Her Face Was Red as a Monkey's Butt

The two of them found a sheltered hollow in the mountains.

Luo Yan dropped down beneath an old tree, tilting his head back against the trunk.

Zhu Zhuqing did not sit. She stood several steps away, watching the faint orange-red glow at the horizon slowly deepen.

"Let's rest for a while."

Luo Yan's voice was a little hoarse. "There should be a village up ahead. We can wash up and find something to eat there. I'm starving."

Zhu Zhuqing gave a quiet "Mm."

Luo Yan turned to look at her.

Dusk slanted over from the eastern ridge, a thin layer of light falling across her face.

That trace of light softened her brows and eyes with a hint of tenderness.

Luo Yan watched her for a moment. "Zhu Zhuqing."

"Mm?" She did not look at him.

"Do you know that you're pretty dangerous like this?" he said.

"Like what?" She turned to him.

"Like you are right now."

Luo Yan gestured vaguely in front of his chin. "So pretty, with such bright eyes. A young girl traveling alone... if those old bachelors see you, it'd be strange if they didn't get bad ideas."

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing and turned her face away again.

The dusk darkened further. The last trace of orange-red at the horizon slowly faded, and wind began to rise in the hollow.

She stood in the wind, the hem of her clothes stirring softly.

Luo Yan thought she would not respond again. Just as he was about to make up a few more jokes to change the subject, she suddenly spoke.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What about me?"

"Have you ever had bad ideas?"

Luo Yan froze, then laughed and slapped his thigh. "If I said no, would you believe me?"

"No," Zhu Zhuqing said.

Luo Yan's expression did not change. "We can't keep traveling like this."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at him. "Why?"

"We stand out too much. Who knows whether there'll be more people after us."

Luo Yan crossed his hands behind his head and leaned against the trunk. "Starting tomorrow, I'll change our faces. You'll be an ordinary girl visiting relatives, and I'll be your poor relative tagging along. We'll keep a low profile."

Zhu Zhuqing gave another "Mm."

She did not ask how he would change them, nor did she ask whether he could do it.

"Why are you so easygoing this time?" he asked.

"If it's useful, I'll listen." Zhu Zhuqing walked over and sat beside him.

Luo Yan smiled but said nothing more.

The two of them sat there. The wind in the hollow grew softer and softer, the final streak of orange-red on the horizon seemed to slowly withdraw, several stars emerged overhead, and birds swept past the forest canopy in the distance without making a sound.

"Luo Yan." Zhu Zhuqing suddenly spoke.

"Mm-hm?"

"Which academy are you from?" she asked, her tone unchanged.

"Nuoding Junior Academy."

Luo Yan said, "I graduated early."

Zhu Zhuqing waited a while, but when no more followed, she turned her head. "That's it?"

Luo Yan nodded. "That's it."

Zhu Zhuqing frowned, a rare expression for her. "A twenty-eighth-rank Soul Grandmaster at ten years old, with a thousand-year second Soul Ring. With talent like yours, there should be no shortage of academies that want you."

"What can an academy teach? Cultivation? I already know how. Identifying Spirit Beasts? Find a bookstore; there are books inside. Helping you hunt Spirit Beasts? Both my Soul Rings came from relying on my own Martial Soul."

"But you're very strong," Zhu Zhuqing said softly. In her world, strength was reason.

And he was strong without reason.

"That's because I don't like following the paths other people set out for me."

Luo Yan said, "Academies teach you how to be a Soul Master, how to become what everyone expects you to be. But I don't believe in that. I believe in myself. I believe even a fake map bought from the roadside for three copper coins might take me where I need to go."

Zhu Zhuqing did not respond. Her gaze lowered to her hands. Her fingers were very pale, with faint calluses on their pads.

They had been worn down through countless days and nights of fleeing for her life.

"I..." She opened her mouth but did not continue.

Luo Yan turned to look at her. Night had completely fallen, and the wind blew softly.

Zhu Zhuqing turned her face toward the mountains beyond the hollow. After a long while, she said in a low voice, "I never thought about whether I wanted to become a Soul Master. I only knew that I had to grow stronger, or I would die."

"I know."

