Chapter Forty Two.

After departing from Hope Temple they all head to a weapon shop. Recently Duan Xinyue has developed a liking to crossbows so he's planning on buying one. They test a number of other weapons too before they decide to buy the crossbow.They walk out of the weapon shop together too but before boarding their carriages Du Yichen reveals he has something to say.

"Duan Duan,my father has sent me to the western border to seek General Fei so I can't continue the investigation with you."

"Can't he send him a letter?"

"Letters may be interfered with so I have to deliver the message to him in person."

"I haven't travelled in a while and it may be dangerous for you to go alone so I'll go with you to protect you,"Duan Xinyue smiles warmly and puts his arm around Du Yichen's shoulder.

"Protect me?"

"Yeah. Now that I bought a crossbow I need to put it into use."

"Then let's buy more arrows."

They turn around and enter the weapon shop to buy arrows and come out of the shop a few minutes later.

'I haven't made it up to him like I promised so I can't just tag along,'Lei Qiang thinks to himself. Lei Qiang has been staring at Duan Xinyue for a while like he has something to say and Du Yichen takes notice of it.

"Brother Lei do you want to tag along? Duan Xinyue has been wanting you to join us."

"What nonsense are you spitting?"Duan Xinyue reprimands him immediately.

"I'll go with you,"Lei Qiang speaks up unexpectedly.

"Huh?" the others exclaim in unison.

"Lei-xiong you don't have to trouble yourself. You are too busy with the sect,"Duan Xinyue smiles shyly.

"I'm not busy at all."

Hong Yi is too shocked to speak up;he can only open his eyes wide in shock and blink them in confusion at times thinking he's in a dream.

"Then I'll prepare two strong horses alongside a spacious carriage to accommodate the three of us,"Du Yichen concludes.

"Then it's settled. Should we have a drink tonight?"

"I don't think so. I have to prepare the necessary things because we'll be leaving at dawn."

"Fine then."

"Another thing don't reveal our destination to anyone. If someone happens to ask you to tell them we're going to seek a famous physician in Liushu County,"Du Yichen reminds them.

"Understood,"Duan Xinyue and Lei Qiang both reply in sync and nod.

"Young Master Xu I'll miss you the most. I think you will have to attend your future romance lectures with Fairy Bai Xin here."

"Miss Du can I have a minute with you?"

Lei Qiang and Du Bai Xin move aside to have a talk. He wants her to take over the sect while he will be away. He also requests her to deliver a message to Hong Rong.

So at night the three of them who are supposed to travel to the western border prepare everything they might need during the journey. They agreed to meet at Qingfeng Pavilion so at dawn Lei Qiang is the first to arrive then Du Yichen comes driving the carriage. Lei Qiang is with Hong Yi since Hong Yi will be the one riding the horses and he's strong enough to survive through the whole journey unlike Du Yichen's attendant. Duan Xinyue finally comes with Qin Lanhua who bids him goodbye after he boards the carriage.

" Sis Lanhua aren't you gonna bid me goodbye as well?"Du Yichen asks in a flirty tone.

"Goodbye Yichen gege."

"Goodbye Beauty Lanhua."

"How can you flirt at this time?"Duan Xinyue reprimands him with a cringe expression on his face.

"You have your soulmate tagging along why can't you let me say goodbye to mine?"

"Soulmate?"Duan Xinyue scoffs.

Is he scoffing at Lei Qiang being his soulmate or Qin Lanhua being Du Yichen's soulmate ? Lei Qiang questions himself.

Du Yichen and Duan Xinyue are seated together while Lei Qiang is seated across from them.

"Lei-xiong can I use your shoulder as a pillow?" Duan Xinyue requests and before Lei Qiang responds Duan Xinyue gets up and sits beside him.

"Why can't you use mine?"Du Yichen asks feeling offended.

"I'm leaving the whole seat for you to sleep on sleepy head."

"Duan Duan you're so considerate,"Du Yichen smiles and lies on the seat snuggling into a more comfortable position. Within a minute Du Yichen falls asleep.

"See I was right,he's a sleepyhead."

Duan Xinyue hesitates to lean on Lei Qiang's shoulder.

"Lei-xiong..."

Lei Qiang gently pulls Duan Xinyue's head and lays it on his shoulder,"Don't talk much, sleep or you might have a headache later."

After a while Lei Qiang falls asleep too and lays his head gently on Duan Xinyue's head. In two to three hours the two of them wake up while Du Yichen is still asleep. They stop at a certain inn to have their breakfast. They have breakfast while talking over.

"How many days does it take to travel to the western border?"

"Four days at least because the terrain to the west is a bit rugged and plus we need to take breaks and the horses need to be fed too,"Du Yichen explains. They finish taking their meal and leave the inn to continue with their journey . Duan Xinyue offers to ride the horses so Hong Yi can take a rest.