I'm Feng Aotian—And I’m Running Away from My Wedding - Chapter 21

“Mhm.” Qin Yixiao responded, her eyes seeming to ask, “And so?”

“Isn’t that a good thing? The stronger I become, the safer we both will be.”

Li Baiying muttered, her initial excitement largely dampened by the other’s indifferent tone. After changing her clothes somewhat dejectedly, she sat by the fire and began gnawing on a fragrant chicken leg.

She felt unusually hungry today.

Her stomach seemed like a bottomless pit, even after devouring a whole roasted chicken, there wasn’t so much as a rumble.

Snapping back to reality, she realized she had polished off an entire chicken within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, leaving not even a feather behind.

“I… I’ll go catch a few more fish. Wait for me a moment.” Belatedly realizing the other had been busy all this time without eating, her face flushed, and she hurriedly jogged toward the shallow waters.

Rolling up her sleeves to fish again, her confidence had greatly increased.

“What was that chant again?”

Following the qi mantra in her mind, she gathered the faint energy within her body into her palm, ready for any situation. Then, she bent over and quickly locked onto a motionless large black fish.

She seemed to have seen it before, perhaps it was the one that had deliberately splashed water in her face.

Now, looking at it again, the flesh beneath its scales appeared quite tender, and she imagined it would be fragrant once grilled. Her stomach, which had just been filled with a roasted chicken, began to growl again. Without further delay, she swiftly approached it along the bank.

“Rustle…”

Hearing the sound of aquatic plants being trampled, the fish blew a bubble and lazily lifted its eyelid to glance at her sideways. In that instant, a human-like mockery flickered in its fish eyes, as if it didn’t consider a mere shrimp like her worth its attention.

After all, Li Baiying was empty-handed and appeared no different from an ordinary mortal.

“Splash!”

Suddenly, she lunged forward, a fiery red energy bursting from her palm, transforming into fine threads that shot straight toward the large fish’s skull.

She intended to test her current cultivation level, deliberately aiming for the hardest part.

The black fish reacted swiftly, its small eyes flashing with a faint light as it opened its mouth and released a dark yellow mist.

“Smack!”

A crisp sound sent ripples across the water’s surface.

Was it deflected? Li Baiying couldn’t see the situation of the dark shadow underwater, only feeling the water trembling violently.

Within two breaths, a dark shadow slowly floated to the surface: the entire fish head had been shattered, and dark blood seeped into the cold pond, quickly devoured by fish and shrimp that caught the scent.

“Scram! This is my prey!”

Li Baiying swished the water a couple of times, shooing away the opportunistic small fish and shrimp, then leisurely scooped up the fish carcass.

“Tsk, it’s quite heavy.”

Sighing in amazement, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. “Is this the power of a demon cultivator? It’s truly different from a martial artist, seems even more formidable.”

Before she could revel in her joy for more than a couple of seconds, a sharp, intense soreness suddenly shot through her entire arm. Caught off guard, she staggered, nearly losing her balance and tumbling into the water.

“What’s going on?!”

Li Baiying spread open her palm and discovered a gash about an inch long tearing across it, blood continuously welling up.

Strangely, as soon as the blood flowed out, it evaporated completely in the air, as if being siphoned away by something unseen.

“Hmm, so itchy.” Almost simultaneously, she felt a strange pulling sensation at the wound, as if something was desperately trying to emerge. When she looked down again, she was surprised to find a fiery red scale in her palm.

Its color was vivid and intense, as if forged from congealed blood.

To be precise, it had “grown” on her hand.

She cautiously poked it, the surface was smooth and somewhat hard, with its edges seamlessly connected to her skin, as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

“So, am I still human now?”

Muttering to herself in confusion, Li Baiying hoisted the large fish onto her shoulder and trudged back through the water, her steps uneven.

She wasn’t particularly concerned about whether she had truly become a demonic cultivator. For her, uncovering the truth behind the poisoning and avenging her family was what truly mattered.

To achieve that, even if she had to become a malevolent ghost, unable to reincarnate, she could accept it.

“Thud!”

She threw the black fish onto the ground and insisted on handling it herself, refusing Qin Yixiao’s help. She took out the long knife she carried with her, sliced open the fish’s belly, and cut it into small pieces.

She had never done this kind of work before. While she was relatively adept at cutting the fish, she fumbled a bit when removing the innards. In the end, she managed to skewer the fish meat and roast it thoroughly.

“It’s ready to eat.”

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she handed the largest skewer to the girl beside her.

“Earlier… I’m sorry, I might have been a bit too hungry.”

Clearing her throat, Li Baiying explained awkwardly.

“It’s fine, I’m not very hungry either.” Qin Yixiao took a small bite, a faint hint of surprise flickering in her eyes. “Is this the corpse of a spirit beast?”

Hearing this, Li Baiying finally noticed a thin, pale yellow aura swirling within the fish meat.

She took a big bite. Unexpectedly, before she could even taste it, the meat dissolved in her mouth, completely devoured by the mysterious red energy within her body.

“It seems to be around first-tier, nowhere near as valuable as the Shadowless Bear we killed together before.”

She seized the opportunity to bring up the past, watching the girl’s expression out of the corner of her eye.

At the mention of the Shadowless Bear, Qin Yixiao fell silent for a moment before asking softly, “What did you do with the spirit beast’s corpse afterward?”

“I handed it over to the family and exchanged it for over twenty thousand contribution points.”

“Wasn’t that a pity? The Shadowless Bear is full of treasures, enough to craft a set of high-grade spirit armor for you.”

“What’s there to regret? Opportunities to bring glory to the family don’t come often. I only wish I could’ve contributed more.”

As she spoke, Li Baiying took out the wolf-tooth knife she carried with her and placed it on the ground. “After the secret realm ended, this was the only weapon I kept.”

She ran her fingers over the gleaming blade, a cold glint in her eyes. “In my opinion, treasures are about quality, not quantity. I only take what I need.”

“Have you figured out how to cultivate again?”

Qin Yixiao steered the conversation back to the original topic.

“Yes, but it’s different from traditional martial cultivation.”

Li Baiying opened her palm, the fiery red scale glowing brilliantly in the darkness. “I tried using a bit of internal energy earlier, and for some reason, my hand split open. After that, this thing appeared.”

“…” Qin Yixiao stared at her for a while before abruptly looking away, her tone tinged with an inexplicable emotion. “Do you trust me this much?”

“Huh?”

Li Baiying was taken aback, not understanding how the topic had shifted so abruptly. “We’ve known each other before, and right now, you’re the only person I can truly call a friend.”

Thinking of the familiar faces in the Li family, her gaze involuntarily dimmed. But she quickly masked it with a bright smile:

“I think you’re different from those people in the Qin family.”

“Actually, before I came down the mountain, my mother gave me three requests. One of them was to stay away from the disciples of the Qin and Wu families. But I believe since I’m already an adult, I should have my own judgment.”

She smiled, revealing her sharp canine teeth. “Maybe I just don’t want to doubt you, that’s all.”

Unseen by her, the girl’s fingers hidden in her sleeves suddenly clenched tightly.