Wu Long carried Hong Xinyi and returned to the Dream Realm, but unlike usually he did not enter through one of his regular entry points, appearing directly within a small detached pavilion with a few rooms and a veranda with a scenic view, one of many such places hidden across the various parts of the mountain occupied exclusively by the Wu Family.

He first used the Water Rune to wash off the blood from her, the water passing through and leaving without leaving even a tiny droplet, even the moisture which soaked into her hair or clothes drained out as soon as it washed off the blood.

He then laid her onto the bed, and sat onto a chair next to her, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees, and interlinking his fingers in front of his mouth, his eyes looking at her in thought.

She had incredible resistance to most poisons and sedatives, but as her cultivation regressed, so did her tolerance, so after using acupuncture coupled with a few personal methods, he was able to overwhelm her with a sedative meant for Essence Gathering Realm experts - she would not be awake for a few more hours at least.

Adding to that the fact she was now completely safe from any further harm, and restored to full health, there was no real reason to worry, and he did not really need to sit by her side watching her so closely.

But despite all that he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side.

[Wu Long, Sister Ye Ling wants to come see you], Fen Baihu’s voice resounded in his head, not as a sound transmission but directly through her Soul Bead within his soul sea.

A wry smile appeared on his lips since no one from his beauties usually asked permission to come and see him, nor were they ever required or expected to.

He could guess that Fen Baihu noticed that he wanted to keep Hong Xinyi isolated at this point in time, even from his Dao Family, but wasn’t willing to leave her side either.

It was likely that the Celestial Fox prevented anyone from approaching him.

[Thank you, Baihu], he first sincerely thanked her, and then added, [It’s alright, she is asleep for now]

Almost the next moment, Ye Ling stepped out from the mist - transported here by Fen Baihu for convenience while he stood up to greet her.

Her eyes showed a bit of worry as she looked into his, and then glanced at the sleeping Hong Xinyi before returning her gaze to him as she approached and gently hugged him without a word.

He smiled, weaving his hands around her and closed his eyes, breathing in her presence and feeling his tensed up mind relaxing, a soothing feeling washing over him along with her warmth in his arms.

He didn’t pretend he wasn’t affected by the short period of time he genuinely thought Hong Xinyi could die.

The fact she was in danger at all caught him off guard in the first place.

She was the most vulnerable of the women he cared about in the higher worlds, as she was the one who lost her backer - the Hong Family. But he still believed she would be safe as long as she laid low.

And yet...

He sighed, feeling better already as he looked at Ye Ling who looked back at him, only leaning her head back while still hugging him tightly.

A subtle smile touched his lips, and a similar one appeared on hers as they seemingly had an entire conversation without speaking, only looking each other in the eyes, until he finally opened his mouth, "It’s alright now, Ling’er. Thank you"

Her smile widened as she really saw a more peaceful look in his eyes, nodding, "I will be going then"

He let go of her, and she turned to leave.

"Tell everyone that I will introduce them a bit later... but...", he added, but hesitated causing her to turn with a surprised look and widen her eyes at seeing the look in his eyes that appeared now, "...but now it’s better if I’m the only one around when she wakes up"

"You’re nervous...", she widened her eyes, the words coming off her lips involuntarily as she was so shocked to see such emotions in him, that her thoughts directly slipped out into spoken words.

He made a wry, somewhat awkward smile again as he nodded, "Mm, I am"

"Ah, sorry I...", she raised her hand to her mouth realizing she blurted out her thought as a result of losing composure.

"No, it’s fine. It’s true after all", he chuckled with the same light awkwardness, as he raised his hand to the back of his head as he took a deep breath - a gesture of nervousness she haven’t seen him show in this life but was so used to in their previous one, which caused her to suddenly feel nostalgic and a chuckle broke from her lips.

She shook her head with a look of amazement in her eyes and a gentle smile on her lips, "You’re surprising me more and more"

And then, as a slightly teasing glint appeared in her eyes, she added, "Sister Baihu, you got all that right? I want to be able to revisit this moment and see that in the future sometimes"

"I sure did", Fen Baihu appeared next to Ye Ling, a subtle smile also playing on her lips, "In fact I think all of our Dao Sisters would like to see something so rare"

There was no mockery or mean-spiritedness in their smiles and subtle amusement at his nervousness, only genuine warmth and mutual understanding. In fact, this reaction from the two of them is what made it less awkward for him to show this vulnerable nervousness, and he could feel their sincere support throughout.

"It’s just... I didn’t expect to meet her so soon...", he confessed, "...and things have changed since I woke up as a mortal again... a lot. It is also one of the reasons that it is better that I talk to her first, before she meets you or the others... it is for her comfort to be less disoriented by having one familiar person explain everything when she wakes up, yes, but... but it is also because that way we can perhaps avoid some initial unpleasantness that would need to be worked out later on..."

""Oh...", both beauties made round eyes as they began realizing something, Ye Ling once again bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, while Fen Baihu asked, "Y-You didn’t...?"

She didn’t finish but he understood what she meant, nodding.

""Oooh~..."", both beauties stretched out the exclamation, confirming their earlier guess as they became more and more shocked.

"...", Ye Ling then gulped, and turned to Fen Baihu with slightly wooden movement, speaking in a slightly higher pitched tone than usual,"Okay then~... shall we?"

"Eh? Y-Yeah, we should probably go", Fen Baihu first was woken up from a light daze, and then energetically nodded, both of them hurrying out of the room and into the mist while Wu Long chuckled, shaking his head behind their backs.

If anything, they certainly succeeded in lighting up his mood as he turned his gaze back to Hong Xinyi with a more refreshed look on his face. Remaining to stand instead of sitting down for some time more before slowly walking back to the chair with a more leisurely gait and sitting down in a not-so brooding and more comfortable pose, placing his ankle over the knee of the other leg, and crossing his arms.

His eyes then once again became clouded with thoughts, but his relaxed expression did not fade.