The Long Night

Qin Ran slept, but not completely. After all, he had ten thousand parts respect for the Hengduan Mountains, so how could he dare to sleep unguardedly in the wilderness? At the first sign of movement on the ground, he noticed something was wrong and woke up.

"What's going on?" The tree hollow was still shaking continuously, and Qin Ran was a little panicked, "Is it an earthquake?"

But he didn't have to struggle for long before the clear sounds of a beast herd trampling the ground gave him the answer.

"Boom boom..."

It was very obvious that a large group of demonic beasts had run past the huge tree where they were, heading towards somewhere in the forest.

The beast herd didn't seem to notice this tree hollow. Qin Ran's panicked heart gradually calmed down. Only then did he start paying attention to the causes and consequences of the beast herd's actions. He listened carefully - the direction the beast herd was heading seemed to be... precisely the direction where the snake had bitten the leopard and left.

Qin Ran couldn't see clearly what kind of demonic beasts were in the herd, as there wasn't a ray of light in the darkness. But he always felt something was wrong. His keen perception brought by his spiritual sense told him the state of this group of demonic beasts was not right, somewhat frenzied.

Of course, although he felt something was wrong, Qin Ran still had no intention of going to investigate. Walking in the pitch darkness of the primeval forest was no different from seeking death.

Soon, the beast herd had completely passed by. The rumbling sound of the stampeding herd faded into the distance. The darkness suddenly became silent. The original noisy sounds of the forest had also disappeared because of the beast herd. In the darkness, there was only the sound of Li Shiyin's breathing, as if the beast herd had never come.

The night in the primeval forest should not be so quiet. There was definitely something wrong with the Hengduan Mountains... Qin Ran didn't dare sleep anymore. He stared wide-eyed into the darkness outside, but could see nothing but darkness.

"Maybe I should cultivate an eye technique," he thought to himself.

The tree hollow was very cramped. Sitting and sleeping with bent legs, Li Shiyin was sleeping very uncomfortably. She suddenly twisted her body and fidgeted for a good while before finally finding a comfortable position. She smacked her lips and her breathing gradually became steady.

After Li Shiyin settled down, Qin Ran continued to vigilantly watch the outside. This girl really knew how to find a good position. Her upper body was lying in his arms with her head resting on his thigh. She curled up and, although not as comfortable as a bed, she had actually managed to lie down and sleep in this tree hollow.

The scent of the young girl's body filled the entire tree hollow, the smell warm, sweet and fragrant, very pleasant to the nose. Qin Ran sniffed lightly as he felt the softness of the girl's body on his thigh. Strangely, in the darkness of this primeval forest, he felt a trace of tranquility... a feeling of home.

Although they were in the primeval forest, with darkness, demonic beasts and danger outside the tree hollow, Qin Ran had an inexplicable feeling of snug comfort, like listening to the sound of rain on a rainy night while nestled under the quilt.

"Is it because of her?" he asked himself inwardly.

No one answered him, but he started to enjoy the fragrance, gently caressing Li Shiyin's hair with his left hand, and placing his right hand on her back. He gently hugged the young girl's soft body to let her sleep more comfortably.

Qin Ran looked out again into the darkness outside. Suddenly he no longer felt the danger within.

He started thinking that before Li Shiyin came, his life was dull and boring. Although he had made plans for each of his future steps that would allow him to safely form his core from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation, such a life was really too boring. It was because he was too afraid of this world, and had made plans to escape.

After Li Shiyin came, although everything was disrupted, and his life had completely centered around Li Shiyin, little by little, his future was no longer clear, but... he felt hopeful.

"Is this raising a daughter or a wife?" he jokingly asked himself inwardly, "It's taking on a disciple..."

Qin Ran's mind began to recall the plot of "The Return of the Condor Heroes". Hmm, is this a gender-swapped version? In that case, wouldn't he be... by a certain female demon...

Ah!

Suddenly, there was a light in the darkness outside. The light was piercing. Qin Ran instinctively closed his eyes, then squinted to see. Under that giant tree, something was glowing, blurry in shape, looking like lingzhi mushroom or ginseng.

"Life prolonging medicine?" Although he had never seen it, that was what Qin Ran's mind told him. He felt surprised and delighted - he, Qin, actually had a chance to pick up a windfall treasure!

He hurriedly got up, wanting to go pick it up, but the next moment he sat back down with a thud...

Not because of anything else, only because his thighs had gone numb from Li Shiyin pressing on them.

But with this sitting down, it cleared his mind. Forget that it couldn't possibly be any life prolonging medicine. Even if it really was, given his personality, he would never just go and pick it up, at least not without making several plans first.

That was definitely no immortal medicine. He realized it and knew for sure it was a trap. Just now he had been bewitched in his mind unconsciously.

"Phew..." Qin Ran breathed lightly, silently activating the nameless mantra from Dan Peak to steady his mind.

Soon, more lights representing other medicinal materials emerged from that bright light, but Qin Ran was unmoved. After a while, it showed swords and medicine cauldrons, but Qin Ran remained unmoved. After another while, the light and shadows gradually converged.

An enchanting and beautiful woman emerged, absorbing the light. She was wearing only a few scraps of clothing, revealing snow white skin, a perfect face, plump breasts, captivating waist, perky buttocks, slender legs - every inch of her body was perfect.

As the light and shadows converged towards her, she turned her body to the side, like a peacock spreading its tail, once again revealing her graceful and alluring figure, bewitching and soul-stealing.

Qin Ran no longer silently recited the mantra, but read it aloud: "The universe is mine, chaos becomes clear. As I am the cosmos..."

Despite this, he was unable to stop his brother from rebelling - his pants stood at attention. Before long, he felt his nose go hot as blood started to flow out.

He wanted to get up again to spend a passionate night with the woman under the tree, but with hands propped on the hollow entrance, he still did not get up.

The woman stood under the tree for a good while. Seeing that Qin Ran showed no intention of coming out, the light completely receded and a bewitching, charming voice spoke disdainfully from the darkness:

"A coward with desire but no guts."

Before the light and shadows faded away completely, Qin Ran saw the woman turn around - several fluffy tails had grown from her buttocks. Her upper body then leaned forward as fur grew over her body, transforming into a fox shape. She leapt into the depths of the darkness.

"So it was just a fox demon!" He breathed a sigh of relief, "She already has five tails."

A five tailed fox demon had at least the strength of early Core Formation.

As for why the fox demon didn't simply break through the barrier and enter the tree hollow... Qin Ran didn't really understand either.

Asked whether Qin Ran had resisted the fox demon's seductions, the answer was no.

Then why could he restrain himself from going out? Because he was afraid.

This was why the fox demon had called him a "coward with desire but no guts". Her bewitching techniques had already taken effect, but he just didn't go out, which was why she directly left instead of wasting more effort.

After the fox demon left, the danger was eliminated, but...

Some of the danger remained.

His brother still seemed very spirited, stubbornly refusing to calm down. Qin Ran kept taking deep breaths, even reciting "the mind like still water, unmoved by the collapse of heaven", but nothing worked. The scent of the young girl that had previously seemed warm and fragrant now turned into a fatal poison.

Until...

Li Shiyin turned over and struck down with her elbow.

"Ah!"

Qin Ran cried out in pain, and then the whole world settled down.

It was a long night full of twists and turns, and extreme danger. Qin Ran waited for a very long time for daylight, remaining tense the whole time, eyes wide open and vigilant.

Much, much later, the darkness in the forest gradually became visible. The world slowly became clearer, covered by a layer of gray. Then, light began to emerge.

Day had finally broken.