First Meeting

Before long, Tang San walked over.

Seeing this, Ye Xinyu could not help asking.

"So soon?"

Tang San nodded, and a pitch-black comb appeared in his hand.

The moment Ye Xinyu saw what Tang San was holding, she nearly spat out blood.

"No, what the hell is that?"

Tang San scratched his head and said, "Her comb was already broken. Even if it were fixed, it wouldn't be sturdy, so I went to the blacksmith's and forged one for her out of refined iron. I guarantee she can use it until she dies."

Watching this, Ye Xinyu was so angry she almost laughed.

If she did not think she might be unable to beat Tang San, she would have beaten him up no matter what. Was this the thought process of a normal person?

Taking a deep breath and forcefully suppressing the urge to curse, Ye Xinyu finally said, "Her original comb is still here, right?"

"Yeah, it is. I used it as the mold. I guarantee it's exactly the same." Tang San nodded, and as a flash of light passed over his belt, two halves of a wooden comb appeared in his hand.

After rolling her eyes at Tang San, Ye Xinyu raised her hand and took them, then slowly removed Xiao Wu's hand from her clothes.

Only then did she notice the condition of the wooden comb. Its texture was exceptionally smooth and delicate. It looked as though it had been used for a long time; otherwise, it would not have developed such a sheen.

"Xiao Wu is in your care. Don't disturb me." With that, she took out all sorts of materials from her Soul Tool and began trying to repair it. Fortunately, she had gone shopping earlier and bought a whole pile of things, useful and useless alike. Otherwise, she would not have had any way to fix it.

Sometimes, an object's worth was not determined by its inherent value. To put it bluntly, this thing was merely a keepsake.

If it had been something else, she would not have bothered, but this was, after all, a memento Xiao Wu's mother had left behind. Since she could help, she would.

If it were her, she probably would not have handled it any better than Xiao Wu had.

Because she had never possessed it before, she cherished this hard-won familial affection all the more.

Half an hour passed during the repair.

Not until the sky had gradually darkened did Ye Xinyu slowly straighten up. Looking at the barely repaired comb in her hands, she could not help letting out a breath of relief.

It was wood, after all. Repairing it could not change its nature, but it should be enough for normal use from now on.

She stood and stretched her somewhat sore body.

"It's finally done. When Xiao Wu wakes up, give this to her. She should feel better then." As she spoke, Ye Xinyu placed the comb beside Xiao Wu's pillow.

"What about the refined iron comb I specially forged for her?" Tang San could not help asking.

Ye Xinyu shot him an annoyed glare. Giving a girl a refined iron comb—what kind of thought process was that? No normal person would do such a thing, would they?

"You can keep that thing for yourself."

Just then, the voices of Wang Sheng and the others came from outside the door.

"Slow down, slow down."

"Careful, don't tip it over."

Curiously, Ye Xinyu walked to the dormitory entrance. What greeted her eyes was Wang Sheng and seven or eight others carrying large and small bags into the dormitory.

"Wang Sheng, what are you doing?"

Wang Sheng casually set the food box in his hands beside the bed, then said, "These are all carrots we bought for Sister Xiao Wu."

"Ah???" Ye Xinyu froze.

"Good lord, you bought this much? Are you planning to eat them until New Year?"

Hearing this, Wang Sheng looked surprised.

"Sister Xinyu, wasn't that what you said? Buy a little more. After buying the food, we still had more than one Gold Soul Coin left, so we spent all the remaining money on carrots for Sister Xiao Wu."

"Oh, right, thank you, Sister Xinyu. The food on the second floor was really delicious. We usually can't afford to eat there."

Ye Xinyu was at a loss for words.

"But you didn't have to spend it all. If you couldn't finish spending it, you could have kept the rest for yourselves."

"That won't do. How could we take advantage of you?" Wang Sheng said as he directed the others.

"Come on, keep it down. Don't wake Sister Xiao Wu."

Seeing this, Ye Xinyu did not know what to say. She sighed. Forget it, Xiao Wu could eat them slowly. There were at least one or two thousand jin here. Xiao Wu probably would not be able to finish them even by New Year...

"I'm not dealing with this anymore. I'm going to eat."

Wang Sheng hurriedly said, "Sister Xinyu, we bought your portion too."

However, Ye Xinyu waved her hand.

"I prefer food freshly made. Leave that portion for yourselves. Eat more. I'm leaving."

Just kidding—if anyone found out she could eat enough for two people by herself, they'd laugh at her. She was supposed to be a lady, after all.

The moment she stepped out of the dormitory, a slightly hoarse female voice reached her ears.

"Little girl, you're quite lucky. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring."

Ye Xinyu's little face changed abruptly. Her gaze swiftly swept the surroundings, but there was no one in sight.

"Who are you? Come out. Stop playing tricks."

"Playing tricks? That does describe my current situation rather well." The teasing voice entered her ears again.

"Enough looking. I'm in your Spiritual Sea."

Hearing this, Ye Xinyu's pupils contracted slightly, and panic rose in her heart. Anyone who learned that another person was hiding in their Spiritual Sea would find it hard to stay calm.

"Who are you? What exactly do you want to do to me?"

"Naturally, I want to train you. So, are you interested in taking me as your master?"

Ye Xinyu became even more wary.

"I'm not interested. Leave. Since you can tell that she's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, you should also be able to tell that the one beside her has Twin Martial Souls. Why not take him as your disciple instead?"

Upon hearing that, the mysterious woman fell silent for a moment and shook her head slightly.

"I can't leave your body right now. If I do, he'll discover me. And in my current state, once that happens, I'll certainly die."

"Besides, you say his talent is greater than yours? Not necessarily."

Ye Xinyu frowned slightly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing much. It's just that you have a treasure on you that can conceal your aura. That's also why I've managed to survive until now."

At those words, the wariness in Ye Xinyu's eyes grew even stronger.

"What exactly do you want? If you refuse to tell me the truth, I don't mind exposing you to Spirit Hall. I might die, but I'll never let you take advantage of my body."

Within the Spiritual Sea, an illusory woman formed from mist looked somewhat helpless.

"Fine, I admit it. At first, I did intend to seize your body. But your soul was protected by that strange treasure, so there was nothing I could do. I even suffered a backlash to my soul because of it. If I hadn't absorbed quite a bit of your Soul Power over the years, along with that strange thing that appeared when you awakened your Martial Soul, I probably still wouldn't have fully awakened by now."

Ahem, ahem. I've padded out over ten thousand words today.