Outside the cave, the bright sunlight bleached the leaves white, and the chirping of cicadas rose boldly amidst the rustle of foliage.
Ding Nan felt a dull ache in his lower back and knees. His legs were weak, and his entire body felt drained, as if he hadn’t slept well at all.
He first turned onto his side and looked toward the ground.
On the floor lay two sets of neatly folded clothes.
One was a deep brown outer robe.
The other was an aqua-blue silk dress, topped with a set of feminine undergarments and accessories like dangling hairpins and earrings.
Ding Nan felt his heart turn ice-cold. At the same time, he felt a chill on his bare upper back.
Although the sun outside was intense, the cave remained somewhat cool and damp.
“Why? Why did it turn out like this?”
Ding Nan rubbed his face, unable to stop himself from whispering the question.
Ding Nan turned his head and, peering through the gaps between his fingers, looked at the beauty lying beside him.
Her hair was loose and scattered. She slept with her eyes closed, her face clear and fair.
Her shoulders, the color of mutton-fat jade, and her delicate collarbones seemed to shimmer.
The traces on the thin blanket were clear, and her chest rose and fell rhythmically.
Ding Nan was sharing the same blanket with her.
Because he moved, Ding Nan ended up disturbing Luo Yao.
Her eyelids trembled, causing her slender eyelashes to flutter, and Luo Yao slowly opened her eyes.
Those eyes, dark and shining like black pearls, looked at Ding Nan.
“Good morning, Young Master,” she whispered languidly with a smile.
Ding Nan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
‘How was she able to beat me? What is her true strength? Is she not afraid of Ji Lanruo? My cultivation has been destroyed, and I have returned to the Body Tempering Realm Stage 3.’
His heart was a mess of conflicting emotions, but in the end, he habitually replied to her, “Morning…”
Luo Yao sat up, her black hair falling like a waterfall, creating a sharp contrast between the black and white.
“Can you help me get my clothes?”
Luo Yao ran her hands through her hair.
Ding Nan reached out without a word. After a brief pause, he picked up Luo Yao’s clothes and jewelry.
With the clothes in one hand and the jewelry in the other, Ding Nan first handed the clothes to Luo Yao.
Luo Yao took them with both hands and pulled a small embroidered pouch from the folds of the fabric, from which she produced a wooden comb.
‘A Storage Bag?’
Ding Nan looked at the light blue embroidered pouch, a look of surprise crossing his face.
Storage Bags, which functioned like bottomless pockets, were quite rare in this world because items like Storage Bags or Spatial Rings involved the power of space.
To create a storage tool, one needed to understand what space was and possess the ability to manipulate it.
Otherwise, production was impossible.
It was said that most cultivators capable of using Space Power were at the Soul Transformation Stage, and it was rare for even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator to master it.
In the entire Ding Clan, the only person who currently possessed such a Storage Bag was Ding Wen.
That Storage Bag was one of the tokens of the Ding Clan Patriarch.
Once Ding Wen stepped down from his position, he would have to return the Storage Bag.
When he was young, Ding Nan had seen the Ding Clan Storage Bag in Ding Wen’s possession.
It was deep brown, and if it weren’t decorated with gold and silver thread, it would have looked like a common hemp sack used by some random villager.
Luo Yao actually had one of these treasures as well.
Ding Nan’s throat felt dry. He swallowed hard and asked, “Lady Luo Yao, how do you have a Storage Bag?”
“Hmm? Why don’t you guess?”
“You found it?”
Ding Nan looked at Luo Yao with a complicated expression.
“No.”
“Huh? Then how do you have such a thing?”
Ding Nan recalled the Luo Yao he had seen when he was 9 years old.
At that time, she had to use dry grass to stay warm in the winter.
How could the Ding Clan have had the money to buy Luo Yao a Storage Bag?
“You forgot. A long time ago, I told you that I come from the Luo Family.”
“Uh, you did say that, but which Luo Family were you talking about?”
