She daren't move, She daren't even breathe, She's frozen to the spot. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest...duh-duhn, duh-duhn. Deep heavy breathes sound nearby. The hairs on her arms stand to attention, as a militia of chills march down her spine. Cherry Lao, felt like melting as s.h.i.+n Jiao move really close and held her hand. His masculine scent is making her senses go crazy. It was her first time to feel this way towards the opposite s.e.x. Then her face became beet red, and she tried to hide by looking down.

She always acted cold and indifferent towards others, but that is due to them harboring malicious intentions towards her. The first time she met s.h.i.+n Jiao, she actually thought that he is the same as those other men, but upon seeing and experiencing his sincere heart and the way he took care of her in her time of need, the frozen heart she kept for a long time was towed, and now it is beating like crazy towards the handsome young man in front of her who is holding her hands.

"Cherry… I… I think… your… hands… are really beautiful than mine." s.h.i.+n Jiao said with a wide grin on his face.

BOOM!

It was as if everything went cras.h.i.+ng down, she was stupefied and her heart almost exploded not with joy or excitement but with anger. Her mind went blank as she didn't know what happened. Then anger and shame suddenly can be seen in her eyes and the temperature of the whole cave started to drop. She quickly raised her head to berate the shameless man.

"You! Umph…" Cherry Lao was about to lash out in anger when a soft wet lip suddenly covered hers.

It was all too sudden, s.h.i.+n Jiao kissing her. This made her heart almost skipped a beat. The anger that was swelling deep inside was suddenly doused. But then she remembers that she should not be doing this. Her precious first kiss should be given to the man she truly loves, but then she can't remember if she truly has been in love with someone before.

As her mind was in turmoil, s.h.i.+n Jiao didn't deepen the kiss. As he didn't want her to a.s.sume that he is some lecherous man trying to take advantage of an innocent woman. When their lips parted, Cherry felt a little disappointed. It was not enough, deep in her mind, a voice shouted. So she unconsciously moved forward, but then regained herself and held back her impulse to kiss him back.

"This is how I feel… And I will support your decisions. Okay?" s.h.i.+n Jiao whispered close to her.

"Umn…" Cherry Lao just nods her head.

She felt really happy and shy at the same time, Cherry Lao couldn't raise her head as she felt awkward and scared to look at s.h.i.+n Jiao's face.

"Cherry, you said that you wanted to return to your sect. So… when are do plan to go?" s.h.i.+n Jiao said to break the awkwardness between them.

"Ah… Umn… I don't know... What?... I mean… sooner?... Maybe?" Cherry Lao said with hesitation as her mind is still in a mess.

"Snap out of it... Or maybe you want another kiss?... I don't mind." s.h.i.+n Jiao teased seeing that she is still muddle-headed.

"You… you're shameless. You… you already have stolen my first kiss. Humph." Cherry Lao replied feeling a little annoyed as his words woke her up from her stupor.

She didn't want to look at s.h.i.+n Jiao so she just grumpily looks away.

"Alright, I'm sorry, hey… Look at me." s.h.i.+n Jiao said as he once again held her hand.

He stretched one of his hand then held her chin gently and lifted her head to face him. The blush on Cherry Lao's face makes her looks more charming and beautiful. s.h.i.+n Jiao almost couldn't help himself from giving her another kiss. But he held himself back, he needs her to be more proactive so that it would be a give and take thingy between them, then he let go after their eyes met.

"Were okay now right?" s.h.i.+n Jiao said with gentleness.

"Yes, umn… s.h.i.+n, I'm… I'm sorry for my selfishness. I know that you wanted to stay in this forest because of your unique physique. And I know that once you come back to town, you will face trouble and more problems because of me. For that, I am truly grateful." Sincerely said Cherry Lao after gaining her composure.

"Huh, what is she saying? Pfft! Now I get it. She thinks I'm staying in this forest because I'm hiding from the world outside. Well, that would also work." s.h.i.+n Jiao said to himself as he didn't plan to correct her idea about him.

As their eyes met no words can be said anymore between them. She knows that s.h.i.+n Jiao will always be there for her and she is thankful for that.

"Rest now. We'll leave early tomorrow morning." s.h.i.+n Jiao said.

