A White-Haired Dumpling crept through the darkness like a little cat hoping to steal a tasty morsel, sneaking on tiptoe toward a bedroom door.
"Hehe~"
"She's only a fiancée."
"She can only sip the broth left over from Big Sister Na'er's meat."
Na'er tilted her little head, silver hair spilling over her shoulders, and kept peering around warily. But the next moment, a teasing voice tinged with exasperation suddenly rang out. "Tell me, could it possibly be that we're the only two people living here, and there's absolutely no one you need to sneak around looking out for?"
Caught in the middle of her "mischief," the White-Haired Dumpling jolted at the sudden voice and lunged forward, straight into a warm embrace.
Na'er lifted her little head and met a pair of faintly amused eyes.
The White-Haired Dumpling blinked innocently, trying to bluff her way through.
Xu Qingjia put on a stern expression and gently pinched the White-Haired Dumpling's soft pink cheek. "No pretending to be innocent."
"What are you doing here instead of sleeping this late at night?"
"Mmph." Na'er let out a soft, adorable whimper, her little hands patting Xu Qingjia's forearm. Rather than struggling, she looked more like she was playing with him.
"Xu Qingjia, don't pinch my face."
"Confess," Xu Qingjia said sternly.
He called it pinching, but the pressure barely amounted to a gentle rub.
"I-I was just wandering around." Na'er tried to find an excuse, her guilty gaze drifting upward.
"Does wandering around require sneaking about?" Xu Qingjia asked.
Na'er tried to put her brilliant brain to work and find a suitable explanation for her behavior. "I-I was just a little hungry, so I wanted to see whether there were any snacks left in the living room."
She was only sneaking a bite.
It was Ye Xinglan's fault for fighting dirty.
Queen Na'er could leave Ye Xinglan a mouthful of broth.
But she had to get the first bite of meat!
"Really?" Xu Qingjia's suspicious gaze settled on Na'er's little belly.
"Then I'll have one of the maids make you a late-night snack and bring it to your room."
"No need," Na'er refused. "Making someone get up and work in the middle of the night would be too much trouble for them."
"The Xu Family offers very generous bonuses for unexpected work on the night shift," Xu Qingjia said.
"It's fine. I'll just have some snacks." The sweet-smelling, soft White-Haired Dumpling wriggled in Xu Qingjia's arms, trying to slip into his bedroom. "Move aside. Big Sister Na'er needs to check whether Little Brother Xu Qingjia has hidden any tasty treats."
"Heh~" Xu Qingjia chuckled.
How could a mere White-Haired Dumpling fool me?
Please call me Gu Donghuang's god of opening accounts.
The sweet-smelling, soft White-Haired Dumpling wore a soft white nightdress, her fluffy silver hair spilling loosely around her like an adorable little white kitten's fur. A stubborn cowlick stood upright on her head, and her bright, dewy eyes seemed to shimmer with starlight.
Thin white tights outlined her slender legs and their slightly immature curves, her white-stockinged feet tucked into fluffy slippers.
She looked like a little angel who had descended into the mortal world.
"Are you really just here to find something to eat?" Xu Qingjia gazed straight at Na'er with smiling eyes, then took some snacks, Potato Chips, and bread out of the Sun Moon Crown.
This girl.
She already knows the Netherworld's aura has something to do with me.
Yet she still dares to deliver herself right to my door. Isn't she afraid of walking like a lamb into a tiger's jaws?
Na'er blinked and accepted the snacks with a somewhat adorably dazed expression.
"Of course not." The White-Haired Dumpling planted both hands on her hips, looking like a little grown-up.
Did he think she was some gluttonous bottomless pit?
"Xu Qingjia, haven't you seen the weather forecast?" Her expression was solemn, her tone as grave as if she were announcing some momentous event.
"Oh? What weather forecast?" Xu Qingjia played along, wanting to see what this little girl would come up with next.
