Li Shiyin furrowed her brows as she looked at Long Qiqi, suddenly feeling something amiss.
If Long Qiqi hadn't advised her about the cruel nature of people and the dangers of the world, she might have thought that Qin Ran was being overly cautious. But now, with Long Qiqi's persuasion, she felt that not defying her master meant she was agreeing with both her master and Long Qiqi.
Li Shiyin was no fool. Her original plan was to stay in seclusion while her master focused on alchemy for a few days. Regardless of whether the outside world was dangerous or not, she would simply stay indoors. But now...
She had the sense that Long Qiqi was mocking her and implying that she was cowardly, which made her uncomfortable.
Furthermore, Li Shiyin had an impulsive nature and couldn't sit still. Forcing her to stay in the room was like imprisoning her.
So, she endured for a day or two, but on the third day, she couldn't take it anymore.
Since her master had said it would take three days to refine the elixir, she reasoned that going out to have some fun wouldn't have a significant impact. With that thought in mind, she got up and pushed open the door.
"Are you going out to play?" Long Qiqi asked excitedly, having waited for three days for this moment.
Li Shiyin turned around and saw Long Qiqi curled up on a makeshift bed made of two chairs, poking her head out from under a blanket. Li Shiyin had obtained the chairs from the innkeeper and the blanket was a gift from him.
"Play?" Li Shiyin's big eyes rolled and she smiled, saying, "I'm not playing. I'm going out to investigate the local customs and gather information."
Gather information? Long Qiqi couldn't help but want to laugh, but she held it back because she made a request instead. "Can I come with you? I can help you gather information."
"Help me gather information?" Li Shiyin hesitated because she had no intention of gathering information. She just wanted to go out and have fun. "No need, I can handle it on my own." She smiled and refused.
As she said that, she stepped out of the door.
Seeing Li Shiyin about to leave, Long Qiqi panicked. This was her last chance to escape, so she quickly threatened, "Then I'll tell your master that you sneaked out to play!"
Li Shiyin retracted her foot as she stepped out of the door. She turned back to Long Qiqi and said, "You... Don't falsely accuse a good person. I'm not going out to play. I'm going out to do something serious!"
But even as she said those words, she didn't believe them herself. She retracted her foot again and looked at the vast, free sky outside and the repulsive figure of Long Qiqi inside, feeling conflicted.
"If you take me with you, then we'll be in the same boat. I definitely won't report you," Long Qiqi said, delighted that Li Shiyin had stepped back, seizing the opportunity to continue coaxing her.
Unfortunately, Li Shiyin was no fool. It didn't take her long to catch on.
She smiled, snorted at Long Qiqi, and said, "My master never said I couldn't go out and have fun." There was a hint of smugness in her tone.
With that, she ignored Long Qiqi and happily bounced out of the door.
"Ah! No~" Long Qiqi stared at the closed door and felt that the brightness outside that door was the brightness of her life. From then on, her life became dark.
Escaping from the cunning and treacherous hands of Qin Ran was even harder than reaching the heavens.
"Oh Heavens! Oh Earth! What sins have I, Long Qiqi, committed? I wandered in ignorance for thousands of years, and when I finally awakened, I resolutely changed my form in pursuit of the righteous path of immortality. I have lived my life without doing evil, so why is this happening to me?"
Long Qiqi gazed at the faint light seeping through the crack in the door as tears streamed down her face, pouring out her grievances.
Suddenly, the door was opened from the outside, and the figure in the light was clearly Li Shiyin. She walked straight over, lifted Long Qiqi in her arms, and said with a pretended sigh, "Let's go together, poor thing."
"Huh?" Long Qiqi, halfway through her tears, stopped and pondered.
Li Shiyin carried Long Qiqi through the bustling streets, her steps filled with joy.
"Why did you come back again?" Long Qiqi still couldn't understand.
Seeing someone selling sword models nearby, Li Shiyin ran over, picked up a large sword and played with it in her hand, smiling. "I've come out to have fun. How can I leave you alone in the house? It's terrifying to be in that room all by yourself. Just thinking about it gives me chills."
She swung the big sword playfully a couple of times and continued, "That room is small and dark, so uncomfortable."
Long Qiqi's heart was filled with complexity. She had intended to deceive this naive girl, but this naive girl was now thinking from her perspective...
"She's truly too gentle. It makes me want to cry."
So she said, "It's inconvenient for you to carry me while playing. It's better to put me down."
Li Shiyin looked at Long Qiqi, furrowed her brows, and said, "But your meridians are sealed by your master. You can't stand."
Long Qiqi blinked her eyes, pretending to be cute and shy, and said, "You can help me unseal the meridians on my legs... just the legs will do. I can walk, I won't run away."
But Li Shiyin didn't take her for a fool. She immediately saw through Long Qiqi's scheme. The snake demon was trying to deceive her into unsealing the meridians so she could escape.
"Heh!" Li Shiyin sneered, "Don't play those tricks with me. I won't help you remove the seals."
"Ah!" Long Qiqi sighed. This girl seemed to be not so easily fooled.
After playing for a while in the marketplace, Li Shiyin still wasn't satisfied. Upon careful thought, she realized it was because she was carrying a child. So she brought Long Qiqi to the side of the road and put her down, saying, "I'll only help you unseal the meridians on your legs! I won't unseal the rest."
"Alright!" Long Qiqi nodded repeatedly, thinking to herself, "What a naive girl. Once one seal is broken, the whole seal will be destroyed, and then I can handle the rest."
Li Shiyin reached out and channeled her energy, placing her hand on Long Qiqi's leg, then paused...
She looked up at Long Qiqi, innocently blinked her big eyes, and said, "I... I don't know how to remove them."
"Ah?!!!" Long Qiqi was dumbfounded. She had planned and schemed for several days, expended countless efforts, and success was within her grasp. Who would have thought that this girl would actually not know how to remove the seals?
"Didn't your master teach you?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Cough... My master did teach me... I vaguely remember receiving some instruction, but I can't recall it clearly," Li Shiyin said apologetically. "The main issue is that I can't distinguish the meridians in my legs. I'm not very familiar with them."
"What about the meridians in other parts of the body?" Long Qiqi struggled to speak, his life slipping away.
"I'm not familiar with those either," Li Shiyin whispered.
"Ah..." Long Qiqi despaired. "I've truly lost to you!"
"I... I..." Li Shiyin stammered, apologizing. "I'm sorry, I really am!"
Long Qiqi shook his head, looking at Li Shiyin with disdain, too exhausted to utter a word.
Li Shiyin lifted Long Qiqi and continued walking forward, but after a while, she stopped. Determination flickered in her eyes as she placed Long Qiqi by the roadside.
"I... I, Li Shiyin, am not a fool. What's with that disdainful look in your eyes?" she gritted her teeth. "Humph, my master is an alchemist. How could I not understand meridians?"
With these thoughts in mind, she said to Long Qiqi, "Don't worry, I am actually familiar with the acupoints of the meridians. I just can't distinguish them clearly. I still have my divine sense, which is enough to unseal you!"
Long Qiqi, with his slender serpent-like pupils, stared at Li Shiyin. The adorable face of the little girl was filled with disbelief.
"I... I'll prove it to you!"
As Li Shiyin spoke, her divine sense detached from her body and reached out towards Long Qiqi, while her hand pressed against his body.