"Umn… s.h.i.+n, can I ask you a question? Your ring… is it a spatial ring?" she asked with a curious gaze.

"Oh, this? Well… um..." s.h.i.+n Jiao felt a little pressure with the situation as he didn't expect her to ask this question.

But of course, he can still make some random stories again or just shut his mouth. He knows that she won't pry into this matter too deeply. But she did, it will hurt their trust with each other as she already opened up her heart to him and told him about her past and personal stories. But sometimes it's better to not know anything as it would only cause her more trouble.

Seeing the conflicting feelings in s.h.i.+n Jiao's eyes, Cherry Lao knows that she asked too much.

"I'm sorry. If you cannot tell me it's okay. I understand that there are secrets that you cannot tell."

"Cherry, it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just that I myself don't know what this is. All I know is that it can carry things like a storage device used by cultivators, that's it. This is actually given to me by my grandfather, it's our family heirloom. And he tasked me to protect it and never divulge it to other people. Here you can try and see for yourself." s.h.i.+n Jiao explained and gave her the ring.

She felt a little hesitant, but because of her curiosity, she accepted the ring and scrutinized it. She even sent her spiritual energy to check the ring but nothing happened. It's just a piece of jade nothing more, but of course, she knows that it's more than that. Without any result, she just gave it back to s.h.i.+n Jiao.

"See… Alright, let's rest now. Good night!" s.h.i.+n Jiao said as he stood up from the bed.

"Good night!" Cherry Lao replied afraid to look at him. But deep in her heart, she is expecting something, but when s.h.i.+n Jiao just walks towards the floor mat beside the bed where he usually sleeps, she felt a little disappointed once more.

The next day…

The morning sun is slowly rising on the eastern horizon, as the whole sky is slowly being colored in a golden hue. Within the forest, two figures are standing in front of a small cave, a look of melancholy in their eyes.

"Well, goodbye senior Gubu. Thank you for the gift of knowledge you have bestowed upon me." s.h.i.+n Jiao thought then cupped his hands and bowed.

"Thank you little cave. Thanks to you, I met him." Cherry Lao said to herself.

Then the two of them walk towards the south, as Cherry Lao had a rough idea as to where the closest town is so s.h.i.+n Jiao just followed her direction.

Their destination is the town of Dis, which is the closest town going to the city of Yi. According to Cherry Lao, the town of Dis is a big town. It is where a lot of cultivators gather and get their supplies. It is also a town ruled by 5 great families, they form a ruling body and acted as a council and the judges of the town. As they are always united and strong it makes the town of Dis very prosperous and besides that, it also acts as a fortress against any strong beasts coming from the Daemon forest. The Lotus Sect is located far on the western side of the City of Yi, in a mountain range bordering the Yi and San Empire.

While traveling, they began to talk more about themselves and some small talks every now and then, this made them become closer to each other. Sometimes they would hunt some beast or fly using Cherry Lao's spiritual force, as she didn't have any flying swords yet. When s.h.i.+n Jiao realized this he plans to but her one when they arrive in town. Mostly in their travel s.h.i.+n Jiao would carry her, as his stamina can last longer than her spiritual energy, and they would jump from tree to tree, almost like flying. This made Cherry Lao dumbfounded at first because what s.h.i.+n Jiao is doing is an execution of a martial arts technique called light body movement. Since s.h.i.+n Jiao can do this leisurely, she would just relax and lay on his embrace and cuddle like a spoiled princess.

A week later…

After another day of travel Cherry Lao made a hole in the middle of a large tree trunk, this is easy for her as a gold core realm cultivator, then they both stayed there for the night. After dinner due to exhaustion, Cherry Lao immediately went to sleep, while s.h.i.+n Jiao, as usual, sets up some formations which he learned from Gubu. A basic s.h.i.+eld formation and an outer layer of seal formations. After setting it up, he can now relax and went to bed beside Cherry Lao.

"Hey, are you already asleep?" s.h.i.+n Jiao asked when he feels that she is unsettled.

"I can't sleep. I guess I'm used to always having a bath. It's been two days since we last took one." She murmured.

"Well, it can't be helped as there are no rivers or stream in this area. How about we try to find a stream of water or a river first thing tomorrow."

"Umn… okay."

