Timely Rescue

Chang Liuyun held onto the person in front of him.

But not because he wanted to.

If he had the choice, he wouldn't even touch the other with the tip of his little finger. Unfortunately, the forest terrain was too uneven and their pace too fast to not hold onto something.

He glanced at Lei Mingxing to check on her, but seeing her squished between untrustworthy person no.1 and untrustworthy person no.2 just made his anxiety rise even further. So he looked away, concentrating on keeping his balance as best he could so he wouldn't have to hold on quite as tightly.

"Excuse the question, " the person in front of Chang Liuyun suddenly began to speak, " but could you have been at the Dark Stone Clearing earlier? We intended to gather some herbs but when we arrived there, the clearing had vanished into thin air and we couldn't find it no matter how long we searched."

Chang Liuyun tensed up at the question but hurried to relax his body again, praying the other hadn't noticed his sudden shift.

A relatively big area vanished without a trace and they didn't find it strange? Or at least unusual?

Sure, they lived in a world of wondrous cultivation techniques and other things but to disappear without a trace?

This wasn't something you just accepted with mild interest.

Unless,...

It was within expectations.

Chang Liuyun's mind raced to come up with an appropriate reply that concealed his but didn't arouse their suspicion while pressing down countless questions.

But in the end, Suan Bian beat him to it.

"Yes! It was horrible, we also came to pick herbs when suddenly some terrible black monster appeared. We barely escaped the same fate as my servants and the mercenaries on the clearing before the stone pillars started to collapse, crushing the monster. And the next moment, the whole clearing was gone," Suan Bian enthusiastically shared his haunting experience from this morning, relieved to finally vent to someone.

Chang Liuyun listened to Suan Bian's monologue in horror, baffled at how someone could be this careless and unwary.

"Oh, really!" , the stranger who had asked the question feigned some surprise that sounded awfully fake in Chang Liuyun's ears before continuing, "In that case, you are very lucky to have survived... do you have any idea where that monster came from or why it appeared?"

"No idea, it just showed up without any warning and started killing anyone in sight," Suan Bian casually replied.

"Hmm," after that, the figure didn't talk anymore as if they had lost interest in Suan Bian and co.

They just continued riding, not encountering demon beasts even once, as if the beasts deliberately avoided their group.

Chang Liuyun felt uneasy the entire way until they finally reached the sturdy gates of Dark Spirit Town. Still he didn't relax just yet.

They passed by the tall guards and entered the town.

Although the horse beasts walked slowly, and mounts weren't an unusual sight by any means, countless gazes stuck to them regardless.

It made Chang Liuyun uncomfortable, especially since he and Lei Mingxing had planned to lay low.

"Where should we drop you off?"

"At Somber Spirit Pharmacy, I will contact my father from there and you can pick out some medicine in the meantime as a reward," Suan Bian graciously said, returning to his proud Young Master self.

"Thank you very much," the figure gave a curt reply to Suan Bian's 'generosity'.

Meanwhile, Chang Liuyun felt a bit conflicted.

Lei Mingxing didn't seem like she would wake up anytime soon, so there was no way for Chang Liuyun to bring her back to the forge if they got off at Somber Spirit Pharmacy. And leaving her there all alone while he went to ask Jing Jiang for help didn't seem like the best idea.

The best solution would be to get dropped off directly at the forge, but Chang Liuyun didn't want to reveal where they stayed to Suan Bian. Let alone the shady strangers with unknown intentions that had picked them up.

Should they get off some distance away from the forge? He could hide Lei Mingxing in a side alley while he fetched Jing Jiang.

Still not the best idea, especially since it made the two of them look very suspicious and leaving an unconscious person alone in a side alley was never something you should do. But after comparing it with their other options and the potential dangers they posed, Chang Liuyun felt that he would rather go with this plan where he knew the risks involved. And he believed that Lei Mingxing would have agreed with his idea.

So, Chang Liuyun quietly waited for the right moment to go through with his idea.

Roughly thirty meters away from Unyielding Branch Forge Chang Liuyun opened his mouth.

"You can drop us off here."

After a few additional steps, the horse creature stopped.

"Here? Are you sure?", the figure sitting in front of Chang Liuyun asked.

"Yes," Chang Liuyun stated more firmly than he had intended.

"But there is nothing here," Suan Bian looked over, staring at Chang Liuyun to decipher why the other would want to randomly get off.

His travel companions were suspicious as expected, but Chang Liuyun acted unbothered.

With a quiet whistle, in stark contrast to the one in the forest, the mounts began to sink to the ground. Chang Liuyun quickly got off, taking care not to lose his balance as he hobbled over to pick up Lei Mingxing. Although he wasn't quite sure how to go about it yet.

"Chang Liuyun?"

Chang Liuyun jumped slightly at the unexpected call and looked up, only to find Jing Jiang standing a few meters away with a basket in hand. He must have been shopping.

Their eyes met.

Chang Liuyun quickly averted his eyes and contiuned his previous actions, hoping that the other would think that he got the wrong person and move on. Unfortunately, Jing Jiang walked up to them instead, a frown on his slightly sooty face.

"Chang Liuyun, what are you doing here and where is Lei Mingxi-"

Jing Jiang's steps abruptly halted the moment he caught sight of the unconscious Lei Mingxing squished between Suan Bian and some stranger.

After a brief moment of shock, Jing Jiang began to run over and picked up Lei Mingxing with a worried look.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Suan Bian almost fell off the horse with how abruptly Jing Jiang pulled Lei Mingxing away.

Jing Jiang was too worried about his bloodied genius apprentice to care about the gripes of some unknown person but he still glanced over at the protesting fellow.

And this was enough for him to recognize his opponent.

"You! What are you doing here with my apprentice?!"

"Huh?! What do you mean apprentice?"

Jing Jiang clicked his tongue at Suan Bian's 'clueless act'.

"Don't joke with me, this is obviously another scheme of that rotten father of yours! Hasn't your family toyed with our Unyielding Branch Forge enough?!"

Suan Bian's eyes widened in realization at the mention of Unyielding Branch Forge.

"You're Jing Jiang!"

"Ha, drop the act! You obviously got close to Lei Mingxing knowing that she is my apprentice! All that just to harm her, like father, like son!"

Jing Jiang leaned down to directly meet Suan Bian's eyes while tightly cradling Lei Mingxing in his arms.

"This time you went too far, torment me all you want but if you continue to harm the people around me, I won't take it lying down anymore. Tell this to your father, " Jing Jiang growled with clenched teeth.

He continued to glare at the pale Suan Bian for a bit longer, before turning around to leave, not interested in hearing a reply.

And it wasn't like the other would answer any time soon, much too intimidated by Jing Jiang. But this was understandable, even Chang Liuyun felt that Jing Jiang's earlier angry appearance felt pretty threatening.

He had never seen the other being anything but lighthearted and smiley.

Glancing at the frightened Young Master one last time, Chang Liuyun worried about their future in Dark Spirit Town before hurrying to catch up with Jing Jiang.

Small theater:

Suan Bian after coming back to his senses: Wait, who are Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun?