Chapter 294 - The Peeping Tom
The sound of a crackling fire could be heard in the dark night as the wind swooshed across the grasslands. The darkness outside was surrounding them, and only the light from the campfire illuminated the ground where Bai Rouyun and her two companions decided to rest.
Although the Wushi Continent was dangerous, and they understood the risks they would have to face, Bai Rouyun still chose to lit a campfire.
When the cultivation base reached the Ascended Realm, then their location would be found even without the campfire. The senses of a cultivator were heightened greatly, and they would be able to see them, even in the darkness.
Bai Rouyun was relaxing. Although they had nothing to eat or drink, and they dared not enter deep into a state of cultivation, they did not feel bored or uncomfortable.
The air on the Wushi Continent was more pleasant to breathe. The heaven and earth essence in the air was denser, so each breath that was taken would introduce the essence into their bodies.
Xiao Mao was resting next to the campfire, but it was clear that he felt somewhat helpless as the eager Golden Emperor Vine kept scurrying around and kept messing up his fur.
When looking at the two of them, Bai Rouyun could not help but smile helplessly as she admired Xiao Mao's extreme patience with Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua was innocent and untainted, but its nature was cruel and murderous. Even though the plant did not have much understanding of the real world, it still had no qualms about murdering others for fun or food.
The personality of this tiny flower was full of energy and hard to control, but no matter what chaos it might have caused, Xiao Mao patiently solved all the troubles that it brought along.
It was clear that the pampering within Xiao Mao's soul was unlimited when it came to this spoiled plant.
Although the two were together, Bai Rouyun could not help but think about her own time alongside Li Moyun. Was this how others felt when the two of them were showing affection in public?
Although Xiao Hua was a plant and Xiao Mao was a beast, Bai Rouyun was not prejudiced. She was even certain that the two of them did not really understand their clear affection for one another, but when they took on human form, things were likely to change.
For some reason, Bai Rouyun truly looked forward to that day, to see if it would be the cheerful and klutzy Xiao Hua that would jump on the steady and mature Xiao Mao, or if the calm leopard would reveal his beastly side and simply claim the plant for itself.
While Bai Rouyun was resting at the campfire and having crooked thoughts about her two contracted creatures, a shadow was sneaking closer and closer to their resting place.
The shadow was not making any sounds, and even their breath was suppressed, making it impossible to know that someone was approaching.
Even so, a strange feeling of being observed made Bai Rouyun narrow her eyes. Her body was as languid as before, and it was impossible to see that she had become vigilant, but both Xiao Hua and Xiao Mao had noticed her reactions as they were connected to her soul.
Although it was clear that all of them were alert, their bodies and actions had no pause, and for the shadow, they seemed to have not noticed anything at all.
The shadow became much more eager when it knew that the group had not noticed it, and the excitement caused a fluctuation in its breathing and an error in its movement, so a slight sound escaped.
Prior to this, Bai Rouyun and the others did not know where the peeping creature or human was hiding, but after hearing the sound they could instantly locate the culprit, and their actions were in sharp contrast with their previous sluggishness, as they jumped up and captured the shadow that tried to escape.
Neither of them had released any attacks with the intention of killing the shadow as the peeping had carried no murderous intent, but they still wished to see who wanted to approach them in the middle of the night.
A low grunt resounded, and it turned out that while the shadow had managed to dodge both Bai Rouyun and Xiao Mao's attacks, Xiao Hua's vines had caught his feet and caused the poor soul to trip over his own feet and fall headfirst to the ground.
"Good job." Bai Rouyun reached out her hand and caressed the vine that was ever present around her wrist. Although the main body of Xiao Hua was playing around with Xiao Mao, it had left a part of its body on Bai Rouyun, and as long as it stayed there, it would be impossible for it to die, even if the main body was destroyed.
However, if the main body was destroyed one day, the cultivation that Xiao Hua had worked hard to gain would be lost. The vine around her wrist was a final card to ensure survival.
This small vine also meant that Bai Rouyun could always show her appreciation by patting the wooden vine, and Xiao Hua began to sway happily on top of the calm leopard.
The sound of vines shifting through the grass could be heard, and soon a few complaining whimpers also followed as the vines dragged the small figure to their side.
Looking at the creature that had hidden in the shadows, Bai Rouyun could not help but feel a little puzzled.
This was not a human being, but it was not a beast either.. In fact, it seemed to be a mixture of both beast and human, but unlike Xiao Hua and Xiao Mao who could take on a human body when their strength became high enough, this small being was clearly born this way, as a mixture between two races.