Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

"..."

After hearing Qin Xiao's question, Yin Xihui fell silent.

She lowered her head slightly, and her bangs fell down, covering her eyes. Under the dim light above her head, a large shadow was cast on her face, and only her pursed lips could be seen clearly.

"...No." Yin Xihui opened his mouth, pursed his lips, raised his head again, and showed a calm look.

"Not expected."

Yin Xihui smiled: "It's just... I am a little disappointed."

Qin Xiao didn't say anything. Qiu Puryue looked at him, as if she wanted to say something, but she still lowered her head.

"Come to think of it, you have no interest in these things, don't you? And you don't know much about my family's situation, why is it like this?" Yin Xihui smiled lightly, but it never faded.

"Care?" Qin Xiao didn't quite understand what he meant by "like this", so he half-guessed and replied, "It's nothing, right? I just asked a few questions casually. I didn't do anything practical."

After hearing this, Yin Xihui paused for a moment but couldn't help laughing out loud.

“Hahaha… you’re really straightforward.” Yin Xi narrowed his eyes, and his laughter finally had a little warmth, “I really didn’t misjudge him at that time.”

Qiu Puryue looked at Yin Xihui's smile and her brows relaxed slightly.

"Then how did you meet again?" Qin Xiao looked at Qiu Puryue, "You are not from the royal family, right?"

"Oh, I am his playmate, right?" Qiu Puryue looked at Yin Xihui and continued, seeing that he was not displeased, "Our family has close contacts with the royal family. After I went back, my father heard that I was about the same age as him, so he asked someone to send me here... saying that I should accompany him."

After Qiu Puryue finished speaking, she thought of what the man said to her before they parted, and her eyes became a little gloomy.

"Then you have to be careful." Qin Xiao said calmly, "Does your father know that you are a corpse binder?"

"……Know."

"Then he shouldn't have let you come to Yuhua." Qin Xiao's eyes were a little cold, "Do you know Yuhua's attitude towards the Corpse Binder?"

Qiu Puryue shook her head.

"I know." Yin Xihui clasped his fingers together, his eyes slightly cold, "I'll tell her."

Qiu Puryue was stunned and looked at him.

Yin Xihui didn't look at her and continued, "She didn't just come with me this time, she signed up for the competition."

Qin Xiao was stunned.

Qiongqi sat up suddenly and looked at Taotie in disbelief, his eyes full of contempt.

Taotie didn't react. Instead, he licked his lips and clenched his paws: "Isn't this what they humans call a free lunch?"

Qin Xiao: ...

"...Actually, even if Taotie wasn't here, I would still participate in the competition." Qiu Puryue spoke for Taotie with a smile.

"Do you know that you may have to take part in this competition yourself?" Qin Xiao said calmly, "What are you going to do then? Have you practiced your attributes?"

"Of course!" Qiu Puryue said quickly, "I can do it right now--"

Seeing that she seemed to be about to reveal her attributes, Qin Xiao interrupted her without hesitation: "No, not now."

Qiu Puryue: ...

Yin Xihui couldn't help but laugh.

"...In fact, we won't let Taotie in unless it's absolutely necessary." Qiu Puryue scratched his head and smiled.

"What?!" Taotie looked at her in disbelief, his mouth about to fall to the ground, "Why?!"

"... Mainly because my father gave me two magical beasts... Actually, he was planning to let me use all the ones he picked, but I asked him to give you a chance. It was not easy to get a spot... So I mainly let the other two go."

Taotie's expression gradually fell, and he hung his head, thinking about something. Suddenly, he transformed into a child about the same age as Qiongqi, and looked up at them.

The hair of the Taotie was brown, messily hanging down to the roots of the ears, with a few corners slightly raised. His cheeks were a little chubby, and his facial features did not give people the same aggressive feeling as Qiongqi. His eyes were relatively calm, without the sharp and uncomfortable feeling that Qiongqi gave people.

Taotie imitated Qin Xiao and transformed himself into clothes, wearing a yellow shirt under a leather jacket and tight leather pants on the lower body.

It was the first time that Qin Xiao saw Taotie transformed into a human, and he couldn't help but feel a little curious.

Not only Qin Xiao, Yin Xihui and Qiu Puryue were also a little surprised.

"You humans are such trouble..." Taotie raised his eyelids and glanced at Qiu Puryue listlessly.

Taotie exuded a lazy aura as he leaned on Qiongqi with his hands crossed on his abdomen.

"...I'm sorry." Qiu Puryue apologized to him for some unknown reason.

Taotie closed his eyes and said calmly: "It's not your problem."

Qiu Puyue didn't know why, but when she saw Taotie like this, her heartbeat suddenly quickened a lot, thinking about how she always held him in her arms before...

Yin Xihui glanced at her, then looked at Taotie, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

Taotie raised an eyebrow at him: "Why——"

Before he could finish his question, Qiongqi suddenly stood up and slapped him down.

