Sleep

Seeing a trace of weariness on her face, Lin Sui hurriedly took her by the wrist and led her into the room next door. It was the first time he had touched her so impulsively, but Su Fuxi was preoccupied with how to deal with Zha in the secret realm and forgot to pay him any mind.

"Master?" When she came to herself again, she found that Lin Sui had brought her to the mat. Like a wandering ghost, she sat down, then lay back.

She blinked and met Lin Sui's questioning gaze as he looked down at her. Su Fuxi immediately shook off the large hand holding her wrist. "I'm tired. Go meditate and cultivate over there. Don't disturb me."

A flicker of regret passed through Lin Sui's eyes.

Having spoken, she lay flat and proper on the slightly hard mat, her hands folded over her abdomen. She closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep at once.

Su Fuxi had a naturally alluring figure, with a chest like peaks and a waist like a valley. She was slender and not particularly petite.

Now her beautiful eyes were closed and her breathing was quiet. She had never been so unguarded in front of anyone.

And Lin Sui did not dare look too closely.

As her consciousness drifted at the edge of darkness, she suddenly felt a slight weight settle over her. Her brows and eyes stirred at once, but she did not open her eyes or release her spiritual sense.

For one thing, her consciousness was indeed heavy; for another, she sensed no danger or unfamiliar presence.

It was Lin Sui. He was quite fastidious about cleanliness and always burned incense in his quarters. He carried the same fresh scent of incense on him, lending a sense of peace and calm.

"Master? Why don't you sleep with a fur cloak beneath you?" Lin Sui covered her with a soft white fox-fur cloak and called softly, but she did not respond.

After waiting a while, he saw that she was still quiet, breathing long and evenly. Mustering his courage, Lin Sui formed a hand seal and levitated her, laid out a soft pad, then set her back in the same place without even changing her position.

Only after making sure she was asleep did he dare sit beside her and study her so closely and without restraint.

He gazed at her in a daze for a long time, then suddenly reached out and carefully, gently touched her cheek. At first, he meant to touch her just once.

But Su Fuxi's cheek felt so smooth and soft that he could not resist the outrageous transgression of touching it once more, then again. He even smoothed a stray lock of hair at her temple.

"Master?" Abruptly coming to his senses, Lin Sui startled himself and called softly. Seeing that Su Fuxi remained unaware, he made sure she had not noticed his offense, then let out a deep breath of relief and hurriedly backed away.

When there was work to be done, the disciple should take it on. From childhood, Lin Sui had learned to fawn on his master in the little details and show his worth.

Take these comfortable everyday items, for instance. Once at the Purple Flower Valley inn, while he was taking a medicinal bath, Su Fuxi had found the inn's bed unclean. Afterward, he had acquired a complete set of clean, soft bedding, cloaks, and the like.

Su Fuxi slept deeply, dead to the world.

Even in her sleep, she found the bed quite soft, and sank into an even deeper slumber.

The journey west through the Wood Crane Kingdom would take at least half a year.

It turned out to be the most relaxed time Su Fuxi had enjoyed in centuries. She did not have to race against every second to improve her cultivation, meditate to cultivate her soul, or think about when she could take another step and break through to the next realm.

When she opened her eyes after her first sleep, half a month had passed.

Lin Sui had stayed by her side the entire time without leaving the room and had placed a simple restriction on the door. Zha Wuren had never disturbed them, as though he knew she was sleeping and that, with Lin Sui obediently meditating, nothing would happen.

That sleep felt wonderful, Su Fuxi sighed inwardly. She sat up and gathered her spiritual sense in her eyes. Only then did she see the soft fur covering her and the quilt beneath her. After a moment of bewilderment, she fell silent.

So this was the benefit of taking a disciple? It was what she had originally had in mind when she decided to take one: someone to care for her in her old age and carry on her legacy.

Unfortunately, that had changed after she met Lin Sui.

She had found hope of living forever.

She pinched the fox fur, tossed it aside, and sat cross-legged to meditate and temper her spiritual sense, as she did every day.

For the rest of her time, apart from sleeping, she worked through the Beast Taming Soul Restriction in her sea of consciousness.

Often, when she was making good progress, she would work on it for ten days or half a month at a stretch. When she grew tired, she would lie down and sleep for another ten days or half a month.

Later, Lin Sui reminded her that working through it at set times each day would be better for restoring her energy.

Her schedule gradually became regular. For the last three months, Su Fuxi actually kept to a routine of rising at sunrise and resting at sunset.

Her depleted mental energy did indeed improve considerably.

She was pleasant toward Lin Sui, gentler than she had ever been before.

All else aside, he was a good disciple.

All else aside, Su Fuxi thought, she too... ought to be a good master.

So, on a whim, she reforged the shattered old soul banner in her storage pouch for him. She also added some good materials from among those used for taming beasts, raising the quality of the banner itself by two grades.

"Master, you... you should be resting properly..." Lin Sui tightened his grip on the soul banner. Alongside his happiness, he felt deeply ashamed.

To avoid troubling Su Fuxi, he had already been teaching himself restrictions, formations, and talismans...

