A muscular woman wearing green and yellow robes walked out of the dust cloud. She towered over Yue Xing, to the point where his face was even with her chest. Her wild and untamed white hair resembled a mane. Four black marks, which resembled tiger stripes, lined her cheeks. Her features were sharp and striking.

  The woman exuded confidence that bordered on arrogance. A domineering aura surrounded her. Despite her size, the woman walked with a predatory grace. Her every move hinted at the unbridled power she wielded.

  Yue Xing’s stomach dropped. Of all the people he had to encounter, why did it have to be this woman? He would’ve preferred almost anyone else.

  If he made a list of the people he never wanted to see again, this woman would’ve been near the top, alongside his former master and former martial siblings.

  Liu Chen, of course, occupied the very top of that list.

  Unfortunately, running away wasn’t an option. Even if Yue Xing weren’t injured and on the verge of falling unconscious, he would’ve never escaped this woman. She was at mid Foundation Establishment, the same cultivation base he had before his expulsion from the Celestial Sword Sect.

  The woman walked toward Yue Xing and stopped a few feet away from him. She grinned, as if baring her sharp teeth at him.

  “I never expected to see you fighting demonic cultivators in a backwater place like this, Fellow Daoist Yue,” the woman said, her voice husky and sensual. “After what happened, I expected to find you eking out an existence in some rural village.”

  Yue Xing closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A moment later, he opened them again.

  “Fellow Daoist Hu,” he said in a polite tone. “What a surprise to see you here.”

  The woman, Hu Yong, snorted.

  “I’m here on a mission,” she said. “The city lord of Rising Sun City has some ties with my Beast Claw Sect. He wanted us to deal with a group of demonic cultivators called the Black Wolf Gang that have been plaguing his land for years.” She shrugged. “I was bored and accepted.”

  Yue Xing found that odd. The Beast Claw Sect’s territory wasn’t anywhere near this area. What kind of ties did the city lord of Rising Sun City have with the Beast Claw Sect? So much so that they would send Hu Yong of all people?

  “Imagine my surprise when I find you instead,” Hu Yong continued, her grin widening. She looked down at Li Zhanhao’s corpse. “Not only that, but it appears that you killed the leader of the Black Wolf Gang. A Qi Refining cultivator defeating an opponent at Foundation Establishment? It’s like something out of a story.” She leaned forward a little. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you, or punish you for stealing my prey.”

  Yue Xing sighed. Given their past interactions, he expected the latter rather than the former. The two of them never had an amicable relationship.

  Before his expulsion, Yue Xing spent most of his time cultivating, training, or going out on missions. This left little time for developing friendships and other relationships. Not that Yue Xing had cared much back then. This meant that he had few acquaintances among his fellow disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect, let alone other sects.

  Hu Yong was one of the few exceptions. However, the two of them weren’t friends. Rather, they were rivals. Perhaps even enemies.

  Like Yue Xing, Hu Yong was a core disciple of the Beast Claw Sect, another one of the most powerful sects in the Myriad Valleys province. Whenever the Celestial Sword Sect and the Beast Claw Sect met, Yue Xing and Hu Yong clashed with one another.

  Tournaments, exploring secret realms, random encounters while traveling, etc. It didn’t matter. Whenever Yue Xing and Hu Yong met, there was always friction between them. They didn’t always fight, but they always exchanged insults. Well, Hu Yong always insulted and provoked Yue Xing. Following his master’s instructions, he refused to lower himself to her level.

  Hu Yong seemed to take this as a challenge. Yue Xing could’ve sworn that half the time, Hu Yong provoked him in order to elicit some kind of reaction from him. Whenever he couldn’t stand it anymore, he drew his sword and the two of them fought.

  At least, that’s how they interacted in the past.

  “Fellow Daoist Hu,” Yue Xing said. “As you can see, I am severely injured. If you would be so kind as to let me leave, I would much appreciate it.”

  Hu Yong chuckled. The sound sent a thrill down Yue Xing’s spine.

  As much as he hated to admit it, a part of him always found Hu Yong intriguing. He felt jealous of the way she carried herself, the way she acted without holding herself back. Unlike him, she never cared about being a “proper cultivator”.

  “And what if I don’t want to let you leave?” Hu Yong asked, a strange glint in her eyes. “What then? In the past, we were always even. However, now that you’re a mere Qi Refining cultivator, there isn’t much you can do to me.” She kicked Li Zhanhao’s corpse. “I’m not like this piece of trash.”

  Yue Xing opened his mouth to respond, but someone else beat him to it.

  “Leave Big Brother alone!”

  The Xu siblings appeared and rushed forward, placing themselves between Yue Xing and Hu Yong. The latter blinked at them in surprise, caught off guard by their sudden appearance.

  Odd. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Hu Yong should’ve noticed the children with her soul sense. Unless she had been too focused on Yue Xing.

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  “What are you doing here?” Yue Xing asked the children. “I told you to run!”

  Xu Liang looked back at him.

  “No! You’re family. We don’t abandon family.”

  “Yeah!” Xu Shu said. “We won’t let this big ugly meanie bully you!”

  Xu Zhen nodded in agreement.

  Hu Yong narrowed her eyes at the Xu siblings.

  “Ugly?” she asked.

  A thread of panic wrapped around Yue Xing’s heart. What if Hu Yong decided to punish the children for insulting her? She never seemed like the kind of person to harm children. However, Yue Xing knew she was a proud woman.

  Driven by fear, Yue Xing pushed himself forward and shoved the children behind him. His vision swam and he felt lightheaded, but he forced himself to remain upright.

  “I apologize on their behalf, Fellow Daoist Hu,” Yue Xing said, bowing his head. “They are just children. Pay their words no mind.”

