- A Certain Convenience Store -

"...You really followed me all the way here?" I asked in disdain, staring at the panting Xiang Peng behind me.

"Well, I told you to pause, but you didn't! So yeah, I ended up following you all the way here," she replied matter-of-factly.

"..." I had no words for the logic of this girl.

"Anyway...you're leaving for Shanghai today, right?" she asked, having finally caught her breath.

I nodded. "Yeah. What of it?"

"Hm...I was just wondering if I could tag along with you guys," Xiang Peng responded thoughtfully. "I was planning to return to Shanghai anyway, and you guys need a guide, no?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Sure, we do, but...how does this benefit you in any way? However you got here to Shenzhen in the first place, you can just take the same method back to Shanghai. Why come with us? I fail to see a reason."

"Eh, I would much rather spend some time travelling with people my own age than a bunch of adults."

"...How old are you anyway?"

Xiang Peng took a couple of steps back, covering her mouth in an over-exaggerated shocked gesture. "Huh?! Did your parents not teach you asking a girl for her age is impolite?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was just curious. You're an Ancestral Mage, right? You've gotta be really talented then, if you're even remotely close to my age."

"Hm...yeah, I guess I'm pretty talented? But honestly, it's less born genius and more practice makes perfect," she replied proudly. "You have no idea, the amount of training and practice I had to go through to get to where I am today. Oh, and of course, all the amazing and high-quality resources my family provided me helped a lot too."

"Right...your family. Are they some big-shots in Shanghai?" I asked.

"Yeah, you'll see once you get there," Xiang Peng said with a wink. "Don't worry, with big sis here, no one will be able to harm you in the city~"

As she tried putting her arm around me yet again, I deftly moved out of her reach once more, and she nearly fell onto the ground.

"...Damn, you're clumsy," I muttered.

"H-Hey! Not my fault! It's yours for moving out of the way!"

I blinked. "So...you're saying if a killer were to miss me with his knife because I dodged out of the way, it's my fault they eventually get arrested?"

"U-Uh..." she faltered.

I shook my head in disappointment and began browsing the aisles for what I came here to buy - a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a cloth.

Xiang Peng followed me all the way, until I finally arrived at the checkout. I turned to look at her, and she smirked smugly then took out her wallet. I rolled my eyes at her weird flex as she took out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to the cashier. After receiving the change, she put her wallet back in her pocket and I picked up the stuff we had just bought, preparing to leave the store.

And...once again, she ended up following me all the way back to the Sleepless Starlight. She even tried following me into the bathroom, but a glare from me stopped her. After brushing my teeth, feeling refreshed, I came back out, and soon enough, Xiang Peng was still waiting. I sighed in resignation and began heading for the Sleepless Starlight, Xiang Peng following close behind.

I took a deep breath as we arrived at the entrance of the bed store, now temporary hotel. "Do you not get bored, following around someone like this?"

"Hm? No, not really. You're a pretty amusing person," she replied thoughtfully.

"...I don't see how, but...whatever, I suppose," I muttered.

Inside the store, I found the girls already dressed. Apparently, they already had toothbrushes and toothpaste, and had already brushed their teeth and whatnot in the bathroom while I was shopping.

"Oh, Big Brother Xuan Kai! Xiang Peng too!" Qing Yue exclaimed, running over to us.

"Hi hi! You guys all doing fine?" Xiang Peng asked, looking around at the other girls and not just Qing Yue.

"Yeah, we're just about to leave for Shanghai," Yu An Yan explained. "Why are you together with Xuan Kai though?"

"We ran into each other, and she ended up following me," I answered in her stead. "Oh, and she'll also be tagging along with us to Shanghai. That's her homeland, you see."

"Ah...I see," the girls said collectively with a slightly disappointed sigh. As to why that was, I had no idea.

"Oh, by the way, where's Flaria?" I asked. Hm...I feel like I'm asking that question a lot lately.

"Flaria? Wasn't she with you last night?" Feng Mian asked, blinking in puzzlement.

