23 Who Would You Rather Be With?

"Wuwuwu, hwaaaaaa!"

"Huh? What? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

Chu Fan patted the silly girl hugging him to comfort her. He was certainly perplexed. A minute ago, this girl was all smiles. But, in an instant, she had started to bawl her eyes out.

"It's all your fault. When you left, I was so bored. I had no one to play with."

Chu Fan was confused and frowned.

"What are you talking about? There are several disciples here for you to play with?"

"Ngh! But they always go along with what I tell them. It's no fun. Only you are willing to change things up."

Chu Fan pinched her cheeks.

"Okay, I'll play with you now that I'm back, I promise. What do you want to play first?"

"I am in no mood to play right now. Make it up to me by making me a dessert. I've grown tired of the desserts you have on the menu."

Chu Fan snapped his fingers and clapped.

"Okay! Let's go into the kitchen then."

He grabbed Hun Lian by the hand and led her into the kitchen. Along the way, he noticed that Hun Lian was considerably taller than when he last saw her. Her face had also become slimmer, but some of her baby fat stayed in place making her look like a chipmunk; cute in every way possible. Her figure was subtly transforming. Her figure almost resembled Yao Lingyan, but her chest area was already developing, whereas Yao Lingyan was still considerably masculine in the chest area.

"A'Lian, you've gotten much taller. And it's only been a month. Before I know it, you'll be a bigger than me."

"Hehe, I'm catching up to you. Don't fret over it. I will never look down upon you even when you are shorter. Hahaha!"

"And if you keep eating my desserts, you may become bigger than myself. Hahaha!"

Chu Fan only shook his head and chuckled as he headed into the kitchen. He donned his apron and took out his ingredients.

Hun Lian sat on a stool pouting from Chu Fan's remark. She saw him pull out an array of interesting ingredients, and was very intrigued by it.

"What are you making for me today?"

Hun Lian could not sit still. She was too excited for the surprise dessert that was being created. She had forgotten that she had been pouting only a couple of seconds ago.

Chu Fan finished his dessert and served it to the restless girl. She quickly uncovered the lid to reveal a jiggling substance, orange in color. A cold mist emanated from the pudding.

"What is this, pudding?"

She poked the jelly and it wobbled about.

"This is a jelly made with Frost Plums. Don't belittle it until you've tried it."

Hun Lian nodded and picked up her spoon. She scooped a spoonful of the jelly into her mouth.

"Aack! My head it hurts. What kind of torturous food are you making me eat?"

"Hahaha, that's called a 'brain freeze'. You rushed it, you're supposed to savor it. This dessert is made from frost plums. That's why it is cold."

Hun Lian clung to her head as the prickly sensation ran through her head.

Chu Fan picked up her spoon and scooped the proper amount of jelly. He motioned the spoon towards her mouth.

"Aah."

Hun Lian hesitated for a second before blushing and opening her mouth. She moved her hair to the side and held it so that her hair did not go into her mouth.

"Wow, you can actually be rather cute sometimes. As long as you aren't acting like a brat."

*cough*

Hun Lian almost choked on the dessert. She was not ready for his flirtatious remark and teasing. He patted her on left to fetch her a cup of water. She blushed and smiled while he had his back turned towards her. Her eyes widened as she wondered why she was blushing in the first place.

"It's just the fatty, why am I so happy that he's teasing me?"

She gobbled the remaining bits of the jelly before dashing out of the kitchen without so much as making any noise. The cold sensation of the dessert slowly spread throughout her body; then came a rush of warmth that made her body feel lighter.

She clutched her head as she ran home screaming, "AAAAAHHH!!!".

Disciples that saw her, acted as if they didn't see a mad person running around the sect grounds. Back in the kitchen, Chu Fan had just filled up the cup and grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth.

"Alright, have some water. I can't have you choking on my foo- Where did that girl go?"

He scratched his head, it seemed Hun Lian was in a rush and left without a word. He shrugged his shoulders and went about his usual work routine.

At night he planted a tree branch near the entrance to the cafeteria and ended the day. He returned to his room to cultivate before taking a bath and going to sleep.

...................................

At the residence of the Sect Chief, there lay a young girl in her private chamber. Her room was decorated and full of many exotic treasures and plush creatures. She had a painting of a heroic youth plastered above her bed. This girl was Hun Lian.

She was unable to sleep as many thoughts went through her head at the moment.

In the entire month that Chu Fan had been gone, she had laid awake at night in thought. She ceaselessly thought of the fatty, Chu Fan, day and night. But fought back such thoughts with self-criticizing words about how she needed to stay faithful to Zhu Zhong.

"Why am I thinking of that fatty? I should be dreaming and awaiting the day that Senior Brother Zhu Zhong returns."

She would shaker her tired head, as she lost many nights of sleep over such matter.

She had consulted her mother and father on the matters of love. Her mother only laughed at her.

"Ah, to be young again. I have a question for you Lian'er. Chu Fan? Or Zhu Zhong? If the two of them fought for your love, who would you rather be with? Lian'er only you can answer this question."

And her mother would send her off to meditate and reflect on her feelings. Her father was different.

"Who dares to court my daughter? Not while I'm alive. No! It's not going to happen. Lian'er, you must understand. Men and boys alike are all lechers to the core. They hide their lust behind their courteous smiles and idle banter. They all want the same thing, and that is your virtue."

She brushed off her father's words of caution; they were just the ramblings of an overprotective father. This was not the answer to her question. She still didn't know what love was, and she feared the unknown and mysterious emotion we call "love."

