64: Chapter 64 Silent Concern

Bailu walked over from the direction of the beastkin girl's tent. Today, the Deer Spirit Archer had changed into a set of lightweight leather armor. The leather armor clung to her slender yet supple body, outlining the agile figure characteristic of a beastkin girl, making her look like an elegant little deer in the forest.

What was most eye-catching was the red string tied to her white deer antlers. That was not a beastkin custom, but rather the "Expedition Lucky Charm" that Zhao Linger had insisted on giving her yesterday.

Her beast ears twitched slightly, her nostrils flared, and her golden eyes held a hint of gravity. "The scent in the forest... it is not right. It is more agitated than last time."

Her Deer Spirit intuition was already sounding a warning. Beastkin had a far keener perception of the aura of Savage Beasts than humans, and as a Deer Spirit Archer, Bailu possessed the strongest perception among the seven beastkin girls.

The red string swayed gently on her white deer antlers, like a tiny banner carrying a blessing.

Then, "I want to go! I want to go too!"

A petite and vibrant figure darted out from the crowd like a spirit sparrow leaping from the grass. Zhao Linger grabbed Wang Sheng's arm, her baby face filled with excitement and anticipation, her big, round eyes shining with starlike light.

Today, she was wearing a form-fitting short outfit woven from spirit vines—a combat suit specially crafted by Su Mengyao using the Power of Nature. The emerald-green spirit vine threads were woven into the style of a tight-fitting armor suit, clinging to her petite yet devilish figure.

That figure—the moment Wang Sheng's arm was held by her, the soft sensation felt through the thin spirit vine combat armor made his heart skip a beat involuntarily.

Her slender waist was small enough to be encircled by a pair of hands, and the spirit vine belt accentuated stunning curves. Her waist was as narrow as if pinched by the fingertips of a primal deity, yet it suddenly flared out at the hips, just like a fully drawn bowstring.

The hem of her short outfit barely covered her waist, revealing a stretch of fair, toned abdomen. That abdomen was as flat and smooth as white jade bathed in moonlight; the curve of her navel was faintly visible, like the most delicate indentation on white jade, rising and falling slightly with her breath.

Her chest was supported by the spirit vine armor plates, and the full, rounded contours were outlined without reservation beneath the tight combat suit. The astonishing fullness of those curves formed an extremely disproportionate ratio with her petite frame.

Clearly possessing a youthful baby face and shoulders narrow enough to be wrapped by a single palm, yet she was paired with such a heart-racing figure; the contrast was simply impossible to look away from.

The neckline of the spirit vine combat armor was slightly open, revealing a small section of fair collarbone and the deep shadow between her breasts. When crafting this combat suit, Su Mengyao had clearly considered the fact that a Spirit Sound Master did not need to engage in melee combat.

Protection was concentrated on the chest and waist-abdomen, while the limbs had less coverage. This left Zhao Linger's arms and those fair, tender lower legs almost completely exposed, with only spirit vine bracers wrapped around her joints. Her fair skin looked like fine suet jade in the sunlight, emitting a warm, gentle luster.

She held Wang Sheng's arm without any hesitation, her soft body pressed against his arm. The fullness of her chest transmitted a faint, warm sensation through the spirit vine combat armor, and her big, round eyes shone with starlike light as she looked up at him.

"Chieftain, will you not leave Linger behind in the village?"

Her voice was as sweet as a silver bell soaked in honey, the tail end slightly raised with a hint of coquetry, just like the most intricate Spirit Sound Technique, unintentionally tugging at the listener's heartstrings.

Wang Sheng looked down at her. That baby face was close at hand; her long eyelashes were like two rows of black petals soaked in morning dew, and his golden pupils were reflected in her big, round eyes.

"The forest is very dangerous."

"I have the Spirit Sound Technique!" Zhao Linger stood on her tiptoes. As her petite body rose on her tiptoes, the hem of her spirit vine short outfit shifted slightly upward, revealing more of her fair, toned abdomen.