I scratched my hair. "I mean, yeah, but...wait, you guys haven't seen her?"

"No...? We assumed she had went along with you to go shopping," Qing Yue replied.

"..." I fell silent, then looked over at the door to my room.

No way...is she scared - no, embarrassed - to see the girls in her human form?

I walked over and gently pushed the door open. "Uh...Flaria?"

"W-What?!" a high-pitched voice shouted back. It sounded muffled - she was probably hiding underneath the covers again.

"Er...it's about time to get out of bed," I explained. "C'mon."

"F-Fine! Just gimme a minute! Ah...how do I go back to my bird form..."

"..."

So my guess was correct.

I sighed. "Flaria, just come out. No one here's immature enough to laugh at you or call you names."

After a short silence, Flaria, in her human form, walked out slowly, and all the girls dropped their jaws. Even Mei Gui and Obsidia, who were usually quiet and unamused by most things, widened their eyes slightly.

"F-Flaria? Is that you?!" Qing Yue exclaimed in shock.

"No way...no way this is the same tiny bird from yesterday!" Feng Mian added.

"W-Wait...doesn't this technically mean...she slept together with Xuan Kai, in human form...?" Yu An Yan said, furrowing her brows.

I raised two hands in the air in a surrender pose. "I did nothing to her, I swear."

Flaria, meanwhile, was just covering her face with her two hands, and I honestly thought it wouldn't be a surprise if she just turned tail and dove back into the bed, shutting the door in our faces in the process. But she didn't do that, thankfully.

Then, to my surprise, Obsidia let out a little giggle. "Oh...how pitiful. A great phoenix...embarrassed to this state. It's just a human form...why so nervous, cute little bird?"

Oh, I forgot...dragons and phoenixes have a long hatred between them.

"Obsidia, don't bully her..." I muttered exasperatedly.

"My apologies...this sight was just far too amusing."

"D-Damn it! I'll get you back for this, you damn lizard!" Flaria shot back, cheeks as red as a tomato.

"Yeah, you can worry about your revenge later," I said with a sigh. "For now...we gotta get you some clothes first."

Yeah, that orange fur pelt you're wearing right now isn't going to work.

"N-No you don't! I can figure out how to turn back to my tiny bird form...I swear..."

I shook my head. "Even if you figure it out, you should stay in your human form."

"H-Huh? But why?"

"If you stayed in bird form and someone overheard you talking, what would we do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Flaria opened her mouth to protest, but quickly closed it again since she didn't have any valid arguments.

Feng Mian sighed. "We'll go get Flaria some normal clothes."

I nodded. "In the meantime, I'll just map out our route. We'll be going to Huizhou first by foot, then getting to Shanghai via high-speed rail."

"Sounds good," Xiang Peng said, casually inserting herself in this conversation.

"No one asked you," I replied immediately.

She covered her mouth. "Woah, rude!"

However, I merely ignored her, and pulled out my phone. After connecting to the WiFi in the mall, I quickly searched for the quickest route to Huizhou by foot, since most of the roads in the city were demolished during the invasion. Besides, we were far too underage to drive, so going by car was out of the question.

As the girls left to get Flaria some attire, Flaria herself stayed behind, since she couldn't go out in public with that outfit. It was far too exposing. Obsidia also stayed behind, since she couldn't care less about buying clothes for her eternal nemesis. Xiang Peng decided to go along with the rest of the girls, since she hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know them yet and this was a good opportunity to do so. We were going to be travelling companions, after all. It made sense for us to interact a little beforehand, or else the atmosphere would be pretty damn awkward.

Hm...okay, let's see. What's the fastest route to Huizhou...?

...Wait, what's this...? I don't see any paths or roads in that direction...huh...oh, I see.

But...is this really the right way to go? I mean...it could be pretty dangerous.

Actually, on second thought, we have a whole ass dragon with us. What could go wrong?

In any case, the shortest route that showed up on my phone, was passing directly through the Avast Mountains.