Ruan Su's Change

In the silence,

heavy clouds nearly pressed down to the ground.

Ruan Su, sprawled on the ground, instantly widened her eyes until they were round as saucers.

Th-this... what was this?

Xiao Yi was glowing!

She stared without blinking at the ball of light that had appeared in Qin Yi's palm:

"X-Xiao Yi... you..."

"Quiet."

"...Okay."

"..."

The mountain rain brought fierce winds that bent the treetops,

and Ruan Su shut her mouth. As she gazed eagerly at that ball of light, the worry and impatience brought by her steadily dropping body temperature gradually subsided.

Mm, Xiao Yi really was the greatest in the world.

Hehe...

Qin Yi breathed lightly, glancing from the corner of his eye at the pulsing ball of light between his fingers.

The weakness of being drained dry left him unable to maintain the breathing cycle of the Disrupted Scripture, yet just as he had thought, releasing the Spirit Resonance within his body did not require the aid of Cultivation Sight.

What should he do next?

If only that rich young lady were still here. Even one more day of life would have been enough.

Without guidance from elders of a Lineage or sect, all cultivation could only be explored by himself.

The ball of light gave Qin Yi a strange feeling. It was not part of his body, yet he could sense its pulses, and not through the touch of his palm.

Like an external arm?

Or perhaps an external organ?

Qin Yi carefully sensed it for a moment and discovered that this tiny ball of light lay somewhere between the two. It could not move as freely as an arm at the command of his thoughts, nor was it like an organ, utterly beyond conscious interference.

He could control it, but it took great effort.

It had a physical form; he could feel raindrops striking it, yet he could not determine whether it possessed mass or any physical material strength.

Information surged through his mind as Qin Yi tried to make the ball of light leave his body and rise into the air.

The unceasing rain blurred Ruan Su's vision somewhat. When she vaguely saw that ball of light hovering directly a foot above Qin Yi, her little mouth could not help falling slightly open.

Whoa... so amazing!

But in the next instant, Ruan Su saw the ball of light fly back into Qin Yi's palm.

This was not the time for experiments. It was enough to confirm that it could be controlled outside his body. Next came testing its strength.

Closing his eyes, Qin Yi tried to stretch and elongate the ball of light. Fine beads of sweat gradually seeped from his forehead and mingled with the rain, while the ball of light slowly took the shape of a thin thread.

Under Ruan Su's gaze, one end of that thread wrapped around Xiao Yi's foot, while the other crept toward her with a faint rustling, like a little snake, eventually coiling around her ankle as well.

A gentle force traveled through it, gradually drawing her closer to Xiao Yi...

Rumble—

Torrential rain poured down amid muffled thunder. A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the little courtyard and revealing a scene both eerie and warm.

The boy and girl lay sprawled side by side on the ground, their hands raised over their heads as though hanging upside down. A faintly glowing thread connected their ankles, while its middle seemed pulled by something invisible, inching them little by little toward the small house...

"Hehe..." Ruan Su tilted her head and looked at him with a soft laugh.

"..." Qin Yi ignored her. His brain was about to explode.

This autumn rain, which had nearly taken their lives, continued on and off for seven days before the skies finally cleared.

Sunbeams pierced the clouds, casting clear, bright light over the mountain forest, while the fresh fragrance of newly turned earth filled every corner.

Inside the small house.

Qin Yi lay weakly propped against the headboard, his dark eyes lowered as he studied the thread of Spirit Resonance constantly pulsing in the air.

Ruan Su's little face was still somewhat pale. Holding a wooden mallet, she tinkered with the square table she had broken, producing a steady din of knocking.

Qin Yi had only regained some mobility today. Ruan Su had recovered a little faster than he had.

Seventeen hours after the autumn rain began, her body had gradually become capable of simple movements. Thanks to that, Qin Yi and she had not starved to death in this house.

Suddenly,

Qin Yi glanced at Ruan Su and said softly:

"Big Sis, come here for a moment."

"Hm?"

Ruan Su looked back, set down her carpentry work, and rose to walk to the bedside. She watched Qin Yi cautiously and gave an awkward smile.

"W-what... is it...?"

Manipulating that thread, Qin Yi said softly:

"Hold out your hand. Back of your hand up."

Though Ruan Su did not understand, she obediently held out her hand.

