Chapter 286

Solace

"Surprise, surprise!" Li Yundong said, finding a great deal of amus.e.m.e.nt in Chan"er"s gobsmacked expression, in particular, the adorable O-shape of her mouth . His heart still ached from witnessing Chan"er"s meltdown earlier, so it was refreshing to see an emotion other than sorrow and guilt on her face . He had noticed, ever since their reunion under the bridge, that Chan"er had lost some her carefree and cheery disposition . They weren"t gone, just buried under layers of guilt and apprehension . And he also knew that until they could successfully rescue Wushuang-qiánbèi from Yan Fang"s clutches, those parts of Chan"er would remain buried .

"Princess?" Li Yundong prompted when Chan"er didn"t react for about a minute or so .

"A- Are you serious?" Chan"er"s round eyes settled on his face . "Y- You"re not just pulling my leg are you, beloved?"

"I"m serious, Chan"er," Li Yundong spoke with sobriety . He wouldn"t joke about this, not when an old man had all but entrusted his entire legacy to him, had beseeched him with his dying eyes to take care of a school that he himself was no longer capable of protecting .

"But… But how?" Chan"er"s face scrunched up in confusion . "How did that even happen?"

Beats the h.e.l.l out of me too, princess…

"Grandmaster Liu Ye was already dying when I arrived," Li Yundong explained . "My job was to hold off the Great Six"s army while Cao Yi"—Chan"er"s eyes darted to his face at the mention of her shībó"s name—"tried to save the grandmaster"s life . " Li Yundong sighed, remembering the tough battle . There were multiples times when he really thought he was screwed . The lull ended when Li Yundong shook his head and picked up where he had left off . "The grandmaster didn"t make it . Before he died, I begged him to tell me where you were . " He met Chan"er"s eyes briefly and found that she was listening to him with rapt attention . "Zi Yuan said he has the power to find you . " He exhaled slowly through his nose . "In the end, he agreed to tell me where you are . But in return, I have to fulfill his dying request . "

Understanding shone in Chan"er"s eyes . "By becoming the new head of the Fox Zen School . "

Li Yundong nodded . Grandmaster Liu"s declaration had come out of nowhere, but the other fox spirits were quick to acknowledge him as the new leader, no doubt out of necessity .

"Wow . "

"The grandmaster… he… well…" Li Yundong cleared his throat and shot Chan"er a wary glance . "He told me you"d be happy if I take over the Fox Zen School . "

Chan"er was still staring at him in awe, seemingly unaware of his insecurities .

"Are you?" Li Yundong prompted when Chan"er didn"t react for quite a while .

Chan"er"s eyes cleared a little . "Hmm?"

"Are you okay with this? With me leading the Fox Zen School, I mean . " Truth be told, he thought Ao Wushuang was better suited to lead the school . Powerful . Strong . Knew a lot of spells . And most importantly, she was a fox spirit, someone who actually knew about the ways of fox spirits .

Maybe he should resign and give the position to Wushuang-qiánbèi after they got her back . He was the head, right? He had to power to name the next head of the Fox Zen School . He could take a page out of Grandmaster Liu"s book and do that same thing the old man did .

Soft arms wrapped around his neck, and Li Yundong resisted the urge to bury his face in that familiar warmth .

"Are you kidding?" Chan"er squealed lightly . "Of course I"m okay with it! More than okay, actually! I"m happy!"

Li Yundong looped his arms around Chan"er"s waist and sighed in relief . "I"m glad to hear that . "

Chan"er ended the hug and stared down at him with a puzzled expression, the sight of which eased the tight knot inside Li Yundong"s chest . He was glad to see that some of Chan"er"s inquisitiveness had returned . He missed Chan"er"s silly questions and her seemingly boundless capacity for curiosity . He missed her carefree att.i.tude and her capacity to find joy in pretty much everything . He missed her funny terminologies for daily objects . He wondered if she still called TVs talking boxes, if she missed her favorite soap shows .

