“Long Di, I am throwing in my lot with you on this one. So you need to trust me when I say that you are in an incredible amount of danger, and unless you want to die, we need to move right now!”

****

“W-What’s happening? Why should we leave?” Long Di kept feeling that this situation was much more complex than he had thought.

“Follow me,” Yang Fuyou moved towards a door and took hurried steps as he did so.

Long Di and the others were trailing behind him as he explained, “The Nymph are a race that is as nearly as hunted down for as much as the legendary Abyss race!”

“What makes them so valuable?” Long Di finally asked.

Yang Fuyou went silent here. He didn’t want to be the one to create a rift in Long Di’s group. He had no idea whether Long Di would be consumed by his greed or not when he heard the uses of the Nymph.

After all, human greed was a fickle thing. Yet, if he wanted to achieve a long-lasting relationship with Long Di, he was sure that more choices like this may pop up. If it was anyone else, it wouldn’t be that bad, but with Long Di, he couldn’t get a read on him. The boy was an enigma.

‘No, I made my bed with Long Di, so I might as well lie in it with him. If he really does get consumed by his greed, then… I can only blame my lack of vision,’ Yang Fuyou thought.

“You really shouldn’t use normal standards, especially the abysmally low standards of the humans,” Yaomu Shou chimed in, “to judge Long Di. You say whatever you need to say and let the chaos of his mind respond.”

When Yang Fuyou heard her, he thought about it for a bit and felt she was right. Yaomu Shou was not an existence that would gravitate towards any human. Using them is alright, after all, her reputation does proceed her, but if she was willing to speak up for Long Di, then there was no use thinking about it any longer.

“You see, Long Di, Nymphs,” he looked at the hooded girl beside Shen Ling as he spoke, “are a miraculous existence in part to what they are.”

Long Di cocked his head to the side while Yang Fuyou went on. Truth be told, he was pretty curious as to why this race was so sought after.

“You’ve heard of medicinal herbs, right?” Yang Fuyou asked.

“Yes,” Long Di nodded.

“Great, then this’ll be easier to explain,” they never stopped moving as they spoke. They continued down several hallways and went through numerous doors.

“Nymphs are hunted down, because through refining them, one can actually-”

“Uhm, c-can you ‘sniffles’ please not…” a tear filled request came from behind which prompted Long Di to look behind him.

He saw Xiannu Liang looking at him and then back at Yang Fuyou in quick alternation. Her teary eyes were uncomfortably familiar to the former.

“If others were to see this, they would call you an irredeemable wastrel,” Yang Fuyou said when he saw Xiannu Liang’s tears.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” Long Di asked her.

Xiannu Liang said nothing in response to his question.

“You fear that once I know of your uses, I will sell you out or use you for my devices? Is that it?” he asked once again.

She remained silent in the face of his continuous probing. However, the slight shuddering of her body gave away her fear that he was on the mark.

“Pebbles told me that regarding social cues, I may as well be deaf, blind and mute, but I find tears to be a language that I can easily understand,” said Long Di.

She looked at the young man before her with a look of surprise. The tears that were threatening to overflow held their place in the wells of her eyes.

She didn’t even register the name Pebbles, as what he said after, showed that he wasn’t joking at the moment. Not like he was someone to joke with when she thought about it.

“What he is about to tell me is not a secret based on the ease with which he is able to tell me. Do you still wish for me to remain ignorant in the face of this and still make it my duty to take you back to where you reside at the risk of my life?” Long Di asked her.

Her fists tightened as she held her chest to contemplate his words.

She didn’t wish to speak. After all, who would feel comfortable talking about the uses others found in the mutilation of her race’s corpses? Why would she feel at ease talking about the sickening, depraved acts that others who wore the skin of Long Di committed?

“Don’t misunderstand me,” his words echoed once more through the empty hallways. “It is not my intention to guilt you into speaking. I simply wish to know if you are planning to let me know why I am apparently risking my life for you.”

Her mouth parted slightly in shock, “You’re still planning to help m-”

“Please answer the question I asked you,” Long Di requested, not giving her a chance to finish.

She hesitated for a moment as he thought about his question. After a while, she nodded in affirmation.

There was nothing much for her to lose. In this way, she only had to speak when she felt comfortable enough to do so.

Long Di felt this was the best way to proceed. He was going to travel for a long time to get her back to where she belonged, so getting her to open up to him, even if it was slow, was the best way to proceed.

Yang Fuyou obviously got the message of Long Di’s conversation with the Nymph. He would leave the latter to tell Long Di why she was being hunted down when she was ready.

