Lou Yue woke when Liufeng Xin shifted beside her.
When she opened her eyes, all she saw was the branch where someone had been sitting, now empty in the morning light.
She had actually pretended to be asleep last night and then truly fallen asleep—she had even slept quite soundly...
She woke Liufeng Xin, and the others who had been resting rose one after another.
“Huh? Brother Chen still hasn’t come back?” Fat Second asked, looking around.
Without even looking up, Big Brother Wei replied, “Xiao Chen told me to have us move ahead. He’ll catch up with us later.”
“Brother Chen couldn’t have gone to...”
Fat Second did not finish. The others all wore expressions of understanding. Clearly, only Lou Yue and Liufeng Xin had no idea what was going on.
Liufeng Xin wanted to ask, but the current situation was hardly suitable for prying, so she could only discuss it with her sister.
“What do you think he went to do?”
“How would I know? I’m not a worm in his stomach.”
“Take a guess! You’re so clever, you’ll definitely get it right.”
Lou Yue shot her a sidelong glance. “Can’t you rein in your curiosity?”
“Hey, I’m only doing this for your sake.” Liufeng Xin sighed. “You’re completely focused on cultivation now and don’t care about...”
Seeing that Lou Yue still did not understand, Liufeng Xin gave up. “Come on, come on. We’re setting out.”
Big Brother Wei walked over, a hint of hesitation on his face. “Miss Yue, with Xiao Rangchen gone... How about I have Skinny Three stay at the rear with you? That way, you’ll have someone to watch your back.”
“No need.”
Her answer was firm and confident.
Big Brother Wei recalled how swift and decisive she had been the day before and did not insist. He turned and called for everyone to continue onward.
Xiao Rangchen caught up with them roughly an hour later. Lou Yue sensed someone approaching at high speed. In an instant, her Yanxiang Disk transformed into several moon wheels that revolved around her, one of them spinning in midair at her fingertips.
She turned her head and stared toward the rear.
The moment the approaching figure crossed her warning range, the moon wheel left her hand and shot forward.
It was deflected by an obstruction and flew back. Lou Yue was just about to call for the group to halt when a dark-robed figure appeared in her line of sight.
Lou Yue turned back and withdrew the Yanxiang Disk.
Xiao Rangchen was no longer concealing his presence. Big Brother Wei noticed him, and the two exchanged a distant nod as they continued walking.
A strong stench of demonic-beast blood wafted from the man behind them.
Had he raided a demonic beast’s lair?... The smell of blood was unbelievably strong.
As she pondered this, the mountains suddenly opened up before them. The clash of weapons and the roars of demonic beasts came from ahead.
They had run into another group of cultivators battling a demonic beast.
It was an enormous black boar, over ten feet tall, shaped like a wild mountain pig. Its eyes were bloodred, its tusks jutted outward, and the bristles along its back stood rigidly upright like spears driven into the sky.
The other group unleashed sword techniques and spiritual power, yet still failed to gain the upper hand. Instead, the beast repeatedly sent them stumbling backward. Neither side could do anything to the other.
Big Brother Wei immediately tried to circle around the battlefield. However, when that group spotted them, they deliberately drew the giant boar in their direction.
The enormous beast charged toward the side of their formation, carrying a foul, bloody stench with it.
Lou Yue immediately stepped in front of Qiao Qiniang and was about to activate the Yanxiang Disk when Xiao Rangchen moved.
Lou Yue only felt a fierce gust of wind sweep past. In the next instant, the black boar—over ten feet tall and weighing several thousand pounds—was sent flying like a hurled boulder. It shot straight past the other group and slammed into a hill a hundred meters away with a thunderous boom that reverberated through the forest.
The surroundings fell deathly silent.
The cultivators froze, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.
He had sent the demonic beast they had struggled with for so long flying with a single kick, without even using spiritual power. Just how terrifyingly strong was his physical body?
Calmly, Lou Yue pressed down the veil that the gust had blown upward.
Xiao Rangchen cultivated both body refinement and spellcraft. At his current level, a single giant boar was nothing to him. Even a whole pack might not be enough to withstand his kicks.
Thinking of the intense, rank smell of blood and beast musk clinging to him when he returned, Lou Yue made a reasonable guess: he had spent that missing stretch of time fighting a group of demonic beasts with his bare hands.
Which raised the question—why had he gone to wrestle demonic beasts in the first place?
From the way Big Brother Wei and the others reacted, he seemed to do this often.
To vent.
That was the word that came to Lou Yue’s mind.
But what was he venting?
The scene from the previous night surfaced in her mind. He had sat on the tree, drinking Yellow Springs wine, his head bowed as he rubbed something in his hand. He had been focused, yet lonely...
“Sister,” Liufeng Xin suddenly whispered into her ear. “I think you should consider body refinement too.”
“He’s so physically strong that he could knock you down with a casual push. I’m just worried your body might suffer in the future.” Liufeng Xin sighed with great seriousness.
