Brother, how come you're a witch?

The water in Guanyu Valley is cold, icy and bone-chilling.

Ning Jiu didn't care. She took off her shoes and soaked her feet in the clear water, occasionally kicking up a few splashes of water, humming a random song as she listened to the splashing sound.

Big Tooth and Short Tail lay behind her, yawning listlessly.

"Hey, you two big dogs, if you have foul mouths, don't open your mouths so wide!"

Ning Jiu pinched her nose and fanned herself in disgust.

She still couldn't accept that she and these two big creatures were practically the same kind.

"Chirp, chirp!"

Suddenly, a clear bird song came from above.

The rabbits and monsters all looked up and saw a little oriole carrying a bulging silk bag, swaying as it landed.

"You're late, you idiot!"

Ning Jiu stood with her hands on her hips, attacking each beast with displeasure and indifference.

"Chirp!"

The little oriole cried out indignantly and threw the bag into Ning Jiu's arms, just to let her know how heavy it was.

With his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, Ning Jiu easily caught the bag and then placed it on the ground to open it.

Two monsters peeked out from behind her, one on the left and one on the right, while the little oriole landed on her head, tilting its head back and forth.

The things inside were, of course, given to us by Liu Baishuang.

A large box of tree fruits produced by Lingshou Peak, several wooden boxes, several porcelain bottles, and a simple drawing.

Ning Jiu is illiterate, so this is the only way they have been communicating these past two days.

However, this rabbit was quite quick to understand. It followed the picture and connected its big teeth and short tail, and learned that it had to come to this place on time every day to wait for the little oriole.

"Ugh."

Ning Jiu sighed and reluctantly took out the painting to look at it. If it weren't for the pollution in her body that kept her under Liu Baishuang's control, she wouldn't be doing such a brain-burning thing every day.

"Let me see... Hmm... There's a drawing of a dog with a missing paw here. It's probably telling you to take these medicines to it, and then... uh, it just stopped moving?"

She frowned, feeling that the painting wasn't finished, and sure enough, there was more on the back:

"Oh, no, no, it means after you meet up with it, continue forward and stop when you encounter a one-eyed dog."

Short Tail and Big Teeth looked at each other, nudged Ning Jiu with their snouts, and urged her to do as they said.

"Hurry up, hurry up, humph, all you're giving me is a box of tree fruits and you expect me to do so much."

Ning Jiu puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction, hung the wooden box and bottle on his short tail, then picked up his pen and added a few more strokes to the blank space of the painting.

She drew two simple figures, using circles for their heads, one with the corners of their mouths pointing upwards and the other with the corners pointing downwards.

She then drew a square house next to the two of them, and immediately pouted:

"Hmm, Foundation Establishment? Pig... Chicken—"

Although Ning Jiu was illiterate, she wasn't completely illiterate. At least she knew what pigs and chickens were, and she thought they tasted delicious.

After doing all this, she stuffed the painting back into the silk bag, added a few bottles of the antiperspirant incense that Liu Baishuang said she wanted to study, and had the little oriole carry it in its claws, before it wobbled and rose into the sky.

Big Teeth and Short Tail didn't linger either. One of the beasts licked Ning Jiu, leaving her covered in wet, smelly saliva, before turning and running away into the distance.

"..."

Ning Jiu's lips trembled, and she grabbed a handful of sticky, glistening saliva from her body, stomping her foot angrily:

"Bad woman! Bad monster! Humph!"

The little oriole flapped its wings, rose to a certain height, and flew towards Shuiyue Peak.

The return journey was much easier than the journey there, and we arrived in no time.

The night is dark.

It skillfully navigated through the half-open window of the pavilion, landed on Liu Baishuang's desk, tossed aside the silk bag, and collapsed from exhaustion, its small chest heaving rapidly.

Liu Baishuang was reading at her desk when she heard the sound. She put down her book and, seeing the little oriole's appearance, smiled and rewarded it with a handful of spirit grains.

She untied the silk bag and took out the painting first.

Liu Baishuang couldn't help but burst out laughing when her gaze fell on Ning Jiu's newly added sketch.

This little rabbit is really interesting.

"It was expected that he would seek out Ye Jingqiu as a protector at the Foundation Establishment Society, but I didn't expect it to be with Ning Jiu."

Liu Baishuang murmured to herself, a hint of bitterness creeping into her smile.

In that case, wouldn't she be the only one who did absolutely nothing in Su Yan's Foundation Establishment process? Originally, she had the biggest advantage.

She couldn't even offer a word of concern as 'Li Changsheng'. Xu Qinglan confiscated her communication jade token because she sneaked out to play, saying he would only return it if she performed well in the Ultimate Sword Cultivator Challenge.

"Ugh..."

Liu Baishuang held her head, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and after racking her brains for a long time, she finally came up with a way to make her presence known.

"Regarding what happened on Xiaozhu Peak, the sect's promised compensation hasn't been given to him yet."

I originally intended to give them Foundation Establishment Pills, but Xu Qinglan beat me to it, so I had to give them something else.

Liu Baishuang walked to the bedside, pulled out a large box from under the bed, and opened it.

It was filled with romance novels and several storage bags.

Her storage bag was full of spirit stones, which she had saved up by deducting money from her allowance every month. She had prepared for the worst and planned to use them if she had to run away.

But now...

Liu Baishuang took out the fullest storage bag and tossed it to the little oriole:

"Remember that shop we went to last time? Deliver it to them first thing tomorrow morning."

"Chirp chirp?"

The little oriole flapped its wings in protest, but was quickly won over by Liu Baishuang with another handful of spirit grains.

It swallowed its anger and lowered its head to peck at the grains one by one.

"Hmph, Master was right."

Liu Baishuang raised her chin slightly, looking rather smug.

But it's really strange.

Although Master clearly looked down on the minor path of Beast Taming, after spending a few days at Spirit Beast Peak, he started talking about Liu Baishuang, telling her to pay attention to cultivating the bond between herself and the spirit beasts, and to feed the little yellow oriole more delicious food.

I don't know what caused Master's change.

It shouldn't be Su Yan...

Liu Baishuang lightly tapped her chin with her knuckles, frowned, and shook her head.

She walked back to the large trunk, about to close it and push it under the bed, when her gaze fell on a white tassel tucked into the corner of the trunk.

That was the sword tassel she picked up from the outer market yesterday.

This snow-white sword tassel is exactly the same as the ones she usually weaves and hangs on the hilt of her sword, and it is kept deep in a small alley known only to her and her master.

Who would do that?

Liu Baishuang's eyes flickered; she could only think of one answer.

"Is it me? The future me...?"

This also explains the claim that it was a counterfeit.

but......

"Su Yan and Ye Jingqiu clearly saw my future self, yet they didn't find anything wrong with it?"

Liu Baishuang pursed her lips, puzzled.

Leaving aside that stupid swordswoman Ye Jingqiu, Su Yan would definitely notice something was wrong.

He always talked about how terrifying the future world-destroying demoness would be, practically a calamity herself, saying that just standing there and looking at her would shorten one's lifespan...

If Su Yan could see her in the future, how could he not notice?

"The more I think about it, the more mysteries there are."

Liu Baishuang rubbed her forehead.

Even if that really was her from the future, what was the meaning of leaving behind this sword tassel? Was it simply a way of remembering her, or was she hoping someone would find it?

Liu Baishuang's eyes, hidden in the shadow of her palm, flickered a few times, and she suddenly had a certain intuition.

"...Let's hang this tassel on the flying swords used in the competition."