Yang Fellow Daoist, Why Are You Walking So Fast

Clang!

Yang An's hand trembled, and the stick dropped to the ground with a sound like metal clashing against metal.

He froze in place, his expression bizarre.

It was only then that he realized the stick, which had previously looked like a tree branch, had a wrinkled surface like bark when he looked closely.

This...

He looked at the stick, then at his own hand, a wave of nausea washing over him.

I... I'm dirty?

No one could have imagined that the true form of this stick would be so... unique!

Yang An felt as if he had stepped in something foul.

At this moment, Pan Yu had already rushed to Pan Shi's side, helping him up from the ground. She was preparing to leave, but Yang An hadn't followed.

The two turned to look at Yang An, who had stopped in his tracks, wondering why he had suddenly halted.

"Fellow Daoist?"

Pan Shi wiped the bloodstain from the corner of his mouth and called out tentatively.

Yang An snapped back to reality. This was a critical moment for escape, and he couldn't afford to delay.

But he couldn't help but glance at the stick lying on the ground, a look of hesitation appearing on his face, torn.

Take it?

Or leave it?

Although this thing was disgusting, it was still a magic artifact.

Even if he didn't use it himself, he could let others use it.

They were heading to the Xi Yue River for the Communal Feast Convention, and he had no valuable items on him. This thing might be useful for trading for something he could use.

But the thought of the stick's bizarre origin made Yang An want to flee immediately.

In the end, however, he frowned, bent down, grabbed a handful of weeds, and used them to wrap the stick before picking it up.

"Truly... a hero is stumped by a single coin!"

Enduring the disgust as he picked up the stick again, Yang An suddenly glanced at Pan Yu not far away. A good idea struck him, and he quickly caught up to Pan Yu and Pan Shi.

Pan Shi's injuries were not minor, but thankfully, he could still walk. The three of them soon left the area.

About fifteen minutes later, having traveled a considerable distance, the group stopped to rest in a secluded spot.

Pan Shi took an elixir from his embrace and swallowed it, then began to meditate. Before long, his face contorted in pain, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Yang An was stunned for a moment before he understood.

Pan Shi was likely beginning to suffer the backlash from his cultivation method, compounded by the side effects of the elixir. This was the time he had to endure the consequences.

He subtly shifted his position, increasing the distance between himself and Pan Shi.

For no other reason than a gust of wind had blown from Pan Shi's direction, carrying an indescribable stench.

The source of this smell was the yellow wind that had directly hit Pan Shi during his fight with the Daoist, and it still hadn't dissipated.

Even Pan Yu, standing beside Pan Shi, frowned and took a few steps back in disgust.

"Fellow Daoist Pan Yu!"

Yang An seized the moment to call out to Pan Yu, walking over to her and holding up the stick.

Seeing Yang An approach, a flicker of panic crossed Pan Yu's eyes as she recalled Yang An's swift and decisive action in igniting the Daoist earlier.

Previously, when the three of them had skirted the village, she hadn't felt anything even when Yang An was so close.

Now, Yang An's proximity made her heart involuntarily quicken.

"What is it? Fellow Daoist Yang."

Pan Yu tried not to look at Yang An's face or eyes, lowering her gaze slightly as she quickly asked.

"When we were leaving earlier, I picked up that guy's magic artifact. But it's inconvenient to carry, so I was wondering if you could do me a favor and temporarily keep it in your Small Sumeru Bag?"

Yang An was also feeling a bit nervous, his guilty conscience preventing him from meeting Pan Yu's gaze.

She shouldn't recognize what this is, right?

"Okay, no problem!"

Pan Yu agreed readily, without any hesitation, and produced her Small Sumeru Bag, placing the stick from Yang An into it.

Seeing that Pan Yu hadn't noticed anything unusual, Yang An breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Pan Yu."

With Pan Shi still recovering, the two could only wait.

After about half an hour, Pan Shi finally finished his meditation and opened his eyes.

"Ugh... what is that smell? It's so foul!"

As soon as he opened his eyes, Pan Shi's features contorted as if squeezed together, almost overcome by a sudden stench.

He looked up and saw that Yang An and Pan Yu were both several meters away from him, especially his junior sister, whose disgust was unconcealed.

Pan Shi seemed to sense something and lowered his head to sniff himself.

The result almost made him roll his eyes and ascend to heaven on the spot.

It turned out the source of the stench was emanating from him.

In an instant, Pan Shi understood why.

He must have been hit by the foul wind that had blown from that Daoist's staff, which was why he now reeked.

He had been in the midst of battle before and had no time to pay attention. It wasn't until he was out of the fight that he finally noticed.

That damned fellow!

Pan Shi wished he could grind that Daoist into dust in his heart.

He quickly got up from the ground, but as he did, he saw Yang An and Pan Yu both take another step back in unison.

"I... I..."

Pan Shi suddenly found himself unable to speak, filled with grievance, and stood there, unsure of what to do.

Fortunately, at this moment, Yang An quickly reached out and pointed to the left.

"Fellow Daoist Pan, there should be a river nearby."

Hearing Yang An's words, Pan Shi finally noticed the sound of flowing water not far away and was overjoyed.

He felt as if he had found a savior.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yang! Please wait a moment, I'll be right back!"

With that, Pan Shi sprinted towards the direction of the water sound and quickly disappeared. Not long after, the sound of splashing water could be heard from where Pan Shi had vanished.

He was gone for a full half an hour!

When Pan Shi reappeared, dripping wet, the stench clinging to him had finally dissipated significantly, and his complexion had improved considerably.

He ran towards the two with a smile, but was abruptly stopped by Pan Yu when he was still several meters away.

"Stop, stop, stop, Senior Brother, don't come any closer!"

Pan Yu still wore an undisguised look of disgust, holding out her hand to keep him at bay.

"..."

Pan Shi glared at her fiercely but had no choice but to stop helplessly.

Who could blame him? The stench on him was impossible to wash off. Even scrubbing his skin raw hadn't completely removed it, and it was truly unpleasant.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Fellow Daoist. Shall we go?"

Pan Shi apologized and could only walk ahead alone, continuing to lead the way.

The three continued their journey towards the Xi Yue River, but still maintained a distance of two to three meters between them.

After walking for a while, Pan Shi couldn't help but start complaining.

"We must have encountered a Filth Daoist. Those disgusting fellows specialize in unorthodox paths, using filthy things to refine magic artifacts, just to disgust people!"

"That guy just now, the staff in his hand must have been the same, perhaps refined from some sort of filth!"

"Pah! Disgusting! Truly disgusting!"

"If I ever meet a Filth Daoist again, I won't let these guys off!"

Walking ahead, Pan Shi muttered constantly, venting his anger.

But when he looked up, he saw Yang An suddenly rush forward from behind, overtaking him and leaving only his retreating figure.

Watching Yang An suddenly seem in a hurry.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, why are you walking so fast?"

"Huh? Junior Sister, why did you stop walking?"