"Tianqing... Aunt Nan..."
Ling Luochen woke groggily on the bed. Her throat was a little dry, and she wanted to get up, but something was weighing down the corner of her blanket.
She struggled to open her eyes and found herself in a room furnished in an antique style, with a soul tool heater humming nearby.
Beside her, a girl in pink sat slumped over with her head buried in her arms, fast asleep.
The movement as Ling Luochen got up woke Nan Qiuqiu. Like a startled rabbit, she jerked upright.
The big, lively eyes Ling Luochen had seen when they first met were now filled with worry and confusion. Seeing her awake, Nan Qiuqiu grabbed her arm and shook it as she asked urgently:
"Sister Luochen, you're awake! How are Mom and Brother Tianqing?"
"Hiss-"
Ling Luochen clutched her head, her mind heavy and muddled. All she remembered was Yu Tianqing helping her hunt for a Soul Ring, and then a figure in green appearing before her eyes.
Her ice-element Martial Soul had run wild, and Yu Tianqing had helped dispel the chill inside her.
After that, all that remained were a few indistinct sounds. It seemed Yu Tianqing had lured the Ice Empress away.
She knew this room well. It was a guest room the Earth Dragon Sect used to receive visitors. Since she was here, that meant...
Ling Luochen anxiously threw back the blanket and got out of bed. After hurriedly putting on her shoes, she took Nan Qiuqiu by the hand and headed out of the room.
"Qiuqiu, where's your mother?"
As Ling Luochen pulled Nan Qiuqiu along, the girl explained:
"The person from the Heavenly Dragon Sect who brought you here said Mother went back to the Far North. She probably went to find Brother Tianqing. Mother told me to listen to you in everything."
Ling Luochen stopped in her tracks. She could understand why Nan Shuishui had gone to find Yu Tianqing, and she also understood what Nan Shuishui had meant:
If Nan Shuishui couldn't return, Ling Luochen was to help look after Nan Qiuqiu.
"Sister Luochen, are we going to the Far North to find Mom and the others?"
Hearing Nan Qiuqiu's question, Ling Luochen sighed. She patted the girl's head, her voice growing gentle.
"Be good, Qiuqiu. How about we go outside the city and wait for your mother and brother?"
In a rare display, Ling Luochen showed her gentle side. Unlike when she was at the academy, she now felt that a burden not her own had been added to her already heavy body.
This Soul Hunt had been for her sake, and at the critical moment, Yu Tianqing's act of luring the Ice Empress away had gone far beyond helping someone hunt for a Soul Ring.
If Nan Shuishui couldn't return either, Ling Luochen didn't know what she would do.
Slowing her steps and dragging her somewhat weary body along, she headed out of the city with Nan Qiuqiu, one figure tall and the other small.
After leaving the room, Ling Luochen looked out at the wind and snow filling the sky.
"Yu Tianqing, Aunt Nan, what can I possibly repay you with for what I owe you?"
Meanwhile,
Nan Shuishui and Yu Tianqing sat quietly on the Ice Jade Scorpion's back, letting this good Pal carry them away from the Far North.
Perhaps because of their surroundings, the tension between them was no longer the same as when they had shared a blanket. It was a little like the cold war between a young couple after a quarrel.
Nan Shuishui wore a stern face, her phoenix eyes wandering aimlessly around them. It was impossible to tell what she was looking at; she simply looked as though she was busy and didn't want to be bothered.
Yu Tianqing tried several times to speak to her, but couldn't get the words out. He could only stroke Xiao San, whom she was holding in her arms, and mutter to himself:
"Xiao San, we're just sitting on the back of a ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion, aren't we? Why are you trembling so much?"
"You know, in another spacetime, there was a wild dog that cultivated to godhood, and even took the Ice..."
Yu Tianqing got stuck there. He knew this was the Far North, and if he said the Ice Empress's name outright here, he might see that annoying green figure again. So he had to switch examples and continue muttering:
"Xiao San, you should know that ten thousand years ago, there was another Xiao San who married a Soul Beast a hundred thousand years older than him."
"As the saying goes, a wife three years older brings you a gold brick; thirty years older brings you an empire; three thousand years older earns you a place among the immortals."
"She was more than thirty immortal ranks older than him. Look, she gave him three whole sets of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones alone. You need to step up!"
Nan Shuishui knew Yu Tianqing was taking a dig at her.
She turned back in annoyance and rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't disrespect Ancestor Tang San."
Yu Tianqing shrugged and looked up at the sky.
In people's hearts, Tang San had always been as pure as ice and flawless as jade.
It was only in front of Nan Shuishui that Yu Tianqing would make a few jokes about God King Tang.
Once he entered Shrek Academy, he would definitely lead with "loyalty" before anything else.
The Thunder Ancestor had said he would help by dealing God King Tang a heavy blow. Yu Tianqing didn't know how things stood now.
Since Nan Shuishui had already spoken first, she ultimately couldn't restrain her curiosity.
"Tianqing, tell Aunt Nan what happened after you lured the Ice Empress away."
"Well..."
Yu Tianqing hesitated for a while, but decided to keep the matter of the Thunder Ancestor hidden for now. He looked around before carefully leaning close to Nan Shuishui's ear and saying:
"Aunt Nan, the truth is, our family owns a mine!"
"Huh?" Nan Shuishui was a little bewildered.
"There should be some Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow in the sect's secret realm. I used it to bargain with the Ice Empress, and that's how I saved my little life. We have to send her a piece within a year at the latest."
"She just let you come back like that?"
"Mm-hmm."
Yu Tianqing knew there were bound to be holes in his story, but he still nodded vigorously.
Fortunately, Nan Shuishui showed no intention of digging deeper. She gave him a meaningful look, then lowered her head in thought.
After quite a while, she suddenly instructed Yu Tianqing in a commanding tone:
"Tianqing, you need to win Luochen over soon!"
"I..."
Yu Tianqing had just started to speak when Nan Shuishui waved a hand and cut him off.
"Luochen's Martial Soul is ice. After she absorbs this Ice Jade Scorpion as a Soul Ring, it's very likely to become Ultimate Ice, and only Ultimate Ice can enter the sect's secret realm."
"That child has an upright heart. If you treat her well, she'll naturally treat you well in return. We'll consider this Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow the Earth Dragon Sect's betrothal gift."
"As it happens, you can also be said to have saved her this time. She'll definitely feel differently about you than she does about others. You need to strike while the iron is hot and make her remember how good you've been to her."
"Once you enter Shrek Academy, you also need to..."
Yu Tianqing watched Nan Shuishui talking away and really wanted to ask:
Aunt Nan, just how far can those eyes of yours see?
The beads of your abacus are practically flying into my face!
"Aunt Nan, have you forgotten? I won't marry anyone but you."
"Pah! Don't pretend to be devoted in front of your Aunt Nan. You're obviously a terrible flirt."
"I watched you grow up. The moment you stick out your butt, I know what kind of shit you're going to take."
"Get a move on when we get back. If you haven't made any progress with Luochen, hmph, hmph~"
Nan Shuishui gave him a meaningful look.
"Then don't even think about getting into my bed."
Yu Tianqing forced his face into the expression of a sweating soybean emoji.
Aunties really are great. They know what you want and don't ask for this and that like young girls.
But isn't she a little too precise when it comes to having me in her grip?