Looking at Xiaohe next to him that was suddenly active for the wrong reasons, many thoughts seemed to flash past his mind, "Did some handsome man owe her in her last life or something" but in the end he threw them out of this head, as he seemed to realize she could live her own life by her standards.
But something told him that in this world, those that did not work harder in their martial arts, would end up paying heavily for it, he would not rush things for now but if the situation remained the same for the next period of time, he could only come up with means to deal with it.
With this thought, he had already made up his mind, "In the future if she does not have much interest in becoming strong then I can only start making other plans."
It was not like he could not deal with things on his own, he just felt like they were family and he should push her to be better, but in this moment, he had realized that martial arts in this world was only an individual effort, pushing others to do something might only result in the opposite effect.
This issue could not be addressed now, after all the events that occur in the near future might wake her up, but if nothing happens, he would continue this journey without even looking back, so he hoped she would start working hard too. Even though he wanted to pass the palm sized, blue stone to her, he had to conform whether she was for this martial arts world instead of dragging her into the dangerous world.
Since he did not want to push anyone, he threw the issue aside, but she did not know that at the moment, Situ was thinking about another path he has to make for himself in the future, with this unrealizable little girl, he could not be sure that she would change with time.
Jumping off from branch to the next, he hastily climbed down the tree. Xiaohe followed closely behind. But she seemed to have realized something in this instance, "What just happened to young master, that look didn't seem good at all." For some reason she had a sense of crisis hit her, and she could not realize it at the moment. But Situ had his thinking changed instantly and decided to never create a path for others they did not want, everyone has their own path, and his path is not going to be a peaceful one.
Considering this, he looked further into the distance and sighed, he seemed to have already realized something serious, when one becomes stronger and those nearby are unwilling to improve or just enjoy their status quo then it eventually becomes a burden. With such a thought surfacing he seemed enlightened for some reason.
In some way, his mind seemed to have been sublimated, even he himself was unaware but Xiaohe felt like something had changed when Situ looked over, even though the gaze seemed to be unchanged, it seemed to bring about that feeling of detachment. Yes, that mentality of not caring about what choices she makes in the future, her life was her own to live.
What she did not know was that at the moment, the mind of Situ had just become lighter, when he threw out some concerns from his mind. His thought now was organizing his priorities in the moment instead of worrying about some future that he had yet to live.
Standing under the huge tree, Situ kept looking around before taking the direction he came from when escaping from the monster, he was aware that taking any other route would not be helpful but rather lead them off the target.
But the sublimation of the mind also meant that he would not have to worry about his martial arts improvement in the next ranks, perhaps it would be even easier than he thought.
After walking around for some time, he would take detours, which seemed intentional, until he could see the huge cave before him. Touching the palm-sized stone hidden in his clothes, he seemed to remember everything that happened and the fact that he was indeed already at the peak of mid rank. To him it was just a matter of time before entering the 7th level of martial ranks.
"How did you come up with such a pathetic map. We have been going around in circles before we arrived in this place. Why did you not just cut straight through, it would have saved a lot of time in the process." Listening to the words being spoke by Xiaohe, Situ just looked at her like a fool. She did not get bothered since he always threw her such a glance sometimes when she asked questions, but he still explained it in the end.
It's just that she has never gotten the chance to get even on this, as on other issues she has always managed to get him back.
"Are you strong enough to cut your way through the beasts, if so then you can try to travel straight." She actually dared to ask such a stupid question at the moment when he could clearly see that she was very much aware of it, especially after watching the area from the high tree she slept on.
Meanwhile Xiaohe pretending to think out loud, "Young master, you should work harder, others are slaying stronger beasts while you are running around in bushes, this does not fit your young master identity. Is it just me or have you been behaving without shame at all. Other people will lose face doing this."
Situ nearly stumbled from the tree he was clinging on, "This woman has a very poisonous tongue, maybe I am overthinking things, this can be very useful too." As he steadied himself, he pushed himself all the way up the tree and halfway, a sense of crisis emerged.
Ignoring Xiaohe's taunts, he threw a punch on the side, without even looking, as sense of crisis seemed to have risen from there, as much as it seemed casual, the power it brought with it was immense, to the point that it split through the aur, before reaching its target, that was pushed back before the punch itself arrived.