"Lunatic," Shi Yu glanced at Xu Sanshi and cursed speechlessly.
He had warned him many times, but was it useful?
If I like spending time with Jiang Nannan, I'll spend time with her. If I distance myself because of his warning, what would I become?
This kind of warning was not only useless to Shi Yu, but it also made him want to get even closer to Jiang Nannan, just to annoy Xu Sanshi.
You tell me to stay away, but I'll intentionally get closer to her. Why should I listen to you?
Xu Sanshi was so angry he wanted to hit someone, but Zhang Lexuan's gaze extinguished his fury.
"You just wait," Xu Sanshi glared fiercely at Shi Yu. He had added this grudge to his list.
Shi Yu and Jiang Nannan sat together, chatting intermittently, often with smiles.
Xu Sanshi was alone on one side, and Zhang Lexuan was alone on the other, guarding Bei Bei together so he could absorb the Soul Ring without worry.
Midway, some Soul Beasts approached, smelling the blood. After Zhang Lexuan revealed her aura, they all fled in terror, not daring to linger.
The sky gradually darkened. The Star Dou Great Forest at night was even more dangerous, with wolf howls and tiger roars, and beast roars coming from time to time.
Shi Yu and the others also gathered together, closer to Zhang Lexuan, which was safer.
Bei Bei's Soul Ring absorption process ended, and he woke up shortly after, the joy in his eyes hard to conceal.
"How is it?" The first person to show concern for Bei Bei was not his good buddy Xu Sanshi, but Zhang Lexuan.
Seeing Zhang Lexuan's look of concern, Bei Bei felt a bit awkward and intentionally distanced himself from her, simply replying with two words, "It's okay."
Zhang Lexuan knew Bei Bei didn't want much contact with her, and her expression was slightly dim.
Jiang Nannan looked at Zhang Lexuan and Bei Bei in surprise. Their relationship seemed a bit off.
Shi Yu wasn't surprised by the unusual relationship between them; he knew exactly what was going on.
"It's quite a fated misfortune," Shi Yu felt a little unworthy for Zhang Lexuan in his heart.
Although he had spent less than a day with Zhang Lexuan, he still had a good impression of this taciturn Senior Apprentice Sister.
It wasn't the kind of romantic affection, but the kind of good impression based on how she treated people and handled things.
She gave off a cold yet very gentle feeling. Coupled with her beautiful appearance, powerful strength, and talent, it was hard not to feel a good impression; it was pure admiration.
Such a wonderful woman, yet because of a childhood promise, she became fixated on someone who didn't love her at all. This was truly regrettable.
Perhaps Zhang Lexuan didn't love Bei Bei either, but was simply too fixated on that past promise, and for that, she didn't feel it was anything even if her whole life was unhappy.
It just made outsiders who saw it feel a little heartache for her. Sometimes, taking promises too seriously isn't a good thing.
"We need to find another place to rest. The smell of blood here is hard to get rid of and will continuously attract Soul Beasts. It's not suitable as a resting place for the night," Zhang Lexuan said.
Everyone got up to look for a suitable resting place and found a relatively safe spot to set up camp and rest.
A total of two tents were set up. Zhang Lexuan and Jiang Nannan shared one, while Shi Yu, Bei Bei, and Xu Sanshi shared the other.
This put Shi Yu in quite a difficult position. Staying with them, he was really afraid of being covered by a blanket and then punched and kicked at night.
His current strength wasn't enough, so he couldn't do anything about them. He also couldn't bring himself to cry and complain to Zhang Lexuan; he still needed some face.
"I'll be in charge of keeping watch tonight," Shi Yu proactively suggested. He could only make do outside for one night. Who told him he didn't bring a tent, blanket, and other things?
Zhang Lexuan also saw Shi Yu's predicament. After thinking for a moment, she said, "If you can get Jiang Nannan's consent, you can sleep in the same tent as her."
"My cultivation is higher. I can maintain good spirits by meditating outside and don't need to sleep in a tent."
Shi Yu was just a quasi-Soul Grandmaster at level twenty. Staying up all night might not be a big deal.
But they didn't know when they would be able to obtain all the required Soul Rings, and they might have to stay in the forest for the next few days.
It's impossible for him to go without sleep for days and nights. His body would definitely break down.
But letting him sleep with Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, unpleasant things would likely happen again.
