This young man had not only exposed the shopkeeper’s scam but had also helped her recover all her unjustly lost money.
This way… Nina felt the grievance in her heart instantly relieved.
Moreover, with her money recovered, she no longer needed to worry about getting spanked by her master when she returned home for spending money recklessly.
Just as her master had said, experiencing more in the human world would give her a better understanding of human affairs and social norms.
“Um, thank you…”
Nina lifted her face, like a startled little white rabbit, pressing her lips together and thanking him somewhat timidly.
But before she could finish speaking, that righteous cultivator turned around again and, with his back to the blinding sun, patted the girl’s head—
“Rich young ladies like you who are naive with money should find a high-class inn to stay at, and stop wandering around the streets of the Western Region. This place has been plagued by war for years, with humans and demons mixing together—there are plenty of swindlers and thieves!”
“Ah… alright, alright…”
Nina lifted her face, squinting against the harsh sunlight.
But in this moment, having her head patted for comfort, Nina instinctively nodded obediently, just like when she was a child in the Dragon Palace and made mistakes—her master would scold her strictly yet comfort her by patting her head.
This time, however, Nian’s daze didn’t last long.
Because under her gaze, the black-robed young man had returned her money and was about to leave with the girls.
Suddenly, Nina came to her senses.
She thought about her experience of being deceived at Wuji Peak, and then about the “Young Master He” and “Senior Brother He” that Yunjin had mentioned earlier…
“Excuse me! Please wait, hero—!!!”
Nina stuffed the money into her storage pouch, hurriedly pushed through the crowd, and ran after the righteous youth who was likely Yino.
“My name is Jiang Nian!!”
“Jiang Nian…?”
Yino looked back, muttering the name to himself, feeling it sounded somewhat familiar.
But he couldn’t quite place it.
However, now that the black-robed girl had caught up with him, and they were face to face, Yino did develop quite a few suspicions about her identity.
He remembered that this girl had asked for directions and inquired about Yino at Wuji Peak.
And now… She had actually followed him all the way to Western Province City?!
“You helped me, please let me treat you to a meal!”
In her urgency, Nina began making up excuses on the spot.
Even if he wasn’t Yino, Nina still needed to express her gratitude to him.
Moreover… Now that his identity was suspicious, it was very likely that he was the true target of Nian’s journey of experience—Yino!
“Never mind, I’m still busy saving Western Province City…”
“So, let’s skip the meal.”
Meeting the mysterious girl’s unwavering gaze, Yino raised an eyebrow slightly and started making things up on the spot.
But as his words fell, the two ahoge girls beside him suddenly widened their eyes:
“Sa-saving Western Province City…!”
“?”
Yino looked back, surprised that his casual remark had caused Yunjin and Wangxue to exclaim with such chuuni enthusiasm.
For a moment, Jinyue also raised an eyebrow, finding it hard to keep a straight face.
No matter how much Yino made up, they really believed him!
But thinking about it carefully, Yino had indeed done similar things at the Mountain Temple and Azure Forest.
So… What sounded absurd to Yino and Jinyue was taken at face value by Yunjin and Wangxue, the two innocent girls, who looked at him with worshipful eyes.
But just as Jinyue was pondering this, the white dragon girl wrapped in a black robe also exclaimed in shock, a beat later:
“He-hero, so you’re also shouldering the mission of saving Western Province City?!”
Why did you believe it too?!
Seeing the three girls’ identical reactions, Jinyue couldn’t help but complain inwardly.
And now, truly calming down to observe, Jinyue seemed to notice their ridiculous common point—Ahoge.
It made sense for Yunjin and Wangxue to have Ahoge.
But why did this girl in a black robe with a hood have a white Ahoge hair sticking up?!
Could it be that her hood, like my tail-concealing skirt, had specially designed holes to let her Ahoge stick out for air?
“Yes, with the demon abyss imminent, saving Western Province City is the inescapable duty of cultivators like us.”
Seeing that all three girls believed him, Yino could only inwardly click his tongue and brazenly continue making things up.
Nina nodded repeatedly.
But just as Yino was about to leave, the white dragon girl wrapped in a black robe caught up again and grabbed Yino’s sleeve—
“That’s all right! I also want to follow the hero to fight against the demon abyss!”
Meeting the white dragon girl’s sincere smile, Yino’s lips twitched slightly, feeling a mixture of annoyance and hesitation.
This déjà vu feeling was just like when he was first followed by Jinyue in Snow Village and the Mountain Temple.
Now… Jinyue had settled down, but a new trouble had arrived.
“Fine…”
“We need to eat to fight, so let’s go have a meal.”
Yino sighed and finally waved his hand.
As his words fell, not only did Nina smile smugly under her hood, but the other two Ahoge girls also raised their hands—
“Great!”
“For food, Yunjin just heard about a century-old restaurant ranked number one on Western Province City’s popularity list!”
…
…
…
East Lane of Cross Street, Western Province City.
Yino looked at the steaming red mushroom soup and hot pot, raising his eyebrows slightly, reconsidering what geographical location Western Province City was supposed to be in the game.
He looked up, observing the four girls at the table.
Yunjin and Nina sat across from Yino, coincidentally they were also the two who had the most difficulty eating.
Yunjin loved the red oil spicy hot pot the most. Though the little girl looked petite and had the most delicate temperament, she was the one among them who could handle spice the best, unsurprising for someone raised in the mountain wilds, where even breakfast could make a grown man weep.
Beside Yunjin, the self-proclaimed Nina in the black robe was also eating heartily, but she couldn’t handle spicy food and mostly ate from the mushroom soup side.
Jinyue was quite eccentric—she didn’t eat hot pot at all. As soon as she sat down, she ordered seven or eight desserts, and aside from sweets, she only ate the food that Yino picked for her.