Chapter 17: Better Not to Meet Again 7

  Nalan Xixi raised an eyebrow and put away her short flute, then walked out of the cave.

  Outside the cave, that giant lion's body was adorned with a red finch, staring at her with an air of discontent. This little girl really had a small mind, still angry about what happened in the mountain cave.

  Nalan Xixi didn't think so, and walked in the direction of the stairs without paying attention to her. The giant lion turned around and followed behind her. The flower sparrow's clear voice continued: "You ungrateful woman, how can you not even greet Ben Gong when you see me?"

  Nalan Xixi didn't feel like dealing with her, but the hunger pangs in her stomach made her hesitate. She had to climb these 99,990 steps again, and every step required a ritual of kneeling and bowing.

  This way, time will inevitably be spent more and more. And it will take even more effort. Now her food is gone. Now she's starting to get hungry again. I'm afraid we won't be able to walk for much longer and will have to delay again. And this delay means searching for food, which probably means going down the mountain again.

  She stopped halfway. The flower sparrow said with a smile: "Now I remember this girl..."

  "Hey, where are you going?" Just then, Nalan Xiong turned a corner and walked towards the woods.

  Nalan Xixi walked quickly, but the giant lion caught up with her in just two steps. Nalan Xixi's figure stopped abruptly. She turned around and warned: "Don't follow me again."

  She was warning the sparrow, but unexpectedly, the giant lion heard this warning and let out a low growl of grievance from its throat, like a domestic dog. Nalan Xinnuo looked at the gentle posture of the huge creature's ears retreating behind, somewhat stunned.

  "You're such a useless guy." The sparrow angrily slapped it with her palm, but her small palm only tapped its head and didn't even faze it, merely brushing against its fur.

  Nalan Xixiao continued to move forward, behind him, no matter how the flower sparrow scolded, the giant lion did not take another step. The flower sparrow was so angry that it almost died. Looking ahead, Nalan Xixiao was like a hunting wolf waiting for an opportunity, hiding in the bushes and staring tightly at the wild rabbit in front of him.

  The wild rabbit in this mountain forest is different from others. Its spirituality is extremely high, not to mention its hearing and smell are much more sensitive than ordinary wild rabbits. Nalan Xianyu stared tightly at the prey, raised her wrist, and prepared to unleash a sword wind.

  "Halt..." Suddenly, a sparrow's voice sounded from behind. The wild rabbit was startled and took off in a flash.

  Nalan Xixiao watched the escaping wild rabbit, her expression cold and detached. She turned back to see Hua Que panting as he ran over. His face was filled with anger. "What do you want?"

  Nalan Xixi coldly averted her gaze, not saying a word, and continued to search for prey. The flower sparrow looked at her with an incredulous expression and angrily said: "Were you just going to kill it? How can you be so cruel?"

  Listening to the hummingbird's anger doesn't seem fake. Nalan Xianyu looked at her with great interest. Just now, she was saying that she wanted to kill those monkeys and roast them for food. Now seeing her catch a rabbit, she is also the most anxious one.

  "Everything here belongs to the young master. You dare touch a single hair on them, I'll kill you." Huā Què glared at her, fists clenched, looking like she wanted to beat Nalan Xī Nuò up.

  Nalan Xixi slightly raised an eyebrow. They were all young masters. That man in green clothes.

  Suddenly, Nalan Xinnuo was taken aback. Everything here belonged to him. Could it be that...

  "That's right, the young master of my house is the owner of this place, also known as the Medicine Immortal. Otherwise, who do you think has the ability to stop the spread of Qin Ye's poison? And what qualifications do you have to come here?" Huā Jiǎo let out a disdainful hum.

  He is the master of this place. Isn't he a descendant of the Shangguan family? Able to own everything here. Besides the people of the Shangguan family, who else can...

  But why was he willing to save Du Gu Han? And why did he let her in? Letting her in is one thing, but why did he make things so difficult for her and ask her to perform a kneeling ceremony?

  At this time, the giant lion slowly walked over, its every step shaking the ground. Its mouth was holding a package, gentle as a small cat. It handed the package to Nalan Xianuo. Nalan Xianuo took it and opened it, revealing an abundance of food inside. She was stunned once again.

  She couldn't understand more and more what kind of medicine was being sold in this gourd.

  Let the eagle snatch her food first. Now send this girl to deliver food again.

  "Just now, the big eagle didn't understand things and snatched your food. I don't deny that more than half of them are foodies..." The flower sparrow scratched its hindbrain with some guilt, already revealing the truth that it was also a foodie."

  "These are what the young master has asked me to bring to you. Moreover, I will supervise you to make a grand bow at every step."

  Nalan Xixi sneered coldly. If she hadn't known that the doctor was a certain someone, then kneeling would have been fine. It was just for treating illnesses and saving people, not worth mentioning. But now that she knew this doctor was actually that man in green clothes, she didn't want to kneel anymore.

