Zheng Fei stood up and looked around, a hand on his chin. The young master seemed to be in deep thought. The scenery appeared completely alien to him.

"Maybe I got sent to Spring Valley in southern Zhao?"

He pondered, but that was clearly not it. Even though he had only gone there once as a kid, he still remembered that place being full of countless beautiful flowers. While the place he was at now, the only plants around were tall yellow grasses.

Deep in thought, he suddenly noticed something faraway in the corner of his eyes. It was a dirt-road. What a silver lining, he thought. If there's a road, there's a trade route, which means sooner or later, a merchant is going to pass by. He strapped the Yìnbáng on his back and started walking toward the yellow trail.

As he arrived there, he began to hear something. A sound, that of walking horses. When he turned around, he noticed a group of wagons heading toward his destination. A small smirk appeared on his face. Just as expected, he thought. One of cart stopped in front of him, sitting on it a middle aged man.

"Greeting young traveller, what could you be doing in this middle of nowhere?"

He asked, clearly didn't expect any kind of normal response from the way he phrased his question.

"I... accidentally tied my horse too loosely and it ran away when I took a nap..."

Zheng Fei responded, his face turned bright red from embarrassment.

"I... see, well since we are such good samaritans, we could give you a ride. However..."

Zheng Fei seemed to know where this conversation was going from the man's tone of voice.

"You see, the wagon in the back is filled to the brim with expensive goods. It would be... a waste, if we have to throw them away to make room. You understand what I'm saying right, young master?"

The man glanced at the young master, he could smell that Zheng Fei was from a rich family just from the way he dressed. The young master let out a sigh, these people wouldn't give in easily just from hearing the name of his Sect, he thought. He had to pay them with something of value. Unfortunately, because of his privilege, he never had to pay for anything when taking a stroll through town. Which is why he didn't bother keeping currencies on hand.

A thought suddenly came to him, he started quickly taking the Yìnbáng off his back. A pleased expression appeared on his face. At the end of the Yìnbáng's barrel tied a small pouch, in it lied 5 small spirit stone bullets.

"Xiao Mei, I knew I could count on your diligence" He thought.

"Here you go, this should suffice."

Zheng Fei then handed one of the bullet to the merchant.

"Oohhh!! I've rarely seen such high quality spirit stone before, I knew I have good eyes for judging people hehehe~~"

He cackled audibly, much to the annoyance of the young master.

"This is more than good enough as payment. Please, make yourself at home, young master."

Zheng Fei just ignored him and climbed onto the back of one of the wagon. The inside was filled with plenty of valuable and goods. Bags of grains could be seen lying around along with huge sealed jars of alcohol and rolls of quality fabrics.

"There are still plenty of room in here. Tch, I knew that bastard just made up excuses to earn some money."

Mild irritation appeared on his face. Then, he noticed something cooping up in the corner of the cart. It was another person, covered up entirely by the oversized cloak they were wearing. The person appeared to be sleeping.

"Another passenger?"

Zheng Fei thought, then he just let out a shrug.

"Guess it's none of my business."

