Phoenix Destiny
Chapter 52: Snatch It First

She had come to Jade West Mountain Forest for training experience, not hide in a cave to eat and drink.

Without hesitation, Yan Wugui replied, "That's fine if you aren't afraid of danger."

"How about pointing out a route for me? Which way would it be safer to go?"

"No need." Yan Wugui said straightforwardly, "Just follow me."

Lu Mingshu was stunned. She initially thought that Yan Wugui would not like it if she followed him. First, he naturally would not want his own techniques to be seen by someone else as he was here for seclusion training. Second, she was only in the Inner Breath Realm, and she would definitely hold him back if she were to follow him.

"Erm … I don't want to trouble you …"

"Without my protection, you will be in a difficult situation."

Yan Wugui told her to be careful of Gentleman Lianzhen, saying how it would be complicated to owe him a favour debt. In Lu Mingshu's opinion, however, she owed Yan Wugui a huge truckload of favours. From the day she tumbled down the valley and was saved by him, she had received lots of favours from him. He might look fierce appearance-wise, but he held a kind-hearted natural disposition. Not only had he not abandoned her, but he also looked after her in all respects.

"Brother Yan, will this burden you?"

Yan Wugui replied indifferently. "If I can't protect you, then it'll be because my strength is insufficient. I'll just take it as learning through experience!" After a pause, he continued, "However, you must agree to one condition."

"What is it?"

"During this period of time, you have to temporarily forget that you're a Nine Jade Palace disciple."

...

The next day, Lu Mingshu followed Yan Wugui out of their temporary residence and embarked on a journey full of hardships.

The beast cave was indeed deserving of its name as they met a lot of ferocious beasts along the way.

Yan Wugui furrowed his brows and said, "Nine Jade Palace is getting deeper and deeper into the beast cave, so we can at most only stay for another month."

The encirclement annihilation from Nine Jade Palace to the beast cave would more or less end in a month. If they were still here then, they had the chance of being discovered by the people that would be cleaning up the battlefield.

Lu Mingshu followed after him silently, but suddenly she asked, "Brother Yan, aren't you too trusting of people?"

"What?" Yan Wugui, who was trying to distinguish the footprint by the water source, answered distractedly.

"I am also a Nine Jade Palace disciple, so aren't you afraid of me secretly passing on a letter if you bring me along so closely?"

Yan Wugui said, "Didn't you agree to my condition of forgetting that you're a disciple of the Nine Jade Palace?"

"I can go back on my word even after I agree!"

"You won't."

The way he spoke — resolutely and decisively — made Lu Mingshu unable to help herself from feeling curious. "Why is that so?"

"Because you hate Nine Jade Palace."

Lu Mingshu halted.

Yan Wugui looked at her with a gaze full of profound meaning. "Xie Lianzhen would not casually give anyone a token. There was an incident that coincided with his visit to Xichuan four years ago."

No wonder he didn't ask her why she had a token from Gentleman Lianzhen and had even trusted her so willingly.

"Eh, don't doubt life okay?" With her line of sight blocked by a shadow, Lu Mingshu looked up. When she did, she came face-to-face with Yan Wugui's face.

They had a pretty huge height difference. Hence, he needed to stoop down in order to look at her in the eye.

This face exhibited a somewhat ruffian and fierce demeanour because of the scar on his face, yet his eyes displayed a very clean expression.

"One shouldn't be too naive, but one shouldn't be too dark either." Yan Wugui continued, "I admit I had various kinds of reasons for saving and trusting you, but in essence, it is still because of you as a person. If it were someone else, I might not have saved or trusted them."

"..."

Not knowing what he suddenly thought of, Yan Wugui laughed out loud, causing his scar to look somewhat crafty.

"Since you hate Nine Jade Palace, as do I, why don't we do something risky?"

Traces of bewilderment could be seen in Lu Mingshu's eyes.

Yan Wugui straightened his body and pointed towards the distance. "Why don't we snatch up the things they want?"

Lu Mingshu's gaze gradually cleared up from its cloudiness. She calmly shook her head. "Brother Yan, Nine Jade Palace dispatched a few Spirit Realm experts, so it would already be considered fine if we don't reveal our whereabouts."

"Rest assured!" Yan Wugui patted her head. "I know my limits."

Lu Mingshu was rushed through the journey with Yan Wugui the whole day.

Once they confirmed their plan, they no longer focused on hunting beasts.

Yan Wugui avoided every ferocious beast in the surroundings. He would avoid even the ones that were a good catch, only bringing Lu Mingshu along to immerse themselves on rushing through the journey.

At nightfall, they settled themselves down to rest in a stone crack.

The stone crack was small and it was cold at night, so the two leaned against each other back to back while they draped a blanket over themselves in order to keep warm. Either way, Lu Mingshu was still not at the age where it would be awkward to do so.

Yan Wugui nagged, "Look at the amount of dust you have on you, don't you feel even the tiniest bit of discomfort? If it wasn't for the current situation, I'd definitely throw you out."

This mysophobic! Lu Mingshu really wanted to kick him. We walked the same road, ate the same food and even similarly washed-up casually, so who exactly is dirtier than who?! It is totally your own psychological effect!

After a moment of silence, Yan Wugui asked again, "How old are you?"

Lu Mingshu kept silent for a while before replying, "Eleven."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're still so flat despite being eleven already. I am worried about your future."

Lu Mingshu gritted her teeth, biting back the urge to bark out at him. It is totally normal for an eleven-year-old to be flat, okay?! I've just started developing!

"Then how old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"... old." Lu Mingshu was slightly shocked. Yan Wugui might be tall, but he carried the disposition of a teenager. Hence, she thought that he was still a minor.

"What does a little girl like you know? Would you be any different from me in another ten years?"

Lu Mingshu could not be bothered to deal with him. There's nothing fun about chatting on such a meaningless topic.

A while later, Yan Wugui tapped her arm again. "Hey, how are you doing in Nine Jade Palace?"

How am I doing? In the darkness, Lu Mingshu's eyes were wide open, but she did not reply even after some time.

After a long time, she lightly said, "Brother Yan."

"Mhmm?"

"I heard someone say that a child should never bear grudges for their parents and should always forgive them, is that true?"

Yan Wugui went silent and only replied after a while. "Of course not."

"Then it isn't wrong to carry out a vendetta against one's parents?"

Yan Wugui, who had his back against hers, did not reply for a long time. From his side profile, Lu Mingshu could see his eyes wavering.

Right when Lu Mingshu was convinced he would not reply, he said, "Perhaps to some people, you're in the wrong. Perhaps even to everyone beneath the heavens, you're in the wrong. But as long as you think you're right, then you're right."

Lu Mingshu had not expected him to say such words. His deep and low warm voice differed greatly from the Yan Wugui in her memories.

With bellowing wind, the night passed silently.

The two quickly continued on their journey.

Just like this, they had travelled for a consecutive three days before Yan Wugui finally stopped on a mountain top.

"We're here." He pointed towards the summit. "I've scouted this place out long ago, and the location of the Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horse's nest is right there. They're a mare and stallion. Nice, we have a pair."

Lu Mingshu asked, "They're not weak, right?"

"Mhmm, they are both from the Spirit Realm." If they were from the Harmonization Realm, he would have struck out long ago.

"We won't be able to defeat them!" In the Spirit Realm, there would be a disparity in strength that Lu Mingshu did not think her trivial cleverness could prove to be of any use against.

Yan Wugui sneered, "We are here to wreak havoc. So even if we can't get them, we must make sure they can't get the horses too."

Lu Mingshu understood right away. Wrecking havoc would be so much easier than a proper hunt ...