Ling Yushi finished preparing the bath with hot water and left cheerfully. Before she left, she even reminded Qin Lie that she would come and pick him up early tomorrow.
Immersing himself in the wooden barrel filled with hot water, Qin Lie raised his head and looked at the house beam. As he was lost in thought, his brows creased.
The strength of the Rank Two spirit beast, Silver Winged Demon Wolf, could be compared to a martial practitioner in the Natal Opening Realm. When pit against a single Ice Soul Python, the Silver Winged Demon Wolf would have a greater chance of winning.
But most importantly, Silver Winged Demon Wolves were spirit beasts that lived in packs! Not only that, Celestial Wolf Mountain was precisely their den!
âEach year during May and June, Silver Winged Demon Wolves would make a pilgrimage to the peak to meet the âIcestone Snow Wolf Kingâ, and they would return in July. Once they came back and saw that human martial practitioners had seized and occupied their territoryâŠâ
The bloody scene of Ling Yushi, Ling Feng, Ling Ying, and the others being torn into pieces by a Silver Winged Demon Wolf pack appeared in Qin Lieâs mindâŠ
He didnât know why, but he felt irritated and couldnât calm himself down when he thought of Ling Yushiâs delicate body being torn into pieces.
âLooks like I need to go to the Herb Mountain first thing in the morning to retrieve the sculpture Grandpa carved. Celestial Wolf Mountain⊠just happened to be marked by grandfather.â
Once Qin Lie had made up his mind, his irritation soothed. As he sat in the wooden barrel, he focused mind energy and studied the âSpirit Storageâ spirit diagram within the Soul Suppressing Orb.
Out of the four spirit diagrams: Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, Amplification, and Strengthening, he had already memorized the Spirit Gathering spirit diagram, and now he slowly started on another of the other three spirit diagrams.\nâŠâŠ
The next morning, Ling Yushi, together with Ling Feng, Ling Ying, and the other Ling Family members, arrived at Qin Lieâs stone house very early in the morning.
Ling Yushi wore a blue, tight fitting outfit which highlighted her exquisite, curvy body. This caused the eyes of the many boys following her to flicker. They yearned to keep admiring her beauty, but were too embarrassed to do so.
âFirst Miss, do you really want to bring him?â
Ling Xin was of similar age to Ling Feng; he was tall, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a needle-thin mustache at the corner of his mouth. His cultivation was at the sixth level of the Refinement Realm, his earlier question was because he had some objections against Ling Yushi bringing Qin Lie along.
âLing Xin, donât be so long-winded!â Ling Feng frowned and scolded.
Ling Xin seemed to fear Ling Feng a little. After hearing Ling Fengâs scolding, his mouth twitched, but he didnât say anything more.
Arriving in front of Qin Lieâs stone house, Ling Yushi yelled tenderly, âQin Lie, we are setting off!â
After waiting a little while, seeing that there was no response in the house, Ling Yushi was slightly stunned. She pushed the door and walked in, then found that the house was empty, without any trace of Qin Lie.
In the house, Ling Yushiâs elegant face revealed obvious disappointment. She bit her lips lightly and sighed softly.
ââŠMaybe I was overthinking it , and he didnât listen to what I said seriously at all, or maybe I just imagined his affection. Could he have heard it, but pretended not to instead?â Ling Yushiâs face was bitter, and she shook her head and laughed in a self-deprecating manner. After she walked out of the stone house, she took a light breath and indifferently said, âLetâs go.â\nLing Xin was secretly happy seeing that Qin Lie wasnât here as he thought to himself: One less burden would save a lot of trouble.
âFirst Miss, you donât have to worry about it. The Patriarch will make other arrangements for people to look after him.â Ling Feng pondered and then comforted her.
âYeah, the Du Family members have been less aggressive recently. They probably wonât act recklessly,â chimed Ling Ying.
Ling Yushi smiled, nodded her head, and said casually, âLetâs go, we will pass by Herb Mountain anyway. I will yell once at the caves later, and if he really doesnât hear it, then weâll forget about it.â
Hearing this, Ling Feng, Ling Ying, Ling Xin, and the others were all surprised, revealing puzzled expressions.
They inwardly shook their heads and threw doubtful looks at Ling Yushi.
Under everyoneâs strange gazes, Ling Yushi was completely at ease, as she led the way towards Herb Mountain.
When the sun slowly rose, the party of ten arrived at the foot of Herb Mountain.
Looking at the mining caves in Herb Mountain, Ling Yushi took a deep breath and yelled with all her strength, âQin Lie, we are about to leave, are you coming or not? We will wait for you for an hour, and if you donât come out, we will leave first.â
âItâs still early, everyone should just take this as a break.â Turning over, Ling Yushi smiled lightly. She didnât care if the others grew dissatisfied, and found herself a clean rock before sitting down.
Seeing such an attitude from her, they could only helplessly wait with her.
Time ticked by second by second, but there still was not a trace to be seen in the mines of Herb Mountain. Ling Yushiâs beautiful eyes showed disappointment, increasing as time passed by; she obviously wasnât feeling well at heart.\nâThereâs no way that fool could hearâŠâ After waiting for a while, Ling Xin couldnât help but mumble as he became impatient.
