Taking Flight

The bend in the river.

Their rest was over.

With his martial aunt Qin Yue'e's encouragement, Li Shuidao climbed onto the White Feather Crane, while Qin Yue'e stood behind him and guided him hand over hand...

The White Feather Crane spread its wings and took flight once more, its white feathers gleaming like silver against the deep blue sky.

Li Shuidao sat tall and spirited on the White Feather Crane's back. Behind him, Martial Aunt Qin Yue'e followed close, her graceful bearing captivating, like a dancing fairy.

The white crane soared through the sky like a white rainbow stretching across the heavens. Its wings beat like flowing clouds and running water, free and unrestrained.

Li Shuidao felt that the White Feather Crane beneath him seemed to hold astonishing strength, leaving him refreshed and invigorated.

Qin Yue'e pricked up her ears and listened to Li Shuidao's heartbeat, her heart brimming with satisfaction. Her voice rang out, soft and enchanting. "Shuidao, your talent is truly astonishing. You learned to ride the White Feather Crane through the sky so easily. That alone proves how gifted you are."

Li Shuidao smiled faintly. The White Feather Crane's lively body obeyed him beneath his legs; all he had to do was squeeze lightly with his thighs, and the great bird would spread its wings and soar freely through the sky.

The immortal crane danced among the pure white clouds, its feathers drifting in the wind like rippling water.

The breeze passed gently, brushing their faces with silken softness.

Birdsong mingled with the beat of the White Feather Crane's wings, forming a heavenly melody.

Li Shuidao gripped two soft tufts of the White Feather Crane's feathers, feeling the great bird's warmth and the strength it conveyed. His heart filled with indescribable delight.

The great bird flew like the wind, gliding lightly among the rosy clouds as if dancing to a song of freedom.

"You learn so quickly."

"That's because Martial Aunt is such a good teacher."

"You really are a humble child." Qin Yue'e spoke gently again, her warm breath brushing his ear, her delicate fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose.

With her intoxicating fragrance beside him, Li Shuidao still kept a serious expression, seeming oblivious to the tenderness behind him. He squeezed his thighs again, and the White Feather Crane flew faster.

Higher!

It kept flying higher.

Before long, Li Shuidao could clearly feel that the White Feather Crane was unwilling to climb any farther.

Reaching the clouds was already the White Feather Crane's limit.

"Shuier, head down," Qin Yue'e said by his ear.

Riding the White Feather Crane, Li Shuidao shot toward the ground like a gale.

He was diving, like an eagle swooping down on its prey!

The White Feather Crane flew faster and faster, yet Li Shuidao, sitting on its back, felt not the slightest discomfort.

When the White Feather Crane broke through the clouds, the towering Poison Dragon Ridge lay close ahead.

The mountains and ridges were right before them, as if they would crash into them the very next moment.

"Don't fly so fast!" Qin Yue'e cried out behind him.

Li Shuidao hastily tugged at the feathers. The White Feather Crane let out a pained cry.

The White Feather Crane abruptly slowed, beating its wings as it glided past the majestic cliff and veered aside.

"Ah!" The sudden turn made Qin Yue'e cry out.

Her cultivation was only at the Spirit Channeling Realm, and she had no way to fly through the air on her own. If anything went wrong, both she and Li Shuidao would perish.

She was afraid of dying, too!

In that brush with death, Qin Yue'e clung desperately to Li Shuidao, her body pressed against his back.

Li Shuidao turned around. Qin Yue'e was pressed close against him, her beautiful eyes revealing a young girl's panic.

In her eyes, he seemed to see a fawn's heart pounding wildly.

They had already been very close, and when he turned around, they nearly crossed every boundary.

Li Shuidao froze for a moment, then looked flustered as well. He immediately turned back and said apologetically, "I've only just started learning to ride a crane. My skills are still rough. I'm sorry I frightened you, Martial Aunt."

Qin Yue'e quickly comforted him. "Don't worry, Shuier. It's all right. You didn't mean to. Let's rest for a bit."