Lou Yue was initially confused. But when she saw the meaningful, teasing, suggestive look in Liufeng Xin’s eyes, she understood.
She raised a hand and covered Liufeng Xin’s mouth, then lifted her foot and stomped hard on Liufeng Xin’s instep.
Liufeng Xin: “!!”
Lou Yue gritted her teeth and hissed in a low voice, “Do you think my physical strength is strong or not?”
Liufeng Xin’s features twisted in pain, and she nodded repeatedly.
Lou Yue glared fiercely at her before finally letting go.
In the distance, the black boar staggered to its feet. It shook its dizzy head, then roared and charged toward the other group, which was now closer. Those cultivators hurriedly responded, becoming entangled in battle with it once again.
“That bastard Fang Lin was deliberately trying to use us as scapegoats!” Fat Second shouted angrily, no trace of his usual foolish grin remaining. “Big Brother, I can’t swallow this!”
Qiao Qiniang spoke up as well. “When Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother died, they didn’t kill them themselves, but they stood by and did nothing. Only after Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother were savagely killed and the demonic beast was weakened did they jump out and ambush it to claim the spoils. That’s the truth.”
“Fang Lin even mocked Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother, saying that the weak deserved their fate!”
“Then let’s take it from them.” Lou Yue suddenly spoke as she watched the battle in the distance.
She looked at the others. “Wasn’t it Fang Lin who said that the weak should accept their fate when they lose to the strong?”
Her tone was brimming with confident arrogance.
Xiao Rangchen’s gaze instantly fell on her.
“That’s right! We’ll take it too!” Fat Second immediately raised his arm and looked toward Big Brother Wei. “Big Brother!”
The deaths of Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother were also a deep wound in Big Brother Wei’s heart. Countless times, he had wondered whether, if only he had been stronger, he could have saved them instead of watching helplessly as they died beneath the demonic beast’s jaws. Fang Lin’s words back then had been salt rubbed into that wound. What was more, they had just tried to divert the disaster toward them.
He clenched his teeth and said fiercely, “Move! We’re taking that giant boar!”
With their participation—and Xiao Rangchen lending a hand from time to time—the giant boar soon collapsed, unable to fight any longer.
“Oh, why, thank you.” Fang Lin pasted on a false smile while signaling to his companions to hurry over and harvest the valuable materials from the boar’s body.
“Hold it!” Fat Second shouted. “We’re the ones who defeated this giant boar, so the spoils naturally belong to us! Fang Lin, you were the one who said it: the strong prey on the weak, and those who lack skill have to accept their fate!”
Fang Lin’s expression darkened. He was a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, a full level above Big Brother Wei. Apart from Xiao Rangchen, whose abilities remained unknown, he feared none of the others.
“I advise you not to mistake my tolerance for weakness!”
Lou Yue, Liufeng Xin, and Qiao Qiniang had not joined the earlier battle. Now that it was over, Liufeng Xin pulled them over.
When Fang Lin saw the three women approaching, he sneered. “Two men died, so you recruited a bunch of women into the group? Are you exploring the Wilds, or did you come here to play with women?”
Lou Yue stared coldly at him.
“Fang Lin, what the hell are you talking about?” Fat Second roared, pointing at him.
Liufeng Xin’s brows shot upward. “What’s wrong with women? Can’t women explore the Wilds?”
Fang Lin’s gaze traveled up and down the graceful figures of Liufeng Xin and Lou Yue, and an obscene smile spread across his face.
“Old Wei, you’re certainly enjoying some good fortune.”
“Fuck!”
Fat Second was furious and was about to charge forward, but then Liufeng Xin suddenly changed her tone. Her voice turned delicate and timid, with a hint of fear in it. “Sister, he’s saying such awful things. I’m a little scared~”
Liufeng Xin wrapped her arms around Lou Yue’s and leaned softly against her.
Hearing that voice, Fang Lin’s eyes gleamed with even greater interest. He was just about to make some teasing remark when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his companion suddenly widen his eyes and stare in horror at something behind him.
The next moment, immense force slammed into his lower back.
“Bang!”
Fang Lin didn’t even have time to react before his entire body was sent flying like a torn rag, crashing headfirst into the black giant boar.
The giant boar, which had just summoned the last of its strength in a desperate attempt to retaliate, finally breathed its last after the impact.
“Wow, Sister, your dog-beating staff is getting more powerful by the day!” Liufeng Xin shed her timid act and clapped enthusiastically.
Where Fang Lin had been standing, a black staff as thick as a barrel stood planted in the ground.
Lou Yue lifted her eyes toward the group. The black staff rose accordingly, hovering in the air above them at an angle.
Terror was written across their faces, horror spilling from their eyes.
They hadn’t even seen how the staff had appeared, let alone how their strongest fighter, Fang Lin, had been sent flying without the slightest ability to resist.
They hurriedly retreated, dragged Fang Lin—who had already passed out and was foaming at the mouth—off the giant boar, and fled without even daring to look back.
