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Hearing Old Man Zhang's words, Xiao Wu, who was still struggling with a carrot, turned her clear yet foolish gaze toward Ye Qiu.

"Grandpa Zhang, isn't this inappropriate?"

Ye Qiu looked troubled. This was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, after all—and more importantly, there was only one bed at home!

Before he could explain further, Old Man Zhang launched into a tirade.

"What's inappropriate about it? You're both children! And weren't you here to give me money? Why are you drawing such clear lines, kid? Take this money back, and take the little girl with you too. Consider it her food expenses!"

"Well, that's a bit..." Ye Qiu's expression became a little unnatural. To be honest, he was tempted.

"You're still unwilling?" Old Man Zhang interrupted before he could finish.

"No, no, Grandpa Zhang! You misunderstood..." Ye Qiu rubbed his little hands together, smiling sheepishly.

"What I mean is, this money isn't enough. You'll have to pay more!"

"Pay more!?"

At those words, Old Man Zhang nearly tore out his beard.

"Look at how much she eats. This little money isn't quite enough!" He pointed helplessly in Xiao Wu's direction and spread his hands.

"I-I don't eat that much!" Xiao Wu widened her eyes and glared at Ye Qiu.

"Urp~" A long burp suddenly escaped her. She hurriedly covered her mouth, her face flushing crimson.

Feeling Old Man Zhang and Ye Qiu staring at her, her gaze began to dart about.

In the end, Old Man Zhang agreed to pay more. He also arranged with Ye Qiu that, in about a month, when Nuoding City's Soul Master Academy opened, he would send both of them there together.

Under Old Man Zhang's watchful gaze, Ye Qiu naturally brought the rabbit home.

Along the way, Ye Qiu walked in front while Xiao Wu followed behind.

Unlike Xiao Wu, who bounced about the entire way, Ye Qiu was quiet and reserved, merely hurrying onward in silence.

"Hey! How much farther is it?" Xiao Wu hopped to Ye Qiu's side and tilted her head as she asked.

"My name isn't 'hey.'" Ye Qiu curled his lips, displeased with this rude rabbit.

"My name is Ye Qiu. It's still a bit farther, so hang in there."

"Hmph! What are you acting so proud for? Be careful, or Sister Xiao Wu will beat you up!"

Hearing that, Ye Qiu said nothing more. He rolled his eyes and grumbled inwardly, A beast's nature really is hard to tame.

They traveled in silence, and night fell.

Bathed in faint starlight, Ye Qiu finally returned home.

"Wow! Such cute little rabbits! I didn't expect you to keep pet rabbits!"

Seeing the little rabbits in the cage outside the stone house, Xiao Wu seemed to have found her people and rushed over to tease them.

"Those aren't pets." Muttering softly, Ye Qiu pointed at the bathing area separated by wooden boards as soon as he entered. "Go take a bath already. You stink!"

"You're talking nonsense! How could I possibly smell?" As she spoke, Xiao Wu sniffed at her sleeve. The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became, while her face gradually reddened.

"Smell it? You reek of carrots. Hmm, and it seems there's a bit of rabbit smell too."

Ye Qiu walked over and sniffed beside her.

"Ah, what are you doing? I'm not a rabbit!" Xiao Wu hurriedly covered her chest and moved farther away, looking somewhat flustered.

What a stupid rabbit! Ye Qiu shook his head and said irritably, "I never said you were a rabbit. Go bathe already!"

Watching her enter the bathing area, Ye Qiu began making up the bed.

Since the silly rabbit had no spare clothes, Ye Qiu had no choice but to toss her some of his own.

He hung the clothes over the wooden partition and called inside,

"Wear my clothes for now. I'm going to rest first. The other end of the bed is yours!"

"What? We're sleeping together?"

"What do you mean, sleeping together? We'll be a hundred thousand miles apart!" Ye Qiu shouted toward the inside.

"Why are you yelling at me? Fine, I'll sleep!"

After a fairly friendly exchange, the two of them fell quiet, leaving only the sound of running water from within.

By the time Xiao Wu came out, Ye Qiu was lying crosswise along one side of the bed. Seeing that the bed was large enough to fit five or six Ye Qius side by side, she did not make a fuss.

Still, after looking around, she could not help calling out, "Hey!"

When she got no response, Xiao Wu huffed and spoke again. "Ye Qiu, do you have a mirror here?"

"No. See that water vat under the window? Make do with that!" After saying so, Ye Qiu turned over.

Xiao Wu pursed her lips and carefully took a small comb from her pink shoulder bag, as though holding some precious treasure.

She went to the water vat and used the moonlight filtering in through the window and her reflection in the water to carefully comb her hair. Her scarlet eyes were filled with deep longing.

Once her hair was almost dry, she carefully put the comb away and slowly climbed onto the other end of the bed, placing her little shoulder bag beside her pillow.

Apparently still not entirely at ease around Ye Qiu, she did not forget to issue a threat before sleeping. "Hey! Don't cross the line, or you'll see how I deal with you!"

The only response was silence. It made her grit her teeth in anger. Thinking he had already fallen asleep, she could only lie down indignantly.

As the night deepened and Xiao Wu's breathing became steady, Red Glow lit up in Ye Qiu's eyes as he watched her through the darkness from the other end of the bed.

He had not slept at all. He simply did not want to pay attention to the silly rabbit. He sighed inwardly.

Sigh... I don't know whether bringing her back was right or wrong. I'll just let things take their course for now. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast... is still a little beyond me.

Ye Qiu believed that once his Sharingan fully awakened, his achievements would certainly not be low!

At the horizon, purple qi came from the east as dawn gradually broke.

When Ye Qiu slowly woke, he saw Xiao Wu sprawled on top of him, and the corner of his eye twitched.

She managed to roll all the way over from that far away? Are rabbits always this restless when they sleep?

He gently pulled her off himself and slowly sat up. Looking back at her fair, rosy face and fragile appearance, Ye Qiu could not help feeling a slight urge to protect her.

After watching her for a while, Ye Qiu covered her with the blanket and picked up the little shoulder bag beside him, placing it next to her.

Creak! The door opened, and Ye Qiu went out to prepare breakfast.

Xiao Wu, who was still lying on the bed with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. Seeing Ye Qiu's retreating back, she covered her burning cheeks with both hands and burrowed beneath the blanket, wriggling about like a maggot.

A muffled voice came from beneath the blanket. "So embarrassing... Ah!"

The awkwardness did not last long before her growling stomach interrupted it. After hurriedly washing up and retying her original Scorpion Braid, Xiao Wu finally stepped outside.

"You're up?" Ye Qiu's hurried voice came from the distance.

"Mm. What are you doing?" Seeing Ye Qiu lying facedown on the ground, Xiao Wu walked over and squatted beside him.

"Planks. It's a way to exercise the body."

"Oh, that really is strange." Xiao Wu muttered, rubbing her stomach as though she wanted to say something but held back.

"You're hungry, right? I already bought carrots. They're on the table. Just wash them and you can eat."

"Really? You bought carrots!" Just as expected of a rabbit—her eyes immediately lit up at the mention of carrots.

"Why would I lie to you?" Ye Qiu stood up, gave her a speechless look, and led the way into the house.