"Does that mean I have to call you Li zhǎngmén from now on?" Chan"er"s nose wrinkled adorably .

A laugh tore past Li Yundong"s lips . "Of course not . " Chan"er squealed when he suddenly pinched her backside . "Just call me like usual . "

Chan"er"s eyes went round, and they stared at each other for a few seconds until Chan"er frowned . Li Yundong felt a sudden urge to smooth out the creases on her brows .

"But that"s so disrespectful," Chan"er argued . "You"re the head of a sect now . "

"Exactly . I"m the head of your sect . Which means you have to listen to my orders . " Li Yundong smirked . "And let this be my first order to you . Don"t use any strange honorifics when you"re addressing me . "

Chan"er gaped at him .

Li Yundong chuckled . "How about it? That"s a direct order from the Head of the Fox Zen School . " Li Yundong raised a brow challengingly . "Will you obey it?"

Chan"er"s cheeks puffed out as a huge pout formed on her lips . "Fine," she mumbled .

Chan"er sputtered when her cheeks deflated after he poked them with his finger . "Good girl . "

Chan"er slid forward in his lap, which she had been straddling for the past ten minutes, much to his delight (or agony, depending on how you look at it) .

"So the late Grandmaster Liu told you to look for me at the bridge?" Chan"er mumbled against his chest .

Li Yundong reached up to stroke her hair . "Not exactly . "

"Mm?"

Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "If only his instructions were that specific . "

Neither of them spoke while Li Yundong"s chuckles petered out . Li Yundong let out a weary sigh . "I actually made a mess of things while I was looking for you . "

Chan"er tensed up .

For a moment, Li Yundong was unable to speak, remembering how hopeless he felt when was facing those invincible arhats .

"Beloved?"

Their gazes met again .

"I thought you were dead, Chan"er . "

Chan"er"s mouth curved into that adorable O-shape again . He would"ve kissed it right off her pretty lips if he wasn"t still so shaken by the thought of Chan"er being the one lying half-dead inside that paG.o.da .

Li Yundong lowered his head until his chin touched his clavicle . "It was a misunderstanding . " He shook his head a few times . "But at that moment, you have no idea how scared I was . "

His head was lifted again by the soft touch of Chan"er"s fingers on his jawline .

"But I"m fine, Yundong! See!" Chan"er beamed . "Hehehe…"

Chan"er"s attempt at rea.s.surance drew a chuckle out of him, but his laugh fell flat as soon as it left his lips . "Grandmaster Liu Ye told me I"d find you near some pond in Mount Qili . I took a cab here as soon as I arrived in Dongwu City, but the place is huge . I tried calling your phone, but you didn"t pick up . So I ended up looking all over the place for you . At one point I thought you were captured by a bunch of lamas so I barged into a temple to rescue you . "

"Temple?" Chan"er"s eyes went round . "Oh, you mean Xiyuan Temple . "

Li Yundong nodded . "Yes . "

Chan"er looked adorably confused . "What gave you the idea that I was captured?"

Li Yundong thought she sounded a little offended at the idea, but he decided not to comment on it .

"I was…" Li Yundong sighed . "I was looking for you at a place with all these food establishments . "

"Ooh! The famous noodle shop?" Chan"er piped in .

At least the mention of food could get Chan"er excited now . She didn"t seem excited at all during supper .

Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . " He chuckled . "I thought I"d be able to find you there . " He gave her a sly glance, then pinched her b.u.t.t . "Coz you"re always hungry . "

Chan"er blushed .

"I thought you"d be out for supper or something . " Li Yundong rubbed the side of her arms a few times, then let his hands drop . "Anyway . I entered the noodle shop and overheard a bunch of lamas talking about burning a"—He did air quotes—"demon witch alive . I listened to them for a while until they began to describe the physical appearance of this girl that they had captured . " Li Yundong stared deep into Chan"er"s eyes . "The description matched yours . "

"Oh . "

Li Yundong nodded . "I knew there was a chance that they weren"t talking about you at all, but I didn"t want to risk it . " He sighed . "So I decided to check it out . I followed the lamas to Xiyuan Temple . And then at the temple, I learned that they were actually conducting a ritual to exterminate two animal spirits . "

Li Yundong held Chan"er"s gaze for a second or two . His princess seemed rather taken aback as well .

