"...And that's the story. Whether it's to avenge my father or to prevent the Demon Swords from bringing more disaster to this world."
Yunli sat beside Derick and told him everything.
After she finished speaking, she felt her spirits lift considerably.
Leaning back on the bench, her feet dangled in the air, her slender, lotus-like calves swinging unconsciously. The delicate tips of her feet pointed down, her toes gently tracing the ground.
Turning to look at Derick, she smiled happily.
Then, remembering something, Yunli slapped her forehead.
"Honestly, all I did was pour my heart out to you. Not only did I fail to apologize, but I also made you listen to my rambling for ages," she said to Derick, embarrassed.
Derick slanted a glance at Yunli.
"Well, if you want to make it up to me, how about you let me pinch your cheek?"
Derick had pinched her chubby, youthful face once before and had been wanting to do it again.
Hearing Derick's request, Yunli froze for a second. Then her face flushed crimson, and she shouted at him.
"Absolutely not! In your dreams!"
Lifting her foot, Yunli meant to kick Derick's shin. But as she raised her leg, she noticed that his legs were still trembling slightly.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked with concern.
"Before Teacher left, she gave me a proper 'lesson.' My legs are just over-trained, that's why they're shaking a bit," Derick said quietly.
His legs were indeed over-trained.
"I see..." Yunli nodded. Then her eyes lit up as she said to Derick, "I know how I can show my gratitude!"
"Huh?" Hearing this, Derick looked a little confused. And in that moment of confusion, Yunli had already grabbed his legs, lifted them, and placed them on her lap.
Even through Derick's trousers and Yunli's skirt, he could clearly feel the warmth and softness of her thighs.
Derick was now lying on the bench. He propped himself up and looked at Yunli. "What are you doing?"
"Since your legs are so sore, let me give you a massage." Yunli reached out and kneaded Derick's calves. "Consider this my apology, and also a thank you for when we team up later."
As Yunli spoke, her ten fingers pressed firmly onto the acupoints on Derick's calves and thighs. Having wielded a heavy sword for years, Yunli's fingers were very strong, and the force traveled through the skin deep into the muscles. Thanks to her Xianzhou physiology and special training, her hands were free of calluses, making the massage feel smooth.
At first, Derick felt a sore, tingling numbness, which was soon replaced by a feeling of his leg muscles relaxing. The previously exhausted muscles began to soothe under Yunli's massage, and the trembling stopped.
Feeling Derick's body relax, Yunli's lips curled into a happy smile.
I'm doing a pretty good job.
She couldn't help but apply more force, gradually softening Derick's stiff muscles. After massaging his calves, she moved her hands to his thighs, kneading them for a while before making small fists and gently hammering them. She was no stranger to hammering things at a forge; the technique for striking iron blocks wasn't so different from striking thighs.
After she was done, Yunli looked up at Derick and saw him with his eyes comfortably closed, a look of pure bliss on his face. She felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
But she still felt something was missing. She continued to study Derick and noticed that his body also seemed a bit stiff, and she immediately understood the problem. With that thought, Yunli patted Derick's stomach.
The firm touch of his abs surprised her.
She had assumed Derick would have the soft physique of a typical teenager. She never expected him to be so well-muscled where it counted.
"What is it?" Derick had been on the verge of falling asleep, and Yunli's sudden action startled him. His eyes were still hazy with sleep.
"Your upper body needs a massage too," Yunli said, her gaze fixed on Derick, her tone serious.
"Oh, that... no, no, you've already done more than enough." Derick declined her offer.
But Yunli wasn't listening. Seeing his lazy, unwilling-to-move state, she grabbed his legs and started to flip him over. Derick didn't bother to struggle, letting himself be turned over like a dead fish.
"Fine, do whatever you want..."
Derick just wanted to rest.
He felt Yunli stand up, and in the next second, he felt a distinct weight on his lower back, the surrounding skin and muscles tightening in response.
