Kui Qingqing watched as Qin Ke walked away, and felt that something was amiss. She savored the rare taste of fresh fruit, only to quickly dismiss the matter from her mind.
Similarly, Tao Ran had never considered rescuing Zhen Ling. He simply lay on the couch, gazing up at Kui Qingqing and said, "Sister, where should I sleep?"
Kui Qingqing looked at him and saw Tao Ran lying on the couch, his hands supporting his chin, looking at her with innocence in his eyes. Although Kui Qingqing didn't want to admit it, she couldn't help but be attracted to it. She turned her face away and said, "There are so many guest rooms, find one for yourself."
"But there are no blankets inside," Tao Ran said. "I can't sleep on the bare mattress."
Kui Qingqing asked, "When Luo Shuang delivered the vegetables today, why didn't you ask him for a blanket?"
"Ask him for a blanket?" Tao Ran said. "I didn't know."
Kui Qingqing's temple throbbed, "You're a man, can't you speak without using 'yé'?"
[T/N: 耶 (yé) is an emotional particle mostly used by women to show enthusiasm, intimacy or showing affection by speaking delicately, flatteringly, or even petulantly in order to get something.]
"Oh," Tao Ran obediently said, "Then I won't say anything."
"... " Kui Qingqing's unnamed anger erupted, and flames of red ignited around her.
Tao Ran stared at her and said, "Sister..."
"Don't call me sister!" Kui Qingqing said. "You're really annoying like this, you know? Can't you be more like Qin Ke, a bit more manly?"
Tao Ran widened his eyes and looked at her, saying, "I wanted to say something."
Kui Qingqing said, "Say it!"
"I wanted to say that even if there is no bed, I can still sleep on the couch," Tao Ran pointed at the burned couch beneath Kui Qingqing. "But now the couch has been burned by you." (He still used yé here.)
Kui Qingqing remained silent. "Yé... yé.. The heck with you!"
The night had grown late, and the small town was shrouded in darkness, except for Kui Qingqing's house, which still emitted light. If someone were to approach at this moment, they would discover a bonfire burning inside Kui Qingqing's home.
Tao Ran said, "The smell of the burned couch is awful. Can I go upstairs?"
Kui Qingqing's face turned cold. "The trash hasn't been cleaned up yet, how can you go upstairs?"
"Oh," Tao Ran moved his finger, and the burning couch floated up. He then controlled it to fly outside the courtyard, before looking at Kui Qingqing and saying, "It's cleaned up now."
Kui Qingqing: "..." Why does it feel like his superpower is a bit nasty? It's always working against me.
Tao Ran, preoccupied with his thoughts, went upstairs. Kui Qingqing's room had a large bed. After days of running around outside, Tao Ran felt as if he had reunited with a loved one when he saw the bed. He spread his arms and collapsed onto it, stretching lazily. Kui Qingqing walked over and said, "Who allowed you to sleep on my bed? Get up."
Tao Ran tilted his head and looked at her. "Do you want to burn the bed too?"
Kui Qingqing, the Female Shura, had never endured such anger. She reached out and grabbed Tao Ran's ear, furiously saying, "Kid, you've got some nerve, daring to mess with your grandma."
Tao Ran winced in pain, his features contorted. He reached out to grab Kui Qingqing's hand. "Ouch... Let go, it hurts... ahhh, woo..woo..."
Kui Qingqing, annoyed by just ear pinching, climbed onto the bed and rode on Tao Ran, starting to pinch him from side to side. "How dare you make fun of me?"
Tao Ran was pinched and beaten by her, but unable to fight back, he squirmed in pain.
Seeing Tao Ran's face turn red from the discomfort, Kui Qingqing became interested, as if she had found a fun toy. She reached her hand into Tao Ran's ticklish spot and tickled vigorously. Tao Ran couldn't bear the tickling and laughed so hard he nearly ran out of breath. "Hahaha... Let go, hehehe... If you don't let go, I won't be polite anymore."
Kui Qingqing smiled mischievously. "If you dare, give it a try."
Tao Ran said, "I really won't be polite."
"Come on. Who's afraid of whom?!"
"Ah yeah?! Shit!"
Kui Qingqing suddenly floated into the air, and Tao Ran was lying on the bed in disheveled clothes, with a suspicious blush on her face. He said: "You wait, I will get my revenge right away."
Kui Qingqing hovered in the air, feeling extremely insecure. She looked at Tao Ran with a more ferocious look, "Put me down!"
Tao Ran said, "No!"
Kui Qingqing said, "Do you want to die?"
Tao Ran pouted and said, "I just want to get revenge. Who told you to tickle me?"
"You little brat," Flames burst out of Kui Qingqing's body as she spoke, and said, "Revenge properly if you have the ability."
Tao Ran silently looked at her for a while, and then a steel pipe floated up.
Kui Qingqing: "?"
The steel pipe floated to Kui Qingqing's waist and poked at her waist.
Kui Qingqing: "Pfft..."
Tao Ran pursed his lips and revealed a meaningful smile. He thought, After all these years of traversing the world, I have never let any supporting female character turn the tables on me. With him in control, the steel pipe was directed towards the soft flesh of Kui Qingqing's waist, poking, rubbing, and stirring from time to time.
As a result, the people living near the small town and close to Kui Qingqing had a hard time. It was late at night, the time for sleeping, yet they were forced to listen to the laughter of the Female Shura throughout the night. This was none other than Kui Qingqing, the famous Female Shura. With her laughing like this, did she think of some good ideas to play tricks on others?
