The Art of Subduing Dragons

Chapter 46

Luo Qingci sat down, glanced at her, and softened her voice, "What are you looking at? Why do you look so sad?"

Ruan Li raised her head and quickly denied it, "When was I sad?"

Luo Qingci chuckled softly, "You say you're not sad, but your eyes are all red."

Ruan Li wanted to deny it further, but Luo Qingci continued, "It's natural to cry when you're sad and to smile when you're happy. Not crying or not smiling is also a choice, and there's nothing wrong with either. There's no need to feel embarrassed."

She then looked gently at Ruan Li's right hand, "Can you let me see? Talking about what makes you sad might make you feel better."

Maybe it was because Luo Qingci was so gentle, Ruan Li hesitated for a moment, then extended her right hand, revealing a paper crane in her palm.

This paper crane had followed her for a long time. Although it couldn't speak, it was full of life. It would cheer her up when she was down and warn her when danger approached. Even at the last moment, it tried its best to protect her.

She was an orphan and had encountered very little kindness in her life. Those who truly cared for her were even fewer—only a few like Chi Qing, Di Ling, and her senior sister, and this tiny paper crane that didn't even count as a person.

It's kind of funny. She had become so desperate that she needed comfort from a paper crane, but she genuinely couldn't bear to lose it.

After the paper crane took a hit for her, she was devastated, but everything got so chaotic afterward. Meeting Chi Qing again filled her with a mix of joy and anxiety, so she temporarily forgot her sadness.

Once she was alone and touched the paper crane in her pocket, all the memories of the past days came flooding back, and the sadness returned. She had come to see it as a little companion.

"Is it a paper crane? What's wrong with it?" Luo Qingci pretended not to know.

Ruan Li recounted what had happened and then looked at Luo Qingci with a self-deprecating smile, "Do you think I'm being unreasonable? It's just a paper crane that my master used to send messages. It has no life or soul, and here I am, getting all emotional over it."

"No," Luo Qingci replied seriously, her tone firm.

"It chose you and protected you in a critical moment. That makes it special to you. If someone thinks you're being unreasonable, it's just that they don't understand," Luo Qingci didn't try to comfort her with false words. She always believed that Ruan Li had a pure heart, even though the original story sometimes made her seem overly kind.

But after meeting Ruan Li in person, Luo Qingci came to truly appreciate how precious that kindness was. She wasn't a pushover or a saint, forced to complete tasks and follow this young girl around. Most people would be resentful or even angry in such a situation.

Though Luo Qingci wasn't angry, she initially approached things with the mindset of just completing her mission. How deep could one's feelings grow after only six months?

Yet, she felt an unshakeable bond forming, a deep pain in her heart. She had never been relied on or trusted like this before. She had never met someone as sweet and endearing, someone who melted her heart completely.

She had gotten so used to being kind to Ruan Li that she sometimes forgot why she was doing it in the first place.

Ruan Li stared at her for a long time, then looked down at the paper crane and softly said, "I often wonder why someone would be kind to others. There are countless reasons to be unkind, most of them revolving around personal gain. But what about the reasons for kindness? I think it should also be about gain, but when that gain hasn't been obtained yet, why bother being kind? Like this paper crane—what does it gain from being good to me? Why did it choose to do so?"