The White Feather Crane landed again, this time beside a small stream.

The stream burbled gently.

Li Shuidao swung down from the crane, then helped Martial Aunt Qin Yue'e down.

Suddenly.

"Shuier, look! Is that cockscomb flower?" Qin Yue'e exclaimed in delighted surprise.

Following Qin Yue'e's pointing finger, Li Shuidao saw a peculiar plant, shaped just like a red rooster's comb.

It really was a second-tier poisonous herb, a cockscomb flower.

No, wait!

Why was a cockscomb flower growing here?

Li Shuidao searched his memory of what he had studied and finally realized what it really was.

By then, Martial Aunt had already crouched down and reached out to pick the cockscomb flower.

"Martial Aunt, don't! That's a blood venom earthworm!" Li Shuidao had only just shouted the warning—

when the "cockscomb flower" suddenly sprouted a pair of sharp mouthparts and bit Qin Yue'e's arm, too.

Qin Yue'e had a Poison Body as well.

After it bit her, the blood venom earthworm was poisoned, too, and quickly retreated underground.

Earthworms burrow everywhere underground. Without special earth-element secret arts, there was no way to catch one.

The moment the blood venom earthworm bit her, pain like lightning shot through Qin Yue'e's entire body.

Qin Yue'e staggered, as if she were about to faint on the spot.

Seeing this, Li Shuidao hurried to her side and held her tightly.

"Just suck out the blood venom and I'll be fine. Hurry and help me," Qin Yue'e urged.

Li Shuidao looked troubled.

"Then I'll do it myself," Qin Yue'e said gently.

Qin Yue'e sucked at her own arm, occasionally glancing at Li Shuidao with a teasing look.

In truth, Qin Yue'e had recognized the blood venom earthworm. She had deliberately mistaken it for something else.

After all, there was a huge difference between a cockscomb flower and a blood venom earthworm.

The cockscomb flower was second-tier, while the blood venom earthworm was first-tier. Their auras were completely different.

Li Shuidao's cultivation was still shallow, and he couldn't sense auras, but she could.

Why hadn't she let Jiang Xue and Lu Qi'er learn to ride the crane?

Why had she specifically chosen a man...

Qin Yue'e had been planning this from the very beginning.

She lifted her jade-white arm and sucked at it...

"The poison hasn't all been drawn out. I'll suck it myself," Qin Yue'e explained.

The little incident soon passed...

The white crane spread its wings and soared away from the clamor of the mortal world.

Li Shuidao gently stroked the white crane's feathers, feeling their warmth and softness.

He had learned from his earlier mistake and kept the White Feather Crane flying slowly, the breeze wafting gently...

Behind him, Qin Yue'e softly hummed a little tune...

The melody was lovely, the lyrics tender, and the feeling deep and lingering...

Only then did Li Shuidao realize that, at some point, Martial Aunt had wrapped her arms tightly around him...

He and Martial Aunt...

No! This was a forbidden love.

"Martial Aunt, I'm flying so steadily now. You don't have to hold me so tightly," Li Shuidao reminded her softly.

"Shuier, how was my singing?" Qin Yue'e asked, changing the subject.

"You sang beautifully, Martial Aunt," Li Shuidao praised her.

Li Shuidao always kept himself in the position of a junior. He paid no heed to Martial Aunt's feelings, which seemed ready to spill out of her.

As the white crane soared, they gradually merged into the clouds.

The blue sky flowed around them like strands of white silk, winding around their bodies.

At dusk, Li Shuidao gently guided the White Feather Crane down, bringing it slowly back to the cave abode.

Qin Yue'e set foot on solid ground. She was still the mistress of the cave abode.

In a calm voice, she said, "Practice more in your spare time. Every day, find some free time to take the White Feather Crane out for a flight."

"This disciple will obey." Li Shuidao bowed respectfully, not overstepping in the slightest.

Qin Yue'e nodded in satisfaction. What a sweet, lovable child...