Gu Yao shook his head, "There’s no sense of danger around us, unless..." he paused, "unless the person coming is much more skilled in martial arts than me, or isn’t human..."
Yang Ruxin pouted her lips. Not human? Could it be a ghost? Forget it, she might just be being paranoid.
"Be careful, there seems to be a snake." Gu Yao suddenly pushed Yang Ruxin before swiftly pulling out the dagger he carried and threw it with a whoosh.
Yang Ruxin was startled. When she looked back, she saw a streak of green light zip to the side, narrowly avoiding Gu Yao’s dagger.
"Stop!" Just as Gu Yao was about to strike again, Yang Ruxin urgently shouted, "Don’t hurt it." She recognized it was Xiaolun, the one that had given her the ginseng. The silver spots on its forehead were unmistakable; other snakes didn’t have such markings.
Gu Yao’s raised hand froze in place.
Xiaolun finally let out a sigh of relief. It had mulled over the decision to come down the mountain to find this girl for a long time. It had no choice; it couldn’t return to Snake Valley for the time being. Yet, the mountains above were the domain of Dabai, the tiger, and her offspring. The other creatures around were too weak, hardly worth any attention; they would even avoid its path. How boring. But as soon as it came down, it nearly lost its life! Good thing it was quick. That was too close.
Yang Ruxin glanced at Xiaolun, now perched on a tree, then looked at Gu Yao, "Don’t hurt it, let’s go."
Gu Yao frowned, "But that’s a venomous snake..." If they caught it, its gallbladder would be quite valuable.
Yet Yang Ruxin said nothing and turned to leave.
Gu Yao pursed his lips but decided not to act. He followed Yang Ruxin, pushing the cart behind her.
However, not long after they descended the hillside, Yang Ruxin felt that the little creature was still following her, which made her stop.
"What’s wrong?" Gu Yao looked at Yang Ruxin in surprise.
"Little Yaozi, go ahead and wait for me for a bit. I..." Yang Ruxin glanced around, "I need to use the restroom."
Gu Yao’s face turned red, then he nodded, "Don’t go far, I’ll wait for you up ahead." He then pushed the cart ahead.
Now alone, Yang Ruxin breathed a sigh of relief and went into the nearby woods, making sure Gu Yao was out of sight before stopping. She turned back towards Xiaolun, the snake that had followed her, "What exactly do you want?"
Xiaolun shook its head pitifully. What could it do? It just wanted to follow her.
"Stop following me. It’s dangerous when there are too many people." Yang Ruxin frowned, "Do I need to call Xiaobai for you?"
Xiaolun’s neck shrank back in fear, but it quickly raised its head again and flicked its tongue rapidly. Xiaobai could chase it away once, but could it keep an eye on it every day?
"Are you sure you want to follow me?" Inexplicably, Yang Ruxin seemed to understand the snake’s intentions.
On hearing this, Xiaolun eagerly bobbed its tiny head.
"Alright, then you must behave," Yang Ruxin sighed, knowing this creature might follow her all the way if she didn’t agree, "Without my command, you must not come out, nor frighten people, and definitely not harm anyone."
Xiaolun bobbed its head again, but for some unknown reason, it suddenly turned and ran, disappearing in a flash.
"What just happened?" Yang Ruxin was stunned for a moment. Wasn’t it going to follow her? Why did it suddenly run away? Just as she was wondering whether to leave, she suddenly saw a small red cloud zip towards her.