Yu Qingtang looked at the Girl in the Bamboo, then at Ye Chenyan.
After seeing the same righteous certainty in both their eyes, he closed his own and flopped back down.
“Maybe you should just send me back to Nanzhou. At least I wouldn’t have to cultivate there.”
The Girl in the Bamboo looked up. “Do you mean that?”
Ye Chenyan covered Yu Qingtang’s mouth. “No. He’s only speaking out of anger.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Yu Qingtang tried to protest, but to no avail.
The Girl in the Bamboo shook her head helplessly. “You were exactly like this in the Immortal-Bewildering Forest.”
She raised her eyes and cast a subtle glance ahead, as though she meant to warn them of something.
“You...”
Halfway through, she fell silent again.
Yu Qingtang pulled Ye Chenyan’s hand away and asked curiously, “What is it?”
The Girl in the Bamboo shook her head lightly. “Noticing danger should also be part of your trial. I cannot warn you.”
Yu Qingtang hesitated, but ultimately pointed out, “But now that you’ve said that, we already know there’s danger.”
The Girl in the Bamboo was silent.
“...I’m leaving.”
A trace of guilt seemed to flicker through her eyes. Pretending nothing had happened, she turned away and vanished from the spot.
Yu Qingtang lowered Ye Chenyan’s hand, looking thoughtful.
“She... wasn’t watching us the entire time we were in the Immortal-Bewildering Forest, was she?”
Ye Chenyan raised a brow. “Mm. Would that matter?”
“Of course it would!” Yu Qingtang widened his eyes and pointed first at Ye Chenyan, then at himself.
Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh. “Why? We never did anything we couldn’t let others see.”
He lowered his voice.
“Or are you saying we did?”
Yu Qingtang fell silent.
He slowly turned toward Senior Brother Du Heng, who was watching the spectacle with great interest.
Du Heng laughed. “If there was nothing shameful about it, you can discuss it in front of me.”
“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan cleared his throat. “For example—”
Yu Qingtang clapped a hand over his mouth, leaving only his smiling eyes visible.
“There really was nothing shameful,” Yu Qingtang said with an earnest nod. “But let’s not discuss it anyway.”
He hastily changed the subject.
“We should go check on Scholar Xiao. They’ve been gone for a while. We can follow now.”
...
Scholar Xiao continued getting along splendidly with the Fire Cauldron Sect disciples. Before they realized it, they had lowered their guard and begun treating him like a genuine brother.
As a result, he heard quite a few of their honest opinions.
“Demonfolk cultivate differently from humans. They don’t even possess spiritual roots.” Angelica glanced disdainfully at Snowchill and Snowwarm, who were clearing the path ahead. “If they hadn’t said they could sort medicinal herbs, we wouldn’t even have bothered bringing them back.”
“The old Pill King was obsessed with the Dao of pills. As long as something involved pill refinement, he was willing to research it.”
“Forget demonfolk—he once even tried to determine whether someone without fire-wood spiritual roots could refine pills.”
Angelica shook his head.
“I have no idea why the old man bothered studying such things.”
Scholar Xiao laughed. “If it wasn’t for himself, then naturally it was for someone else.”
“But the old Pill King has no children, and his few disciples are all exceptionally gifted pill cultivators with fire-wood spiritual roots.” Angelica curled his lip. “Unless he has some illegitimate son or daughter hidden away somewhere?”
Scholar Xiao glanced at him without letting anything show on his face.
“Perhaps.”
It did not have to be for himself or his children.
It might have been for the countless people in the world who had nothing to do with him.
But Angelica probably would not care to hear that, so Scholar Xiao said nothing.
While the party rested, Snowchill quietly slipped over to Scholar Xiao and lowered his voice.
“Young Master Xiao, we’re already very close. Are we still going farther in?”
Had he retained even a few of his demonic features as he had in Nanzhou, his ears would probably have been flattened tightly against the back of his head by now.
“Yes.” Scholar Xiao reassured him. “There is no need to be afraid. They are only Nightglow Rats.”
