Chapter 764: A Fool Like This

Hearing the desolation in Niu Youdao's voice, the Misty Pavilion cultivator felt a trace of sympathy.

By now, Niu Youdao's situation was hardly a secret.

The man truly might have no way to leave this place alive.

Niu Youdao returned to the Yan cultivators and said simply, "Let's go."

Yan Li asked suspiciously, "You and that man truly know each other?"

He was not the only one wondering.

The others could see it too.

Nothing about the way Niu Youdao and that cultivator had spoken looked like a conversation between acquaintances.

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Just joking. I wanted to ask him for a favor, but he refused."

Everyone nearly rolled their eyes.

Yan Li was both annoyed and amused.

He was about to tell everyone to keep moving when he noticed another group approaching from behind.

Wei's cultivators.

The two sides encountered one another and looked across the distance.

Someone among Wei's people suddenly seemed delighted and flashed out of the group.

It was none other than Wei Duo.

Wei Duo now counted as one of Wei's cultivators and had traveled here with them.

Back in Tiangu, Wei Duo had already wanted to find Niu Youdao.

But someone had stopped him.

Ximen Qingkong.

Wei Duo was here representing the Shangqing Sect.

Whatever Wei Duo himself thought, Tang Yi had still sought out Ximen Qingkong before departure and asked him to look after Wei Duo if possible.

Wei Duo was, after all, a disciple of her father.

Whether out of sentiment or reason, she did not want anything to happen to him.

No matter which of them had the closer relationship with Xuan Wei, both Ximen Qingkong and Tang Yi were still people by Xuan Wei's side.

Wei Duo himself did not involve any major conflict of interests.

Ximen Qingkong agreed.

Then Niu Youdao caused trouble almost the moment he arrived in Tiangu.

Ximen Qingkong did not want Wei Duo dragged into it and stopped him from going over.

"Master Dao!"

Wei Duo called out with a face full of expectation.

In the past, he had always called Niu Youdao Sect Leader when they met.

Later, after realizing Niu Youdao disliked that form of address, he changed it.

But the instant Niu Youdao saw Wei Duo, irritation rose inside him.

People like Wei Duo left men like Niu Youdao without any temper to use.

There were ways to deal with friends.

There were ways to deal with ordinary people.

Enemies could be handled by any means necessary.

But what exactly was Wei Duo supposed to count as?

He was not a friend.

Calling him an ordinary person was not quite right either, because there was some connection between them.

He was not an enemy.

Nor were they superior and subordinate.

Yet Wei Duo insisted on behaving like a dog of absolute loyalty.

If Wei Duo were willing to leave the Shangqing Sect, Niu Youdao might even consider taking him in.

The problem was that this one-track-minded man would never leave the Shangqing Sect.

You are a disciple of the Shangqing Sect, and I'm a discarded disciple the Shangqing Sect threw away.

Yet you insist on treating me as though I were your Sect Leader.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

What do you want me to do?

What can I even do?

And Niu Youdao knew perfectly well that Wei Duo genuinely wished him well.

Getting angry at him was useless.

You could hit him or curse him however you liked.

He would simply let you do it, wearing the same expression of complete acceptance and grievance-free loyalty.

Was there something wrong with this man?

So irritating.

Running into someone like this was unbelievably irritating.

That was why Niu Youdao disliked Wei Duo so much.

"Let's go!"

Niu Youdao called to everyone, eager to shake Wei Duo off as quickly as possible.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Who could have expected Wei Duo to follow after them with that same eager look?

Niu Youdao reacted as though he had eyes in the back of his head.

He spun around, pointed at Wei Duo, and shouted loudly enough for Wei's cultivators to hear.

"If this man keeps following us, kill him immediately!"

Wei Duo stopped dead.

He stared helplessly as Niu Youdao and the others flew away through the forest.

Wei's cultivators came over.

Mu Yinggao, Elder of Lingxu Mansion, said, "Wei Duo, you are a cultivator of Wei. If you want to follow outsiders and have no intention of obeying Wei's arrangements, you can leave right now."

His tone made it obvious that he was displeased with Wei Duo for leaving the group without permission.

