Soft Exercise

Walking from Liyue Harbor to Jueyun Karst had taken a day and a half, making the round trip three days. Surely they weren't going to spend only half a day gathering herbs before heading home?

Yucheng's mission had only given him a ten-day deadline, too. Naturally, he wanted to pay everything off in one go. With such a long journey between Liyue Harbor and Jueyun Karst, he certainly didn't want to make another trip.

As for whether the gathered herbs would lose their freshness, there was no need to worry. Qiqi's Cryo Elemental Energy served as a natural refrigerator with first-rate preservation capabilities. Under normal circumstances, it could keep the herbs from declining in quality for seven days after picking. That was also why Qiqi usually followed a seven-day cycle whenever she went out to gather herbs.

Since that was the case, Yucheng would have to follow the local custom. Subtracting the three days spent traveling there and back, the remaining four days would be his time limit for gathering herbs.

Yucheng and Qiqi found a flat spot sheltered from the wind at the foot of the mountains in Huaguang Stone Forest to serve as their campsite for the day. When they had descended the mountain earlier, they had flown toward Huaguang Stone Forest, which was their destination for tomorrow.

Yucheng had originally wanted to build a campfire at the campsite, but the moment he lit a torch, he noticed a trace of aversion and fear in Qiqi's eyes and promptly put the campfire out.

Once the two finished their busy day and sat down on the soft grass, they relaxed. At that point, Qiqi could no longer contain her curiosity about Yucheng and asked, "U... U... chi..."

"Qiqi, just call me Yucheng. You don't need to remember the surname."

"Okay. Qiqi has a bad memory. Can't remember names that are too long. Yucheng, how did you walk on the cliff?"

"Uh, hmm... How should I explain this? Qiqi, you have a Cryo Vision, right? Just imagine gathering Elemental Energy in your feet, then using that power to stick your feet to the cliff. That lets you walk on it."

After hearing Yucheng's explanation, Qiqi stared at her little feet, drawing his gaze to them as well. An elemental glow gradually appeared around those fair, delicate little feet. Sitting so close, Yucheng felt a hint of cold.

Then frost appeared on the ground beneath Qiqi's feet and rapidly froze into a small patch of ice. Seeing this, Qiqi stood up, but her feet didn't stick to the ice. Instead, it nearly made her slip, and her body toppled backward uncontrollably. Fortunately, Yucheng reacted quickly and caught her from behind.

Qiqi's small body fell straight into Yucheng's arms. His first impression wasn't that he had caught a little girl, but rather a soft block of ice. With a Qiqi-style body pillow on an unbearably hot night, I probably wouldn't even need air conditioning. That was Yucheng's first thought.

After Yucheng caught her, Qiqi showed no bashfulness. Instead, she calmly stood up, glanced at her little feet again, and said dejectedly, "Qiqi can't do it. It only got more slippery."

"Don't be discouraged, Qiqi. I didn't succeed on my first try either. I remember spending two months learning this. You need to try toning down the Cryo properties in your Cryo Elemental Energy, leaving only pure Elemental Energy without any attributes. Only then can you stick your feet to the cliff."

"Qiqi doesn't understand. But Qiqi will work hard." With that, Qiqi took out her notebook and wrote down what Yucheng had just said. Yucheng sneaked a look and discovered that she had recorded his words verbatim. Although she might not understand what he had just said, she intended to ponder it herself later.

"Qiqi, it's late now. Go to sleep first. I'll keep watch."

After finishing her notes, Qiqi shook her head at Yucheng and said, "You rest first. I'll keep watch. It's time for me to do Soft Exercise... Don't peek."

"Soft Exercise?" Yucheng noticed that after telling him not to peek, Qiqi actually showed a subtle trace of bashfulness. That was exceedingly rare.

"Soft Exercise lets me keep my body in the same condition as a human's. But if I slack off, it will change back."

Yucheng was clearly very interested in this Soft Exercise Qiqi mentioned, but Qiqi clearly disliked having someone watch her do it. This left him quite torn, so he decided on a compromise: watching openly.

"Qiqi, speaking of which, I've only recently recovered from a serious illness. After lying down for so long, my body's gotten very stiff. How about teaching me Soft Exercise too?"

At those words, a ripple crossed Qiqi's otherwise placid face, and she asked curiously, "You want to learn my Soft Exercise?"

"Yes. My muscles have been terribly sore after waking up these past two days. I was thinking of asking Mr. Baizhu about it later. I didn't expect you to know something for it. Qiqi, would you teach me?"

At last, a noticeable change appeared on Qiqi's face, revealing an exceedingly rare look of indecision. Her fidgeting manner made Yucheng find her even cuter.

After considering it over and over, Qiqi finally agreed to Yucheng's request. "All right. But don't laugh at me."

"Why would I? If you teach me Soft Exercise, that makes you my teacher. Teacher Qiqi."

"Teacher..." Qiqi clearly relished the title. Ever since she had broken free of her amber seal and Mr. Baizhu had taken her in, she had botched many things because of her memory problems, leaving many people dissatisfied with her.

Moreover, as a zombie with an undying body, some people wanted to exploit her, while others feared her. But with Yucheng, she sensed no malice toward her at all, nor did she sense any fear of her from him. That feeling made her very comfortable.

In all of Liyue Harbor, it seemed that only Mr. Baizhu and Yaoyao cared for her and looked after her like this.

Qiqi led Yucheng to one side of the campsite. Under the moonlight, she began her Soft Exercise first, murmuring as she moved, "Seven, two, three, four. Seven, two, three, four... Five, six, seven, seven. Five, six, seven, seven..."

To Yucheng, Qiqi's Soft Exercise looked like the broadcast calisthenics learned in elementary school, only an even simpler version. Although Qiqi would lose track of her count as she recited it, Yucheng didn't laugh at her. He followed along with her Soft Exercise, a contented smile on his face.

After half an hour of Soft Exercise, Yucheng was the first to lie down and sleep at the campsite. He didn't know whether it was because of the Soft Exercise, but he slept especially soundly this time, even out in the wilderness without a soft mattress, pillow, or bedding.