# Chapter 1218: A Flicker of Candlelight Burns for Me
Lan's face grew even redder!
She was all dirty herself—if others saw her like this, wouldn't they laugh at her to death?
(#Ծ﹏Ծ) "N-no... I don't want a bath! They'll see me!"
You Na laughed: "Alright, alright, alright! We won't look. How about letting the master wash you instead?"
Jiangnan: ???
Emma chuckled slyly: ᥬ(ಡωಡ)᭄ "The master washing you should be fine, right? The master is the most reliable!"
She even bumped Jiangnan's shoulder: "Hehehe~ Opportunities like this are rare, you know. You've gotta seize them!"
Jiangnan's eye twitched.
(乛▿乛٥)
That would definitely be a crime! Too incriminating, alright?
Truly a case of "can be imprisoned but not interrogated"?
A three-year minimum sentence, you know?
There's such a thing as male-female distinctions! You're setting me up!
When Lan heard this, a trace of hesitation flickered in her big eyes, and she crawled out from under the bed.
(#ớ～ờ) "J-Jiangnan-gege will wash me?"
As she spoke, a hint of anticipation spread across her dirty little face.
Jiangnan shook his head fiercely. What was he even thinking?
Little Lan was only this old—what was wrong with him scrubbing her down for a bath?
That was perfectly normal, alright?
Just then, Jiangnan reached out and pulled out a Peak Platinum-grade Space System Spirit Pearl.
(๑･᷅◡･᷄)۶-`✪´- "If you take a bath, this is yours!"
Lan's eyes lit up brightly. With a teleport, she rushed over and nodded nonstop.
(ง✧﹃✧)ง "Wash, wash, wash! You can scrub me until my skin peels off, I don't care!"
Jiangnan covered his face. Did she have to have no bottom line like this?
Lan accepted the Spirit Pearl with delight, treasuring it as she breathed a puff of air onto it and wiped it on her clothes.
Finally, she stopped resisting.
Jiangnan showed an auntie-like smile, picked up little Lan, and placed her into the bathtub.
After two swirls, the water in the tub turned black!
Jiangnan: ???
Was Lan shedding color or something?
How could she be this dirty? It took a full three tubs of water before the water returned to clarity.
Jiangnan grinned: "Absorb that Spirit Pearl just now, use it as your Silver Skill."
Lan nodded excitedly.
(๑•̀^•́)و✧ "Buy! Thank you, big brother! I'll work hard to get stronger!"
With that, she immediately began absorbing it, while Jiangnan slipped on scrubbing mitts on both hands.
He started an extremely professional *smack-smack* scrub.
Lan: (ૢ⁼̴ᗜ⁼̴) "Ee-yah~"
When had she ever enjoyed this before? She instantly became a "Da-mei" alien right then, alright?
The *smack-smack* scrub technique was way more stimulating than a foot massage!
After a full half-hour of scrubbing, Jiangnan dressed Lan in a new set of clothes.
Wrapped her in a bathrobe and tossed her onto the bed.
This little girl's face was red as an apple, her expression dazed and dizzy.
But she still clutched that Spirit Pearl tightly in her hand.
Jiangnan looked at the muddy water in the tub and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
This was the most satisfying bath he'd ever given. After this round, Lan had to have lost at least two pounds!
Just as he was about to get up and rest, his expression froze.
He noticed a dense concentration of spiritual energy gathering in the room!
After absorbing the Spirit Pearl, Lan's level had surged from Silver Nine all the way to Silver Peak?
She was bouncing excitedly on the bed, back and forth.
Jiangnan's eye twitched slightly. Twelve years old and already at Silver Peak?
When he was twelve or thirteen, he was still running around with a wooden sword, hacking at old men for fun...
"Try out the Spiritual Art, how is it?"
Lan nodded nonstop, raised her hand, and aimed at the night sky outside the window.
"Space Rift!"
In an instant, the pitch-black night sky violently split open, forming a ten-meter-long dark rift!
From within erupted an endless suction force. The rift seemed capable of tearing everything apart!
It was a fairly powerful long-range attack skill.
As soon as Lan used it, her little face turned pale, and all her spiritual energy was drained clean.
"This skill... uses so much spiritual energy!"
Jiangnan chuckled: "It tears space itself apart. Of course it uses a ton of energy!"
"The attack power of Space Rift is terrifyingly strong!"