Wei Duo looked awkward.

He certainly wanted to follow Niu Youdao.

But Niu Youdao did not want him.

Follow anyway, and Niu Youdao had threatened to kill him.

And if Wei Duo left Wei's group alone, surviving in the Tiandu Secret Realm by himself would probably be extremely difficult.

"I... Elder... Elder Mu..."

His speech was difficult.

He could not express himself clearly for a long time.

At that moment, Ximen Qingkong stepped forward with his ancient broad sword on his back.

"He'll come with me."

Mu Yinggao gave a soft sound of surprise. "Ximen Qingkong, don't tell me you also intend to break away from Wei's side?"

Ximen Qingkong said, "You're thinking too much."

"To search for Spirit Seeds, everyone will have to split up sooner or later. A large group cannot remain together forever."

"Spirit Seeds mean nothing to me. No matter how many I obtain in the end, I will not keep a single one. I'll give them all to you."

Mu Yinggao gave a cold snort.

Then he turned and left with Wei's cultivators, abandoning Ximen Qingkong and Wei Duo where they stood.

Wei Duo watched them depart.

His head slowly lowered in dejection.

Ximen Qingkong walked over to him. "Your behavior has already displeased them. Even if you stayed with them, they wouldn't treat you well."

"They would inevitably send you into dangerous situations. Whether you live or die is not important to them."

"Going separate ways is not necessarily a bad thing."

Wei Duo said shamefully, "I... dragged... dragged Senior down."

Ximen Qingkong said, "They never had good intentions toward me either. If I stayed with them, I would constantly have to guard against them."

"I never intended to travel with them from the beginning. This has nothing to do with you."

"For this year, follow me."

"Hopefully, when it ends, both of us will still be alive to leave."

With that, he turned and walked away at an easy, unhurried pace.

Wei Duo had no other choice.

He could only follow in dejection.

Ximen Qingkong looked back.

Seeing Wei Duo in such low spirits, he asked, "Niu Youdao refused to let you follow him. Are you disappointed?"

Wei Duo replied, "I... wronged him."

Ximen Qingkong said, "The Shangqing Sect's decisions have nothing to do with you. There are many things you cannot decide."

"He's in enough trouble already. Following him would be dangerous."

"Let things take their natural course. Don't overthink it, and don't worry about him."

"A clever man like him has his own way of handling matters. Whether fortune or disaster comes, he brings it upon himself. It isn't your turn to protect him."

Ximen Qingkong rarely spoke this much to someone he barely knew.

Still less did he usually look after someone this way.

This world was cold and ruthless.

Wei Duo, however, was an exception.

Ximen Qingkong was not close to Wei Duo.

Before coming to Tiangu, he had understood virtually nothing about him.

He agreed to Tang Yi's request to look after the man only for Xuan Wei's sake.

But agreeing was one thing.

Exactly how much he would do still depended on circumstances.

Tang Yi's face was not worth Ximen Qingkong risking his own life.

Xuan Wei was waiting for him.

After spending some time around Wei Duo, Ximen Qingkong discovered he was a stutterer and that his cultivation was not particularly impressive.

He found it strange that the Shangqing Sect would send someone like this to participate.

Were they making use of waste?

If Tang Yi was capable of that sort of thing, then as Xuan Wei's protector, Ximen Qingkong needed to be careful around her.

So he asked one extra question.

Only then did he learn that the Shangqing Sect had not sent Wei Duo here at all.

The sect had actually opposed him coming and intended to send someone else.

Wei Duo himself had insisted.

That made Ximen Qingkong even more puzzled.

Why?

Only then did Wei Duo explain that it was because of Niu Youdao.

He could not stand by while Niu Youdao came alone to risk his life.

Wei Duo also knew Tang Yi had entrusted him to Ximen Qingkong's care.

Tang Yi had told him.

Wei Duo asked Ximen Qingkong whether he could help protect Niu Youdao.

Ximen Qingkong refused.

So Wei Duo thanked him for the goodwill and said that once they entered the Tiandu Secret Realm, he intended to follow Niu Youdao.

Ximen Qingkong had said little at the time.

He merely stopped Wei Duo from meeting Niu Youdao in Tiangu.

