Chapter 210 - 162: Going to Find Tuantuan

"Can you sneak out around two in the morning?" Li Xiang asked Jiang Cai’Er in a low voice.

Jiang Cai’Er’s heart skipped a beat. Flustered, she didn’t quite dare to look at Li Xiang.

"Brother... what are you planning...?"

Her heart was racing. ’I’m not ready for this yet,’ she thought. ’How could Brother be so direct? ...Isn’t this a little shocking?’

One look at her expression and Li Xiang knew she’d gotten the wrong idea. He gently tapped her delicate nose and said, "What are you thinking? We’re setting off in the middle of the night to explore the Primeval Forest. I’m taking you to see a giant panda!"

"A real giant panda?" Jiang Cai’Er asked hesitantly, because her mind had once again gone in the wrong direction.

Li Xiang said exasperatedly, "Of course it’s real. Are there fake ones? I call him Tuantuan. He’s all fluffy, and feels even better to pet than the Little Fox."

"Then I have to go," Jiang Cai’Er said, suddenly excited.

"Then you should go back and get to sleep early tonight. Don’t wake Uncle and Aunt Jiang when you come out."

"Okay, okay. I’ll open my window beforehand and sneak out through it."

So, Jiang Cai’Er went home early in the evening. After dinner, she told her parents she was sleepy and wanted to go to bed early. They just assumed she was exhausted from school, so they didn’t force her to keep studying at night.

She had only been back for a day or two, so it was a good time to catch up on sleep. At school, her schedule was from six in the morning to eleven at night, which was incredibly draining.

In reality, Jiang Cai’Er was fine now. Having become an Extraordinary Being, her stamina, energy, and intelligence all crushed her classmates. The last thing she feared was the "rat race"!

Around two in the morning, Jiang Cai’Er woke up naturally. She didn’t brush her teeth or wash her face, mainly for fear of making a sound and waking her parents. She lived on the second floor, and her window was already open. She got dressed, and with a light leap, she landed nimbly outside, completely silent.

As a Tier One Transcendent on the verge of breaking through to Tier Two, she might not specialize in combat, but she still possessed the basic abilities.

Although she hadn’t brushed her teeth, she brought chewing gum. She went to a small stream some distance from her house, popped a piece of gum in her mouth, and cupped some water in her hands to gently wash her delicate cheeks. It was currently the transition from spring to summer, so the weather was warm. The stream water wasn’t cold at all; in fact, it felt quite refreshing.

After drying her face with a tissue, Jiang Cai’Er took a leap and dashed toward Li Xiang’s house.

Li Xiang was already waiting for her on the main road outside.

After the two met up, the Black Mountain Profound Armor materialized over Li Xiang’s body, releasing a ring of Black Light that enveloped Jiang Cai’Er.

"Brother, your Armor is so beautiful and cool!"

"I’ll take you Flying!"

Of course, Li Xiang couldn’t actually fly, but he could run at incredible speeds. A single leap could cover over a hundred meters, and with another light push-off upon landing, he would cover another hundred. It wasn’t much different from flying close to the ground.

"Ah~" Caught off guard, Jiang Cai’Er was swept into Li Xiang’s arms. In a flash, they were a hundred meters away, and she couldn’t help but let out a small cry.

"Brother, can you take off this Armor? There’s no one around in the middle of the night out here in the wilderness, and it’s digging into me," Jiang Cai’Er said.

Of course, they weren’t taking the main roads. Instead, they traveled in a straight line through the wilderness, crossing mountains and leaping over water. The heroes in wuxia novels were hardly any more impressive.

"Alright. That was thoughtless of me." Li Xiang dismissed the Armor. Jiang Cai’Er hugged him tightly, feeling his firm muscles and masculine aura. ’Now this is what a proper hug feels like,’ she thought.

With that thick Armor in the way, she hadn’t been able to feel anything at all.

Li Xiang held Jiang Cai’Er and raced onward, as fast as the wind. Hearing the whoosh of the wind in her ears, Jiang Cai’Er thought, ’Brother and I are the real couple. Could that Luo Feifei ever experience a "joyride" like this? She probably doesn’t even know he’s an Extraordinary Being.’

Li Xiang finally brought Jiang Cai’Er into the Hailuogou Primeval Forest. Following a familiar path, he easily avoided the many security cameras.

As they neared Tuantuan’s habitat, Li Xiang set Jiang Cai’Er down. The two of them sat nestled together on the branch of a large tree, dozens of meters above the ground, gazing at the sea of stars in the sky.

"It’s so beautiful, so romantic!" This was Jiang Cai’Er’s first time sneaking out in the middle of the night, let alone this far, and her first time in a Primeval Forest.

"Brother, did you bring a flute? I want to play the flute," Jiang Cai’Er said. She knew that Li Xiang seemed to have some kind of storage space, capable of "Creation Out of Thin Air." The Armor from before was an example—it had just suddenly vanished.

In truth, Li Xiang had withdrawn the Black Mountain Profound Armor into his Spiritual Power Vortex to be nurtured, allowing him to summon it at will. But Jiang Cai’Er’s guess wasn’t wrong; he did indeed have a storage space.

"I did." Li Xiang took out a long flute. It was one of the two his grandfather had given him.

He had given the other one to Jiang Cai’Er, but she didn’t have it with her.

The melodious notes of "Forest Rhapsody" began to play. This was a piece Jiang Cai’Er had practiced for the village gala before, so she was very familiar with it.

Playing this particular piece in the Primeval Forest was quite fitting.

It was a good thing there was no one else in the Primeval Forest. Otherwise, the sound of a flute in the middle of the night would have scared someone to death!

Since there was only one flute, the two of them took turns playing.

