Chapter 1363: Wuxin Yuechan (Part 2)
"Little monster!?"
Before Feng Xian'er could respond, the little girl reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling with anger: "Who are you calling a little monster!"
"Uh..." Yun Che shifted his gaze back, carefully examined the girl for a moment, and smiled: "Of course I'm not talking about you. How could a cute little girl like you be a little monster?"
"Hmph!" The girl's nose twitched upward, seemingly quite pleased by his compliment of her cuteness.
"Little sister, what's your name?" Yun Che asked... But he didn't realize that he, who had been trapped in darkness and utterly uninterested in everything, was actually taking the initiative—and completely unconsciously—to speak to her, his voice and gaze unusually gentle.
The little girl replied with majestic directness: "My name is Yun Wuxin. And who are you? Why are you approaching this place? Don't you know this is my territory and my mother's!"
"Yun Wuxin?" Yun Che didn't answer her, but instead smiled: "What an odd... uh, what a nice name. Who gave it to you?"
"Of course my mother!" the little girl said, her starry eyes still full of vigilance, her gaze constantly sweeping over Yun Che and Feng Xian'er's feet, as if silently warning them that they must not step into the bamboo grove area.
"Wuxin... why did your mother give you such a name?" Yun Che asked again. He also didn't realize why he was so interested in the name of a little girl he had just met.
It was as if there was an inexplicable, mysterious stirring deep within him, making him want to understand her...
Feng Xian'er stared at Yun Che, momentarily stunned—because the man in her sight wore a full smile, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the little girl in the bamboo grove ahead.
Over the past month, Yun Che had smiled before, but his smiles were always stiff and forced, tinged with a palpable gloom and sorrow that anyone could feel. But now, the smile at the corner of his lips was incredibly natural and warm.
Feng Xian'er was dazed, momentarily forgetting to pull Yun Che away... away from this seemingly adorable but actually extremely dangerous "little monster."
"My mother said," the little girl said with a serious face, trying to project a threatening aura, "In this world, countless things bring sorrow and bitterness. To avoid falling into grief, one must achieve a state of no delusion and no heart. Without heart, one can be without delusion; without delusion, one can be without sorrow; without sorrow, one can be without regret!"
"..." Yun Che was startled, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha, little girl, do you even understand what those words mean?"
Feng Xian'er: ... (Huh?)
This question made the little girl pause, then she said indignantly: "I—I of course I understand! You you you haven't answered my question yet! Who are you, and why are you approaching this place? Are you some dangerous villain!"
"Do I look like a villain?" Yun Che laughed, then suddenly chuckled to himself... Wait, her surname is Yun?
Not Feng?
Moreover... in the Huan Yao Realm, the Yun Clan was a well-known Guardian Clan. But in the Tian Xuan Continent, the surname Yun was quite rare.
The little girl stared at Yun Che seriously for a moment, then suddenly curved her brows and laughed: "Wow! Uncle, you're so weak! Hehehe..."
Un...cle...
The corner of Yun Che's mouth twitched violently. As the undisputed number one pretty boy across the Tian Xuan Continent, the Huan Yao Realm, the Dong Shen Domain, and the Xi Shen Domain, this was the first time he had been addressed as such. He immediately put on an expression even more indignant than the little girl's, and said through gritted teeth: "Uncle? Have you ever seen an uncle as handsome and graceful as me?"
As he spoke, he reached up to straighten his face... only to feel a hand full of stubble and unusually rough skin.
He froze.
Possessing the Desolate God Divine Art, his body was nourished by the world's spiritual energy with every breath. Every inch of his skin was as tough as heavenly steel, yet also fair and flawless. No matter how severe the injury, it wouldn't leave a single scar.
His appearance always seemed no older than twenty, even if a thousand or ten thousand years passed.
But after being reborn, he no longer had his profound energy divine body, nor the spiritual energy tempering him. The murky air of the lower realm, the mountain winds blowing every day, his physical weakness—and especially the heavy, suffocating burdens in his heart—were causing him to age rapidly without his notice.
In just over a month, he seemed to have aged more than ten years old.
Yun Che's words made the little girl pout her lips and stick out her tongue: "What a shameless thing to say! And you're a grown man yet so weak, needing a girl to support you—even more shameless!"
If someone else had said that, it would have been a silent blow to Yun Che. But faced with the girl's disdain, he simply shook his head and smiled: "Alright, alright, you're right. I'm just a very weak and shameless uncle. See, I'm so weak, I must be harmless, right? How about letting me take a look in the bamboo grove?"
"No way!!"
The moment Yun Che finished speaking, Yun Wuxin's face changed abruptly. Her starry eyes, which had softened a little, immediately became... fierce? She pointed her tender white hand and warned: "This is me and my mother's territory. No one is allowed to come near. Otherwise... otherwise, I won't be polite! And don't think you can bully me just because I'm young—I'm very strong!"