In the Tianfeng Dynasty, there were at least two or three prominent Luo Families.
Without specifying their location, Ding Nan had no idea which one she meant.
“The Luo Family is just the Luo Family. You definitely know it, Young Master. After all, we’ve met before.”
“Huh?”
Ding Nan rubbed his head, trying hard to remember.
Indeed, several people from various Luo Families had come to Qingquan City in the past, but they were only passing through.
Was it possible he had seen her then? Was that why Luo Yao appeared in Qingquan City?
Had she been separated from her family, become a little beggar, and then returned to the Luo Family to become a high-born lady once she found a way back?
Ding Nan was stumped. He really couldn’t remember meeting Luo Yao.
To Ding Nan, all children looked more or less the same. He hadn’t paid much attention to kids back then.
After all, Ding Nan possessed the memories of an adult, and the playfulness of children was nothing more than noise to him.
“Stupid Young Master! Jerk Young Master!”
Luo Yao scolded him with a graceful smile.
Ding Nan squinted, looking at Luo Yao helplessly.
“Hey, Young Master, can you help me with my hair?”
Luo Yao’s face flushed red as she lowered her head.
Ding Nan first glanced at the white sun outside the cave and then looked at Luo Yao, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes at her.
‘Last night, when I said “Don’t, don’t,” you said “Do, do”; when I said “No, no,” you said “Yes, yes”; when I said “I can’t anymore,” you said “You can.”‘
The red bloodstains had already turned dark.
‘How can she be so quiet and introverted today?’
Ding Nan was speechless, but he helped her with her hair anyway.
Luo Yao turned her head, looking at Ding Nan cautiously.
“Give me the comb; I’ll help you brush it.”
Ding Nan reached out, asking for the wooden comb.
“Mm…”
Luo Yao paused for a moment before turning back and whispering a soft “Okay.”
Ding Nan helped brush Luo Yao’s hair, but she handled the actual styling herself.
She pulled out a mirror and arranged her hair.
She tied her hair into a bun, put on her dangling hairpins, and secured her tresses with a decorative pin.
“Wait, that hairstyle…”
Ding Nan was stunned.
“What about it? Does it not look good?”
Luo Yao turned around to look at Ding Nan.
“You aren’t married yet,” Ding Nan said.
“Do you not want to marry me?”
Luo Yao’s bright eyes suddenly darkened.
Looking at that familiar, dark smile, Ding Nan felt his stomach ache.
No one did things the way Luo Yao did.
Without informing the neighbors, suddenly changing to a married woman’s hairstyle would lead to being mocked or having people gossip behind her back.
Furthermore, this was a complete mess.
Exchanging marriage certificates meant an engagement, and an engagement surely required notifying friends and neighbors to prepare for the wedding.
Imagine it — a bride wearing her red wedding dress, only for the groom to suddenly run off with another woman.
That kind of farce would be the talk of the town even in modern times, let alone in an ancient aristocratic society that valued reputation.
Even if the Xishan Sect didn’t turn against him, the disciples of the Xishan Sect would surely beat him until he was disabled.
“Is the Young Master feeling regret?”
Luo Yao asked, watching the shifting expressions on Ding Nan’s face.
Her tone was high but her voice was low, making Ding Nan tremble.
“How does the Luo Family compare to the Xishan Sect?”
Ding Nan asked cautiously.
Luo Yao smiled without saying a word.
“?”
“Ding Nan could see that Luo Yao was angry, but why?”
“Why was she angry?”
“What did the Luo Family or the Xishan Sect have to do with him, a transmigrator?”
Ding Nan was completely baffled.
“Hmph!”
Luo Yao unhappily messed up her hair.
She redid her hairstyle into a different look.
She gently stroked the back of her hair and said, “Young Master, you had better remember what happened yesterday. Otherwise, Luo Yao will have to do things that might make you afraid…”
Luo Yao pressed her palms together and tilted her head slightly, her gaze very unfriendly.