Chapter 32 ☆ Dream (Part 1)

Cheng Yaoyao was squatting far away in the cornfield. If not for her, her hands and feet would have been uncontrollably entangled with Xie San.

The little lotus leaf swung the round plate wildly like a spoiled child, desperately urging Cheng Yaoyao to go to Xie San.

Cheng Yaoyao ignored it and tried to communicate: “What are you?”

The little lotus leaf tried to throw a tantrum but, unable to, rolled up its leaves, covering the dewdrops, as if refusing to communicate.

Cheng Yaoyao said angrily: “Okay, you refuse to communicate, right? Do you believe me if I pluck you out and tear you into pieces to make lotus leaf porridge?”

The little lotus leaf, frightened by Cheng Yaoyao’s cruel words, trembled for a moment, then slowly spread out its leaves. Instantly, Cheng Yaoyao’s mind connected with the little lotus leaf’s consciousness.

It is a small lotus leaf with spiritual consciousness that can secrete spiritual springs. It has been in a small area, but now the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is thin, and its spiritual springs are almost dry. Recently, it faintly sensed the long-lost spiritual energy and woke up.

The spiritual energy was on Cheng Yaoyao, barely noticeable. When Cheng Yaoyao was injured and blood was dripping, it took the opportunity to escape from the jade pendant and enter Cheng Yaoyao’s spiritual platform.

The little lotus leaf has no language, and Cheng Yaoyao does not understand terms like “small space” and “spiritual energy of heaven and earth.” She roughly translates the “spiritual energy” that the little lotus leaf senses as Yang Energy.

After all, there was no visible spiritual energy in Xie San’s body, but his yang energy seemed to be very abundant.

Cheng Yaoyao asked the little lotus leaf again: “Did you come out of the pillow?”

Tick-tock, tick-tock! The little lotus leaf trembled angrily.

Cheng Yaoyao put aside this question and asked something she was more concerned about: “Then I won’t be so strange every time I meet Xie San in the future, right?”

The little lotus leaf swayed easily. It didn’t know either.

“!!! You are so irresponsible, what the hell is this!” Cheng Yaoyao was furious.

She recalled that she had met many people in the past few days, but none had elicited the same strange reaction as Xie San. She secretly decided that she would avoid Xie San if necessary and let this little lotus leaf continue to sleep.

The little lotus leaf shook wildly, acting like a spoiled child. No, no!

Cheng Yaoyao ignored it firmly.

The little lotus leaf shook and suddenly presented dewdrops in a flattering manner.

Tick, tick. Cheng Yaoyao looked at the dewdrops dripping in the air. It turned out that the spiritual spring she had tasted in her dream was real. It would be great if she could use it.

With a thought, Cheng Yaoyao looked at her fingertips, and a drop of dew slowly condensed and floated in the air.

It really came out! She was startled as drops of water continued to drip onto the ground.

A clump of purslane ^[1]a type of edible plant often used in salads and soups. on the ground, which had been trampled softly, rustled its leaves and began to grow wildly. Cheng Yaoyao saw the purple-red roots of the purslane breaking through the dry soil and drilling directly into the soles of her shoes.

“Ah!” Cheng Yaoyao screamed and jumped up.

Xie San’s footsteps approached hurriedly: “What’s wrong?”

As he neared the cornfield, his vision blurred, and a pink figure jumped out. Xie San instinctively raised his hand, and the warm, soft figure fell into his arms.

“…” Xie San, whose mind had been overwhelmed today, was much calmer now. He kept his hands politely at his sides and stared at the corn leaves swaying behind Cheng Yaoyao: “What’s wrong?”

The cornfield was dense, and some ill-intentioned people might hide there to harass girls. This had happened before. Xie San’s eyes flashed with violence. If Cheng Yaoyao opened her mouth, he would drag that person out and deal with them harshly.

Cheng Yaoyao wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, not moving for a long time. But the cornfield behind him was shaking, as if someone were hiding.

“Who’s there!” Xie San shouted, grabbing Cheng Yaoyao’s shoulders and pushing her away: “Don’t be afraid, I’ll go and check.”

“No!” Cheng Yaoyao clung to him tighter, almost wrapping her legs around him, and said hastily, “It’s nothing, nothing.”

Cheng Yaoyao’s tone was odd, and Xie San looked down at her. Her snow-white face was flushed, and her peach blossom eyes flickered when he stared at her. He could tell she was lying.

Xie San grew more suspicious, wondering what could have frightened Cheng Yaoyao so much. He pushed her aside and positioned himself to protect her: “Don’t be afraid, I’ll go take a look.”

“I won’t let you go! It’s nothing…” Cheng Yaoyao held Xie San’s arms tightly with both hands. She was much stronger than him. Xie San led her a few steps into the cornfield. Seeing that Xie San was about to look inside, Cheng Yaoyao made up her mind and shouted loudly: “I just want to hug you!”

