With the help of the disciple, Duan Mingyu finally managed to slip out of the small courtyard after a long confinement. He had been placed on a sparsely populated mountain peak, and the few cultivators around were all there under orders to watch him. However, whether it was because everyone was distracted that day or simply due to his own good luck, Duan Mingyu made his way down the path with a racing heart and managed to avoid detection.
If he had walked all the way down the mountain, he would have inevitably run into the guards at the main gate. But Duan Mingyu had already retrieved the storage bracelet that had been cast into the main peak’s storehouse. Naturally, he could fly down the mountain on his sword, bypassing many obstacles in the process.
Once he reached the foot of the mountain, he didn't dare to stroll brazenly through the streets. Instead, he found a small grove to hide in and sent word to Rong Lü that he had escaped.
Before long, Rong Lü arrived to meet him.
Seeing a stranger approach, Duan Mingyu panicked for a moment. It was only when Rong Lü spoke that he realized the other man had taken a Disguise Pill. Rong Lü first gave Duan Mingyu a pill to swallow as well, then handed him a set of inconspicuous clothes. After Duan Mingyu changed, the two of them hurried away.
Rong Lü had been gathering information over the past few days and knew that Duan Mingyu had been grounded by Qu Zhanmeng. Connecting this to Duan Mingyu’s sudden, urgent plea to be taken away, Rong Lü felt a deep sense of unease.
"Where are we going? Back to Lingfeng Mountain with you?" Duan Mingyu asked.
Rong Lü looked troubled. The Yingyue Sect and Lingfeng Mountain had some degree of friendship. After a long pause, he said, "Let's not go back to Lingfeng Mountain for now. In any case, we must leave first. We'll take it one step at a time."
Duan Mingyu nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "But... the reason I was able to come down the mountain this time was thanks to a fellow disciple. He helped me retrieve my storage bracelet and distracted the others who were monitoring me. He thinks I’m just out for a quick stroll..."
"Don't tell me you're actually planning to go back?" Rong Lü asked anxiously, seeing Duan Mingyu’s hesitation.
Duan Mingyu bit his lip, looking conflicted. "Brother Rong Lü, what do you think? If I just leave like this, do you think the Yingyue Sect will punish him?"
Rong Lü naturally couldn't care less about others, especially since Duan Mingyu was describing a young male cultivator, which set off alarm bells in his heart. He said vaguely, "He might receive some punishment. But since he helped you out of the goodness of his heart, he probably won't mind too much."
Hearing this, the guilt in Duan Mingyu’s heart seemed to lessen slightly. After a long moment, he finally made up his mind. He told himself that once he cleared everything up in the future, he would definitely find an opportunity to return and apologize to that disciple. Soon after, he and Rong Lü quietly departed.
The sky soon darkened. The disciple who had intentionally distracted the other guard had been back in his room for a long time. Seeing that night had fallen and Duan Mingyu had yet to return, he began to worry if the other had encountered some villain. In his heart, a person as heavenly and kind as Duan Mingyu would never break a promise or lie.
It wasn't until the hour of the Pig that the disciple, his heart pounding with trepidation, could no longer sit still. He quietly went down the mountain to search, but the shops in the town had already closed, and Duan Mingyu was nowhere to be found in the taverns. He inquired cautiously, only to be told that no such person had been seen at all. The disciple felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
Panicked and angry, the disciple crept back to his room, at a loss for what to do. Only then did he realize he was in deep trouble. Qu Zhanmeng had originally selected a group of promising juniors for this task; if this was exposed, his future prospects within the sect would likely be ruined.
At this moment, he did not yet understand how important Duan Mingyu was to the higher-ups of the Yingyue Sect. This disciple had no idea that the punishment he would face in the future would be far more severe than he imagined.
Meanwhile, when Rong Lü learned that Duan Mingyu had promised to return within a few hours, his sense of crisis intensified. He didn't have time to ask more about the details of the situation; he simply took Duan Mingyu and fled at full speed on his spiritual sword in one direction.
Duan Mingyu discovered that Rong Lü had actually broken through to the late stage of the Golden Core, with signs of approaching the Great Circle. He couldn't help but praise him for a long time. Rong Lü was very pleased and happily told Duan Mingyu that this was all to protect him. Although the journey was tense, the atmosphere between the two was quite affectionate.
In truth, Rong Lü’s worries were justified, yet redundant. After the disciple who helped Duan Mingyu escape realized something was wrong, he did not immediately confess. Instead, he chose to hide like a turtle in its shell. It wasn't until the next morning, when the other guard noticed no movement from the two adjacent rooms and went to check, that they discovered Duan Mingyu was gone.