Su Fuxi drank the tea he had personally brewed, her voice light. "Just look after yourself!"

Crane Capital was the capital of the Wood Crane Kingdom. Viewed from above, the city's overall layout resembled a white crane spreading its wings in flight.

There was still nearly a month before the secret realm opened.

Although she had only casually mentioned visiting Crane Capital at the time, they were here now, and spending a few days there would not be a problem.

Su Fuxi left her room and stood at the bow, looking at Lin Sui, who followed her silently like a statue.

His aura was restrained and his bearing distinguished. The youngster was beginning to carry himself like a cultivator, and the older he grew, the less he spoke. Su Fuxi did not consider herself a demanding elder. "Lin Sui, I'll take you to see a great mortal city."

The way she said it made it sound like an adult taking a child who had never seen the world into the city.

"Pfft!" Before Lin Sui could respond, an unpleasant voice sounded from the side. "Junior Sister really is a good master, taking such care of her disciple."

Her disciple? Lin Sui's face instantly darkened. He glanced at Zha Wuren as the man approached, then quickly looked away and turned to Su Fuxi:

"Yes, thank you, Master. All these years, the place I've visited most has been the Demonic Beast Mountain Range. I've never seen a big city."

With an outsider present, he actually became more talkative.

Su Fuxi smiled faintly and nodded. "Mm, I've never been to Crane Capital either. This is a good chance to broaden our horizons."

She glanced at Zha Wuren, her clear voice growing almost imperceptibly cooler. "Of course. He's my only disciple. If I don't look after him, who should I look after?"

"Senior Brother, just set the two of us down in the time it takes an incense stick to burn."

"All right. I have some things to attend to, so I won't accompany you to Crane Capital, Junior Sister."

Accompany your grandpa, she thought.

Su Fuxi could not have been more eager to part ways with him. The way he looked at her made her very uncomfortable.

"Eldest Senior Brother, we'll take our leave." In moments, the flying boat had come to a halt a hundred li outside Crane Capital. Su Fuxi leaped out, standing on her flying sword, and gave him a courteous cupped-fist salute.

Lin Sui followed close behind. He gave Zha Wuren an icy glance and a perfunctory cupped-fist salute, then rode his flying sword beside Su Fuxi, soaring through the air toward the gates of Crane Capital.

Smack! When Zha Wuren saw the pile of spirit stones on the low table in the guest room, he felt that she had treated his intentions with disdain. He had meant to do her a favor, yet she had left spirit stones as payment for the passage!

Clatter, bang! He angrily swept all the spirit stones onto the floor, then punched the low table, reducing it to flying splinters.

How could Su Fuxi accept another person's kindness for no reason? She kept sneering coldly to herself as she headed straight for Crane Capital without looking back.

It was only half a month's journey from Crane Capital to the western wasteland, so Su Fuxi spent a full seven days in the city with Lin Sui, seeing customs and ways of life somewhat different from those of their homeland, the Tianshui Kingdom.

The Wood Crane Kingdom had many forests and abundant vegetation. Its people were skilled at farming and weaving, and had long benefited from the civilizing influence of the greater dynasty above it. It was no longer the wild land it had been ages ago.

Crane Capital was summery for much of the year, and the climate was somewhat hot and humid. The people dressed for the heat: some wore shading hats, some bared one shoulder, and others wore gauze robes with crossed collars. The people were cheerful and harmonious, putting one at ease.

One day, a mischievous young child bumped into Su Fuxi's leg. She instinctively swept him with her spiritual sense and discovered that he actually had seven spiritual apertures. She could not help sighing aloud:

"Tsk, what's going on these days? Even a child I run into at random can cultivate."

The child cast a frightened glance at the two outsiders and hurried away. Lin Sui asked in a low voice, "Master, have you ever thought about... taking another disciple?"

He immediately received a cool glance from Su Fuxi. Though he could not see the look in her sightless eyes, he saw her sweep her sleeve and walk away, her voice carrying back from a distance:

"You alone are enough trouble. It's not as if I'm at my wits' end for something to do."

Lin Sui's lips curved up in delight, and he hurried after her.

As the opening of the secret realm drew near, Su Fuxi noticed that quite a few more visiting cultivators like them had appeared in Crane Capital over the past few days.

No one above the Nascent Soul realm could enter the Forgotten Land. That was also why she had chosen to explore it once more and could bring Lin Sui along.

She would not take Lin Sui into the ruins at the center, but would have him go to the outskirts instead.

The secret realm opened only once every hundred years or more. It was filled with dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which had given rise to countless rare spiritual materials and demonic beasts.

There were also high-level cultivators who had chosen to remain inside in seclusion to cultivate each time it opened. They ran rampant without restraint, so it was extremely dangerous for those with low cultivation to be left inside.

Each opening lasted at least six years. This was a good opportunity: if Lin Sui could nurture the hidden imprint carried by the God-Slaying Finger to maturity, she could set her body-possession plan in motion.

They would be away from home, too, so it could happen naturally, without anyone the wiser.