The size and pressure of that weight...
Derick turned his head to look and found Yunli standing on top of him. The soles of her feet were on his back, her toes curled up into a half-moon shape. The bright red polish on her toenails was dazzlingly conspicuous in front of his eyes.
Seeing Derick's gaze turn to her, Yunli's toes quickly flattened and pressed down, burying themselves in the fabric of his clothes.
As he looked further up, at her fair white calves, Yunli immediately adjusted her socks.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop looking! If you keep looking, I'll stick my foot in your mouth!" Although she was protected by safety shorts, Yunli still felt shy under Derick's gaze.
"Alright, I'll stop looking," Derick said, turning his head away.
"That's more like it." Yunli shifted her body on his lower back to distribute her weight more evenly.
Derick couldn't help but ask, "How did you even think of walking on my back?"
"Because I felt it would be more comfortable for you this way, of course. Besides, with you lying down like this, if I were to massage you with my hands, I'd have to stand in front of your head to reach your shoulders."
In that case, Derick's face would be right up against her... stomach. Yunli would definitely be too shy for that.
As she explained this to Derick, she took a step forward, her foot landing in the middle of his spine.
Derick savored the back-walking massage.
Yunli's small feet danced across his back, her heels and toes precisely pressing on every muscle and along the crevices of his bones. Derick felt as if all the fatigue in his body was being stomped out by her feet.
With Yunli's rhythmic movements, Derick truly drifted off into dreamland this time.
Feeling Derick slowly fall asleep beneath her feet, Yunli crossed her arms in triumph.
Bending down, she looked at Derick's face, which was handsome even while lying prone, and couldn't resist reaching out to pinch his cheek.
You pinched me before, now it's my turn to pinch you back.
Mmm, firm and smooth. Feels amazing.
Yunli was satisfied.
Seeing that Derick was already asleep, Yunli stopped the massage. But she didn't feel right leaving him, so she pushed his body further onto the bench, clearing a small space for herself to sit.
"When we go out to deal with that Flame-Chaser, if you protect me, I can say I don't owe you anything anymore. I gave you a massage, and I'm even watching over you here," Yunli thought to herself.
As she sat there, drowsiness began to creep up on her. Her body slumped to the side, and she leaned against Derick, falling asleep in his arms. Her two small feet also found their way to his calves, clamping onto his right one.
Early morning.
The Luofu Cloud Knight, Sushang, was on patrol in the Exalting Sanctum.
She spotted two heads sticking out from a long bench. From behind the backrest, she couldn't see their bodies, only the two heads.
What's this? Are there homeless people on the Xianzhou Luofu, forced to wander the streets?
No, this is a situation I must handle. I have to report this to the Cloud Knights so they can receive aid. I, Sushang of the Cloud Knights, am the kindest of all.
As she got closer, Sushang realized the two heads seemed to belong to a man and a woman.
A new theory formed in Sushang's mind.
Could it be a couple doing... that kind of thing in this deserted place?
Sushang recalled some of the romance novels she had read, and her cheeks couldn't help but turn red.
What on earth is going on?
With that thought, Sushang gently called out to the two figures.
"Hey, wake up, wake up! You can't sleep here!"
Hearing Sushang's call, Derick woke up, his eyes hazy with sleep.
What's happening?
Who's calling me?
Derick opened his eyes and met Sushang's gaze. At that moment, his eyes were somehow even more clear and innocent than hers.
"Huh!?" Sushang's eyes went wide.
"Mr. Derick, what are you doing here!?"
She never expected the person she woke up would be General Feixiao's student, a guardian of the Hunt, and one of the greatest heroes who defeated the Lord Ravager Phantylia—Derick.
Sushang pointed at Derick's arms.
"Then, Mr. Derick, in your arms is—"
Hearing Sushang's question, Derick instinctively moved his arms.
Wait, why is there someone in my arms?
Derick clearly felt a soft sensation, someone fragrant and tender to hold.