"So you can imagine how scared I was . " Li Yundong paused to look at Chan"er . "I mean, an animal spirit with physical descriptions that fit yours to a tee? What are the chances, right?" He sighed . "I tried to get more information out of the lamas, but they told me they had no idea what kind of animal spirit they were dealing with . I even tried to show your photo to a lama, but the guy wouldn"t even look at it . The whole thing didn"t sit right with me . " He shook his head . "I couldn"t let it go . I wanted to confirm for myself that you weren"t there, so I crashed the ritual . " Li Yundong gave Chan"er a wry smile . "There was a fight . "

"A fight?"

Li Yundong waved his hand a few times . "There were these arhats flying around . "

Chan"er gasped . "A- Arhats?"

Li Yundong nodded . "Those things were G.o.dd.a.m.ned tough . And they were indestructible . "

"Oh my G.o.d, Yundong!" Chan"er gaped at him . "That"s the infamous Great Arhat Formation!"

Li Yundong chuckled . "So I"ve been told . "

"And you got past it!" Chan"er"s voice sounded high-pitched . He wasn"t sure if it was due to fear or excitement .

"Barely . " Li Yundong smiled wryly . "Well, obviously neither of those animal spirits were you . The ritual must have already taken effect by the time I barged into the place . Coz those two transformed into a pair of giant snakes and escaped . "

"What color?"

"Gold . "

"Golden snakes," Chan"er whispered to herself .

"Yeah . " He sighed . "I made a mess . "

Silence reigned .

"I"m sorry," Chan"er said after a moment .

Li Yundong patted her head gently . "It"s not your fault . "

"How did you know I was under that bridge?"

Li Yundong smiled . "The head lama of Xiyuan Temple gave me a riddle when we parted ways . "

"A riddle?" Chan"er looked so puzzled right now that she might as well have been told a riddle herself .

Li Yundong"s smile widened into a grin . "He told me to go back where I came from . "

The look puzzlement remained on Chan"er"s face .

Li Yundong laughed . "Still vague, I know . " He stopped laughing and held Chan"er"s gaze . "Anyway . I retraced my steps and found you under the bridge . "

"Mm . " Chan"er smiled . "I missed you, beloved . "

Li Yundong pulled her forward until her face was buried in his chest . "I"m so glad I found you, Chan"er," he whispered into her hair . "So glad . "

They stayed like that for a while until Chan"er pulled back .

"So . What"s the plan now, Li"—Chan"er poked at his cheek repeatedly—"zhǎngmén?"

Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at her .

Chan"er kept poking his cheek . "Li zhǎngmén… Li zhǎngmén," she said in a singsong voice .

"Why you little…"

Li Yundong tickled her sides .

"Kya!!! Hahaha…" Chan"er"s voice turned into a series of wheezes . "Stop! Stop! Please! Please!"

Li Yundong kept tickling her . "What did I say about disobeying my orders, hmm?" he growled into her ear playfully .

"Alright! Alright! Beloved! Beloved! Beloved!"

Li Yundong took mercy on her and stopped tickling her .

Then, he waited until Chan"er"s giggles had subsided before he began speaking again . "We need to find Yan Fang . " Li Yundong glanced at Chan"er, who was drying her tears with her sleeves .

Chan"er nodded .

"We"ll regroup with Zi Yuan and the others in Tiannan City . " He paused in thought . "After that we"ll come up with a plan together to look for Yan Fang . "

Chan"er raised her palm in a salute . "Yes! Li zhang…" She gave him a sly look .

Li Yundong wiggled his hands playfully .

"Beloved! Beloved!" Chan"er grinned . "Hehehe…"

Li Yundong chuckled and kissed her forehead . "It"s going to okay, Chan"er . It"s going to be okay . "