The Seventh Frame

Although there was nothing at the Demonic Cultivator's lair she cared about, she figured the forest still held plenty worth finding. She also didn't know what had happened to that young boy. Going back for a look would at least let her tie up loose ends.

When she found the boy unconscious in the cave, she was surprised. She had only come to check, never expecting to actually find him. Judging by how close he was to death, she believed that if she had arrived even half a day later, he would have been gone.

The Blood Gu inside him was nearly mature. The instant it reached maturity, it would drain every drop of blood from his body and burst out. The thought was rather disgusting.

If she had any cultivation now, even if she were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, she could easily save him. But...

Qiao Ranran pressed her lips together, took out her Silver Needles, and swiftly drove them into the boy's body. Silver flashed between her fingers, which moved so fast they left afterimages. Half an hour later, she had turned him into a hedgehog.

The Acupuncture Technique could only temporarily suppress the Blood Gu's growth. To solve the problem, she had to draw it out, and without Spiritual Power in her body, she could not do that.

Still, with what she had accumulated over this period and the fact that she had been through this once before, Qi Drawing Into the Body would not be difficult for her. At least until the late Golden Core Stage, nothing should hinder her cultivation.

She quietly carved a Spirit-Guiding Formation at the cave entrance and layered a Protective Formation over it, then carved a Spirit-Gathering Formation inside the cave. After glancing at the still-unconscious "hedgehog" boy, she finally settled into meditation and reached out to sense the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

The moment Qiao Ranran closed her eyes, the boy opened his.

He had not expected to see this woman again. No, girl was more accurate. She looked no older than fourteen or fifteen, with a beautiful face that still held a trace of childishness and a slender, delicate figure. Her narrow waist looked as though it might snap with the slightest bend. But her eyes seemed at odds with the rest of her, holding a stillness born of far too many years and hardships...

She was saving him. He could feel it.

But what was she doing now? He couldn't understand. Then he plunged into the sort of existential doubt that asked, Who am I? Where am I? What am I seeing?

This woman... was she really drawing Qi into her body right here, without a care in the world?

Wait. If she had not even drawn Qi into her body yet, how had she managed to suppress the Blood Gu inside him?

Some unidentified boy: ???

Chapter 7: The Seventh Frame

What the boy found most terrifying about Qiao Ranran was that she had not only drawn Qi into her body as calmly as if it were nothing, but had also built a fire in the cave and started roasting meat. Where had she found a rabbit? No, wait—how was she even in the mood?

A thunderous cry of hunger rang out from the boy's stomach once more.

Qiao Ranran laughed. "Awake?" She tore the roasted rabbit in half and placed one portion on a cleaned leaf beside her. Holding the other half, she took a bite, savored the blissful taste of roasted meat, and sighed before continuing. "If you're awake, get up and eat."

The boy wanted to shout "Get lost!" and declare that he wouldn't eat. But he knew she had saved him, and though the words reached his lips, he could not force them out. Besides, the aroma of roasted meat had tormented him long enough. Refusing it now would be doing himself a disservice.

"Eat. You'll need your strength to curse at people."

The boy: "..." Did he really seem that fond of cursing?

Remembering that he had indeed been less than polite when they last met, the boy's expression turned peculiar. After holding it in for quite a while, he said resentfully, "How am I supposed to move?" He had no idea how she had done it, but the Silver Needles covering his body were clearly what had saved his life. He did not dare make a reckless move.

"Oh." Qiao Ranran looked enlightened, as though she had only just remembered he was still a "hedgehog." "Just a moment," she said without a shred of sincerity. She took another bite of the tender, delicious roasted meat, cleaned the grease from her hands, and only then casually removed the Silver Needles from his body.

The boy: "..." She was treating this far too lightly. He had the surreal feeling that he was being toyed with.

"Eat first. You'll need your strength. I'll use the needles on you again in a little while."

The boy hesitated. "You..."

Qiao Ranran nodded and put away the Silver Needles with a smile. "Just as you're thinking. I might not be able to eradicate the Blood Gu inside you right now, but suppressing it won't be a problem. When I use the needles again, I intend to reverse the process by which the Blood Gu draws out your Essence Blood and slowly feed it back into you. At least that way, your cultivation can gradually recover. Then you can suppress the Blood Gu yourself..."

If he could, the boy would have dug at his ears to make sure he had not misheard. Since when had dealing with a Blood Gu become so easy? A few needles could reverse it?

Seeing the shock on his face give way to blankness, Qiao Ranran chewed her roasted meat slowly and offered a kindly explanation. "I'm not lying to you."

She truly was not lying. In her previous life, she had encountered someone infected with a Blood Gu. Because his cultivation was higher, he had suppressed it for many years, so his condition had not looked as dire as the boy's. But precisely because the Blood Gu had lived inside him longer, it had been fed into something far more terrifying. She had gone to considerable trouble to devise a solution: reverse the Blood Gu and make it return the Essence Blood it had absorbed. The result had been astonishing. When the Essence Blood refined by the Blood Gu reentered his body, the man had advanced on the spot.

After that, with her help, the man had even turned the Blood Gu into a cultivation aid. There was something almost inspired about it.

Meeting the boy's gaze, which was full of doubt about everything he knew, Qiao Ranran raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't believe me?"

The boy bristled. How was he supposed to believe that?

If anyone else had said it, he might at least have hesitated. But this woman had not possessed the slightest bit of cultivation until just now. He had watched her draw Qi into her body with his own eyes! How was he supposed to believe her wild claims?

"If you don't believe me, you'll die."

Qiao Ranran's words pierced his heart one by one. That was right. What did it matter if he believed her? This was the only lifeline before him. If she did not save him, he would certainly die.

Rankings

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Transmigration into a Book

Sweet Romance Novel

Transmigration and Rebirth Romance

Dahei Aichi Yu

Dual Rebirth

Xianxia Novel