"Is it not over yet? I told you to lie down but you collapsed on me?!"

Qiongqi patted the place where Taotie had just been lying with disdain.

Taotie:......

Taotie looked at Qiongqi, then sat on the ground and reached out to Qiu Puyue.

If he was still in beast form, Qiu Puryue would definitely hug him.

Looking at the appearance of Taotie, Qiu Puryue was a little hesitant.

Taotie was puzzled, not understanding why she didn't hug him like before.

"Old Three, are you there?"

There was a sudden knock on the door. Qiu Puyue was startled and looked a little panicked. She hurriedly looked at Yin Xihui and Taotie, but found that they were calmer than each other.

"What's wrong?" Qin Xiao was stunned at first, then asked loudly.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Qin Jinyi stood at the door and asked into the house, "Dad and uncle left first, and I said I would go with you... Can I go in?"

Qin Xiao was silent for a moment and looked at Yin Xihui.

Yin Xihui looked innocent: "You can't let us jump down from here, right?"

As he said this, he pointed to the window.

Qin Xiao: "...Let you hide."

"Where is there a place to hide..."

……

Qin Xiao sighed, stood up and was about to take Qiongqi out: "Then we'll go first."

Anyway, there is nothing important here, so I'm not afraid of them taking it.

"……etc."

Qin Xiao turned around and caught the thing that Yin Xihui threw over. He took a closer look and found that it was a metal ball. He was stunned for a moment and recalled that the man named Mo Hanshang seemed to have taken out this thing.

"This is a kind of Qi guide that can be used for communication." Yin Xihui smiled, "Just inject Qi into it. If I contact you, the light on the ball will light up red, and if you want to answer, just press the button. It's similar to the sound-hearing stone, but you can choose whether to receive the sound, which is more complicated... But the one I gave you is the simplest, and it's only for communication between you and me."

Qin Xiao responded and turned to leave.

"Why don't you give it to me?" Qiongqi suddenly asked.

Qin Xiao paused and looked at him in confusion.

Yin Xihui was also stunned, and looked at Qiongqi in confusion: "...Ah?"

"I have it here." Qiu Puryue said hurriedly, taking out a metal ball similar to the one Qin Xiao had from his pocket and handing it to Qiongqi, "This is a three-way communication. You can choose between me and him, or contact both at the same time. Just press the button for whoever you want to contact."

Qiu Puryue said, pointing out the people corresponding to the two colored buttons on the ball: "If you want to contact them at the same time, just press them together."

Qiongqi nodded, and it was obvious that he didn't care very much with his nonchalant look. He put the money in his pocket and followed Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao opened the door, but the gap was not too big, just enough for him and Qiongqi to pass through.

"Why are you so mysterious?" Qin Jinyi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing." Qin Xiao waited for Qiongqi to come out and closed the door. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Dad has chosen a restaurant and is waiting for us." Qin Jinyi held a metal plate and looked at the message on it, "Let's go."

……

Feeling that the person outside the door was going away, Yin Xihui glanced at Qiu Puryue with an indifferent look.

"Actually, I don't quite understand the meaning of you catching up with me." Yin Xihui spoke with a somewhat distant tone.

"Did you send them a message?"

"No." Qiu Purue couldn't help but frowning when she heard his tone, "Do you miss me that much?"

Yin Xihui turned his head, looked at the window and said nothing.

"..."

The two were silent, and the atmosphere was a little weird. Taotie seemed to be completely unaware of it, and jumped onto the bed where Qiongqi had just been lying, and in revenge, he tore up the quilt and made a mess.

"..." Qiu Puyue wanted to say something, but seeing Taotie like this, she couldn't help but say, "Aren't you afraid that he will come back like this--"

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of him." Taotie was very excited, jumping up and down on Qiongqi's bed, "It doesn't matter whether he's angry or not, hehe."

Qiu Puryue: ...

Yin Xihui glanced at them, stood up and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going again?" Qiu Puryue asked.

"Go back to the room." Yin Xi said in a low voice, "Didn't you hear everything? I booked a room here and will sleep here tonight."

"...Then come back with me tomorrow." Qiu Puyue felt that he obviously couldn't change his condition, so she said.

Yin Xihui nodded casually and walked out.

Qiu Puryue followed closely behind.

Taotie saw that the two had left, looked at Qiongqi's messy bed, felt satisfied, and followed Qiu Puryue.

"...What are you going to do?" Yin Xihui exerted a little force, but was blocked by Qiu Puryue.

"It's so late today, I can't go back." Qiu Puryue held the door open with one hand and said sincerely, "Just make do with it for one night, I'm not going to do anything."

Yin Xihui: ...

"Go and get another one yourself." Yin Xihui exerted force on his arms, "I remember there are quite a lot of vacancies here."

When Qiu Purue heard this, her expression became more sincere: "I didn't bring any money."

