Zi Che shuddered slightly and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, a brilliant light shone within his eyes. The freedom that returned to him after a long period of time made him suck in a deep breath. When he looked at Su Ming and saw the calm gaze leveled at him, Zi Che quickly straightened his thoughts and wrapped his fist around his palm to bow.
"Master…"
"Just call me uncle master. I released your seal for ten days. Within ten days, you must come back," Su Ming interrupted Zi Che’s words. He did not know when it started, but Zi Che had gradually started to refer to him as his owner.
When he heard Su Ming’s words, Zi Che fell silent for a moment. "Uncle master, I won’t need ten days, just three to five days are sufficient for me. I’ll take my leave now."
Zi Che took a few steps back and flew up in a long arc. He took a leap in the sky before charging towards the horizon.
After Zi Che left, Su Ming’s gaze fell on Bai Su, who was still hanging upside down. With a wave of his right hand, her body was instantly flipped over and placed on the ground. At the same time, the drawing board and charcoal flew towards her and floated beside her.
"Su Ming, you…"
Bai Su might have been suspended in the air for most of the day, but her anger was still burning strongly, making her look like an angry lion cub. She might not be baring her teeth and showing her claws, but her expression was quite close to that of a lion cub.
"If you continue making noise, I’ll chase you out of the mountain today! And I’ll never tell you what I drew."
The ghost of a smile appeared on Su Ming’s lips. His tone was not high, but it made Bai Su glare angrily at him for a while. She then turned her head sideways and let out a harrumph.
During these three months, Su Ming had discovered one of Bai Su’s weaknesses. This girl’s curiosity far exceeded a normal person’s and she really wanted to know what Su Ming had been drawing the past few months. Once he caught onto it, Su Ming gained the upper hand most of the times when he spoke to Bai Su.
When he saw that she was no longer bothering him, Su Ming no longer continued trying to bring about any transformation to his Divine General Armor but brought out his drawing board and began copying the Golden Roc’s flight with full attention.
Time pa.s.sed by, and soon the sun set, though the last rays of light still shone in the sky, creating a beautiful scene. At that moment, Bai Su found herself unable to quell her curiosity once again and walked to Su Ming’s side with a frown, then watched him sketching on the drawing board that remained empty in her eyes.
No matter how long she watched it, she could not see anything, just like how she usually could not.
‘Hmph, you’re just pretending to be mysterious!’ Bai Su mumbled in her heart and cast a glance at Su Ming. He looked incredibly focused on his task, and that attentive look made him even more horrible in Bai Su’s eyes for some unknown reason.
However, she simply thought he was horrible, the disdain and scorn of a few months ago was no longer there.
Bai Su did not notice this unconscious change that had happened to her.
When dusk was over and the sky gradually became dark, she averted her gaze and let out a few fake coughs by the side.
"I know what you’re drawing."
"So you’re drawing this, huh..?"
"Not bad. It’s marginally acceptable, but there’s something wrong with this part."
As Bai Su spoke, she quickly pointed at a spot on Su Ming’s drawing board with her right hand.
"But there’s something lacking in this drawing, so the entire feel for the portrait is gone… If you change the brush strokes here, then it’ll be better."
"This part too isn’t really that good."
Bai Su put on an air as if she had seen through what Su Ming was drawing and started giving directions as if she was an old expert in this.
Yet Su Ming continued to be like a block of wood, as if he did not hear her.
Though she might be slightly used to Su Ming ignoring her this way, Bai Su still felt herself burning with rage. She had a feeling that all her anger of this life had been forcefully dragged out of her during the course of these three months. This was something that was rarely seen in her life.
"You self-conceited, egotistical jerk! You’re just pretending to be mysterious, pretending to be deaf. You jerk! Jerk!" Bai Su stomped her feet and turned around to walk to the side.
She was just about to leave, but after taking a few steps, she found herself not wanting to take defeat lying down. She turned her head back and looked at Su Ming, who was still sitting on the platform with his usual calm expression, fully absorbed in drawing.
Bai Su glared at him angrily for a long while before grabbing her drawing board and sitting down. Once she scribbled on it with her charcoal, the anger on her face turned into a smile, though she still occasionally glared at Su Ming.
Eventually, when it was completely dark, she placed her drawing board before Su Ming, let out a snort again, and left the mountain.
When she left, a pleased expression appeared on her face once again. Her lips would occasionally curl up in a happy smile as she was on her way back to the seventh summit, looking forward to tomorrow.
"It’s his fault for bullying me. I’ll ask him whether he saw my drawing tomorrow and how it looks like to him."
Bai Su placed her hands behind her back and walked up the mountain happily. Her hair, which were tied with a red string, danced in the air. The two braids by her ears swayed as she moved, making her look incredibly adorable.
The smile on her lips and the smug expression on her face made Bai Su possess a completely different beauty compared to a few months prior.
"Ah, isn’t that sister Su Su? Come, let your older sister look at you. Just what exactly made you so happy?"
A delicate laughter came from behind Bai Su as she walked up the seventh summit’s stairs. Soon, girl who was about the same age as Bai Su came out as well.
The girl was also very pretty, and as she laughed, a teasing look appeared on her face.