He then took a sit in the opposite corner as the wagon began to move.

~~~~~~

Zheng Fei was lost in his thought. The swaying of the moving cart fueled his swelling emotions.

"zzzzzzzzz..."

A snoring sound could be heard coming from the other corner.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

He blamed himself for being so foolish to not have seen through his cousin's eventual treachery.

"zzzzzZZZZZZZ...."

The sound was getting larger.

And most of all, he blamed himself for not steeling his heart and ended Tian Lang back then. A part of him must have still believed that it was just one big mistake, that the innocent little junior brother was still in there somewhere.

But not anymore, he thought.

"This time, I, Zheng Fei, young master of the Heaven Gazer Sect, will have my revenge and...."

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...."

A vein popped on Zheng Fei's forehead. The snoring had gotten loud enough that it was now echoing across the entire cart. Zheng Fei stood up and started moving toward the cloaked figure with an annoyed look on his face.

"Hey, can you pipe down for a secon..."

He lightly shook the figure by the shoulder. Suddenly, the hood fell off, revealing the person underneath. To the young master's shock, it was a beautiful young maiden, skin as white as snow. Her hair was jet black, with 2 long locks tied in a loop lying atop her head.

Zheng Fei's heart suddenly skipped a beat, he had never seen such beautiful young maiden before. While he was still dazing off, the young girl opened her eyes.

The young master jumped back in a state of surprise. Before he could explain the situation, the young lady let out a big yawn. On closer look one could see what resembled 4 long canine-like fangs in her mouth.

"Waking up to a pervert staring at my face. Today's already looking miserable..."

She said, with a long sigh after. Zheng Fei's infatuation was short-lived as his expression quickly turned soured again. This was the first time in his life that he was insulted by a lady. He answered back with a thinly veiled insult.

"Apology, my lady. There was a... creature snoring like a pig in your direction. I was just about to throw it out. But It must have been scared off and ran away when you woke up."

Zheng Fei said, a smug look on his face. The lady's face turned red as she realized how loud she must have been snoring. Then she quickly composed herself and said.

"If I remember correctly, your eyes looked mesmerized when you were staring at me in my sleep. What could you have planned to do huh? Pervert."

It was now Zheng Fei's face that turned beet red. He answered back in kind.

"Who would want to do anything to someone who snored as if they're the reincarnation of Zhu Bajie* himself?"

The two continued bickering back and forth until they tired out. Then they just stopped and stayed silence, all the while trying to avoid looking in the other's directions.

The wagon suddenly stopped, a ringing sound of a bell could be heard.

"Break time everyone, but make it quick. We must get to Língzhi** before sundown."

One of the man riding the wagon said loudly.

"Línzhi***? So I wasn't sent that far away after all, it should only take around 4 or 5 days of travelling before I get home."

The young master thought, a small smile appeared on his face. Línzhi was a place not far away from his hometown, famous for its beef soup. He had planned to visit it someday before the incident happened. Zheng Fei was so delighted that he didn't even notice he misheard what the man had said.

"The Heaven must be on my side."

Zheng Fei mumbled as the man from before approached him from behind.

"Good afternoon young master, here's your ration for the day. Only the most delicious dumplings we could get our hands on."

He put the dumplings in the young master's hands. They were steamy and emitted a salivating fragrant, which filled the entire cart.

"Hey, where's my portion? I paid the fees too you know."

The young lady spoke up, only to be ignored by the man. Zheng Fei noticed the man's face was filled with contempt and disgust as he returned back to his post. The young master sat there silently for awhile, then he made his decision.

"Hey you, catch!"

He threw one of the dumplings toward the young lady. Which she caught squarely in her hand, a surprised look appeared on her face.

"Don't get me wrong, as a man of high upbringing, I just hate seeing a lady in peril... even if that lady has absolutely no manner or etiquette."

"Oh? This doesn't make up for being a pervert, you know~~~"

"You want me to take my kindness back?"

"Just kidding~~ I was just messing with you... My gratitude"

She said with a bright smile on her face. Looking at her right now, Zhang Fei had no doubt she was the same beauty that made his heart skip a beat... Then the illusion was shattered once again as she began chomping down on the dumpling like a hungry hound. The young lady finished her meal in a flash, a satisfying look appeared on her face. Then, she spoke.

"Fen Xuan, that's my name."

"I guess you do have some manner after all. My name is Zheng Fei." He answered.

"Fen Xuan huh? Where have I heard that name before?"

He pondered for a second but then gave up.

"I'm a little curious, what have you done to earn that man's contempt? A man of his nature loves nothing more than money and beautiful women."

"Oh my~~ So you think that I am beautiful huh?"

A smug look appeared on Fen Xuan's face. The girl then went quiet for a moment before giving a reply.

"It's because I'm a half-yaoguai."

"Hm.... I did hear that half-yaoguai are hated among certain groups of people. It all seems to make sense now..."

The young master said with a hand on his chin.

"But then, that means you're..."

"Yes, I'm a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect."

She finished his sentence. Just as he thought, the large amount of chi he had been sensing from her wasn't just a fluke after all. She was indeed a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect, infamous for being made up of mostly half-yaoguai disciples.

"Interesting... to finally meet a member of the famous Heavenly Demon Sect."

"You don't seem to be afraid of us half-yaoguai huh?"

Fen Xuan asked, a slight surprise on her face.

"Why should I? If anything, I find it mildly amusing that you fair lady might actually be descended from the real Zhu Bajie."

Zheng Fei let out a visible chuckle.

"Why... you!!!"

Fen Xuan's face turned red again. But as they were having their banter, the cart stopped once more. Before them now lied an enormous city, completely surrounded by tall walls.

"We're here, begin loading off the goods!!"

The shouting of the merchant man could be heard again.

"It seems we reached the destination, I guess this is the end of our little unpleasant encounter."

Fen Xuan said, a smirk on her face.

"What a shame, that was a fun little chat we had there, I hope we will never cross path again." Zheng Fei responded sarcastically.

The young man then jumped off the wagon and began making his way toward the city gate.