"Do you need me to ask about Tianxing, to find out what’s really going on with your brother?"
After glancing at Feng Yuan, Yao Yin let out a sigh and said,
"No need, what good would knowing do? Instead of waiting in despair, I’d rather live in anxious anticipation."
Fidgeting with Xiao Ji’s stiff hair, Feng Yuan helplessly said,
"Affected by the surroundings?"
Looking at the inn’s brand-new corridor, Yao Yin said dejectedly,
"Pretty much, no wonder they rarely travel through time. This feeling is really... very unpleasant..."
"You’ll get used to it~"
Seeing Feng Yuan appearing rather indifferent, Yao Yin asked with some confusion,
"It seems you don’t particularly mind this..."
"Some things, once you’ve encountered them enough, you get used to them, and then you avoid them."
After looking at Feng Yuan, Yao Yin shook her head and said,
"What a strange way to put it. Anyway, I should go. It’s not good to keep her waiting too long."
As Yao Yin hurried off, Feng Yuan murmured to himself,
"Since when did you get so close to Mo Ling?"
"Forget it, what does it have to do with me? Xiao Ji, let’s go."
"Hehe~ I still prefer using the Sickle~"
Wielding his Black Sickle, Feng Yuan proudly cleaved through the massive mountain cat in front of him. Xiao Ji turned its head, seemingly disdainful of Feng Yuan’s performance, while the Little Green Snake hissed as if it wanted to say something.
"It’s asking you why you don’t take the meat and paws and stuff like that."
"Can’t carry them, Big Cat isn’t here, and I don’t have any common spatial equipment on hand."
Feng Yuan, shouldering his Sickle, said without looking back. The Little Green Snake and Xiao Ji caught up with Feng Yuan walking in front, while Agunas’s shadow said with some confusion,
"Where are you heading? You’ve left the city, haven’t you?"
"I want to see how they’re doing now..."
With confusion, Agunas’s shadow watched Feng Yuan, who just smiled and said,
"Seems you’ve forgotten. Never mind, you’ll understand once we get there."
Feng Yuan waved his Sickle and said, Xiao Ji, seemingly recalling something, chirped at Feng Yuan. Seeing Feng Yuan looking at him, Agunas’s shadow fell silent for a moment before saying,
"It’s asking if you need it to carry you there."
After petting Xiao Ji’s head, Feng Yuan smiled slightly and said,
"No need, we can just walk."
Then, taking a glance at his surroundings, Feng Yuan breathed a light sigh and said,
"I wonder if the environment here has recovered in this time."
With some puzzlement, Agunas’s shadow flicked its tail and said,
"It’s a bit strange to talk about this, but why would they clear out those wild animals? The time has already passed; now that animals had finally begun to reproduce, they come and..."
"Divine Machine Loft was recently burglarized, though Mo Li might not be fully aware what that implies, the people in Zhen Nan City certainly might."
Waving his Sickle, Feng Yuan lightly ran his fingers over the sharp blade as he said,
"If they didn’t know what Divine Machine Loft was for, they wouldn’t side with Mo Li."
"A fake will always be a fake, after all..."
With a fierce toss, Feng Yuan’s Black Sickle dissolved into countless points of light in the air, Agunas’s shadow looked at him, puzzled, and said,
"Was there a problem with that weapon?"
Flashing a smile at Agunas’s shadow, Feng Yuan said softly,
"A counterfeit made with power, though it seems quite alright, it’s still not as good as the original..."
"You still can’t use those powers?"
Meeting Agunas’s shadow’s worried look, Feng Yuan smiled and shook his head, saying,
"Not yet, if only I could harness them that quickly..."
Along the way, Xiao Ji energetically eliminated every wild beast in sight, though it didn’t understand why it had to do this, but since it was Feng Yuan’s request, it complied.
The Little Green Snake stayed quietly by Feng Yuan’s side, looking the perfect obedient creature, yet its gaze continuously swept the surroundings. If Xiao Ji was like a wild warrior, then the Little Green Snake was the assassin hidden in the shadows; although it seemed harmless, once it found an opportunity, it would deliver a fatal blow to its prey.
