Chapter 61

Chapter 61: He Seems to Have Really Fallen for Her

“Junior Sister, during this training trip, you must stay close behind me,” said Luo Chu with a serious face to Bai Mu Mu.

“I know, I know, Fourth Senior Brother, you’ve said it so many times that my ears have calluses,” Bai Mu Mu answered with a playful tongue-out.

“I don’t know what Master and Sect Master Shen are thinking,” Luo Chu grumbled, “you just recovered, yet they sent you out to train and even refused to let the other Senior Brothers join us.” He could protect her alone, but having more people felt safer.

Bai Mu Mu comforted him with an easy smile: “No need to worry, Fourth Senior Brother. We’re going to a land of extreme cold this time. It’s much better than the Red Peak Fire Sea, and I won’t suffer like before.”

Luo Chu kicked a small stone and muttered, annoyed: “I still think the other three Senior Brothers should have come.” He added in a lower voice, “But Master said he was stopping them from looking for Shen Sang Ruo, so he won’t let them join this trip.” His jaw tightened as he hissed, “In the end, this is Shen Sang Ruo’s fault.”

He fumed and piled on complaints: “She acted willfully, spoke rudely to Master, got kicked down the mountain to train, and still messed with our Senior Brothers’ hearts just to get attention. Now they barely talk to me. Thunder-Scale Peak used to be united, and she tore it apart. It’s hateful.”

“Fourth Senior Brother, don’t blame Fifth Senior Sister,” Bai Mu Mu said, lowering her eyes as if guilty, “it’s because I took the care that should have gone to me. She just wanted the Senior Brothers to notice her more.”

“How can this be your fault? What do you mean you took it? The care was yours from the start,” Luo Chu said. He gripped her shoulders and told her solemnly: “Junior Sister, don’t let Shen Sang Ruo influence you. She’s jealous and twisted. If she were a good person, she would feel sorry for you and make it up to you. She occupied your place for years and made you suffer.”

He seemed to forget that when Bai Mu Mu was first brought back, Shen Sang Ruo tried hard to be good to her. It was they who slowly ignored Shen Sang Ruo, pushing her to spend more effort pleasing them.

“Hmph, if I meet her this time, I, as her Senior Brother, will teach her a lesson,” he said, tightening his grip on his storage pouch.

Inside was the Seven Emotions Gu that Lu Shi Qing had given him, along with firm orders to find Shen Sang Ruo during the trip and put the gu on her. Lu Shi Qing had been very serious, stressing again and again that Luo Chu must carefully watch Shen Sang Ruo’s reaction and report in detail after returning to the sect.

Luo Chu didn’t know why Lu Shi Qing wanted to use the Seven Emotions Gu on Shen Sang Ruo again. He guessed Lu Shi Qing must hate her too, or why else send him to chase her across a thousand miles? She pretended to ignore them, but everyone knew she couldn’t be without them. For someone so possessive and emotional, the pain from the Seven Emotions Gu was not something she could endure. He sneered to himself that once he found her, he would use the gu to expose her true face.

He sighed and said, half helpless: “If only Shen Sang Ruo were as cute and sensible as you, Junior Sister.”

Bai Mu Mu smiled, a little shy, and lowered her head.

[Ding: Luo Chu favor +1, current favor 89]

Satisfaction flashed through Bai Mu Mu’s eyes for a moment. When Shen Sang Ruo fell into the volcano, the favor of Feng He Yun and the others, especially Lu Shi Qing, dropped sharply. Later they learned she was alive, and with her efforts the favor rose a bit, but none of them went beyond 80. For now, only the simple-minded Luo Chu was easy to coax.

Luo Chu’s mood shifted quickly. Soon he returned to the topic of the trip: “The task this time is simple. We only need to collect enough Thousand-Year Cold Ice. But to prevent accidents, you shouldn’t join the collecting. I’ll get your share.”

Bai Mu Mu put on a touched look and said softly: “Thank you, Fourth Senior Brother. You’re so good to me. But I don’t want to drag the team down. There are many others traveling with us, so please don’t worry.”

“Speaking of which, it looks like there are people from other cultivation clans in our group,” Luo Chu said, glancing at the people walking ahead. He pointed them out one by one, thoughtful: “That one is from the Wu Clan of Flower Song City, that one is from the Sun Clan of Jade Splendor City, and that one is from the Tian Clan of Jade Tower City…”

Hearing “Tian Clan of Jade Tower City,” the person he mentioned turned his head. It was Tian Hao Tian, the one Shen Sang Ruo had beaten up before. After she left, Tian Yuan Shan protected him and used many rare pills to keep him alive. In a few months he recovered enough to make this trip.

Now, whenever he saw Disciples of the Flying Cloud Sect, he felt a chill, afraid another Shen Sang Ruo would appear. He didn’t expect the white robed Female Cultivator on the other side to give him a soft smile. Her face looked even paler than her robe, her skin almost transparent in the sun. She seemed so thin and fragile, yet the smile she gave him was both steady and gentle.

For a heartbeat, Tian Hao Tian felt like something struck his chest and made it skip. If not for the fierce eyes of the man beside her, he might have stared longer. He turned back in a hurry, heart pounding hard. It wasn’t like the simple desire he felt in his past flings. He felt like he had truly fallen for her.

Bai Mu Mu withdrew her gaze with satisfaction and kept chatting with Luo Chu as if nothing had happened: “Fourth Senior Brother, we should build good ties and talk more with those from the cultivation clans.”

“Make friends with them?” Luo Chu’s eyes showed clear disdain. As Master Ling Xiao’s Personal Disciples, they already had status. They didn’t need to deal with anyone. Getting close to others would only lower their standing. He held himself in high regard.

“Fourth Senior Brother, the second purpose of training is to expand our network,” Bai Mu Mu reminded him gently.

He kept frowning, so she pouted and turned her body aside like she was angry.

“Alright, alright, we’ll do as you say,” he said at last with a helpless tone.

Her smile returned: “Thank you, Fourth Senior Brother.” She shot Tian Hao Tian a meaningful glance. Her target was set.

Shen Sang Ruo’s map recorded an icy land named the Slanting Mountain Icefield. It lay on a huge, flat slope, which gave it its name. The Slanting Mountain Icefield had existed for at least a thousand years, but most people considered it no different from other cold regions. Its danger level was low, and there weren’t many treasures. The only useful resource was the Thousand-Year Cold Ice nourished by the Spiritual Qi of the icefield. It seemed plain.

In her last life, however, Shen Sang Ruo pieced together many clues and confirmed that an ancient icy cavern lay somewhere on that icefield. It was the best place for the Snow Soul Iceheart Lotus to grow. But the exact location of the cavern was unknown.

The Slanting Mountain Icefield stretched over tens of thousands of square kilometers. She would have to check it bit by bit.

Shen Sang Ruo used a Fleetstep Talisman and sped toward the Slanting Mountain Icefield. By chance, on the way, she ran into a familiar figure.