Fat Second stood gaping at the black staff suspended in midair. After a long moment, he looked at Lou Yue and said stiffly, “Sister Yue, that staff of yours... is pretty impressive. Heh, heh.”
“Of course!” Liufeng Xin acted as though she were the one being praised. “My sister’s dog-beating staff is specially for dogs with filthy mouths! Hmm... He was probably number one hundred and thirty-something.”
“...You two have run into quite a lot of dogs, huh?”
Liufeng Xin touched her face. “What can I say? We sisters were born beautiful.”
Lou Yue put away the Yanxiang Staff and shifted one step to the side, distancing herself from the drama queen Liufeng Xin.
Big Brother Wei laughed. “All right, Second, get over here and help deal with the giant boar.”
The valuable parts of the giant boar were quickly stripped away. Just as the group was preparing to set out again, Xiao Rangchen suddenly walked over to the corpse and reached his hand straight inside.
When he withdrew it, he was holding the giant boar’s kidneys. Flames sprang up in his hand. Once the fire burned away, it left behind two charred, black, silkworm-bean-shaped remnants.
“Oh? They’re metal-elemental!” Liufeng Xin remarked from beside Lou Yue.
As though he knew what Xiao Rangchen was about to say, Big Brother Wei spoke first. “If you hadn’t taken them, we wouldn’t have noticed them anyway. If you like them, just keep the pair of kidneys.”
“Yeah, Brother Chen. We wouldn’t have gained such a rich haul without you,” Fat Second added.
Xiao Rangchen paused, then accepted the items.
When night fell and they prepared to rest, Liufeng Xin wrapped her arms around Lou Yue’s waist and wheedled, “Sister~ There’s something important concerning the rest of my life that I need your help with.”
Lou Yue poked away the head pressing against her. “Speak properly.”
“It’s about that pair of pig kidneys Long Aotian took at the end. Help me ask him for one, will you?”
Lou Yue lowered her eyes, her face expressionless. “What do you want a pig kidney for?”
“Sister, that’s a very good thing! Normally, kidneys should be water-elemental, but those two are actually metal-elemental. Metal isn’t afraid of fire, so they’re extremely rare medicinal ingredients. Please help me~”
“Go ask him yourself.”
“No, I don’t want to. The moment he stands there, I feel a cold wind blowing over me. Back then, he always looked at me as if he wanted to stab me to death. Wouldn’t that look be even more terrifying now? I’m scared. I’m not going.”
“Then forget about it.”
Liufeng Xin buried herself in Lou Yue’s arms. “I don’t want to, Sister. Can you really bear to watch me lose my appetite and lie awake all night?”
“Yes. I can bear it,” Lou Yue replied coldly.
Liufeng Xin tried every trick she had, but she still couldn’t convince Lou Yue to go. Yet she truly didn’t want to give up. For someone who cultivated the alchemical path, such a treasure was something one could only hope to encounter, never seek out deliberately.
“I’ll go myself, then!” Liufeng Xin puffed herself up with courage. It was only Long Aotian. It wasn’t as though he could kill her, right?
“Good luck. I believe in you.”
“...”
Liufeng Xin shot Lou Yue a resentful look, then slowly shuffled over.
Xiao Rangchen was leaning against a tree. When he noticed her approaching, he raised his eyes.
Liufeng Xin immediately stopped two meters away, her legs trembling slightly.
Good heavens. Why did she feel that his gaze could cut people down indiscriminately even more effectively than it had two years ago?
The others noticed the scene and looked over as well. Fat Second took a sip of liquor to clear his head. Before he could swallow it, Liufeng Xin called out quickly and loudly:
“My sister has taken a fancy to your pair of kidneys. Can you give her one?”
“Pfft—”
Fat Second sprayed the liquor from his mouth.
Lou Yue, who had been watching with her arms folded from not far away: “...”
Not only had Liufeng Xin used her as a cover, she had even phrased it in such an outrageously suggestive way!
Fortunately, Xiao Rangchen didn’t seem to misunderstand. He glanced at her, and then Lou Yue heard his voice again for the first time in two years.
“No.” His voice was hard and distant, more mature than it had been two years ago, with the low, magnetic resonance unique to a grown man.
“We can buy it, or trade you something else,” Liufeng Xin said hurriedly.
Xiao Rangchen gave no further answer. He rose and walked away.
Liufeng Xin grew anxious. She quickly turned to Lou Yue, pleading in her eyes.
Lou Yue sighed, lowered her arms, and straightened. Then she walked over. “What would it take for you to part with it? You can name any condition.”
Xiao Rangchen looked over. Beneath his mask, his eyes were dark and unfathomable. There seemed to be hidden currents roiling within them—or perhaps that was merely her imagination.
Lou Yue’s fingertips curled slightly, and her breathing paused for half a beat, so subtly that it was almost imperceptible.
Yet the voice she had been expecting never came. His gaze lingered on her face for only a moment before he turned slightly. His robes brushed past her as he strode away.