The Enthusiastic Liu Erlong

Liu Erlong looked at Deng Tianxin again, a hint of curiosity surfacing in her eyes. "To be a disciple of the Saintess, your talent must be quite extraordinary, right?"

"It's alright, I suppose." Deng Tianxin was uncharacteristically humble for once.

Liu Erlong looked at the boy before her, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Um, may I give you a hug?"

She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt an urge to pull Deng Tianxin into her arms and dote on him.

Deng Tianxin hesitated before saying, "I suppose that's fine, but let's get into the carriage first."

"The carriage?" Liu Erlong blinked, turning to look at the vehicle parked by the roadside. The driver was huddled on the carriage bench, wearing the expression of a man who had narrowly escaped death; clearly, he hadn't fully recovered from the shock of being surrounded by bandits earlier.

"Fine." Liu Erlong nodded readily, bent down, and scooped Deng Tianxin up, her movements as natural as if she were picking up a younger brother. Before Deng Tianxin could protest, he was already held securely in the crook of her arm, his short legs dangling in mid-air and swaying.

"Hey—I can walk myself!" Deng Tianxin's face flushed red. He was a dignified successor to the God of Love and a level twenty-seven Great Spirit Master; if word got out that he was being carried like a toddler by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, how would he ever show his face again?

"Your legs are short, you walk too slowly," Liu Erlong retorted without looking back. She carried him a few steps to the carriage, shoved him inside, and then climbed in after him.

The carriage set off again. The driver, still shaken, cracked the whip, and the horses bolted forward, eager to put this unlucky place behind them.

Inside the carriage, Deng Tianxin straightened his collar, which had been rumpled by Liu Erlong, and sat up straight. Liu Erlong, meanwhile, sprawled carelessly against the carriage wall, her long legs stretched out and occupying nearly half the space. She tilted her head to study Deng Tianxin, her gaze falling on the Dragon Horn Martial Soul atop his head. The more she looked, the more fascinated she became. The horns were small and exquisite, their luster as warm as jade, with their bases disappearing into his soft hair. They didn't look like accessories; they looked as if they had grown there naturally. She had never seen a Dragon Horn Martial Soul before, which only deepened her curiosity. Even stranger, from the moment she first laid eyes on this little boy, an inexplicable sense of closeness had welled up in her heart, as if something deep within her consciousness had plucked a string, making her want to draw near and pinch his cheeks.

"You said I could hug you earlier," Liu Erlong said suddenly, a flash of mischief in her eyes. "So, can I hug you now?"

Deng Tianxin instinctively shrank back.

But the carriage was only so big; there was nowhere for him to retreat.

Liu Erlong leaned forward, slid her arms under his armpits, and effortlessly scooped him up, placing him on her lap.

"Hey, hey, hey—" Deng Tianxin scrambled, trying to struggle.

Liu Erlong's arms were already wrapped around his waist, holding him tight.

Her body temperature was slightly higher than average, and he could feel a wave of warmth radiating through his clothes.

"Don't move, let big sister hold you for a while." Liu Erlong's voice sounded above his head, accompanied by a sigh of contentment.

She rested her chin on Deng Tianxin's head, carefully avoiding his dragon horns, and let her weight press down slightly, like a large cat curling around a ball of fluff.

The sensation was even better than she had imagined.

The little guy's body was soft, like holding a ball of cotton candy.

His hair was fluffy and soft, tickling her face.

Most importantly, as she held him, the inexplicable urge for closeness she felt was finally satisfied, and she felt completely at ease.

Deng Tianxin, pinned and unable to move, could only resign himself to his fate, his little face filled with despair.

Did these female Spirit Masters have some kind of problem?

Why did every single one of them want to hug him?

Was being used as a body pillow by Bibi Dong for a year not enough? Now there was a Liu Erlong too?

He finally understood why, in the original story, Liu Erlong had been so hopelessly infatuated with a loser like Yu Xiaogang.

This kind of single-minded passion—once she set her sights on a goal, ten dragons probably couldn't pull her back.

However, despite his internal grumbling, he didn't actually push her away.

For one, he couldn't beat her, and for another, the fragment inside her was glowing faintly, vibrating gently in sync with her emotional fluctuations.

Liu Erlong held the little one in her arms, her chin resting on his fuzzy head, feeling perfectly content, when she suddenly sensed something amiss.

Her spirit power was boiling.

Liu Erlong held her breath and tried to circulate it through a small cycle.

The spirit power surged from her dantian, traveling up her meridians at a speed nearly thirty percent faster than usual.

What was going on?

Liu Erlong suppressed her shock, kept quiet, and closed her eyes to cultivate in silence.

The spirit power flowed slowly through her meridians, from her dantian to her limbs and back again, completing a full major cycle.

She focused her mind, carefully sensing every pulse of the spirit power within her, and reached a conclusion that made her heart race.

In her perception, the source of this abnormal activity pointed directly to Deng Tianxin in her arms.

He was like a catalyst for her spirit power; just being near him increased her cultivation efficiency by a significant margin.

Liu Erlong took a deep breath, trying to make her tone sound casual. "Hey, little brother, when you hold other people, have they ever said anything strange?"

Deng Tianxin looked up at her, looking bewildered. "What kind of strange things?"

"Like... saying you're very warm, or that they feel exceptionally comfortable when they're with you?" Liu Erlong chose her words carefully.

Deng Tianxin blinked, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, my teacher says it's very comfortable to sleep while holding me, so she uses me as a body pillow every night. You aren't planning on using me as a body pillow too, are you?"

"Not at all," Liu Erlong denied quickly, though the light in her eyes grew brighter.

She was certain now; it wasn't an illusion, nor was it a coincidence. Her spirit power circulation speed definitely increased when she held Deng Tianxin.

Although she didn't understand the principle, the facts were right before her, and she couldn't deny them.

Liu Erlong licked her lips, her mind already beginning to calculate.

Her primary goal for this journey of cultivation was to increase her strength.

Thinking of this, the way Liu Erlong looked at Deng Tianxin changed completely.

"Come here and let big sister give you a kiss."

Without a second thought, Liu Erlong leaned in to kiss Deng Tianxin directly on the face.

"Muah!"

A crisp sound exploded within the carriage, ringing out with startling clarity.

Deng Tianxin froze, the damp sensation still lingering on his small face, while the culprit, Liu Erlong, had already finished with the left side and was leaning in toward the right.

"One more!"