17: Chapter 17 My Lord... you don't mind if we share this, do you?

"Ahhh! Huo Yuhao was forcibly kissed!!"

After a long while, their lips parted.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiuer were startled awake by this scream simultaneously.

Wang Qiuer's face still bore lingering blushes and tear stains, and she glared indignantly in the direction the sound came from.

A flash of majesty belonging to the Emperor Auspicious Beast flickered in her golden eyes.

Tianmeng, behind the tree, shivered in fear and instantly pulled her head back, leaving only a leaf swaying gently.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, was full of helplessness and embarrassment.

He supported Wang Qiuer's shoulders, helping her sit up slowly, then climbed up from the soft sea of flowers himself and brushed the grass clippings off his body.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat subtle.

Wang Qiuer did not look at that scene-spoiling "big bug" again.

All her attention returned to the person in front of her, the one she had missed for two lifetimes.

She reached out, her fingertips trembling slightly as she caressed Huo Yuhao's cheek.

From his eyebrows, to his nose bridge, and then to his lips.

As if she wanted to carve his silhouette deeply into her soul once again.

"Huo Yuhao..."

Her voice still carried a hint of hoarseness from crying, but it was filled with the preciousness of something regained after being lost.

"I am here." Huo Yuhao grasped her slightly cool hand, placed it against his cheek, and used his own body heat to warm it.

"Is this really you this time?" Wang Qiuer's eyes turned red again. "It's not a dream, right?"

Looking at her cautious and insecure appearance, Huo Yuhao's heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, sour and painful.

He knew how massive a shadow the ending of the previous life had left on her.

He firmly grasped her hand back, pulled her into his embrace, and hugged her tightly once again.

This embrace lacked the previous fervor, containing only endless tenderness and comfort.

"It's me, I'm back."

He whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry, Qiuer, I let you suffer so many grievances in the previous life. I promise, I will never let you suffer any harm again."

"No, it's not your fault!"

Wang Qiuer shook her head vigorously in his arms, burying her face in the crook of his neck, her voice muffled as she spoke, "It's me... I was too foolish. If I had told you everything earlier, would the outcome... have been different?"

"There are no ifs."

Huo Yuhao gently patted her back. "Aren't we together now? That is enough."

"Mm..."

Wang Qiuer responded, her arms tightening even more. "This time, I will absolutely, absolutely never let you go again! No matter what happens, I will stay by your side!"

"Okay."

Huo Yuhao smiled, a relaxed and joyful smile that came from the bottom of his heart. "I won't let go either."

The two embraced quietly, speaking of feelings that had spanned two lifetimes.

At this moment, it felt as if only the two of them remained in the entire World.

However, Wang Qiuer's perception was incredibly sharp.

She quickly sensed that, besides that big bug, there was another, even more powerful aura not far away, quietly watching them.

She slowly raised her head from Huo Yuhao's embrace and looked in the direction of that aura.

With just one glance, her body stiffened.

She saw a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a black dress with long silver hair standing quietly under a tree not far away.

Her pair of purple eyes were as calm as an abyss, revealing no emotions.

And from the woman's sleeve, a small ice-blue head poked out, peeking over here stealthily.

It's her... Master?!

Countless question marks flashed through Wang Qiuer's mind instantly.

Why is Master here? Why is she staying with a human youth?

And that million-year-old big lazy bug, how did it get mixed up with Master? And... it even turned into the appearance of a girl?!

Countless fragments of information collided and reorganized rapidly in Wang Qiuer's mind.

As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she had an innate intuition for the flow of fate.

She looked at the expressionless Gu Yuena standing there, then looked at the helpless Huo Yuhao in her arms.

An absurd yet incredibly logical guess instantly surfaced in her heart.

She suddenly understood. She understood everything.

Her golden eyes, which had just become tender as water from being moved, instantly carried a hint of petty resentment.

She turned her head to look at Huo Yuhao, her gaze seemingly saying: Very well, Huo Yuhao, you were so dull in the previous life, but you've become enlightened quite early in this one, and... you've become quite greedy too!

Huo Yuhao felt his scalp tingle under her gaze, and for a moment, he didn't know how to explain.

Just then, Tianmeng behind the tree was covering her mouth with her two small claws, lowering her voice, and providing live commentary.

"It's over, it's over, it's over... Is this what Elder Yi called... the legendary Shurafield?"

