Creak—

The noise of gears turning sounded as the wheelchair moved slowly. A man's hand gently stroked the ears of the white rabbit on his lap, and the purple robe under the creature’s unsullied fur appeared like new.

The white rabbit’s obsidian eyes were innocently surveying its surroundings.

There was noise from the outside, and it seemed that many people had entered the residence.

The man curled his lips and whispered to himself, "I finally got what I wanted...It's time to leave.”

Outside the governor’s residence, Bai Fanlu noticed people rushing into the mansion with fire torches.

The ninety-eight people had returned to their homes. They, their families, and the people in the city who bore resentment towards Wei Lin, intended to raze the ominous place to the ground and put an end to this nightmare.

Bai Fanlu quietly left Yingzhou and arrived at an open space to trigger a talisman when he realised that his blue bird had returned.

Yun Zhan's voice came from his spiritual consciousness, conveying that he had received the message, and mentioned nothing else.

Although he did not know what Yun Zhan was up to at this time, and whether he would come forth to lend help, the issue at Yingzhou had definitively come to an end. As such, Bai Fanlu sent another message via the blue bird, telling the other party that he did not need to come to Yingzhou now, and to meet directly at Ling City instead.

With lessons learned from the past, and for the sake of their own safety, he decided that it was more appropriate to investigate the source of the demonic energy in the company of Yun Zhan.

Bai Fanlu contemplated that if the person who came was really Bai Junming, since he only brought He Sang away but left himself behind in the City Governor's Mansion, he should have acquiesced in allowing him to remain as a spy.

Therefore, Bai Fanlu had to make it to Ling City, although it was no better than Yingzhou, with a stronger opponent waiting. He would no longer be able to take shortcuts or act covertly to seal the Demon Qi Rift in Yingzhou. The dangers ahead were grave and he or Yun Zhan could no longer proceed alone.

Another reason was that Bi Luo has not been transformed into a celestial weapon and Yun Zhan's current strength was not as good as it was supposed to be in this part of the novel. It was far too unrealistic for Bai Fanlu to stay out of the matter and allow Yun Zhan to run the plot on his own.

"Who is immortal gege talking to?”

"My shidi.”

Bai Fanlu answered casually and with a wave of his right hand, the blue bird flapped its wings and turned into a puff blue smoke before disappearing into the sky.

Xiao Liu looked in that direction, "Then where are you going next?”

"I'm heading to Ling City in the north to meet up with my shidi, Xiao Liu, you..."

Having walked a distance outside the city, Bai Fanlu turned around. Now that his spiritual power had recovered and he could fly on his sword, it was time to bid farewell to the youth in front of him.

But when he turned around and met the other person's eyes, Bai Fanlu could only open his mouth and call out his name, but couldn’t bear to utter "...There are no never-ending banquets in this world…" in continuation.

"I want to go with Immortal gege.”

As expected...Bai Fanlu sighed. Based on his understanding of Xiao Liu, even if he were to warn of how terrifying and dangerous the destination was, the other party would only become more clingy.

Bai Fanlu decided to use another heart piercing excuse this time. "Ling City is much farther than Yingzhou. If I were to walk with you, it would take me a long time. And my shidi…Well, he has a bad temper. I can’t let him wait too long.”

Bai Fanlu said that with the subtext that the youth would be holding him back. Even for an average person who was not perceptive, one should have understood and be discouraged once they heard this.

But Xiao Liu was not an ordinary person. Once he heard Bai Fanlu mention that his shidi ‘has a bad temper’, his eyebrows trembled almost imperceptibly, and his lips tightened, revealing an aggrieved expression.

"How can Immortal gege be sure that your shidi would be faster than you? He is not even around when you are in danger. He might be busy with other matters right now.”

These words reminded Bai Fanlu that only four days had passed on his side. In such a short period of time, Yun Zhan may not have been able to finish dealing with the affairs at Yufang City. In the novel, that was the place he easily had to spend a large part of the month on.

If Bai Fanlu arrived at Ling City early, one consideration was that something might go wrong. The other was that Ling City was located in the extreme north and its climate was harsh and cold. Rather than waiting there, it was much more comfortable taking time to travel by the road and have fun in the mountains.

And if he wanted to journey there leisurely, it was obviously a hundred times better to have multiple travel companions than being alone. However, Bai Fanlu's only worry was that the more involved Xiao Liu was with him, the deeper the youth would be embroiled into the disputes between immortals and demons moving forward.

