BaiXue came out of the room after changing and found him seated at a table in the middle of a spacious room. He gestured to the dishes on the table and said, "Eat."

"No thanks, I'd like to return back down the mountain now."

"You can't." LongFei said firmly.

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to bring me down."

"...Eat first then."

She relented and sat down at the table to have a bite.

How do you communicate with him? BaoBao had felt insulted for BaiXue but he was surprised by how BaiXue replied as if LongFei had not just said something high-handed.

After LongFei was satisfied with the amount she ate, he transformed into a dragon with a sparkly pale blue aura and let her climb onto his back. He then very gradually brought her down the mountain so that she would not feel sick. She was only fine the previous time because the plant he fed her to fight the poison would have solved that issue too.

After she climbed off his back and walked off, she found him following her in his human form. She looked at him quizzically with an eyebrow raised.

"You're weak." He said as if it explained his actions.

"I'll be fine."

"What if you almost get yourself killed again?"

"Don't worry. I already found what I wanted. So please leave."

He frowned deeply as if he was having an internal debate within himself. He ended up flying off.

I don't think I'll ever get used to the way the second male lead speaks in this world... BaoBao complained.

BaiXue made her way to FengJiao's village. It was time to carry out the mission assigned to her by FenFang.

BaiXue reached the village in less than a day and stayed on the outskirts of the village as she usually would do initially.

On the third day of her observation, she was about to leave when LongFei appeared some distance away in front of her. He looked straight at her while walking towards her. However, after a few steps, FengJiao called out, "LongFei? You're here again so soon?"

LongFei stopped in his tracks but kept his eyes on BaiXue who was still in her hiding spot.

"What are you looking at? Is something there?" FengJiao walked past the bush he was staring at and came to stand beside him. Looking at the bush from his side did not help her understand his fascination with it. Suddenly, the bush shook and an innocent white rabbit hopped out. 

It looked spooked to see them there then scurried off in a different direction. FengJiao saw how LongFei's gaze followed the rabbit.

"You have a thing for rabbits?" FengJiao said with surprise.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." LongFei said before heading to the village.

FengJiao lightly frowned. "When are you going to change the way you speak..."

"There's nothing wrong with the way I speak."

"Yes, there is." FengJiao insisted.

In the meantime, BaiXue dashed full speed ahead once FengJiao no longer looked at her.

BaoBao, he was definitely keeping watch on me the whole time.

But I didn't sense him nor see him...

His range must be larger than yours then. From now on, don't come out. We don't know when he's watching.

BaoBao agreed with her. They were both in tacit agreement that it was lucky BaoBao had not came out ever since entering the mountains. Their wariness paid off after all.

 

It took her almost 2 days to cross the 3 mountains as she continued on without stop and reached FenFang's dwelling to report her findings.

"Sorry I took so long to come back, I got injured and it took time to recover."

"It's alright, are you okay now?"

"Yes."

"That's good to know. So what is it like across the mountains?"

"For now, I have only traveled to the village that was at the edge of the forest and near the mountains on the other side. They have a mystical one protecting them."

"By force?"

"Doesn't look like it. She seems willing. Everyone seems really nice too."

"Nice?" FenFang frowned in puzzlement.

"They share their hunts with her, talk a lot with her, get her advice on things, and many more. A very friendly atmosphere."

"Coercion and manipulation is possible... It may be all a farce. Do the same as you did at the village before you left. We should stop this as soon as possible and save her from heartbreak."

BaiXue nodded and left to cross the mountains again. This would have taken her yet another two days but she dragged her journey out by pretending that it takes her one month for her to cross the 'treacherous' mountains.

She spent all her time in the cave that she knows is now empty thanks to LongFei killing the basilisk.

Ever since she discovered the buried throne, she has been spending the nights cultivating in her rabbit form and she felt a clear difference. Her animal form felt deeply nourished and absorbed the spiritual energy hungrily. The more she absorbed, the more she felt her body undergoing changes. Her body would feel slightly hot and rich energy coursed through every vein and muscle sinew. She felt that she was slightly stronger and faster and her stamina was better. This was what helped her cross the 3 mountains really quickly.

She was excited about this new discovery so quickly began cultivating once she settled down in the cave. Time passed and the sun went down. However, BaiXue continued to cultivate.

LongFei eventually appeared at the entrance of the cave. He has been watching her the whole time and got worried when he did not see her come out of the cave. When he saw her still in her rabbit form and had her eyes closed, he wondered if there was truly something wrong.

Her body looks fine. He slightly cocked his head, then he saw the uncooked meat in the corner of the cave that she caught earlier on the way here. Was she too hungry that she passed out?

He started setting up a fire to roast the meat.

An hour later, a tantalising smell filled the cave. He cut off several bite sized chunks to fill a small green jade bowl he got from his house before walking over to her and placing the bowl near her head. However, she did not move.

BaoBao had already alerted her the moment LongFei flew into BaoBao's range. BaiXue did not bother about him as she wanted to use all the time she could to cultivate and become stronger. The smell was incredibly appetising but her desire to increase her power was stronger than her hunger. She has already spent a year in this world, every passing day is a day closer to her fated death, but she was still far from accomplishing the original soul's wish.

