Come Home with Me

"Nalan Yanran, come over here and fight me!"

Xiao Qian's voice rang out like a great bronze bell, echoing through the air with an authority that brooked no refusal.

Wutan City was a long way from the Imperial Capital. Even riding an extremely swift flying magical beast, the journey took nearly three days.

On this long journey, time seemed to stretch out, slow and unbearable.

On the second day, when Nalan Yanran saw Xiao Qian again, her eyes lit up despite herself.

She had never imagined that the young man who had looked so bedraggled yesterday, as though he had lost his soul, would undergo such a complete transformation overnight, becoming an entirely different person.

His hair, once as disheveled as a bird's nest, had now been properly combed. Every strand lay neatly in place, gleaming black in the sunlight like carefully polished silk.

His filthy clothes had all been washed and straightened as well. Without a single crease or stain, they had regained their former neatness and lent him a striking, spirited air.

The young man's gaze was gentle yet bright, like stars shining in the night sky. Fighting spirit blazed in his eyes once more, like a burning flame, restoring their former brilliance, as though he had rediscovered the high-spirited youth he once was.

"You... you're a cultivation maniac."

Looking at the utterly transformed Xiao Qian before her, Nalan Yanran's soft pink lips trembled slightly, and a strange feeling stirred in her heart.

It was an emotion she had never felt before, like a pebble dropped into the still lake of her heart, sending ripples spreading across it.

The feeling left her a little flustered.

"Fine, let's fight! One day, I'll make you bow beneath my skirts! Hmph!"

As though trying to recover from that almost imperceptible lapse in composure, Nalan Yanran chose to strike first.

Her long leg swept out, swift as thunder, whipping up a howling gust as though she intended to defeat Xiao Qian in a single blow.

Thump!

Xiao Qian reacted swiftly, catching her ankle in a firm grip.

His gaze shifted, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes, and he immediately drove a fist straight toward Nalan Yanran's lower abdomen.

But Nalan Yanran remained unruffled. Drawing on the experience she had accumulated sparring with Xiao Qian lately, she twisted around and kicked back, her movements crisp and clean, without the slightest hesitation.

Over this period, the two had fought at least fifty times, if not a hundred, and each had all but memorized the other's hand-to-hand fighting patterns.

As long as Xiao Qian did not overwhelm her with Dou Qi and his immense strength, subduing Nalan Yanran was no longer as easy as before. Every bout had become fiercer and more difficult.

This round lasted nearly an hour, their fierce clash making even the air around them seem to burn.

In the end, it still concluded with Nalan Yanran lying on the flying magical beast's back, her face bruised and swollen.

Her once-pretty face was now a sorry sight, mottled blue and purple like a painter's palette.

The sight made the corners of the accompanying Misty Cloud Sect young man's eyes twitch incessantly. His expression was furious, his eyes nearly spitting fire, and his fists were tightly clenched, yet he could only swallow his anger, not daring to speak.

After all, Nalan Yanran had started the fight herself, and he knew her stubborn temper well enough to realize that he could never persuade her to stop.

Ge Ye, meanwhile, wisely chose not to meddle in the pair's affairs. He merely watched quietly from the side, inwardly shaking his head, helpless in the face of the way these two young people treated each other.

"You... you brute. Don't you know how to go easy on a girl? You b-bastard..."

Nalan Yanran lay limply on the flying magical beast's back, rubbing her bruises and cursing.

Her normally clear voice had grown a little hoarse from anger and pain. Her delicate face flushed crimson with fury, and she glared viciously at Xiao Qian's retreating back.

Xiao Qian, however, turned around at his leisure and waved at Nalan Yanran, saying nonchalantly, "That felt good. Warm-up's done. Time to start today's eating and cultivation!"

Hearing this, Nalan Yanran nearly passed out from anger. For a moment, she could not utter a word, her chest merely heaving violently.

She simply could not understand how this fellow could be so heartless, hitting her so hard and acting as though it were only natural.

To think I actually felt a little fond of him just now. I must have been blind. Absolutely blind!

Xiao Qian returned to his own wooden hut, where the air felt somewhat stuffy.

He silently poured himself a cup of tea, watching ripples spread through it, his gaze a little vacant.

He stared quietly at those ripples, as though he could see his own tangled emotions in the tiny waves.

When the ripples began to settle, he seemed to awaken suddenly from his reverie. He lightly wiped his eyes, trying to erase that barely perceptible trace of desolation, then tipped his head back and drained the cup. The tea flowed down his throat, carrying a hint of bitterness.

In the days that followed, he seemed to return to his old routine.

Eating meat, cultivating, eating meat, cultivating, over and over, like a tireless machine.

He devoured the meat in great mouthfuls, his ferocity making it seem as though he meant to vent all his emotions this way.

When cultivating, he focused completely, trying to immerse himself in the growth of his strength and forget all his troubles.

Yet only he knew how powerful the pangs of heartbreak truly were.

It was a pain that sank deep into his bones, like a blunt knife cutting into his heart again and again. No single cut was fatal, but the relentless ache was enough to leave him tossing and turning in the dead of night.

"We've reached the Imperial Capital!"

With that loud cry, everyone who had spent three days jolting about on the flying magical beast finally reached the end of their journey.

The enormous flying magical beast slowly descended onto the soil of the Jia Ma Empire's Imperial Capital. Its massive body stirred up a cloud of dust as it landed, and once the wind from its beating wings fell silent, the surrounding clamor became all the more pronounced.

Standing on the flying magical beast's back, Xiao Qian gazed down over the bustling city from above.

The city covered an area over a hundred times greater than Wutan City. As far as the eye could see, densely packed buildings blanketed the land like countless stars, while streets crisscrossed like an enormous chessboard.

The bustle of the crowds washed over him. The jumble of voices, the noisy cries of merchants, and the sounds of carts and horses intertwined, far beyond anything a third-rate city like Wutan City could compare with.

"Martial Uncle Ge Ye, sorry for the trouble, but please return to the sect with Senior Brother first. I'm taking him home for a visit."

Nalan Yanran's clear voice rang out, catching everyone by surprise.

She leaped lightly down from the flying magical beast, her movements graceful, but her firm tone allowed no argument.

Hearing this, the young man nearly flew into a rage. His face instantly twisted, his eyes filled with anger and disbelief.

"J-Junior Sister Yanran, you just broke off your engagement with that useless fellow from the Xiao Clan, and now you're taking another Xiao Clan youth home? This will damage your good name!"

His voice trembled with agitation, and veins bulged on his forehead. Clearly, he was deeply displeased with Nalan Yanran's decision.