Chapter 144

Chapter 144: Family?

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“Xiaoyun, want to go sword racing?”

Lin Muyu stood on the empty ground in the courtyard, condensing spiritual energy at her fingertip, and an extremely beautiful colorful crystal sword appeared before her eyes.

She lightly leaped up and stood on it.

This also meant she could finally fly directly without borrowing Su Wanqing’s shared immortal crane.

“No way! I need to go find the little tree spirit to practice techniques. You go by yourself!”

Lin Xiaoyun looked up at Lin Muyu, her amber eyes full of seriousness.

“Then… would Yueyue like to go for a ride?”

Lin Muyu wasn’t discouraged. Her gaze shifted to the stone bench in the corner of the courtyard.

A girl sat quietly there, wearing a light white dress that made her skin look pale.

She placed her hands gently on her knees, staring at the ground with unfocused eyes, her long eyelashes casting down and creating a small shadow beneath her eyes.

“Me?”

Yueyue seemed unprepared to be called upon. Upon hearing this, she was slightly startled and slowly raised her head, those unfocused eyes blinking.

“Of course it’s you! Cheer up a bit, I’ll take you for a ride in the sky!”

Lin Muyu jumped down from her flying sword, crouched in front of her, and said with a smile.

Although she had just learned sword flying not long ago, when she took Xiaoyun flying a few days ago, she had crashed several times.

The worst time was when she fell directly into the vegetable field outside the courtyard, getting covered in mud.

But this time, carrying Yueyue, she had already made up her mind to go slower and steadier, absolutely not making any more mistakes.

This way she could definitely protect this little girl who was always quiet and gentle.

Unfortunately, during all these days together, Yueyue had never voluntarily said her real name.

Every time she asked, she would just gently shake her head.

In the end, she only agreed to let them call her Yue. If pressed further, she would lower her head and purse her lips without speaking, so Lin Muyu had to go along with her for now.

“Sister! It’s one thing if you crash me, but how can you crash Yueyue?”

Lin Xiaoyun ran over, immediately bristling with anger, her tail standing straight up as she glared at Lin Muyu unhappily.

“Oh, so practicing techniques was just an excuse, and the real reason was that you’re afraid I’ll crash?”

Seeing this, Lin Muyu couldn’t help but laugh and reached out to ruffle Xiaoyun’s bristled hair.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. This time I’ll definitely be steady and protect little Yueyue!”

When she first learned the sword flying technique a few days ago, she really couldn’t contain her excitement and pulled Lin Xiaoyun straight up into the sky.

As a result, when they reached mid-air, both of them fell straight down.

She was in Foundation Establishment stage, so she was fine.

Lin Xiaoyun had just entered Demon Entry stage. Fortunately, she had cat demon bloodline, otherwise she would definitely have been injured in the fall.

“Come on, little Yueyue.”

Lin Muyu carefully bent down, reached her hands through Yueyue’s knees and behind her back, and gently lifted her up horizontally.

The 7 or 8-year-old little girl felt light as a feather in her arms. She tightened her arms, holding her steadily in front of her, and leaped onto the hovering flying sword beside them.

“Eh?”

Yueyue didn’t react in time. The moment she was lifted up, she let out a soft gasp and instinctively wrapped her small hands around Lin Muyu’s waist.

From Lin Xiaoyun’s perspective, it looked like a mother holding her daughter, except this mother looked unusually young.

She didn’t look much older than the daughter.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve got you steady! Up we go!”

Lin Muyu patted her back and activated her spiritual energy with a smile.

The flying sword then slowly carried both of them upward, initially only 3 meters off the ground, and only gradually gaining altitude after confirming stability.

It flew toward the distant green mountains outside the courtyard, the sword body leaving a faint trail of light in the sunlight.

“Whoa, Sister Lin is taking little Yueyue to the sky?”

At this moment, Mo Youhua walked into the courtyard from outside carrying a bamboo medicine basket filled with freshly picked herbs still carrying fresh dewdrops.

She looked up and saw the two figures in the sky, her eyes immediately lighting up as she stopped and looked up, unable to help exclaiming.

“Hmph, Sister is so unreliable. I really misjudged her!”

Lin Xiaoyun stood on the ground with her hands on her hips, her tail angrily swishing about.

When she first met Lin Muyu, she always thought the other was a gentle and careful sister.

But after spending these days together, she discovered that while the gentleness was real, the unreliability was also real, she had a carefree personality.