Suddenly, she felt a hand stroking her from her head to her back. She tried to ignore it but he just kept on stroking her. It disturbed her concentration. She finally opened her eyes.

"Something's wrong with you." LongFei said the moment she did.

"No. I'm totally fine. I already told you there's no need to worry."

"Then why aren't you eating and only sleeping?"

"...I'm cultivating."

"Cultivating? Does that make you feel better?"

"I'm in top condition. I can't feel any better than this. It simply increases my power and strength."

"Eating increases your strength too. Eat." LongFei said while pushing the bowl closer to her face.

"... After I eat, stop disturbing me any longer." She ordered him. 

LongFei nodded in obedience.

BaiXue turned back into a human to eat. She took a bite into the meat and realised that the second male lead of this world may have a talent for cooking. It was simply meat roasted over fire and it tasted really good. The outside was crispy and the inside was tender.

He really looked after the intensity of the flames and diligently rotated the meat while you were cultivating. BaoBao informed her.

While she was eating, he asked her, "Why're you always scurrying around everywhere?"

BaiXue did not intend to reply him but then he said with a hint of sadness in his voice, "You lied."

BaiXue was perplexed. She thought back to everything she said before and realised that he was likely referring to her telling him not to disturb her only after she ate. She sighed inwardly then replied him, "I have missions."

"But you're so weak."

"I'm not that tired. I can handle it."

"You want to become stronger because of this?"

"Sort of. A personal reason." As she said this, she finished the last piece of meat in her bowl.

"Eat more."

"Eating till my stomach bursts will not make me stronger. Cultivating will." She said while cleaning her mouth with a cloth handkerchief. 

"Now, excuse me." She changed back into her rabbit form to cultivate.

LongFei did as promised and did not disturb her any longer. His shoulders hunched imperceptibly though. He had wanted to hear more about her personal reason. What could make her so power hungry? How can I support her? He was filled with curiosity about this person who seemed to draw his entire attention. He began to feel that the compulsion he felt regarding FengJiao was increasingly a bother for it got in the way with the amount of time he could spend with BaiXue. He flew off with a frown.

BaiXue spent 1 month cultivating in the cave as she had planned. It went far better than she intended because of LongFei who would come to feed her on time. He came with breakfast, lunch, and dinner that he cooked at home. He even came to give her fruits that would boost her physical fitness as snacks.

She had tried not relying on him but his timing was always so accurate. He would appear in front of her with already cooked food every time she prepared to attack an animal. She eventually gave up and accepted his goodwill. It truly would increase her speed of becoming stronger anyway. 

In a sense, she felt like a pig now. When she realised that the strength of her animal form was equivalent to how much she cultivated, she dedicated all of her time to cultivation. Now, when she kicked the wall of the mountain in her rabbit form, it could actually form a depression instead of propelling herself away from the wall. However, she had to keep reminding herself that what she was doing was considered hard work too. After all, on the surface, she was being fed and fed and fed more by LongFei while all she did was 'sleep'.

While she ate, LongFei had tried to ask her about her personal matters but she now straightforwardly told him that she preferred silence. For some reason, it worked magically. There are times he looked sad, but he never spoke to her unless he was spoken to. Unfortunately for LongFei, it was incredibly rare for BaiXue to initiate a conversation with him. Other times, he would stare at her eat and comfortably sit in silence with her.

Unbeknownst to BaiXue and BaoBao, LongFei has been watching her from the cherry blossom tree growing outside his house near the cliff. It could see straight into the cave. He was afraid that his presence would disturb her since she ordered him to not disturb her cultivation. So he kept watch over her from a distance away. A large distance away.

He could while his time away like that because he gave FengJiao a small pale blue jade flute that would signal to him that she was in trouble when she blew on it. Since he did not want to waste time going on his obligatory visits, he figured out a solution to his problem. 

He believed that it should work since his visits were to make sure that she was doing fine, inadvertently, he somehow would wind up helping her around the village with little trifles whenever he went by. 

FengJiao had looked really conflicted and confused when she received it from him. However, he did not really care. He only wanted to return to look after BaiXue. Whenever she was out of his sight, he would worry that something would happen to her when he was not watching.

In the end, he found out that his solution only worked sub-optimally. The disturbance gradually grew within him over the month and it told him he had to check on FengJiao soon.

Just as he was in a bad mood from fighting this compulsion and disturbance within him, he saw BaiXue take out a black flute to blow on it before dashing out of her cave in her rabbit form. A black flute? His brows tightly knitted together. Whose is that?

He flew off to follow her as usual and witnessed how she hid in the same place on the outskirts of FengJiao's village as the last time. 

The last time he had went down to make BaiXue eat a little more than what she had been eating for three days - pigeons. He could tell that she was quite negligent about her well-being and did whatever was convenient - catching pigeons with her trap that could be left unattended and reused. 

When he had seen her acting like a normal wild rabbit in front of FengJiao, he immediately caught on to her intention and ended up pretending to be there on another visit to her village. He had felt satisfied having something that was just between them. 

However, now he was displeased. He knew how the flute works and how the owner of it could track its location with the magic imbued in it. It was like a tracker. Watching how BaiXue was relaxed and returned to cultivating like she was simply waiting for someone increased his displeasure.