87 - Dungeon Growth Log

Upon hearing this, Gu Pei Jiu paused for a moment before finally squatting down and reaching out to smooth the girl's damp hair. Her pale fingertips brushed against Ling Xifeng's cold cheek, bringing a delicate warmth. "Get up." She said. Ling Xifeng didn’t move. Gu Pei Jiu asked, "Still don't want to move?" Ling Xifeng uneasily glanced at the frog floating on its back in the puddle, "…You should go find the master." After a while, nothing happened, but the paper umbrella above his head remained steady, shielding him from the wind and rain. Ling Xifeng looked up, "You..." Why aren’t you leaving? Before he could finish, the scene in front of him suddenly changed. The clouds in the sky were obscured by the edge of the ink-paper umbrella, and the girl's embrace was warm. Ling Xifeng's eyes widened abruptly, seeing Gu Pei Jiu's slender white neck. Ling Xifeng’s mind went blank for a moment. He was drenched all over... Realizing this, he started to struggle to get down, but Gu Pei Jiu sternly said, "Don't move." Ling Xifeng stiffened and indeed didn't move. With one hand holding the umbrella and the other cradling him in her arms, Gu Pei Jiu thought, He's really light. Gu Pei Jiu mused, thin and small. Seemingly feeling a bit overwhelmed, Ling Xifeng slowly nestled further into her embrace, his voice barely a whisper. "…Aren't you supposed to deliver something to the master?" "It's alright." Gu Pei Jiu paused, then asked, "Where do you want to go?" Ling Xifeng looked at the raindrops falling outside the umbrella, his thoughts muddled and slightly lost, "…Rain God Temple." Gu Pei Jiu was slightly taken aback, "Rain God Temple?" Ling Xifeng suddenly came back to his senses, then smiled and said, "I want to go to the Rain God Temple and pray for even more rain." Gu Pei Jiu asked, "Do you want to go right now?" Ling Xifeng hesitated, "I was just…" joking. Gu Pei Jiu abruptly said, "Alright." Ling Xifeng panicked and began to struggle in Gu Pei Jiu's arms, "No, I don’t want to go!" He buried his head, "I have a headache, I’m feverish, I feel terrible. I don’t want to go." The drops hitting the umbrella made a crisp sound, like elves dancing on it. That forced, deliberately lowered voice of youth faded away, revealing a softer, more girlish tone. Ling Xifeng’s refusal sounded like a lark singing in the rain, pleasant and light. Gu Pei Jiu waited patiently for him to finish speaking and stopped struggling in her arms. Then she softly said, "Then we won't go." Ling Xifeng said, "…Put me down." Gu Pei Jiu replied, "Didn't you say you didn't want to move?" Seeing Ling Xifeng was at a loss for words, Gu Pei Jiu's lips curved into a faint smile. "If not the Rain God Temple, where would you like to go?" Ling Xifeng pinched her clothing hem, not daring to speak randomly, and said softly, "Just go back." Gu Pei Jiu asked, "Still feeling unwell?" Ling Xifeng said, "…No, I feel extremely fine." Gu Pei Jiu murmured, "Um." "I will take you back." The rain in the mountains fell gently. Ling Xifeng didn’t dare to look at Gu Pei Jiu’s face. He just nestled in the girl's warm embrace, gazing at the misty rain merging with the forest, and the beautiful ink-paper umbrella above his head, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts. Upon reaching the destination, Gu Pei Jiu gently put him down and even opened the door for him. Then she said, "Change your clothes and take a warm bath." After a pause, "You don’t need to attend the evening lesson." Ling Xifeng responded, "Oh." Holding the umbrella, Gu Pei Jiu watched the girl beside her, with her head lowered, dripping wet hair, and after a while, she said, "Get some good rest." Ling Xifeng looked up, watching Gu Pei Jiu, with her now damp clothes from his wetness. Gu Pei Jiu and he remained silent. After some hesitation, Ling Xifeng said, "Senior sister, your clothes are wet." Gu Pei Jiu shook her head, "It's fine." Ling Xifeng obediently said, "Thank you, senior sister." Gu Pei Jiu paused, as if she had heard something strange. After a while, her eyes softened, "Rest well, I’ll go deliver this." With that, she propped up the umbrella and slowly walked away, soon disappearing into the heavy rain curtains. Ling Xifeng suddenly said, "Senior sister, take care." The mountain wind caught the rain, making Ling Xifeng's words somewhat blurred by the rain's sound. Gu Pei Jiu paused, her red headband fluttering slightly with her black hair, then started walking again and left. Only her footsteps slowed a bit. The girl’s figure in the dappled maple attire gradually vanished, until she was no longer visible, leaving only the mountain’s flowing scenery intertwined with mist and evening rain. Her embrace was really warm. Ling Xifeng thought. System: "Host." Ling Xifeng: "Hmm?" System: "Please turn your head about forty-five degrees to the right." Ling Xifeng, not thinking much, subconsciously turned his head forty-five degrees to the right. He saw the copper mirror on the dressing table reflecting a bit of light, revealing someone with dripping wet hair, soaked clothes clinging all over his body, looking like a drowned rat. Or perhaps a drenched dog. System mocked: "Wow, truly beautiful." Ling Xifeng stared at the reflection, thinking, "..." The sight was heavenly indeed. Feeling suffocated. He quickly shut the door, swiftly changed out of his clothes, took a bath, and put on his undergarments. Lying on the bed, he pulled the quilt over his head, but the recent embarrassment lingered. He buried his face in the blanket. "How could I be so humiliating..." System incredulously said: "…You actually know what shame is?" Ling Xifeng stiffened slightly, "You mind your own business." After tossing and turning in bed, he felt a bit dizzy. Ling Xifeng murmured, "…Why do I feel a bit dizzy?" "Could it be because senior sister is too beautiful." Ling Xifeng thought, "That she intoxicates me to the point of dizziness." The system ran a quick body check for him. A moment later. "Host, I