Wagging his tail

After his meal, Lin Qingyang took a nap on the couch. When he opened his eyes again, more than half the room had been emptied out. For a moment, he thought he had been robbed.

Looking again, he saw Qi Mo busily cramming things into the Qiankun Bag. The once-bottomless bag was now stuffed so full it was a little misshapen, and the room had been cleared out even more thoroughly than when Lin Qingyang had fled.

"Are you planning on never letting me come back?" Lin Qingyang asked, speechless.

Qi Mo looked at him awkwardly. "I thought you might need them."

Lin Qingyang got off the couch and went over to take a look, then pulled the full eight-volume set of the Complete Records of a Hundred Demons out of the Qiankun Bag.

"What are you packing this for?"

"You can read it to pass the time when you're bored," Qi Mo said as though it were obvious.

"I'm going to eliminate demons. When would I have time to read?" Lin Qingyang grumbled. He tossed the books aside and looked at the heap of useful and useless things in the Qiankun Bag, feeling rather helpless. "Just pack a few changes of clothes. I can't carry all this anyway."

But Qi Mo hefted it with one hand, lifting it easily. "I can."

Lin Qingyang raised an eyebrow at him. No wonder Wolf Cub had crammed so much into it. So this was what he had been angling for.

"What? Want me to take you along?"

"You'll need someone to wait on you." Qi Mo looked at him expectantly.

"Says who? I have hands and feet. Why would I need someone to wait on me?" Lin Qingyang gave a light huff.

Qi Mo frowned. After a moment of silence, he said, "If you leave me here, aren't you afraid I'll cause trouble again?"

Lin Qingyang narrowed his eyes. "What, are you threatening me?"

Qi Mo said nothing, merely staring at him stubbornly, his expression practically declaring that he would tear the place apart if Lin Qingyang refused to take him.

Lin Qingyang's gaze swept over the furry tail behind him, and he gave a wicked grin.

"It's not as though I can't take you," Lin Qingyang said with a chuckle. "Wag your tail, and I'll take you along."

Qi Mo froze, then frowned at him in displeasure. "I'm a wolf!"

"I know. It's not as though you've never wagged it before." Lin Qingyang raised his eyebrows with a wicked grin.

Qi Mo had not expected Lin Qingyang to have seen him. Embarrassed and indignant, he looked up and glared at him.

Lin Qingyang watched him at leisure, clearly determined to tease him. After they remained at an impasse for a while, Qi Mo took a deep breath, and the tail behind him finally gave two reluctant, halfhearted swishes.

But Lin Qingyang did not seem satisfied and kept watching him with an eyebrow raised. Qi Mo's face went bright red. Gritting his teeth, he gave it another two vigorous swishes.

"Good boy~" Lin Qingyang stroked his head with a smile.

Qi Mo awkwardly turned his head away, not wanting to speak to him. Although Lin Qingyang was a good person, sometimes he could be quite nasty too.

Having indulged his mischievous tastes, Lin Qingyang lay back down on the couch in delight and teased, "That's more like it. If you're asking for a favor, you should act like it."

Seeing Qi Mo still standing there glaring at him sulkily, Lin Qingyang smiled. "Stop staring at me and get packing. Your things too."

Only then did Qi Mo turn to leave, but before he had even made it out the door, Lin Qingyang added, "Come back and keep practicing your handwriting once you're done."

Qi Mo stumbled, took a deep breath, then clenched his fists and pushed the door open to leave. Lin Qingyang's delighted laughter sounded behind him.

"Weren't you planning to take him along anyway? Why tease him like that?" Lin Yao asked helplessly, floating beside him.

"I'm bored. Don't you think he's funny when he's angry?" Lin Qingyang said. Of course he did not feel comfortable leaving the little wolf pup at the Nine Skies Sect. For one thing, he was afraid Qi Mo would cause trouble. For another, they had yet to find the person behind Chimei, and that person was clearly after Qi Mo's life. Having failed before, they would very likely look for another chance to make a move. However he looked at it, keeping Qi Mo by his side would make things easier to control.

"Don't take it too far. You're raising a wolf, not a dog. The Wolf Clan really holds grudges," Lin Yao reminded him kindly.

"It's just a joke. It won't come to that," Lin Qingyang said dismissively.

Of course, he could not have imagined then that several years later, when their positions were reversed and he was pinned to the couch, unable to move, the little wolf pup he had personally tamed would repeat those very same words into his ear, one word at a time: "Master, if you're asking for a favor, you should act like it!"