When Jiang Cai’Er finished, she handed the flute to Li Xiang.

The flute still carried the faint scent of Jiang Cai’Er, along with the sweet fragrance of her chewing gum. Li Xiang, of course, didn’t mind. Without wiping it, he brought it directly to his lips.

Jiang Cai’Er gave a slight shrug, secretly delighted. ’This is basically an indirect kiss.’

Li Xiang exhaled softly, his fingers moving slowly over the holes, and began to play "Desolation," the theme song of the Desolate Celestial Emperor.

The piece was actually called "I Once Loved Someone."

Everyone said the Desolate Celestial Emperor lived a lonely and bitter life, but Li Xiang felt he actually had it pretty good. At least he was powerful enough to reign supreme for all eternity.

He thought about his own life: his parents died when he was nine, and his grandmother raised him. He couldn’t even afford university tuition and had to take out student loans. He never felt he had the right to be in a relationship, spending all his free time on work-study programs.

Born in an era of waning magic, with a constitution seemingly made for hard labor, he worked himself to the bone. He gave the best years of his youth to capitalists, only to be met with the Apocalypse. He finally managed to step onto the Extraordinary path, thinking he would soar from then on, but after only four years, his life ended in a canyon.

The only consolation was that he had been reborn.

"Brother, you’re not alone. You still have me!" Jiang Cai’Er heard the bitterness in Li Xiang’s music and hugged him even tighter.

"Mm," Li Xiang felt a little better. In this life, he had returned to his hometown to farm and had finally broken the ice with Cai’Er. In his past life, he wouldn’t have even dared to dream of it, afraid of what people would say.

He had been bound by too many morals and social rules.

In fact, he and Jiang Cai’Er weren’t even related by blood.

As for the age gap, it was hardly worth mentioning. In a few more years, Jiang Cai’Er would be a grown woman.

By the time the Apocalypse arrived, she would be... twenty-seven? And he would be thirty-five.

Love was pure and beautiful. It shouldn’t be constrained by worldly limitations and restrictions. In the face of true love, all mundane rules could be broken.

"Brother, should we practice the Breathing Technique mouth-to-mouth?" In the Primeval Forest, under a sky full of stars, nestled on a tree branch—in such a perfect, beautiful moment, Jiang Cai’Er was feeling emotional.

Li Xiang gently refused, "Don’t be silly. You’re still young."

Jiang Cai’Er challenged, "No matter how young I am, am I younger than Luo Feifei?"

Li Xiang: "..."

"What, did I hit the nail on the head?"

"Of course not. There’s nothing between her and me. You’re overthinking things."

"Hmph, then prove it."

Left with no choice, Li Xiang had to practice the Breathing Technique mouth-to-mouth with her. But that was as far as it went.

After all, she had her college entrance exams in just over a year.

A session of the Breathing Technique was completed, and half an hour had passed.

"Study hard. After your college entrance exams are over, we can..."

"We can what?" Jiang Cai’Er stared at Li Xiang, her eyes burning. In the darkness, lit only by the starlight, she was very bold.

Little did she know, Li Xiang had a Night Vision Superpower and could see her every expression as clear as day.

"I can pass on another Cultivation Technique to you," Li Xiang said softly, stroking her hair.

"Heeh~ Coward." Jiang Cai’Er pouted. ’My college entrance exams will be over by then, and you still won’t make a move? Don’t tell me I have to be the one to initiate things?’ she thought.

Li Xiang then leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words. Jiang Cai’Er instantly blushed.

’There’s... there’s actually a Cultivation Technique that’s so... indecent?’

What Li Xiang wanted to pass on to her was, naturally, the Dual Cultivation method he had previously shared with Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou.

This Dual Cultivation method could be used as a supplement, and it was something he and Jiang Cai’Er could certainly practice.

"Let’s go, we’ll go find Tuantuan. Tuantuan is my son."

"If you’re his dad, then I’m his mom. Heeh~ Brother, we’re not even married yet and we already have so many sons and daughters..."

Li Xiang held Jiang Cai’Er, leaping through the forest from one distant treetop to another, leaving a trail of cheerful laughter in their wake.

Soon, Li Xiang arrived at the bamboo grove and saw Tuantuan playing in the middle of the night.

"He’s so cute." Jiang Cai’Er’s eyes lit up. She waved and called out, "Tuantuan, come here! Come to Mama!"

Tuantuan was excited and overjoyed to see Li Xiang. It clearly remembered him, but it was a little wary of Jiang Cai’Er and didn’t approach.

"Don’t be scared. She’s your mother."

Tuantuan looked skeptical. It had clearly understood, and was probably muttering to itself, ’Don’t I already have a mother? How did another one just show up?’

"He’s so Spiritual," Jiang Cai’Er praised.

"Of course. If he wasn’t Spiritual, I wouldn’t have taken an interest in him." Li Xiang immediately took out a fist-sized Tier Two Spirit Fruit and tossed it over.

"SQUEAK~" Tuantuan swiped with its panda paw, caught it instantly, and began to enjoy it happily.

Li Xiang led Jiang Cai’Er closer and started petting the panda all over. Jiang Cai’Er also got handsy, one moment petting its head, the next its back, and the next tugging its ears.

"Brother, I really want to take a video and post it on my Moments."

Li Xiang said, "Not yet. This is too sensational." After all, taking a video in the Primeval Forest in the middle of the night while petting a purely wild panda would attract unnecessary trouble.

"Let’s wait a while. In a little bit, maybe Tuantuan will move to the bamboo forest on the mountain behind our village," Li Xiang said.

"That would be amazing! Could I bring my classmates to visit then?"

Li Xiang: "Of course you can. I just don’t know if Tuantuan would be willing."

Tuantuan: "Squeak, squeak..."