Ji Li's obsession with appearances clearly exceeded Lu Xun's expectations.
He was genuinely afraid her Affection Points would rise too quickly, leading to something beyond his control.
He would never become a cauldron. He valued his life too much.
Night had completely fallen. Without smog, the night sky was especially beautiful, filled with glittering stars and a high-hanging moon.
But the Dense Forest of this world was full of danger. It was best to be careful when spending the night here.
"Should we take turns keeping watch tonight?" Lu Xun suggested.
"Alright." Ji Li nodded.
"You rest first." Lu Xun held the luxurious longsword he had looted from the corpse in his arms.
This sword was flashy as hell, but it did look expensive, and its quality was the highest among that pile of Mortal Iron. Its former owner had probably paid a hefty price for it before dying.
Ji Li looked around again and asked, "There won't be ghosts tonight too, right?"
"That would be great." At the thought of gaining more experience, Lu Xun could not help smiling.
Ji Li: "..."
Before resting, she could not help asking, "Aren't you going to ask why I was being hunted?"
Lu Xun glanced at her and teased, "Because you keep catching people to use as cauldrons?"
Ji Li was so irritated that she turned away and stopped looking at Lu Xun. She was afraid that if she saw that face again, she would lose all backbone and stop being angry...
She really did seem exhausted and soon fell asleep.
Naturally, she could not have slept deeply. At most, it was a brief nap.
No matter how innocent and carefree she was, after being hunted so many times, Ji Li should have developed the habit of staying vigilant.
Otherwise, she would have died long ago.
Lu Xun was not sleepy yet. He studied the information on his game panel again, then considered what path he should take next.
It was not until the latter half of the night that he switched shifts with Ji Li.
Nothing happened throughout the night. Ji Li breathed a sigh of relief at not encountering any more demons or ghosts, while Lu Xun still wished he could kill a few more Clueless Blackies. Obviously, there were none nearby, which was a bit of a pity.
Mobile experience packs really were hard to come by!
After dawn, the two set out again.
But after everything that had happened, Ji Li no longer carried Lu Xun as she ran, leaving him with the sense of loss of having lost his mount.
How could walking himself be as comfortable as riding a mount?
All those immortals in myths could fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth, yet did they not still get themselves mounts to ride?
There was no reason for it. Riding was simply awesome!
But asking a young girl to "hold him" would be both embarrassing and creepy for a grown man. Forget it, he would rely on his own long legs.
Along the way, Lu Xun discovered that Ji Li had an especially terrible sense of direction. Whenever she could not make up her mind, she liked to "flip a coin"—in other words, toss the Wedding Dress Sword.
She seemed to enjoy doing the opposite of whatever the Wedding Dress Sword indicated. If its tip pointed east, she would definitely go west. If it pointed south, she would definitely go north.
Who knew whether she was naturally tsundere or simply at odds with this Magic Sword?
Several more hours passed. After going through great effort, the two finally saw a small city.
Looking at the city, Ji Li's eyes curved into crescents once more. Along the way, her favorite phrase had been, "I've had a great sense of direction since I was little." By the end, even she felt a little guilty saying it. At this moment, she could not help saying:
"See? I told you, I've always had a great sense of direction. Didn't we reach Greenwood County?"
Lu Xun said nothing and merely pointed toward the city gate.
Ji Li followed where he pointed and saw two large characters above the gate—Wei County.
She was instantly too embarrassed to say a word.
On the contrary, when Lu Xun saw the words Wei County, his eyes lit up.
I know this "Novice Village" well!
As mentioned before, Lu Xun made his living off the game Heavenly Dust.
He had created quite a few alternate accounts. After completing some difficult beginner missions in the early stages, he would sell off the characters on those accounts.
He was known as the number one player-slash-account dealer of Heavenly Dust.
The Tian Chen Continent was vast, the game's setting was complicated, and there were many Novice Villages. Wei County was only one of them, but it happened to be the starting location of one of Lu Xun's alternate accounts.
Along the way, Lu Xun had already pried out quite a bit of information and learned that it was currently Tian Chen Calendar 3997.
He remembered clearly that when Heavenly Dust entered open beta, the game's setting had been Tian Chen Calendar 4000!
Did that not mean it was three years early!?
If open beta players really would appear, then they would arrive three years later?
He had not participated in the closed beta, so he did not know the exact timing, but it had definitely been earlier than the open beta.
He vaguely remembered seeing the closed beta dates on the forums back then, but he had long forgotten them completely.
In many rebirth novels, the male lead remembered every trivial detail perfectly. Wasn't that basically just an emotionless show-off machine?
Lu Xun did not have that ability. He only remembered part of it, but Wei County was indeed still familiar to him.
Sure enough, upon entering Wei County, the scenery around him felt familiar yet slightly strange.
After finding the cleanest-looking inn, Lu Xun and Ji Li entered together. More precisely, Lu Xun now led the way, while Ji Li followed behind him like a little tail.
Originally, she had wanted to capture Lu Xun and make him a cauldron, but he now counted as half her lifesaver.
She also knew that cauldrons never met good ends. She could not bear to ruin Lu Xun like that, yet she was still somewhat unwilling to give up.
She still wanted to cultivate this technique. If she did not, she might never be able to take revenge in this lifetime.
And it was impossible to find a better cauldron than him, even if she searched with a lantern.
So...
"At worst... at worst, when the time comes, we can lie down together and study it carefully. Maybe there's a way that won't damage his foundation?" That was what Ji Li thought.
That was why she shamelessly followed Lu Xun now. The Wedding Dress Sword hung at her waist, while her two chubby little hands hugged an iron rod, a heavy hammer, and other items, ready to sell them later. She had not let go of them the entire way.
What a miser!
After entering the Lai Fu Inn, the Shop Assistant hurried over to greet them. "Would the two honored guests like a meal or rooms?"
Lu Xun's appearance was so eye-catching that the Shop Assistant suspected an immortal had descended to the mortal world.
"We're staying. The best rooms." Lu Xun, now flush with cash after looting corpses, said boldly.
"Right away!" The Shop Assistant immediately became even more enthusiastic, then could not help asking, "Would the two honored guests like one room or two?"
Lu Xun gave Ji Li a meaningful smile and deliberately teased her, so he did not answer.
She held it in for a long time before finally declaring as though she had made up her mind, "One room!"
"Hiss—" Lu Xun sucked in a sharp breath, signaling that he was scared, then quickly waved his hand. "Two rooms."
Could not mess with her. Could not mess with her.
This little girl still had not given up. She still wanted to make him a cauldron?
You stubborn little brat with thieving intentions!
Just as the two were about to head upstairs, more guests entered the Lai Fu Inn.
Lu Xun had only intended to give them a casual glance, but after seeing who had arrived, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Interesting, he thought.
Thanks to Yan Bao for the donation of one hundred thousand Qidian Coins and for becoming this book's first Alliance Leader. Thanks as well to the dozens of readers who donated today and somehow pushed me to eighth place on the contract-signing rankings on my very first day.
(This ranking now depends on donations and recommendation votes. It is basically half a pay-to-win ranking, just saying quietly.)
Also, everyone, please do not stir things up in the chapter comments or review section. This book is doing great. Saying too much makes it easier to say goodbye instead, you understand, right? Please, please~
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