Now the other guard panicked as well and hurriedly found the disciple who had helped Duan Mingyu. He didn't know the truth, assuming Duan Mingyu had found some way to slip out on his own, and even felt a sense of shared misfortune with his neighbor.
Both were terrified of Qu Zhanmeng’s wrath. After some discussion, they decided that since Duan Mingyu was alone and pampered, he couldn't have run far. Thus, they did not report to Qu Zhanmeng immediately but went to search for him privately.
If the disciple had reported to Qu Zhanmeng at the first opportunity, there might have still been a chance to rectify the situation. But the two of them concealed the truth for several days. By the time they finally realized the gravity of the situation and decided to report it to Qu Zhanmeng with fear and trepidation, Rong Lü had already taken Duan Mingyu far away, leaving no trace behind.
The two of them took Disguise Pills along the way, fleeing in haste for quite some time.
Duan Mingyu had been forced by Zhai Bairong to swear a poisonous oath not to reveal that the warning had come from him. He could only tell Rong Lü that the Yingyue Sect was very strange and that he had a bad premonition, which was why he had messaged Rong Lü before. As it turned out, he really had been grounded and his belongings confiscated; Qu Zhanmeng gave him nothing except cultivation materials and a certain effective medicine.
Rong Lü also felt that this matter exceeded the bounds of a "master being overly protective of a beloved disciple." No matter how one looked at it, it was eerie. However, he had always been a loner with weak ties to his sect, and he currently had no way to gather information. He could only focus on leaving with Duan Mingyu first.
However, by leaving so forcefully, it was likely that the relationship between Duan Mingyu and the Yingyue Sect would turn sour.
"Anyway, I don't want to cultivate at the Yingyue Sect anymore!" Duan Mingyu said with tearful eyes. "They ignored my wishes and locked me up. Besides, Senior Brother doesn't care for me anymore; he’s off fooling around with that Nie Shiyun... There’s nothing good about the Yingyue Sect..."
Rong Lü quickly covered his mouth and whispered, "Keep your voice down."
Only then did Duan Mingyu realize his mistake, and he nodded with lingering fear.
"Since that's the case, why don't we just roam to the ends of the earth and live as two rogue cultivators in some remote place?" Rong Lü suggested in a low voice. Though his expression was solemn, it was not without excitement.
Duan Mingyu had never been a rogue cultivator, but he knew that most of them lived hard lives. He hesitated for a moment, and before he could think of the next step, he suddenly received a message from Xu Yehua.
"Wait a moment. It's Yehua," Duan Mingyu said softly, his face lighting up with joy after listening to the message. "He seems to have received permission from his sect and can finally come out. He’s asking where we are; he wants to come help me."
Rong Lü’s face instantly paled. He had thought Duan Mingyu and Xu Yehua had cut ties and that Duan had only sought help from him this time. Only now did he realize that Xu Yehua had also received word.
However, he heard that the other man had already reached the Great Circle of the Golden Core, staying one step ahead of him. If there really were pursuers later, Xu Yehua might be able to give Duan Mingyu a hand. Thinking of this, and seeing Duan Mingyu’s joyful expression, Rong Lü swallowed the words "we don't need him to come."
"I heard news on the road earlier that the southeast coastal region is exceptionally hot this year. A few scattered rogue cultivators living there have been migrating north recently. Why don't we do the opposite and head to that area?"
"That's fine. I'll tell Yehua to go there too, and we'll find a chance to meet up," Duan Mingyu said obediently.
The two of them calculated their supplies and realized they didn't have enough Disguise Pills. One pill only lasted three days; if they kept taking them while traveling, they would soon run out. Moreover, these were not common pills found on every street corner. Rong Lü worried that restocking at shops along the way would expose their tracks, so they had to take them intermittently. When unnecessary, they avoided others by traveling through the wild forests, moving with great caution.
In contrast, another pair who had recently gone out was perfectly relaxed and at ease.
"Try this."
Nie Shiyun adhered to the consistent logic of a modern traveler: the first thing to do upon arriving at a new place was to go to a local tavern and sample the local delicacies.
At the moment, he was picking up a piece of fresh stir-fried asparagus with his chopsticks and holding it to Zhai Bairong’s lips.
Zhai Bairong hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I'm a grown man, you don't need to feed me... Besides, we're out in public; this isn't proper etiquette."