  A terrible silence filled the air. Yue Xing stood there, waiting for Hu Yong’s response. To his surprise, she grabbed him by the front of his robes and lifted him up until their faces were less than an inch apart. Her eyes blazed with fury.

  “Who the hell are you?!” she snarled. “The Yue Xing I knew would never bow his head to anyone, let alone me. He was too stiff and proud. You must be some kind of impostor that stole his body.”

  Yue Xing gave her a wry grin.

  “That was the old me,” he said. “After what happened, pride means nothing to me. Not anymore.”

  Hu Yong studied him for several long moments.

  “And those children do?” she asked. “So much so that you’d lower yourself for them?”

  “Of course,” Yue Xing said without hesitation. “They brought light and laughter into my life.”

  Hu Yong narrowed her eyes at him.

  “You’ve changed,” she said. “The Yue Xing I knew would never care about those sorts of things.”

  “Yes,” Yue Xing admitted. “When the Celestial Sword Sect expelled me, I decided to live my life without regret. I decided to stop holding myself back for the sake of being a proper cultivator.” He said those last two words in a sardonic tone. “I decided to… I decided to be my true self.”

  As Yue Xing said those words, he felt something inside him shift. His soul cultivation improved and he reached the second layer of the Soul Nourishing Sutra. Despite the pain, his heart felt light.

  “Did… Did you just break through?” Hu Yong asked, incredulous.

  Yue Xing chuckled, before he stopped due to the pain.

  “I suppose I did,” he said.

  Hu Yong gazed at him with an inscrutable expression on her face, before she smiled at him. It was a sincere smile. She didn’t bare her teeth or give him a mocking grin, as usual. Yue Xing found Hu Yong’s smile beautiful.

  “I prefer this new Yue Xing,” she said. “Your eyes are much clearer now. Before, they seemed dull.”

  “Well, I was a dull person back then.” Yue Xing paused. “Fellow Daoist Hu, can you put me down now?”

  Hu Yong nodded and placed him back on the ground. Yue Xing swayed, before coughing up a mouthful of blood. His Verdant Spring Art and the Bodily Restoration Pills were working to restore his body, but he had suffered a lot of damage. It would take a while for him to fully heal.

  “Big Brother!”

  The Xu siblings crowded around him with worried expressions on their faces.

  “Stop bullying our big brother!” Xu Shu shouted.

  “Can’t you see that he’s hurt?” Xu Liang demanded.

  Xu Zhen gripped the hem of Yue Xing’s robes.

  Hu Yong looked at Yue Xing with a panicked expression on her face. He had never seen her like that before.

  “I didn’t realize your injuries were this severe!” Hu Yong said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Given our history, do you blame me?” Yue Xing asked.

  Hu Yong fretted and fussed over him. This was a novel experience. Perhaps Hu Yong didn’t dislike Yue Xing as much as he thought.

  “I’ll bring you to a healer,” Hu Yong said.

  Yue Xing shook his head.

  “No need,” he said. “I already took some Bodily Restoration Pills.”

  “Those won’t help when you’re like this! How are you not dead?”

  Yue Xing grinned at her. Despite the pain, he found the situation amusing.

  “I practice body cultivation now,” he said. “As I said, I’ll be fine. I just need some rest.”

  “Then sit down!”

  Yue Xing shook his head.

  “No, we need to leave before the rest of the Blood Wolf-”

  Yue Xing stopped talking. Wait a moment. With Hu Yong here, the Blood Wolf Gang wasn’t a threat at all. Even if Li Zhanhao were still alive, she was more than capable of defeating all of them on her own.

  “You’re right,” he said. “I should sit down.”

  With that, Yue Xing walked over to a nearby tree stump and sat down, leaning against it. Hu Yong and the children hovered over him the entire time.

  “You should go and finish your mission, Fellow Daoist Hu,” Yue Xing said.

  Hu Yong gave him a flat look.

  “No,” she said. “I’m not leaving you undefended. Not when you’re injured like this.”

  Yue Xing gave her a serious look.

  “With their leader gone, the Blood Wolf Gang isn’t as much of a threat anymore. However, they are still a threat. If any of them escape, who knows how many innocent people they’ll harm?”

  Hu Yong looked conflicted by this. After a while, she nodded.

  “Fine,” she said. “However, I’m leaving Little White to watch over you.”

  Little White was Hu Yong’s contracted spirit beast, a female Steelclaw Tiger. The Beast Claw Sect specialized in both beast taming and body cultivation, which made for a formidable combination. Not only were their disciples powerful warriors, but they never fought alone.

  Hu Yong took out a spirit beast pouch, a special kind of storage pouch designed to hold spirit beasts, and released Little White. A massive white tiger with black stripes and gleaming claws emerged from the pouch, causing the children to gasp in shock. They huddled against Yue Xing.

  “Protect them,” Hu Yong commanded, gesturing to Yue Xing and the children.

  Little White looked at Hu Yong, looked at Yue Xing, and looked back at Hu Yong. She let out a little chuff that sounded like a chuckle.

  “Shut up!” Hu Yong growled. “Just keep them safe.”

  With that, she turned to go.

  “Fellow Daoist Hu, wait!”

  Hu Yong stopped and looked back at Yue Xing. He pulled out the special talisman.

  “This will allow you to bypass the formation protecting the Blood Wolf Gang’s hideout,” he said.

  Hu Yong took the talisman and nodded, before leaving.

  As Yue Xing sat there, with three children and a tiger for company, he realized that his life had taken a strange turn. Not that he minded. In fact, he rather liked it.

  So, he settled down and waited for Hu Yong to return.

  Hmm, a tall and muscular woman with passionate feelings towards Yue Xing? I wonder who she could be.

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