Early the next morning.
Sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains over the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting strips of light across the sheets.
Qing Linyun woke under a weight pressing heavily on him.
Ye Lingling was draped over him, one leg across his waist, her hair scattered everywhere. Her breathing was soft and even.
He tried to move, and she murmured, snuggling deeper into his arms.
"Let's sleep a little longer," she mumbled.
"It's morning."
"No, it isn't."
Qing Linyun looked down at her for a long moment, then raised a hand and gave her bottom a light pat.
"Time to get up."
"Mmm." Ye Lingling kept her eyes closed and buried her face in his chest. Her voice came out muffled. "I'm not getting up."
"Your company still has to open."
"The company won't go bankrupt if it closes for a day."
"Besides, there are other people there."
"Ye Lingling."
"Mm."
She gave him a perfunctory response but didn't move. Instead, she hugged him even tighter.
"Boss," she mumbled, calling him again as her hand roamed over his waist. "Let's sleep a little longer."
"Go back to sleep yourself." Qing Linyun tried to pry her off, but she didn't budge after a couple of attempts. "What are you, an octopus?"
"Mm. I'm yours."
Qing Linyun choked on his words, admitted defeat, and lay flat.
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, and suddenly remembered what had happened last night.
Now this morning, she woke up pretending nothing had happened, yet had no trouble slipping into his arms.
This woman. He clicked his tongue inwardly.
She says she misses me, and her body is certainly honest about it.
The morning light gradually grew brighter, illuminating the bandage over his shoulder blade.
Ye Lingling groggily opened her eyes a crack. When she saw the bandage, she snapped wide awake.
"Boss, your injury hasn't healed yet. Was I pressing on it?"
"It's almost healed."
"Let me see." She pushed herself up and leaned over to inspect the bandage, gently pressing its edge with her fingertips. "It's still bleeding. I told you not to move around last night, but you wouldn't listen."
"When did I move around?"
"Don't you know yourself whether you moved or not?"
Qing Linyun was at a loss for words.
Ye Lingling gave a smug huff and settled back down. This time, she didn't dare press on his shoulder, only nestling in his arms. Her voice softened. "Take it easy and heal today, boss. I'll keep an eye on the company."
"I can't today."
"Why not?"
"I have to go back to the East Sea."
Ye Lingling lifted her head at once, her eyes wide. "But your injury hasn't healed!"
"That won't stop me from traveling," Qing Linyun said. "There's still business I haven't finished in the East Sea. It can't wait."
Ye Lingling opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.
She lowered her head and twisted the corner of the blanket between her fingers. After a long while, she finally squeezed out a muffled question. "Then when will you be back?"
"Soon."
"You always say soon."
She muttered, "You said that last time too, and you were gone for over a month."
Qing Linyun didn't answer. He rolled out of bed, took a long white jade box from his Storage Soul Tool, and placed it on the bed.
"It's for you."
"What is it?"
Ye Lingling craned her neck to look, then drew back. "Boss, why are you giving me a present so early in the morning?"
Halfway through her sentence, she froze.
The white jade box opened, revealing a Soul Bone of translucent white within.
A soft, silvery-white light flowed over the bone's surface. Faint spiral patterns were visible, like those on a unicorn's horn.
"A Light Unicorn Right Leg Bone," Qing Linyun said. "A hundred thousand years old."
Ye Lingling's eyes went wide.
Qing Linyun looked at her and spoke with a soft chuckle.
"Light attribute, healing and attack. It's from the same source as your Light Goddess Butterfly. I got it back then and kept it for you all this time."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"If I had, you would've pestered me about it for half a year." Qing Linyun looked at her. "Isn't it just right to deliver on it now?"
From the day I bought this bone, I intended to give it to you, he added inwardly, leaving it unsaid.
A hundred-thousand-year light-attribute Soul Bone would be enough to make any faction fight tooth and nail over it.
