Chapter 108: Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect

Fu Guang nodded and called out, "Lan'an, do you have Leng Ying's contact number?"

"No." Lan'an replied, swinging their tail to the side of the woman who had been looking this way.

Leng Ying noticed, and the occasional glances from a few people toward her side saw Lan'an come to her side, whereupon she nodded in understanding.

"Leng Ying, nice to meet you." She greeted the Sentinel while her gaze met that of the girl looking this way.

The girl naturally nodded at her, not seeming like a guide from the White Tower.

No matter how strong a guide, as a child they are like a crybaby, their mental power too sensitive, so they cannot control their emotions, and even a slight pressure quickly manifests on their body.

Is her aura really this weak? It makes people overlook her.

Leng Ying stared at the shark-person Sentinel before her; also, those who can accept a beast-blood Sentinel as a guide are not ordinary guides.

Lan'an's face darkened, blocking the female Sentinel's gaze toward the king, "Watch your eyes."

The shark-person Sentinel before her seemed to have forgotten why they came, opening with a strong smell of gunpowder; Leng Ying showed no anger, she lifted her chin and said, "Is that what your guide told you?"

"Is that how you accomplish her mission?" Leng Ying glanced toward his rear, the shark-person's fingertips elongated, as if about to strike at any moment.

After all, still young, Leng Ying scoffed dismissively; the shark-person's ear fin twitched, and they said without yielding, "Then why are you waiting here?"

Blue eyes gazed at her, both sides fully aware of each other's purpose.

"Hmph." Leng Ying also didn't continue arguing with the Sentinel; the two simply exchanged contact numbers, the shark-person didn't linger, flicked their tail, and returned to the girl's side.

Because the aberrant Sentinel was still purifying its drowsiness, he spread his arms, cradling the small guide in his embrace, burying his face in the girl's sideburns, and inhaled deeply, intoxicated.

Another one, a Sentinel mad for their guide.

An S-rank guide returned to the team; Leng Ying also went back to her own team, chatting with Yu Ran about when they'd have time for smelting next, making a reservation in advance.

"You mean smelting? I estimate the furnace won't be lit within three years, for external forging." Yu Ran said, "I have a new idea that needs to be put into practice."

The pitch-black meteorite essence fell into her hand; she couldn't examine it properly—if she could smelt it, wouldn't that mean her smelting ability had already surpassed her mother's?

"Alright, if you ever have time, please let me know in advance." Leng Ying said; in her peripheral vision, that shark-person's tail was playing with the girl's golden hair, having a blast.

"When will Xi Guang wake up?"

Fu Guang turned her head, and the silk-like golden hair slipped from the shark-person's hand. Lan'an thought for a moment, then shook her head, indicating she didn't know.

"There's no Sentinel who would only seek a guide when they can't hold on any longer; I've never encountered such a situation before."

Lan'an rested her chin on the girl's shoulder; Fu Guang shifted her shoulders, staring at him seriously and said, "You're heavy, do you realize that?"

"I'm a patient; could you trouble yourself to respect a patient?" Instead of behaving like a dog, he nuzzled into her embrace, soon becoming almost twice her size—such a large creature, what is he nuzzling for?

Lan'an lifted her head, only then noticing that Fu Guang's protective mental power had dwindled to a thin layer, and she said with a mouth full of jealousy, "You really treat him well."

He puffed out his cheeks, blew a transparent bubble, placed the girl inside, her face pressed against the bubble, the soft bubble coating his features, following him wherever he went, like a clingy sprite.

Fu Guang glanced helplessly at the shark-person, then looked at the unconscious Xi Guang beside her, and said, "Blow another one and put Xi Guang inside."

Lan'an opened her mouth to refuse, saying this bubble was for a partner, not something just anyone could have.

"Look, he's unconscious; given the situation he probably won't wake up anytime soon, otherwise you could carry him back?" Fu Guang made the suggestion seriously, her expression not joking, "I can't possibly have this patient carry him back."

"I only trust you." Seeing Lan'an's gaze wander, looking toward the Sentinels in the team, Fu Guang guessed his thoughts and added.

Those words left Lan'an with no other ulterior motives; she pinched her nose and blew another bubble, then without looking, violently flicked her fish tail, slapping the unaware, unconscious silver-haired Sentinel into the bubble.

The bubble stretched forward elastically, then quickly shrank back into a round bubble.

"Great."

Fu Guang, as a reward, kissed the shark-person's eye-corner scales; Lan'an swallowed, bringing her face close to Fu Guang's cheek, wanting more, but in the next second Fu Guang pushed her away with a hand.

"Go play on the side, don't disturb my work." The girl gave him a light, airy glance.

It seemed like a guide used and discarded, but Lan'an tentatively held the girl in her arms, and Fu Guang did not object.

He wrapped his fish tail around her golden tail, stroking the fine golden scales thereon, while Fu Guang continued to focus her mind on the 'work' in her hand, though sometimes she flicked her tail to express her dissatisfaction.

Lan'an would then ease her movements, judging Fu Guang's limits of tolerance; generally, as long as she didn't disturb Fu Guang's 'work,' she wouldn't interfere much.

Lan'an could sense the king's special regard for Xi Guang, perhaps because of his particular 'gentlemanly' nature, very principled; Lan'an gritted her teeth, feeling she could be the same.

If Fu Guang knew, she would tell him, a gentleman does not just go up and hug people.

"Let's go." Chan Yi's voice spread with the water waves, and everyone began heading toward the edge of Yummengze.

Lan'an rolled the bubble containing Xi Guang with her fish tail, a light tap sent it rolling far away, requiring little effort; Fu Guang glanced at it and then left it alone.

The group moved quickly; the Sentinels freely released their auras, the aberrant beasts sensing danger shrank back, and they all resembled overbearing, domineering crabs.

Fu Guang rested her chin on her hand, thinking.

Lan'an, to prevent her from being bored, used water-element power to catch several beautiful sea beasts and stuffed them into her bubble, including the peach-blossom jellyfish she had seen, like bubbles, crystal clear but shattering at a touch, the bubble coral.....

These sea beasts' destructive power is not low, but they have restrained their attack power, curling beneath Fu Guang's fish tail, gathering into a clump within the transparent golden tail gauze.

Fu Guang smiled, glanced a few times, and told Lan'an, "Remember to send them back."

"Do you even care about their lives?" Lan'an didn't quite understand; the king's thinking, in his person, didn't seem to value life either, yet even these ant-like sea beasts earned her favor.

Fu Guang's gaze was faint, "Care about them? Not really." Fu Guang felt this was more like coldness, unwilling to have any karmic entanglement with other beings for no reason.

Although she had long ceased to worry about karma, this too could be considered a good habit.

"Just not creating trouble for myself." Fu Guang said, not caring whether Lan'an understood, she lowered her head and went back to her own affairs.

Afterwards, the work continued intermittently for several hours; once the little sprite's condition stabilized, Fu Guang tucked it into her mental landscape, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep.

Boom—

The sound reverberated, shattering her budding drowsiness; in an instant she was startled awake.