He was instantly wide awake.
At that moment, the person in his arms, Yunli, also cracked open her eyes and looked up at Sushang.
"Huh? Why is there someone else in my room?"
"Miss Yunli!" Sushang's jaw dropped so wide she could have performed a sword-swallowing act.
Mr. Derick and Miss Yunli were cuddling and sleeping in this deserted place all night. What on earth happened between them before this?
Sushang knew for a fact that Derick had a proper girlfriend.
Derick and Yunli, now fully awake, stared at each other in shock.
What exactly happened last night?
Yunli tried hard to remember. She recalled that she had intended to just sit beside Derick. But after waiting for a while, she had fallen asleep leaning against him.
And somewhere in their sleep, they had ended up wrapped around each other.
It seems... the main problem here is my fault.
Yunli straightened her messy clothes, pulling her skirt down to smooth it out.
"W-well, I'm going back to rest now. W-when it's time to... to find that enemy, you... you can come and get me." Yunli's face was beet red as her small feet pattered swiftly across the stone slabs, running back towards the place she was staying.
She had just forgotten that her current residence on the Luofu was, in fact, the same place as Derick's—the Spices-of-Life Inn.
Sushang scratched her head and looked back at Derick.
"What was that all about?"
Derick was already running in the direction of the Spices-of-Life Inn. As he ran, he called back to Sushang, "It's nothing, nothing! Sushang, just forget everything you saw here!"
"Forget it? Why?"
Sushang's eyes grew even more innocent.
At the Spices-of-Life Inn, Derick returned to find Bailu still performing medical treatments, with Hyacine assisting her. Seeing Derick, Hyacine asked with a puzzled look, "By the way, Derry, what happened with you yesterday? You didn't come back all night."
"Oh, it's like this. Teacher Feixiao was teaching me a few things and told me to practice diligently," Derick said, making up an excuse.
Hyacine didn't suspect a thing.
She, along with Castorice and the others, wasn't worried about Derick's safety. His power spoke for itself. An attack that could actually harm him would probably cause an uproar across the entire Xianzhou.
And that wasn't even counting his immortality.
To kill him silently and prevent his revival... that would probably require an Aeon to intervene.
Derick wasn't that important.
"I'm a bit tired, I'm going back to rest."
After bidding Hyacine farewell, Derick walked towards the main hall of the inn. On his way, he saw Cipher sitting alone in the hall, feasting on a large spread of food and drink.
Seeing this, Derick walked over, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and prepared to dig in.
"Hmph, Derry, you sure don't stand on ceremony."
Cipher remarked to Derick.
"Were you standing on ceremony with me yesterday?" Derick retorted.
Cipher fell silent. But then she twitched her nose and looked at him quizzically.
"Why... do you have such a strong fragrance on you?"
Only then did Derick remember. He had held Yunli all night; he must smell like her.
A flash of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly found an excuse.
"Oh, right. After my lesson with Teacher Feixiao, I happened to run into Yunli, and we sparred all night. I probably picked up some of her scent."
"Is that so." Cipher nodded.
But her suspicion of Derick deepened.
She wasn't in a hurry to uncover the truth, though.
Because right now, she had something much more important to show Derick. Cipher waved at him, gesturing for him to come closer for a hushed conversation.
"Come here, Derry. I have something to show you," Cipher said.
"What is it?" Derick leaned in, curious.
Cipher glanced around, and seeing no one was paying attention, she pulled a green, gauntlet-shaped device from under the table.
"I... secretly took this from Firefly. I have a feeling this thing is special."
Looking at the device, Derick didn't react at first. But hearing Cipher's words, his mind instantly clicked, and he realized what it was.
Firefly's Sam transformation device.
Cipher... she had actually stolen it.
"Good grief! You weren't discovered, were you?"
"Of course not. I used the authority of the Titan of Trickery. Unless she tries to use it, she'll never know the one she has is a fake."
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