"Benefactor big brother," Feng Xian'er tugged at Yun Che. If Yun Che still had his divine sense, he would have noticed that Feng Xian'er had already released her profound energy, shielding herself in front of him: "Let's go back, or else... it could be dangerous."
"...?" Yun Che frowned slightly. He took a deep look at the little girl with her overbearing attitude and asked doubtfully: "Could she really be the 'little monster' you were talking about?"
Feng Xian'er: "..."
He didn't listen to Feng Xian'er. The inexplicable stirring in his heart instead made him take a small step forward, setting his foot on the edge of the bamboo grove area.
"Don't come any closer!!"
That single small step was like stepping on the little girl's heart. She let out a shriek, and her long hair suddenly flew up. The bamboo grove around her shook violently—as if a fierce gust of wind had swept through.
"Ah!" Feng Xian'er cried out in alarm and quickly flashed in front of Yun Che. This instinctive move also caused one of her feet to step into the bamboo grove area.
Yun Wuxin's expression shifted slightly. Her small, tender hand—still not fully grown—suddenly pushed forward in that instant... or rather, reflexively.
BOOM——
An extremely dull roar erupted across this peaceful land.
Feng Xian'er held nothing back. All her profound energy was released in an instant, desperately blocking in front. Amid the dull roar, the space visibly twisted, and she and Yun Che were shaken back, exiting the bamboo grove area.
"Ugh..." Yun Che's whole body trembled, nearly spitting blood. Feng Xian'er hurriedly embraced him: "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
The little girl, who had just acted on instinct, retracted her hand in panic. Seeing Yun Che's complexion turn clearly pale, her eyes flickered with alarm. She rushed forward a few steps... then immediately retreated, stammering: "You... you... are you alright? I—I didn't mean it... It's your fault for not listening to me..."
Yun Che pressed his hand to his chest, his chest churning painfully. But that wasn't what concerned him. He stared straight at the little girl, as if looking at a monster that shouldn't exist.
Just now... that was clearly space distortion!
The space in the Lan Ji Star was far from comparable to that of the God Realm, but it was still not easily distorted. To cause such obvious spatial distortion would require at least the King Xuan Realm.
And this little girl, barely over ten years old, actually possessed profound power at the King Xuan Realm!?
The King Xuan Realm. In the Cang Feng Kingdom, this was the level of the sect masters of the four top-tier sects! The former number one of Cang Feng, Ling Tianni, was only a sixth-level King Throne.
And Feng Xian'er, in her desperation to protect him, must have used all her power without reservation. Yet her full-force defense was shaken back by the little girl's mere instinctive strike... That meant her cultivation level was even higher than Feng Xian'er's!?
Not just a King Throne, but possibly a mid-stage, or even late-stage King Throne!
"You... you... how old are you this year?" Yun Che asked, his words even more stammering than the little girl's.
"Eleven years old," the little girl answered somewhat flustered, but her starry eyes were still vigilant.
Yun Che drew a cold breath. An eleven-year-old late-stage King Throne... Not even in the Cang Feng Kingdom, but throughout the entire Tian Xuan Continent and even the Huan Yao Realm had there ever been such a thing!
At that age, most profound practitioners' profound veins were just forming, barely standing at the starting point of the profound path... When he was eleven, he was still hiding under Xiao Lie's knee, not even truly understanding what the profound path was.
Yet this little girl in front of him could distort space with a single palm strike!
When did the Tian Xuan Continent produce such a little monster!!
Hmm? Little monster?
No wonder Feng Xian'er called her a little monster! This was anything but just a little monster...
Seeing that Yun Che seemed to be unharmed, the little girl's heart relaxed a little, but her face remained taut: "Uncle, you really are so weak! Hmph, now you know how powerful I am, right? If you're scared, then leave quickly, or else... or else... I might actually get angry."
"Benefactor big brother, let's go," Feng Xian'er urged urgently. The little girl's sudden attack just now left her trembling with fear even after the fact.
Yun Che's heart was in turmoil. He didn't insist, and nodded slightly.
As he turned around, he took another deep look at the little girl... Strangely, an incredibly strong reluctance surged within him.
Strange, why does my heartbeat become so chaotic when I look at her?
Is it because her spiritual power is also strong, and mine is too weak?
Watching the two leave, Yun Wuxin let out a small sigh of relief, and her small figure disappeared into the bamboo grove.
A moment later, the bamboo grove rustled as a breeze blew through, carrying with it a cold yet gentle woman's voice.
"Xin'er, were you just cultivating?"
"No, Mother," came the girl's voice this time. "It was a strange uncle who wanted to come in, but I chased him away."
The distance wasn't short, and with Yun Che's current hearing, he shouldn't have been able to hear the mother and daughter's conversation.
But this breeze happened to blow in the direction Yun Che had gone, carrying the ethereal fairy-like voice into his ears.
The wind carried the ethereal sound, light as mist, but it struck Yun Che like a bolt of heavenly thunder, freezing him in place...