Traveling day and night at full speed, Lin Qing finally arrived at the gates of Suotuo City that afternoon.
As the city gates drew closer, Lin Qing suddenly spotted two figures ahead, one walking in front of the other.
The one behind was a young man. Years of blacksmithing had left his features somewhat rough and his skin rather dark. He looked ordinary, and before the figure ahead of him, he was utterly obedient, almost like a little servant in the household.
The one in front was a young girl about 1.6 meters tall, dressed in a pink skirt and wearing rabbit-ear hair ornaments. Her long hair was braided into a scorpion-tail braid that hung to her waist. However, she did not look very happy; her face was full of displeasure.
These two were Tang San and Xiao Wu, who had been separated from Lin Qing for several days.
Suotuo City was located in the Balak Kingdom, while Nuoding City was in Fasinuo Province. The two places were far apart. The direct distance was not actually that great, but the Star Dou Great Forest lay between them, so traveling from Nuoding City to Suotuo City required taking a huge detour.
Lin Qing, meanwhile, had come straight through the Star Dou Great Forest. His route was half as long as the one Xiao Wu and Tang San had taken, and he had a mount that allowed him to travel even faster. Although taming Ah Yin, absorbing a Spirit Ring, and helping those in need along the way had cost Lin Qing a great deal of time, he had still arrived in Suotuo City on the same day as Xiao Wu and Tang San.
"Whoa—!" Riding his horse at full gallop, Lin Qing charged straight up before Xiao Wu and Tang San, then abruptly reined in his mount, blocking Xiao Wu's path.
"Who is it?! How dare you block Big Sister Xiao Wu's way!" Xiao Wu had already been in a bad mood from not seeing Lin Qing for days. Now that Lin Qing had directly blocked her path, she naturally became angry.
At the same time, Tang San immediately used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dart forward and shield Xiao Wu behind him. Honestly, for women of Douluo Continent, a man who always stepped in front of them no matter what happened would naturally leave a very favorable impression.
But to Xiao Wu, it felt as though Tang San was looking down on her, so she was not pleased by his action.
"Xiao Wu, it's me, Lin Qing," Lin Qing said as he brought the horse to a stop.
"Lin Qing!" Xiao Wu's eyes lit up the moment she heard his voice, and she was about to rush forward—only to freeze in stunned disbelief the next instant.
Lin Qing was sitting atop a Unicorn Pegasus, holding the reins. In his arms sat an exceptionally beautiful young woman with a baby face and a voluptuous figure. She wore tight-fitting clothes that perfectly outlined her body.
The moment Xiao Wu saw Zhu Zhuqing in Lin Qing's arms, alarm bells blared in her head. Oh no! In just a few days, Big Sister Xiao Wu's home has been stolen!
Xiao Wu had always been straightforward. Seeing Zhu Zhuqing in Lin Qing's arms, she pointed at her and demanded, "Lin Qing, who is this woman?" Though it was a question, her tone carried anger and a trace of grievance.
Seeing that Xiao Wu had misunderstood, Lin Qing immediately dismounted and hurriedly explained, "Xiao Wu, it's not what you think."
"If it's not what I think, then what is it?!" Tears gradually gathered in Xiao Wu's eyes, though she desperately held them back. Her gaze was filled with hurt.
Seeing Xiao Wu like this, Tang San could no longer hold himself back. He stepped forward, pointed at Lin Qing's nose, and cursed, "Lin Qing, I never thought the business you said you had was picking up a woman you were so close to. Have you not betrayed Xiao Wu's trust in you? A person like you doesn't deserve Xiao Wu's affection at all!"
"Tang San, shut up! This is between Lin Qing and me!" When Tang San interrupted, Xiao Wu redirected all the anger she could not bear to vent on Lin Qing toward Tang San instead.
"Xiao Wu, I'm just worried about you," Tang San weakly explained when he saw her anger.
"Worried? I don't need your concern! Who do you think you are? I don't need you worrying about me!" Xiao Wu roared, seeming to release all the anger and grievance that had built up over those brief few minutes.
"Xiao Wu, calm down." Lin Qing hurried forward, placed a hand on Xiao Wu's shoulder, and made as if to pull her into his embrace.
Lin Qing was not trying to rescue Tang San from the situation. He was thinking for himself—what if Tang San completely enraged Xiao Wu and she refused to listen to his explanation?
Seeing Lin Qing trying to hug her, the hurt and anger in Xiao Wu's heart drove her to struggle.
She had traveled alone from Nuoding City, endured days of hardship and sleeping rough, and gone through so much trouble to reach Suotuo City. She had been full of joy, thinking she would soon see Lin Qing, only to find that he had brought along a beautiful girl. They had even ridden the same horse, pressed close together. Then, an emotion called grievance surged up from the depths of her heart.
But compared to Lin Qing, Xiao Wu was far too weak. She was pulled directly into his embrace.
Unable to break free, Xiao Wu could only pound Lin Qing's chest with her fists. Her voice carried a sobbing tone. "Stupid Lin Qing! Bad Lin Qing! If you don't explain this clearly, don't even think about sleeping with me again!"
"Okay, okay, okay. I'll explain. I'll explain everything clearly to you," Lin Qing coaxed.
After a while, when Xiao Wu's emotions had finally settled down, Lin Qing began recounting everything: from going to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts, to taming the Unicorn Pegasus; from encountering Zhu Zhuqing while she was being pursued on his way back, to saving her, and then looking after her for two or three days to see the rescue through.
Of course, Lin Qing left out many things, such as taking in Ah Yin and taking Ah Yin's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. He did this to prevent Tang Hao, who might be lurking in the shadows, from finding out. After all, he could not let the inscription he had left in that cave go to waste.
Then there was the matter of Demonifying the Titan Python and the Unicorn Pegasus. Lin Qing only said that he had absorbed the Titan Python's Spirit Ring and tamed the Unicorn Pegasus. He did not reveal anything about Demonification, since it was one of his trump cards.
Lastly, he omitted the part about applying healing medicine to Zhu Zhuqing's wounds. He was genuinely afraid that Xiao Wu would explode on the spot if she heard the details of him applying medicine to Zhu Zhuqing.
After being in this world for so long, nearly half of Lin Qing's life had been spent with Xiao Wu. To him, no matter how many different kinds of people he met in the future, or what roles they might play in his life, none of them could shake Xiao Wu's place in his heart. No matter what, Xiao Wu was the most important person to Lin Qing.
"Is what you said true?" Though she asked that, Xiao Wu had already completely calmed down. She wiped the tears that had spilled from her eyes against Lin Qing's clothes, and a hint of a smile had returned to her brows.
"Of course it's true." Lin Qing reached out and pinched Xiao Wu's pretty cheek. "What a little fool. I might deceive anyone else, but I'd never deceive you."
"You're the fool. You're a big fool," Xiao Wu immediately retorted. Yet no matter how one listened to it, it carried a thick air of flirtatious banter.
At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing also got off the horse and walked over.
"Hello, my name is Zhu Zhuqing. Lin Qing saved me in the Star Dou Great Forest a few days ago, and since we were headed to the same destination, we chose to travel together."
"Hello, I'm Xiao Wu. Wu as in dancing, and I'm Lin Qing's girlfriend." Seeing Zhu Zhuqing approach, although Xiao Wu believed Lin Qing and understood that he and Zhu Zhuqing were merely a rescued girl and her savior, she still treated Zhu Zhuqing like a formidable enemy and immediately declared her claim.
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