Chapter 24.5

Picking Her Up Once Again (5)

Ji Qingzhou put her chin on Shen Rongyu’s shoulder with that thought in mind. After a long contemplation, she remembered whose shoulder she was resting on.

Shen Rongyu! She raised her head abruptly and kept her body at a distance from him. She fixed her eyes on Shen Rongyu’s earlobe and whispered her gratitude, “Xiao Yu-shixiong, it was too dangerous tonight. Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Shen Rongyu replied. He was also pondering over who had started the mishap tonight. He had expected it to be another elder, but why was Ye Duanhong also here and injured by the Soul Seeking Nails?

“Xiao Yu-shixiong, I can stand by myself.” Ji Qingzhou reminded him. She was not used to being held or being so close to people. Even if the person was Shen Rongyu, she was still resistant.

“Can you walk by yourself?” Shen Rongyu lowered his head, glanced at her bruised feet, and asked seriously.

Ji Qingzhuo moved her toes, and felt a burning pain. The ground in the forest was rough, and she was scratched in several places.

But she still insisted, “I can try.”

“Zhouzhou, if you’re too averse to me, don’t come to me.” Shen Rongyu suddenly seemed a little piqued.

He remembered how Ji Qingzhou looked when she pushed the door open. Her eyes were wide and disoriented. She was clearly scared to the extreme, but still did not have any intention of asking for help. Her eyes even carried a trace of surprise. He was sure that before she opened the door, she did not know he was inside.

When Ji Qingzhuo heard his icy words, she opened her lips, not knowing what to say.

She had never thought of approaching him in the first place. It was all the system’s fault for pointing the direction indiscriminately, lying to her that there was some kind of secret passage in the courtyard. As a result, she pushed the door, saw the half-naked Shen Rongyu, and fell for the trick big time.

Ji Qingzhuo still told the truth. “I didn’t…”

“I’m on White Water Island with you. You didn’t think about looking for me, did you?” Shen Rongyu even activated his function of helping Ji Qingzhou finish her sentences.

“Yes,” Ji Qingzhou honestly admitted.

Shen Rongyu released her, and she slipped off him. She was no longer gripping his shoulders. Now that he let her go, she bodily fell to the ground.

Her injured foot came into contact with the fine gravel on the ground in front of the courtyard again, and it stung her to the tips of her toes. However, she rose up in front of him and didn’t speak any more.

Shen Rongyu turned his back and prepared to enter his courtyard. Ji Qingzhou did not dare to raise her head until she heard the rustle of clothes as he turned around.

She stared at his back, and the slightly scattered blue silk fell on his shoulders, hiding the bizarre scar on his back.

A strange empathy stirred within Ji Qingzhou. At the beginning, she was distressed by Maomao, because he was locked around a stone mill and worked all his life. When she saw Shen Rongyu’s scars, she felt a little distressed for him, too. Although she did not know what he went through, she could visualize some tormenting pictures by herself.

At the moment, Shen Rongyu’s back was against her, and she could feel a trace of loneliness from it.

He probably felt that she didn’t want to be near him.

Ji Qingzhou was a little aggrieved, because she was not targeting him. She was just reluctant to approach him alone. She just didn’t want to be close to anyone. However she did feel better with Shen Rongyu because he made her feel comfortable and wasn’t that repulsive.

She did not want to find Shen Rongyu for only one reason from the very start—

Ji Qingzhou’s feet moved on the ground, and the sand and gravel rubbed together, making a fine crunch.

For the first time, she took the initiative to reach out to him and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

Shen Rongyu’s figure froze. He did not look back, however, he felt that a piece of wood could also drive people mad.

A block of wood left in place, even if it never made any sound and was silent, was enough to render people helpless.

“I didn’t know who it was,” Ji Qingzhou said. She concealed the existence of the system. “I had a strange intuition that someone was out for my blood.”

“He came, and I started running. He was extremely fast, so he could only be a powerful person like an elder of the sect.” Ji Qingzhou spoke slowly. Her voice even revealed a hint of laziness. However, her enunciation was distinct. “Xiao Yu-shixiong, of the three Soul Seeking Nails from the culprit, one was also directed to you.”

“The intruder still practiced some restraints. If we had faced him head-on, how likely were you to win, Xiao Yu-shixiong? I’m not going to attend your funeral.” Ji Qingzhou moistened her lips. She felt that her throat was dry, and only the twinge from her feet was real.

Shen Rongyu stood in place, and his hand resting on the door frame of the courtyard paused. A moment later, his bony hand subtly flexed.

How ridiculous. Once upon a time, he killed countless cultivators of the same level of cultivation as Ye Duanhong — or any other elder.

Now there was someone actually showing concern about his life and death; this was a novel experience to him.

Shen Rongyu didn’t turn around, but Ji Qingzhou dropped her hand holding the hem of his clothes.

She felt that she was almost done explaining. After all, she had really bothered him tonight. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have survived.

“Xiao Yu-shixiong, I’ll take Maomao back tomorrow. I’ll go back by myself tonight,” Ji Qingzhou told him.

She was going to return by herself because she had to go to class tomorrow. Speaking of which, the life of an immortal cultivator was really an abyss of suffering.

But before she could turn around, Shen Rongyu beat her to it and picked her up again.

“Your feet are already injured to this extent, yet you’re still planning to walk back?” Shen Rongyu carried her into the courtyard and said in a profoundly low tone.

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