“We’re here,” Yang Fuyou opened the last door to reveal the sunshine of the outside world.

Long Di saw this and wondered why in the novels he read, whenever the main characters were talking about something remotely interesting, they would just happen to be walking somewhere long enough for them to deal with some emotional baggage. It wasn’t even subtle; it was glaringly obvious. Like just when they were finished, boom, short travel completed.

Now here he was going through it himself, ‘Huh… I guess it does happen in real life too.’

The area they arrived in had very little save for a carriage hooked up to some interesting creatures.

“Are those donkeys?” Long Di asked as he looked at Yang Fuyou with a questioning gaze.

Indeed, the animals that Long Di saw did appear like the poverty-stricken version of horses, donkeys.

Their heads were drooped down and the beige fur (yes, it’s beige) all over their bodies were in patches. Their tails were similar to rats’, while their demeanour was like procrastination in mortal form. At the risk of sounding prejudiced, they appeared more donkey than any other donkey before them.

Yang Fuyou smiled when he heard this, “These aren’t just any donkeys, they’re super donkeys!”

“I refuse to believe they’re called that,” said Long Di immediately.

Bam!

A slam came from behind them and they could see Huli Ruo running towards them in a hurry.

“Fuyou, you were right. People are looking for them even as we speak! We’ll only be able to help them escape if they use the… Oh, you’re prepared!? Great, the super donkeys will certainly get them to safety!”

“Do you people know the definition of the word super?” asked Long Di the longer he stared at the creatures.

However, Yang Fuyou didn’t answer his question. He took a storage ring from Huli Ruo and fished a brocade box out of his robe along with a storage ring, and walked over towards Long Di.

“Quite frankly, these storage rings are worth more than the items you bought from the mortal aspect of the auction. Thankfully, you were pretty lavish in the cultivational auction, allowing me to still be able to advance,” he gave the items to Long Di.

He then turned towards Yaomu Shou, “Normally, I wouldn’t mind if he went with you, but you should know how dangerous and complicated coming into contact with a Nymph is. If you think you can handle it, then you’re welcome to take the risk, but I implore you to think wisely as lives are now included in your little scheme.”

Boom!

A powerful explosion took place in the distance, which caused a powerful tremor that nearly took them to the ground.

Yang Fuyou realised that time was running out. He wondered just how coincidental it was that he knew of the Nymph just when he had enough time to act on it. It was like something was orchestrating their every action.

Still, he put this useless thought to the back of his head. After forcing Long Di and the others into the carriage.

Before he could say anything else, Long Di raised his hand, “Question, why are we having two donkeys-”

“Super donkeys.”

“I implore you to cease and desist on the grounds that that name is giving me an aneurysm. Onto more important matters, why are we using two donkeys? Aren’t we faster as cultivators?” asked Long Di.

Yang Fuyou smiled, “Hmph! That would be the case if we were dealing with the average donkey.”

Long Di felt himself getting annoyed, “Unless these aren’t their final forms, don’t you dare.”

“But these are super donkeys!”

Boom!

Another explosion went off, this one closer than the last.

“You’ve got to send them away!” Huli Ruo was getting visibly worried.

With no more time, he said to them, “Go! I will hold them off. They don’t dare to cause any trouble at the auction house. I will try my best to stall them! Now GO!”

Pa! Pa!

As Yang Fuyou slapped the donkeys, a scene that flipped Long Di’s perception of donkeys on its head occurred.

The donkeys’ previously listless and ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ demeanour quickly disappeared, replaced by a spirited look fuelled by anger at standing still.

Out of nowhere, their bodies bulked up looking like two roided-out pit bulls that wanted to be basketball players. It was both impressive… and disturbing.

Long Di looked on in wonder, “These aren’t donkeys at all. They’re super s-”

Boom!

Another explosion took place, but this was not from the previous source. This came from the donkeys’ hooves digging into the ground with so much force that this was the outcome.

Before Yang Fuyou could count to ten, Long Di and the others were already gone, disappearing from view on the old beaten path that led into the forest and out of the city.

Dum! Dum! Dum!

Shortly after, several powerful auras came out of nowhere and targeted Yang Fuyou and Huli Ruo, causing the latter to nearly collapse.

Yang Fuyou stood in front of her to help shield the beauty from the oppressive atmosphere.

His gaze landed on a specific location, “Since you’re already here, why are you still hiding?”

Following this question, a man who appeared to be in his late thirties emerged from the ground with a stern expression. His body was of a brownish-yellow colour whilst several black vertical lines ran the length of it.

He didn’t waste any time and asked Yang Fuyou, “Where are they?”