“None of us are dead,” answered Ling Chuxi expressionlessly.
The fifth princess’ reply was far simpler and far more violent. She pinched Wei Dan’s ear and twisted it while excitedly saying, “Uncle Wei Dan, does it hurt? It hurts, right? If you’re dead, you wouldn’t be able to feel the pain. So, you’re not dead! My master saved you guys!”
Only then did Wei Dan look around and realize that he back at the campsite Ling Chuxi and Ling Yichen had set up with the fifth princess. The wounds on his body had been bandaged up and he felt much better. He touched his ear which was red from the fifth princess’ twisting of it and looked up to see the fifth princess beaming at him. Right then and there, he felt unprecedented happiness.
“Miss Ling Chuxi, was it you who saved us?” asked Wei Dan in astonishment after he regained his senses. He had personally experienced the might of the Wind Owl Beast. Both he and Wei Xin could roughly tell that Ling Chuxi’s cultivation level wasn’t yet as good as theirs. How could she possibly have defeated the Wind Owl Beast and saved them by herself?
“Just forget about it,” replied Ling Chuxi nonchalantly. The face of the handsome man appeared in her mind. That mysterious, peerlessly handsome man had just disappeared like that. Did he say his name was Huangfu Qingjue? It had a familiar ring to it. Ling Chuxi reached up and gently patted Little White who was resting in her arms. After the battle, Little White had wandered out of the forest looking worse for wear. Since then, the small fox had remained lying in her arms in a deep slumber. Ling Chuxi frowned as she recalled Huangfu Qingjue’s name and face. She suddenly had an epiphany. Recalling the dream she had that one night of a handsome silver-haired and purple-eyed man, Ling Chuxi wondered if it wasn’t a dream at all but that Huangfu Qingjue himself had truly visited her?
Just as Ling Chuxi was seriously doubting the legitimacy of her own dreams or non-dreams, Wei Dan asked, “Where did the Wind Owl Beast go? Did you manage to kill it Miss Ling?” Wei Dan spoke in a tone that was full of surprise and disbelief.
“It ran off,” answered Ling Chuxi curtly before feigning ignorance of Wei Dan. She walked over to the injured man instead. Since she was unable to understand what was going on regarding Huangfu Qingjue yet, she decided to keep the matter to herself and not think so much about it for now. After all, Ling Chuxi had a gut feeling that she would definitely run into Huangfu Qingjue again!
The injured man’s wounds had been properly bandaged and he was sitting idly with a spaced out look in his eyes. When he saw Ling Chuxi come over, he regained his senses and hastily sat up with a more upright posture and bearing an expression that implied he knew he had done wrong to lead the Wind Owl Beast over to innocent people and he would accept reproach for it.
“Hello,” said Ling Chuxi as she sat down and looked at the injured man. “What’s your name? I can’t possibly keep going on addressing you as ‘Idiot’.”
The corners of the injured man’s lips twitched as he replied, “I’m Zhong Xingkai. I thank you for saving my life, miss.”
“I’d like to hear less of these courteous words and more about why you’re really here and how did you manage to offend the Wind Owl Beast so badly,” said Ling Chuxi bluntly.
“I was here collecting Ming Mu Ginseng. It was then when I saw the Wind Owl Beast fighting two Blood Wolves. Those Blood Wolves were no match for it, but they still fought desperately without running away. As I stayed hidden and kept watch, I realized that the Blood Wolves were fighting so hard because they were protecting their egg,” began Zhong Xingkai. The Blood Wolf was a type of Level 2 monster beast. They were similar in appearance to a regular wolf, but they were oviparous animals. They usually only laid one egg each time.
“When the Blood Wolves noticed me hiding, they howled so sorrowfully at me. I could tell they wanted me to help carry their egg away to safety. Finally, after watching this go on for some time, I couldn’t bear it, so I ran to grab the egg and just kept running. I guess the Blood Wolves didn’t make it, which is why the Wind Owl Beast came after me. You know the rest.” Once Zhong Xingkai finished speaking, he carefully fished out the Blood Wolves’ egg from within his tattered robes. It was a red egg that was roughly the size of a chicken egg. Zhong Xingkai placed it in Ling Chuxi’s hands. “Now, I give it to you. Take it as a token of my appreciation and keep it safe. I believe you will be able to find it a good master.”