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“Found it!” Yushi Moli ran a few kilometers before he found the blizzard bear. It’d already munched through the hapless Coldnight Estate cultivator and hugged a leg to itself as it napped in a clearing.
“It looks like it’s living a good life.” Yushi Moli’s lips curled upward and he jumped down lightly from the tree, landing in front of the bear.
The blizzard bear was uncommonly vigilant and scrambled up from the ground when it discovered the boy’s presence. Wide-eyed, it glared watchfully at him. It could sense a terrifying presence from the minuscule human in front of it.
“Be careful!” A shout rang out just as Yushi Moli was about to attack.
Three people had appeared behind him at some point in time—a young boy and two older companions. The blizzard bear had been too petrified to move when it sensed Yushi Moli’s aura, but the shout snapped its last strand of reason. It roared and charged the trio.
“Ahhh!” the young boy shrieked with abject fear as the bear thundered down on them.
Yushi Moli: ……
You’re a freaking upper human rank cultivator, okay?! You can beat this bear to death with a single hand, what are you yelling for?!
“Yunge!” One of the boy’s older companions yelled and smacked the bear back.
“Are you alright?!” The young boy’s hair was standing on end and he looked at Yushi Moli with trepidation. “What are you doing here alone? This is Qingqiu Mountain, it’s very dangerous!”
His voice carried a hint of softness. Though he was dressed as a young boy, one could tell that he was actually a young girl.
Yushi Moli rubbed his nose and didn’t respond. What was he supposed to say, that the blizzard bear was his prey? That if the three weren’t present, he would’ve already attacked the bear?
Even if Yushi Moli couldn’t take the bear with him, its paws were a rare delicacy. Ouyang Du had brought one to him once. Not only was it delicious, but it was also extremely nutritious and very beneficial for cultivation.
One paw fetched one hundred gold pieces at market, with the pelt going for more than that. The qingfeng sword couldn’t slice through it, but Yushi Moli’s sword could.
“Oi, are you also out on a secret training trip that your parents don’t know about?” exclaimed the disguised girl when she saw the sword in Yushi Moli’s hand. Staring at him with bright black eyes, she wasn’t the type to feel awkward even when Yushi Moli ignored her.
The other two with her were a man called Duan Lin and a woman called Qiu Yu—they were both earth rank cultivators.
“Hmm?” Duan Lin and Qiu Yu reassessed Yushi Moli when they heard their companion’s words.
He looked frail and a pampered air marked some of his gestures; he seemed to be the young master of a rich family. But their foreheads knit together when they noticed his hands.
They were pale and slender, the flesh so tender that they were more precious than a girl’s hands. It was the hands of one accustomed to living in ease and comfort. More importantly was that there were no ripples of true qi on him. He was very much an ordinary person, and it was a miracle that he’d gotten so far.
Thus, the three were convinced that the young man in front of them was the scion of a rich family. He’d entered the mountain with a sword to test himself and had made it this far because he was lucky.
Yushi Moli noticed the looks in their eyes and how they’d scanned his hands, quite resigned with the conclusions they’d drawn. A thick layer of calluses previously covered his hands due to prolonged practice with the sword. They were also criss-crossed with scars, and so looked incredibly coarse and rough.
But after taking ten Boneforge Pills, it was like his body had been reborn. His calluses and scars were gone.
“Child, who are you? It’s very dangerous to enter the mountain on a day like this.” Duan Lin relaxed. The boy in front of them posed no threat to them.
“My name is Lu Yun and I’m from Aurora City. I entered the mountain to train,” Yushi Moli offered with a sudden stroke of inspiration.
Lu Yun… was a name both removed and familiar. It seemed that this should be his name instead? But right now, it also seemed right that he was Yushi Moli and not Lu Yun.
He didn’t know who these people were and if they were connected to Coldnight Estate. It was better not to invite trouble, so he offered a name different from his.
“Lu Yun… I’m Xiangliu Yunge from Cloudscape City!” the girl smiled.
Duan Lin and Qiu Yu had wanted to stop her from replying, but she offered her real name without further ado.
“Big sis Qiu, Uncle Duan, let Lu Yun join us! He’ll be in danger if he's here alone,” Xiangliu Yunge said to her two companions.
“It’s big bro Duan! I’m only twenty-eight this year, not yet thirty!” Duan Lin responded solemnly.
“We can let him join us, but he has to listen to us in everything.” Qiu Yu was more softhearted and nodded with a look at Yushi Moli.
“Um, ah… you guys don’t have to…” he protested weakly.
These three were extreme burdens in his eyes, particularly Xiangliu Yunge. She was an upper human rank cultivator, but she’d been so frightened by a lower rank monster beast that she hadn’t been able to move!