“…”

Xie San froze, his expression blank. He slowly turned his head, eyes wide open, and looked down at Cheng Yaoyao, who was still holding his arms tightly. 

If anyone saw this, it would have a devastating impact on Cheng Yaoyao’s reputation.

Xie San quickly regained his composure. He slowly pulled his arm out of Cheng Yaoyao’s hand, accidentally touching something soft, which made him shiver again. He said in a hoarse voice: “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Cheng Yaoyao also wanted to know what she had just said. She couldn’t help but pinch Xie San’s large hand when his arm was pulled away, but she felt a sense of relief in her heart.

Although she had felt very comfortable hugging Xie San just now, her body’s reaction was not as intense as before. The little lotus leaf, which was now shaking its leaves slightly and looking very satisfied, was no longer as impatient as when Cheng Yaoyao first hugged Xie San.

It seemed that not every time would be so embarrassing. Was the Yang energy absorbed before enough?

Cheng Yaoyao felt a bit happy. She looked up and met Xie San’s turbulent eyes. For some reason, her face turned red again: “Just… just kidding. I saw a lizard run by.”

“Just kidding.” Cheng Yaoyao said it lightly, but the veins on the back of Xie San’s hand were tense, and the delusion that had just quietly risen in his heart seemed to be doused with cold water.

Cheng Yaoyao pushed him and said, “Go back to work.”

It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion. Cheng Yaoyao raised her chin and ordered him confidently, her tone sounding like she was acting spoiled: “Go quickly.”

The soft hands touching his hard chest made both of them feel excited again.

Xie San finally turned around and walked away. Cheng Yaoyao stared at her uncontrollable hands, then looked at Xie San as he walked away. She covered her face with her hands stealthily and took a deep breath.

The pure and pleasant smell rushed into her chest again, and the little lotus leaf trembled with comfort, as if it were bathing in a cool drizzle.

Too… too much like a pervert! For some reason, Cheng Yaoyao thought of the ragdoll cat that her best friend raised. Usually, it looked like a fairy among cats, but when it sniffed catnip, it completely changed its demeanor, rolling on the carpet and meowing clingily.

Cheng Yaoyao quickly dismissed this embarrassing thought and took two steps forward.

Between the cornfield ridges, a large clump of purslane had spread to Cheng Yaoyao’s feet. Xie San would have seen it if he had taken one more step.

The soil between the cornfield ridges was dry, with no grass growing. Occasionally, there were a few persistent weeds, but they were trampled into pieces and dried into fluff. This clump of purslane, however, had purple stems and green leaves. It was a large clump, and its plump leaves seemed to be dripping with water. Anyone who looked at it would find it strange.

It’s just a few drops of dew… this spiritual spring is quite powerful.

Cheng Yaoyao thought about it and finally felt a bit of joy.

She asked little lotus leaf in her mind: “Can drinking the spiritual spring improve my beauty?”

The little lotus leaf, full of Yang energy, was happily collecting dewdrops, completely ignoring Cheng Yaoyao.

Cheng Yaoyao said firmly: “When adults are talking to you, you need to pay attention!”

The little lotus leaf continued to spin, happily collecting dewdrops like a little water urn playing with stones.

Cheng Yaoyao said angrily: “I will never touch Xie San again!”

The little lotus leaf trembled and drooped down obediently. But the little lotus leaf didn’t understand this. It only knew that its spiritual spring was very powerful and that everyone wanted it. Cheng Yaoyao connected with its spiritual consciousness but didn’t find any useful information.

What kind of useless golden finger is this…

Cheng Yaoyao had no choice but to try it out on her own. She opened the kettle, which was full of water, added a drop of spiritual spring water, and shook it.

She first found a small piece of dry grass, dripped it carefully, and was ready to step on it if necessary. The small dry grass absorbed enough water, and as expected, a small and weak bud slowly emerged from the root at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But the growth was very slow, and it stagnated after a small sprout grew. It seemed that the effect of the diluted spiritual spring was also weakened.

Cheng Yaoyao sniffed the water in the kettle again. She had felt comfortable after drinking the spiritual spring in the void but didn’t know what would happen if she drank it directly. What if she suddenly grew taller like the Purslane? Cheng Yaoyao felt her current figure was perfect and didn’t need to grow any taller.

Cheng Yaoyao stared at the kettle, took a deep breath, and showed the determination of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs ^[2]refers to the legendary Chinese emperor known for his contributions to agriculture and herbal medicine.…

“Brother Xie San, are you thirsty?” Cheng Yaoyao ran to Xie San, raising the kettle and looking at him attentively.

Xie San took two steps back, his whole body tense and alert. Cheng Yaoyao blinked innocently: “You’ve been working for so long, aren’t you tired? Drink some water.”

Cheng Yaoyao didn’t stick to him anymore, holding the kettle properly and keeping a safe distance. Xie San didn’t know whether he was relieved or… He stared at the kettle in front of him and swallowed hard. He was really thirsty, so he took the kettle and drank most of it in one breath.