Seeing the Little Green Snake striking the vitals of a wolf that Xiao Ji had inadvertently missed, Feng Yuan smiled and said,
"I’m not without combat ability here. If you don’t enjoy fighting, you don’t have to join in. Those things pose no threat to me."
Xiao Ji turned to glance at the Little Green Snake, which shook its head and hissed at Xiao Ji. Feng Yuan, looking at Agunas’s shadow with some confusion, nodded, and Agunas’s shadow translated,
"It says not to worry, to leave the rear to it, and it will guard our backs."
Feng Yuan scratched his head, uncertain of what to say. Although countless ordinary beasts posed no threat to a Spirit Beast, it still felt weird.
After a thought, Feng Yuan, holding Pomiti, said,
"Forget it, if they like fighting, let them be."
"I wonder how they are doing..."
"You’ve finally arrived~"
A little girl, holding Feng Yuan’s hand, said cheerfully, and Feng Yuan gently shook her hand away, saying,
"It seems you’re all safe, that’s really great~"
"If it weren’t for your help, the village would probably be gone by now."
Feng Yuan waved to the young man approaching slowly, who smiled faintly and said,
"The Divine Lord told me an old friend was visiting, I guessed it was probably you."
Noticing the bitterness in his smile, Feng Yuan said softly,
"Is your village the only one that survived?"
"Not exactly, it’s just that they’ve all left Great Li."
"Speaking of which, your food supplies haven’t been affected during this period, have they?"
Leading the way, Hua Yiyou replied as they walked,
"There was some impact, as the Divine Lord is not skilled in farming, but we can put in some effort to mine in the Chiyun Mountain Range and exchange the minerals for food in Zhen Nan City. Life is still manageable."
After a moment of silence, Feng Yuan, somewhat puzzled, said,
"Have you not considered Mo Li?"
Hua Yiyou stopped upon hearing Feng Yuan’s words, sighed, and said in a low voice,
"Do you think that’s appropriate?"
"There’s nothing inappropriate about it; his personality is quite good, isn’t it?"
Hua Yiyou turned around, stared at Feng Yuan, and said,
"You know that’s not what I mean."
Smiling, Feng Yuan asked Hua Yiyou,
"Do you really think this is good? Even if you truly don’t want to get involved, can you really stay out of it?"
"Despite the Barrier... For instance, like what happened this time, do you really have no regrets?"
Turning away to hide the sadness in his eyes, Hua Yiyou said in a deep voice,
"What about it, at least we can survive, can’t we?"
"I... I must think of the village..."
"Without the Divine Lord, I can’t do anything..."
Listenting to Hua Yiyou talk to himself, Feng Yuan silently followed him forward. Passing through the Barrier and seeing the village that seemed to have changed little, Feng Yuan smiled and said,
"It seems you’re not doing too badly~"
"Who says! They’re all gone..."
The little girl who had been following Feng Yuan pouted and spoke discontentedly. Understanding her meaning, Feng Yuan turned to look at her and said,
"I didn’t expect you to actually know the truth. Didn’t they hide it from you?"
"They lied to me, saying they all moved away. I’m not stupid; if I just secretly followed them, wouldn’t I find out what happened?"
The little girl glanced at Feng Yuan with a ’you’re so dumb’ expression. Hua Yiyou replied with a bit of helplessness,
"At that time, we didn’t expect them to secretly follow behind. We were also startled when we heard their screams."
Looking at the little girl, Hua Yiyou said reluctantly,
"After the beast tide, we helped the nearby familiar villages clean up... the ruins. After all, no matter how much we persuaded them, there were always some who didn’t believe..."
"So they secretly followed... and they saw..."
Hua Yiyou nodded affirmatively to Feng Yuan’s words. At this point, the little girl seemed to remember something and stepped back a few steps in fear. Feng Yuan looked at her and said,
"Those must have been terrible nightmares for a long time. How about I help you forget that incident?"
Upon hearing Feng Yuan’s words, the little girl jumped up and shouted as if she had been electrocuted. Feng Yuan scratched his head, puzzled, and said,
"But isn’t that suffering? That’s not exactly a pleasant memory."