Na'er immediately spread her little hands to gesture, her mouth forming a round little O, her expression exaggerated yet earnest. "There's going to be a once-in-a-century thunderstorm tonight! The super, super scary kind!"
"That frightening?" Xu Qingjia asked, holding back a laugh.
"Of course!" Na'er nodded emphatically, then proudly puffed out her little chest, its youthful curves rising slightly. "But it's all right. Big Sister Na'er will protect you~"
"..."
She really was treating him like a little child.
"All right." Xu Qingjia took the opportunity to hug the sweet-smelling, soft White-Haired Dumpling tighter, turn back into the room, shut the door, and lock it, all in one smooth motion. "Then Big Sister Na'er had better protect me properly."
"Mm-hmm." The White-Haired Dumpling pressed her little face against that familiar chest, her petite body half dangling from Xu Qingjia. A silly smile appeared on her fair, adorable cheeks, and through his pajamas, her little hands were already wandering mischievously over him.
"I-I'm checking your physical condition."
The Silver Dragon's true colors.
A sudden doubt arose in Xu Qingjia's mind.
Who exactly was the hunter, and who was the prey?
Why did it feel as though he was the one being refined?
Still, who could refuse such an adorable little angel?
A trace of sweet, milky fragrance lingered around his nose.
Holding the sweet-smelling, soft White-Haired Dumpling, Xu Qingjia felt that nothing could be more comfortable than this.
The two got onto the bed.
"Don't worry!" Na'er stepped onto the bed with her white-stockinged feet, lifted a corner of the covers, and crawled straight underneath. The White-Haired Dumpling patted her little chest with a serious expression and promised, "Big Sister Na'er won't do anything strange to you."
As she spoke, she reached out to pat the bed beside her, signaling for Xu Qingjia to hurry up and lie down.
Xu Qingjia: ...
The natural order had been turned a little upside down.
"Nighttime isn't just for resting," Xu Qingjia said. "It's also your chance to surpass others."
"Huh?" Na'er froze, then frowned. "What's all this about resting and cultivating? Big Sister Na'er is here to protect you!"
Wouldn't cultivating hard now just hand that stinky Gu Yue a free benefit?
Besides, she was already carrying out Gu Yue's assignment. Cultivation was a separate assignment.
Xu Qingjia reached out and stroked Na'er's little head. "How can you protect anyone without getting stronger?"
"Big Sister Na'er is invincible." The White-Haired Dumpling raised her chin with absolute confidence.
"All right." Xu Qingjia smiled dotingly. "Then invincible Big Sister Na'er had better protect me."
"Mm-hmm," Na'er nodded. "Hurry up and
cultivate."
"My cultivation is a little unusual." Xu Qingjia explained in advance to avoid any misunderstandings. "Because of my Martial Soul, when I practice the Spiritual Power Meditation Method, it's as though my soul isn't in my body. My soul and consciousness enter the little world inside my Martial Soul."
"Okay." Na'er indicated that she understood.
"Don't worry. Big Sister Na'er will definitely protect you."
She absolutely would not steal what she had been entrusted to guard.
Xu Qingjia slipped beneath the covers, which now held a little more of that sweet, milky fragrance, and used the Book of Life and Death to send his soul into the Netherworld.
The White-Haired Dumpling watched him quietly. Only once she could no longer sense any fluctuations from his soul did she tentatively call in a soft voice, "Xu Qingjia? Xu Qingjia~"
No one answered.
"Hehe~" Na'er's cheeks instantly flushed pink, and both her little hands trembled slightly with excitement. Heaven itself is helping me!
She carefully reached out, her fingertips lightly touching the boy's warm chest, then grasped a corner of his shirt and pulled it upward bit by bit. Her soft pink face grew redder and redder, as though it might start giving off steam, and even the cowlick atop her head bobbed with excitement~
Meanwhile, at the Ye Family estate.
Ye Xinglan sat cross-legged on her bed, meditating and cultivating. Pale golden Soul Power swirled around her fingertips, while the aura surrounding her remained as tranquil as water.