Chapter 219: Towers or Sources?
The twins’ birthday party turned out to be one of the best nights of Benton’s new life. He liked that the sect members and villagers seemed to appreciate the experience of the new dessert he served them even if they found the icing to be a bit much. Watching Yang Xiu swoop around fearlessly on the glider and Yang Ru take a much more tentative approach amused the sect leader to no end. The main thing that warmed his heart, however, was seeing Jin LiJuan play with the other kids.
At first, she’d been just as reticent as he had expected. Her expression during her first attempts at play made her look more like she was approaching a battle than a game of tag.
Slowly, though, she loosened up. The fake smile she was keeping plastered on her face to appease him disappeared, and a genuine one replaced it. She clearly had better endurance and greater speed and agility than her playmates, so they all ganged up on her.
Benton expected the girl to react with anger. Instead, she laughed.
She laughed!
He watched with a grin as Jin LiJuan leaped over rows of seating and rushed about hither and yon, tagging the mortal kids who were having just as much fun trying to evade her.
Still, he tried to keep from getting too excited by what he was seeing. Her family being slaughtered in front of her had affected her in ways from which she might normally never recover, and he definitely was no therapist to determine her actual mental state.
Playing with kids from the village, though, seemed like at least a small step forward. Her actions certainly gave him hope. Combined with the healing effect from the technique he had given her, she just might one day fully recover.
She continued playing with the group until the villagers, unused to late nights, departed well before midnight. The party wound down pretty quickly after that point.
Jin LiJuan lived in the apartment building ran by Mistress Zhong—which Benton thought of as the Outer Sect—and knowing that the girl would be eager to advance her cultivation, Benton monitored the building’s exit closely from his office.
Sure enough, Jin LiJuan walked out with the pup early the next morning and went directly to the Contribution Points Shop. Shortly after she entered, he got a notification that she’d reached Qi Gathering minor realm seven, giving him three additional Sect Points.
After reading the message, he let out a relieved sigh. He hadn’t really expected anything to go wrong, but the girl wasn’t exactly on a normal path. Expecting the unexpected was a good rule of thumb for anyone in such abnormal circumstances.