Chapter Forty-Four: Marching Towards the Future (Final Chapter of this Volume)

  "Sigh, I'm so tired..."

  Yang Yu Xi walked listlessly on the rugged mountain road, he didn't know how long he had been walking, anyway the city behind him had already become a small dot at the edge of the sky, if you don't look carefully you won't notice there's a city there.

  Yang Yu Xi reached to his waist, picked up the water bag and gulped down several big mouthfuls, casually wiped his mouth, then took out a piece of dry rations and started eating it in big bites.

  Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the grass beside him, Yang Yu Xi immediately perked up, threw away the half-eaten dry ration in his hand, and quickly assumed a fighting stance.

  "So soon met with thieves?"

  However, the person who walked out of the bushes gave him a feeling no different from seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

  "Nangong Zhenjue! How are you here!!" Yang Yuxi pointed at Nangong Zhenjue in front of him with his right hand, his face filled with incredulity, his mouth agape.

  Although Nan Gong Zang Jie's left arm was severed, his entire demeanor remained unchanged. He gazed at Nan Gong Zang Jie with a cold, slanted gaze, his empty sleeve fluttering in the wind.

  "Ah..." Yang Yu Xi's gaze unconsciously fell on Nan Gong Zang Jie's left sleeve, a mix of emotions, he sincerely said, "Sorry, Zang Jie, if it wasn't for me, your hand wouldn't have..."

  "It's nothing, fate was never meant to be smooth sailing." Nangong Cangjie withdrew his gaze, slightly raised his head to look at the horizon, and spoke lightly.

  Yang Yu Xi felt that it was useless to say anything now and he must quickly become stronger. He said, "But why did you appear here?"

  "My grandfather told me to wait for you here." Yang Yu Xi was once again plunged into confusion by Nan Gong Zang Jie's answer.

  "Your grandfather?!" Yang Yu Xi scratched his head.

  "Follow me." Nangong Cangjie nodded, gesturing for Yang Yuxi to follow.

  "Oh."

  When Yang Yu Xi saw Jiao Lao Tou, she finally realized that Jiao Lao Tou was actually the grandfather of Nan Gong Cang Jie.

  "Grandfather, Yu Xi has arrived." Nan Gong Zang Jie said to the old man who was meditating with his eyes closed, his tone still as indifferent.

  The old man's eyes slowly opened, and Yang Yuxi felt a breath of air firmly locked onto himself, under this breath of air he couldn't even produce the idea of moving.

  "Nice to meet you, senior." Yang Yu Xi stammered as she opened her mouth.

  Nangong Zang saw the old man emitting such a powerful aura and said with an unpleasant expression, "Grandfather, what are you doing?"

  The old man glanced at Nan Gong Zang Jie, then withdrew his oppressive aura. A rare smile appeared on his wrinkled face, but in Yang Yu Xi's eyes, it looked very ominous: "Yu Xi, don't be nervous, I have no ill intentions."

  Yang Yu Xi let out a sigh of relief and respectfully said, "I know." But in her heart, she was muttering: Who needs to be tense? It's not like I had a choice but to get tense when you suddenly released such strong pressure on me?

  "What instructions does senior have for junior?"

  The old man was very pleased with Yang Yuxi's respectful attitude, and a smile spread across his face. He pretended to accidentally see the luggage on Yang Yuxi's back and said, "Are you leaving Xiyang City?"

  Yang Yu Xi hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying: "Yes, I have decided to leave Yexing City and go out into the world to gain some experience."

  Yang Yu Xi did not notice the fleeting surprise on Nan Gong Cang Jie's face.

  The old man apparently was very satisfied with Yang Yuxi's answer and smiled deeply: "Alone?"

  Yang Yu Xi secretly raised his head to take a peek at the old man, and the mysterious smile on the old man's face made him unable to guess what the old man was thinking.

  "Yes, yes..." Yang Yu Xi could only force himself to reply.

  The old man continued to laugh: "How about finding someone to accompany you?"

  "Who?" Yang Yu Xi was quick-witted and pointed at Nan Gong Zang Jie, probing, "Him?"

  The old man smiled and said: "Not bad, let Cang Jie accompany you together, how about it?"

  "Grandfather originally had this idea." Nangong Cangjie rolled his eyes.

  Yang Yu Xi was taken aback at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, she thought this idea wasn't bad at all!

  After understanding the old man's intention, Yang Yu Xi was visibly relieved. He said, "I don't care anymore, it's just that I don't know if Cang Jie is willing or not."

  The old man and Yang Yuxi both smiled, then the two of them looked at Nan Gong Cang Jie with a sly gaze. Nan Gong Cang Jie felt uneasy under their stare, turned his head away and said: "I haven't packed my luggage."

  "You don't have to worry about it, your grandfather has already taken care of it." The old man smiled slightly and flipped his right hand, a package appeared in his palm, looking like everything was already packed.

  "Grandfather, you really are..." Nangong Zangjie rolled his eyes and snatched the luggage from Lao Tou's hands, walking straight out.

  After walking a few steps, Nan Gong Zuo turned around and shouted at Yang Yu Xi who was still standing there in a daze: "Idiot, what are you still standing there for? Let's go!"

  Yang Yu Xi was taken aback, then immediately retorted: "You're the idiot!" However, she still followed him right away.

  "Wait for a moment."

  Yang Yu Xi had just taken a step when he was stopped by the old man, Yang Yu Xi could only stop again and ask: "Is there anything else you'd like to instruct me on, senior?" As for Nan Gong Zang Jie, he didn't care about these two people at all, and simply walked forward.

