Chapter 39

After learning about the night watch, Yu Tao told Yu Li before bed that she would take the first half of the night shift, and that he should wake her up when it was time to switch.

She was truly exhausted, so as soon as she lay down, she fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up until noon the next day.

When she woke up and opened the door, the young man was still sitting at the doorway, holding his sword and quietly waiting.

Seeing her come out, he opened his eyes and said in a calm voice, “Let’s go. We need to find the core of the restriction formation.”

Yu Tao mumbled an “mm” and followed behind him. She was still a bit groggy from just waking up, her voice hoarse: “Little Senior Brother, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“No need. It was just one night,” Yu Li replied indifferently.

Yu Tao yawned drowsily. Even after such a long sleep, she still felt so tired.

“Little Senior Brother, aren’t we going to look for Senior Brother Hua Lian and the others?”

Yu Li replied calmly, “They found the second core of the formation last night and are working on dismantling it. We’re going to find the third one.”

Yu Tao was about to ask how he knew that since the Liuli Mirror couldn’t communicate, but then she remembered that the black cat was still with Senior Brother Hua Lian. After entering the restricted sea area, the cat had fallen into a deep sleep and should be awake now that the restriction was lifted.

This black cat looked just like Little Senior Brother, also wearing a collar. It was probably related to him, perhaps a soul-like entity.

Suddenly, a strange thought popped into Yu Tao’s mind.

If Little Senior Brother and the black cat both appeared in cat forms at the same time, would that mean she would have two spirit pets?

Double the fluff, double the joy!

The two of them searched the island from day to night, encountering many demon beasts along the way. Yu Li dealt with the stronger ones, while Yu Tao slowly used her sword to deal with the weaker ones.

Yu Li guided her along the way, teaching her some sword techniques, correcting her posture, and showing her how to swing the sword with technique to save energy. Yu Tao took it seriously and practiced hard.

At night, they rested. Yu Tao made a fire to roast fish and some fruit to fill their stomachs.

Looking at the young man across from her, eating slowly and gracefully, Yu Tao took a bite of fish, smiling to herself.

No wonder Second Senior Brother Hua Lian said he liked fish—cats obviously love fish!

That night, Yu Tao slept while Yu Li stayed up to keep watch.

Yu Tao felt that this wasn’t right: “Little Senior Brother, you need to sleep too.”

Yu Li inserted a hairpin back into his neatly tied hair, loosened his hand, and said in a calm voice, “It’s only for a day or two, it’s nothing.”

Yu Tao touched her neatly tied hair. This time, it didn’t seem like her usual butterfly-shaped hairstyle. Instead, it felt more like a little bunny’s ears?

Her skills were not very refined, and when she was tying her hair earlier, she had accidentally broken the hairpin — the white wooden one.

Perhaps it had been soaked in water for too long, making the wood fragile. A little force and it snapped. She felt a pang of regret. Even though it was just a casual hairpin, it was a gift from Little Senior Brother.

Just when she was worried about having to leave her hair down today, Yu Li waved at her, offering to tie her hair again.

Maybe it was because he had done it before, but this time his fingers moved swiftly and skillfully. In no time, he had tied her hair up again and used a hairpin to secure it.

Yu Tao couldn’t see the hairpin without a mirror, so she raised her hand to touch it. She felt something small at the end of the pin — two pointy little ears, with a tail curled around.

It was the cat-shaped hairpin he had promised to make for her earlier!

Her eyes lit up as she looked up at him, her voice sparkling with curiosity: “What color is it?”

“… Black.”

Yu Tao smiled brightly, her eyes curving in joy. She could already imagine the scene of Little Senior Brother carving the little cat hairpin.

It was just too cute!

The day passed much like the previous one, with the two of them searching the island. During this time, Yu Tao took the opportunity to train and grow, both in her cultivation and her mindset.

Yu Li didn’t just protect her blindly. Instead, he allowed her to explore and figure things out on her own. He would only step in to help when she truly couldn’t solve a problem on her own.

The two spent a month on the island, and during this time, Yu Tao learned many ways to deal with demon beasts from Yu Li. She also successfully formed her Qi and established her foundation one night.

The next morning after successfully establishing her foundation, Yu Tao felt refreshed, her body light and full of strength. She was excited to share the good news with Yu Li.

When she pushed open the door, she found him leaning against the wooden house, his eyelashes closed, his breathing light. He seemed to have just fallen asleep.

Yu Tao noticed a faint greenish tint under his eyes, a sign of fatigue, and froze for a moment.

These past few days, he always seemed like he was unaffected, and she had almost forgotten that they were still under the restrictions. Every day, his body had to endure the pressure from the formation.

Moreover, he hadn’t really slept much this month. Every morning when Yu Tao woke up, she had planned to stay up that night to keep watch in his place. But every time she returned, she was so exhausted that she fell straight into bed and rarely succeeded in staying awake to let him sleep.

A sense of guilt rose within Yu Tao. Just as she was about to help him into the small wooden house to let him sleep, the young man sensed her movement and suddenly opened his eyes.

His light golden eyes were initially sharp, but then they softened as they focused on her. His voice was slightly hoarse: “Congratulations on establishing your foundation.”

He stood up. “Today, I’ll teach you the sword techniques that come after foundation building.”

“Not today.”

The young man paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. He turned around, about to ask her what she meant, when his sleeve was suddenly tugged.

The girl’s clear, starry eyes fixed on him. She gently shook his sleeve and spoke in a soft tone, “Little Senior Brother, my… my ‘Kuishui’ arrived, and I’d like to rest for a day. I won’t practice swordsmanship today, just go look for the array eye. Um… can you turn into Lili and stay with me?”