Early the next morning, Lin Qingyang brought Qi Mo to the teleportation entrance of the Ten-Thousand-Li Tianyan Array, only to find Mo Yan waiting there impatiently. His expression grew especially ugly when he saw Qi Mo following behind Lin Qingyang.

"You're taking him with you even when you go out?" Mo Yan asked, speechless.

"Would you like to explain why you're here too first?" Lin Qingyang glanced at the bundle Mo Yan was carrying.

Mo Yan said helplessly, "Jin Buhuan was afraid you'd act recklessly at the Xuanhuang Sect and offend people, so he told me to come along and keep an eye on you." Then he looked at Qi Mo behind him. "You're going to eliminate demons. What kind of impression are you making, bringing him along?"

"Then will you carry all this for me instead?" Lin Qingyang pointed at the bundles Qi Mo was carrying.

Left with no comeback, Mo Yan shot Qi Mo a disgruntled glance and casually tossed his own bundle over as well. But Qi Mo did not reach out to catch it at all, and the bundle fell straight to the ground.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mo Yan frowned and glared at him.

Qi Mo merely raised his eyes and gave him a cold look without speaking.

Rather helplessly, Lin Qingyang picked up the bundle and shoved it back into Mo Yan's hands. "He's already carrying so much. Just carry this little bundle yourself."

Mo Yan was displeased, but there was nothing he could say. After all, Qi Mo was now Lin Qingyang's personal slave. He could only glare at him resentfully, and Qi Mo returned a provocative look without backing down.

"Look at him! Does he have no manners at all?" Mo Yan pointed at Qi Mo and shouted at Lin Qingyang.

Feeling a headache coming on, Lin Qingyang tried to persuade him. "All right, all right. If we don't leave now, it'll be dark before we do."

Mo Yan turned away in a huff to activate the Ten-Thousand-Li Tianyan Array. Lin Qingyang turned and gave Qi Mo a helpless look.

Qi Mo said with complete conviction, "I didn't do anything to him."

Lin Qingyang let out a long sigh. Putting these two together-was Jin Buhuan helping him or messing with him?

For safety reasons, outsiders generally could not teleport directly into the Ten-Thousand-Li Tianyan Arrays within sects. Thus, Lin Qingyang and the others could only teleport to Wasteland Town at the foot of Great Wilderness Mountain first, then take another route up the mountain.

The teleportation point for the Ten-Thousand-Li Tianyan Array was right on Wasteland Town's main street. As soon as they arrived, a bustling, prosperous street lay before them. The bluestone-paved street was wide and long, lined on both sides with a dazzling array of shops. Pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages flowed past in an endless stream, and quite a few people had one or two demon slaves following them.

So this was a shopping street in the world of immortals! As Lin Qingyang looked around, someone suddenly shoved him from behind. Qi Mo quickly caught him and steadied him.

"You're already here, so why are you still blocking the way? Are the people behind you supposed to get through or not?" a man complained.

Lin Qingyang turned to look. To his surprise, a large crowd had appeared behind him in that brief moment. The man at the front wore a flashy red feathered hat that made him look like a turkey and held a red flag covered in strange designs. Behind him were eight or nine people, men and women, old and young. Some of the children were only four or five, and they were clearly families traveling together.

"Move aside, will you? I've still got people coming through!" the man said impatiently when they did not move. The people behind him chimed in too.

Qi Mo frowned and glared at the man. Lin Qingyang quickly pulled him aside, and the man led the group out of the Teleportation Array. Then the Teleportation Array lit up several more times, and another six or seven people emerged one after another. The man held his flag high and gathered the crowd together.

"Everyone, this is Wasteland Town. Situated at the foot of Great Wilderness Mountain, Wasteland Town is a beautiful, prosperous little town of abundant resources. Whether you're looking for food, drink, entertainment, or demon slaves to purchase, you'll find everything you need here. Over the next few days, you'll enjoy a travel experience unlike any you've had before. For our first stop, we'll head to the jade shop up ahead..."

The male tour guide led the group away as he spoke, leaving Lin Qingyang staring in shock. They even had tour groups here? And a shopping tour at that! Looking at the bustling street, Lin Qingyang marveled that Wasteland Town was not a wasteland at all. Why couldn't he have transmigrated here instead?