Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
In the process of searching for the Crimson Blood Sect, Lu Ye had noticed something. The font colours on the map could be divided into four: red, yellow, blue and white. Green Cloud City No.3 was marked in yellow font while Crimson Blood Sect was marked in blue font.
Looking at it in this way, the places written in blue font probably belonged to the Grand Sky Coalition faction, the red font belonged to the Thousand Demon Ridge, and the yellow font belonged to the neutral areas. As for the white areas… He guessed that those were the lands without owners since most of the mountains and rivers were marked in white font.
According to the 10-point map, the labels in red and blue font were intertwined and intricately interspersed with each other. If the map was compared to a game of chess, then the red and blue bases represented the pieces of chess belonging to both factions. Years of conflict and dispute had turned the chess pieces on the board into Big Dragons that slaughtered each other.
At this point, he had yet to actually integrate himself into this battlefield. Even so, he could sense the danger and ferocity of the battle between the two factions just by looking at the movement of the chess pieces of both factions on the map. It was just that the general situation in the world had nothing to do with him. He was only a Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master after all. All he wanted to do was arrive at the Crimson Blood Sect’s base as soon as possible.
Staring at the 10-point map of the battlefield, he carefully plotted out a route and slowly formulated a plan.
The light coming from the entrance of the cave darkened suddenly. Lu Ye lifted his head to look and saw the tiger walking in. Yi Yi emerged from the tiger’s head and said happily, “You’re still here?”
She came over once in the morning but did not see him anywhere, so she assumed that he had already left.
“I’m about to leave. Do you need something?” He put the 10-point map away carefully. This was something that would affect his ability to return to the Crimson Blood Sect smoothly. It was also the most valuable item in his possession. It was only natural for him to take good care of it.
“I want to discuss something with you.” She floated over and sat upright in front of him with a tense expression on her small face.
He couldn’t not understand what she was trying to do by acting as though they were having a negotiation. Frowning, he asked, “Discuss what?”
She asked, “Where are you heading after you leave this place?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Okay.” She knew that what she was asking was nonsense. They were neither friends nor family. The last few encounters between them had not been very pleasant either. The only time they cooperated was when they killed the fair-skinned man and Liu Ru Yin. Therefore, she was in no position to ask about his plans.
Looking at her hesitant expression, he said impatiently, “What do you want?”
Her expression became more and more conflicted. The tiger walked over and nudged its head against her back. Thus, she gritted her teeth and looked at him. “Can you take us with you?”
“What!?” He suspected that he had heard her wrongly.
“Take us with you.” She repeated.
“The reason?”
She explained, “You said it yourself. The Divine Trade Association might come after us for killing that woman, so this place is no longer safe. We need to leave this place, but we have no idea where to go.”
“The battlefield is vast. You can go anywhere you want.” Her proposal surprised him. He had never even considered this idea before, much less expected that Yi Yi would approach him to discuss this matter.
“But… you were the one who killed them. We didn’t want to kill anybody.” Yi Yi looked extremely aggrieved. After returning yesterday, she suddenly realised something. She and the tiger had been resting in their territory when Lu Ye lured a cultivator over to them and asked them for their help in a robbery. In the end, he had swiftly and decisively killed those people. Not to mention that one of them had been a member of the Divine Trade Association… From the start until the end, they had failed to understand what was going on. It was a case where they were forced to take the blame for something they did not do.
“Didn’t I share the loot with you?” He looked at her with an incomprehensible expression. Since they killed those people together and shared the loot between them, then it was only natural for them to take the risks together. ｂ𝚍𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｎｔ
She opened her mouth wide, feeling somewhat speechless at those words. In the end, she could only force out one sentence, “Why can’t you bring us with you?”
“You’re too small!”
“Huh?” She stared at him blankly for a while. It took her a long time to react to his words. Crossing her arms in front of her chest and hugging herself defensively, she blushed furiously. “You scumbag!”
Only the Heavens knew how a ghost like her managed to blush so hard.
Lu Ye stood up and dusted off his behind. “Do you have anything else? If there’s nothing else, I’d like to take my leave. We probably won’t meet each other again after this parting, so I hope that everything goes well for you.”
Yi Yi could not understand why the size of her bosom had anything to do with his refusal to bring them along with him. However, she became anxious when she saw that he was serious about leaving. She was not a little girl who did not understand anything. She had been a cultivator when she was still alive. It was only after her death that the tiger transformed her into a Ghost by chance. Although she had lost most of her memories, she still remembered the cruelty of the Cultivation World.
She and the tiger might look like they were dominating their territory, but the truth was that they were walking on thin ice. Nobody could tell when disaster would befall them. Both her strength and the tiger’s strength were not enough to protect themselves. She once considered taking refuge in the shadow of another cultivator. Unfortunately, the cultivators in the Outer Circle were too weak. How could she be interested in any of them? Besides, the tiger might end up being sold off if she chose to serve under somebody.
In this aspect, Lu Ye was different. He was probably a disciple from one of the major Sects. Otherwise, he could not have so many Spirit Talisman Papers in his possession. Furthermore, she had watched him grow stronger over the past two months. His growth rate was terrifying.
Therefore, she believed that following him was a good choice. He might seem a little hateful, but he had his own principles that he abided by. Take the loot from yesterday’s battle for example. There was nothing she or the tiger could do to him if he had chosen to monopolise everything. Even so, he had split it evenly between them.
Various factors combined had caused her to make up her mind. Staying in this place was equivalent to slowly waiting for death to come to them. The only way out of their predicament was to travel and experience the world with him. That was why she came and said all these to him.
When they passed each other by, Lu Ye suddenly felt something pulling on his clothes. He turned and saw Yi Yi looking up at him with a pitiful expression. Tears were swimming in her eyes.
He was indifferent to her tears. “Crying is useless!”
Nevertheless, she continued to look at him with that expression. They stared at each other, stuck in a stalemate. He finally yielded in exasperation a long while later. “I’ll give you three chances to convince me!”
Her eyes brightened somewhat. It seemed as though she had already thought about what to say beforehand. She hurriedly said, “You also know how scared the low-levelled cultivators are of Amber. If you meet an enemy you can’t beat in the future, Amber and I can cooperate with you to give them a scare. I’m sure it will make the enemies retreat in the face of difficulties.”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded at her words. “That makes some sense when you put it that way.”
Feeling encouraged, she continued, “Also… you can ride on Amber if you are in a rush. It will save some of your physical strength and conserve your energy for any unexpected emergencies. Moreover, it can run very fast. It can carry you and escape if you are being chased by enemies!”
“Will it listen to me?” He looked at the tiger.
.
He had witnessed the speed of the tiger for himself yesterday. When he went to chase after Liu Ru Yin, the tiger had obviously gotten a late start compared to him. Even so, it managed to block Liu Ru Yin’s path. If not for the tiger blocking Liu Ru Yin’s path, it would have taken him more effort to catch up to her.
“Of course!” She nodded vigorously. “Also… Also…” She was eager to continue, but her sentence trailed off for a long time. In the end, she patted herself on the chest. “Also, there’s me!”
“You?” He looked down at her.
“I can sneak up on people! Just like yesterday!” She stood proudly with her head held high.