Snowchill opened his mouth, glanced warily at the people around them, then whispered, “You mustn’t underestimate them.”
“Mother said that any weak demonic beast that has managed to survive without going extinct must possess some formidable ability of its own. Anyone who underestimates them will pay the price sooner or later.”
Scholar Xiao could not help laughing. “I understand.”
“I have neither underestimated them nor underestimated the two of you. I simply came prepared.”
He lowered his voice further.
“Besides, you helped with the preparations too. There is no need to worry.”
Snowchill brightened slightly and nodded with complete seriousness.
“All right. I trust you!”
Scholar Xiao raised his eyes toward the front of the party.
Compared to before, the Fire Cauldron Sect convoy was now traveling slightly farther north. None of them had noticed—or perhaps the deviation was so small that even those who had noticed had not cared.
It was the result of his quietly guiding Angelica in that direction while speaking with him at the front earlier.
Snowchill and Snowwarm had followed the traces of leaves gnawed by Nightglow Rats along the way and determined that their nest should lie north of the convoy’s original route. Although the swarm’s hunting range was vast, the closer they came to the nest, the better.
Scholar Xiao watched Snowwarm ahead.
She discreetly looked back and gave him a slight nod.
The frail and pitiful-looking rabbit demon lowered her eyes, then suddenly cried out.
“Ah! A rat!”
Angelica turned sharply. “What?”
Snowwarm retreated two steps and feigned fright. “A-a rat just darted past!”
Angelica gave her a contemptuous look. “A rat?”
“Not an ordinary rat!” Snowwarm hurriedly explained. “A demonic beast—a Nightglow Rat! They always travel in groups. If they’ve set their sights on us...”
Angelica’s brows drew together. He had clearly taken her warning seriously, but to preserve his dignity, he still put on a dismissive air.
“Nothing but a pack of vermin. Hardly worth our concern.”
He turned and instructed the other disciples to quicken their pace so they could leave this stretch of forest as soon as possible.
Snowwarm narrowed her eyes, then returned to Snowchill’s side without betraying anything.
Scholar Xiao gently waved his folding fan and chuckled.
Just as he had expected.
Arrogant and conceited, yet afraid of death—and nowhere near cautious enough.
He shook his head lightly.
This generation of Fire Cauldron Sect disciples did not seem particularly promising.
When the beam above was crooked, the ones below naturally followed suit.
Still, over the past few days, he had also casually raised the subject of heretical cultivators. Angelica’s contempt for them had sounded genuine rather than feigned.
Scholar Xiao could not tell whether Angelica’s rank was simply too low for him to have encountered anything at the sect’s core, or whether the matter truly had nothing to do with the Fire Cauldron Sect.
He had at least learned that this batch of medicinal herbs was being delivered for a new pill the Tianyuan Pill King was developing.
“Brother Xiao!” Angelica called from the front.
Scholar Xiao emerged from his thoughts and smiled. “What is it, Brother Angelica?”
Angelica glanced at the two rabbit demons, then came closer.
“That little thing said there may be a swarm of Nightglow Rats nearby. Be careful. I know Brother Xiao is a prodigy of Four Books Academy, so your abilities must be extraordinary...”
Before he could finish, Scholar Xiao laughed.
“Of course, of course. Since I am traveling with everyone, we are all grasshoppers tied to the same rope.”
“I noticed several Foundation Establishment disciples in the party. Individual Nightglow Rats are not very strong, so a prodigy such as Brother Angelica should have no trouble dealing with them. When the time comes, I’ll help protect the younger disciples.”
Angelica followed his lead and nodded, plainly delighted by how sensible he was.
“Naturally!”
Scholar Xiao watched him walk away and shook his head in amusement.
The man truly possessed no self-awareness whatsoever.
He sighed inwardly.
Dealing with fools required little effort, but it was still tiresome.
Pity that he had to endure this for the rest of the journey.
He wondered what interesting things were happening on Brother Ye and Brother Yu’s side.
...
The sun was nearing the horizon.
