Feng Ling'er smiled. "May I pet him, fellow Daoist?"
No sooner had she spoken than Yun Qing tucked Little Radiant Chick into his arms at lightning speed, like a mother hen protecting her chick, as though she were some chicken thief.
Feng Ling'er: "..."
"Ahem... my little chick is shy around strangers. He only trusts familiar faces," Yun Qing explained sheepishly, realizing that he had overreacted.
He had simply felt, instinctively, that if Feng Ling'er really did touch him... the consequences might be very, very serious. Just thinking about it sent an inexplicable shiver through him.
The two returned to the matter at hand. Yun Qing looked toward the deepening dusk outside the cave. "Do you have any clues about this 'merit,' or the true nature of this trial, Fellow Daoist Feng?"
Feng Ling'er shook her head. "My memories are badly fragmented. All I know is that it's crucial. As for the details, we'll probably have to delve deeper into the trial before we find out." She looked at Yun Qing. "We still haven't met a third person with the purple-gold seals on our foreheads. They're too conspicuous, and there are always people who can see through my illusory disguise. We must be careful not to become targets."
Yun Qing touched the mark on his forehead and was just about to speak-
[Ding!]
The "system's" notification suddenly rang out in his sea of consciousness!
[Congratulations, Master, on surviving until the evening of the third day.] [Effective immediately, all participants must proceed to the designated gathering point in their respective regions! Regional merit rankings will soon be announced!] [Anyone who fails to arrive before the countdown ends will be stripped of their karmic fortune!] [Gathering point locations have been issued.]
Immediately afterward, as though to prove this