Zodiac Guardian

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At this moment, Qi Yue was experiencing something different. The faint scent from Ming Ming had greatly calmed his heart, and the relic bead on his wrist radiated a harmonious aura, stabilizing his mind. An indescribable energy kept surging into his body from Ji Mingming, a cool current spreading all over his body, bringing an indescribable comfort. As he held that bouncy, exquisite body, he unexpectedly fell asleep in this peaceful state. Neither Ji Mingming nor Qi Yue noticed that the Kirin pattern on Qi Yue's body had appeared once again, and the energy fluctuations Ji Mingming felt were emanating from it.

Qi Yue slept peacefully, while Ji Mingming adjusted her Ascending Clouds cultivation technique while feeling the energy fluctuations in Qi Yue's body. Although her posture was not the most graceful, she wasn't paying attention to that, and there was no awkwardness. The flight time from Tibet to Capital City is over two hours, which passed quickly under this circumstance. When Qi Yue woke up due to the feeling of weightlessness from the plane's landing, he could already see his familiar Capital City from the plane's window. It was night time, and Capital City, seen from above, was exceptionally brilliant under the bright lights.

"You're awake." Ji Mingming's voice was significantly gentler now. Over these two hours, though she hadn't broken through her bottleneck, her practice had improved much more than several days of normal cultivation. Furthermore, with the special energy radiating from Qi Yue assisting her, she could already sense some hints for the breakthrough.

The word 'awkward' was never in Qi Yue's dictionary. His fear of heights had long disappeared. As they got closer to the ground, his heart began to settle. Even though his arms had grown numb from holding Ji Mingming for so long, he was reluctant to let go of that wonderful feeling.

"We're almost there. I think you can let me go now." Ji Mingming said somewhat helplessly. As for Qi Yue's shameless behavior, she had become resigned to it.

Only then did Qi Yue let go. Sitting up straight, the lingering scent of Ji Mingming on his arms brought him indescribable pleasure. Seeing her helpless expression, he felt somewhat moved. This girl clearly didn't have a good impression of him, but she chose to help him when he needed it most, instead of pushing him away.

"Ming Ming, thank you." Qi Yue said with rare seriousness. The initial discomfort before boarding the plane had completely disappeared.

Ji Mingming shook her head and said: "No need to thank me. It's my duty to protect you. We're almost home. I didn't tell my family that I'm returning in a hurry, so do you have a place to stay? We'll spend the night at your place first, then I'll go home tomorrow and arrange other matters. Don't get any funny ideas. I intend to teach you the Rising Qilin Technique as soon as we get back. One night should be enough to pass on the cultivation techniques."

It was nearly impossible for Qi Yue to not think about it in a different way. Just after savoring a sweet and warm embrace of over two hours, now the beauty in front of him was proactively requesting to stay at his place for the night. How could he not think of it in that way?

After getting off the plane, Qi Yue surprisingly hailed a taxi quite generously and headed straight to the Jing Shan District where he had lived for over a decade. Although watching the increasing digits on the meter was heart-wrenching, the excitement of spending the night with such a remarkable beauty filled his heart with excitement.

This time, Ji Mingming didn't sit alone up front but joined Qi Yue in the back seat. From the moment they got off the plane until they got into the taxi, she noticed through careful sensing that as long as she was within a meter of Qi Yue, the energy fluctuations from his body would benefit her Ascending Cloud Cultivation. The closer they were, the more pronounced these energy fluctuations would be. Among the three Zodiac Guardians that had appeared so far, Ming Ming, born in the year of the Rooster, was the weakest. In order to improve her strength as quickly as possible, she had to put up with sitting next to Qi Yue.

"Qi Yue, who else is in your family?" Ji Mingming asked to distract from Qi Yue's unceasing gazes.

Qi Yue was taken aback and finally his gaze moved away from Ji Mingming. He said indifferently, "There's nobody else in my family. I live alone."

Ji Mingming was also startled, "What about your parents? Don't they live with you?"