Her lips were almost against his ear, her voice as sweet as a silver bell soaked in honey. "Besides, I will protect you, Chieftain~"

Her tone was clearly coquettish, the pitch as soft and glutinous as freshly baked spirit wheat pastry, but when she said the word "protect," a flash of serious light appeared in her big, round eyes.

That was not the starlike light from when she was being coquettish, but rather a Spirit Sound Master's confidence in sonic martial force, like a small lamp lit in the dark night—not dazzling, but real and firm.

Zhao Linger, a Rank 2 Barbarian Warrior and Spirit Sound Master; her sonic attacks could directly affect the nervous system of Savage Beasts, causing their reaction speed to decrease, their sense of balance to fail, and even temporary deafness.

During the second Beast Tide, she used the Spirit Sound Technique to help her teammates kill several Savage Beasts. Her combat strength was not of the brute force type, but rather crowd control and support, which was exactly what the expedition team needed most.

Wang Sheng looked at her serious gaze, then nodded. "You stay close to me."

Zhao Linger's baby face instantly blossomed into a smile like a blooming spirit flower. She jumped, and her spirit vine short outfit bounced slightly with her movement; the full curves of her chest were like a pair of spirit flowers driven by spiritual power, trembling gently in the morning breeze.

She pulled on Wang Sheng's arm and jumped a couple more times. "Yay! Linger can go on the expedition now!"

Murong Xue shook her head to the side, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. This girl.

Just at this moment, a cold figure walked over from the edge of the training ground.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was expressionless. The Frost Mage's silvery-white hair cascaded in the morning breeze like a silver banner, her ice-blue pupils as cold as deep-sea ice. Her tall, slender body was wrapped in ice-blue mage robes, and her dignified, frigid temperament was like a moving ice sculpture.

She walked up to Wang Sheng without a word, simply shoving a frozen spirit waterskin into his hand.

The exterior of the waterskin was covered in a thin layer of frost, and the cold air seeped through the gaps between his fingers, looking like a miniature ice ball in the morning sun. The spirit water inside the waterskin had been completely frozen by the Frost Mage's spiritual power, and the ice inside the transparent shell of the waterskin looked like a piece of blue crystal.

"The forest is sweltering; you will easily sweat."

After speaking, she turned and walked away. Her silvery-white hair cascaded like a waterfall in the morning breeze, and the hem of her ice-blue robe looked like an ice petal blown open by the wind as she turned. Her footsteps were light and resolute.

Like a cold wind sweeping across an ice surface, she did not look back, had no extra expression, and did not say a single "be careful" or "waiting for you to return."

Su Mengyao stood not far away. The Nature Druid's emerald-green hair was like a verdant banner in the sunlight, her emerald eyes curved into two gentle crescents. She leaned into Wang Sheng's ear and whispered, her voice like petals falling into the Lingxi River.

"Sister Shiyun froze the spirit water for three hours last night, until her fingers turned red."

Wang Sheng looked down at the iced spirit waterskin in his hand. A trace of coolness from the Frost Mage's body temperature came through the frozen layer, and the icy sensation spread from his palm to his wrist.

Yet his heart was burning warm. That woman, who was always as cold as ice on the outside, had used the residual warmth of her frost spiritual power in the middle of the night when no one could see, to freeze a waterskin of iced spirit water, bit by bit, for him as he set out on the expedition.

Three hours. She had frozen it for three hours. From late night until dawn.

The Frost Mage's fingers—that pair of fingers, fair as jade and slender as ice picks—had been frozen red by her own spiritual power, just so he could drink a mouthful of iced spirit water in the sweltering Savage Beast Forest.

Wang Sheng tied the spirit waterskin to his waist. The icy sensation pressed against his side, like a silent talisman. It was as gentle as Shen Xun'er's kiss, just in a different way; one was the softness of moonlight, the other the frigidity of frost, but the temperature was the same.

They were all silent concerns for him from that brightly lit Guangming Village behind him.