148: Chapter 148 Should I Take Care of Xiao Wang?

The second time was on the fourth day. He came again, but this time he didn't even knock. He just stood outside the door, peering through the gap for a long time before leaving on his own.

The third time was a week later. You happened to be heading out and ran straight into him in the alley. He looked up at you, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only whispered, "Hello, Fairy Sister," before lowering his head and walking past you.

That little figure looked somewhat lonely from behind.

You took a deep breath and turned back into the courtyard.

Another five days passed.

Xiao Wang's condition showed no signs of improvement.

It had even gotten worse.

It now spent twenty hours a day sleeping. Occasionally, when it woke up, it would only look at you weakly before closing its eyes again. The sensation coming through the contract was growing increasingly faint, like a wick slowly extinguishing.

It had nothing to do with Zhou Nianan.

You closed your eyes, thinking to yourself, 'During the half-month he hasn't come, Xiao Wang hasn't just failed to improve; it has actually gotten worse. This means the problem likely doesn't lie with that child.'

You began to search for information.

The book "Records of Loose Cultivator Experiences in Nanxuan Region" from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion contained no relevant content. You made three more trips to the bookstores on East Street and flipped through a dozen volumes of miscellaneous notes, but you couldn't find any records that matched the symptoms.

In the end, you spent eight Spirit Stones to buy a book called "Analysis of One Hundred Spirit Beast Ailments" at a shop specializing in texts about Spirit Beasts.

Returning home, you flipped to the chapter on "Spirit Beast Abnormalities" and checked it against Xiao Wang's symptoms one by one.

Lethargy, sudden loss of appetite, dull fur, rapid weight loss, a burning sensation inside the body...

Your finger stopped on a certain page.

"Bloodline Awakening Syndrome: For Spirit Beasts possessing a high-level Bloodline, when the accumulation of Spiritual Qi reaches a certain threshold, it may trigger a Bloodline Awakening reaction. During the Awakening, the Spirit Beast needs to consume a large amount of Origin energy to drive the Bloodline transformation. If its own reserves are insufficient to support a complete Awakening, the Spirit Beast will fall into a state of continuous weakness. In mild cases, the Bloodline Awakening fails and cultivation regresses; in severe cases, the Origin is exhausted, leading to death."

The higher the Bloodline Rank, the more energy required. Although you didn't know what Rank Xiao Wang's Bloodline was, it clearly wouldn't be low.

You looked toward the dying Xiao Wang in the corner.

It happened to trigger its Awakening while in the Spiritual Qi-rich Qingyue Market, but the meager energy it had accumulated was far from enough to support a transformation of this level.

If you didn't care for it...

It would die.

You pursed your lips tightly.

You stood in the courtyard, watching Xiao Wang's curled-up body.

It seemed to sense your gaze, struggling to open one eye to look at you weakly. The tip of its tail twitched slightly, as if it wanted to wag but lacked the strength.

The emotions coming from the other side of the contract: sleepy, painful, wanting to be close to you.

You crouched down and lifted its head onto your knees.

It gently rubbed against your palm.

Your fingers ran through its dull fur, and you began to calculate in your mind.

How many Spirit Stones were left?

You had spent forty-five entering the market, over thirty on Medicinal Pills for three months, thirty-six for a year of rent, plus various daily expenses... You had about two hundred left.

Two hundred Spirit Stones—you didn't know if it would be enough.

The book didn't state a specific amount because the Bloodline concentration of each Spirit Beast was different, and the consumption varied; no one could give you a definitive answer.

It could be enough, but it might not be.

What if it wasn't enough?

What if you poured all your Spirit Stones in, only to find it was still just one breath short?

Your fingers stopped.

This was just a simulation.

Spending Spirit Stones on yourself to improve your cultivation was the only thing that would tangibly carry over. Spending them on Xiao Wang, if it wasn't enough, meant losing everything. Even if it was enough, your Cultivation progress would be significantly delayed, and you wouldn't be able to take Xiao Wang's items out with you anyway.

Reason told you that the optimal solution was... to give up.

In the next simulation, you would still have three hundred and twenty-seven Spirit Stones, and you would still have Xiao Wang. Moreover, your cultivation would definitely be much higher than it was now. You could prepare in advance, having enough spiritual items ready before it awakened, so you wouldn't be as passive as you were now.

This was the smartest course of action.

Your palm rested against the top of Xiao Wang's head, feeling its faint body temperature.

If you gave up on it, you wouldn't lose anything.

Anyway, in the next simulation, it would appear before you, alive and kicking again.

Anyway... this was just a simulation.

...

You closed your eyes.

Xiao Wang nudged its head further into your palm.

From the other side of the contract came a clumsy, muddled sense of attachment.

It knew it might die, but it only knew that you were there; as long as you were there, it felt at ease.

You opened your eyes.

"It's just a simulation," you repeated softly.

Yes, it was just a simulation.

But precisely because it was just a simulation, you had even less reason to let it die.

If you chose to abandon it even in a simulation—a place with no consequences and no costs—then what would you do in reality later on?

When you encountered a real desperate situation in reality, when faced with a real choice, how would you choose then?

What were you Cultivating for?

For immortality? For power? So that your loved ones wouldn't be bullied by anyone? To return to being a man?

Yes.

But if, on the road to immortality, you couldn't even protect the things you cared about, then what was the point of immortality?

You lowered your head, looking at the weak white tiger in your palm.

From your first meeting at Daliang Mountain, to running wildly while carrying it across several countries, to it using its immature aura to block the Thunder Leopard for you in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

It had been with you for a long time.

Longer than anyone else.

The moment your thoughts cleared, you felt a hum in your mind.

The subsequent parts of the "Burning Heaven True Art," which had previously been obscure and difficult to understand, suddenly became clear, as if a layer of dust had been wiped from your mind.

Refining the Heart.

You didn't pay attention to the changes in your Cultivation Technique.

"Xiao Wang," you said, your voice very soft.

"You wait."

You placed it back in its nest and got up to leave.

Your steps were twice as fast as when you came.

You first went to the Spirit Beast Medicinal Pill shop on East Street.

"Ziyuan Pills," you said to the shopkeeper. "How many do you have?"

The shopkeeper was a chubby middle-aged male cultivator. He rummaged through the cabinet behind him: "Ziyuan Pills, a Medium Grade Rank 1 Medicinal Pill. They gently nourish a Spirit Beast's Origin and accelerate the recovery of Origin Qi. Five Spirit Stones per bottle, with three pills inside."

"Give me ten bottles."

The shopkeeper paused and looked you over. "Ten bottles? That's fifty Spirit Stones."

You counted out fifty Spirit Stones from your Storage Pouch and stacked them on the counter.

The shopkeeper beamed and efficiently packed the ten bottles of medicine, handing them to you. "You're generous, Miss."

You practically ran all the way home.

Xiao Wang was still lying in its nest, not having changed its position at all.

You poured out one pill from the bottle, pried open its mouth, and fed it. As the Medicinal Pill entered its stomach, a wisp of gentle energy dissipated within its body. Through the contract, you felt its reaction: the discomfort eased slightly, and it managed to catch half a breath.

But it was only half a breath.

You fed it five pills in a row before its condition barely returned from "dying" to "very weak."

The golden mark between its brows flickered, like a flame that might go out at any moment.

Not enough.

Far from enough.

In the following days, you were like a tireless machine, running back and forth in the market.