'Xuefeng, I want to pay back the debt to Lang. Can you pass a few Fate Stones to Xiao Wen?' Ling called out to Xuefeng for the first time since they left the Holy Land.
Earlier, they moved to his courtyard and Xuefeng started listening to Wuying's trip to the Central Region. Xuefeng would have to visit those trials one day too, so he was quite interested in them.
Wuying told him almost everything in the greatest detail as she cuddled with him. She also told him about her new arts which Xuefeng couldn't wait to see in action. To be able to manipulate someone with their blood, if caught by surprise, sounded too awesome. He couldn't wait to actually start learning Blood Element, so he can try it out. Xuefeng decided to train on his hunt with her so he has the control of all elements as soon as possible.
'Oh, right. We should definitely pay him back for the losses he incurred when he shared his Fate Qi with you. I will find some time alone with her cause she probably will not want to talk about Fate Fragment's stuff with anyone else. Also, Yiren might suddenly reveal that there are many Fate Stones at the Holy Land and that would not end up well if exposed to the public by accident.' Xuefeng agreed to Ling's suggestion and shivered when he thought of the possible consequences.
They would definitely be hunted down by a group of Fate Holders to learn more about this source of Fate Stones and if they learned that only elves can go in and out of the Holy Land, there is a high chance that they would force Yiren under the threat of hurting him, to go back and forth while bringing Fate Stones with her.
It would be better if no one knew about it. He was sure that with Xiao Wen's character, she wouldn't tell anyone and neither would she be broken even in the face of tortures, so he could trust her. The only problem would be Xiao Wen herself as Xuefeng was certain that once she learned about his secret, she would try to abuse him to provide her more Fate Stones in the future.
'You have to tell her to keep quiet about it or else we might have problems in the future.' Ling advised to which Xuefeng nodded but then a sudden thought entered into his mind and he asked, 'By the way, would it not be easier to not reveal Fate Stones to Xiao Wen and instead use the same method he used? This way I will not have to worry about Xiao Wen trying to scam Fate Stones away from me in the future.'
'Of course not! You propose something without knowing its meaning… For us Fate Spirits, it's extremely intimate to share our Fate Qi with each other. It is almost the same like your night activities with your women. Do you want me to do such stuff with him?' Ling exclaimed in his mind, completely rejecting his idea and explained what it actually meant for her.
'Well, if you put it like this then of course not, but didn't you already do "it" with him?' Xuefeng imagined Ling becoming intimate with Lang and somehow didn't want her to sacrifice herself this much. From her tone, Xuefeng could tell that it was a big deal for her.
'That was a different situation, where he wanted to help me regain my memory. Without him, we would be struggling right now. I already forgave him for his action back then, but I wouldn't want to repeat it now.' Ling said, leaving Xuefeng no chance but to follow their original plan.
There was still a lot of time left today, so Xuefeng wanted to use it properly to prepare himself for his journey. He didn't know where he should search or where he should even start. It would be extremely hard and time-consuming to search in every city. Xuefeng did not have this much time to spend.
"Wen tell me, when you go hunting, how do you usually search for your opponents?" Xuefeng asked Xiao Wen after he couldn't think of any good methods himself. Yiren was playing around with her new friend Lulu, and Wuying decided to continue hugging Xuefeng after she told him her experiences. She found it very calming and wouldn't let go of him.
"I don't. When you enter into Central Region you will understand that things work differently there. You can't just randomly kill anyone, so you should probably enjoy while you still can. Those rules only apply to the Central Region, so as long as we stay in the other regions, they don't concern us." Xiao Wen shook her head and explained the rules, before she asked, "Did you maybe think of using those clones of yours to maybe search through different cities as we travel?"
"Oh!" Xuefeng exclaimed and asked in his mind, 'Can we do it like this?'
'Hmm, we can, but the range won't be too long. I can't control my Qi from hundreds of Li away. Few tens of Li should be alright and after that, I'm just losing connection with my Qi.' Ling replied after a moment of thinking. She already tested it in the Moon Lake Valley so it shouldn't be a problem to repeat this feat.
