Childhood Sweethearts

Xiao Yan scrambled up and turned around, discovering that the other party was looking at him with a smile, only this smile carried a hint of danger.

"Cousin Lin Qing! Good evening!" Xiao Yan rubbed his nose rather awkwardly.

"What, trying to sneak into someone else's room in the middle of the night again? Wasn't the lesson last time enough? Do you want me to tell Uncle and Aunt? Or should I hand you over to the Enforcement Squad?"

Lin Qing spoke in a low voice.

"I! I! I!..."

Xiao Yan stammered and couldn't get a word out, wailing in his heart: It's over, I'm going to get beaten up again, this time Lin Qing might actually tell my parents!

"Creek~"

The door of the Small Courtyard was pushed open, and Xiao Xun'er appeared in the doorway wearing pajamas, her gaze cold and her face expressionless.

At this moment, Xiao Xun'er's complexion was even paler, her aura not as good as it had been during the day, and her body was trembling slightly, as if enduring something.

The aftereffects of the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame? It should be caused by the burning of the Heavenly Flame. A Heavenly Flame is still too dangerous for a low-tier cultivator!

Lin Qing wore a look of understanding.

"Do the two cousins have any business here?"

Xiao Xun'er's soft tone carried a measure of detachment.

"Th-th-this... I-I-I... is..."

Xiao Yan's face flushed red, he stammered for a moment, and then bolted away!

Watching Xiao Yan's retreating figure, which was faster than a rabbit, Lin Qing was somewhat surprised. The last time, he had been utterly stubborn and only submitted after a beating; why had he just run straight off this time?

Yet could running away solve the problem? Leaving him standing here awkwardly by himself!

The system's voice also sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Selection completed, rewards have been distributed to the Storage Space!]

Taking a glance at the jade slip within the System Space, Lin Qing felt very happy, though his expression didn't change much.

"Cousin Lin Qing, is there anything else?"

Lin Qing waved his hand:

"Cousin Xun'er, remember to lock your doors and windows at night. This guy likes to sneak into other people's beds at night and grope around, regardless of gender! You're so young, remember to protect yourself!"

"Also, if Cousin Xun'er is feeling a bit uncomfortable, you can find some medicinal liquid to soak in, or have someone use Dou Qi to nourish your body."

Having spoken, he turned and left without any hesitation. He was waiting to go back to sleep, and he had an appointment with someone tomorrow!

Besides, the two of them weren't particularly close right now, merely acquaintances. For someone like Xiao Xun'er, who was somewhat socially anxious yet extremely intelligent, compounded by the cold personality caused by the influence of her bloodline, everything had to be done step by step. Cultivating feelings could not be rushed.

"Lin Qing, what a strange person indeed."

Returning to her room, Xiao Xun'er felt somewhat puzzled and said:

"Elder Ling, investigate him!"

"Yes, Miss!"

Stopping the Flame Emperor from doing bad things would at least ensure he wouldn't meet a path to destruction.

You are the future Flame Emperor, after all; you cannot afford to leave any dark history behind!

As for disrupting his future romance, one could only say that since it hadn't happened yet and didn't belong to him, it didn't have much to do with him either—opportunities included.

The next day.

Xiao Yan woke up feeling somewhat apprehensive. He had originally expected his father to scold him, but he hadn't expected that his father didn't know about last night's events at all.

Quietly asking his mother, he learned that Xiao Xun'er and Lin Qing hadn't told his father at all.

While breathing a sigh of relief in his heart, he completely lost any thought of experimenting with Dou Qi.

"Hah!"

Lin Qing took a long breath, and with a pale-white stream of air visible to the naked eye that poured into his body through his mouth and nose, he concluded his cultivation for the day.

In a few days, I can try using the Qi-Gathering Powder to break through to a Fighter!

Scrambling out of bed swiftly, he stretched lazily, loosened up his muscles and bones, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and no sooner had he stepped out of the courtyard door than he found Xiao Yu squatting by the entrance waiting for him.

"You're out!" Seeing Lin Qing emerge, Xiao Yu's face revealed pleasant surprise.

