Liu Erlong spoke, then glanced at Deng Tianxin again, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "If you can become Her Highness's disciple, your talent must be pretty impressive too, right?"
"I'm all right, I guess." Deng Tianxin was rarely modest for once.
Liu Erlong hesitated as she looked at Deng Tianxin, then asked, "Um, can I give you a hug?"
For some reason, all she wanted right now was to pull Deng Tianxin into her arms and cuddle him.
Deng Tianxin hesitated before answering, "You can, but let's do it once we're in the carriage."
"In the carriage?" Liu Erlong paused, then turned to look at the carriage parked by the roadside. The driver was huddled on the shaft, staring at them with the dazed expression of someone who'd just survived a disaster. Clearly, he still hadn't recovered from being surrounded by bandits.
"Sure." Liu Erlong nodded readily, bent down, and scooped Deng Tianxin up in one smooth motion, as naturally as if he were her own little brother. Before he could protest, she had him securely cradled in her arms, his short legs dangling in the air and swinging twice.
"You—I can walk by myself!" Deng Tianxin's face flushed red. He was the heir to the God of Love, a twenty-seventh-level Soul Grandmaster, and a girl of sixteen or seventeen was holding him like a child. If anyone found out, how could he ever show his face again?
"Your legs are short. You walk slowly." Liu Erlong shot back without turning around. Carrying him, she strode to the carriage and tucked him inside, then climbed in after him.
The carriage set off again. The driver, still shaken, flicked his whip, and the horse galloped off as fast as it could, as if desperate to leave this cursed place behind.
Inside the carriage, Deng Tianxin straightened the collar Liu Erlong had crumpled and sat up primly. Liu Erlong, by contrast, lounged against the carriage wall, her long legs stretched out carelessly and taking up nearly half the space. She tilted her head and studied Deng Tianxin, her gaze fixed on the pair of dragon horns atop his head. The more she looked, the more fascinating they seemed. The small, exquisite horns had a warm, jade-like sheen, and their roots disappeared beneath his soft hair. They didn't look like ornaments so much as something he'd been born with. She had never seen a Dragon Horn Martial Soul before, which only made her more curious about Deng Tianxin. Stranger still, ever since she'd first laid eyes on the little boy, an inexplicable sense of closeness had welled up inside her. It was as if something deep in her consciousness had gently plucked a string, making her want to draw closer and pinch his cheek.
"You said I could hug you," Liu Erlong suddenly said, a sly glint in her eyes. "So, can I hug you now?"
Deng Tianxin instinctively shrank back.
But the carriage was so small that he couldn't get very far, no matter how hard he tried.
Liu Erlong leaned forward and slipped both arms under his armpits. With ease, she scooped him up and set him on her lap.
"Hey, hey—" Deng Tianxin flailed, trying to wriggle free.
Liu Erlong had already wrapped both arms around his waist, holding him snugly in place.
Her body was a little warmer than most people's. Even through their clothes, he could feel her cozy heat.
"Don't move. Let your big sister hold you for a little while." Liu Erlong's voice came from above his head, carrying a satisfied sigh.
She rested her chin on Deng Tianxin's head, carefully avoiding his dragon horns. Her weight settled gently against him, like a big cat curling around a ball of fluff.
He felt even better than she'd imagined.
The little guy's body was soft, like a mouthful of cotton candy in her arms.
His hair was fluffy and soft, tickling her cheek.
Most importantly, holding him finally satisfied that inexplicable urge to be close to him. She felt utterly content.
Trapped in her arms, Deng Tianxin could only resign himself to lying there, his little face full of utter despair.
Was there something wrong with all these female Soul Masters?
Why did every single one of them want to hug him?
Hadn't a year of being used as Bibi Dong's pillow been enough? Now Liu Erlong was at it too?
He finally understood why Liu Erlong had been so utterly infatuated with a useless man like Yu Xiaogang in the original story.
Once her single-minded enthusiasm settled on a target, not even ten dragons could drag her away.
But for all his grumbling, he didn't actually push Liu Erlong away.
For one thing, he couldn't beat her. For another, the fragment inside her was glowing faintly, trembling in time with her changing emotions.
Liu Erlong held the little tyke in her arms, her chin resting on his fluffy head, feeling perfectly content. Then she suddenly sensed something was off.
Her Soul Power was surging.
Liu Erlong held her breath and tried circulating it through one small cycle.
Her Soul Power flowed from her dantian, traveling up through her meridians nearly thirty percent faster than usual.
What was going on?
Liu Erlong suppressed her shock and kept quiet. Instead, she closed her eyes and silently began cultivating.
Soul Power flowed slowly through her meridians, from her dantian to every limb, then back again to her dantian, completing one full cycle.
She focused, carefully sensing each movement of the Soul Power within her body. Then she reached a conclusion that made her heart pound.
As far as she could tell, the source of this unusual activity pointed entirely to Deng Tianxin in her arms.
He was like a catalyst for her Soul Power. Just being near him could boost her cultivation efficiency by a considerable amount.
Liu Erlong took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound casual. "Hey, little guy, when other people hug you, have they ever said anything strange?"
Deng Tianxin looked up at her, baffled. "What kind of strange things?"
"Like... that you're warm, or that they feel especially comfortable when they're with you." Liu Erlong carefully chose her words.
Deng Tianxin paused, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah. My teacher says it's comfortable to sleep while hugging me, so she uses me as a pillow every night. Don't tell me you want to use me as a pillow too?"
"Not exactly." Liu Erlong hurriedly denied it, but the light in her eyes only grew brighter.
Now she was sure: it wasn't her imagination or a coincidence. Her Soul Power really did circulate faster when she hugged Deng Tianxin.
She couldn't figure out how it worked, but the facts were right there in front of her. She couldn't deny them.
Liu Erlong licked her lips, already beginning to plot.
Her biggest goal on this trip was to improve her strength.
With that thought, the way Liu Erlong looked at Deng Tianxin changed.
"Come here and let big sister give you a kiss."
Without thinking twice, Liu Erlong leaned in and kissed Deng Tianxin on the face.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out through the carriage, startlingly loud.
Deng Tianxin froze. The damp sensation on his little face still lingered, while Liu Erlong, the culprit, had finished kissing his left cheek and was already leaning toward his right.
"One more!"
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