Yin Xihui: ...

"I only have one bed." Yin Xihui stared at her.

"I can just sleep on a chair...the floor is fine too." Qiu Puryue was not picky at all.

Yin Xihui: ...

Taotie looked at the two of them, his face gradually becoming impatient: "Can you not let her in and let me in?"

Qiu Puryue looked at him in disbelief.

Taotie didn't feel anything at all: "Anyway, it's you who won't let her in, not me."

Qiu Puryue: ...

Qiu Puryue was very disappointed with Taotie.

Yin Xihui's eyes were dark, and he glanced at Qiu Puyue's hands that were prying the door open. After a moment of silence, he finally gave way.

Qiu Puryue breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Taotie in excitedly.

Yin Xihui slowly closed the door, his eyes gloomy as he watched Qiu Puyue pull the two small sofas together and sit on them to try out their softness and hardness.

Qiu Puyue felt something strange and turned her head to look, only to see Yin Xihui lowering his head slightly and retracting his gaze.

"...Have you had dinner?" Yin Xihui asked.

When Qiu Purue heard this, she smiled embarrassedly.

"No."

Yin Xihui looked at Qiu Puryue, whose eyes were full of hope, and then at Taotie, whose eyes lit up when he heard about eating, and couldn't help but sigh.

"What's wrong? Not enough money?" Qiu Puryue couldn't help but ask when she saw this.

Yin Xihui hadn't spoken yet. Taotie heard it and said quickly: "It doesn't matter, I can also eat dozens of people."

Yin Xihui: ...

Qiu Puryue: ...

"...No." Yin Xihui looked at Taotie's soft and cute appearance, and thought of his words that were totally inconsistent with his image, and couldn't help but feel helpless, "Nothing."

Based on what Taotie said just now, he couldn't say it was not enough.

"Wait for me to change into clothes." Yin Xihui said, taking out a robe from his wrist under his sleeve.

"I thought he saw my badge." Yin Xihui took off his coat, looked at the royal badge on his chest, and whispered.

Yin Xihui lifted up his shirt. Qiu Puryue had no intention of avoiding suspicion at all - or rather, she didn't understand why she should avoid suspicion, so she just stared at him and sat aside waiting obediently.

While in the mountains and forests, Yin Xihui got used to her behavior and naturally took off and changed his clothes in front of her.

Taotie naturally wouldn't think there was anything wrong.

"Why do you need to change clothes?" Taotie lay on the big bed, staring at Yin Xihui and asked.

"My clothes have logos on them, so they're not suitable for hanging out." Yin Xihui explained, "It would be bad if someone saw them and held them hostage."

"You're still young, aren't you?" Taotie suddenly realized something, sat up, and looked at them in confusion, "You're still cubs..."

"Is there any problem?" Yin Xihui was puzzled.

"Wouldn't it be unsafe when you go out? What if someone gets kidnapped?" Taotie raised his eyebrows.

Yin Xihui was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "So changing clothes is also to prevent this."

Taotie shook his head: "No, you humans kidnap children for more than just blackmail."

"What else could it be?" Yin Xihui smiled.

"Hmm..." Taotie showed a conflicted look, "I remember that some people would kidnap the cubs, peel off their skins and put them on the bodies of other beasts, and let them pretend to be those beasts to set up stalls and make money."

After hearing this, Yin Xihui paused.

"Oh, they will even break their leg bones and ask them for money." Taotie stroked his chin and thought, "But it seems that it's all for money in the end..."

"...It sounds quite scary." Yin Xihui smiled, but there was no fear on his face.

However, Qiu Puryue's face turned pale after hearing what Taotie said.

"So you human cubs still need elders to accompany you when you go out, right? I think Owl also needs an adult to accompany him when he returns home." Taotie held his chin.

"Yes." Yin Xihui adjusted his collar and tied the wide sleeves tightly around his wrists. "Unfortunately, no."

"Didn't you insist on leaving first?" Qiu Puyue couldn't help but say after hearing this, "No matter how you look at it, this is too much."

"..."

Yin Xihui remained silent and did not answer.

When Qiu Purue saw him like this, she knew that she had said something wrong, but at the same time she felt that she had said nothing wrong. She just stared at him, pursed her lips and said nothing.

The atmosphere became gloomy.

Yin Xihui suddenly turned his head, staring at her without any smile in his eyes.

At that moment, Qiu Puryue felt her whole body go hairy, and a chill ran straight up along her spine, leaving a tingling numbness wherever it passed, and half of her body seemed to be frozen.

She suddenly realized that Yin Xihui was quite scary when he didn't smile.

"...Who do you choose?" Yin Xihui asked suddenly.

This question left Qiu Puyue confused for a moment.

"what?"

"I ask you--" Yin Xihui stared at her, his eyes more serious than ever before, and the smile on the corner of his mouth finally disappeared without a trace.

"If I come into conflict with them, who will you choose?"