Five Days Later...
The last few days had been a ss wrapped in routine. Between prepping to infiltrate the Xiantian Sect, tweaking formations, and playing reluctant ntor to Xiao Hei, Su Xiaobai had sohow settled into this madhouse of a life.
And then there was Ling Er.
Tornting the little princess was his favorite pasti. A whispered tease to turn her red, a casual trip into the river to hear her shriek—it was endless entertainnt. She was a kitten hissing at a tiger, and he couldn't get enough of it.
But today was his last day. Yunan City awaited, and with it, the Xiantian Sect. He couldn't stay. Wei Jun was leaving for the capital, and Wei Zhong's sharp eyes lingered too long on Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei, his so-called "faithful" helper, was a prodigy with the attitude of a cat. Techniques that took him hours, she mastered in seconds, yawning like it was beneath her.
"Little demon," Su Xiaobai muttered, half-admiring, half-annoyed.
She wasn't just talented—she was trouble. Unbeknownst to him, Xiao Hei spent her free ti trying to kill him. Poisoned tea? Check. Exploding talismans? Classic. Knife to the throat? Bonus points for style.
Her record stood at sixty-nine attempts.
"Perfect!" Su Xiaobai had said after narrowly dodging a flying talisman that left a smoking crater behind him. "You almost killed there, haha! Great aim—you're ready for real battle!"
Xiao Hei tilted her head, blank-faced. In her mind, she was being praised for failing to murder him.
It only fueled her.
The seventy-first attempt ca minutes later—a poisoned dart aid at his back. But, as always, fate seed determined to keep him alive, sparing him at the last second.
Su Xiaobai, still clueless, grinned as he adjusted her training. "Raising a future warlord," he muttered, slightly proud, oblivious to the poisoned needle under his pillow. "She's gonna be unstoppable!"
Xiao Hei sat nearby, calmly fiddling with a vial of venom. Her face said nothing; her mind scread, Attempt seventy-two incoming.
anwhile, Ling Er had avoided him ever since their lessons. Yet, today, she ca to see him.
"Miss already?" Su Xiaobai whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
To his shock, she nodded, her face redder than the setting sun.
"Mm…"
"!?"
The soft fragrance of her hit him, catching him off guard. Their relationship had been transactional—a master and disciple. Nothing more.
Grinning like the devil, he leaned closer, his lips brushing her ear.
"Next ti we et, Princess," he murmured, his voice dripping with sin, "will you let pop that forbidden cherry of yours?"
His breath ghosted over her neck, sending a visible shiver rippling through her.
Yet — For a mont, there was only silence.
Su Xiaobai waited, expecting the usual storm, curses, threats, maybe even a slap. Instead, sothing soft and warm brushed his lips. The fleeting touch left him montarily frozen.
Rustle ~ ~
By the ti he opened his mouth to tease her again, the little princess was already gone, her figure disappearing into the distance like a crimson shadow.
"Huh?" He blinked, staring after her. "That's it?"
Her voice drifted back, soft and clear, carried by the evening breeze:
"Big bad villain, take care."
Before he could process the words, a flash of red floated into his vision, brushing against his face before landing in his hands.
He looked down. It was her silk ribbon—the one she always kept near her.
The fabric was smooth between his fingers, carrying a faint trace of her fragrance. Su Xiaobai's lips curled into a wry smile, part amused, part surprised. "What a dramatic girl," he muttered.
For all her fiery bravado, this felt… different.
He tucked the ribbon into his pocket, shaking his head with a chuckle. Five days of avoiding , and now this?
"Guess I'll keep it," he said, his grin sharpening. "Wouldn't want the big bad villain forgetting his favorite little tigress."
The ribbon sat safely in his hands as Su Xiaobai turned toward the horizon, his thoughts lingering longer than he'd admit.
___
Monts before Su Xiaobai could step out of the forest and breathe so free air, a shadow blood across the path like an unwelco weed. Wei Jun appeared, striding forward in his shimring blue robes, the kind that seed designed to announce, 'Look at ! I'm here!' His movents were too polished, like a jade statue trying to pass for a real prince.
To the world, Wei Jun was nobility incarnate. To Su Xiaobai? Just another peacock.
Still, Wei Jun wasn't the problem. The real headache followed right behind him. Wei Zhong.
The old man's hawk-like eyes scanned the area with a sharpness that could flay the skin off lesser cultivators. His presence was a tidal wave of suffocating Qi, cold and vast, as if heaven itself was leaning down to judge the ants below. Even Su Xiaobai felt the weight of it, though he didn't let it show. For a brief mont, those eyes flickered toward him—dismissive, cold. Then Wei Zhong turned and strode away, his retreat as sudden as his arrival.
Su Xiaobai exhaled, his lips curling into a mocking smile. 'What am I, a patch of moss? A pebble by the roadside? Tch, old bastard didn't even stay to sneer properly.'
Wei Jun sighed dramatically as he stepped closer, his smile apologetic. "Brother Su, forgive my grandfather. He has much on his mind."
"Much?" Su Xiaobai raised an eyebrow. "What's he doing, plotting to overthrow heaven itself?"
Wei Jun hesitated, his gaze drifting toward where Wei Zhong had disappeared. "He's… searching."
'Searching?' Su Xiaobai didn't need a divine jade to know what—or rather, who—Wei Zhong was sniffing out. The old hawk had co for Xiao Hei. The little brat had attracted far too much attention with her growing aura. Wei Zhong likely suspected she wasn't so random kid but a child of immortals.
'Not that you'll find her, old man,' Su Xiaobai thought, suppressing a smirk. Xiao Hei was safely tucked away in his ring world, nibbling on spiritual fruits and drawing crude pictures of mountains — or — Probably of him getting kicked by a donkey.
"Searching for what?" Su Xiaobai asked, keeping his tone light, though his fingers twitched, ready to summon his sword.
Wei Jun waved it off. "Family matters, nothing you'd care for."
Su Xiaobai's eyes narrowed. 'Family matters, huh? Sure. And I'm a saint sent to spread enlightennt.'
But before he could dig further, Wei Jun's gaze shifted to the ribbon in Su Xiaobai's hand—a flash of crimson that seed to steal the light around it. His smile stiffened.
"That ribbon," Wei Jun said, his voice low, almost accusatory. "It's Lingling's, isn't it?"
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