Back at home, Xing Lian was still shaken.
It was the first time she had seen dead people, and so many of them at that.
She couldn’t accept it for a while and fell ill not long after returning.
Yue Li brewed medicine for Xing Lian, served her dinner, gave her a bath, and held her as she fell into a deep sleep.
That night, Xing Lian slept very restlessly.
She had a dream, a terrifying one.
In the dream, she was fishing by the lake and encountered the same women from that day again.
This time, Yue Li was no match for them.
She was captured by the women and then bullied in turn.
Those women weren’t gentle at all.
In the dream, her throat was hoarse from crying, but she received not a shred of pity.
After being bullied, the women took her away.
After that, her life became a living hell; she was practically bullied into stupidity.
Xing Lian woke up, startled awake.
She gasped for breath, her eyes dazed, still somewhat immersed in the dream.
This dream felt too real, as if it had actually happened before, making her feel afraid despite herself.
But a dream is just a dream after all.
She was lying safely in bed, Yue Li was right beside her, and nothing had happened.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
Yue Li, who had been sleeping soundly, was awakened by Xing Lian’s movements and looked at her curiously.
Xing Lian didn’t speak, just tightened her arms around Yue Li’s waist and buried her face in her chest.
“It seems you really were frightened.”
Yue Li’s heart ached as she gently rubbed Xing Lian’s head, feeling even more hatred for the people who died yesterday.
They died, but they actually dared to frighten Lian’er.
It was utterly detestable.
If she weren’t worried about causing trouble and if Xing Lian didn’t need her so much right now, she would have gone back to whip their corpses.
Xing Lian didn’t know what Yue Li was thinking.
She held onto Yue Li, breathing in her faint, natural scent, and it took her a good while to regain her composure.
“I’m a little hungry.”
She touched her stomach.
“I’ll make something for you to eat.”
Yue Li planted a kiss on her forehead, threw off the covers, got out of bed, and headed towards the kitchen.
After Yue Li left, Xing Lian spaced out for a bit.
Feeling sticky all over, she also threw off the covers and got out of bed.
Because of the nightmare last night, she had sweated a lot.
Being someone who loved cleanliness, she wanted to take a bath.
Once in the bathroom, while waiting for the water to run, she couldn’t help but start to overthink.
She had been too frightened by the dead bodies yesterday to think much, but now that she had calmed down, countless questions flooded her mind.
‘Who were the black-clothed women and those other people? Why were they fighting to the death in the forest?’
‘Yue Li killed them. Could that bring trouble? What if the people behind them found us?’
The more Xing Lian thought about it, the more afraid she became, urgently wanting comfort.
She couldn’t be bothered with a proper bath anymore.
After a quick scrub, she put on her clothes and walked to the living room.
Yue Li had already finished making breakfast and was carrying the food to the dining table.
Xing Lian walked up to her and fearfully asked, “Do you know who those people we met yesterday were? Will they come looking for us?”
Hearing this, Yue Li glanced at her, noticed the panic in her eyes, and quickly pulled her into a comforting hug.
“Don’t be afraid, Lian’er. No matter who those people are, I will protect you. My strength is quite formidable, you know.”
‘Is Yue Li really strong?’ Xing Lian doubted it in her heart, but she didn’t voice her disagreement.
Yue Li continued, “Don’t worry too much. The chance of them finding us is very low. That place is extremely remote, with hardly anyone around. As long as we don’t talk, it will be very difficult for them to find us.”
Xing Lian was comforted by her words and felt a little relieved.
However, ‘very difficult to find’ didn’t mean ‘impossible to find’.
What if the other side investigated thoroughly, found them, and tried to kill them?
Having never seen Yue Li fight seriously, she had very little confidence.
And even if Yue Li was truly strong, she still wouldn’t feel completely at ease.
There were many stories of strong people being held hostage through their weaker family or friends.
There was no guarantee she wouldn’t encounter such a situation.
Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself.
If only she had the ability to protect herself.
Feeling very anxious, Xing Lian asked Yue Li if there was any way for her to become stronger.
“Make you stronger?” Yue Li looked at Xing Lian in surprise.
This soft, gentle little thing suddenly wanted to become stronger.
She really had been frightened yesterday.
But thinking about it carefully, this seemed like a good thing.
If Xing Lian became stronger and gained the ability to protect herself, Yue Li could worry a lot less.
Moreover, when fooling around at night, she wouldn’t have to hold back so much all the time.
Thinking this, Yue Li pondered seriously.
Although Xing Lian had never transformed into her original form, and Yue Li didn’t know what her beast form was, with such a delicate human form, her beast form probably wasn’t much either.
The little one was just an ordinary beast-girl.
To become stronger, she could only rely on external objects.
Ordinary swords and armor wouldn’t be of much use, so it would have to be rare treasures with special abilities.
Every treasure was extremely valuable, requiring a large amount of crystal coins to obtain.
“So we really do need to make money after all.” Yue Li sighed in vexation.
As a Transcendental Beast Girl, there were many ways to earn money.
For example, going deep into the mountains to kill strange beasts and selling their corpses for money, or going to dangerous places to gather spiritual materials.
She could also take on mercenary tasks.
However, all the methods mentioned above required time.
She couldn’t just leave early and return late; it would take at least a few days.
Leaving Xing Lian alone at home made Yue Li very uneasy.
Taking Xing Lian along was even more impossible.
Yue Li explained her plans and difficulties.
After hearing them, Xing Lian sighed in disappointment.
Relying on external objects for protection was ultimately not as good as becoming strong oneself.
But right now, she doesn’t even have any external objects.
It was truly vexing.
Seeing Xing Lian’s disappointment made Yue Li feel like her face was burning.
As the head of the household, she actually couldn’t take good care of her wife or give her what she wanted.
It was too shameful.
Making Xing Lian so disappointed… what if her affection for her decreased?
Xing Lian didn’t notice Yue Li’s anxiety.
She was thinking about what she should do now.
She had been immersed in comfort before, but what happened yesterday served as a wake-up call.
This place, after all, was not her previous life.
The sense of morality and law was weak.
This world followed the law of the jungle.
Without formidable strength, it was impossible to protect one’s own life and safety.
Although Yue Li was by her side and would protect her, and she could live a peaceful, stable life by never leaving the city, relying on others and hiding away felt somewhat unreliable.
“I still need to get stronger. I still need to rely on myself.”
Xing Lian murmured to herself.
Yue Li would work to buy treasures for her.
With treasures, she could have some ability to protect herself.
But that was too far off.
She couldn’t just keep freeloading forever.
She had to put in effort herself too.
Xing Lian made a decision.
She would exercise!
Although this body was very weak, getting winded after just a few steps, that was precisely why she needed to work even harder to train it.
She didn’t hope to become incredibly strong through exercise, but at the very least, she wanted to be comparable to a normal person.
Xing Lian told Yue Li about her idea.
After hearing it, Yue Li was very supportive.
“Exercise is fine. I agree, but…”
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