"What? System, what kind of mission is this? How is this related to being invincible?"
"Ding, host, invincibility isn't just about unmatched combat power. What's the point of an invincible path without beauties accompanying you?"
"So, host, go strive! For invincibility! For beauties! For the Kagura Mind's Eye! Go strive!"
"Alright, alright! System, you really understand me! But Qian Renxue is in the Hall of Worship, and she rarely comes out under normal circumstances!"
"Host, leave it to me! Gibberish!"
After listening to the system's gibberish, Su Yu immediately had an idea.
"System, you're amazing! I'll go prepare right away!"
Three days later in the afternoon, sunlight filtered through the gaps between leaves, casting dappled spots of light on the small path behind Spirit Hall.
Following the information provided by the system, Su Yu came alone to this rarely visited place.
The mountain path was rugged, surrounded by overgrown grass and trees, with occasional insect chirps and bird calls breaking the silence.
"Who would have thought that Qian Renxue would hide here alone."
Su Yu looked at the small trail trampled ahead and murmured to himself.
"This place is really remote. Who would come here for no reason?"
He hadn't walked far along the trail when a young but aggrieved female voice reached his ears.
"Xiao Hui! Tell me, why doesn't that woman like me?"
Qian Renxue's voice was filled with deep confusion and disappointment.
"I've worked so hard, I'm more outstanding than all of them..."
This was followed by several cheerful "woof woof woof" sounds, like responses from a small dog.
"Huh? Xiao Hui, you think she's wrong too, right?"
The girl's voice became slightly more cheerful, then fell again.
"But... after all, she is my mother."
"Xiao Hui, Xiao Hui, I wish you could talk."
She sighed softly, her tone full of childish melancholy.
"That way you could listen to me talk more, and even tell me what I should do to make her look at me more..."
Su Yu slowed his steps and peered through the dense bushes ahead.
Not far away, on a blue stone sat a small figure—it was Qian Renxue.
She was holding a fluffy gray puppy in her arms, gently combing through its fur with her fingers.
At this moment, she seemed less willful than usual, with more of a pitiable vulnerability.
The puppy called "Xiao Hui" seemed to sense Qian Renxue's emotions.
It lowered its head to nuzzle her palm, then made several docile whimpers.
Su Yu stood in place, not approaching immediately.
He could feel that at this moment, Qian Renxue had shed all her sharp edges and disguises.
What was revealed was the most genuine side of a child yearning for maternal love but unable to obtain it.
"Who's there?!"
Qian Renxue suddenly turned her head, her sharp gaze shooting like an arrow toward the bushes where Su Yu was hiding.
The vulnerability from moments before was instantly replaced by vigilance, her voice carrying anger at being disturbed and a trace of barely noticeable panic.
Seeing no movement from the bushes, her frown deepened as she snorted coldly:
"Hmph, playing mysterious tricks, thinking hiding will solve everything?"
Seeing that he'd been discovered, Su Yu simply pushed through the bushes and stepped out. "It's me."
When Qian Renxue saw it was him, her tense shoulders relaxed slightly, then tightened again.
A flicker of embarrassment at having her thoughts exposed passed through her light purple eyes, while Xiao Hui in her arms barked warily at Su Yu.
"Are you following me?" She raised an eyebrow, attempting to mask her fluster with her usual sharpness, but her hands instinctively tightened around Xiao Hui. "Is this a place you should be?"
Su Yu replied calmly, "I just happened to be passing by and came to check when I heard some noise." His gaze swept over her slightly reddened eyes, but he didn't mention what he had overheard earlier. "This place is remote. If something happened to you here alone, what would you do?"
Qian Renxue stiffened her neck and retorted, "What's it to you? I'm not like you people, kept under that woman's watch in the Papal Hall! What does me being here have to do with you? Meanwhile, you're sneaking around in the bushes—what are you up to?"
Xiao Hui shifted restlessly in her arms. She lowered her head to smooth the dog's fur, her voice softening unconsciously but still stubborn: "If you've had your fill of laughing at me, then leave. Don't stand there being an eyesore."
"I'm not here to laugh at you. And I didn't intentionally eavesdrop on what you said!"
"Hmph, you're just like that woman, full of schemes! Who knows what you're plotting?" She paused, her tone growing more forceful with an undeniable urge to drive him away: "This is my personal territory—you have no right to disturb it! Get lost!"
"Girls shouldn't always be so aggressive. Be careful, or no one will want you in the future." Su Yu watched her bristling reaction, a hint of barely perceptible teasing in his tone.
Qian Renxue reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her eyes widening in outrage. Even Xiao Hui in her arms trembled at her sudden movement: "Bah! You're the one no one wants! I'm naturally beautiful and exceptionally talented—the line of people who like me could stretch from here all the way outside the Martial Soul Holy City!" As she spoke, she subconsciously straightened her posture, as if emphasizing her excellence.
Xiao Hui shook its head in her arms and licked her fingers, as if to comfort her.
Su Yu watched her tsundere demeanor and chuckled inwardly, though his expression remained neutral: "Oh? That's quite impressive. But talk is cheap. If you were truly capable, you wouldn't be hiding here pouring your heart out to a little dog, would you?"
"You!" Qian Renxue was struck where it hurt, momentarily speechless, before stiffening her neck again: "You—what do you know! I was... I was bonding with Xiao Hui!!!"
Ignoring her resistance, Su Yu walked directly over and sat on the nearby bluestone, leaving half an arm's length between them. "Qian Renxue, being too tsundere makes it hard to keep friends," he said flatly, as if stating the obvious.
Qian Renxue froze, instinctively wanting to retort, but he cut her off with his next words.
"If you have something on your mind, you can talk to me. Don't worry—I'm tight-lipped and would never tell anyone else." He added, "We can be like a cat and a tree hollow."
"A cat and a tree hollow?" Qian Renxue frowned, clearly unfamiliar with the phrase, a trace of confusion in her light purple eyes. "What's that?"
"It means," Su Yu smiled and explained, "when a cat has worries, it'll chatter away to a tree hollow for ages. The tree hollow can't speak, but it keeps all the cat's secrets and never tells another soul."
Qian Renxue felt a bit embarrassed under Su Yu's gaze, turning her head away as she stubbornly said:
"Who wants to talk about this with you? I have no worries."
Despite her words, her grip on Xiao Hui loosened slightly, and the aloof aura around her quietly faded a little.