On the Road

The mountains stood high, the waters ran long, and green trees flourished in abundance.

Li Qi carried a huge wicker basket on his back, painfully weighing his money pouch in his hand.

Nine hundred ninety-two coins; now, only two hundred thirty-one remained.

And in exchange, he had gotten the huge basket on his back.

It held many things.

The basket itself had not been cheap.

Parchment for sheltering from rain, rice cakes that kept well, and some salted dried meat.

A large canvas sheet—out in the wild, it could be folded into a large bundle for carrying things; rolled up, it became a handy short rope. It could also serve as a blanket, and was wear-resistant and fireproof.

Two machetes and a small whetstone. At least he would have some sharp weapons if trouble arose in the wilderness. They could cut through vines blocking the path and chop firewood as well.

Some fire starters and two flints. No need to say much—they were for making fires. Normally, he would use the flints, but in an emergency, he could use the fire starters that ignited with a flick.

There was also wound medicine, insect repellent, and other necessary medicines—essentials for surviving in the wild.

A bolt of hemp cloth, some small knives, spatulas, iron toolheads for farm implements, and the like. He had brought them so he could moonlight as a peddler; upon reaching certain villages, he could sell some of them and recover a little money.

Poor as he was, every bit he could earn counted.

Besides that, there were plenty of other odds and ends, too many to list one by one.

In short, Li Qi had made ample preparations for the long journey ahead.

What was more, he had spent a staggering sixty coins to get Shen Shuibi a new outfit.

Her previous white clothes, with their gauze veils and hollowed-out patterns, suited the style when she walked beside Young Master Zhu. But beside him, she looked like some rich fool about to be robbed.

So he had gotten her a set of hemp clothes worn by women. Now, she merely looked like a pretty village girl.

Though she was a little too pretty. What ordinary villager could possibly raise such a beauty?

After all, among ordinary villagers or gang members like Li Qi, the women of the household had to work and manage the family livelihood even if they had been born beautiful.

No matter how lovely one's natural features were, if one washed clothes, cooked meals, pounded rice, and chopped wood every day from childhood onward, even someone blessed by heaven with beauty would grow into the appearance of a farmwife—broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, rough-skinned, and thoroughly unattractive.

But honestly, women like that were precisely what people of Li Qi's standing needed as wives.

They knew how to handle every sort of household matter, worked swiftly, had strong bodies, rarely fell ill, could labor in the fields, and could help their husbands with heavy work. They were experts at keeping a household alive. To live a life, one needed a wife like that.

If one truly kept a great beauty at home—soft-skinned, petite, and delicate in every habit—even if she did not cause trouble, the fact that she could not work alone would be enough to crush the family beneath its burden.

He could not afford to keep her.

And if she were willing to share her husband's burdens, then after at most two years of labor, she would become just like every other farmwife—broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, her beauty gone.

Thus, even dressed in hemp clothing, Shen Shuibi was still obviously no ordinary person at a glance.

But none of that mattered. Li Qi felt that he probably could no longer count as ordinary himself, and ought to be able to cover for her. She just needed not to stand out too much.

As they walked along the road, Li Qi looked at Shen Shuibi beside him. She wore light clothes, carried no luggage at all, and led the way as carefree as if she were on an outing.

It reminded him of the conversation they had had when they set out.

Back then, Li Qi had asked, "Miss Shen, how do you determine the direction? Where is Lady Luofu?"

"By feeling~, of course. I've been by Your Highness's side ever since I was little. Wherever Your Highness is, I know the instant I open my eyes. As long as we follow the feeling, we'll definitely find her!" Shen Shuibi clenched her little fist with confidence and declared solemnly.

To be honest, Li Qi only found it wildly unreliable.

But there was no helping it. This was a world of Ox Ghosts and Snake Gods. For all he knew, it might really work.

And so... a journey whose destination they did not know and whose itinerary they could not arrange began just like that.

The two traveled onward. Li Qi carried the huge basket containing all their luggage, while Shen Shuibi brought nothing at all. Wearing her new clothes and empty-handed, she simply kept walking forward.

At first, Li Qi had greatly doubted her way of doing things.

But after two days of walking, Li Qi discovered that she truly seemed to need no luggage.

Shen Shuibi could actually remain untouched by dust. Even walking through the wilderness, she never got dirty. She neither sweated nor gave off any odor. Even if she fell and ended up covered in dirt, when she climbed up from the ground with a miserable face, the dust would naturally slide off her body, never sticking to her skin at all.

On top of that, she did not need to eat!

Yes. According to her, she was an Innate Variant, not an ordinary demon that had cultivated into Essence. Thus, she did not need normal food. She only needed to dine on wind and drink dew, absorbing different kinds of qi.

Because of that, she did not need to relieve herself or sweat. If she wanted, she could even go without breathing; breathing was merely a means of feeding herself.

No baths, no sweat, always clean, always beautiful.

What the fuck... was she a two-dimensional anime girl?

Was she really this low-maintenance?

In short, bringing her along on the road put absolutely no logistical pressure on him. She could walk by herself, and she could run quite fast too.

Very good, very good.

The two of them trekked through desolate mountains and wild ridges for three days.

At noon on the third day, Li Qi needed to rest, make lunch, replenish his strength, and give his feet a break.

Shen Shuibi understood as well. Not everyone could remain fragrant and full of energy without eating or bathing like she could, so she patiently waited nearby.

After three days together, the two were no longer quite so unfamiliar with each other. Shen Shuibi usually did not have much to say, and Li Qi was generally the one who took the initiative to start conversations to ease the boredom of the road. So now that Li Qi had gone to fetch water and cook, she remained silent and looked into the distance.

She had not deceived Li Qi. She truly did not know where Your Highness was, but the little rabbit really could faintly sense Your Highness's direction.

Only... after walking for three days, she did not feel that they had drawn much closer.

That meant that compared to the distance between them and Your Highness, the distance they had covered over those three days was practically nothing.

She had not told Li Qi that, because she feared that if she did, he would no longer be willing to go with her to find Your Highness.

After all, walking mountain roads was very hard on him, unlike her.

They had covered more than two hundred li in three days, but if they wanted to find Your Highness, they would probably have to travel tens of thousands of li.

If Your Highness did not move elsewhere, it might take them a year and a half.

"Ah..." She sighed. At this pace, they would have to walk for a very long time.

It would be nice if they had horses.

Unfortunately, Li Qi was very poor and could not afford one. A single horse cost twenty or thirty gold pieces. Shen Shuibi did not think that was very expensive, but Li Qi definitely could not produce that kind of money.

Just as she was thinking that, she suddenly stood up.

Ahead... was that the neighing of horses?