Ye Xinglan blushed from her forehead to her neck. Even the tips of her ears burned.
Only after several deep breaths did she barely manage to calm the heat in her cheeks. She stepped back and put on her usual stern expression, though her eyes still wandered, refusing to meet Chen An's.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you!"
A flicker of amusement crossed Chen An's eyes. Taking the hint, he straightened up, stopped teasing her, and turned to leave.
"Forget it. If you're not going to say anything, I'm off. My teammates are waiting for me to bring back something good to eat."
With that, he started walking.
Ye Xinglan hurriedly put the little cake into her Storage Soul Tool Bracelet.
She caught up in a few quick steps and walked beside him, stubborn frustration in her voice.
"Hey, can't you let me finish?"
"I'm listening. You'd better finish before I've bought everything and gotten back to the hotel."
The two made their way from the riverside back to the market.
Ye Xinglan weighed her words over and over along the way. At last, she voiced the question that had been building inside her.
"Who exactly are you? You can withstand a Soul Ring Configuration like that at ten years old. With a body like yours, don't tell me you're hiding Twin Martial Souls too?"
Chen An stopped outside a food shop and signaled the owner to pack six meals. Then he turned to the earnest girl beside him and answered calmly.
"Believe what you want about that.
I'm an orphan. I don't know where my Martial Soul bloodline came from either. It's probably a mutation. Even the Spirit Pagoda has no record of anything like it."
"You're... an orphan?"
Ye Xinglan froze. Most of the sharpness left her