Jiangnan had experienced Space Rifts back on the Ninth Layer of the Abyss. Whatever they touched, they killed.
In front of a Space Rift, people were like paper.
Even Li Mingshan had a Spiritual Art that was Space Rift. It was insanely powerful—definitely a god-level skill!
Right now, Lan was like a piece of uncarved jade.
For Lan's future, Jiangnan had an extremely clear plan.
Space System practitioners were supposed to be highly mobile, long-range, violent damage dealers.
Thanks to their terrifying mobility, even if they were a bit squishy, the chances of the enemy hitting them were very small.
But his own high-level character had been trained wrong.
He'd frantically pursued versatility, which resulted in his attack power not being outstanding.
But his field control was unmatched! Jiangnan had forcefully carved out another path for himself.
His path couldn't be replicated. As for Lan, Jiangnan wanted to shape her into the ultimate damage dealer in the future.
This Space Rift Spiritual Art—Jiangnan had originally planned to use it as his own Diamond-level Spiritual Art!
But he kind of looked down on a Platinum-grade pearl.
More importantly, Space Rift didn't bring any surprises for Jiangnan.
For his Diamond Skill, he absolutely had to get some awesome attack skill!
To make up for his shortcomings.
Looking at Lan, who was slightly excited, Jiangnan patted her head.
The feeling of personally shaping a monster was just too wonderful!
"Hurry up and reach Gold. I'll arrange something for you then."
Lan clenched her little fists: "Lan will work hard!"
After arranging Lan, Jiangnan turned and was about to leave the room.
But he saw Lan sitting on the bed in a duck-sitting pose, reaching out her little hand to tug at the corner of Jiangnan's shirt.
Her eyes were full of pitifulness.
(๐ᵒ̴̶̷◠ᵒ̴̶̷̣)۶(๑•̌口•̑)！
"Can... can we sleep together? I don't feel safe sleeping alone!"
Jiangnan almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
Who could resist this?
How could this possibly be okay? He'd definitely get himself thrown in jail!
What if, in the middle of the night, someone wearing handcuffs and a badge came to arrest him and lock him up?
No matter how you looked at it, Mila was at least a legal loli!
But Lan was a real loli!
He was about to refuse, but looking at Lan's pleading little eyes, how could he bear it?
"Alright... but when you're a bit older, you'll have to sleep on your own, got it?"
Lan excitedly climbed up and threw herself into Jiangnan's arms.
"Yay! Jiangnan-gege is the best!"
So Jiangnan lay down on the bed, like an old man entering meditation, sinking into a meditative state.
But he saw Lan pull out her big gold brick from the Alternate Dimension, lovingly circled it a few times, and placed it by the headboard as a pillow.
Then she grabbed Jiangnan's arm, hugging it like a stuffed bear, rubbing her cheek against it.
Her breathing soon evened out, and Jiangnan's eyes were full of tenderness.
But just after sleeping for a little while, Lan's expression twisted.
She gripped Jiangnan's arm tightly and started muttering in her sleep.
(°¯᷄～¯᷅°) "No... don't! Lan was wrong, Lan won't dare anymore! Please don't hit me anymore? Please..."
As she murmured, her legs began to kick restlessly.
Jiangnan's heart tightened. Was she having a nightmare?
He reached out and gently patted Lan's back. After a while, Lan woke up.
There were traces of tears at the corners of her eyes, her gaze dazed, a bit confused.
The luxurious room, the soft mattress, the warm blanket—everything felt like an unreal dream.
It was as if she was still that Lan rummaging through trash cans in that dark, damp alley, worrying about dinner.
Nothing had changed.
Was all of this really something she could have?
Lan pressed her little face against Jiangnan's arm and whispered softly: "You won't abandon me, right? You won't disappear by tomorrow morning, right?"
"I'll be good, I'll behave. Please don't disappear, alright?"
"If all of this is a dream, then I never want to wake up..."
Jiangnan gently pulled Lan into his embrace, holding her tight.
"No. The world once let you down—I'll pay you back double."
"Feel free to rely on me, no matter when."
Lan grabbed Jiangnan's clothes, unable to hold back her tears anymore, and sobbed bitterly.
"Mn! Mn-mn! Thank you! Thank you! Wuwu~"
Lan knew that in this moment, she had finally found her own warmth.
Though the world was still dark, a single flicker of candlelight burned for her.
Beneath the candlelight, both body and heart grew warm. Flowers bloomed toward the sun.