Sometimes her dress was improper, not at all like a proper young lady!

“Hahaha, I think Sister Lin is becoming more and more free-spirited, which is pretty good. It looks lively.”

Mo Youhua covered her mouth and laughed secretly, her eyes full of mirth.

She actually found Lin Muyu’s liveliness much more interesting than those stone-faced cultivators.

“What are you laughing at! Don’t laugh!”

Lin Xiaoyun glared at her and pushed her arm.

“Hurry up and help me direct the tree spirit. I want to fight it again! This time I’ll definitely win!”

“Alright, alright, I know. Xiaoyun still hasn’t given up?”

Mo Youhua helplessly shook her head and walked toward the village entrance as she requested.

In just 3 months, both Xiaoyun and the tree demon in the forest had broken through to middle stage of Demon Entry.

Although their cultivation levels were similar, every time they competed, Xiaoyun always lost due to the tree demon’s territorial advantage.

The tree demon could even mobilize the surrounding plants and trees to help on its own turf. Even though Xiaoyun’s techniques were flexible, she was always entangled and couldn’t fully display her abilities.

But she refused to admit defeat, insisting on competing with the tree demon every day. After losing, she would go back to ponder techniques, then come back the next day to continue.

……

The wind at high altitude was much cooler than on the ground, feeling slightly cold against the face.

Yueyue only felt the cold wind blowing across her skin, making her unconsciously scrunch up her neck and instinctively lean closer to the warmth in the embrace.

The next instant, a pair of soft arms tightened around her, holding her securely.

Two soft objects also pressed against her back, carrying familiar warmth, like being in a mother’s embrace, full of security.

“How is it? How does it feel?”

Lin Muyu’s voice was intermittent in the wind.

She had deliberately slowed down the flying sword’s speed and secretly wrapped a thin barrier of spiritual energy around both of them, blocking most of the cold wind.

Yueyue couldn’t see anything, but could clearly feel through the touch in the embrace.

Lin Muyu was flying exceptionally steadily this time, without the slightest turbulence.

“Mm, very good, thank you…”

Yueyue responded softly, her voice carrying a hint of relaxed softness. As soon as the words left her mouth, she unconsciously pursed her lips.

Did she say thank you again?

“I told you not to say thank you to me!”

Lin Muyu immediately interrupted her, her tone carrying a hint of mild seriousness but without any blame.

Ever since she rescued Yueyue from the outskirts of the demonic beast lair last time, she had discovered this child was particularly lacking in security.

No matter what she did to help Yueyue, this little girl would earnestly say thank you, her tone always cautious and careful.

Although this thoughtfulness made her very endearing, she was only a 7 or 8-year-old child after all, supposed to be at an age where she should be cherished and loved.

Always being so polite clearly showed she was afraid of not doing well enough and being abandoned by them, a manifestation of insufficient security.

“I’m sor…”

Yueyue heard the interruption and instinctively wanted to apologize, but the words had just reached her lips and weren’t finished.

Lin Muyu reached out and gently covered her mouth, so she could only make small muffled sounds, a trace of panic appearing on her small face.

Seeing this, Lin Muyu released her hand and gently touched her cheek with her fingertip, looking at her with a serious and earnest tone:

“Yueyue, unless you really need to, don’t say ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ to us anymore, okay?”

“We’re family now, and family members don’t need to be so polite with each other. Do you understand?!”

She still remembered when she initially asked where her home was and what family members she had.

The child’s face instantly lost all color, her lips pressed together for a long time, and finally she just shook her head.

Lin Muyu assumed her family members were no longer around.

Since Yueyue was also a child without a home, and she, Lin Muyu, happened to want to form a family, why not bring her in?

She would have another sister, and the Lin family would have one more person!

“Family…”

Hearing the word family, Yueyue slowly lowered her head, unknown emotions surging in her heart, a complex mix of feelings.

She hadn’t heard this word in a long time, so long she had almost forgotten what family felt like.

“What, Yueyue doesn’t want to be my family? Doesn’t want to call me sister?”

Seeing her remain silent for a long time, Lin Muyu deliberately pouted slightly and asked back with a pretended aggrieved expression.

“That’s not it… I’m willing…”

Yueyue immediately raised her head anxiously, her voice carrying a hint of panic, afraid that Lin Muyu would misunderstand.

But a trace of indescribable hesitation quietly arose in her heart.

‘If you knew what kind of physique I have, would you still treat me this way? Or would you be like those people… seeing me as a trading commodity?’