Luo Yan said, "But didn't you make it this far on your own? Whether it was your sister or that fiancé of yours, no one ever shielded you. You made it here because you didn't want to die."

Zhu Zhuqing slowly clenched her hand.

Luo Yan smiled. "So don't talk to me about academies. When you go there in the future, don't treat everything they say as gospel either. Learn what you can use and throw away what you want to throw away. Whether you're a Soul Master or just a person, walking your own path is what matters. Live in the present."

Zhu Zhuqing did not answer. She merely looked ahead again.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Within a small Spirit Beast forest, a Riftshadow Cat half a meter long gently licked its fur.

Its entire body was gray-black, with several extremely thin silver stripes along its back.

It lay beside a fallen log, its tail lazily sweeping the ground. There were no other sounds nearby; even the insects avoided it.

Wind slowly blew in from deeper within the forest, making the shadows of the trees sway.

From behind an old tree, half a head slowly emerged.

Luo Yan.

His movements were exceptionally light, and his eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

Zhu Zhuqing then poked her head out from behind him.

Her chin nearly touched his shoulder. To avoid making a sound, she kept her body low, their faces extremely close.

At that moment, Luo Yan suddenly turned around.

It happened too abruptly. His cheek brushed past the tip of her nose, and Zhu Zhuqing recoiled as though she had been scalded.

Luo Yan also shrank back, nearly hitting the back of his head against the trunk. His mouth opened as if he wanted to explain something, yet no words came out.

"You..." Zhu Zhuqing lowered her voice, her gaze darting away from his face.

"No, I..."

Luo Yan rarely stammered. "Wasn't I trying to talk to you? How was I supposed to know you were so close?"

"You told me to hide behind you." Zhu Zhuqing's voice was even lower, carrying a faint, barely noticeable irritation.

"I told you to hide. I didn't tell you to hide with your face against my neck, did I?"

Luo Yan said, keeping his voice equally low.

Zhu Zhuqing stopped speaking. She turned her face aside, several strands of hair slipping from behind her ear to cover half her face.

Luo Yan did not press the matter. He cleared his throat. "You... are you sure you want this one?"

Zhu Zhuqing's face reddened even more. She remembered that night, when she had desperately sought a way to absorb a higher-level Soul Ring.

Luo Yan had refused her in every possible way, and she had sworn ninety-nine times in all.

In the end, Luo Yan had been unable to refuse her any longer and agreed. Then he had... given her a piece of Whale Rubber, and that night, she...

Luo Yan waited for two breaths without hearing a response.

He clicked his tongue, thinking, This cat usually answers faster than a blade. Why has she gone mute today?

He tilted his head slightly and quickly glanced back from the corner of his eye.

...Too fast. He had not seen clearly.

After waiting another breath, he could not hold back any longer and turned halfway around as lightly as possible.

Just one glance.

Zhu Zhuqing's entire face was intensely red, like a monkey's butt. She kept her face turned aside, refusing to look at him, her lips pressed tightly together as if she were struggling against something utterly embarrassing.

Luo Yan's eyes widened.

"No, you..."

He could not even keep his voice down. "Why are you blushing? I didn't do anything just now. My face only brushed yours. With that reaction, anyone who didn't know better would think I kissed you."

Zhu Zhuqing abruptly turned toward him, her gaze fierce enough to kill, but her face had become even redder.

"Say that again." Her voice was extremely low.

Luo Yan immediately shut his mouth. He turned back around and pretended to watch the Riftshadow Cat.

But after a while, he quietly muttered, "Did that Whale Rubber turn your brain to paste too..."

"Luo Yan." Zhu Zhuqing's voice seemed to press against the back of his neck.

"My mistake, my mistake."

Without turning around, Luo Yan raised his hands as if surrendering. "I didn't say anything. Keep blushing. No, keep watching. We came to kill a cat tonight, not to discuss how you nearly lost control that night... Tsk."

"You're still saying it?!" Zhu Zhuqing practically forced the words through her teeth.

Luo Yan said nothing more.

He stared in the Riftshadow Cat's direction. After a long while, he finally whispered, "It's about to leave. I'll go left, and you circle around from the right. I'll try not to kill it. Move quickly."

Luo Yan quietly stepped out, while Zhu Zhuqing watched his back and forced herself to calm down.