“There are three of them North of us.”
"Another three North-East."
“They’re approaching. Their aura feels like that of wild beasts. We do not know of their strength yet. Be careful.”
Standing back to back, they stood in a circle against the danger approaching.
From behind the cover of the trees, the owners of the six auras appeared.
Six wild silver wolves! Wild silver wolves were not the strongest wild beasts there were, but they were not to be viewed as easy targets. They were dangerous and smart. In situations where the prey is stronger than them, the wild silver wolves will work together to take down the much stronger and larger prey. This was what made them dangerous. Given that there were six of them right now, it was clear that they were thinking of working together to take down the three humans. There had been situations where cultivators at Immortal level have been known to fall prey to a group of silver wolves just because they had brushed off the silver wolves as weak.
Usually, anyone who met six of these wolves would be worried and thinking of a plan to defeat the silver wolves.
However, they had Ye Yu.
Ye Yu was an Immortal level celestial beast. In terms of hierarchy, celestial beasts were higher than the wild beasts. Furthermore, Ye Yu was a white tiger. White tigers were one of the Four Divine Beasts and were thus naturally higher in the hierarchy and stronger than the average beast.
Before the three started their journey, they had came to a consensus to hide their auras and suppress their powers. It was not a good idea to let their strong auras leak and have enemies detecting them. In this world, the weak avoided the strong, but there were also those who loved challenging others stronger than themselves. They had unanimously agreed on this to avoid such people and to travel safely without bringing trouble to themselves.
“Mere wild silver wolves and you dare to try attack my Young Mistress? I’ll let you understand who you’re dealing with today.” His expression hardened and he took a step towards the silver wolves. In the next instant, a white tiger stood in the spot where Ye Yu was previously. Because he changed into a celestial beast, it unleashed his full aura, pressuring the silver wolves into taking a few steps back. The silver wolves were distressed. Never would they have thought that the three humans they saw as easy prey with their teamwork would turn out to have an Immortal level celestial beast amongst them.
In front of one of the Four Divine Beasts of an Immortal level, the wild silver wolves knew that they had met someone they were unable to defeat. With the six of them, they may be able to take down a stronger enemy, but the white tiger before them had too imposing of an aura. Whimpering, they rolled over on their back and submitted themselves to their opponent.
Watching from the sidelines, Zi Yue and Lan Ying were startled. They knew that Ye Yu was a lot stronger than the silver wolves, but they had expected at least a fight between the two parties. Instead, they were met with that scene and were speechless. Things were turning out better than they had expected!
Met with submission from the silver wolves, Ye Yu smiled inwardly. Things were going as planned. Ye Yu had never planned to fight the silver wolves from the start. As Lan Ying had mentioned before, Ye Yu was smart. He figured it would be better to have more allies with them than to eliminate them all. He had gauged the silver wolves' strength and determined his own to be higher than them and that it was overpowering enough to make them submit. Had he determined that they would not submit and become even more defensive, he would have fought them instead. He would be able to defeat them, but if he could fight a winning battle from the start, it would be the most optimal.
Changing back into a human(1), he looked at the six wolves in front of him.
"I am not going to attack you. I am Ye Yu, the ones I am with are Lan Ying and Zi Yue. Zi Yue is my master, so she is now your master."
Silver wolves were smart beasts so they understood human speech. Seeing that he had changed back into a human and had no intention of attacking them, the wolves rolled back to their front and lowered themselves. Even if Ye Yu was human now and his aura has disappeared, they already knew he was stronger. He was their new leader. And their leader’s master would mean she was their master too. How strong must she be to be their leader’s master. Thinking about it terrified them.
Ye Yu was satisfied.
He looked up and saw that the sky was slowly brightening. They thus decided to continue the journey and make use of the daytime to find their way out of the forest. This was actually one of the main reasons Ye Yu did not fight the silver wolves. Since the way out of the forest presented themselves to him, there was no way he was going to kill off their fastest way out. Having lived in the forest, the silver wolves knew the way to the nearest path towards the main city.
The way out was easy to find with the help of the wolves and it was actually only a half-hour journey away from where they made camp. By the time they reached the path, the three humans had gotten acquainted with the six wolves. Normal females would have been afraid of the wolves but Zi Yue and Lan Ying were not normal females. They merely saw the wolves as oversized dogs. With very sharp teeth. And hundred times more strength and power than normal dogs. Oversized dogs alright.
When they were nearing the path, Ye Yu stopped them and instructed the wolves to return back to the forest. They were to continue with their usual lives, but to avoid attacking humans. He would find them when he returns. It was impossible to bring six silver wolves with them on their journey. It would only scare everyone away and attract unwanted attention to themselves. The wolves were depressed. They just got a new leader and he was going to be leaving them already. Plus their leader’s master and her friend showered them with a lot of attention on the way out of the forest. It would be years before they would see the three of them again. These six wolves were no longer thinking like wild wolves anymore. It was as if they had been tamed in that short half an hour by the two girls!
Looking at the wolves sad faces, Ye Yu laughed. To think that just a while ago, they were trying to attack and eat the three of them and now, they were acting like overly-attached puppies. It was so ridiculous that it was funny. He was not expecting the two girls to tame the six wolves so quickly in that short span of time.
Regardless of how close they had become, they had to continue their journey. They were not in a rush, but it was better to be on their way. Parting ways with the silver wolves, they stepped out of the forest onto the path towards the main city.
——
“Did you find the source of the strong celestial beast aura that was detected yesterday night?” Hands clasped behind his back, the Sect Master of the Heaven Spirit Sect(2) looked at the ten Sect Leaders standing before him.