In the era of the Legend of the Dragon King, never mind anything else, even an ordinary Thousand-Year Soul Bone was enough to make factions fight over it.
In this era, a full set of Soul Bones was often nothing more than a pipe dream.
Ye Lingling held the Soul Bone, her fingers gently stroking its surface. Suddenly, she lowered her head, her eyes reddening.
"Boss."
"Mm?"
"Do you think I'm too weak?"
Qing Linyun was taken aback. "How are you weak?"
"I'm already level 95, and you still have to give me a Soul Bone." Ye Lingling's voice was muffled. "You beat level 98s like it's a game, and you still have to worry about me."
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
"You're a Support System Soul Master," Qing Linyun said.
"The Light Goddess Butterfly is a natural Support System Martial Soul. Fighting was never your job. You just need to manage the company and sell cola across the whole continent. When the day comes that I smash my way through the Holy Spirit Cult, you'll be in charge of collecting the money behind me."
"Who says so? Ten thousand years ago, Dragon Butterfly Douluo's Light Goddess Butterfly was clearly Power Attack System."
Ye Lingling pouted, somewhat unconvinced.
Qing Linyun helplessly held his forehead. The Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul could naturally be used for the Power Attack System, but its damage was truly painful to look at, so all along, Qing Linyun had been training her in Ya Li's direction.
That was reflected in her Soul Ring configuration as well as her choice of Soul Bones.
His words made Ye Lingling laugh, but her tears wouldn't stop. She hurriedly lowered her head and wiped them away. "You really have quite a way of comforting people, boss."
"Didn't it work?"
"It did." Ye Lingling raised her head, her eyes shining. "Then I'll absorb it."
"Mm."
Ye Lingling sat cross-legged and circulated her Soul Power, pressing the Soul Bone against her right leg. Silvery-white light gradually brightened, illuminating the entire room.
Light attribute.
From the same source as her Light Goddess Butterfly.
Qing Linyun stood nearby watching, able to feel her Soul Power shooting upward.
For a level 95 Titled Douluo, absorbing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone posed no difficulty at all. If anything, it was like a massive tonic. He could faintly sense that her presence had grown considerably more solid.
After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the light slowly receded.
Ye Lingling opened her eyes, looked down at her right leg, and clenched her fists.
She suddenly raised a hand, and a blade of light appeared at her fingertips. She swung it forward, and it sliced through the air with a faint hiss.
Then she turned her wrist, and the light blade dispersed, transforming into a ring of soft healing light that settled on her arm.
"Healing," she said. "And attack."
"Mm." Qing Linyun nodded. "A Light Unicorn's horn has both healing and attack abilities by nature. It suits you."
Ye Lingling jumped off the bed, threw herself at him, and wrapped him in a hug. She planted a fierce kiss on his cheek. "Long live the boss!"
She sent Qing Linyun stumbling back a step. Both amused and exasperated, he said, "All right, all right. Go wash up."
"Okay!"
She skipped into the bathroom, then turned back at the door and peeked out, half her head showing. She looked at him seriously:
"Boss."
"Mm?"
"I'll be waiting for you at the company."
Qing Linyun paused, then smiled.
"Mm."
Half an hour later, Qing Linyun had changed his clothes and was standing at the entrance to the villa.
Ye Lingling leaned against the doorframe, holding another cup of coffee as she watched him without speaking.
She had just finished absorbing the Soul Bone and looked much more spirited, though her eyes were still a little red.
"If your coffee gets cold, remember to have someone replace it," Qing Linyun said.
"I know."
"If something happens at the company, don't try to shoulder it alone. Contact me through soul communication."
"I know."
"I know."
Ye Lingling smiled. "Boss, if you keep going, I really will cry in front of you."
Silver Soul Power surged around Qing Linyun. Space tore open like a sheet of paper, and a silvery-white teleportation passage unfolded before him.
He turned back and glanced at her.
Ye Lingling raised her coffee cup and waved it at him.
"Be careful on the way."
"Mm."