Chapter 65: Do what you want to do.
The Delan province was located to the north of Xieren City and was at the very northern edge of the continent. Because of this, the Delan province was mostly just one long coastline, only a few cities not placed next to the water. The Zhenya valley was located at the eastern part of the Delan continent, bordering on the Cui province.
A normal journey to the Zhenya valley would take a person at least half a month of walking, assuming that they spent at least half the day walking. But since Yao Jun and Guo Luo had Little Gray, it would only take them around eight days of flight. Since Little Gray was a Demonic beast, it had much better endurance than a human, allowing it to easily keep flying for eight days straight.
Flying on Little Gray also had the added benefit that Yao Jun and Guo Luo could sit and meditate for most of the journey, allowing them to not only stay in peak condition, but also slowly increase their power, as meditating allowed one to draw in the surrounding Qi to slowly strengthen their power.
Of course, Yao Jun would not let Little Gray fly them directly into Zhenya valley. Flying on Little Gray was fine as long as they did not fly over places that housed large amounts of Demonic beast, as there was little risk of being attacked. But if he made Little Gray fly directly into Zhenya valley, the risk of them getting attacked by other Demonic beasts while in the air drastically increased.
Because of this, Yao Jun made Little Gray land a short distance away from a small city that was located at the outskirts of Zhenya valley. Zhenya valley was a medium-sized forest that was placed between two large mountains, each one with a peak that pierced through the clouds.
Because of this, the valley was almost constantly shrouded in darkness, making it a perfect place for certain types of Demonic beasts. The city where Yao Jun and Guo Luo landed was located half a days walk from the valley itself, just outside of the range of the mountains shadows. The city was therefore called Mountains Gate.
The architecture of the city favored small buildings made out of sturdy stone that could withstand a large amount of attacks. The city housed a large amount and variety of shops and inns, catering to every need someone who would venture into the valley would need.
“Are you planning on entering the valley immediately, or do you want to wait for tomorrow morning?”
Guo Luo and Yao Jun were sitting at a table in one of the inns, drinking a spicy wine as they were talking. The sun had already set before they even arrived at this city, so Guo Luo wanted to know if Yao Jun was planning on entering the valley at night or wait for it to get brighter.
Since it was already evening, the inn was filled with patrons who were drinking and eating. As was normal for people merrily drinking and eating in an inn, they were shouting and laughing loudly, forcing Guo Luo to raise her voice so that Yao Jun could hear it properly
“I'd prefer to get a good night's sleep before we start searching for the Demonic beast, but what do you think?”
Yao Jun slowly sipped his wine as he scanned the other people in the inn with his gaze, carefully sizing up everyone, especially those who seemed to have had too much to drink.
“I'm fine with whatever you say.”
Guo Luo spoke faintly, her voice slightly meek. Hearing her reply, Yao Jun could not help but frown slightly. The way he saw it, the current Guo Luo was too meek, simply accepting whatever happened. He was worried that something would happen to her if he should not be around at some point.
With this thought in mind, Yao Jun decided to act a bit drastically. Yao Jun let his gaze wander over the other patrons in the inn once more. He found two scrawny men clad in leather armor that had drunk quite a lot already, their minds clouded by the alcohol and atmosphere.
A faint gray light flashed in his eyes while Guo Luo had her head lowered. Once the gray light flashed, the two scrawny men suddenly shuddered, their eyes lighting up with a lecherous light. They put down their drinks and stood up, quickly heading over to where Yao Jun and Guo Luo sat.
“Why is such a pretty thing sitting in a corner like this?
“Why don't you come with us little girly, we have some very good drinks over at our table, much better than what this little brat can afford.”
The two men spoke loudly, their words slurring as they talked. They reached out and grabbed onto Guo Luo's wrists, trying to pull her up from her seat. Guo Luo quickly looked at Yao Jun with a panicky gaze, her eyes turning slightly moist.
“Don't let people push you around against your will, you need to be more assertive. Say what is on your mind, do what you want to do, don't do what you don't want to do. If you want something, you must take it with your own hands.”
Yao Jun hardened his heart upon seeing her eyes and spoke plainly, don't just let people push you around and decide for you, control your own life and destiny. While he spoke, he also threw an angry glare at the two men.
He had only planted an order to shout some words at Guo Luo, not for them to come over and harass her like this. Had it not been for the fact that this was a good chance for Guo Luo to become slightly more assertive, he would have acted before they even grabbed her wrists.
“Please leave, I like it here and don't want to leave.”
Guo Luo moved her eyes away from Yao Jun and looked at the two men, her eyes turning cold as she glared at them, almost spitting out the words as she shook their hands off.
Guo Luo knew what Yao Jun was talking about, she knew that she had a bad habit of being very meek and accepting whatever took place, it was something ingrained into her very being when she was still at the Guo clan.
She had always wanted to change that part of her, especially when she saw Yao Jun kill the people in Ash Barrens City. She hadn't said anything, but the short period of time they spent in Ash Barrens City had affected her immensely.
The image of Yao Jun and his Demonic beasts breaking down the gate to the mansion, stepping inside with confident steps and forcing everyone to kneel with but a single word. Beheading all who he saw perpetrate evil, not caring what others would think about him. Her heart couldn't help but beat faster whenever she remembered it. That was the type of person she dreamed of being.
Especially when he told her that as long as she would rely on him, he would rely on her in turn, and held her hand. His hand was wet with the warm blood of the two young men, but that wet and bloody hand completely blew away all her worries about the future. She swore to herself at that time that she would not let down the first person to ever rely on her, so how could she continue to stay meek and submissive?
“Come on now little girlie, we just want to invite you to have a better time, there is no need to be so aggressive.”
One of the two scrawny men spoke with a grin and reached out with his hand again, but before his hand managed to grab onto Guo Luo's wrist, a light flashed and two of his fingers separated from his hand.
He pulled his arm back in shock as he let out a low shriek in pain and looked back at Guo Luo. Guo Luo was now holding a pure white sword in her right hand, it's sharp edge dripping with a few drops of blood.
This sword was a weapon that Guo Luo had bought in Xieren city before they left. If she was to defend herself and Yao Jun, she would obviously need a weapon. Since she had no formal training with weapons, she simply chose the same weapon as Yao Jun.
“I said leave, I will not follow you.”
Guo Luo spat out the words and slightly moved the sword, indicating that she was not afraid to use it once more. Yao Jun's eyes flashed with a gray light as he planted the order to leave in the two men's mind, and they finally left.
Guo Luo let out a sigh of relief and returned the sword to her interspatial ring. Yao Jun looked at her and could see that her hand was faintly trembling, she was clearly not used to being so forceful. But it was a good start, and that was all that mattered to Yao Jun. He was certain that she would grow to be more assertive and dominant in the future.
“It's fine. You did good.”
Yao Jun let out a gentle smile as he reached out with his hand and gave Guo Luo a few soft pats on her head. He knew that it was hard for Guo Luo to do things like this, no matter how much she needed to do it, so it was obviously his job to comfort her whenever she would have to do it.