Chapter 8: The Unbearable Sweetness of Life

Xiao Luoyi arrived at their secret base carrying a food container wrapped in coarse cloth.

Today she had changed into a brand-new light purple dress, her two ponytails neatly combed, and her eyes were bright and sparkling.

“Good morning, Yu Lao!”

Xiao Luoyi greeted Lin Xiao and placed the food container on the bluestone.

“Thank you for your guidance yesterday, Elder Yu. I have nothing to repay you with, but last night… I made some small snacks. Please have a taste.”

As she spoke, she carefully untied the cloth knot.

As the lid of the food container was lifted, Lin Xiao leaned in to take a look.

A square cake lay on the oil paper, yellowish-brown in color, with many pores on its surface, making it look thick and dense.

On top was a dense layer of dried osmanthus flowers, so plentiful it seemed like they were free.

A strong, cloying caramel scent rushed straight into Lin Xiao’s nose, causing his eye to twitch imperceptibly.

“Th-this… is a snack?”

He tried to keep his voice steady.

“Mm!” Xiao Luoyi nodded vigorously.

“It’s osmanthus cake! I made it following a recipe from a book!”

“Cough, that’s thoughtful of you.”

Lin Xiao reached out, and his finger touched the osmanthus cake, feeling sticky and tough.

He broke off a corner and brought it to his mouth.

First bite.

Cloyingly sweet.

A lethal amount of sweetness instantly overwhelmed his taste buds.

At that moment, he felt like he wasn’t eating a pastry but swallowing a sugar brick made of solidified syrup.

The excessive sweetness made his whole body shiver.

He instinctively wanted to spit it out, but seeing Xiao Luoyi’s nervous and expectant eyes, he forced it down.

In the face of his junior sister’s innocent gaze, he felt that if he spat it out, he would be an unforgivable sinner.

“H-how… is it?”

Xiao Luoyi asked in a small voice, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes.

“Mm… It’s… very sweet.”

“That’s good!”

Xiao Luoyi let out a sigh of relief and smiled happily.

“I read in the book ‘a suitable amount of sugar,’ but I didn’t know how much that was, so I thought about adding a little less, afraid it wouldn’t be sweet enough.”

Lin Xiao’s vision went dark, silently thanking his junior sister for not killing him.

He struggled to eat the osmanthus cake.

Every swallow was a torment to his taste buds.

But Xiao Luoyi across from him stared at him without blinking the whole time, as if as long as Lin Xiao ate, she would gain great satisfaction.

Lin Xiao suddenly didn’t resist as much.

Although the sweetness in his mouth was bitter, the sweetness in his heart seemed just right.

Soon, he finished the last piece of osmanthus cake.

He forced a smile, making his voice sound sincere enough.

“Mm… Next time, no need to go to all this trouble. Training is what matters. The thought is enough.”

He deliberately emphasized the words ‘the thought is enough.’

But Xiao Luoyi seemed to have only heard the first half.

She happily packed up the empty food container, her eyebrows and eyes curving into crescent moons.

“No trouble at all! If Elder Yu likes it, I can make more in the future!”

There’s a ‘next time’!?

Lin Xiao actually wanted to say that old people shouldn’t eat too sweet, but after thinking about it, he wasn’t really an old man, so he swallowed the words back down.

He quickly changed the subject, afraid that Xiao Luoyi would pull out another sweet gift.

“Alright, today we’ll continue training on the second level of ‘Universal Throw’…”

“…”

Half a day later, the special training ended perfectly.

Xiao Luoyi carried the empty food container and left contentedly.

Lin Xiao changed back to his own appearance, feeling dizzy and weak in his limbs.

He decided to go to the outer sect cafeteria to see if there was something light that could rescue his tongue.

Passing by the bulletin board on the main road of the outer sect, he noticed quite a few disciples discussing something.

“Team combat training? And we have to kill demon beasts? That’s interesting…”

“Random team assignments? What if I get stuck with a dead weight?”

“Cannot be absent… Tsk, what a hassle.”

Voices rose and fell in the crowd, seemingly discussing something.

Lin Xiao pushed his way over and saw a new notice:

“Sect Order:”

“To sharpen the practical combat and cooperation abilities of outer sect disciples and prepare for the upcoming sect tournament, the Steward Hall has decided that, effective immediately, all outer sect disciples must undergo team combat training.”

“1. Four people per team, randomly assigned by the Steward Hall. The list will be announced later at each compound.”

“2. Training content: Go to the designated Trial Forest Area on Back Mountain and cooperatively hunt low-level demon beasts, Small Bristleback Boars. Their tusks serve as proof.”

“3. During training, no private fights, no stealing others’ spoils, and no going deep into undesignated areas.”

“4. Daily training results will be included in the regular assessment for the tournament. No unexcused absences.”

“Outer Sect Steward Hall of Lingxiao Sect, May 14, Year 114 of the Great Chu Immortal Calendar”

“Team training… hunting Small Bristleback Boars?”

Lin Xiao began to calculate in his mind.

This thing was just a beginner sparring partner in the game.

Thick-skinned and tough, with two skills.

One was Charge, exactly as it sounded: simple and crude, but effective.

The other was Fury.

In plain terms, it had a bad temper.

If angered, its attack power increased by 50%.

According to game experience, the best way to deal with Bristleback Boars was to kite them, using ranged attacks to target weak points like the eyes and belly.

Overall, it wasn’t a troublesome demon beast, so it was reasonable as a training target for beginner outer sect disciples.

Lin Xiao was about to leave when the voices of a few disciples beside him drifted over.

“Senior Sister Lu, are you sure that little spotted boar is in that nest by the cliff?” a female disciple asked.

“Obviously, I’ve been watching it for days.”

It was Lu Renjia’s voice.

“That little one is even weaker than an ordinary Bristleback Boar piglet. It’s cowardly too. If you scare it, it will just shrink back into its den or run wildly toward the cliff. When the time comes… heh heh.”

“But the steward said no private fights and no deliberate harm…” another voice sounded hesitant.

“Who said anything about private fights?”

“When training, a demon beast goes out of control and an accident happens. Isn’t that normal?”

“That cliff is all jagged rocks below. If you fall, you’ll break a few bones, lie in bed for months, and miss the tournament… You can only blame your own bad luck and poor skill. Right?”

“Senior Sister is brilliant! Then she’ll definitely this time…”

“Shh! Keep your voice down!”

Lu Renjia interrupted warily.

“You keep this to yourselves.”

“Once the team assignments come out, if she’s not in our group, we’ll find a way to lure her group near that cliff.”

“If… we’re lucky enough to be in the same group,” she smiled maliciously, “that’ll be even more convenient.”

The few of them whispered a few more words and walked away.

Lin Xiao stood still, feeling a chill rise from his spine.

The little spotted boar Lu Renjia mentioned…

Lin Xiao recalled the description of Bristleback Boars from the game bestiary.

This demon beast was usually solitary, but there was one exception.

A cub that was too weak would be hidden away alone in a safe place by the adult Bristleback Boar.

This kind of cub looked weak, but once it was frightened and screamed, it would attract the nearby aggressive Large Bristleback Boars.

Large Bristleback Boars were far too powerful for outer sect disciples at the first or second level of Qi Condensation to handle.

Obviously, Lu Renjia intended to use the Bristleback Boars to harm Xiao Luoyi.