“Look, it’s General Ming!”
“She must be out on patrol!”
“My heart. She’s as dazzling as always.”
“General Ming, the direction you are going is the direction I shall go!”
Among all the people crowding around me, one of them remarked, “Eh? B-Big Brother Ming?” and then rubbed his eyes.
I poked Su Xiao’s head. “What’s with all the aggression? You going to apprehend and torture me or something? It’s only been a few days, but I see you’ve deigned to working as a lapdog.”
“Haha… Haha… Big Brother Ming!” Su Xiao gave me a big hug. “You’re finally back!”
“Xiao, though we haven’t seen each other in a while, there’s no need for such an exaggerated reaction… Calm down.”
Stop rubbing your head on my chest! It freaking hurts!
“How can I not worry when you didn’t wake up even after a month? You didn’t have a drip of water or any food…”
I couldn’t understand anything else due to his sobbing. I scrubbed Su Xiao’s head. “Okay, okay. You’re not a kid anymore; stop crying.”
Are you getting stronger? It hurts like hell!
Tang Ye, standing behind us, watched with envy, his face reading something along the lines of, “Why was our reunion so cold?”
Can you not give me another problem?! If you head butted me, I’d be dead! Is that what you want?!
“Tch, why didn’t he just die?”
I looked up to see a familiar face.
Whoa, I spot an Ever-Tsun-Flat-Vicious Loli Mountain Monster.
“I’ll flatten you!” I don’t know how she did it, but Mountain Monster somehow read my mind, prompting her to draw her blade on me. “Fight me, right now!”
I cracked a smile, then peered toward the only one who didn’t approach me. General Ming smiled back and raised her chin cockily, seemingly smiling… or not. It took me a while to return to reality. “… Tang Ye, you must’ve been out and about recently. I have a question for you.”
“Which is?”
“Where can I find some nice aesthetic scenery around here that is secluded?”
Tang Ye answered the question honestly.
“Got it.”
“But, Sister Suwen recently…”
I wagged my hand. “I got it.” I moved Su Xiao off me. “Xiao, be a good boy. We’ll catch up over a meal later.” I sheathed Mountain Monster’s dagger and commented, “You got some ways to go still. I’ll teach a technique or two when I’ve got some time.”
The eight people who tried to get in my way stepped aside when I gave them a smile. Young Shiyi. Who didn’t budge from her spot, asked, “What are you planning?”
I met Young Shiyi’s gaze. “Abducting you.” I threw Young Shiyi onto my shoulder and waltzed off, leaving Su Xiao and Tang Ye to deal with the eight protesters.
Tang Ye: “It’s okay. It’s okay. Family business. It’s family business.”
Su Xiao:” “He’s a pervert, but he’s not a crook, I promise.”
Needless to say, I drew a lot of attention every step of the way. While I didn’t utilise qinggong, I still walked briskly enough to ensure nobody could catch up.
The lush mountain embellished with colourful flowers provided a serene and vast view of the world below. Being reticent as he was, I was sure Tang Ye’s recommendation would suit my needs.
Young Shiyi had been shaking no my shoulders for a while, and it was time for her to boil over. “Bahahaha, oh my god, that was so embarrassing. You were all tough guy when you lifted me onto your shoulders, yet you sped off as if you were running from the authorities.”
I roughly lifted Young Shiyi off my shoulders but lowered her gently when she was close to the lawn. Not once did she show any concerns of me letting her fall.
“Causing trouble as always.”
“Beat it.” Young Shiyi tugged me down onto the lawn, then looped an arm around mine. “This place is really nice. I wonder if it’s famous.”
Haven’t we said something similar some time ago? Huh, it really has been a while.
“Why did you tell them to arrest me?”
Young Shiyi pushed her chin to turn my way. “I saw you from afar. I was going to give you a fright with my new rank, but you had to spoil my fun with your barbaric ways.”
“I’d do the same thing even if you were an Empress.”
Young Shiyi cast her gaze back onto the scenery, running a hand through her hair either because she was shy or indifferent. I seized her hand to check her pulse, but she smiled mischievously back.
“First act was ‘Mountain Bandit Abducts the Female General’. What’s this one?”
I pressed a finger on Young Shiyi’s lips and, in a soft voice, demanded, “Don’t speak or my diagnosis may be incorrect.”
“What…?”
My tension only melted off my shoulders when I finished checking Young Shiyi’s qi flow. “It appears you’ve completely recovered from your injuries. Having said that, your injuries were bad. You’re lucky Shifu’s formula is much better than the stuff sold outside.”
I gently sighed. “I arranged a number of things to keep you safe, yet you still sustained damage. Although I heard you would be okay before I slept, I was still worried sick, so I needed to confirm for myself. Thankfully, you’re all right. We’re going to make Sk Palace pay for what they did to you sooner or later. Young Shiyi, what’s with the silence?”
“Injuries?” Though Young Shiyi was still beaming, I could see the fangs in her smile. “Feizhen, did you just mention injuries to my face?”
“I, I, uh…”
Young Shiyi’s smile finally vanished. “Even compared to Luo Ming and Feng Xue, you were in unbelievably awful shape. They may still be unconscious, but you should’ve been bouncing off walls much sooner given your skill and recovery rate. Injuries, you say?
“You did a good job of keeping it from me. I thought your behaviour was abnormal prior to entering Nieyao due to the number of Pangu’s sons outnumbering us. I thought you were going to give in and go kill more than one of them on your own. Never did I think you were planning to be reckless from the beginning. Tell me: what did you do during your disappearance? Did you… Did you…” Young Shiyi couldn’t bring herself to voice the answer she knew because it was scary to even think about. “Don’t you dare look away. Turn back here and tell me.”
“You’re right. I went to fight Pangu… Chi fell asleep when we reached a stalemate. That’s it.”
“…”
“I, I’m okay now. I’m glowing, eating and alive, aren’t I?” I couldn’t make out if Young Shiyi’s silence was sorrow, anger or what, but she feel as though I was sitting on needles. “How about you just beat me?”
I was always afraid of Young Shiyi going silent. Whenever her usual giddy, inquisitive and quick-to-forget nature vanished, she was seriously upset.
“… Why?”
I inwardly shuddered. I had so much to say until her question made it clear that she already knew what I was planning to say. “Young Shiyi…”
The air that had been so still gained a slight movement, as if it had discovered its direction yet was content to meander at its own pace.
I gently wiped a silver trail on her face. “Look: I’m fine, aren’t I?”
“You’re not. You’ve never been fine.” Young Shiyi rested her head on my shoulder. “I know you and Yiren are the same type. Both of you can’t stand watching people suffer, unfairness and the innocent suffering. Do you need to hedge your life, though? When you run into difficult problems, how about talking about it with people you can trust. How about using deceit and sneak attacks when you run into an opponent you can’t be fair and square? If you can win, fight to your heart’s content. If you can’t, you can run. Is there a need to sacrifice your life?
“Feizhen, I don’t have a sense of justice, like you and Yiren. In fact, I don’t even qualify to be a good person. Though I’ve saved a fair number of people, it was only because I was in the mood; it’s no different to adopting a stray dog or stray cat. I don’t act with noble motives like you two.
“I can’t fathom why anyone would risk their neck for somebody who isn’t related to them. If it were me, I’d walk the other way. So what if you’re without equal? So what if you’re Mount Daluo’s senior disciple? Who cares about your lineage? Who cares how much people hope of you? The world wants you to be a hero, but I only want you to be well.”
