Yet for Qin Yun and his companion, a distance of ten kilometers was merely a matter of teleporting.
Zi Yan had only just sensed them when the two appeared before her.
"Who are you? Why did you come here? And why does that girl beside you, who looks like some mongrel bird, make me feel so annoyed?"
Zi Yan immediately grew wary, while stuffing the medicinal herbs she had just stolen behind her back.
Although she had no idea who these two were, she could sense that the girl was some kind of avian magical beast, and every inch of her radiated an aura Zi Yan disliked.
Meanwhile, Qin Yun was also studying Zi Yan. She looked about ten years old, with long purple hair-a little girl through and through.
As for her strength, she had not yet reached Dou Wang and was currently only a Nine-Star Great Dou Master.
Yet with cultivation of merely the Da Dou Shi level, she could ignore the protective barriers that certain Dou Wang elders had placed around the medicinal herbs.
She could steal things from inside them. He had to admit, her talent for manipulating space was truly outrageous.
"Ahem, your name is Zi Yan, right? Neither of us is a bad person.
"To be precise, we came specifically to find you. Would you be interested in having a proper chat with us?" Qin Yun flashed what he considered a very friendly smile.
But Zi Yan paid him no heed at all. She continued staring fixedly at him, her entire body on high alert.
Seeing how hostile she seemed, Qin Yun could only resort to his trump card. He carefully pulled a small jade bottle from his pocket.
Then he opened the stopper, and the distinctive fragrance of third-tier pills immediately drifted out.
"Little girl, I've got some pills here. Want some? They're delicious. How about we talk after you've eaten?"
"You think I'm a dog? You call me over and I come running? Wouldn't that leave me with no dignity?"
Zi Yan crossed her arms and spoke with obvious displeasure. What a joke.
Even that rotten old man Su Qian could not order her around as he pleased.
But thanks to the direction of the wind, the fragrance from the bottle soon wafted into Zi Yan's little nose.
The moment she smelled something so delicious, Zi Yan tossed her earlier pride beyond the ninth heaven.
As a magical beast of unknown species, eating was her favorite pastime.
Yet even the finest medicinal herbs she had eaten were nowhere near as enticing as the contents of that bottle.
Although she did her utmost to restrain her emotions, tears betrayed her by running from the corners of her mouth and dripping onto the ground.
"Are you sure you don't want any? We'll only chat for a little while. If you agree, this whole bottle is yours." At that moment, Qin Yun looked just like a creepy older man tempting an underage girl.
"Toss it to me. If it tastes good, I can hear you out for a bit."
Zi Yan's little face scrunched up. After hesitating for a long time, she finally failed to resist the temptation of delicious food and compromised.
Got her! Hearing the wary little girl finally relent, Qin Yun knew this was an excellent sign.
He was quite confident in the flavor of the pills he had refined. Once she tasted one, he guaranteed she would not be able to resist.
After catching the bottle, Zi Yan immediately held it beneath her nose and took an epic lungful, then wore an expression of utter bliss.
Then she tipped out a pill and ate it straight away. "Delicious, delicious! Way tastier than those lousy medicinal herbs."
Faced with the small bottle of third-tier pills in her hand, Zi Yan ate them as though they were roasted beans.
She poured the whole lot into her mouth in one go, swallowing some before she even had time to chew them.
Only after finishing did she let out a satisfied burp. It had to be said that the little girl had just eaten more than a dozen third-tier pills in a single sitting.
If anyone else had copied her way of eating, the energy would probably have burst them apart by the fifth pill.
Only an Ancient Void Dragon with a powerful physique like hers would dare eat that way.
"All right. I might not like you two much, but I keep my promises. Whatever you want to ask, I can tell you."
A mouth that ate another's food grew soft; a hand that accepted another's gifts grew short. Although Zi Yan was rather mischievous and impish,
she shared certain similarities with Feng Qing'er, namely honesty and a willingness to keep her word.
In that respect, magical beasts were far better than humans.
"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Qin Yun, and I'm from the Wind and Lightning Pavilion. The young lady beside me is Feng Qing'er, a member of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan.
"There may be some conflict between your species and hers. That could be why you feel uncomfortable around each other."
Qin Yun first introduced their backgrounds to earn more of her trust.
"Heavenly Demon Phoenix? I don't think I've heard that name before. It sounds like a high-ranking magical beast, but she doesn't seem as impressive as me."
Zi Yan tilted her head, looking adorably clueless.
All her attention was now focused on Feng Qing'er.
As for Qin Yun's opening introduction, she had long since tossed it beyond the ninth heaven.
"Little Sister Zi Yan, I know there may be grudges between our two species, but I bear no ill will toward yours.
"I also want to bring these ten thousand years of enmity to a complete end in my generation, so that we can live together peacefully and amicably afterward.
"But I cannot accomplish that through my efforts alone.
"I'll need your help. If you truly dislike me,
"you may do whatever you wish with me, provided that you are willing to support this idea."
It was rare for Feng Qing'er to say so much. When she finished, she even cupped her fist in a gesture of respect.
To be honest, even Qin Yun had not expected Feng Qing'er, all because of one vague,
seemingly impossible plan of his, to willingly humble herself and ask a junior for help.
In the past, she would never have bowed her noble head, even in death.
Just as in the original story, even after Xiao Yan became a Dou Di, Feng Qing'er still looked down on him as she always had.
Some people even speculated that, if she were beaten until nothing remained but her mouth, she would still tell Xiao Yan she refused to submit.
"Uh, all right, all right. I'm not unreasonable either. Since you've apologized so sincerely, I won't make things difficult for you."
Clearly, Zi Yan had not expected this seemingly proud and domineering girl to say such a thing. Even by a magical beast's understanding, it counted as bowing her head in a roundabout way.
"If you've got something to say, hurry up. I'm short on time. If I don't leave within ten-odd minutes,
"that rotten old man might find me. When he spanks me, it really hurts."
At that, Zi Yan reflexively sucked in a breath of cold air and rubbed her bottom.
Although she had clearly been disciplined before, she still refused to yield verbally. It was only a spanking, after all. Compared with all this food, that was nothing.
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