Bai Fanlu didn't respond to Xiao Liu. He wanted to wait for the blue bird's transmission and find out how soon Yun Zhan could reach Ling City.

Xiao Liu assumed that Bai Fanlu's refusal to answer was an approval for him to join the man on his journey, and the youth’s happiness was beyond words. Without further ado, he immediately summoned Silver Snow from the mountains.

This time, Bai Fanlu didn't ride with him. They rode side by side, one on the steed and another on a sword. The two travelled for an hour deep in their own thoughts, and only stopped when they passed by a village.

This was an unnamed small fishing village located on a peninsula at the mouth of the Qing River. There were pockets of water depressions scattered all around, and the inhabitants made their living by fishing. Since there were little natural resources around, the fish caught were mostly dried and sold further inland.

Bai Fanlu remembered that there was such a description of an unknown fishing village in the book. This village was famous for the capture of a stranded merman, and that merman was none other than He Sang.

This fishing village was too small, without a single decent inn within. As such, Bai Fanlu and Xiao Liu had to make camp in the wilderness again.

Taking advantage of the period when they rested, Bai Fanlu carried Zhizhi over. There was still a section of Cang Jin’s spiritual power on its wrist. As Bai Fanlu stroked the little monkey’s fur, he sensed that there was nothing serious about it, just that ever since they left Yingzhou City the creature appeared exceptionally restless.

Bai Fanlu originally thought that perhaps it was due to some internal injury, but now it didn't seem to be the case.

After retracting Cang Jin, Bai Fanlu examined the little monkey once again, and noticed something strange right away.

The golden divine light he had detected from before was gone!

What he was holding onto now seemed to be just an ordinary little monkey.
Bai Fanlu pondered over it. The puppet Wei Lin had tried to use to ingest his own soul and attempted to stuff it into the little monkey without success. That man even mentioned that the monkey already had two souls residing in it.

The other soul seemed to refer to that divine light. It was not that the little monkey had any divine power, it was apparent that another soul was present and it was a powerful one.

Who could that be?

Why has it vanished now?

Was it related to Bai Junming?

"Immortal gege, how does the fish I grilled for you taste?”

Bai Fanlu was deep in contemplation when Xiao Liu called him. He then eased his hand seal and put Zhizhi down.

The creature shrank into a ball on Xiao Liu's bag that was on the ground, too lazy to even bat his eyelids.

Xiao Liu had already rolled up his trousers and stepped into the shallow waters by the bank. He bent over to hunt for a target. Suddenly, a fish’s shadow darted around his ankle. Xiao Liu's was quick, and plunged a wooden branch into the water surface. After several splashes, a huge fish tail was pulled out.

"Haha! What a big one! It’s enough to feed two people!”

Hearing Xiao Liu's hearty laugh, Bai Fanlu couldn't help but smile faintly. The tension he felt the entire day was wholly relieved at this moment.

Bai Fanlu watched Xiao Liu return with the fish, and thought that this kid could hunt pheasants in the wild and catch fish in the river. How capable.

Xiao Liu approached and raised the fish above his head as he waved at Bai Fanlu. The sun was setting now, and the last trace of sunlight cast a long shadow from the youth's tall figure.

The youth’s face became blurry in Bai Fanlu’s trance. Only the drops of crystal clear water on the tip of the nose and those two eyebrows refracted the sunlight, making him exceptionally dazzling.

In Bai Fanlu’s daze, Xiao Liu had processed the fish and skilfully raised a fire. He then stuck the fish on a long stick and grilled it above the flames.

Bai Fanlu observed with interest at first, but when it smelled more and more fragrant, he shut his eyes and stopped looking.

After a while, he felt a warm aroma mixed with a burnt smell close to his mouth. He opened his eyes and saw that the fish was handed to him.

"I-I’m not eating.”

Bai Fanlu frowned.

Xiao Liu stared at the fish in his hand before revealing an expression of sudden realisation.
Then, he brought the fish to his own lips, and carefully blew against the fish’s body. He blew repeatedly before peeling away a piece of fish skin.

Then he handed it to Bai Fanlu again, "It shouldn't be that hot anymore, have a bite.”

"..." Bai Fanlu couldn't say anything. The youth's puppy eyes were staring at him, so radiant no one could bear to refuse.

