Feng Zhiming took a step back before turning his head to look at Anissa, who had conveniently vanished below deck.

He turned his gaze back to Dolly who was awaiting his response with wide eyes.

“The price, of course I know the price, but just to confirm, what was it that you agreed to?”

He felt like slamming his head into a wall, this might have been the stupidest thing he said in recent years, who would fall for such an obvious lie?

Dolly’s smile lit up once again.

“Of course, the antisocial swordswoman said that a very handsome young man would accompany me during this trip.”

Feng Zhiming’s expression turned blank.

“What kind of person do you think I am!?” he sent a mental transmission to Anissa who sat below deck, mentally practicing her sword forms.

“You instructed me to do anything to acquire transport to the heart, in the end all is for the Forgotten One.” She responded and continued her mental sword practice.

Despite the feeling that she was enjoying this, he generously decided to let it go, after all, she did what was asked of her.

He looked Dolly up and down one more time, doe eyed as she was, she didn’t seem to be the type to demand those types of services.

“Ok, ok I need to confirm what she means by accompany.” he gathered his thoughts and asked Dolly another question.

“When you say accompany what do you actually mean?” He tried to keep an amicable expression on his face.

“Of course there's only one meaning to that.” she responded, narrowing her eyes.

Feng Zhiming’s face darkened, he hadn’t thought that such a day would come, he shed a tear internally.

He put his hand over his heart.

But if it was for a the ultimate cause he was prepar-

“You must talk to me and keep me company throughout the trip.”

Feng Zhiming exhaled slowly as his eyes lit up, he was safe. What kind of man would he be if he was actually providing those types of services? He shivered at the thought.

“Of course, I always enjoy good conversations. Let’s set sail immediately” he was relieved.

She gestured for him to follow her, flying towards the mast she had jumped down from.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The mast was far from normal, the crow’s nest which was usually small and cramped was quite big. There were two chairs and they weren’t normal, they actually allowed someone to recline fully and look straight up at the sky.

Of course he had the initial thought of hijacking the ship when he saw her strength, but there were too many variables, no knowledge of the force behind her, no way to operate the ship without her, hell they didn’t even know the way to the heart.

She stood on the wooden platform and sat down on one of the chairs.

Feng Zhiming looked at her with a confused expression.

“Was she not going to start the ship?” he thought to himself.

That was when it happened, without the need for any action from her the ship actually began to sail, the sand that the ship stood on began to part and allowed it to begin flowing through it.

It began to move fast, faster than someone at the peak of a spiritual awakening, maybe even matching a Heavenly Eye cultivator’s flying speed, which was still a far cry from their spatial warping speed.

All the spiritual inscriptions on the ship, even the ones that were so small they could be covered by a thumb, began to operate.

Feng Zhiming’s gaze sharpened as he saw the operation, he had severely underestimated this girl’s ability.

This wasn’t a feat of pure strength or power. This was a display of ability, of technique.

It had to be a demonic phenomena, or a celestial phenomena, there was no one in this world that had such intricate control of Qi.

“You operate this ship yourself?” he asked Dolly, who was reclining and gazing at the stars without a care in the world.

“Of course, I’ve practiced a lot to be able to do this.” she answered with a proud expression on her face.

She patted the seat beside her.

“Come sit.”

Feng Zhiming walked over and sat down, still trying to comprehend the degree of this ability. But he was certain of one thing, he needed to extract as much information from her as possible, her background couldn't possible be ordinary.

If her combat skills matched her technique, then on pure ability alone, he was not confident in fighting this girl, forget her cultivation which gapped him.

Now it all made sense, it wasn't that she was pretending to be naive or empty headed, this girl. She was simply so powerful that despite the trickery or deception she fell for, she could dig herself out of any situation.

Feng Zhiming was well aware, there were those who changed and adapted to survive, and then there were those people who were so incredibly powerful that they didn't have to change nor adapt.

“Well?” she looked at him expectantly.

Feng Zhiming cleared his throat before speaking.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Someone like you going to the heart of the Wildlands, it must be an interesting reason.”

Her eyes lit up after receiving the question.

“I am Dolly from the Workshop as you already know, I am in the Wildlands because my father asked me to fetch something. I stopped at the city for some food and encountered that swordswoman who convinced me to transport you all. My favorite color is red, like your eyes, I also like grapes and I ta-”

Feng Zhiming held out his hand signalling for her to stop.

“Slow down, I’m not going anywhere, we’re here for a month at least.”

Dolly nodded.

“You mentioned that you are from the Workshop, where exactly is that?"

“Of course, the Workshop is my home.”

“And where is your home?”

“The Workshop.”

A slight bulge appeared on Feng Zhiming’s forehead.

His expression shifted once more and he closed his eyes trying to withhold his frustration. It seemed like extracting information from her was going to be more difficult than a seasoned veteran.