But having said that, he felt it was Nie Shiyun’s kind intention, so he opened his mouth and ate it. He glanced around, and seeing that no one was looking their way, his posture became less stiff.
"Right now, we're just two rogue cultivators with no one to rely on. We need to be a bit more casual. If you sit there with such a dignified air, it'll be easy to blow our cover."
Zhai Bairong wanted to say that Nie Shiyun was full of crooked logic, but with food in his mouth, he could only chew slowly and swallow before speaking.
"What 'dignified air' do I have now?"
Seeing Zhai Bairong ask with a frown, Nie Shiyun knew he truly hadn't noticed it himself and couldn't help but find it funny. Seeing that Nie Shiyun wouldn't give a straight answer, Zhai Bairong looked down at himself. He felt that his current appearance was plain, and his clothes were made of the most ordinary cotton. No matter how one looked at him, he was just a common, unremarkable cultivator.
"Ah, ah." Meiqiu sat to the side, opening his mouth to signal Nie Shiyun to give him a bite as well.
"You're already a mature bird; you should eat with chopsticks yourself," Nie Shiyun said heartlessly.
Meiqiu looked at the chopsticks in his hand and tried to use them with a bit of resentment. In private, Nie Shiyun didn't care if he used his hands or buried his face in the food like a bird, but in the tavern, the two of them said he had to learn to use chopsticks, otherwise he couldn't eat at the table.
"What kind of junk is this..." Meiqiu was naturally impatient. After failing to pick anything up for a long time, he was so frustrated he wanted to go back into the jade pendant to eat alone, rather than dining with these two humans who were acting all lovey-dovey in broad daylight.
"Why don't we ask the waiter to bring him a spoon?" Zhai Bairong said helplessly, seeing that Meiqiu hadn't been able to eat anything for a while.
Hearing Zhai Bairong say this, Meiqiu was immediately ready to put down the chopsticks.
Nie Shiyun, however, rarely disagreed. He looked at Zhai Bairong and sighed inwardly. Zhai Bairong likely lacked the care of elders growing up, so he was exceptionally indulgent toward those around him, especially those younger than himself.
Of course, Nie Shiyun seemed to be within that scope as well. It was quite comfortable in many ways.
Nie Shiyun intentionally let out a long sigh and said, "After all, among humans, only little brats use spoons. But Meiqiu... ah, come to think of it, he's probably around that age."
Meiqiu hated being called a fledgling or a cub. Hearing Nie Shiyun say this, he was easily provoked. "Ha! Don't look down on me. They're just two sticks. I'll learn in no time."
With that, he buried his head and went back to struggling with his disobedient fingers.
Nie Shiyun wore a "see, he took the bait" expression, looking quite proud. Zhai Bairong watched the bickering pair, one big and one small, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Of course, Nie Shiyun wasn't just bickering with Meiqiu. He wanted Meiqiu to get used to his human form as soon as possible.
Unlike demonic beasts that cultivated to the point of transformation on their own, Meiqiu had attained human form early but usually hid in the spatial dimension, always following his instincts and doing whatever was most relaxing.
In the future, when Meiqiu grew up, he might want to live as an independent demonic cultivator. Nie Shiyun didn't want to keep him bound to his side because of a contract when that time came. However, the cultivation world held a certain degree of prejudice against demonic beasts, and Meiqiu’s personality was prone to causing trouble. He hoped the boy would learn more human common sense from a young age so he could navigate the world like a fish in water later on.
Several years had passed, and having watched Meiqiu hatch from an egg, Nie Shiyun had long since stopped viewing him as merely a spirit pet with divine beast blood. To say he viewed him as a son felt a bit mushy, and Nie Shiyun couldn't bring himself to say it, but it was more or less that kind of sentiment.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Meiqiu cried out in surprise, "I picked it up! Look! Easy as pie!"
Not only did he do it, but he had also chosen a rather difficult meatball as a challenge. To say it was "easy as pie" was a lie; the chopsticks and the meatball were both trembling. That was why Meiqiu had told Nie Shiyun, who was chatting with Zhai Bairong, to turn around quickly—otherwise, it might fall the next second.
Nie Shiyun raised an eyebrow and said he had done quite well, then immediately called the waiter over to order an extra portion of braised pork hock to be packed as a snack. At this, Meiqiu was so happy his chopsticks instantly became unsteady. The meatball fell back into the dish with a *splat*, splashing sauce all over his face.
Seeing him pout, yet unable to resist sticking out his tongue to lick the sauce as it dripped down his face, Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong quickly stopped his unrefined behavior while simultaneously breaking into low laughter.
***