Although she felt quite embarrassed and her body and voice were a bit stiff, her attempt at acting cute ultimately succeeded.

The young man stared at her for a moment, then hesitated. He turned his head away and muttered one word: “Fine.”

Yu Tao gently hugged the cat in her arms as they set off, careful not to move too much. She cleared her throat and said, “Little Senior Brother, you can take a nap. If I find it, I’ll call you.”

The black cat’s tail, which had been swaying lightly, suddenly stopped. Its head lowered, and its burning cat ears twitched.

…So, this is why she was acting cute.

That day, the cat slept in her arms all day. Yu Tao could clearly see that by evening, the young man’s complexion had improved a lot.

It worked!

She chewed on the fish’s tail while thoughtfully considering what excuse she should use tomorrow.

Over the next week, the young man heard various ridiculous excuses from Yu Tao, all of which were used to coax him into turning into a cat to accompany her.

Once her “Kuishui” ran out, it turned into an excuse of her hands hurting so she couldn’t hold the sword, followed by her clumsy attempt at faking an illness. Finally, she stopped pretending altogether, simply giving him a pitiful look and tugging at his sleeve with big, pleading eyes.

Yu Li: “…”

Coincidentally, after over a month, the second array eye was finally broken by Hua Lian, shattering the central black crystal.

Spiritual power surged like an ocean, and the cultivation that had been suppressed for over a month suddenly returned to the Nascent Soul stage. This caused some discomfort, and he needed time to adjust and recover.

Now, Yu Tao had a perfectly legitimate reason. She blinked innocently and said, “Little Senior Brother, we still need to find the third array eye…”

If she had a tail, it would probably be sticking straight up by now.

Yu Li rubbed his forehead and, with no choice, reluctantly agreed.

Yu Tao was now very skilled at holding the cat. She carefully adjusted the cat into the most comfortable position for sleeping, with its head nestled in her arm, and its fluffy tail resting on her forearm, gently swaying.

This was a position she had carefully observed and found to be the cat’s favorite. When in this position, it would sleep especially soundly and occasionally let out a soft hum.

Yu Tao felt like this was truly testing her self-control.

The cat she loved most was also the person she cared for most. The equation of one plus one was definitely greater than two, or rather, it was exponentially more than two. Help, how much restraint did she need to not have improper thoughts swirling in her mind?

The areas on the island had been mostly explored over the past month, and now Yu Tao was heading to the last area she had not yet visited.

It was… an inland sea?

That description wasn’t entirely accurate. It was more like a lake in size, but the water was clearly seawater.

Yu Tao walked around the lake, intending to search other places first and return to investigate the lake last.

She hadn’t gone far when a dreamy misty blue appeared in her line of sight.

The translucent, jewel-like fish scales were neatly distributed on the graceful blue fish tail, creating an almost surreal, dream-like scene.

A little higher up, she saw pale skin. The upper body was human, with no clothes, and the arm muscles were clearly defined.

A head of golden hair spread out beside the body, dazzling in its brilliance. The figure was lying on the shore, as though fainted, with faint breathing.

…A human and a fish?

Yu Tao was a bit stunned. She had read some folk tales and legends, which spoke of a creature that was half-human, half-fish—known as a mermaid. A human upper body and a fish tail, which was incredibly beautiful and dreamlike, living deep in the ocean.

The books described mermaids as indifferent, even repelled by humans. They would sing at night, and their voices would enchant people on the sea, making them lose their way and never return.

Yu Tao watched the mermaid closely. Based on the direction it was lying, it seemed like it had tried to return to the sea but had collapsed halfway.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Tao decided to help and gently sent the mermaid back into the water.

Once the mermaid entered the water, it moved slightly after a moment and regained consciousness. When it looked up, it saw the girl crouching on the shore, watching it. The mermaid froze for a moment.

It was the girl from the sea that day.

Yu Tao asked, “Are you feeling better?”

The mermaid squinted, glancing around. The young man who had been with her was nowhere to be seen, but there was a cat in her arms, and the cat wore a collar—definitely her spiritual pet.

In other words, she was here alone.

The beautiful mermaid smiled warmly. “I’m fine now. Thank you.”

He smiled brightly. “To repay you, I’ll grant you one request.”

Yu Tao declined, saying, “You don’t need to. I just want to ask, have you been living here for a long time?”

The mermaid, still lying on the shore, slapped his fish tail lightly, his tone a bit gloomy. “Yes, I’ve been trapped here and can’t leave.”

Trapped here? In this sea that was the size of a lake?

Yu Tao furrowed her brow. “Can you help me check if there’s anything like a formation eye under the water? Or, since you’ve been here for so long, have you noticed anything strange?”

After a moment of affected contemplation, the mermaid hesitated before speaking. “There is something, but it’s a palace. I can’t open it, so I don’t know what’s inside.”

He propped himself up on the shore, his body emerging from the water. His misty blue eyes locked onto the girl, his voice soft and slow.

“How about… you come down and take a look?”

Yu Tao suddenly took a step back, her tone confused. “Why are you coming so close to me while talking?”

The mermaid froze. Had his spell actually failed?

Before he could react, a sharp sword cut through the air and suddenly pressed against his neck, the sharp blade piercing his skin and causing blood to spill.

Yu Tao looked at the young man’s figure and gasped in surprise. “Eh, Little Senior Brother, how did you suddenly wake up?”

The mermaid stared at the cold, emotionless youth before him. In his pale golden eyes, killing intent was obvious. He stiffly moved his gaze to the girl, only to realize her arms, which had once held a cat, were now empty.

The mermaid: “…”

Damn, so this is how it’s going to be?!