"Sister Qing, what are you guys doing? What is taking us this long here?" Another girl came from behind and inquired.
She had blue-colored eyes and long blue hair that extended to her waist. She was wearing a royal blue colored hanfu with a deep brown sash that cinched around her waist. She was wearing wooden slippers.
The robe she wore had white color flowers drawn on it. On her wrists were bangles of different colors.
"Nothing, it's just that this boy wanted to join us, so I allowed him," replied Yue Qing.
"Are you wooing strangers now?" She said with a grin.
"Xiu Lan, watch your tongue. You are crossing the line!" The boy beside Yue Qing said with a serious complexion.
"Limit? What limit? She cannot even look at anyone, how will she know if I crossed the limit…" the girl who just came was Xiu Lan.
"What's happening here?"
A voice came from behind. Two boys were walking towards them.
"Xiu Lan, did you say something again?" A boy asked.
He had golden eyes with a tint of black and scarlet red in them. He had short shining white hair. The shape of his nose was aquiline. He wore a black warrior's robe. It had grandeur snake patterns drawn all over it.
He was wearing wooden slippers unlike Yue Qing, who wore nothing on her feet. A sword hung at his waist. A snake circled around its hilt.
"Wu Zhi, don't you know Xiu Lan, she can't even control herself. She is always after Yue Qing." The second boy out of the two spoke.
He had golden eyes with a tint of black and scarlet red in them as well. He had short shining white hair. The shape of his nose was aquiline. He wore a black warrior's robe. It had grandeur snake patterns drawn all over it.
These two boys had the same appearance.
He, too, was wearing wooden slippers just like the other boy. Except that this boy had no sword, everything was the same as the other boy.
The one with the sword was called Wu Zhi.
"You bastard Wu Zhu, I don't want to hear it from you! If I could, I would kill you for what you tried in the past!" The boy beside Yue Qing was more furious at the one who defended Yue Qing than Xiu Lan.
Even Xiu Lan looked at Wu Zhu with disgusting eyes and slightly retreated to Yue Qing's side.
As for Yue Qing, she just stared as if in a daze.
"Han Wen, come on, watch what you say now." Wu Zhu grinned.
Wu Zhi looked at Yue Qing quietly before saying,
"Forget it, let's continue forward…"
After saying this, Wu Zhi and Wu Zhu went back to their palanquin.
Yang Zhai looked at all this quietly.
"Why that scoundrel…"
The boy beside Yue Qing clenched his fists in anger.
"Forget it, Han Wen, let's go back to our palanquin,"
After saying this, she returned back to her palanquin with Han Wen.
Even though she said everything with a determined and confident tone, her tone wasn't at all prideful or narcissistic.
Xiu Lan looked at Yang Zhai and shook her head after placing her right hand on her forehead.
"Forget it, do what Yue Qing said,"
After saying this, she left as well.
"You are lucky, kid. If it was me, I wouldn't have let you join us. Anyway, here's a shiq; I hope you know how to ride it. Also, you will be working for us until we cross Vulpia, understood?"
Elder Jin shook his head and did just as he was told to.
"Yes,"
Yang Zhai grabbed the rein of the shiq handed to him. A shiq had four legs and was as big as a horse, but it wasn't anything like a horse.
It had a face like a black dragonfish, but its snout was a little extended forward. Its tail was long enough to touch the ground easily while standing. Its tail also worked like a whip and its lash was capable enough to kill a beast of the same rank.
Not only that, but almost every part of it worked like a weapon. Its bite was strong enough to bite a piece of flesh out of its opponent. Its kicks were like a hammer. As for its trunk, it was very hard, hard enough to work as armor.
The only issue was that it disliked fighting and would turn on anyone who commanded it to do so. This was why cultivators never forced it to battle unless it chose to fight on its own. However, during combat, nearly every opponent would avoid attacking it.
Its speed was also quite fast and because of their calm nature, people used them for traveling.
Yang Zhai ascended the shiq to begin the journey.
The Shadow Leopard also stood up and came to where Yang Zhai's shiq was.
But he is just a kid. How did he manage to tame a beast?
When Elder Jin and the others saw Shadow Leopard follow Yang Zhai, they had this thought.
They continued their journey.
"Sister Yue, why did you let that person join us?" Han Wen asked Yue Qing.
"Forget about that, tell me, why did you speak up to Xiu Lan? You know that she is the only one in our family with no one to truly help her. I have you, Wu Zhi has Wu Zhu and his mother, and others also have someone to help them, but Xiu Lan has no one." Yue Qing interrupted Han Wen and asked a question in return.
"Because she was crossing her line…ah"
Han Wen was still talking when Yue Qing's right index finger tapped his forehead.
Even though her face was slightly turned to the right, she didn't fully turn her head toward Han Wen, nor did she show any expression when striking him.
"What line are you talking about? Forget it,"
She shook her head, not knowing what to do with Han Wen.
Meanwhile,
"Wu Zhi, why do you think Yue Qing let that boy join our qafila?" Wu Zhu asked.
"How would I know? She has always been an odd one. You know her world is different from ours, right? Anyway, stop messing around with Han Wen," said Wu Zhi.
"Are you worried about what happened in the past?"
"Hmm, didn't I tell you not to mention it? Anyway, forget about that."
Wu Zhi looked at Wu Zhi with a serious expression.
.....
The qafila continued its journey and they finally entered the region of Vulpia.
The Shadow Leopard entered the middle of the qafila as if sensing something. Even Yang Zhai did that subtly without getting noticed.
I should stay in the middle: Yang Zhai considered.
This region was something that even he wasn't willing to cross alone.
The sun was setting and the night was about to cover the day.
Elder Jin ordered the qafila to stop before getting off his shiq. This region wasn't something that could be trekked without any worries, a proper planning was needed.
"Everyone, start doing like we always did in the past,"
Elder Jin said in a tone that was neither high nor low. It was barely discernible by this qafila.
The cultivators started to spread around in a formation. Everyone started to do something without being ordered. They wanted to do everything before the night fell.
As for Yue Qing, Wu Zhi, Han Wen, and others, they were positioned right in the middle.
"You, what's your name?" Elder Jin asked Yang Zhai.
"It's Tzu Yu,"
Even though he had already traveled far beyond the boundaries of the Bai Clan and the Ma Clan and was certain that these people didn't know about him, he still chose to use a different name.
"Tzu Yu, start helping the others, do what they tell you to."
"Yes,"
Yang Zhai started to do as Elder Jin told him to.
!|!*****!*****!|!
From now on, the publish time will no longer be between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. but will strictly be at 6 a.m. GMT. If a chapter is not published by 6 a.m., there will be no chapter that day. I may release the missed chapter along with the next chapters.