Her small body trembled slightly with excitement. "One is golden, one is silver, both are so beautiful, but also so scary..."

"But it doesn't matter!" She quickly cheered herself up again. "Later, I'll trick... ahem, invite Bingbing over. If the two of us add up, we definitely won't be afraid of them! Bingbing is Ultimate Ice, you know!"

While she was muttering enthusiastically, Gu Yuena over there had already moved.

She withdrew her indifferent gaze, took a step, and walked toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiuer unhurriedly.

Her footsteps were very light, stepping on the golden sea of flowers without making a sound. But with every step she drew closer, the invisible pressure in the air increased by a fraction.

Wang Qiuer subconsciously straightened her body from Huo Yuhao's embrace.

Although she had respect for Gu Yuena stemming from her bloodline, she would not yield a single step on a certain issue.

Huo Yuhao, caught in the middle, felt cold sweat starting to break out on his back.

He watched helplessly as Gu Yuena walked to his other side and stood still.

Then, Gu Yuena slowly reached out her hand, ignoring Wang Qiuer's gaze, which carried a hint of vigilance and resentment.

She also ignored Huo Yuhao's stiff expression and naturally took Huo Yuhao's other hand.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He now felt like a wooden figure, his left hand held by Wang Qiuer, his right hand held by Gu Yuena, unable to move.

The hand Wang Qiuer was holding tightened subconsciously. The hand Gu Yuena was holding also squeezed back, not showing any weakness.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

Two stunningly beautiful women, one as blazing and dazzling as the sun, one as cold and noble as the moon, just like this, separated by a Huo Yuhao, engaged in a silent staring contest.

Their gazes met in the air; there were no sparks, no killing intent, yet they reached a tacit understanding that outsiders could not comprehend.

Can coexist. But, never give up.

In the end, it was Wang Qiuer who looked away first. After all, she knew Gu Yuena's true identity.

She lowered her head slightly, towards Gu Yuena, and used Soul Power transmission that only they could hear to say: [Greetings, Master.]

Gu Yuena's eyes also softened a bit, and she replied via transmission as well: [No need for formalities. I respect your choice.]

An invisible smoke of war arrived silently and dispersed just as silently.

Only Huo Yuhao remained in the middle, feeling the distinct yet equally soft sensations coming from both his left and right, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He took a deep, deep breath. "Um... should we go back?" He tried to break this eerie calm. "Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan must be waiting anxiously."

When Huo Yuhao's figure reappeared in the firelight of the camp, Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan, who were waiting anxiously, breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.

"Benefactor! You're back!" Tang Ya immediately went to greet him. But her words were stuck in her throat halfway through.

Jiang Nannan also froze in place, her mouth slowly opening into a round "O" shape. What did they see?

They saw Huo Yuhao walking out of the dark forest. On his left, he was holding the silver-haired girl Gu Yuena, who was as cold and fairy-like as they were already familiar with.

And on his right, he was holding another stunningly beautiful girl they had never seen before, with brilliant long golden hair, as beautiful as a sun goddess!

These two girls, with vastly different styles but equally breathtaking beauty, were "flanking" Huo Yuhao on his left and right. Their faces both wore a curious expression that was calm yet carried a hint of competitiveness.

The corner of Tang Ya's eye began to twitch uncontrollably. Jiang Nannan blinked hard, suspecting that she was having hallucinations because she was too tired.

Huo Yuhao, feeling the questioning gazes cast from both sides, felt for the first time what it meant to be on pins and needles.

He cleared his throat and, in as calm a tone as possible, gave an extremely simple introduction. "Ahem... this is Wang Qiuer." He pointed to the golden-haired girl beside him. "From now on... she will be traveling with us."

The camp fell into silence. Only the "crackling" sound of the campfire burning remained.

After a long time, Tang Ya finally turned her head with difficulty, leaning into Jiang Nannan's ear, and asked in an extremely low voice, in a sleepwalking tone: "Nannan... could this one... also be a 'life-saving benefactor' of our Benefactor?"

Jiang Nannan looked at the girl named Wang Qiuer, who was looking at Huo Yuhao with eyes that seemed to wish she could knead him into her own body, and nodded solemnly and silently.

She felt that this team seemed to be developing in a direction that was becoming increasingly strange and incomprehensible. And the core of the team was their Benefactor, who was only seven and a half years old; his image in their hearts was also becoming increasingly unfathomable and increasingly... mysterious?