Bai Yunfei scratched his nose. Several seconds had passed since everyone left the courtyard. âTheyâre gone nowâŠâ
A sweet-smelling wind suddenly assaulted Bai Yunfeiâs nose before something soft threw themselves into his chest.
Bai Yunfei stiffened at first but began to smile after he saw what it was. Gingerly, he embraced the back of Tang Xinyun with one arm and caressed her hair with the other.
âIâve missed you so much, YunfeiâŠâ
Her cheekâwhich looked red enough to pass of as being burnt almostâwas pressed against Bai Yunfeiâs chest as if to listen to his heart. If she were to listen a little longer, she would perhaps hear Bai Yunfeiâs heart start to beat erratically upon him hearing the words she spoke.
Bai Yunfeiâs fingers paused briefly to sift through Tang Xinyunâs fine hair, he seemed to be having a hard time gathering his thoughts. âIâm sorry, XinyunâŠIâve let you worryâŠâ
But Tang Xinyun only shook her head. âI knew youâd be fine. I knew youâd return, even if everyone in the world said you were dead. I just knewâand now youâre backâŠâ
His heart lurched. Thinking back to what Wu Dijian said about Tang Xinyun and her three-year-long search, Bai Yunfei began to blame himself. It was his fault that she had to worry. His arms clenched a tad tighter than before to hug Tang Xinyun closer to him. âItâs my fault for letting you worry so muchâŠIâm sorry. I wonât ever leave your sideânever again.â
âEnnâŠwherever you go, I will go with youâŠâ She replied back. She was smiling now, though the side of her face was still pressed against his chest. All in all, she looked almost like a cute little cat.
âGulpâŠâ
Bai Yunfei began to grow hyperaware of her delicate frame pressed against his. He gulped to swallow the saliva that had built up in his mouth. When did his throat get so dry? Did a fire come to life in there when he wasnât looking? The heat felt far more powerful than even the ones felt by the Law of Fire.
As the one closest to his heartâboth physically and mentallyâTang Xinyun noticed the slight changes happening in Bai Yunfei. Her head lifted up to stare at Bai Yunfei. Her eyes, clear and filled with emotion, paired well with the scarlet flush that had built up around her cheeks.
Their gaze met unflinchingly. Neither one broke away from one anotherâs gaze, though Tang Xinyun felt like she was on the verge of fainting. A faint smile appeared on her face, revealing the little dimple she had.Â
Bai Yunfei felt like pinching her cheeks, all of a sudden.
Faced with the touching scene of the woman he was in loved with, Bai Yunfei had had enough. The fires he felt within his body could no longer be put out. Bending his head down, he gently captured the soft lips of the other with his ownâŠ
âNnnâŠ.â
A soft moan escaped from Tang Xinyun. Her eyes fluttered closed, the eyelashes shivering slightly from where they clung to the skin. Her lips drew tight against his; she was replying back to Bai Yunfeiâs kiss with interest.
For a good while, Bai Yunfei thought about nothing but the woman in front of him. He and Tang Xinyun stood there, locked in a tight embrace for what felt like an eternity to the both of them before finally breaking apart. A single line of saliva linked to both their lips was the only hint that they had kissed, though Tang Xinyun immediately closed her eyes shut once she saw it.
âAhh!!â
She gasped aloud when Bai Yunfei suddenly picked her up and rushed the two of them towards the nearest bedâŠÂ
Author Note: And herein lies an omitted 5000 characters.
In another room in another courtyard.
A little bird was flitting back and forth on top of a windowsill when it suddenly froze still to look elsewhere.Â
âEh? Why did Yunfei block our bond?âÂ
It was Xiao Qi. Sending his soulforce outwards, Xiao Qi was met with another surprising sightââEh? Heâs covered the area with his own soulsense. Whatâs going on?â
His question was directed to the little quickshade bird next to him, but her reply mirrored his own question. âI have no idea. Xinyunâs soul bond canât be reached either right nowâŠâ
âDid something happen? Should we go check?â Xiao Qi fluttered his wings anxiously.
