The next day, when Ming Yue returned from class, Xiao Ling sat patiently outside her room. Smiling, she patted the dog, and the two went inside. Once inside the room, Xiao Ling sat near the table as it waited for Bai Ruyi to put her books away. When she came back, Xiao Bai was in her hands. Slowly, Bai Ruyi placed Xiao Bai down. At first, Xiao Ling was hesitant and didn't move. Only when Xiao Bai nuzzled its foot did Xiao Ling realize that Xiao Bai was ready to play.

From that day onward, Xiao Ling waited patiently for Bai Ruyi to finish class so that it could play with Xiao Bai. Occasionally, Long Hua would join them. As it was her first year attending the lecture, she spent more time studying the material, but when she had a chance, she would come over to hang out with Bai Ruyi.

Oftentimes, Xiao Ling would forget that it was time to return home. So, it became Feng Kuanglan's job to come and pick it up as Feng Zhiyu was busy having fun with Long Yuzhe. However, he still couldn't figure out why Xiao Ling always came to Bai Ruyi's room, but seeing the little guy happy was enough for him.

In a blink of an eye, three months flew by. After completing the exam, spring was in the air, and flowers were in full bloom. When they first set foot in Huohai, the weather was still cold, and spring was still asleep. Yet now that they were preparing to leave, spring was about to end.

On the last night, they were there, Feng Kuanglan came to take Xiao Ling back, as usual. However, knowing they would be gone the next day, Xiao Ling didn't want to leave.

"Feng gongzi, why don't you let Xiao Ling stay the night."

"But..."

"You don't have to worry about Xiao Ling bothering me."

Feng Kuanglan looked at Xiao Ling and saw that it was highly fond of the idea. So, he thanked Bai Ruyi and left. When Feng Kuanglan was out of sight, Xiao Ling returned to playing with Xiao Bai. As for Bai Ruyi, she pulled out a blank notebook and filled it out. By the time she looked up from her work, three hours had passed, and Xiao Ling and Xiao Bai were asleep, with Xiao Bai cuddled up under Xiao Ling's arm like a blanket.

A smile bloomed on her face. Looking at the two of them now, who would have thought that at one point, Xiao Bai was running away for its life from Xiao Ling. Carefully, she placed a blanket over them and blew out the candles before bed.

When Bai Ruyi woke up the following day, Xiao Bai was beside her. At some point during the night, Xiao Bai had woken up and hopped into bed. Quietly, the two got out of bed and went to ready for the day. When everyone was all packed and ready, they bid Sect Leader Feng goodbye and began their journey home.

Since Bai Ruyi, Long Yuzhe, and the others left early, Feng Kuanglan did not realize that Xiao Ling was still at the guest house. It was only a few hours later that he noticed that Xiao Ling had yet to come for breakfast. When he opened the door to Bai Ruyi's room, he saw that Xiao Ling was still fast asleep.

"Xiao Ling. Xiao Ling. Time to wake up."

Slowly, Xiao Ling's ears twitched to the sound of its name. Opening its eyes, Xiao Ling saw Feng Kuanglan kneeling beside it. Although sad when it found out that Bai Ruyi and Xiao Bai were gone, it soon became happy again when Feng Kuanglan coaxed it with some snacks. On their way out, the notebook Bai Ruyi had filled out the night before caught Feng Kuanglan's eye. Beside the notebook was a letter, and the content inside said.

Feng gongzi, this notebook has some tips on how to train a spirit pet. I hope you and Feng Er gongzi will find it helpful. Bai Ruyi.

Setting the letter aside, he opened the notebook and saw a detailed collection of ways to befriend and train your spirit pet. As he started walking back, Feng Zhiyu came running up to him.

"Ge!" he called out.

Feng Zhiyu stopped before him and saw the book his brother was reading.

"What's that?"

Kuanglan handed the book over to his brother and continued walking.

"Bai gongzi left a book with ways to train a spirit pet."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know, maybe he thinks you and Xiao Ling can spend more time together."

Confused, Feng Zhiyu scratched his head. He had been so busy with his new friend that he didn't know what was happening with his dog.

"The book has good tips. Try to work on them with Xiao Ling. I'm sure Xiao Ling will be happy to spend time with you," Feng Kuanglan said.

"Oh..."

The three left the guest house and returned to their respective rooms.

---------

After a month of traveling, Bai Ruyi, Long Yuzhe, and everyone else finally made it back to Yuecheng. Happy that they were all back safely, Bai Xueling had a wide spread of food made for them.

The twins each gave an account of the experience during dinner that night. However, Long Yuzhe did most of the talking, as he did more than Bai Ruyi. Everyone was happy that the two had a good time, but Bai Xueling still couldn't help but feel worried for Bai Ruyi. Since she was young, she had always been reserved and didn't have a lot of friends, and she rarely shared her thoughts or burdens with her family. Although Bai Ruyi's mind was at peace, Bai Xueling could tell her heart was heavy.

When Long Yuzhe finished telling his stories, Long Ruijin made an announcement.

"The Jin clan will hold their fall hunt in about two months. So we will need to get ready to leave in a few weeks."

At the news of a hunt, Long Yuzhe was very excited. The location of Yuecheng made it hard to host any hunts, so the most action he got was from eradicating the ghosts and demons.

"That's great! I finally get to put my skills to the test!"

While Long Yuzhe was excited, Bai Ruyi quietly finished her food. Bai Ruyi didn't mind hunting down ghosts, demons, and monsters, but she felt that hunting down animals for the sake of human pleasure was too cruel. After all, an animal was still a living being with its own life and family. However, since she had to represent her family, she could only go along with the plan.

A few weeks later, Bai Ruyi, Long Yuzhe, their parents, and some disciples set off to Jinshan. As for their grand-uncle, he stayed behind to watch over the clan. On the way to Jinshan, they had to pass through Houhai, and it just so happened that when they were passing through, the Feng family was also leaving for Jinshan. In the end, the two families decided to travel together.

Along the way, everyone's seating changed. At first, Bai Ruyi's parents were in one carriage, and she and Long Yuzhe were in another. However, they swapped spots since her father wanted to chat with Sect Leader Feng, and his wife wanted to talk with her mother. Later, Feng Zhiyu joined Bai Ruyi and Long Yuzhe. However, the carriage became very tight with the three of them and Xiao Ling. So, in the end, Bai Ruyi had no choice but to share the carriage with Feng Kuanglan, and since his carriage was a little bigger, there was plenty of room for Xiao Ling.

For the first few days of sharing a carriage, Bai Ruyi kept Xiao Bai in her qiankun ring. However, Xiao Ling constantly tugged on Bai Ruyi's robe, wanting to ask her to let Xiao Bai out. In the end, Bai Ruyi took Xiao Bai out and let the two play together. When Feng Kuanglan first saw Xiao Bai, he was caught by surprise, but it later hit him that it was Xiao Bai's fur that he had found on Xiao Ling before.

"Bai gongzi, this is?"

"This is my spirit pet, Xiao Bai," Bai Ruyi responded.

"So this is why Xiao Ling went to your room daily."

Bai Ruyi nodded, and Feng Kuanglan bent down to pet Xiao Bai. Although Xiao Bai initially dodged his touch, it snuggled right up to his hand after Bai Ruyi assured Xiao Bai that Feng Kuanglan was friendly.

With the two pets playing with each other, Feng Kuanglan slowly made small chats with Bai Ruyi. Even though neither of them were big talkers, they could converse on various topics. Occasionally, they would play a round of xiangqi or weiqi. This helped to pass the time as the books they packed didn't last more than a week of travel.