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"Didn't Zou Wu trick you into snatching a Rare Grade spirit plant?"

Ning Ning held the Zhuohuo Sunflower in her hand and gave it a gentle twirl. "Once he personally delivers a Rare Grade spirit plant to us, we'll say goodbye to him."

He Zhizhou scratched his head. He seemed to have gone a little crazy for a moment, but had finally started acting somewhat normal again. "But how did you just make another Chaoyang Flower appear? And how can you be sure you'll find the spirit plants he brings later somewhere on Xiaochong Mountain?"

"That flower was already in the furnace. I thought it looked pretty, so I put it in there on a whim. As for Zou Wu's spirit plants, he left most of his things at camp. Whatever he's carrying must be something he picked nearby not long ago—how could we possibly fail to find it?"

She patiently explained, "And there's the furnace, too. Aren't we staying in the secret realm for two days and two nights? I brought it along especially so we could cook."

"I have a question too!"

Xu Ye had finished crying, but he was still a little dazed. "What if he never gives us a Rare Grade spirit plant, and keeps coming here to take advantage of us with Heaven Grade ones? What do we do then?"

"Hmm."

Ning Ning smiled and nodded. "There are plenty of ways to make him willingly hand over a Rare Grade one."

=====

Ning Ning never imagined she'd run into a familiar face on the slope where the Zhuohuo Sunflowers bloomed.

The Zhuohuo Sunflower resembled a sunflower and had a very distinctive characteristic.

If it was surrounded by darkness, with no light at all, its petals would gradually turn white. Only after seeing the light would they become a deep, fiery red from end to end.

This spirit plant wasn't rare, and its color was especially conspicuous, so Ning Ning found a patch of Zhuohuo Sunflowers without much trouble.

The midday sun blazed like waves of flowing fire, and the vivid petals of the Zhuohuo Sunflowers looked as if they'd been stained with blood. The scene was so beautiful it seemed otherworldly. Ning Ning was plucking one of them—

when she caught the scent of blood amid the flowers' faint fragrance.

The little girl paused, then followed the scent.

Amid a sea of brilliant red, as bright as the setting sun, lay a young man dressed in red.

He seemed to have been attacked. His face was as pale as paper, his brows tightly furrowed, and his long, beautiful eyes were firmly shut. He showed no sign of waking.

His red robes were swallowed by the flowers. His arms and chest were marked with bites from sharp teeth, revealing skin as white as jade beneath, streaked with blood.

But that breathtakingly beautiful face was more alluring than any flower.

It was Rong Ci of Niguang Island.

"...Rong Ci?"

Ning Ning cautiously stepped closer. The fragrance around him mingled with the scent of blood, somehow creating a decadent sort of beauty.

Seeing that he didn't react, she moved gently and slowly crouched beside Rong Ci, reaching out to check his breathing.

Her fingers had barely reached his straight, delicate nose when a breeze suddenly brushed past.

The flame-like flowers swayed in the wind, releasing a dreamily rich fragrance. The wind caught Ning Ning in the eyes, and she narrowed them slightly. A petal drifted down before her.

The petal floated silently past. When she looked up at him again, she found herself staring into a pair of obsidian-black eyes.

Rong Ci truly was a genius among the younger generation of Charm Cultivators. Not only had he been born with an enchanting face, but even the way he looked at people was utterly captivating.

His eyes were the most beautiful feature on his face. Their upward-slanting corners always held a hint of a smile and an elusive charm. His gaze seemed to hold water, rippling with brilliant waves beneath the sun.

His undisguised stare made Ning Ning feel a little embarrassed, so she shifted her gaze to the wounds on Rong Ci's body. "Your injuries look pretty serious."

"I ran into a Demonic Bear and fought it. It's nothing."

Rong Ci curled his lips with casual disregard, as if he meant to force himself upright. But as soon as he'd halfway risen, his wounds abruptly split open. His face went pale with pain, and he drew a sharp breath.

—Then his body pitched forward uncontrollably, falling into Ning Ning's arms.

No, not "uncontrollably."

That guy had definitely done it on purpose.

"Looks like I can't leave."

Rong Ci was still smiling, his voice languid, like a piece of candy waiting to be unwrapped. His breath brushed her neck. "Miss Ning Ning, as a righteous cultivator, you surely wouldn't leave me here, would you?"

His warm, fragrant breath tickled her like a fluffy little paw, while a soft hand slowly climbed up her spine.

Ning Ning had never been this close to a boy her own age. She was so startled that she held her breath, her ears burning hot.

"There's medicine in the cave where I'm staying. You—you need to put your hand down, and then I'll take you there."

Her voice was several notes quieter. "Even if you're injured, you can't do th-this."

After a pause, she added, with no conviction at all, "Men and women shouldn't touch."

Rong Ci's undisguised laughter sounded beside her ear.

In her heart, a little person was screaming wildly: Help! What is this, some clichéd line from a story about an enchantress and a righteous hero?!

In any case, that was how she brought Rong Ci to the cave where she was temporarily staying with He Zhizhou and Xu Ye.

If they couldn't find an antidote for the poisonous mushrooms, the symptoms could last for days. He Zhizhou was still recovering from whatever had come over him. When he saw Rong Ci, his eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, Ning Ning, how did you pick up a Zhuohuo Sunflower even bigger than you?"

Xu Ye had come around a little. He'd been trying to coax his right-arm daughter to sleep, but the moment he saw Rong Ci, he frowned. "What's someone from Niguang Island doing here?"

Like Haoran Sect, Niguang Island didn't have the best reputation.

"Rong Ci was injured and had nowhere to go, so I brought him here to take shelter for a while."

Ning Ning seemed to have no qualms about it. She settled the young man in a corner of the cave, then took some medicine from a nearby bag and handed it to him.

"He had nowhere to go? He's the most favored disciple from Niguang Island to enter the secret realm!"

Xu Ye snorted. "Now that you've got the Heaven Heart Grass, who knows how many people are secretly coveting it? There's no need to bring some shady stranger back here. Are you trying to get yourself killed faster?"

"Heaven Heart Grass?"

Rong Ci smiled boldly, his strikingly beautiful features filled with scorn and icy disdain. He must have tugged at his wounds when he smiled, because he furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth. "What, does Wanjian Sect think my Niguang Island is bound to resort to stealing and skulduggery?"