He discovered that Xiao Yu's personality wasn't actually that fierce; as long as one didn't play the ruffian with her, she was rather gentle instead.

In the Xiao Clan Market, Xiao Yu and Lin Qing strolled leisurely. Most of the shopping was done by Xiao Yu, who bought practical little trinkets or small jewelry, while he simply looked on from the side.

He had still been thinking about picking up a bargain, but as it turned out, he didn't find any good items, nor did he encounter any pickpockets or face-slapping incidents. After all, both of them had been here many times, and because of selection tasks, he had also come several times and had grown familiar with the guards.

As for the guards following secretly, Lin Qing couldn't help nodding to himself. This was the normal way to go out; once he made it big in the future, he would have to take a few lackeys with him when he traveled.

"Look, Lin Qing! There are Magical Beast eggs for sale over here! Do you want to buy one?"

Looking at Xiao Yu's cheerful back, he thought in his heart:

Actually, having a childhood sweetheart like this isn't bad.

The green plum horse-rider came, circling the bed to play with green plums.

The affection of childhood sweethearts was a very beautiful chapter in the poetry of his past life. He had never experienced it in his previous life, but he hadn't expected to experience it in this one.

Following Xiao Yu to the stall, he saw eggs of various sizes displayed on it. With the growth of his experience, Lin Qing saw at a glance that they were all eggs of reptilian and avian Magical Beasts.

Suddenly, the Ancestral Stone within Lin Qing's body trembled slightly.

What on earth made even the Ancestral Stone tremble?

His mind entered the Ancestral Stone and he discovered it wasn't an accident; the little mouse was still sleeping, and Yan had not revived either.

This left Lin Qing somewhat surprised. He had bought Magical Beast eggs more than a dozen times, each time hoping to hatch some divine beast, but not a single time had he succeeded.

Either they were eggs that had already lost their vitality and had to be eaten tearfully every time he bought them back—with some not even edible and belonging to poisonous varieties—or they were eggs of First-Rank Magical Beasts, basically birds, which were of no great use.

Later on, after reading a lot of books, he also learned some knowledge about Magical Beasts, knowing that in many cases stall owners liked to inflate prices, fleece customers depending on who they were, and even pass off inferior goods as quality ones, so he stopped buying them.

Yet every time they came out, Xiao Yu still habitually called him over to take a look, knowing this was Lin Qing's other hobby besides cultivation, reading, and drinking tea. On her last birthday, she had even given him a green sparrow egg, though unfortunately it was dead and failed to hatch, which had made the little girl heartbroken for a long time, wasting hundreds of gold coins of her private money.

Found it!

When his hand passed over one of the white crane eggs, the Ancestral Stone trembled once more.

"Boss, how much for this white crane egg?" Lin Qing pointed at the white crane egg uncovered by the Ancestral Stone. This egg belonged to a First-Rank Magical Beast, the white crane; it was white and about the size of a Qilin melon. A white crane was a First-Rank Magical Beast upon birth, with a certain probability of advancing to the Second Rank, while reaching the Third Rank depended on mutation.

"Hehe, Young Master Lin, this is the egg of a Second-Rank white crane! Our Blackie Mercenary Group lost several brothers just to hunt this white crane, and then..."

Because Lin Qing often came here to buy Magical Beast eggs in the past, the man recognized him and knew that this Xiao clan kid liked Magical Beast eggs.

"How much?" Lin Qing interrupted.

"One thousand gold coins!"

"Here!" Lin Qing handed the money pouch to the other party without hesitation, then gently picked up the white egg, called out to Xiao Yu, and left in a hurry.

Seeing Lin Qing leave in such a rush, the stall owner suddenly felt as though he had taken a loss!

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Yet just thinking about how Lin Qing was different from usual—normally the fellow would definitely haggle over the price, but today he had been exceptionally bold and impatient—he realized that he might truly have misjudged the situation!

The mere thought that the other party had made a profit felt worse than taking a loss himself! No, wait, he had taken a loss to begin with!