#52 · 202 of 480
Chapter 52: Dao Bone Manifests, Schemes Hidden in the Embrace
At this moment, Lin Chen had also completed the literary soul competition. As soon as she landed, her sleeves fluttered, shocking everyone.
She was dressed in a moon-white gown, ethereal as an immortal, with a jade pendant at her waist emitting a flowing light. Her aura was like snow, yet there was a hint of panic in her brows and eyes.
"Su Xiaoxiao!"
She walked quickly to Crown Prince Li Chongjun, her gaze sweeping over to see Su Xiaoxiao's pale complexion and weak breathing, and her expression tightened immediately.
Crown Prince Li Chongjun was startled, "Miss Lin Chen?"
Before he could react, Lin Chen had already leaned down and gathered Su Xiaoxiao into her arms, her movements extremely natural and practiced, without caring at all about the gazes of others.
"You're injured like this, yet you still run around."
Her brows were slightly furrowed, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, but the person in her arms moved slightly.
Su Xiaoxiao twitched her nose, smelling the familiar, clean fragrance on Lin Chen. She felt a sense of comfort and simply buried her face in Lin Chen's chest, rubbing against it gently.
"Mmm, so fragrant, so soft…"
She mumbled softly, subconsciously hugging Lin Chen's waist and pressing her whole body even tighter.
Lin Chen's cheeks were instantly dyed a faint red, and the roots of her ears also turned red.
She scolded in a low voice: "X-Xiaoxiao… don't move around!"
Su Xiaoxiao, however, was "fainted" soundly, though the corners of her mouth curled up secretly at an angle Lin Chen couldn't see.
"Hehe, the days of hugging a big thigh are truly wonderful."
The surrounding crowd was instantly stunned; many male and female cultivators stared in shock: What is going on with these two…?
Crown Prince Li Chongjun's expression was complex. His gaze swept over Su Xiaoxiao's "peacefully sleeping" expression, and he finally took a step back slowly.
Just as Lin Chen was about to take Su Xiaoxiao and leave, an old yet resonant voice rang out:
"Young lady, wait a moment."
Everyone looked towards the sound, only to see an old man with white whiskers stepping out slowly from the high observation platform, his beard and eyebrows like snow, his demeanor ancient and solemn.
Behind him stood a golden seal of ancient texts, emitting a vast literary Qi; it was none other than the ancestor of the ancient literary cultivation lineage, Taibai!
Lin Chen paused and bowed slightly: "Does Senior have a matter?"
Taibai stared at Su Xiaoxiao for a while, a flash of sharp light passing through his eyes.
"At first glance, this child's Qi pulse is weak, but in reality, it contains the sound of the Dao, and the bones in her body hum like a zither. This is — the Innate Dao Bone."
As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar arose.
"Innate Dao Bone?"
"That is a rare cultivation talent in all the heavens. It is said that it only appears in Dao Ancestor-level Bloodlines…"
Taibai continued: "If my guess is correct, she is not a wasted Spiritual Root, but a Dao body that has sealed itself, containing the Heavenly Dao within. If she is willing to become my disciple, I am willing to pour out all my learning to help her reach the pinnacle of immortal literature."
Lin Chen's expression changed immediately, and she looked down at the person in her arms.
Su Xiaoxiao was opening half an eye, secretly observing her expression. Upon hearing the words "take a master," she immediately "fainted" even more thoroughly, burying her face into Lin Chen's arms, murmuring: "Don't leave… Lin Chen…"
Lin Chen's heart softened. She paused and bowed to Taibai:
"Senior's kindness, Lin Chen is grateful. But Xiaoxiao… has other attachments, so I fear I cannot agree."
Taibai did not force the issue, only nodding gently.
"This child has an extraordinary destiny. I hope the young lady treats her well."
Under the watchful eyes of all, Lin Chen carried Su Xiaoxiao and turned around gracefully, her sleeves fluttering as if a goddess were carrying a Mortal to Ascension.
It left countless people feeling itchy in their hearts, a mix of jealousy, regret, and curiosity… a hundred flavors stirred together.
And in the corner of the high platform, Liu Pianpian clenched her fingers, her face turning red and then white: "Su Xiaoxiao, you are actually…"
Lin Chen carried Su Xiaoxiao all the way toward Moxiang Pavilion.
Her steps were extremely steady, but the girl in her arms remained motionless, nestling in her arms like a piece of soft jade.
After walking for nearly the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Lin Chen couldn't help it: "That's enough. How long do you expect me to carry you?"
Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head up, looking shameless: "I'm just a wasted Spiritual Root. If I were jumping around right now, that wouldn't be normal. So I can only be like this… Ying ying ying."
Lin Chen rolled her eyes at her: "If you 'ying' again, I'll really let go."
"You couldn't bear to!" Su Xiaoxiao blinked, like a shameless little fox.
Lin Chen couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her, holding her as she continued walking toward the pavilion.
Outside Moxiang Pavilion, blue tiles and vermilion eaves, shadows of bamboo swaying.
Palace Master Shangguan Waner happened to be returning from the direction of the school with a few students. Seeing that familiar figure from afar, she hurried up to meet them: "Lin Chen?"
Her gaze fell onto Lin Chen's arms, and she was slightly startled, "Xiaoxiao, she…"
"She is heavily injured." Lin Chen's tone was calm.
Su Xiaoxiao was currently half-closing her eyes, her face pale, breathing weak, like a sickly beauty on the verge of death.
Palace Master Shangguan Waner's heart tightened, and she quickly reached out to check her pulse: "How could she be injured like this? Let me heal her —"
Su Xiaoxiao was just about to nod, looking like "Come quickly, I'm about to die."
As a result, Lin Chen blocked Waner's hand: "Sister Waner, you know that the Elf Race is best at healing. Leave Xiaoxiao to me."
Palace Master Shangguan Waner glanced at her and nodded gently, "That is also fine. You are proficient in harmonizing spiritual breath, so I will not interfere further."
Su Xiaoxiao lay in Lin Chen's arms, feeling frustrated! But she dared not contradict Lin Chen's intent.
That night.
Su Xiaoxiao was settled in the side courtyard of the spirit pavilion next to Lin Chen.
The bed was covered with a soft brocade quilt, and the incense burner in the room was curling with smoke.
Xiao Qiao rushed in as if to join the fun, holding a bowl of sweet osmanthus soup in her hand: "Xiaoxiao, you must get better quickly. I will make you a different sweet soup every day~"
Su Xiaoxiao nodded weakly: "Thank you, Xiao Qiao."
Lin Chen sat by the bed holding a bowl of spirit dew soup, feeding her spoonful by spoonful, her movements gentle, her eyes smiling.
"Drink slowly, be careful not to choke."
Su Xiaoxiao leaned on the pillow and suddenly blinked: "Lin Chen, you really have a talent for taking care of people."
Lin Chen didn't answer, just pursed her lips and put the bowl down: "Finished drinking, sleep."
Deep in the night.
Moonlight shone quietly, and the wind passed through the window lattice, causing the curtains to sway slightly.
Su Xiaoxiao suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze incomparably calm.
She got up, draped a thin garment over herself, walked lightly to the cabinet by the bed, and lifted the interlayer — it was empty.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
A broken Jade Slip had originally been hidden there; it was something she had deliberately placed there.
Sure enough, someone had moved it.
Su Xiaoxiao stood quietly in place, looking down at the empty interlayer.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly in a faint smile, "A willing fish takes the bait… It was worth the effort of 'nursing' my health this time."
She was not panicked; instead, she turned around and took out another, smaller Jade Slip from a secret compartment under the bed.
The whole thing was broken, its spiritual charm weak, yet its surface was entwined with a trace of almost imperceptible Void Realm fluctuation.
She flicked her finger, and the Jade Slip hovered in mid-air, swaying slightly between reality and illusion, with a faint phantom image emerging —
A figure in red, looking back with a smile.
With soft music playing, in a brothel, she leaned lightly against the vermilion railing, chanting in a low voice.
"The concubine lives in the old Changgan, with white duckweed in front of the door…"
"I am a person of the wind and dust, yet I rely on poetry and painting for fame…"
Su Xiaoxiao looked up at that figure, her gaze shifting, and a mocking yet sorrowful smile curled on her lips.
"Across a hundred generations in the North and South, in the end, I still cannot escape this encounter."
The Jade Slip swayed gently, and the phantom gradually dissipated.
She put it away casually, a touch of spiritual power from her fingertips, and the fluctuations on the surface of the Jade Slip returned to silence.
This thing was the earliest piece of evidence of the Legacy of a hundred generations in her memory —
The real Su Xiaoxiao, who in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, stunned the world with a single song.
That memory was something Lin Fan could never forget for a long time.
She sat back on the bed gently, wrapped herself in the quilt again, and closed her eyes slightly.
Discussion0 comments
Comments load here at the chapter end.