possible.
-Ow, okay, I get it. Sorry about that, and sorry for hitting your 'beloved' Nie Li.- Xiangju said the last part trying to irritate the girl... and he succeeded perfectly.
Ning'er raised her hand with a face boiling with anger. Xiangju already raised his defense to block her slap but was met with a head pat instead.
-Don't say things like that... it makes me sad.-
Ning'er sat back in her chair and started talking a lot, but Xiangju wasn't listening to any of it.
Then, suddenly, Xiangju bowed his head strongly on the table in a sign of reverence.
-I BEG FORGIVENESS FOR MAKING YOU SAD, MY QUEEN!- The boy spoke with all his spirit. The guards were startled by this, thinking that this boy really wasn't a good company for her.
-WHAT ARE YOU DOING? You hurt yourself again!- Xiao Ning'er said, removing some shards of the plate where her teacup had been, of course, before Ning'er had knocked most of the things off the table.
The girl with orange hair scolded Xiangju, and scolded him again and again, but finally, they continued their conversation in a friendly and even slightly sweet manner.
In the final moments of the day's sunlight, at the gates of the Winged Dragon Family residence.
-It was very fun having you over, Xiangju. Please, come anytime you want.-
-I'll come even when YOU don't want me to.- They both laughed.
-See you later, Xiangju. Have a safe journey.- Ning'er said, waving to him and turning to go back into the courtyard of her house.
-See you la- Ah! Wait a moment, Ning'er!-
The girl stopped walking and looked at Xiangju. For some reason, she was getting nervous. Was he going to confess again or something? She wasn't ready to hear something like that, and what if she blushed too much?
-W-what is it, X-Xiangju?- "ahhh don't stutter!"
-I forgot to give you something, please, give me your hand.-
-W-WHAT? MY HAND?- Xiao Ning'er said excitedly, he was really being very audacious.
The boy approached and took Ning'er's left hand. The girl closed her eyes and looked to the side, extremely embarrassed. Contrary to what she thought, her blushing face was irresistible.
-Here.-
The girl felt something heavy in her hand. Curiosity won over, and she looked at what Xiangju had given her. A small brown cloth bag.
Ning'er looked confused at it, and then looked at Xiangju with a questioning face.
-Open it, open it!- The boy said with a smile on his face.
The girl untied the small pink ribbon on the bag.
Two vials could be seen. This made the girl even more confused.
-Are these pills?-
-More than pills, these are from the new batch of super special pills that the Alchemist Association started working on. Their effect is many times greater than the effect of a top-grade cultivation pill.-
Ning'er widened her eyes. That was indeed a great gift.
-I can't acce--
Xiangju gestured for her to stop talking.
-It was because of you that I got these pills, it's not wrong to share them with you.-
-Because of me?-
-Yeah! Don't you remember how you helped me?-
The girl began to think silently until she found the answer.
-The purple grass herb! It must be that! Come to think of it, a little before my belov--, I mean, a little before Xiangju arrived, some family members came to tell me they were looking for that herb and offering absurd amounts of money.-
-What did you do, you naughty boy?- Ning'er looked with a mischievous smile at Xiangju, who returned the same expression.
-I just shared a bit of my herb mountain with some pharmacies, nothing much!- Xiangju said, shrugging. Both started laughing about it.
-Well, I accept these two vials with gratitude then, thank you again, Xiangju!- Ning'er said with a smile that made Xiangju melt.
"How can she be so beautiful???"
He first coughed a bit, trying to regain his composure, and then said:
-Actually, it's not just for you, Ning'er. I need you to give one of these vials to your father.-
-To my father? Why?-
-Tell him it's just a small gift from the Zhu Family, so we can work well together in the future.- Xiangju said, winking at the girl. Ning'er completely understood what he meant. This was a gift for when they started getting involved with each other, like a pre-engagement request.
-O-okay... I'll deliver it...- Ning'er, now much more embarrassed, said to Xiangju.
The boy didn't say anything, just gave a big smile, which the girl loved.
-It's getting late, so you should go now, Xiangju.- Ning'er said, approaching the door.
She passed through the gate but kept her head towards the street. She looked one way, then the other, and when she saw no one was looking, she blew a kiss to Xiangju and quickly closed the door, dying of embarrassment.
Xiangju felt it was critical. He staggered, barely able to stand. He loved this girl, loved her with all his heart, loved her like he had never loved anyone.
"Hehehehe, she's totally into me." Xiangju thought as he tried to maintain his composure.
After a few seconds, already back to his normal self, he decided to go to his room in the Saint Orchid Institute dormitory, not to try to increase his rank, because at his current pace, it might be impossible to surpass the next rank without some way to lessen the pain. But at least he would take the opportunity to train his body and meditate to better control and feel his energy.
-You are very bold, little Zhu.-
A deep voice said right behind the boy, sending a chill down his spine. He had been in this world for only a short time and had just learned to feel powers or gauge how hostile someone really was. But even without seeing the person, an instinctive murderous aura was emanating from that person's body, making it impossible for Xiangju not to feel it.
The boy turned around slowly...
-You really have the guts to mess with another man's woman, you bastard.-
In front of Xiangju was a very familiar figure, someone who held the Gold Rank, a member of the Sacred Family, and Xiao Ning'er's current suitor. Facing Xiangju was the demon spiritualist Shen Fei, with an impressively calm look, which scared Xiangju even more.