Qin Yi guided the finer strand of light against her skin and pressed down slightly.

Ruan Su winced in pain but did not pull away.

A sunken red mark immediately appeared on her fair forearm. As Qin Yi increased the force, blood began to seep from it, but in the next instant, the thin strand of light abruptly snapped.

A wave of dizziness surged into Qin Yi's head. His body swayed slightly before he forcibly steadied himself with his will. After taking a few breaths, he asked softly:

"Does it hurt?"

Her dark hair swayed lightly. Ruan Su looked at the cut on her wrist and shook her head, a trace of nearly imperceptible fawning in her smile.

"It's... fine. It doesn't hurt. Are... are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Big Sis, go back to what you were doing."

"...Oh, okay."

"..."

Qin Yi watched Ruan Su's retreating figure. His narrow eyes unconsciously narrowed before he finally leaned back against the headboard with a frown.

It seemed he had overplayed his hand.

Ruan Su had been like this all these days.

Originally, he had planned to gradually remove his mental control over Ruan Su after his brain condition improved, allowing her to stand on her own in the future.

Yet after the whole affair of cultivating the Disrupted Scripture's breathing method, Ruan Su's untamable nature seemed to have been directly sealed away. Her obedience toward him was soaring in a straight line.

Just like earlier.

If Qin Yi had done that before,

Ruan Su would not truly have gotten angry, but she would at least have shown displeasure and hurt. At the very least, he would not have escaped a flick to the forehead symbolizing her "big sisterly authority."

But now, there was nothing of the sort.

No matter what he said, this older sister would do it without question.

After confirming that Qin Yi's brain condition had improved and that he possessed cultivation talent, Ruan Su had gradually become like those Calamity Seeds from before.

Humble before him, fearful of him, obediently bowing and yielding to him.

Because she feared he might abandon her.

This was not something Qin Yi had expected.

Thinking of this, Qin Yi raised a hand and rubbed his slightly throbbing brow.

Though he did not care about this twisted relationship, and though the intermittent dementia caused by his brain condition had completely healed, if possible, he still wanted Ruan Su's potential ceiling to be higher instead of watching her gradually turn into a puppet on strings.

To toy with the human heart—off by the slightest fraction, astray by a thousand miles.

For now, it would be best to take a wait-and-see approach with Ruan Su.

His original thought of using Ruan Su directly as a Spirit-Gathering Formation once his body recovered could only be put aside for the time being.

Any move to guide, nurture, or make use of Ruan Su now might further deepen her dependence on him, further locking away her nature.

Setting those thoughts aside,

Qin Yi turned his consideration once more to the Spirit Resonance thread that had snapped into two pieces.

This thing was highly unscientific.

After testing, he found that it had no weight, yet possessed a physical form.

Its tensile strength surpassed hemp rope by quite a bit, yet it was far inferior to metal.

It would gradually dissipate over time and under external influence.

When controlled through consciousness, the force it could unleash was at most equivalent to that of an ordinary adult woman. However, overuse or destruction would inflict negative backlash upon its host, such as dizziness and headaches.

Moreover, every bit of data from the above tests would gradually weaken as distance increased, up to a maximum range of around three zhang.

At this stage, using it against enemies was unrealistic,

unless he could further condense and strengthen this thread.

Just as he was about to think further, a palm-sized bluebird suddenly flew in through the doorway, flapping its wings as it headed straight for Qin Yi.

Whoosh—

Ruan Su, who had been tinkering with the square table, did not even raise her eyes. She casually grabbed it in one hand, held it before her eyes for a moment, then tilted her head toward Qin Yi and smiled faintly.

"Xiao Yi... do you want... roasted sparrow for breakfast?"

The bluebird: "..."

Qin Yi came back to himself and glanced over. He immediately spotted a tiny wooden tube tied to its claw. Rolling his eyes, he said:

"It came to deliver a letter, and you want to eat it?"

"Huh?"

Only then did Ruan Su belatedly notice something was off.

Supporting himself as he rose, Qin Yi walked over. Amid the bluebird's chirping "furious curses," he removed the paper scroll from the tube and spread it open before him.

Ruan Su tilted her head, wanting to peek, but she held herself back and shrank her neck.

Seeing its contents, Qin Yi's brows drew together slightly.

It was the old employer's handwriting.

There were only six words.

Someone from the Central Plains had come, looking for someone.