“Sect Master, we have found that it came from the forest five miles away from the South Gate. We sent someone there the moment we detected its location but when he reached there, there was nothing. However, we found signs of a camp. It may be possible that there were people travelling with a Celestial Beast or they met one there. We are still searching for the owners of the camp.” one of the Sect Leader stepped forward and reported their findings.
“Hmm… I see... Find those campers and find the Celestial Beast. If the Celestial Beast belongs to them, they would be powerful people. It would be good to invite them to join our Sect. However, also continue looking for the Celestial Beast in case it is alone. That’s all. Dismissed”
“Yes Master!” the ten Sect Leaders chorused and took their leave.
Alone in the room, Mo Xie was deep in thought. Mo Xie has been the Sect Master of the Heaven Spirit Sect for sixteen years now and was constantly thinking about how to grow the Sect and make it stronger. He was a good Sect Master that the Sect members looked up to. The strong aura yesterday night was faint but it was definitely the aura of a Celestial Beast that had reached at least the Immortal stage. Which means that it would also have the ability to transform into human. The Heaven Spirit Sect would really grow if the Celestial Beast finds a master in their sect. Not many Celestial Beasts choose a master because they refuse to acknowledge a master that is weaker than them. To have a Celestial Beast acknowledge you is a symbol of your strength and powers.
He was determined to find the Celestial Beast and the master if it has one. If they were to join the Heaven Spirit Sect, it would be a huge benefit to the Sect. He just hoped that they were not already in another Sect.
——
The three of them reached the nearest gate of the main city hours before noon. The path the silver wolves had brought them was a shortcut and that saved them a lot of time. It was already daytime so the gate was bustling with people going in and out of the main city. Joining the queue that had already formed, the three of them patiently waited for their turn. Technically they could have used the express route by using the Zhao family’s name but they wanted to avoid drawing attention to themselves as much as they could. Using the Zhao family’s name would be like wearing a signboard that shouted “Attention!”.
It was a fast ten minute queue and soon, they entered the city with no issues. When they handed over their identity passes though, the guard took a longer look at Zi Yue. Her surname was the same as that of the Zhao family, but he did not recognise that name. Could she be a daughter of that family? He took a look at her and his first thought was: Nah. A lady of the Zhao family would be more graceful and refined. The one in front of him had some leaves in her hair and that outfit looked too shabby for a lady of high bearing. Plus why would she use the normal gate if she was from the Zhao family. Oh come on, it was impossible. With that in mind, he brushed off his thoughts and waved her in.
Having cleared the gates, their first goal was to find an inn for some food and rest. The first inn they saw, they entered. However, they quickly left because the owner of the inn took one look at them and decided that they were not well-paying guests and thus took on a slightly snobbish attitude towards them. It was slight, but it did not escape the eyes of the trio. With a word of thanks, they left the inn. That inn was definitely not going to get their business!
If only the owner knew who he had just snubbed.
Lan Ying was looking around when she spotted a sign saying “Happy Inn”. Since she was feeling all huffy from the incident at the first inn, plus the sign said “Happy”, she decided on that inn to lift her mood. Zi Yue and Ye Yu had no objections so they followed her into the Happy Inn.
“Welcome to Happy Inn!"
The moment they entered, a woman who looked to be in her late forties, early fifties quickly approached them.
“Welcome, I’m the owner of Happy Inn. You can call me Lan-Yi. Are you here for a meal or to stay?” With a warm smile, she queried.
“To stay, but number of days are undetermined yet, would that be alright?” Seeing the sincere smile, Lan Ying’s mood instantly became better. “This inn is so much better than the other one! Alright, this inn it shall be.” Was what she thought and decided on the spot.
“Not a problem dear. It’s a silver a day per room. Breakfast will be provided, but for lunch and dinner that would be separately charged. I’m assuming two rooms, one of the ladies and one for the gentleman here?”
“It’s okay, I can share a room with Yo-”
“Two rooms would be perfect, thank you.” Before he could finish his sentence, Zi Yue quickly cut in. She knew what he was going to say and she was definitely not going to agree to it. Shaking her head, she shot Ye Yu a quick glare which effectively shut off any of his protests. He could not say anything else. Not with his Young Mistress glaring at him like that. However, separate rooms was not going to stop him. He could just share a room with his Young Mistress while Lan Ying take the other room. He nodded at the idea, pleased with himself.
Upon paying for first night, they headed up to their rooms.
Ye Yu was about to follow Zi Yue into the first room when he suddenly found himself unable to move a step forward. He was being pulled back! He looked back and saw the she-devil pulling him. It’s always her!!
“Not so fast moon fool. Your room is there. This is MY room with Yue Yue. It’s OUR room, not yours.” Holding him by his shirt collar, Lan Ying smirked at Ye Yu as she emphasised on certain words, seeing invisible arrows pierce him when she said them.
Glaring at Lan Ying, Ye Yu threw a pitiful look towards Zi Yue. She firmly shook her head at him and pointed towards the other room. Sighing, he dejectedly dragged himself to the other room. One could literally see imaginary puppy ears drooping on his head. That Lan Ying! She always had to thwart his plans. Why did she have to travel with them and disturb his time with his Young Mistress. Sighing heavily, he flopped onto the bed and contemplated life faced-down.
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(1) A/N: It’s miraculous!! His clothes do not disappear when he transforms HAHAHA. I know it makes sense for the clothes to disappear, but hehehe, I am a lazy worm. It’s so troublesome to have to change clothes overtime he transform!! By the time he takes off his clothes, his opponent would have killed him. Or if he tears his clothes during transformation, how many set of clothes will he need to bring with him everywhere. Meh, I will just let the magic take its own course and assume that clothes appear when he transforms.
(2) 天灵派 (Tian1 Ling2 Pai4) literal translation.