"Well, you worry too much. You don't smell that bad." s.h.i.+n Jiao teased.

"You… pervert." Cherry Lao glared.

"Sigh… I really don't know what to do with you. Sometimes you like me teasing you, sometimes you don't. What am I to do with you?"

"He, he. Why? Do you not like me anymore?" Cherry Lao said coquettishly.

"Ah… Well… what do you think?" s.h.i.+n Jiao said looking at her with his evil eyes.

"Hey, Okay! Let's sleep now. Good night s.h.i.+n Jiao!" she said averting his eyes and turning back.

The darkness of the night is like a blanket that made them fell asleep just after a short while.

In her sleep, Cherry Lao dreamed of flying in the air in her very own flying sword, where she traverses the sky and the endless sea. But then she suddenly heard some clicking sound which disturbed her wonderful dream.

Cherry Lao felt that she was suddenly lifted up and then she was like flying in the air. The whoos.h.i.+ng sound and the cold air in her skin made her jolted from her sleepiness.

"Ugh… What… Is this a dream?" she said, as she tried to open her eyes slowly.

Then a handsome face suddenly appears on her sight. Coupled with the glowing golden light of the sun that traces the contour of his face. She felt like she is looking at a perfect sculpture of a deity. But her thought was suddenly interrupted by an arrogant voice.

"Have you seen enough?" s.h.i.+n Jiao's said with a smile.

"Uh, huh…" Cherry Lao unconsciously nodded.

"Oh, c.r.a.p. Why am I out of my mind this early in the morning? This is… wait a minute… Why are we moving?" she said to herself as she suddenly noticed that she is being carried by s.h.i.+n Jiao.

"s.h.i.+n, why are we running?" Cherry Lao asked in confusion.

"We have a little problem, look behind me." s.h.i.+n Jiao said nonchalantly.

When Cherry Lao's gazed went behind s.h.i.+n Jiao, she almost fell out of his arms in fright. As her body shuddered involuntarily and cold sweat trickle down her spine.

In her view, she could see the countless number of big ants. Each ant is around 3 feet long and their body is like made of stone. With this, she already knows what those creatures are, the deadly Rock Ants. These creatures normally don't cause havoc in the forest, they would only cause this kind of commotion every time a colony changes their queen. And that would be once every 10 years. This is usually followed by ma.s.sive casualties of both plants and beasts in the forest, then a ma.s.sive beast tide would occur. It is known that no one has ever escaped these ferocious creatures territory, although they are only level 2 and level 3 beasts at most but with their number, even an infant soul realm cultivator would lose their lives if they are to face them. The Rock Ants on the ground don't cause much of a worry for Cherry Lao, what made her truly afraid was the growing and fast approaching shadow behind, as those are the flying Rock Ants. No matter how fast they run, the flying Rock Ants would still be able to reach them.

"s.h.i.+n… We… We can't outrun them. These creatures are called Rock Ants. As long as we are in their territory's range, we are dead. Especially those flying ones." Cherry Lao said with a shaking but resolute voice.

Though she is a strong and a brave woman, still looking at the countless crawling creatures makes the hair on her back stand in erect and cold s.h.i.+vers runs down her spine. But on the other hand, s.h.i.+n Jiao just took a quick glance behind him and increase his speed.

He is actually a little at lost on what to do but maintained a calm facade so that Cherry Lao would not panic. While they were running he is digging his mind for possible ways to avert the situation. In his inventory, he has a lot of things but none of those can be of use in this situation.

"d.a.m.n, if I have known that I would face a mob of hundreds and thousands of ants I would have created something for ma.s.s destruction… Wait a minute… Oh right… I can do that." s.h.i.+n Jiao thought.

While moving frantically from tree to tree, he took a glance at Cherry Lao who had a worried look on her face. When he saw the hopelessness in her eyes his heart felt cold. But, as he feels her grip on his arms, his mind became resolute.

"Cherry, I have a plan but. It would take a little bit of time, about 5 minutes. I would be relying on your help with this. Would that be okay?" s.h.i.+n Jiao said calmly.

"Wait, what are you planning to do?" Cherry Lao said worriedly.

"Don't worry… Do you trust me?" a confident voice coming from him made her feel that everything would be okay.

She just nods in confirmation.