Chapter 340: A Maiden?
He casually tossed the compressed energy core into the massive iron wok he was carrying, adding it to the growing pile of loot they had acquired.
’She thinks I am a stranger,’ Zechuan thought, a soft, indulgent smile returning to his lips. ’She thinks I am an airhead, and treats me with such suspicious irritation. And yet... she still feeds me well, ensuring I do not trip over the roots. It seems the one who changed is me, not her...’
The relief of seeing her thriving, of tasting the food she had cooked with her own two hands, was a balm that completely healed the lingering scars of the abyss.
He was having the time of his life.
He would gladly carry her heavy iron pans for the next thousand years if it meant he could simply walk two steps behind her and ensure nothing in the universe ever harmed her again.
"Ha! Gotcha!"
Ji’an’s triumphant shout snapped Zechuan out of his melancholic reminiscing.
The chef had just delivered a spinning back kick to the final illusory leopard, shattering it into a shower of glowing, pearlescent shards.
She landed in a low crouch, breathing heavily, sweeping her spatula in a practiced, fluid arc to clear the residual Qi before strapping it back to her calf.
She stood up, rolling her shoulders, turning around to face him.
Ji’an’s silver-flecked eyes immediately narrowed.
She saw Zechuan standing in the mist, holding his half-eaten meat skewer, staring at her with that intense, completely unfocused, hopelessly soft expression.
Ji’an marched over to him, her heavy red boots clicking sharply.
She stopped a few feet away, crossing her arms over her chest, popping her hip out in a display of arrogance.
"Earth to Zechuan," Ji’an drawled, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you buffering? Your ping must be terrible. You’ve been staring blankly into space for the last five minutes while I did all the heavy lifting."
Zechuan blinked, snapping out of his doting reverie.
The adoration instantly vanished behind a mask of wide-eyed, completely clueless innocence.
"I was observing your footwork, Uncle Ji’an," Zechuan lied flawlessly, offering a bright, goofy smile. "Your kinetic transitions are highly efficient. You squashed them very thoroughly!"
Ji’an squinted at him, leaning forward slightly, her lie detector twitching.
"Uh-huh," Ji’an smirked, a wicked, teasing glint igniting in her eyes. She decided to poke the bear, thoroughly enjoying her newfound role as the bully. "You weren’t analyzing my footwork, Zechuan. I saw that look. That was the classic, glazed-over, hopeless stare of a man daydreaming about a romance scroll. Come on, spill it. Which of the Azure Crane maidens were you thinking about? Was it Fairy Xue? Did her impassioned defense of your ’fragile soul’ finally thaw your abyssal heart?"
Zechuan’s goofy smile faltered.
His brain, which operated on a wholly different literal frequency, struggled to process the teasing accusation.
"A maiden?" Zechuan repeated, his brow furrowing in genuine, profound confusion. "I was not thinking of a maiden, Uncle Ji’an. The Azure Crane disciples were exceedingly loud, and their rapiers lacked structural integrity. I was merely... reminiscing upon the quality of the stew you prepared last night."
Ji’an rolled her eyes, scoffing loudly. "Oh, please. You don’t get that misty-eyed, tragic-prince look on your face over a bowl of soup! You were absolutely thinking about a girl you fancy. It’s fine! You’ve been locked in a dark hole for five years. It’s natural for your suppressed mortal desires to manifest as hormonal daydreaming. Just don’t let it distract you during a boss fight, or I’ll dock your pay."
Zechuan opened his mouth, desperately trying to formulate a sentence to explain that he was, in fact, looking at his beloved one’s soul, but the words tangled in his throat.
He couldn’t reveal his identity.
Instead, he just stood there, his dark eyes wide and pleading, looking like a misunderstood puppy, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
"I... it was not a maiden, Uncle Ji’an," Zechuan stammered, abandoning his aristocratic poise, his face flushing with mild panic as he realized she genuinely thought he was a lovestruck fool. "I swear upon my Dao! I do not harbor any romantic inclinations toward loud women with fragile swords! I was only thinking of you!"
Ji’an burst out laughing, a bright, ringing, entirely unapologetic sound that echoed through the glass labyrinth.
"Sure you were, buddy. You were thinking about how much you love carrying my heavy iron cookware," Ji’an teased mercilessly, reaching out and playfully, roughly shoving his shoulder. "Keep your secrets, then. But if you start composing terrible poetry in the dirt, I am leaving you behind."
Zechuan let out a long, defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping.
He took a depressed bite of his meat skewer, unable to defend himself against her chaotic banter.
"Whatever you say, Uncle Ji’an," Zechuan mumbled, chewing sadly.
Ji’an chuckled, shaking her head.
The guy was too easy to bully. It was almost therapeutic.
"Anyway," Ji’an shifted gears, her tactical, culinary brain taking over. She looked up at the artificial, glowing gray sky of the realm. "It’s been roughly eight hours since the second constriction of the Encroaching Void Array. The sun in this biome is artificial, but my internal clock says it’s approaching dinner time. We need to secure a defensible position before the nocturnal illusion-beasts spawn."
She clapped her hands together, rubbing her palms briskly.
"So, my tragically misunderstood pack mule. Since you’ve been such a good boy and haven’t dropped my wok all day... what do you want to eat for the night? I managed to harvest some high-grade crystal-mantis meat, and I still have a stash of wild mountain leeks. I could do a spicy stir-fry or a slow-simmered herbal broth to soothe your ’fragile soul.’"
Zechuan’s depressed slump instantly vanished.
His dark eyes lit up like fireworks, forgetting the teasing, his mind completely hijacked by the promise of more food.
"Could you make the spicy stir-fry?" Zechuan asked, practically vibrating with excitement, leaning toward her.
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