She had forgotten all about her troubles the moment Chu Fan came back to the sect. She was simply too happy seeing him return.

After seeing realizing the way she acted around Chu Fan, she really began to question herself. Bringing her to this moment where she lay awake in bed, deep in her thoughts.

To combat her insomnia, she had traded in sect points for sleeping pills. She popped two pills into her mouth and shut her eyes.

The medicine worked immediately and she fell asleep, entering her world of dreams.

She was dressed in a red set of robes, with a veil covering her face. She was at her wedding. From underneath the veil, she could see the feet of her groom. She breathed a sigh of relief that the groom's legs were skinny.

The two were about to start their kowtowing when they were interrupted.

*bang* *bang*

A person kicked down the door, letting in a gust of wind. There was a storm outside.

Lightning flashed about and wind threw decorations everywhere. Hun Lian's veil was also lifted in the stormy weather.

She could make out the distinct shape of the figure, it was a fat man. She knew that this man was Chu Fan. She looked over at her groom, and as she expected, it was Zhu Zhong.

Zhu Zhong pulled a spear out of nowhere and pointed it at Chu Fan.

"How audacious? What business do you have barging in here uninvited? You have disrespected me and the people present today. For that, you shall pay."

Chu Fan chuckled to himself.

"What business do I have here? I'm just rightfully taking back what was originally mine. You can have the position as Sect Chief, all I want is my woman."

Hun Lian's heart began to beat faster as these words brought tears to her eyes. She knew it was just a dream, but it felt so vivid and real to her.

"Hubby! You really didn't abandon me."

She ran to Chu Fan in slow motion. Even though she was conscious of her actions, in this dream world, she was nothing more than a first-person perspective spectator.

"No! No! No! Why would I ever say those words?" she thought to herself.

"Haha! I no longer have a use for this woman!"

Zhu Zhong thrust his spear at Hun Lian and closed in on her. He was aiming to kill her; if he couldn't have her in body and soul, no one else would get that satisfaction either.

She turned around and closed her eyes as she embraced for death.

*Ffffffft* *Cough*

She opened her eyes to see that standing before her was Chu Fan. He had been stabbed fatally in the abdomen.

"Hmph! Serves you right! I'll spare your woman just this once."

Zhu Zhong swiftly left the building, no one tried to stop him. A crowd began to form as they went to see how Chu Fan was doing.

He was coughing up blood by the mouthful. With the last bit of strength he had, he put his left hand on the left side of her face and smiled. He smiled through the gut wrenching pain, tears in his bloodshot eyes.

"A'Lian, you look so beautiful today. Just as beautiful as you were the day we first met. Don't cry. If

you cry, I'll be in more pain. This little wound is nothing."

Seeing him in such a pitiful state, she was able to gain control of her body in the dream world.

"What are you talking about, you idiot? Father! Father! Don't we have a Phoenix Plume Panacea?"

Chu Fan patted her on the head and coughed up more blood.

"Silly girl, your father's been gone for many years now. How can he help?"

She began to scan the room for any traces of her father. Seeing that he was nowhere in sight, she began to cry.

Chu Fan wiped her tears and smiled.

"Don't cry. The proud daughter of a sect does not cry. I'll make it up to you okay, I'll make you a dessert after this."

He moved his left hand and motioned his hand for a pinky promise. In tears she moved her right hand pinky to interlock with his. The moment their thumbs touched, Chu Fan breathed his last breath and his body went limp. His hands fell to the side of his body, lightning and thunder occurred simultaneously, making the people disappear.

Hun Lian sat there with Chu Fan's lifeless body in her hands, crying without end.

The world began to fade and the surrounding environment turned to dust. Chu Fan's body flew up slowly dissipating. Hun Lian could only cry out and reach for whatever she could hold.

*Boom*

She felt pain on her forehead as she awoke from her dream; or rather we should call it, nightmare. She had rolled out of bed while jumping in her dream. Only an hour had passed since she fell asleep.

She began crying as her dream was so lifelike. She rubbed her eyes and ran out of her room and out of her residence. She was making her way barefoot through the sect grounds in the middle of the night.

Many of the disciples on night watch did not stop her, they figured she had been sleep walking. It had become a usual routine for her in the past month; this was one of the adverse effects of the sleeping pill she ate.

She was headed towards the cafeteria. She ran as fast as she could. She arrived and entered the building. She made her ways to the room in the kitchen where Chu Fan was happily asleep.

In fact he was having a rather nice dream; he would giggle and smile from time to time.

"Sniff! Darn fatty! You made me call you hubby. You even made me cry over your death. I'll teach you to mess with a young maiden's heart."

Seeing that the fatty was fine, she sighed and smiled. She wiped away her tears. She watched him sleep for a while, tickling his face and getting him to slap himself a couple of times. She even drew on his face.

"Alright, I'm well satisfied with this. I'll be going back to my bed now. Good night."

When she was done and satisfied, she got up to leave. As she turned around, Chu Fan, grabbed her by the arm. He rolled over, pulling her along onto the bed.

He began to cuddle her and press his body against hers. She struggled for a bit, but she was too exhausted as is. So she eventually fell asleep as her accumulated exhaustion caught up with her, making her fall asleep comfortably in Chu Fan's embrace.

The two children slept like babies until the morning came. The Vermilion Rooster crowed and Chu Fan woke up.

"Haaaa! What a good night's rest."

He stretched his hands into the air. When he placed them back down, his right hand landed on something bouncy and soft.

"Hmm? Strange, I seem to know this texture."

His face froze as he looked at the area where his right hand rested on.

"No! This can't be happening."