  The old man glanced at the back of Nan Gong Zang Jie, and a hint of pain flashed in his eyes. He then took out an object from his bosom and handed it to Yang Yu Xi, saying in a low voice: "This thing is given to you for safekeeping."

  "This is..." Yang Yu Xi's eyes widened slightly as he stared at the object in his hand, a circular purple jade pendant with clear patterns on it, obviously not an ordinary item.

  The old man's face was unusually serious, and he said to Yang Yuxi: "This item is hidden from him, but he has never seen it before. I'm giving it to you now, and I hope that before you reach the Tianren realm, don't let him know about it, and even more so, don't let anyone else see it."

  "Hmm?" Yang Yu Xi was puzzled in her heart, but she wisely didn't ask about it and instead asked another question, "Then what happens when we reach the Heavenly Man?" Her tone seemed to imply that reaching the Heavenly Man wasn't a big deal.

  The old man felt relieved by Yang Yuxi's confidence and was surprised by her temperament. He smiled and said, "You are still far from the realm of the heavenly people. When you reach the realm of the heavenly people, the spiritual consciousness I left on the jade pendant will find you, and at that time, it will tell you what to do."

  "Oh, okay." Yang Yu Xi nodded and put the jade pendant into her bosom, then patted the hidden place in front of Old Man Zou, indicating for him to be at ease.

  The old man was very satisfied in his heart. Originally, because of Nangong Cangjue's arm, he had no good impression of Yang Yuxi, but the behavior of Yang Sanwang and Yang Yuxi made him clearly recognize their character. Moreover, the simple and honest folk customs of Xiyang City made him discover that he unconsciously liked this place, liked this remote city.

  "Hey, wait for me!" Yang Yu Xi shouted at Nan Gong Zang Jie who had already walked very far away.

  Yang Yu Xi deliberately walked over to Nan Gong Zang Jie's left arm, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of his empty sleeve cuff, causing a inexplicable tremble in her heart.

  Nangong Zang Jie felt Yang Yu Xi's gaze and silently moved to Yang Yu Xi's left side, walking forward with his head down.

  Yang Yu Xi was taken aback, then quickly followed up, the two children walked side by side, but didn't say a word. Nan Gong Cang Jie lowered his head and walked, while Yang Yu Xi had her hands clasped behind her head, looking around in all directions, occasionally plucking a blade of grass to chew on.

  "This is unsanitary." Nangong Cangjue suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence between the two.

  "What's unhygienic?" Yang Yu Xi asked him with a grass stem in his mouth and a slanted gaze.

  Nangong Zuan was silent for a moment, then pointed at Yang Yuxi's action of nibbling on the grass and said, "Just like this."

  "Really...?" Yang Yu Xi stretched out his hand to take out the grass root, which had his sparkling saliva on it. He muttered to himself, "But I've had this habit for a long time and didn't think it was bad for my body. Look at me, aren't I very strong? Hehe..."

  Nangong Zuan stared at him for a while before silently walking away.

  "Hey, hey, where are you going again?" Yang Yu Xi spat out the grass root and accelerated to catch up.

  "What did your grandfather want with you just now?" Nan Gong Cang Jie asked with a serious face.

  "This, uh... I won't tell you!" Yang Yu Xi raised his head high, then slyly said to Nan Gong Zang Jie, "Want to know?! Beg me! You beg me, and I'll tell you!"

  "Go die!" Nan Gong Cang Jie was fed up with this mental illness, he couldn't understand why the old man wanted him to walk together.

  "What's wrong, want to fight?!" Yang Yu Xi had an expression of "I'm a rogue, what can you do to me?"

  Nangong Zang stopped in his tracks, his right fist clenched tightly as he said coldly, "You're asking for a beating?"

  Yang Yu Xi jumped aside and struck a flamboyant fighting pose, shouting loudly: "Come on, come on, come and beat me up!"

  Nangong Zuan was completely speechless, and after a long time, he spat out two words from his teeth: "Idiot." Then, ignoring Yang Yuxi, he walked forward by himself, and his speed got faster and faster.

  "Wait for me, you idiot!" Yang Yu Xi was exasperated. What he was thinking in his mind was the same as Nan Gong Zang Jie: Why did that old man want him to walk with him?

  But if both of them knew what the other was thinking at this moment, they would probably spit blood simultaneously.

  "Hey, Cang Jie, let's get down to business."

  "Say."

  "Although we've got experience, where are we going?" Yang Yu Xi asked listlessly, his mouth somehow having acquired another blade of grass.

  Nangong Zang also stopped, and he was thinking about this issue during this time. He rarely felt that Yang Yuxi had said a serious sentence, and he thought: "I'm also thinking about this."

  Yang Yu Xi saw Nan Gong Cang Jie stop and also stopped, he said: "Didn't you notice either?"

  "No, not for now."

  Yang Yu Xi's eyes flashed with a hint of cleverness as he said, "I actually thought of somewhere to go."

  "Where?" Nan Gong Zang Jie slightly furrowed his brow, and the fleeting glint in Yang Yu Xi's eyes made him feel a sense of vigilance. If Yang Yu Xi were to say some remote mountain or evil forest, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

  "We're going to Luoyang!" The sparkle in Yang Yuxi's eyes didn't diminish, and two small figures appeared in her mind.

  "Luoyang?" Yang Yu Xi's words were beyond Nan Gong Cang Jie's expectations.

  Yang Yu Xi thought of going to Luoyang and got excited, pulling Nan Gong Zang Jie forward: "Right right right, it's Luoyang! You've heard of it too, haven't you? I've heard it's a big place with many beautiful women! Come on come on, follow me, it'll be great!"

  Nangong Zangjie was dragged by Yang Yuxi, his eyes twitching, and he said fiercely: "Go to death!"