"Okay, we will do it like this. We can fly in the sky while patrolling the ground with my clones. I hoped to depart tomorrow morning, so we have to make all of the preparations today. There is no need to waste time anymore." Xuefeng decided to go with Xiao Wen's idea, and as he recalled Xiao Wen's words in his father's study he asked, "Also, earlier you acted as you know the assassin who tried to kill me. Who is he?"
"Yeah, I know him. He is just like us, having special abilities, but unfortunately, he uses it to murder for hire. Don't worry, if we meet him, we should be able to kill him easily. As I said, Central Region rules don't apply here, so he is not protected." Xiao Wen nodded and assured him with a smile.
"Okay." Xuefeng nodded before he kissed Wuying on the lips and asked, "Then the only issue we are facing, is where should we start our journey. Wuying, do you have any suggestions?". She was just listening to them conversing while sitting comfortably on his lap, so he decided to pull her into the conversation.
"I got a report today from my vice leader of the Shadow Guards, saying that there is a new bandit gang in the mountain area, which is quickly expanding. They have a base near the pass on the country border, which many merchants use to travel back and forth. We can start with them and proceed from there. I wish to test my abilities so it should be a good opportunity." Wuying proposed.
"Oh, good idea! I also need to stretch my arms and legs a bit. I didn't battle for a while, so it would be a nice warmup." Xiao Wen immediately exclaimed and agreed with Wuying. of course, Xuefeng didn't expect anything else from a battle maniac like her.
"Well, let's do it as you suggest. We can also check the Trade Union for the missions to destroy their group as we are going to do it anyway. We might as well earn something from them too." Xuefeng agreed and added shamelessly.
"I like your thinking, haha." Xiao Wen laughed as it was almost the same thing she thought.
Xuefeng decided to finish everything today and asked, "How about we go check the Trade Union out right now? Wuying can you stay with Yiren and protect each other?"
Even with her name being called, Yiren didn't react as she was being occupied with the cute Lulu. She rubbed Lulu on the belly and the tiger would only ask for more, like a kitten instead of being like a vicious beast.
"Who wants some more belly rubs? Yes, you want more belly rubs…" Yiren talked happily to Lulu who enjoyed Yiren's attention to the fullest. Xuefeng was sure that if he said something like this, he would be bitten for sure.
"It should be alright. She is quite easy to handle." Wuying admitted as she looked at her new playful sister.
"Thank you." Xuefeng gave a kiss to Wuying as a reward before he called out to Yiren, "Yiren, I will be leaving you with Wuying for a few minutes. I will go with Xiao Wen and come back after a moment."
"Okay! I will play more with Lulu." Yiren waved towards Xuefeng before she continued to play with Lulu.
"Let's go then," Xuefeng called out to Xiao Wen before walking out of the room and creating his Air Qi wings. Wuying was surprised by seeing his ability to fly, but then smiled and nodded while thinking, 'As expected of my Xuefeng.'
"I see that you learned some things while you were away. I guess we will have to spar soon." Xiao Wen rubbed her fingers and proposed as she followed after him.
"Why not. You will be surprised." Xuefeng launched into the sky after those words and waited for Xiao Wen to follow him.
She didn't have any other choice but to use her Spirit Qi to fly, as she didn't think Lulu would agree to leave her new belly rubber behind.
"Do you maybe have a free and empty Storage Artefact?" Xuefeng asked as they slowly flew through the air.
"I do." Xiao Wen nodded and threw a ring towards him, which he caught cleanly. Ling put ten high tiered Fate Stones inside of it and Xuefeng threw it back towards her. He chose this option as it allowed them to partially hide it.
"Ling wanted to pay-back for Lang's help back then, so she asked me to pass you guys those stones," Xuefeng said with a playful smile.
Xuefeng didn't expect her to react even louder than what he expected. After looking at the content of the ring, Xiao Wen face froze and she quickly flew up to him and cried, "Where did you find them!?"