Ling Feng glared at him viciously.
âFirst Miss, it is time. He probably wonât come.â Ling Ying got up energetically. Facing Ling Feng, she stretched her slim waist lazily. As she did so, her arrogant, soft bosom made an astonishing curve as she tenderly said, âBig Brother Ling, we should start leaving, right?â
Ling Feng, seeing her display her body seductively, nodded with a small headache, and said, âFirst Miss, what do you think?â
âLetâs go.â Ling Yushi said in a quiet, sullen tone.
Celestial Wolf Mountain was also in the Arctic Mountain Range, and it was closest to the Gao Family. The Gao Family, Feng Family, and Ling Family were all vassal forces of Nebula Pavilion. Celestial Wolf Mountainâs Fire Crystal Quarry was on its cliff. It would be really difficult for an ordinary person to climb it; one careless mistake could cause the person to fall to his or her death.
Fire crystals were a fire source for artifact forging, and it was the most common kind. Once it was lit with fire, the fire crystal would burn fiercely, providing the heat required for forging spirit materials.
According to the difference in quality, the grade of the fire crystals would also be different. However, the ones with inferior quality were Common Grade Three spirit materials, and the ones with better quality would only be Common Grade Five spirit materials. It wasnât too precious, so making high ranked martial practitioners from Nebula Pavilion mine them would seem overkill.
Because of this, Nebula Pavilion arranged their vassal forces, the Gao Family, Feng Family, and Ling Family, to mine them jointly. In the end, they would tally the number and grade of the fire crystals that the three families mined and reward them accordingly with spirit stones.\nCelestial Wolf Mountain and Solitary Ridge were in completely different directions, so as soon as they left Herb Mountain, they would be on a different path.
The ten people of the Ling Family slowly walked out of Herb Mountain. Ling Yushi looked back at Herb Mountain behind her, sighed faintly to herself, and disappointedly stepped on the path towards Celestial Wolf Mountain.
Knowing that she wasnât in a good mood, no one disturb her. Even chatter-box Ling Xin was satisfied enough to not say anything more after Qin Lie didnât turn up.
Walking under the many ancient trees, the rest of the group slowly started chatting and were excitedly discussing about mining at Celestial Wolf Mountain.
Later on, even Ling Feng and Ling Ying joined the conversations. They were all in high spirits and were imagining all the spirit stones that they could receive through the job.
Ling Yushi quietly pulled some distance away from the others and walked alone at the front. She walked silently with her head down, deep in thought, and occasionally would lift her head to watch the road.
Because she slowly felt that Qin Lie was not a fool, she figured he should have been able to hear what she had said, which was why she told him that she wanted to bring him along to Celestial Wolf Mountain.
But, after this happened, she wasnât so sure anymore.
As for other possibilities, she didnât want to think too much about them. She would rather believe that Qin Lie didnât hear what she had said than believe that he deliberately stood her upâŠ
âYou probably didnât hear it. Nevermind, I made assumptions.â Ling Yushi comforted herself. However, she was still slightly bitter as she lifted her head again to look at the path before her.
Her pretty face suddenly froze. She subconsciously rubbed her eyes, and her dull eyes slowly brightened. Her bitter mouth bloomed into an extremely bright, beautiful smile.\nUnder a big tree ahead, a slender shadow stood stiff here, with clothes covered in dew drops; she didnât know how long he had been waiting.
Who else could it be other than Qin Lie?
Ling Yushiâs heart was suddenly filled thick with sweetness as she laughed softly, unable to control herself. In her joyous laughter, her delicate body moved to Qin Lieâs side like a gust of wind.
In front of others, it was the first time she had openly held Qin Lieâs hand. She then turned her head and said to the stunned Ling Family members, âTurns out he had been waiting for us here all this time.â
Ling Feng, Ling Ying, Ling Xin, and the other Ling family members were all stunned for a while. They looked at each other and suddenly felt like their minds couldnât follow this turn of events. âWhen did that guy⊠know to wait for people?â
âYou guys go first!â Ling Yushi didnât care about their confusion and surprise, ordering them to walk in front.
As Ling Feng and the others passed by her and Qin Lie, they all wore odd expressions as they rubbed their heads, and Ling Yingâs bright eyes seemed as though they had seen a ghost.
Everyone slowly passed the two of them.
âOh you, seriously, you made me sad for a while!â Only when the others were far away, did Ling Yushi blush slightly and look at Qin Lie in a meaningful way. She then pounded his chest softly and smiled lightly in a gentle manner, saying, âItâs good that youâve come. Since you came⊠then that means you can hear what I say. Hah, how long can you keep pretending?â
Only now could she finally be sure that Qin Lie was definitely not the fool he acted like on the surface. He was at least sometimes clear-headed.\nQin Lie didnât immediately express anything and continued to stare blankly. After she finished talking, he wiggled his hand out from hers and advanced toward Ling Feng and the others.
âHeh, if you think this is interesting, then I will continue to play with you.â Staring at his back, Ling Yushi laughed softly, shook her head, and immediately followed.