Wei Shi Lan raised his brows and turned toward the direction the rustling had come from.
He waited for a bit, and for a moment the air tightened with tension, as if fate was about to deliver a surprise he would regret for the rest of his life.
Something leaped out causing Shi Lan frowned in disbelief.
'I can't believe that, for a moment, I was scared.'
He thought the Heavens or even the Star Realm had caught a whiff of him immediately and sent something to slowly destroy him. Their methods were cunning and unbelievable. Because they could not directly interfere, they would twist every corner to achieve the result they desired.
Looking at the long white-eared animal that had just hopped out of the forest, Shi Lan soon realized he had been paranoid. He was in a weak body, and even though he possessed an immensely powerful Nascent Soul, it slept within him. His cultivation base was no different from the first level of the Body Refining Stage in the Mortal Realm.
'I can't afford to be discovered now. I must lay low and increase my cultivation base.'
He needed to do everything from the beginning, and he needed time before he could grow stronger.
He sighed and looked at the rabbit eating grass peacefully. Suddenly his stomach growled like a wild beast. Seeing the rabbit reminded him of when the Celestial Huntress had been so obsessed with him that she would catch Cloud Rabbits and feed them to him. Her food had been as delightful as her inner petals.
Shi Lan ate her rabbits, and afterward flooded her flower gate.
'Such good days…'
He thought with a smile on his face as he looked down at the rabbit.
Suddenly the rabbit flinched. It was as if a demon hovered above it, grinning evilly. The rabbit shot forward to leap away, but Shi Lan anticipated the move and cornered it. His body was slow, and his movements fell far short of the expectations of his mind.
'This body…' Shi Lan cursed internally, but he did not let the rabbit escape. He kicked it off the ground as his hand was too slow to reach it.
However, at that very instant, his sharpened senses detected a third player in the game. Barely a moment later, a sharpened bamboo arrow came flying just as Shi Lan was about to grab the kicked rabbit by its ears.
To avoid the arrow, Shi Lan threw his hand back, and the arrow passed between him and the rabbit. The rabbit landed and made a run for it, this time unstoppable.
'Such a pity. I used to outrun flying phoenixes. Now this body can't even chase a rabbit!'
Even from the small movements just now, Shi Lan was already panting.
He glared into the forest and shouted,
"Reveal yourself now before I bring down heaven's wrath upon you!"
At first there was no movement. Then Shi Lan heard footsteps, and someone revealed themself.
The person who had shot the arrow was a young girl. She had porcelain skin and black hair that formed straight bangs above her brows. Her hair was tied behind her in a bun, and her sleeves were folded to her elbows.
A bamboo bow hung on her back.
The girl stood with her hands on her waist, looking like a nagging mother, but from what Shi Lan could see, she could not have been older than fifteen.
"What? Heaven's wrath?! You were the one trying to steal my dinner, and because of you it got away! How dare you speak of heaven's wrath?!"
The girl glared at him, and Shi Lan was impressed. Despite looking so young, she spoke with a fearless and confident tone.
Shi Lan cupped his hands and lowered his head slightly — just enough for anyone to feel respected.
"Junior sister, forgive my manners. I have been stuck in this forest for three days with nothing to eat."
He hesitated, his voice tinged with wounded pride.
"So when I saw the rabbit, I thought it would be tasty, and I wanted to take my chance. I would never steal another person's meal, so forgive me, junior sister."
The girl's fiery gaze cooled to calm water, and pity rippled across its surface.
"Three days? How come?"
Shi Lan's tone quaked as he spoke.
"I'm an orphan from a faraway province. I took the rest of my parents' money — all the inheritance they left me — to find a peaceful city where I could settle down and start a business. But I was attacked and beaten by bandits. They took everything from me, and since then I have drifted through the forest with the wind."
The pity the girl felt for Shi Lan could no longer be hidden. Little tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.
At least she still had her drunkard father, her beautiful mother, and her salty sister. But this man had lost everything. He had left home to find a peaceful place, only to lose everything again — and he had had nothing to eat for three days.
'If I don't eat for one day, I can faint…'
So she could not imagine how the man must be feeling right now, but she knew he must be in great pain from his empty bowels.
Shi Lan's voice cut through her thoughts.
"I owe you a rabbit. However, I am too weak to repay you now. I do not even have the strength to move properly. But I promise you, one day I shall repay you for this lost dinner."
Shi Lan made it clear and cupped his hands again.
He turned to leave and stumbled on his own step, even though he had moved perfectly fine when hunting the rabbit.
Every step Shi Lan took seemed close to a fall. They were slow, as if he could barely move his legs at all.
The girl looked at him with even greater pity.
'Just look at how he's walking. He can't even walk properly. Will he even reach his destination at this point?'
She felt immense pity for him and could not bear to turn a blind eye to Shi Lan, even though her mother had warned her about helping strangers.
Her mother would say,
"Xia Xia, not everybody needs your help. Some people will only bring great harm to you the moment they enter your house. Some people work for bandits and will trick you into showing them where you live. Then the next day the bandits will come and take you and your sister as slaves. Would you like that?"
Xia Xia would shake her head dejectedly, and her mother would pat her head.
"You have a very merciful heart, but you must be careful not to bring harm to yourself."
Thinking about her mother's words, Xia Xia almost stepped back.
But then the strange man stumbled again and fell to his knee. Slowly he pushed himself up, his entire body shaking.
At that moment, Xia Xia felt like a wicked person for turning away from a man who was dying of hunger.
She let out a frustrated grunt.
"Wait!"
'Mother! I can't turn my eyes away from a hungry man! I'm so sorry!'
"Since you said you want to repay me, how about you come home with me? My mother makes nice chicken dumplings! You can regain your strength and help me catch the rabbit!"
Shi Lan's mouth spread into a diabolical grin.
Everything had proceeded exactly as he expected.
He turned back with a polite expression on his bruised, swollen face.
"Junior sister, this Shi Lan will not forget your boundless mercy."
Xia Xia beamed.
"You can call me Xia Xia!"
Shi Lan smiled.
"Since Junior Sister Xia Xia has a symmetrical face that aligns with the rosy clouds at dawn, your name must reflect the warmth of sunrise or sunset."
Xia Xia beamed even wider. She had never had someone understand her name so easily. Everyone always called her a shrimp because her name could also be translated that way. But this man used such warm words with her that it made her heart happy.
And his voice… if she did not have to look at his horrible face and only heard his voice, something would flutter in her stomach.
It was strange.
But she was already starting to like this man.
'He seems really kind… it's such a pity he has such a hideous face!'