  "Ah~" Huā Què looked at Nalan Xī Nuò's disdainful expression and said: "Young Master has won again. He says that if you knew he was a medical immortal, you would definitely not be willing to perform the kneeling ceremony again. However, Young Master asked me to inform you that he is not making you kneel for him. As for who it is for, you will know when you go up."

  It's obvious as soon as you go up. Playing this kind of trick with her. What a pity. If it were a month ago, she would have believed such words for Dugu Han's sake. However, after exchanging blows with Huangfu Ling, these are really not enough to move people anymore.

  Huang Pu Ling said "I am Shang Guan Qin Yu" such words can be spoken out loud. This person who seems to have a true connection with the Shang Guan family, what else can't he fabricate?

  "Alas." The sparrow sighed deeply again. "Young Master has won again. Alright, he said that if the etiquette is not proper, Nan Gong Jin will return to Luo Tian next month. However, he also wants me to tell you that Nan Gong Jin's illness requires a year of recuperation. If treatment stops now, his life will be in danger."

  Nalan Xixi's expression turned slightly cold upon hearing this.

  Threaten her. She and he have never met before. Why is he so eager to humiliate her like this? So eager for her to kneel down and kowtow to him. Even if it's a threat, there's no need for her to do that.

  Nalan Xixi sneered coldly. Whatever. She had already made up her mind when she entered this place. Everything she was doing now was to make amends. Dignity or anything else, it didn't matter anymore.

  She took out food from the package and walked towards the stairs while eating. The flower sparrow looked at her eating with big mouth, felt disgusted and avoided her, then jumped onto the giant lion's back.

  After eating, the blood starts to boil. A surge of power spreads through the veins. These foods seem ordinary, but after eating them, there is a different feeling. Ordinary food can replenish energy after eating, but these things not only replenish energy but also give her a stronger feeling.

  Nalan Xixi stepped up onto the stage and began to perform the ritual of kneeling and bowing. Her face was expressionless, her eyes devoid of any emotion, as if she were simply washing her hands or eating a meal.

  The sparrow followed closely beside her. The giant lion could easily step up two or three levels of stairs with one lift of its leg, without any effort.

  With the replenishment of energy, however, it only took half a day for Nalan Xinnuo to complete the 99,999th step. She had been kneeling and bowing all the way up, her knees were already soaked with moss. She was slightly panting as she finished the last ritual, slowly getting up.

  Lift your head. A giant lion walks in front of you. Ahead is a giant tripod. The giant lion walks under the tripod and lies down.

  The sparrow jumped down from the lion's body and walked straight into the courtyard. Nalan Xian followed suit. Suddenly, a cold gust of wind swept by, and she instinctively dodged to the side. A red, wet snake slithered out.

  Her expression solidified as she prepared to resist, but just then a lazy voice called out from the courtyard, "Do not be rude."

  The snake in front of him suddenly withdrew. Nalan Xianyu fixed his eyes and saw that a huge white snake head was right in front of him, its body coiled around the house like a wide street.

  "The girl arrived so quickly. Come in and have a cup of tea." The voice from the courtyard was still lazy, with a tone as if meeting an old friend again after a long time.

  Nalan Xixi's eyebrows slightly furrowed as she walked into the courtyard.

  Just walked in, the giant snake head stretched out from outside the courtyard wall, stopped under a plum tree. Under the tree, a bamboo recliner was placed, on which a man wore a green shirt, blending with the color of the bamboo. His fair skin was elegant and moving under the blooming plum blossoms.

  Nalan Xixi looked at him directly for the first time. A pair of narrow and long eyes with dense eyelashes covering deep eye sockets. The pure and clear eyes reflected a scenery like spring. A delicate face seemed familiar yet couldn't recall where he had seen it before. Not like Nan Gongyin's evil charm, nor like Dugu Han's cold and proud demeanor. It was a kind of distant beauty that shouldn't exist in the mortal world. It was as if a celestial being had descended to earth, carrying an otherworldly aura.

  He stretched out his hand, gently stroking the white snake that was leaning against him. The scene was like a painting, making people's hearts flutter. Even she couldn't help but hold her breath.

  The sparrow came out of the house, holding two cups of tea in her hand. She rarely quietly put down the tea and left. The man in green shirt patted the snake's head, and the white snake surprisingly understood and left the yard.

  He slowly got up, smiled at her and said "Sit down."

  Nalan Xixi returned to her senses. His tone was very gentle, giving people a feeling of being in the spring breeze. There was no majesty, no strong compulsion to refute. Yet it made people involuntarily obey. She walked over and sat down across from him.

  The tea in front of him was steaming hot. The rare fragrance of the tea attracted Nalan Xiong's attention. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and suddenly felt a sense of euphoria spreading from his blood vessels. A warmth that was hard to describe filled his heart, accompanied by a thrill.

  It's an unprecedented feeling. She slowly raised her head, surrounded by the fragrance of tea. She looked around the courtyard, every inch of flowers and grass, the delicate and elegant plum blossoms, the identical pale green furniture... even the air was filled with a kind of... indescribable feeling.

  Familiarity. Right. It's just a familiar feeling. Like coming home.

  She had never felt before.