Bai Su quickly turned her head back. When she saw the girl, a light flush appeared on her cheeks, but she soon glared at her.
"Chen Chan Er, you’re younger than me by a few days, how dare you call yourself my ‘older sister’? I’m older than you, and I entered the school earlier than you did. I’m the senior sister here." As Bai Su spoke, she also started laughing and started playing with Chen Chan Er once she walked up to her.
"Alright, alright, you’re the senior brother… Ah, stop it, I’m ticklish…"
"It’s your fault for talking so weirdly to me just now."
Playful sounds along with laughter that sounded like silver bells echoing with joy traveled down the stairs leading up to the seventh summit. The two girls played and chased each other up the mountain.
"Su Su, I have to stop talking to you now. I have to go to eldest senior sister." Chen Chan Er patted her chest when they were at the mountainside, calmed her breathing, and spoke to Bai Su with a smile.
"Alright, I have to go back to my cave abode too." Bai Su’s cheeks were flushed due to her frolicking around just now. She nodded her head with a smile.
Chen Chan Er was just about to leave when she hesitated for a moment and looked at Bai Su.
"Su Su… I heard that you’ve been… going to the ninth summit for the past few months?"
Bai Su was taken aback. She cast a glance at Chen Chan Er and did not speak.
"I just saw you going to the ninth summit again to look for that horrid Su Ming." When Chen Chan Er mentioned Su Ming’s name, a look of distaste appeared on her face. "Su Su, that Su Ming is very annoying and egotistical. He thinks he can strut around like he’s some hotshot just because he came to a tie with senior brother Si Ma. Who the heck does he think he is? I hate that type of people the most.
"Don’t be fooled by his flattery. I understand that type of person the most, he…" When Chen Chan Er saw Bai Su not making a sound, she continued speaking.
Yet before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Bai Su.
"That’s enough. He’s not as hateful as you said he is."
Bai Su’s words tumbled out of her mouth instinctively, and when she finished speaking, she was stunned.
In her mind, she was the only one who could call him egotistical, pretentious, and arrogant. If anyone else said those things, she would feel uncomfortable.
"Su Su, you have to believe me. I understand him more than you do. I went to summon him over on behalf of eldest senior sister before, but I had to go there multiple times. I know exactly how he is!
"He definitely showers you with flatter and b.u.t.ters you up. He’s absolutely nothing compared to big brother Si Ma. Big brother Si Ma is the one who’s truly nice to you."
Chen Chan Er sighed lightly and looked at Bai Su.
Bai Su remained silent. When she heard Si Ma Xin’s name, a dazed look appeared in her eyes. He appeared faintly in her head, but she could not see him clearly.
Over the past few months, while she had initially wanted to see Si Ma Xin practically every single time, gradually, she would only think about him once every few days, and now, it had been a month or so that Si Ma Xin’s name had not appeared in her head.
"Su Su, wake up, Su Ming isn’t a good person. He’s too arrogant. He doesn’t even respect eldest senior sister, and it’s only been a few months since he entered the school. He won’t be able to last long with this att.i.tude. Sky Mist Shaman Hunt is about to begin, with his att.i.tude and with how he does things, he’ll definitely die!"
The moment Chen Chan Er said those words, she suddenly stopped speaking, because Bai Su had lifted her head to look at her, and her gaze was cold.
"First off, I have my reasons to go to the ninth summit. The arrogant and haughty person you said who will surely die has never spoken a nice word to me. When we’re together, most of the time, I’m the one talking and he’s usually silent.
"There are plenty of times where he’s immersed in his own world and other people cannot enter it. On the other hand, Si Ma… big brother Si Ma is completely different from him."
When she came to the latter half of her sentence, a mixed set of emotions filled her heart, causing her to be unable to continue. Instead, she turned around and left Chen Chan Er with an open mouth, as if she was about to speak.
Not long after Bai Su left the ninth summit, Su Ming slowly lowered his right hand. He lifted his head and looked at the sky. A frown gradually formed between his brows.
‘Something’s missing… I’ve been copying for three months, but I still can’t gain a deeper understanding towards this. It’s as if there’s a layer I can’t break through that’s covering the secret of the Golden Roc’s flight…
‘What am I lacking..?’
As Su Ming mulled over his thoughts, his gaze naturally fell on the drawing board Bai Su had left behind before she left.
The spot she placed the drawing board was ingenious. Su Ming would be able to see it the moment he lifted his head.
When he saw the drawing board, Su Ming smiled.
Bai Su had no talent for drawing. Most of the time, people would need to guess just what it was she had drawn, but this time, her drawing was simple. There was a girl with her hands on her hips on the drawing board. She stood on a cliff with her foot lifted and a smug expression on her face. She was kicking towards a huge pig that had its eyes closed and its head lowered.
By the looks of it, she wanted to kick the huge pig down the cliff.
There was Su Ming’s name scrawled on the pig’s forehead.
Su Ming shook his head and was about to avert his gaze when a bright glint appeared in his eyes. He stared at Bai Su’s drawing board and the light in his eyes grew brighter. Thunderous rumbles echoed in his head.
‘Could it be… it’s lacking…’