Xu Sanshi's jealousy and dislike towards Shi Yu might just make him do something.
It was indeed not very suitable for Shi Yu to stay with Xu Sanshi and the others.
Jiang Nannan's pretty face turned red. She lowered her head and didn't speak, wringing her hands together, looking very conflicted.
"No, absolutely not! How can they stay together?" Xu Sanshi objected emotionally.
Shi Yu also felt it was a bit inappropriate. While his relationship with Jiang Nannan was good, sleeping in the same tent was still somewhat unsuitable.
However, after hearing Xu Sanshi say that, he actually felt like doing it.
Anyway, he wouldn't actually do anything to Jiang Nannan, and they wouldn't take off their clothes while sleeping together, so what's the big deal?
They always stood together and were often close. Now, it was just being close at night and lying down. It didn't seem like anything unacceptable, not much different from during the day.
Shi Yu told himself this and suddenly felt that this wasn't something too embarrassing.
"Jiang Nan Nan, how about letting me make do? I promise I won't do anything beastly," Shi Yu tried to discuss with Jiang Nannan.
"Okay," Jiang Nannan agreed in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, her face as red as an apple, and quickly scurried into the tent.
"Thank you, Jiang Nan Nan," Shi Yu smiled slightly at Xu Sanshi again and was about to follow into the tent.
Xu Sanshi, however, blocked him, his eyes wide like copper bells, as if flames were about to shoot out.
"You're not allowed to go in. If anyone goes in, it's me. You go sleep with Bei Bei," Xu Sanshi blocked him.
Jiang Nannan's angry voice came from inside, "Xu Sanshi, if you dare to come in, I definitely won't be polite to you!"
"Xu Sanshi, go back to your own tent and sleep," Zhang Lexuan said in a deep voice.
"But..." Xu Sanshi was unwilling, but Zhang Lexuan's cold gaze scared him into silence.
"Let's go. Even if they sleep together, they won't actually do anything," Bei Bei pulled Xu Sanshi into the tent.
"I let you share a tent with Jiang Nannan because I considered your low cultivation level and the need for proper rest."
"Don't mess around. The Academy's punishment for male students who dare to mess with female students is very strict, and it will be even stricter with me. I hope you don't lose your mind," Zhang Lexuan also warned Shi Yu.
"Don't worry, Senior Apprentice Sister, I may not be a virtuous gentleman, but I won't do such a beastly thing," Shi Yu promised, said good night and to be careful to Zhang Lexuan, and then entered the tent.
After going in, he found Jiang Nannan already lying down and asleep, her eyes closed, her body motionless.
Shi Yu could feel Jiang Nannan's nervousness and knew she was faking sleep because she was embarrassed.
He didn't disturb her and just lay down on the other side by himself, keeping as far away from Jiang Nannan as possible to avoid accidentally touching her and causing a misunderstanding.
"Jiang Nan Nan, are you asleep?" After lying down for almost an hour, Shi Yu still couldn't fall asleep.
Sleeping in a tent was his first time, and sleeping in a tent in the dangerous Star Dou Great Forest was even more so.
Although he knew it was relatively safe with Zhang Lexuan guarding outside, he still couldn't help but feel nervous.
This caused him a bit of insomnia. He tried to sleep for a long time but couldn't fall asleep.
He really couldn't stand the feeling of being unable to fall asleep, so he tried calling out softly. If Jiang Nannan wasn't asleep, they could chat for a while, which might ease his mood and make it easier to fall asleep.
Jiang Nannan wasn't asleep either. She was also very nervous, partly from the environment of the Star Dou Great Forest and partly from having a man lying next to her.
Hearing Shi Yu's call, she became even more nervous. Her heart rate sped up significantly, and her mind raced, even speculating why Shi Yu was asking that.
"Not yet," Jiang Nannan finally replied softly.
"I can't sleep very well and want to talk," Shi Yu said softly, seeing that Jiang Nannan wasn't asleep yet.
"What do you want to talk about?" Jiang Nannan tried her best to speak calmly.
"Nothing specific I want to talk about, just casual chat," Shi Yu said.
With his hands behind his head, he stared blankly at the tent ceiling. Faint moonlight filtered through.
"Have you thought about what type of Soul Beast you want for your fourth Soul Ring?" Shi Yu casually found a topic.