Yun Rumo's eyes showed fear, yet she still forced her body to stop trembling as much as possible. Even when she could not help shivering, she tried her best to make the movement barely noticeable.
Lin Moyu watched the scrawny girl with a frown and let out a sigh. He channeled his spiritual power into Yun Rumo's body once more, observing that a large portion of her injuries had nearly healed.
It was simply because Yun Rumo found herself in an unfamiliar environment, and her tense state of mind had kept her from noticing that the bruises and minor cuts all over her body had miraculously vanished.
Of course, this was no miracle; it was merely the effect of a low-grade pill, the Blood Spirit Powder.
Initially, Lin Moyu had been quite pleased to see part of Yun Rumo's injuries healed, but the moment he caught sight of her deeper wounds, he instinctively clenched his fists.
Yun Rumo had been watching Lin Moyu's expression gradually soften when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him tightly clenching his fists. She thought to herself, "No way. Is he going to punch me to death?"
Just as Lin Moyu was about to withdraw that sliver of spiritual power and his partial spiritual sense, he suddenly noticed something flashing past through Yun Rumo's meridians. That biting, frigid cold was so intense that it even caused a trace of his spiritual sense to show signs of freezing.
"Don't move!" Eager to find out why such chilling cold existed within Yun Rumo's body, Lin Moyu channeled his spiritual power into her once more.
Backed by powerful spiritual power, Lin Moyu's strand of spiritual sense ignored the bone-chilling cold and traced the fleeting object along Yun Rumo's meridians.
However, because Yun Rumo's body was riddled with injuries—none of her meridians spared—Lin Moyu had to use his spiritual power to shield his spiritual sense as it navigated the narrow pathways. Before long, Lin Moyu reached the region of the human Dantian, and there he caught sight of that transient entity.
"A mutated Ice Spirit Root!" Lin Moyu's trace of spiritual sense thought in astonishment as it gazed at the phantom of that innate icy spiritual energy.
Withdrawing his spiritual sense, Lin Moyu looked at Yun Rumo. Her reddened eyes had cleared up, and seeing Lin Moyu staring straight at her, she instinctively lowered her head again.
Lin Moyu took a few steps back, shaped his spiritual power into a thread, and transmitted his voice to his mother, Lin Ruyu: "Mom, stop looking. I've discovered something very important."
Upon hearing Lin Moyu's words, Lin Ruyu's face grew solemn. She walked over to Yun Rumo and said gently, "Be a good girl, let Auntie check your body."
Not knowing how to refuse, Yun Rumo could only whisper, "Okay!"
Then, Lin Ruyu placed her hand on Yun Rumo's shoulder. After a few breaths, she released her hold and asked Yun Rumo, "Little girl, can you tell Auntie why you didn't go to the Spirit Awakening Ceremony?"
Yun Rumo asked with some confusion, "What is a Spirit Awakening Ceremony?"
Lin Ruyu and Lin Moyu exchanged a glance, and then Lin Ruyu continued, "It's a ceremony everyone has to attend when they turn six. Didn't your parents take you?"
Hearing the word "parents," Yun Rumo's eyes instantly reddened again as she choked out, "I don't have a mom or dad!"
Lin Ruyu paused. When she had checked the spiritual roots earlier, she had naturally noticed those injuries. Originally, she had thought the girl's wounds were mostly healed after taking the Blood Spirit Powder, but who could have imagined that so many hidden injuries still lurked inside her? The only reason she had survived until today was entirely due to the ice spirit root in her body automatically absorbing spiritual energy.
"Moyu, go prepare lunch," Lin Ruyu instructed her son directly.
After sending her son away, Lin Ruyu asked softly, "Little girl, can you tell me in detail about your family situation?"
"My name is Yun Rumo, and I am seventeen years old this year..."
***
Through the crack in the kitchen door, Lin Ruyu watched Yun Rumo devouring her food frantically in the living room. Then, she turned her head to look at her son, who was also shoveling food from a large bowl, and said, "I've asked around and found out everything. She's an orphan adopted by a local ruffian, and she's had a really rough life. What do you think?"
Lin Moyu swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Lin Ruyu curled the corners of her lips into a smile, looked at her son, and said, "How about I take her in as a child bride for you?"
"Right, taking in an adopted daughter sounds pretty great. After all, once she has a spiritual root, who knows, she might even break through to Foundation Establishment... Wait, you just said adopted daughter, right?" Lin Moyu asked foolishly.
Lin Ruyu rolled her eyes at Lin Moyu and said, "How about your old lady finds you a child bride instead?"
Lin Moyu shook his head frantically, looking as though he intended to shake his head right off his shoulders.
Seeing her son's reaction, Lin Ruyu scolded him directly, "You have the nerve to refuse! Even if you don't have a spiritual root, if your aptitude were just a little better, I wouldn't have to resort to this, and yet you're still picky about her."
Lin Moyu was left speechless by his mother's retort. Should he tell her that he actually possessed a Blood Spirit Root?
There was simply no way to explain where such a thing had come from!
Faced with his mother's current state, Lin Moyu could only turn around, ignore Lin Ruyu, and go back to devouring his meal.
Seeing her son's attitude, Lin Ruyu thought for a moment, left the kitchen, and walked over to Yun Rumo. She asked gently, "Little Yunmo! Do you think Auntie is good to you?"
After eating her fill, Yun Rumo looked at Lin Ruyu and replied sincerely, "Yes, very good!"
"Then, Little Yunmo, do you think your adoptive father is better to you, or is Auntie?" In truth, Lin Ruyu's desire to whisk Yun Rumo home wasn't solely for Lin Moyu's benefit. For some inexplicable reason, the moment she saw Yun Rumo, she took an immediate liking to the little girl. Learning that the girl's adoptive father treated her poorly, coupled with the fact that she possessed a mutated Ice Spirit Root, gave Lin Ruyu the idea of taking her in as an adopted daughter.
Sensing Lin Ruyu's intentions, Yun Rumo shook her head and said, "Auntie, I don't want to lie to you. I'm very unlikable. People have adopted me before, but in the end, I always ended up back with the person who took me in at the very beginning."
Lin Ruyu stroked Yun Rumo's head and said, "Poor child! But Auntie is telling you, you can treat this place as your home from now on."
Perhaps Lin Ruyu's motives were not entirely pure, but for Yun Rumo, it was certainly not a bad thing—after all, only those with value caught people's attention.
Though a flicker of delight danced in Yun Rumo's eyes, deep down she did not completely trust them. After all, the people who had abandoned her in the past had said the exact same things when they first adopted her.
Therefore, before everything was fully settled, Yun Rumo decided she would focus on filling her stomach first.
However, Lin Ruyu was worried that Yun Rumo might overeat and burst her stomach, especially since her physical condition could not bear such a heavy burden.
Thus, Lin Ruyu decided that once Yun Rumo's household registration was transferred over, she would immediately set about treating the injuries inside the girl's body; otherwise, they would undoubtedly hinder her cultivation.