Du Heng strolled leisurely through the forest, occasionally crouching to dig up a medicinal herb and examine the edges of its leaves.
Yu Qingtang asked curiously, “Was this one ruined too?”
“Yes.” Du Heng sighed. “And thoroughly.”
“Almost every herb with even a trace of spiritual energy has been ruined along the way.” Yu Qingtang looked regretful. “Does that mean we’re getting closer to the culprit?”
“Most likely.” Du Heng glanced ahead. “That disciple from Four Books Academy...”
“Brother Xiao is meticulous. He must have noticed long ago.” Yu Qingtang had complete confidence in him. “Besides, those two members of the Lunar Jade Rabbit clan are with him. They are highly sensitive to medicinal herbs, so they should have noticed as well.”
“But they deliberately came this way...” Ye Chenyan looked thoughtful. “Could they have finally lost patience and decided to overturn the whole operation here, then kill everyone and seize the goods?”
Yu Qingtang gave him a long look. “Stop thinking of dangerous things all the time.”
Ye Chenyan widened his eyes innocently. “That wasn’t my idea. I was reasoning from Scholar Xiao’s perspective. If it were me...”
Yu Qingtang asked curiously, “What would you do?”
“Me?” Ye Chenyan leaned closer with a smile. “If it were me, he wouldn’t have made it beyond Nanzhou. The moment I saw that face of his, I would have taught him a lesson.”
Yu Qingtang fell silent.
That does sound like something you would do.
“In any case, they must be approaching the danger deliberately.” Du Heng did not seem concerned. “As long as they know what they’re doing, we can simply wait and see.”
He looked back at Yu Qingtang.
“We should stop here for today. Stay alert tonight. Many demonic beasts emerge after dark.”
Yu Qingtang pointed at himself. “You’re relying on me?”
“Not relying on you.” Du Heng’s gaze held a hint of indulgence. “You are simply the only one who needs to be reminded. The other two will remain vigilant on their own.”
Yu Qingtang laughed dryly. “I’ll do my best.”
“It’s fine.” Du Heng smiled and shook his head. “I only reminded you out of habit. I never truly expected anything from you.”
Yu Qingtang stared at him.
“...Now that you’ve said that, I have no choice but to show you what I’m capable of.”
Du Heng folded his arms. “Then show me.”
A short while later, after finishing the food they had brought from Nanzhou, Yu Qingtang tilted his head onto Ye Chenyan’s shoulder and slept soundly.
Du Heng sat cross-legged beside the fire, chin propped in one hand as he watched him.
“Junior Brother Ye.”
Ye Chenyan shifted Yu Qingtang’s head slightly so he could rest more comfortably, then looked up.
“Yes?”
Du Heng laughed. “You should only listen to his bold claims. Don’t take them seriously.”
Then he raised his eyes to Ye Chenyan.
“Can you truly not bear to be apart from him for even a moment?”
Ye Chenyan paused. “...What?”
Du Heng chuckled and leaned back against the tree.
“On the surface, this little Junior Brother Yu of mine has learned very little. All he knows is how to shirk his duties, act cute, and avoid responsibility. He hardly seems capable of anything important.”
“But from what I can tell, he never wanted to involve himself in this commotion. He knows his own limits and does not seem like the sort who would willingly jump into my troublesome fire pit.”
Du Heng looked at Ye Chenyan with a half smile.
“Are you truly so incapable of leaving him behind that you must take him everywhere you go?”
Ye Chenyan said nothing.
“Oh, my.” Du Heng raised his eyes to the cool moonlight overhead. “I seem to remember a moon just like this one, on a night much like tonight. Someone was so certain he had victory in hand, amusing himself like a cat playing with a mouse. And now...”
He tilted his head.
A pebble shot past and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind him.
“Oh.” Du Heng glanced back, then theatrically patted his chest. “How fierce.”
But he was determined to finish.
“And now, how did the mouse end up riding on top of the cat’s head?”
Ye Chenyan closed his eyes and turned his face away.
“What business is it of yours?”
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