"Who cares! Master, let's go down and catch him! Otherwise he'll get away again!" The girl cared nothing for any of that and spoke anxiously. She only wanted to catch the Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma so she could make up for her mistake.
"Don't rush. Your master knows what she's doing! Bring out your artifact and get your footing!" The young woman patted the girl's little head and smiled unhurriedly.
At those words, the girl touched an exquisite pouch at her waist with a delicate hand. A streak of blue light shot out, flew before her, and slowly expanded. A blue silk handkerchief, five feet square, appeared in the air. The girl lightly leaped onto it and remained suspended in midair.
Once the girl had steadied herself, the young woman parted her lips and breathed out a dazzling blue radiance. A blue pearl the size of a walnut appeared in the air, pulsing with brilliant blue light, while strange, character-like symbols revolved around it. The young woman continuously changed the gestures of her hands, chanting all the while. Beams of interwoven blue and white light shot from her fingers into the pearl, and its blue radiance surged. Only then did she stop her gestures and chanting. By now, the pearl was entirely hidden within its blue glow, the light surrounding it almost tangible. She extended a fair, delicate finger and pointed lightly toward Li Xiaoya, uttering, "Go!" The blue pearl flashed and vanished without a trace.
Li Xiaoya was walking along, carrying on a wildly disjointed conversation with Guagua, when Guagua's ears suddenly pricked up in alarm. He opened his mouth to cry out, but a blue dome appeared from nowhere and enclosed Li Xiaoya's entire body. Startled by its sudden appearance, Li Xiaoya lost his grip on the river deer slung over his shoulder, and it fell to the ground. Thud! Guagua struck the dome headfirst and rebounded onto the ground, glaring fiercely at the blue Light Barrier with his teeth bared.
"What is this thing?" Li Xiaoya cautiously reached out and touched the barrier. It felt cool and soft. He pushed hard, only to be bounced back. Just as he was about to push again, the sight before him left him stunned.
Two fairy-like women dressed in white, one older and one younger, drifted slowly down from the sky and stopped before the blue dome in front of him.
Li Xiaoya's mouth fell open in astonishment. He felt that this was truly the most magical, strangest day he had experienced for as long as he could remember. First, he had been hunted down and fought for his life, then suffered grave injuries and passed out, only to wake up completely unharmed. Then he had met Guagua, an animal he had never seen before. Stranger still, the little fellow seemed to like him very much and refused to leave him alone. Now he had encountered two fairies descending from the heavens. Looking at the two women before him, one older and one younger, both as beautiful as celestial fairies, Li Xiaoya felt his head swell and grow heavy, as though he might faint.
Seeing Li Xiaoya's blank expression, the fairy-like girl could not help covering her lips with a giggle. Her smile was like a hundred flowers bursting into bloom. At the sight, Li Xiaoya's cheeks inexplicably grew hot, burning hot.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! While Li Xiaoya stood in a daze, a white blur darted wildly before his eyes, striking the blue barrier and making it tremble continuously. Guagua was trying to break through the dome again. Yet each impact merely dented the barrier, which immediately returned to its original shape.
"A-are... are you... fairies?" Li Xiaoya finally recovered his senses and asked in a quiet stammer.
"Who we are doesn't matter! What matters is, why are you with the Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma?" the young woman asked coldly, her tone carrying a hint of command. As she spoke, her beautiful eyes remained fixed on Guagua, who was charging about in front of Li Xiaoya.
A chill ran through Li Xiaoya's heart. It felt as though the young woman could see straight through his entire body, even the thoughts in his mind. Goosebumps rose on his skin, and he grew terribly nervous. But as he watched Guagua charging back and forth, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. That's it! I've never heard of a beast like Guagua, and these two flew down from the sky. Could they really be fairies, and Guagua an immortal beast that escaped from heaven? Have they come down from heaven to retrieve him?! The more he thought about it, the more it resembled the tales of immortals he had heard.
If he were an ordinary beast, how could he have healed my injuries in an instant? How could he run so fast? And these two women are so beautiful, just like the fairies in legends. No! They are fairies. How could mortals be this beautiful? How could mortals fly? The more he thought about it, the more it resembled the tales of immortals he had heard, and the more certain he became that he had encountered immortals.
"What are you spacing out for? We asked you a question!" the girl demanded in a sweet but displeased voice.
"You mean Guagua! He came to me on his own," Li Xiaoya blurted out, finding the girl's voice indescribably lovely.
"He came to you on his own? He can't get away from people fast enough, so why would he stay with you?" the young woman murmured, sounding partly as though she were speaking to Li Xiaoya and partly as though she were talking to herself.
"I don't know about that. Have you come to catch him?" Though Li Xiaoya was deeply reluctant to part with Guagua, how could a mere mortal like him fight immortals? They could kill him with a single finger. Even so, he asked nervously.
"Of course! That little thing escaped from us in the first place!" the girl said as though it were only natural.
"He really belongs to you?!" Li Xiaoya's heart sank, and disappointment showed plainly on his face.
"Enough! No more talking. Stand still. I'm going to catch him." The young woman swept her sleeve and spoke coldly, her tone sharpening.
Li Xiaoya could only stand still. He did not know why. Normally, he would surely have tried to squeeze some benefits out of these two immortals, yet today, for some reason, he could not summon any thought of deceiving them, much less resisting them. He kept feeling as though something were pressing down on his consciousness. That sensation was especially strong around the young woman. No! Rather, most of that oppressive feeling came from her. As for the girl, who was about his own age, seeing her had instead stirred a little delight and a little fear.
Seeing that Li Xiaoya was standing still, the young woman extended her snow-white hand and formed a series of gestures, chanting under her breath. A strange language issued from her lips, and waves of blue light rose from her hand. She pointed a finger lightly at the blue Light Barrier, which slowly contracted toward Li Xiaoya as though it were alive.
Had she not feared taking the life of this mortal who had never practiced any magic, she would not have needed to cast a spell while still in the air to suppress the freezing properties of her spirit treasure, the Water-Controlling Nine-Palace Pearl, and use a gentler method to trap Li Xiaoya together with the Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma. Otherwise, she could simply have unleashed the Water-Controlling Nine-Palace Pearl's freezing power and frozen them both in an instant. The Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma would have been unable to escape and would have been forced straight back into his original form. But that would certainly have frozen all life out of Li Xiaoya and killed him on the spot. Although cultivators held mortal lives in little regard, killing someone she had saved just half a day earlier-and killing a child her granddaughter's own age right in front of her-was something the young woman knew she could not bring herself to do.