Everyone who heard it felt a chill run down their spines, causing goosebumps to rise all over their bodies.
Qin Ke sat across from Zhen Ling, expressionless, listening to the laughter. After a while, he looked awkward and said, "Actually, the people here are quite normal. Tonight is an exception."
Zhen Ling smiled kindly, showing understanding. "When so many people live together, it's inevitable that there will be a few abnormal ones. I understand."
Qin Ke breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that you understand. I'm still very normal."
Zhen Ling chuckled.
Kui Qingqing was about to explode with anger, but no matter how powerful her flame was, it would only be considered powerful if the person touched it. Not only could she not reach him, but even the flames she emitted couldn't get close to Tao Ran. It wasn't until two hours later, when the steel pipe had completely melted, that Tao Ran stopped his retaliation.
At this moment, Kui Qingqing collapsed on the ground in an abstract posture, devoid of any semblance of the female shura. She was like a puddle of mud, without any strength to produce flames. Tao Ran lay on the bed, propped up his head, and asked, "Sister, are you okay?"
Kui Qingqing angrily rolled her eyes as she looked at Tao Ran.
"You're so fierce." Tao Ran shrank his neck. "Sister, you're really too much, always being mean to me."
Kui Qingqing: "..."
"But I can't help but like you, sister." Tao Ran's face was full of innocence. "Do you want to sleep on the bed with me?"
Kui Qingqing looked at him, do you dare to let me sleep on the floor?
Tao Ran sighed, "But sister, what if you accidentally set the bed on fire?"
Kui Qingqing, exhausted and unable to move a muscle, thought, You bastard, how could this old lady possibly burn her own bed?!
"Forget it." Tao Ran hugged the blanket. "Let's just let big sister sleep in the air. That way, nothing will catch fire."
Kui Qingqing: "???"
After saying that, Tao Ran turned over and went to sleep. Kui Qingqing floated in the air once again. And so, Kui Qingqing floated in the air throughout the night, until the next morning when she woke up and realized she was still suspended in mid-air.
Kui Qingqing sneezed and felt like crying. The feeling of being neither here nor there and being out of touch with the world was really tormenting. She croaked (having lost her voice from laughing too much the previous night), "Bastard! Put me down now!"
Tao Ran woke up, rubbing his eyes, and sweetly greeted her, "Good morning, sister."
"You big-headed ghost!" Kui Qingqing exclaimed, "Put me down now!"
"Oh," Tao Ran walked over and gently held Kui Qingqing in his arms, then placed her gently on the bed. He smiled faintly and said, "Sister, you shouldn't set the bed on fire anymore, right?"
Kui Qingqing had never thought about setting the bed on fire; she only wanted to burn Tao Ran.
Seeing the situation turning bad, Tao Ran quickly jumped away and said, "I'll go cook. Sister, please freshen up."
Kui Qingqing watched him leave, filled with intense hatred.
However, when she saw the table with a variety of meat and vegetable dishes, a moderately thick rice porridge, and a small bouquet of flowers placed in a vase on the dining table, Kui Qingqing instantly felt a sense of healing. Tao Ran said, "Today, I'll go find Luo Shuang and ask him where we can get some fruit. Sister, with such a fiery temper, how can you not eat fruit?"
Kui Qingqing glared at him angrily, "Who has a fiery temper?"
"It's you," Tao Ran pointed at her and said, "Your lips are chapped."
"... " Kui Qingqing licked her lips, buried her head in her meal and stopped talking.
After washing the dishes, Tao Ran went out. Luo Shuang said he lived in the pig farm to the west of the town. As Tao Ran walked, people along the way looked at him with curious eyes. Rather than feeling offended, Tao Ran responded with a smile.
Finally, someone approached and said, "Are you the person who lives with the Female Shura... ah.. Kui Qingqing?"
"Yes," Tao Ran smiled and said, "She's my cousin."
Everyone suddenly understood while thinking, I knew that the Female Shura would not like this kid who still looks like a baby.
The person continued, "Kui Qingqing laughed for two hours last night. What happened to make her so happy?"
Tao Ran blushed and said shyly, "My cousin said the food I cooked was so delicious that she doesn't need to eat pig food anymore. She laughed uncontrollably out of joy."
Everyone was stunned, realizing that previously, Qin Ke, our leader, had been cooking for Kui Qingqing. So, the meals made by our esteemed leader Qin Ke were actually pig food?!
Everyone felt like they had discovered some incredible secret and went back to spread the word. In no time, the entire town knew that Qin Ke's cooking was horribly bad, even worse than pig food. What? You don't believe it? Do you want to know why the female shura laughed so sinisterly last night? It's because she finally found a new chef and no longer had to endure the torment of pig food.
Tao Ran, with a calm face and steady heart, after spreading rumors about Qin Ke without any guilt, easily found Luo Shuang. Luo Shuang was happy to see him and, hearing that Tao Ran came to pick up a blanket, said, "No problem, I'll get it for you."
Tao Ran said, "That's not urgent. I wanted to ask where we can get some fruit around here."
Luo Shuang replied, "Actually, the crops in the town are taken care of by power and wood-based ability users. Fruit trees have also been planted, but they are still too small, and there are only a few trees that bear fruit."
Seeing that Tao Ran seemed eager to have some fruit, Luo Shuang added, "There's a fruit orchard not far from here in a city populated by ordinary people, but it is guarded by the military, and we can't enter."
Tao Ran thought, just because you can't enter doesn't mean I can't. He stroked his chin, a good idea forming in his mind.
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