Qi Yue lit a cigarette, slightly rolled down the window, and said, "Parents? God knows where they are. I was an orphan since childhood and grew up in an orphanage. So, where do you think my parents are?"

Ji Mingming saw a hint of indifference in Qi Yue's eyes. There was no phrase better than 'grief is worse than death' to describe his current state. She regretfully said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were an orphan."

Qi Yue exhaled a puff of smoke, "It's nothing. I'm used to it. Isn't it good to have no parents? I am freer this way. At least no one has governed me. As I can see, you come from a good background. From the moment I first saw you, I knew we were not the same kind of people. It was Master Zagru who brought us together."

Ji Mingming took a glance at him, and suddenly found that she didn't find him as repulsive as before. Instead, a hint of compassion had cropped up deep inside her heart. She didn't know what the feelings of an orphan were like, but she could fully imagine how much tougher life would be for someone who had no parents since childhood. He couldn't have preferred to become the person he currently was. If he had shared the same upbringing as her, he may have turned out even better. "Qi Yue, are we friends?" Ji Mingming asked quietly.

Qi Yue cracked a smile and said, "On our way back, you had allowed me to hold you the whole time. We're friends already. I understand that you're somewhat repulsed by me, but even under such circumstances, you're still willing to help me. It's an honor to have a friend like you."

Ji Mingming also smiled. It was her first time smiling at Qi Yue. Her smile was radiant and full of energy, "Good, from now on, we're friends." As she said this, she extended her hand to Qi Yue. She wasn't doing this for the advantages Qi Yue could bring to her cultivation, but rather, she suddenly understood Master Zageru's words, everyone has their positive traits, Qi Yue wasn't completely without merits.

Qi Yue took Ji Mingming's hand but sighed heavily. Surprised, Ji Mingming asked, "Why are you sighing? You don't want to be my friend?"

With a bitter smile, Qi Yue shook his head and replied, "Now that you treat me as a friend, I can no longer behave the way I did before towards you – I missed the chance to flirt with a beautiful woman. Can't I sigh?"

Ji Mingming burst into laughter and said, "You're such a rake."

Qi Yue laughed, "I like that title. As the saying goes, when one has too many debts, there's nothing to worry about, and with too many lice biting, one doesn't care anymore. In any case, I already have titles like hoodlum and scoundrel. Rake suits me well. I'll take it as you praising me. After all, didn't 'Rake Tsai' still manage to pursue Light Dance Flying Provocatively in the end?"

With a smile, Ji Mingming said, "Alright, Mr. Rake, when we reach your home, I want to hear your story, okay?"

Qi Yue shook his head, "What's so interesting about the story of a rake? Do you really want to hear the growth experience of a hoodlum and rake? Oh right, since you're accompanying me this time, does that mean I can continue my old lifestyle?"

Ji Mingming shook her head, "Of course not. I'm eighteen this year, just on time for university. Master Zageru suggested that we both go to university to enrich ourselves."

With a surprised look on his face, Qi Yue said, "No way, they want me to go to university? But I haven't even graduated from junior high."

Ji Mingming chuckled, "That's why you need to work hard! Don't you want to go?"

Qi Yue hurriedly shook his head, "Of course I want to go, there must loads of beautiful women in the university. How could I miss such an opportunity?"

After nearly an hour, the taxi finally pulled up at Qi Yue's place in the Jing Shan district. After paying the fare of over one hundred yuan, Qi Yue's heart ached.

Seeing the decently nice community in front of her, Ji Mingming was surprised and softly said, "Seems like your living conditions are not too bad."

Qi Yue grinned sheepishly, "I hope that you will maintain that opinion after you see it."

Five minutes later, the color drained from Ji Mingming's face. The community was indeed nice, but Qi Yue's place turned out to be a basement of an apartment in it. Even the restroom was communal.

"My room's just up ahead, there's only one room with a single bed. But no worries, I already consider you as a friend, so I won't make any untoward advances," Qi Yue chuckled as he led the way.