Chapter 105: A Short Parting Makes Reunion Sweeter
"Lingling, why did you stop…" Xiao Wu's words trailed off, for her gaze had already fallen upon the one she had long yearned for—Zu Zong.
Her pupils shrank instantly. "Xiao Zong—!" Without caring that Ye Lingling was still present, Xiao Wu leapt into Zu Zong's arms. Her slender hands instinctively wrapped around his neck, hugging him tightly, her rosy face buried in his chest.
Zu Zong could clearly feel Xiao Wu's racing heartbeat. Seeing her again, how could he not be moved as well?
Feeling the softness in his embrace, Zu Zong's hand circled around Xiao Wu's slender waist. For the first time in his life, his eyes grew slightly red.
Ye Lingling still said nothing, but her face carried a complicated expression as she glanced at the two of them before turning her gaze into the distance.
"Xiao Wu, don't cry. I promised you I would come back alive." Zu Zong gently stroked her back.
"Wuu—Xiao Zong, do you not want Xiao Wu anymore? Why did you leave for so long again…"
No wonder Xiao Wu was so emotional. Since knowing Zu Zong, in the six or seven years they had spent together, aside from when he obtained his third spirit ring and met Zhu Zhuqing, they had never been apart for more than a month.
This time, Zu Zong had been gone for over two months. Though he had explained beforehand, Xiao Wu's longing was beyond words. She asked Du Gu Yan about him many times, and each time Du Gu Yan reassured her, yet Zu Zong never returned.
Later, even Du Gu Yan stopped coming to the academy. Many times Xiao Wu wanted to run to Sunset Forest to find him, but remembering his instructions, she forced herself to endure, using cultivation to numb her longing.
"How could I not want you? I could never bear that. It's my fault for making you worry." Zu Zong's chest was already wet with her tears, and her delicate hands clung tightly to his neck, as though afraid he would slip away again.
Xiao Wu lifted her head, her eyes red, lips pouting as she said, "Then you can't leave me again. Even if you go to cultivate, you must bring me with you."
"Alright, alright, I promise." Zu Zong comforted her as he wiped away her tears.
Soon after, the three of them sat at the stone table.
Zu Zong and Xiao Wu sat together. Perhaps fearing he might leave again, Xiao Wu clung tightly to his arm, unwilling to let go even for a moment.
Glancing at Ye Lingling seated opposite, Zu Zong smiled, before turning his gaze back to Xiao Wu in his arms.
Zu Zong said, "Xiao Wu, Lingling, how have you two been these days?"
"Alright." Ye Lingling was still as cold as ever. Though she had brightened somewhat with Zu Zong and Xiao Wu as friends, she remained sparing with words.
Xiao Wu was different. Having cried, the worry pent up over two months had finally been released, and her mood lightened greatly.
She said, "That day, after you went to find that old poison, we saw an explosion there not long after. Lingling and I feared for you and chased after it, but you were gone. Later, Teacher Qin and Sister Yan arrived. Teacher Qin wouldn't let us search, and took Lingling and me back to Heaven Dou Academy, while Sister Yan went to find that old poison. Heartless you, gone so long without a single word! Every time I asked Sister Yan, she only said you were fine, and then she stopped coming to the academy too."
Zu Zong nodded, surprised as he looked at Ye Lingling. He could understand why Yu Tianheng, Shi Mo, and the others hadn't searched for him—they weren't close enough for that. But for Ye Lingling, an auxiliary spirit master, to risk her life following Xiao Wu to find him truly surprised him.
Still, her willingness to brave danger for his sake made him glad. Adversity revealed true friendship, after all. Moreover, he had already planned to give her an immortal herb.
Zu Zong thought for a moment, then said, "After returning from Soto City, I told Sister Yan her poison might be rebounding on her. She went to ask her grandfather Du Gu Bo, and he flew into a rage, coming to find me. Seeing him, I realized my suspicion was correct. Not only Sister Yan, but Du Gu Bo as well. I stayed to help them detoxify. Sister Yan likely didn't return because Du Gu Bo took her to seek the spirit bone required for the cure. She must still be in seclusion now."
He downplayed the matter. Since he had come through safely, there was no need to make Xiao Wu worry further.
"No wonder Sister Yan looked so guilty whenever she saw Xiao Wu." This time, it was Ye Lingling who spoke. For some reason, seeing Zu Zong safe seemed to ease the tension in her heart.
Zu Zong nodded. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well wasn't far from Du Gu Bo's cave. Though he hadn't seen Du Gu Yan in these two months, he had often heard her pleading with her grandfather not to harm him.
Thinking of Du Gu Bo reminded Zu Zong of Sword Douluo, who had come to rescue him earlier that day. From his words, it was Ning Rongrong who had asked the clan to save him. If that was true, then Zhu Zhuqing must have come to Heaven Dou City as well.
"Xiao Wu, has Zhuqing also come to Heaven Dou City?" Zu Zong asked, turning to her.
"Hmph! All you ever care about is Zhuqing, you don't care about me at all." Xiao Wu complained unhappily. As she spoke, her small hand reached for Zu Zong's waist. After pinching several times, she finally caught a small bit of flesh and twisted it a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
Zu Zong, who had endured the torment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the agony of absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, naturally did not care for such pain. Still, he played along and let out a deliberate cry.
"Ah! That hurts!"
"Serves you right, who told you to be so fickle." Xiao Wu stuck out her cute pink tongue and made a funny face at Zu Zong.
Then her expression dimmed slightly. "The day before yesterday, Lingling and I were cultivating behind the mountain. When we came back, we heard that Shrek Academy wanted to merge into Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but that hateful Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing invited the old poison to drive them away. Teacher Qin Ming felt guilty toward his alma mater and left with Shrek Academy. I think Zhuqing must have learned about your situation as well!"
Zu Zong suddenly understood. So the storyline had not deviated much from the original after all.
It also explained everything. Zu Zong felt a wave of relief that Shrek's teachers had stopped Zhuqing from doing something reckless. Otherwise, she would have definitely run off to Sunset Forest to search for him.
For this, he owed thanks to Ning Rongrong. If not for her request that Sword Douluo intervene, even if someone stopped Zhuqing, with her temperament she would surely have slipped out in secret.
No matter how things turned out, it was an outcome he did not wish to see. If anything had happened to her, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
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