Noticing that he was still resisting, Xiao Liu felt a little hurt and asked softly, "Does Immortal gege think that it will not taste good?”

The youth lowered his head, his sparkly eyes dimmed instantly, making him appear even more intolerably aggrieved, "Although it does not look pleasant..."

"No. It smells pretty good.”

Bai Fanlu answered sincerely, "But I..."

In truth, fish was a bit repulsive to him, because once, there was a person who swallowed a fishbone before him and almost died because of it. From then on, Bai Fanlu stopped eating fish.

But he had no idea how to convey this reason to Xiao Liu.

"Is Immortal gege afraid of eating fish?” Xiao Liu asked unexpectedly.

"...Do I look scared?”

Bai Fanlu believed that the subtle changes in his expression shouldn't have been so easily seen through.

"You do.”

Xiao Liu pondered for a while, "This kind of fish does not have many bones. If you are afraid, I will help you pick them all out. I am very good at this!"

It was a pity that there were no bowls nor chopsticks around, making it even harder to pick out the fish bones. Aware of Xiao Liu's predicament, Bai Fanlu became worried that the youth was thinking of another unthinkable alternative. He frantically stopped him, "It's okay, I know how to pick them out. I will do it myself.”

"Really? Then quickly have a taste!"

Xiao Liu seemed to have been resurrected into that hot-blooded youth. He couldn’t wait and hastily urged Bai Fanlu. With this, his eyes brightened up and sparkled twice as before, levelling up directly from the glow of fireflies to the brilliance of moonlight.

Bai Fanlu thought to himself, ‘Alright, having fish is a rather good choice since it can replenish the brain. My brain cells have almost been exhausted these few days’.

Just as he made up his mind to take a bite, Xiao Liu pulled back the fish when he opened his mouth. Under Bai Fanlu’s stunned eyes, the youth shyly tore off the top layer of scorched fish skin and explained, "The fish skin is soggy and not tasty, Eat the flesh underneath instead! The flesh is tender.”

How meticulous...Bai Fanlu who was being taken care of proceeded to bite off a piece of fish, and it was tender as the youth said it would be.

The fish that had been freshly caught from the river was killed and grilled immediately, making the dish full of flavour. The main reason it was so delectable was that it had no small fish bones, as Xiao Liu mentioned.

Bai Fanlu took two bites and felt that someone had been staring at him eagerly. He couldn't help but sense heat climbing up his cheeks and handed the fish back, "I'm done.”

"You only ate a little," Xiao Liu’s face crumbled, "It must still not taste good.”

"It's delicious," Bai Fanlu hurriedly added, "You should have a bite too. Let’s eat together.”

"Then I will have some, and Immortal gege must eat more.”

Xiao Liu seemed to be afraid that he was being coaxed with false promises.

"Alright.”

After getting an affirmative answer, Xiao Liu smiled happily, looked down at the fish in his hand, and took another peek at Bai Fanlu.

The other party was not glancing at him, so the youth took another bite at the same place where the man had bitten into the fish. After which, that pair of bright pupils twinkled slyly.

After the duo finished the fish, Xiao Liu asked Bai Fanlu about his thoughts, "It's not that scary, is it?”

Bai Fanlu grinned without saying a word, and nodded lightly.

Xiao Liu used some tree branches to spread out the burning firewood, "Actually, I was afraid of eating fish because when I was a young, I swallowed a fishbone by accident.”

Bai Fanlu appeared startled, and turned his head to glance at him. Usually those who experienced such incidents would be more or less traumatised. Why couldn’t he notice any trace of it on Xiao Liu? Perhaps it wasn't serious?

"I almost lost my life that time.”

This sentence directly overturned Bai Fanlu's assumption, but Xiao Liu casually said it so calmly and gently.

"But you still dare to consume fish?”

"Of course!" Xiao Liu answered matter-of-factly, "But I didn't dare at first, it was all due to my brother later..."

"Your brother?”

Xiao Liu still has family members around?

Bai Fanlu thought the youth had always been alone.

"Well, we got separated..." Xiao Liu said, using a tree branch to etch some small character in a pile of ashes.

Bai Fanlu suddenly didn't know what to say, but when he looked at the youth's face with hair slightly brushed by the sea breeze, he suddenly wanted to reach out and pat his shoulder. Bai Fanlu was merely thinking about it when he realised he had already done so.