Legacy World 3.9 Well-Fed

BaiXue came out of the room after changing and found LongFei seated at a table in the middle of the spacious room. He gestured to the dishes on the table and said, "eat."

"No thanks, I'd like to go back down the mountain now."

"You can't." LongFei said firmly.

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to bring me down."

"...Eat first then."

She relented and sat down at the table to have a bite.

[How do you communicate with him?] BaoBao had felt insulted for BaiXue but he was surprised by how BaiXue replied as if LongFei had not just said something high-handed.

After LongFei was satisfied with the amount she ate, he transformed into a dragon with a sparkly pale blue aura and let her climb onto his back. His descent was very gradual. He did not want her to feel sick. She was only fine the previous time because the all-cure herb he had fed her would also cure any issue she might have suffered from ascending too quickly. 

After she climbed off his back and walked off, she found him following her in his human form. She looked at him quizzically with an eyebrow raised.

"You're weak." He said as if it explained his actions.

"I'll be fine."

"What if you almost get yourself killed again?"

"Don't worry. I already found what I wanted. So, please leave."

He frowned deeply as if he was having an internal debate within himself. He ended up flying off.

[I don't think I'll ever get used to the way the second male lead speaks in this world...] BaoBao complained.

BaiXue made her way to FengJiao's village. It was time to carry out the mission assigned to her by FenFang.

BaiXue reached the village in less than a day and stayed on the outskirts of the village, as per her usual procedure.

On the third day of her observation, she was about to leave when LongFei appeared some distance away in front of her. He looked straight at her while walking towards her. However, after a few steps, FengJiao called out, "LongFei? You're here again so soon?"

LongFei stopped in his tracks but kept his eyes on BaiXue who was still in her hiding spot.

"What are you looking at? Is something there?" FengJiao walked past the bush he was staring at and came to stand beside him. Looking at the bush from his side did not help her understand his fascination with it. Suddenly, the bush shook and an innocent white rabbit hopped out. 

It looked spooked to see them staring at it, then scurried off in a different direction. FengJiao caught how LongFei's gaze followed the rabbit.

"You have a thing for rabbits?" FengJiao said with surprise.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." LongFei said before heading to the village.

FengJiao lightly frowned. "When are you going to change the way you speak..."

"There's nothing wrong with the way I speak."

"Yes, there is." FengJiao insisted.

In the meantime, BaiXue dashed full speed ahead once FengJiao no longer looked at her.

/BaoBao, he was definitely keeping watch on me the whole time./

[But I didn't sense him nor see him...]

/His range must be larger than yours then. From now on, don't come out. We don't know when he's watching./

BaoBao agreed with her. They were both in tacit agreement that it was lucky BaoBao had not came out ever since entering the mountains. Their wariness paid off after all.

It took her only two days to cross the three mountains as she went without stopping.

"Sorry I took so long to come back, I got injured and it took time to recover."

"It's alright, are you okay now?"

"Yes."

"That's good to know. So, what is it like across the mountains?"

"For now, I have only traveled to the village that was at the edge of the forest and near the mountains on the other side. They have a mystical one protecting them."

"By force?"

"Doesn't look like it. She seems willing. Everyone seems really nice too."

"Nice?" FenFang frowned in puzzlement.

"They share their hunts with her, talk a lot with her, get her advice on things, and many more. A very friendly atmosphere."

"Coercion and manipulation is possible... It may be all a farce. Do the same as you did at the village before you left. We should stop this as soon as possible and save her from heartbreak."

BaiXue nodded and left to cross the mountains again. This should have taken her just another two days but she dragged her journey out. She pretended that it took one full month to cross the 'treacherous' mountains.

Now that she had time, she could focus on experimenting and exploring again. She headed straight for the cave that she knew was now empty, thanks to LongFei killing the basilisk. Applying what she had learnt in the buried throne room, BaiXue cultivated in her rabbit form, and quickly noticed a clear difference in experience. Her animal form felt deeply nourished and absorbed the spiritual energy hungrily. It was as if she could feel the rich energy course through and strengthen every blood vessel and muscle sinew. This entire process even kept her adequately warm. She wondered if her strength, speed, and stamina would get better just from this. 

BaiXue got carried away in her excitement. Time flew past and the sun went down. She did not stop to eat, nor did she feel the need to.

LongFei eventually appeared at the entrance of the cave. He had been watching her the whole time and got worried when he did not see her come out of the cave.

BaiXue stayed in her rabbit form with her eyes closed.

/Is something wrong?/ LongFei wondered to himself. 

/Her body looks fine./ He slightly frowned in confusion. He scanned the cave and finally noticed the raw meat she kept tucked in a corner. She had caught it earlier on the way here. Clearly, it was prepped to be cooked. Why was it left there just like that?

/Did she pass out from hunger?/

Riding on that assumption, LongFei started to set up a fire to roast the meat.

An hour later, a tantalising smell filled the cave. He stuffed a small green jade bowl, that he had gotten from his house, with several bite sized chunks of meat. Then, he placed the bowl near BaiXue's head. However, she still did not move.

BaoBao had already alerted her the moment LongFei flew into BaoBao's range. BaiXue did not bother about him as she wanted to use all the time she could to cultivate and become stronger. The smell was incredibly appetising but her desire to increase her power was stronger than her hunger. She had already spent a year in this world. Every passing day was a day closer to her fated death. Yet, she was still far from accomplishing the original soul's wish.