âHey hey heyâŠwhat are you thinking about?â Wu Dijian called out to the bird, âI donât think itâd be wise for you to go, Bai Yunfei might kill you if you doâŠâ
âWhat!!â Xiao Qiâs eyes grew wide. âWhy would he kill me?â
âIâŠI was speaking metaphorically. Metaphorically, you know?â Wu Dijian sighed. âJust donât go over and stay here!â
âOkayâŠâ The grim expression on Wu Dijianâs face confused the bird, but he decided to listen and turned back to stare blankly at the skyâŠÂ
âWhat a silly birdâŠâ Wu Dijian sighed to himself again.
Bai Yunfei didnât know how much time went by. He just knew that he slept comfortably and without issue. It was a dreamless nightâa feat quite different from before. Bai Yunfei normally spent each night of the last three years trying hard to fall asleep.
Opening his eyes, Bai Yunfeiâs stare was met with a pair of brightly-lit pupils. They had been studying him carefully when he slept.Â
When their gazes met, the latter immediately closed their eyes shut.
The trembling eyelashes and red flush that appeared on the personâs face made Bai Yunfei chuckle. His right hand pinched at the person and brought their warmth closer to him. âOh? Pretending to be asleep, are you?â
Tang Xinyunâs ears went pink and her person shivered. Where was it exactly that Bai Yunfei was pinchingâŠ?
With how close together the two were, it was inevitable that Tang Xinyun bumped into something hard of Bai Yunfei. She gave a slight âeepâ and edged away as if shocked. The blanket covering the two was pulled down a bit when she did, revealing the beginnings of her shoulder before she yanked it back up and snuggled against Bai Yunfei once moreâŠÂ
Bai Yunfei had to laugh at her actions. It was cute how flustered she was. Pulling the blanket over the two of them, he held her tightly to him. âQuit moving around, Xinyun, or else I wonât be able to hold myself back againâŠâ
âAh! DonâtâŠâ Tang Xinyunâs face was scalding red now in her whispers to Bai Yunfei, âIâŠI hurt stillâŠâ
Bai Yunfei chuckled softly under his breath. Caressing the soft skin of Tang Xinyun, âFine, you donât move and I wonât. Letâs just talk for nowâŠâ
It wasnât until daylight when the two of them finally stepped out from their rooms. The âsunâ was already hanging up high in the sky, indicating that it was the afternoon.
âHey, youâre finally out. And here I was thinking youâd need one more day of ârestââŠâ
Wu Dijian was sitting on one of the stone chairs in the courtyard when Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun left the room. There was an awfully vulgar look on his face.
âMy apologies, we werenât aware of the time.â Bai Yunfei nodded towards Yao Wuchen and the others seated with him.
âAll is fine. Youth was something I experienced long beforeâŠâ Wu Dijian nodded âknowinglyâ.
Bai Yunfei frowned but said nothing more about it. His talks with Tang Xinyun about what happened in the last three years really had gone on longer than he expected, but he expected Wu Dijian wouldnât just think âthatâ was all that happened. Still, explaining the situation would only make matters worse. âClan head, how fares the previous head?â
Yao Tianji was still recovering from the wounds he gained from Duan Leiting. Using that pill he ingested caused a tremendous amount of stress onto his body and so he had yet to do much else but recuperate.
âAll is well, I believe heâll need just a few more days before heâs back to full strength.â
âThatâs good.â Bai Yunfei nodded. âThen weâll continue with our original plan and head to Soulbeast Forest. Weâll teleport our way there and then head into the real world. You can also stay in the Core World should you like.â
A brief discussion was had as Yao Wuchen and Dan Teng both decided to oversee Yao City rather than take part in the battle. On the other hand, Wu Dijian found it boring to stay within the Core World and Tang Xinyun wanted to be with Bai Yunfei. Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai by extension wanted to go with the two of them. Lastly, Long Lan was, for the most part, satisfied to stay within the Core World to continue his training.
âââââââ
Several figures appeared on top of a few trees. It was Bai Yunfei and his group. âWhich direction is the Soulbeast Forest, assistant headmaster Wu?â
Looking around for a moment, Wu Dijian pointed off into a certain direction, âI know the north of the Qimang Mountains should point towards the western parts of the Soulbeast Forest. If we want to head to the center of it, then we should try heading north-east from here.â
His finger pointed slightly off to their right.
âAlright, letâs go then.â
A series of ripple was all that left of the group as the Core Stone teleported away. It wasnât even three seconds before nothing was left of even the ripples.