Fish Took the Bait

"Xiao Wu, that little rascal... She actually dared to poison me!"

He gritted his teeth and said bitterly.

"But then again... was Xiao Wu the one who detoxified me?"

"In the state I was in back then, could a little girl like her really handle it?"

He looked down at himself, then thought of Xiao Wu's slight frame. His brows furrowed into a deep frown.

Just as he was puzzled, the door slowly opened and Xiao Wu walked in.

"Brother... you're awake."

Her gaze wandered, and she did not quite dare meet Zhao Linchuan's eyes. Her voice was soft, like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting to be scolded.

"I prepared lots of delicious food for you. Get up and replenish your strength."

With that, she turned and tried to flee.

"Wait!" Zhao Linchuan called after her. "Xiao Wu, who helped me get rid of the poison?"

"Ah... well..."

Xiao Wu's eyes began darting around. One moment she looked at the ceiling, the next at the floor, then at the begonia on the windowsill—anywhere but Zhao Linchuan.

Her fingers twisted together in front of her as she said evasively,

"Well... well, I used my 'handwork' to detoxify you..."

"That's right! I kept at it for seven or eight days straight before you recovered..."

She turned around, closed the door, and slowly walked over to Zhao Linchuan. Lowering her head, she admitted her mistake.

"Well... Brother, Xiao Wu knows she was wrong. Xiao Wu won't dare do it again."

"You can make Xiao Wu do anything you want. Will you forgive Xiao Wu...?"

Zhao Linchuan stared at Xiao Wu for a long while. Her head was lowered, her lashes drooped and trembled slightly, while two rosy clouds floated across her cheeks. She looked both pitiful and adorable.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something harsh, but seeing her like that, he swallowed the words back down.

In the end, he let out a helpless sigh.

"You... Sigh, forget it. Don't ever do this again."

He sat up straight and extended a hand.

"Help me up. I need to wash up first."

"Okay!"

When Xiao Wu heard that Zhao Linchuan was not blaming her, her eyes immediately lit up.

She hurriedly reached out and helped Zhao Linchuan out of bed. She draped one of his arms over her shoulder and supported his waist with her other hand as she carefully led him toward the bathroom.

After taking two steps, Zhao Linchuan suddenly stopped. His expression turned somewhat strange.

"Xiao Wu, my waist hurts so much... Did you sit on my waist?"

Xiao Wu also paused, and the tips of her ears visibly turned red.

"Ah... yes! It made things easier for me..."

A quarter of an hour later.

In the living room.

The dining table was covered with food. Zhao Linchuan was wolfing down beef, his cheeks stuffed full.

He ate incredibly fast, as if he were filling a bottomless pit. Piece after piece, bowl after bowl, food and soup alike vanished in a whirlwind.

Xiao Wu sat beside him, propping her chin on both hands as she watched him eat with a smile.

Zhu Zhuqing sat across from them, holding a bowl of porridge. Her spoon was raised to her lips, yet she had not taken a bite.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Zhao Linchuan and Xiao Wu. Watching Zhao Linchuan devour his food, then recalling the aura around him when he had just emerged from the room, she could not help but start gossiping in her mind.

Could these two... have been "cultivating" together for seven days and eight nights?

No wonder I haven't seen him these past few days...

But still, after "cultivating" for seven days and eight nights, he's this energetic? That's just too...

Her gaze moved to Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu's cheeks were slightly flushed, and there was an indescribable sweetness in the corners of her eyes and brows. Like a flower freshly watered by rain, she looked even more tender and radiant than she had a few days ago.

Big Sister Xiao Wu will have it good from now on...

I just wonder, as time goes on and Lin Chuan gets stronger and stronger, whether Big Sister Xiao Wu will be worn out by him...

Xiao Wu then asked gently, "Brother, where are we going to have fun after we eat?"

"After we eat, we're going fishing," Zhao Linchuan answered casually. He broke off a piece of steamed bun, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed twice. "We're going to catch a Wealthy Thousand-Gold Fish..."

That afternoon, in an open field beside the road leading to Suotuo City.

The sky was a clear, brilliant blue, with several white clouds drifting lazily by.

Several sharp-eyed birds of prey circled overhead. Their outstretched wings spanned more than five feet, casting moving shadows beneath the sunlight.

Their eyes were fixed on several bloody chunks of red meat on the ground. They occasionally flapped their wings to remain hovering, as though hesitating over whether to dive down.

Xiao Wu had placed the meat there half an hour earlier. It was fresh pork liver, still steaming, its bloody scent carried away by the hot wind. To these hunters in the sky, it was no different from a feast.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out. The three birds of prey, each with wingspans over five feet, were yanked from the sky as if by an invisible hand.

Their wings flapped weakly twice, feathers drifting down as their bodies tumbled several times through the air before falling straight to the distant grassland with dull thuds.

"Yay! I hit them again!"

Xiao Wu cheered and happily jogged toward where the three birds had fallen.

"Zhuqing, you're cooking for us tonight as punishment!"

Zhu Zhuqing stood where she was, her gaze following Xiao Wu's retreating figure. A helpless smile appeared on her cool face.

At the same time, not far away, a noble and elegant young girl with a slightly immature, slender figure stood motionless as she watched the scene.

"What exactly are those things in their hands?" Confusion filled her face as her lips moved slightly. "They can shoot down such a large bird from more than two hundred meters up in the air?"

She had been observing from the shadows for a long time. At first, she had thought it was some special Martial Soul or an extraordinary soul skill.

After all, it was not unusual for soul skills to shoot down flying birds. She had seen countless Soul Masters far more powerful than herself, and their soul skills came in all kinds of forms—long swords, bones—each one deadly.

But as she continued watching, she gradually realized that the objects they used to shoot down the birds were not soul skills or Martial Souls at all, but some kind of "thing."

Something she had never seen before, something that did not belong to any known Martial Soul system.

Driven by curiosity, she had followed them all the way from outside the city to this open field.

Her gaze fell on Zhao Linchuan. The boy, who did not appear much older than her, stood leisurely beneath a large tree, idly playing with a strangely shaped object in his hand.

"Perhaps I can make some kind of deal with them..." Her eyes brightened as she affirmed, "Yes! That's right!"

"If that thing can be mass-produced, then the safety of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's disciples will be greatly improved in the future!

"Our Seven Treasure direct-line disciples are so precious. If they had something like this to protect themselves..."

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Her footsteps unconsciously quickened.