Suddenly, she felt a hand gently stroke her from her head to her back. She tried to ignore it but he kept on stroking her. It disturbed her concentration. So, she finally opened her eyes.

"Something's wrong with you." LongFei said the moment she did.

"No. I'm totally fine. I already told you there's no need to worry."

"Then why aren't you eating and only sleeping?"

"...I'm cultivating."

"Cultivating? Does that make you feel better?"

"I'm in top condition. I can't feel any better than this. It simply increases my power and strength."

"Eating increases your strength too. Eat." LongFei said while pushing the bowl closer to her face.

"... After I eat, stop disturbing me any longer." She ordered him. 

LongFei nodded in obedience.

BaiXue turned back into a human to eat. She took a bite into the meat and realised that the second male lead of this world may have a talent for cooking. It was simply meat roasted over fire, but it tasted good. The outside was crispy and the inside was tender.

[He really looked after the intensity of the flames and diligently rotated the meat while you were cultivating.] BaoBao informed her.

While she ate, he asked her, "Why're you always scurrying around everywhere?"

BaiXue did not intend to reply him, until he said with a hint of sadness in his voice, "You lied."

BaiXue was perplexed. She thought back to everything she had said before and realised that he was likely referring to her telling him to not disturb her only after she ate. She sighed inwardly then replied him, "I have missions."

"But you're so weak."

"I'm not that tired. I can handle it."

"You want to become stronger because of this?"

"Sort of. A personal reason." As she said this, she finished the last piece of meat in her bowl.

"Eat more."

"Eating till my stomach bursts will not make me stronger. Cultivating will." She said while cleaning her mouth with a cloth handkerchief. 

"Now, excuse me." She changed back into her rabbit form to cultivate.

LongFei did as promised and did not disturb her any longer. His shoulders hunched imperceptibly though. He had wanted to hear more about her personal reason. What could make her so power hungry? How could he support her? He was filled with curiosity about this person who seemed to draw his entire attention. He began to feel that the compulsion he felt regarding FengJiao was increasingly a bother, because it got in the way with the amount of time he could spend with BaiXue. He flew off with a frown.

BaiXue spent 1 month cultivating in the cave as she had planned. It went far better than she had expected because of LongFei who would come to feed her on time. He came with breakfast, lunch, and dinner that he cooked at home. He even came to give her fruits that would boost her physical fitness as snacks.

She had tried not relying on him but his timing was always so accurate. He would appear in front of her with already cooked food every time she prepared to attack an animal. She eventually gave up and accepted his goodwill. It truly would increase her speed of becoming stronger anyway. 

In a sense, she felt like a pig now. Once she confirmed that the strength of her animal form was equivalent to how much she cultivated, she dedicated all of her time to cultivation. Now, when she kicked the wall of the mountain in her rabbit form, it could actually form a depression instead of propelling herself away from the wall. All the while, she had to keep reminding herself that what she was doing was considered hard work too. After all, on the surface, she was being fed and fed and fed more by LongFei while all she did was 'sleep'.

While she ate, LongFei had tried to ask her about her personal matters but she straightforwardly told him that she preferred silence. For some reason, it worked magically. There were times he looked sad, but he never spoke to her unless he was spoken to. Unfortunately for LongFei, it was incredibly rare for BaiXue to initiate a conversation with him. Other times, he would stare at her eat and comfortably sit in silence with her.

Unbeknownst to BaiXue and BaoBao, LongFei had kept up his watch on her, from the cherry blossom tree that grew outside his house, near the cliff. It could see the part of the cave where she lounged at. Since she ordered him to not disturb her cultivation, he kept watch over her from a distance away. A large distance away. Just in case his mere presence was enough to disturb her. 

LongFei could while his time away like that because he had given FengJiao a small pale blue jade flute. If she blew into it, it was a signal to him that she was in trouble. FengJiao looked conflicted and confused about the random gift. However, LongFei did not care. He only cared about returning to look after BaiXue. He could not stop worrying that something would happen to her while she was out of his sight.

In the end, it only worked to delay the recurrence of the gnawing feeling. It drove him out of his mind. He thought that his compulsion to see FengJiao was only to check on her well-being. Since she did not blow on the flute, does that not mean that she was doing okay? 

Just as he was in the height of his bad mood from resisting his compulsion, he saw BaiXue take out a black flute and blow on it, before she dashed out of her cave in her rabbit form.

/A black flute?/ His brows tightly knitted together. /Whose is that?/

He flew off to follow her as usual and witnessed how she hid in the same place on the outskirts of FengJiao's village as the last time. 

The last time, when she hid there for three days, she neglected her diet. She merely set up traps, then left them unattended. Since it caught only pigeons, that was the only thing she ate. He had went down to confront her about it. When she acted like a normal wild rabbit in front of FengJiao, LongFei was sharp enough to catch on to her intention. Pleased that there was something just between the two of them, he had played along and pretended to be on another visit to FengJiao's village. 

However, now, he was filled with nothing but displeasure. He knew how the flute works. The owner of it must have tracked its location with the magic imbued in it, and must be on the way now. Watching BaiXue relax and return to cultivating, like she was waiting for someone to arrive, worsened his mood. He mused about the horrible things he would like to do to that mystery person.