regret to inform you, you are not dizzy from infatuation, you’re developing a fever." Ling Xifeng: "Oh." …That’s truly regrettable. By midnight, he was indeed feverish. Ling Xifeng felt muddled, his head heavy, aching, unable to open his eyes, and unable to speak. Xiao Kuilei: "I warned you." Ling Xifeng wanted to say something, but his throat was too sore. Xiao Kuilei: "I told you, you'd get sick if you didn’t prepare medicine." ——I thought I could endure. "You could endure before because Ye Ze was there." Xiao Kuilei said, "But now, no one can take care of you." ——Sorry, I've been busy lately and forgot. Xiao Kuilei seemed to say something more, but Ling Xifeng’s mind was too muddled to make sense of it. His body's heavy exhaustion pulling him deeper and deeper, until he blacked out. = = Thousand Souls Hall. A blood-red carpet stretched from outside the hall to the inside, adorned with flying eaves and intricate carvings. On a jade-carved throne, a girl draped in black hair lazily propped up her leg. Her bright red robe was as vivid as a blooming blood lotus, accentuating her delicate white skin. Her long, narrow eyes slightly lifted at the corners, with thick lashes shading her eyes, reflecting the flickering candlelight inside the hall, giving her an eerie, mysterious aura. On the blood-red carpet, a child dressed in white stood with his head down, too frightened to speak. "Bai Zhi." The girl's voice was lazy, "Three thousand puppet soldiers, you couldn't even handle Gu Pei Jiu?" Bai Zhi kept his head down. "I told you to send help for the former priestess. It’s been a month and now you tell me…" Su Chan lowered her head, playing with her nails, then after a while, she looked up with a half-smile, "You haven't even got the key?" Bai Zhi broke out in a cold sweat, "There were some unexpected issues…" "Tsk." Su Chan chuckled softly, "How interesting, why does there always seem to be unexpected issues when you are involved?" Bai Zhi, drenched in cold sweat, said, "Please punish me, Holy Leader!…But please grant me..." "An eye or an ear." Su Chan rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head, smiling with innocent malice, "Take one." Bai Zhi hesitated for a moment, then, "…An eye." Su Chan murmured an agreement, a faint smile forming, "Go ahead then." Confirming his punishment, Bai Zhi felt a bit relieved, "Understood." Bai Zhi got up and then, as if recalling something, hesitated before saying, "Holy Leader…" Su Chan: "Hmm?" Bai Zhi reported, "The spy says a puppet master appears to be at Lingxi Mountain." Su Chan’s expression remained unchanged, "Oh?" Bai Zhi continued, "I'm not sure if this information is reliable, but the spy said he was bewitched by a small puppet created by the puppet master for an entire month, without noticing anything amiss. Moreover, the failure of this plan was due to the puppet master’s small puppet self-destructing and trapping his limbs." "But thanks to this incident, we realized…our spy's movements have been under surveillance." Bai Zhi added. The self-destructing puppet awakened the spy, snapping him out of soul ensnarement, making him vigilant. Su Chan narrowed her eyes slightly, "I see." Bai Zhi hesitated again, "May I boldly ask… what is your plan?" Su Chan’s voice remained lazy, without answering, "Go receive your punishment." Bai Zhi replied, "Yes." After saying that, he left. Su Chan, dressed in red like blood, remained alone in the hall. Ling Xifeng, the Puppet Master, the Little Puppet, and the Counter Spy. What a brilliant display of reverse strategy. Su Chan’s jade-like hand reached into her robe, gently caressing the warm bone flute inside for a long moment. "Someone come." Three shadows flickered out from the hall, kneeling on one knee before Su Chan, their masked forms radiating malevolent energy in an ominous display. "Investigate who that Puppet Master is." The leader of the shadows hesitated, "Holy Leader, after we find out…?" "What, do I have to teach you everything?" Su Chan chuckled softly, her eyes warm, her voice languid, "Amusing as this is, anyone blocking our path must be eliminated." "Understood!" The three shadows received their orders and departed swiftly. The night deepened slowly. Su Chan paused, eventually taking out the bone flute from her robe. Her eyelashes, delicate as butterfly wings, trembled slightly as she stroked it for a long while. Finally, she put the flute back into her robe, her red attire like a lotus, remaining silent. No matter if it's the desolate white bones or achieving godhood through demonic transformation, to that person it is all but a meaningless jest. Author's Notes: Daxiong threw a landmine at 2018-07-18 23:43:47 Only threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 06:35:50 Lazy person threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 09:28:59 Shoot threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 17:28:22 Zhao33loveliver threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 19:08:56 Misa Cat threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 23:35:25 Zhao33loveliver threw a landmine at 2018-07-19 23:37:33 Wu threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 00:10:27 Tsun threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 02:27:30 Mu Jiu threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 12:36:17 Mu Jiu threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 12:37:00 Youli Yoxian threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 13:05:12 28237441 threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 16:14:25 Qing Wei Tang threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 17:30:56 Mo Xi threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 18:19:02 Gui Nuo threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 21:55:49 Qing Piao Sui Yu threw a landmine at 2018-07-20 22:52:56 Thank you all for the landmines! Love you all!! = = Gratitude list for nutrient fluids is in the previous chapter (face covered in embarrassment).