Too many eyes in Tiangu had been fixed on Niu Youdao.

Letting too many people know Wei Duo was connected to him would bring no benefit.

Now that Niu Youdao had thrown Wei Duo aside, Ximen Qingkong stepped forward instead and took him along.

For someone of Ximen Qingkong's strength, traveling alone would have been far more comfortable.

Taking Wei Duo with him meant taking on a burden.

Wei Duo was somewhat foolish.

But there were not many fools like this left.

Ximen Qingkong liked fools of this sort.

He felt that the fewer such fools remained, the less meaning there was in the world.

A fool like this was better off staying alive.

So he brought the fool along.

Ximen Qingkong walked ahead with his sword on his back, his figure straight and upright, his pace calm and unhurried.

Wei Duo followed behind with his head drooping.

Beside the nearby stream, the Misty Pavilion cultivator watched coldly.

He personally witnessed one group after another disperse.

Then he too flashed away...

The forest of towering giant trees was vast.

Beneath them, ravines, boulders, and strange terrain gave the landscape an unusual beauty.

At Niu Youdao's insistence, the Yan group's route had changed.

They followed the stream.

Along the way, the group stopped again.

Someone was waiting ahead.

A seductive, alluring woman in splendid robes stood alone atop a boulder.

She was a vision of charm and grace as she waited for them.

A woman like this naturally stood out in any crowd.

Niu Youdao had already noticed her back in Tiangu.

After asking others, he learned she was Yan Baoru, the expert ranked second on the Golden Core Ranking.

Shan Hai, Elder of Xiaoyao Palace, stepped forward.

"Yan Baoru, what do you mean by blocking our path?"

Yan Baoru swept her sleeve upward and laughed charmingly. "The heavens are vast and the earth is broad. One can walk anywhere. How does my standing here count as blocking your road? Don't be so overbearing."

Shan Hai warned, "You'd better not go looking for trouble."

Yan Baoru spread her arms and sleeves, floated gracefully down, and landed before Shan Hai.

"You could also say I was waiting here for you."

Two Xiaoyao Palace experts immediately flashed to Shan Hai's side and stood on guard.

Shan Hai's voice deepened. "Waiting for us? Why?"

Yan Baoru said, "I was joking. I have no reason to wait for you."

She kept circling around the point as though deliberately playing with them.

Shan Hai's expression darkened. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Don't be impatient."

Yan Baoru smiled. "I am waiting for someone, but even I don't know who I'm waiting for."

"Let's just say I'm waiting for someone fated to meet me."

"We have to stay in this damned place for an entire year. Being alone would be terribly boring, so I wanted to find some company."

"Handling all the food, clothing, lodging, and travel for an entire year by myself would be troublesome too. You could say I'm looking for some helpers to do the chores."

"So I waited here to see who had fate with me."

"Whoever I encountered first, I would travel with."

She laughed softly.

"It seems I have fate with all of you."

Shan Hai asked, "You mean you want to seek refuge with us?"

"Seek refuge?"

Yan Baoru shook her head.

"Don't make it sound so ugly."

"You sect people are always imagining yourselves high above others, yet when you face Misty Pavilion, aren't you still as obedient as dogs?"

"I seek refuge with no one."

"I'm only looking for people to handle chores and take care of my food, clothing, lodging, and travel."

"Naturally, I won't have you work for nothing."

"If someone comes to disturb us while we're together, I won't stand by and watch either."

"What do you think?"

Shan Hai said, "And you expect us to believe that?"

"Spirit Seeds mean nothing to me."

Shan Hai's gaze flickered.

He was clearly tempted.

Having an expert like Yan Baoru join them inside the Tiandu Secret Realm would certainly be no bad thing.

Besides, the entire cultivation world knew Yan Baoru had always traveled alone.

She belonged to no faction.

She genuinely had no reason to create trouble by fighting them over Spirit Seeds.

Shan Hai returned to the group and discussed it with Yan Li of Zijin Cave and Chu Fengping of Lingjian Mountain.

All three reached roughly the same conclusion.

In the end, they accepted Yan Baoru into the group.

[End of Chapter 764]