Lu Ning looked at that soft, yielding thing.
Silently, he withdrew his hand.
Leaving it there would have been one thing.
But once he pulled it back, the sight before him shocked him even more.
Those pink tips showed through the pale green nightdress, pink set off by green-a feast for the eyes.
Ning Rongrong also felt something slightly unusual just then.
She rolled over.
Her delicate hand came to rest on Lu Ning.
Lu Ning moved that delicate hand off Little Ning.
That was not somewhere she could touch at random.
If something really happened,
someone could end up dead!
Lu Ning stood up and tiptoed outside, moving gently, not daring to make the slightest sound.
The old door let out a creak as it closed.
Ning Rongrong, who had not been sleeping deeply and had just been caressed, opened her sleepy eyes.
But drowsiness enveloped her.
She could not make out the blurry figure in the instant the door closed.
"Did Xiao Wu go out to use the toilet?"
Ning Rongrong stretched out.
Only to bump into Xiao Wu, still fast asleep beside her.
"Huh?"
"Xiao Wu didn't go out?"
"Then who left?"
Ning Rongrong grew a little more alert.
The lingering smell of alcohol in the room seemed to reveal the visitor's identity.
Ning Rongrong's sleepiness vanished instantly.
Was that...
Lu Ning!?
What was he doing here in the middle of the night?
Ning Rongrong abruptly sat up.
She checked her clothes.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the clothes themselves.
Her sleeping posture had merely left her nightdress a little disheveled.
But there was nothing unusual about her body, just a little warmth, so she finally let her heart settle back into place. Lu Ning's face surfaced in her mind, and she pulled her nightdress tighter.
"Could I have seen wrong?"
Ning Rongrong glanced toward the door.
She had no intention of chasing after him to find out.
After all, she was wearing a nightdress. Wouldn't going outside let people see everything?
If she changed before giving chase, she would already be too late.
"I probably saw wrong."
"The people from the sect haven't entered the village, but they're still keeping watch nearby. Even if that fellow had no brains at all, he couldn't possibly do something so suicidal."
Ning Rongrong offered herself those words of reassurance.
She turned over and lay on her stomach.
But she was no longer sleepy in the slightest.
Early the next morning.
When the first ray of sunlight on the horizon shone into the wooden cabin,
Xiao Wu stretched languidly.
She lazily opened her eyes.
Seeing Ning Rongrong sitting beside her, already dressed, she asked in puzzlement, "Why are you up so early today?"
Ning Rongrong used rouge to conceal the faint bluish circles beneath her eyes.
"Mm."
"It's nearly time."
"Hurry up and get out of bed. Today is Grandmaster's first lesson. If we're late, he'll probably make examples of us to establish his authority."
"After all, yesterday, Lu Ning..."
Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth a little as she said Lu Ning's name.
"Yesterday, he tried to make an example of Lu Ning to establish his authority, but he failed."
"Who knows whether he'll find someone else to vent his anger on today?"
"Hurry up."
Xiao Wu felt that Ning Rongrong was acting a little strange today.
After all, Ning Rongrong usually slept more soundly than she did.
Not only had she gotten up early today,
she was even talking strangely.
"Mm, got it."
Xiao Wu answered.
The two headed toward the village entrance.
A crowd had already gathered at the entrance.
Almost everyone Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had named was present.
After all, this was Grandmaster's first lesson today.
They had to show him some respect.
Ning Rongrong walked into the crowd.
Her gaze immediately began searching the surroundings.
Her gemlike eyes kept scanning around, as though she were looking for something.
Oscar sidled up beside her.
"What are you looking for, Rongrong?" he asked, sounding slightly ingratiating.
"Want me to help you look?"
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at him, then turned to Dai Mubai instead. "Where's Lu Ning?"
"He really didn't come?"
Ning Rongrong still felt somewhat puzzled.
She thought the person who had smelled of alcohol last night could only have been Lu Ning!
But Lu Ning had come to their room late at night, only to do nothing.
That really was strange.
"Lu Ning?" Dai Mubai cast a wary glance toward Yu Xiaogang. "He didn't come. Didn't Grandmaster say he didn't have to attend lessons?"
"So he simply stayed in his room to sleep."
"He drank too much yesterday."
"He probably won't wake up until noon at the earliest."
Ning Rongrong felt even more puzzled.
Drank too much?
That couldn't be right, could it?
I clearly smelled him last night.
And if it wasn't Lu Ning...
Then who exactly opened the door?
Ning Rongrong could not figure it out.
Her eyes flicked to the side.
A white-clad figure stood near the village entrance with a wine flask in hand. As he poured its contents onto the ground, with almost no foam appearing, he cursed furiously.
"That son-of-a-bitch wine peddler!"
"No wonder my head hurt all night and it didn't do anything."
"He fucking sold me fake wine!"
Lu Ning's face was filled with anger.
He had been lazy yesterday and had not gone to Suotuo City.
He had bought a flask of local wine from a passing wine peddler, wanting a change of taste.
It had already seemed strange when he drank it yesterday.
But he had never expected
that he would actually end up buying fake wine.
No wonder he had felt groggy and heavy-headed all night. Only when he got up that morning and found little change in his Soul Power Level did he realize it.
"Brother Ning, I told you to come have some fun with me last night."
"You refused, and now you've gotten your just deserts, huh?"
Ma Hongjun snickered from among the crowd.
"Your granny's just deserts!" Lu Ning snapped irritably. "When did I hear you say anything yesterday?"
"And you, you bastard! You went all the way into the city and didn't think to bring me back some wine?"
"You ungrateful little shit."
"How many times have I treated you?"
Ma Hongjun pursed his lips and said nothing.
Lu Ning had indeed treated him a few times.
But those had all been occasions when Lu Ning went with everyone else. Lu Ning had rarely gone these past few years and had never treated him!
The past was the past, and now was now!
Ning Rongrong stood there listening to their bickering.
The corners of her mouth could not help lifting slightly.
She had never heard such somewhat crude language in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
It stirred a little interest in joining the teasing.
"You even managed to buy fake wine."
"If that isn't just deserts, what is, Lu Ning!"
"Drink too much fake wine, and you probably won't even know your way back after using the toilet at night!"
Lu Ning heard Ning Rongrong's words.
Instinctively, he wanted to open his mouth and retort.
But he froze for a long while without managing to talk back to Ning Rongrong.
He really had drunk too much fake wine last night.
He had not even made it back to his own room.
Hadn't he gone the wrong way and barged into Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu's room instead?
Barging in was one thing.
He had even squeezed her...!
"Ahem!"
"Do you think I'm some young master from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
"How was I supposed to know he'd sell fake wine?"
After struggling for ages,
that was all Lu Ning managed to say in reply.
But compared with before,
those two remarks clearly lacked much sting.
Even Ning Rongrong found it a little strange.
Was he not familiar enough with me yet to dare use foul language?
Before she could think any further,
Grandmaster stepped out of the crowd and glanced at Lu Ning, a trace of resentment in his eyes.
"Student Lu Ning."
"I told you that you are not qualified to participate in training."
"Please leave, and do not disrupt our lesson!"
Before you continue