How was he supposed to train following these three? How was he supposed to hunt beasts? The sparkling mounds of gold coins were getting further and further away from him!
“Kid,” Duan Lin grinned at Yushi Moli. “You must’ve read quite a few tales of young heroes and seen how they trained in the mountains when they were young. You probably idolize how these peerless characters dominated the land?”
Yushi Moli lowered his head without a word. He had indeed read quite a few of those biographies and been inspired, which was why he’d entered Qingqiu Mountain to train.
“I can tell you now that those are all lies,” Duan Lin snorted. “Judging from your actions, it’s your first trip into the mountain. If you don’t have a powerhouse accompanying you on your first time, there won’t even be bone shards left of you when you die!
“You want to temper yourself in Qingqiu Mountain with just a qingfeng sword? That’s nothing more than a daydream!”
Yushi Moli didn’t want to respond. With his mental strength, the monster beasts wouldn’t even find him if he wanted that to be.
“Our young master is benevolent and kind enough to allow you to follow us. This is your good fortune and you’ll learn quite a few things that you normally won’t read about in books, such as how to survive in a mountain.” Duan Lin looked at Yushi Moli. “I won’t stop you if you want to leave, but I guarantee that you won’t survive the night.”
“Young master? More like young miss,” Yushi Moli mumbled.
Xiangliu Yunge: ……
Duan Lin and Qiu Yu were likewise at a loss for words. It’s enough that you know the truth, is there a need to speak it out loud?
“You’re called Xiangliu Yunge? Compound surname Xiangliu?” Yushi Moli blinked before finally agreeing, “Alright, I’ll go with you three. Thanks for looking after me.”
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The surname Xiangliu gave him a remarkably familiar feeling… like he had a friend in the past with a similar name.
And so, he changed his mind despite himself. If he didn’t go with them, they would likely die a very grisly death tonight.
The nights were terrifying within the mountain. Two earth rank cultivators and an upper human rank who didn’t know how to fight… that spoke of a doomed ending.
“Come along then, little guy.” Xiangliu Yunge smiled warmly to see Yushi Moli agree to their proposal. “We’re going to spend ten days in the mountain. You can stay with us during this time and learn how to survive in the wild. It's up to you whether you leave with us or stay after our outing is over.”
Qiu Yu and Duan Lin couldn’t care less. They were already chaperoning one person, so adding another didn’t make a difference. Being earth rank cultivators, they felt very secure wandering around the outskirts of the mountain.
Although Xiangliu Yinge was an upper human rank cultivator, her battle strength was similar to the boy called Lu Yun. They wouldn’t have a chance to exert even five percent of their strength if they ran into trouble.
Yushi Moli nodded without a word. He’d decided to join this group because of Xiangliu Yinge’s name. Perhaps it would awaken some of his memories or help him recall something. He was certain that the sword of heaven and earth was suppressing a part of his memories. Qingqiu and Xiangliu were names that seemed very familiar to him, so it must have something to do with his sealed memories. He even thought that he’d long ceased to be Yushi Moli, but was someone else with Yushi Moli’s memories—someone who was trying to find his way back to himself.
Xiangliu Yunge was quite happy to see Yushi Moli stay. The shadow lingering over her heart from the blizzard bear thoroughly dissipated. She was a cheerful girl of sunny disposition.
“Alright, we’re relatively safe since this is the blizzard bear’s territory. We can prepare dinner now.” The group didn’t carry rations, so the bear was their lunch. Although the sun had just begun to tilt toward the west, the days were short in the shady parts of Qingqiu Mountain and it would be dark soon.
“Don’t look!” Yushi Moli said to the girl as Duan Lin began to dress and handle the bear.
“Why not? You two will never improve if you don’t spill blood and this trip will have been made in vain.” Duan Lin curled his lip as he fished out the bear’s internal organs. He seemed to be purposefully rough with his motions and splashed the pungent scent of gore everywhere.
Although it would attract other monster beasts or wild beasts, the two powerhouses weren't concerned.
“I’m worried she won’t be able to keep anything down for the next couple of days if she does.” Yushi Moli swept an impassive look over the bloody scene. “If she doesn’t eat, she won’t have the energy to confront danger and endure the cold. That will be very dangerous in the frozen landscape of Qingqiu Mountain. You two can deal with monster beasts, but what about the cold and tiredness?”
Xiangliu Yunge had wanted to take a look, but turned her head away when she heard Yushi Moli and stood far away.
“If just looking at blood is a form of training, then we can just take a walk through a butcher house. But I think seeing this kind of blood just grosses ourselves out.” Yushi Moli smiled at his older traveling companions.
Duan Lin and Qiu Yu blinked. They hadn’t thought that the boy would hold these kinds of views and abruptly revised their opinion of him. It hadn’t been pure luck that brought him this far.