NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121: Play
Chapter 121: Play
Xiao Xixi hurriedly spoke up, “Miss Jiang, are you wrong? If Xu Lian hadn’t intervened, who knows how many people would have died and the caravan’s losses would have been enormous. How can you do this?”
Jiang Xianyu replied, “This is the rule of the caravan. The caravan needs to know everyone’s strength in order to assign tasks and ensure cooperation. If everyone were like him and lied about their strength, it would be chaos. I can’t ignore the rules of the caravan just because he helped.”
The female cultivator who had been chased away by Xu Lian earlier secretly sneered, feeling a sense of schadenfreude.
The followers remained silent and did not plead for Xu Lian. Throughout the journey, Xiao Xixi had only flirted with Xu Lian, letting him steal the spotlight, which had left them feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry. Although I’m very grateful to you, I still have to ask you to leave. This is the rule of the caravan.”
Jiang Xianyu gave Xu Lian one last look before turning her horse around and preparing to leave.
After a few steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back, “Even though you’ve been expelled from the caravan, if you follow behind the caravan, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
I see… Xu Lian clasped his hands, “Thank you for the reminder, Miss Jiang.”
Jiang Xianyu said no more and returned to the front of the group, ordering them to continue their journey.
Xu Lian rode his black horse, following the group at a steady pace.
What’s the difference between this and not being kicked out of the caravan?
There wasn’t much difference. The only distinction was that his safety was now his own responsibility, and the caravan would no longer protect him.
In reality, he didn’t need the caravan’s protection anyway. He was only following them to familiarize himself with the route to Yanfu County.
Xiao Xixi took the initiative to leave the caravan and walk alongside Xu Lian, having already made up her mind to follow him.
Jiang Xianyu agreed.
The caravan left the Poison Dragon Pool and set up camp to rest.
Xu Lian had forgotten to bring a tent with him, so he helped Xiao Xixi set up hers.
Of course, once the tent was set up, he naturally stayed inside – without having to pay any Spirit Stones… This made countless men green with envy!
If Xu Lian had been with the female cultivator who had approached him earlier, they might not have been so jealous. They knew that the arrogant female cultivator would never have looked at them, so it didn’t matter who she was with.
But Xiao Xixi was different. She was a cultivator from the red light district who would sell herself for spirit stones. As long as they were willing to pay thirty spirit stones, they theoretically could have had a chance with her. Yet, Xiao Xixi had chosen to leave her old life behind and follow Xu Lian. How could they not feel resentment towards him?
Human nature is complex.
It has two sides – the bright side that can shine brilliantly and make people feel ashamed, and the dark side that can be beyond imagination.
Of course, there was also the most obvious reason: among all the women in the caravan, Xiao Xixi was the most outstanding, with only Jiang Xianyu coming close. The other women were inferior.
Jiang Xianyu’s strength and that massive sword of hers made them dare not entertain any improper thoughts about her. All they could think about was Xiao Xixi.
One night passed.
[Name: Xu Lian]
[Stage: Bright Strength Rank, 9th Stage]
[Skills: Breaking Wind Sword Technique (Volume 123), Seven Styles of Primal Gang (Complete Edition), Short Fist – Shadow Pursuit]
[Item: Longsword (3-star, durable, sharp, increases energy by 30%. When thrusting adds lightning; when slashing horizontally adds burning; when chopping vertically adds freezing)]
[Note 1: Xiao Xixi’s favorability toward you has reached 80/100]
[Note 2: You have already allocated points to your stage. Add one Nightbloom Flower to advance to Dark Strength Stage, 1st Level]
[Note 3: You have 3 unused progression points, pending use]
80/100? Xu Lian was overjoyed. A few days ago, he couldn’t even see Xiao Xixi’s favorability toward him, which meant that it was below 50/100. Now, it had skyrocketed to 80. It seemed that Xiao Xixi really cared about him.
A woman who had decided to leave her old life behind was indeed worth cherishing.
The caravan started to move.
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi followed.
When the caravan moved, they moved with it.
When the caravan stopped, they stopped as well.
When the caravan set up camp, they set up their tent.
And so, four days passed.
[Note: Xiao Xixi’s favorability towards you has reached 90/100. You have gained 1 Progression Point, which can be applied to rank, skills, or items.]
Xu Lian now had four unused progression points, with one of them already allocated to his rank. If he could obtain enough Nightbloom Flowers, he would reach the 5th stage of the Dark Strength Rank!
The Bright Strength Rank was essentially the ceiling for the younger generation in Pingyang County. The Dark Strength Stage would definitely allow him to compete with the younger generation in the prefecture city.
“It’s still not enough. I need more progression points.”
Xu Lian’s goal was to participate in the royal consort selection in the capital of the Yin Dynasty. Those competing against him would undoubtedly be the most elite talents of the younger generation in the entire Yin Dynasty. Even reaching the 5th level of the Dark Strength Stage would be far from enough.
“I estimate that I’ll need to reach at least the high levels of the Transformation Strength Rank to be able to compete with the top talents of the Yin Dynasty.”
Xu Lian wasn’t sure how strong the top talents of the younger generation of the Yin Dynasty were, but based on the pattern of the Bright Strength Rank in the county and the Dark Strength Rank in the prefecture city, he could roughly estimate their strength.
“Ahead is Ghost Child Ridge.”
Jiang Xianyu, who was at the front of the caravan, rode back to inspect the group and gave the order to rest and prepare to enter Ghost Child Ridge!
Since Xu Lian had been expelled from the caravan, he couldn’t ask Jiang Xianyu about Ghost Child Ridge. Instead, he turned to Xiao Xixi: “Did you learn about Ghost Child Ridge before coming here?”
“Of course I did.”
Xiao Xixi smiled sweetly. Perhaps it was the power of love, but she had been glowing these past few days, and her smile was especially radiant.
“Almost everyone in this caravan knows about the four dangerous areas. Only you, rushed in without knowing anything.”
She began to explain Ghost Child Ridge, “As the name suggests, Ghost Child Ridge is related to ghost children.
There’s a group of ghost children there who are just like real children – mischievous, innocent, and simple.
Above all, they love to play!
Anyone passing through has to play with the ghost children until they’re satisfied, and only then will they let you go.
So no matter what happens, you have to play with them and put your heart into it to make them happy”.
At this point her expression turned serious: “If you don’t play with them, or if they’re not satisfied with the play, it’ll be a disaster. There are all kinds of bizarre ways to die, and it’ll be a very, very cruel death.”
Damn it… Xu Lian immediately understood that these were the bratty types among the ghosts.
Xu Lian asked, “What kind of games do they play?”
Xiao Xixi replied, “They play all the games we played as children – jump rope, eagle catches chicks, hide and seek, playing house, hopscotch, hitting peach pits, two on one, chicken fight, shuttlecock kicking, and skipping stones.”
“…” Xu Lian had played some of these, but not others, so he had to ask her how to play them.
Xiao Xixi explained the games Xu Lian didn’t know in detail, “Usually, the ghost children choose three games to play. After three games, they’ll be satisfied and let the travelers go.”
Xu Lian always prepared for the worst, “What if it’s not the usual case?”
Xiao Xixi chuckled, “Then you’ll have to play dozens of games, which could take ten days and nights, exhausting you to death. But such cases are very rare, happening maybe once in a decade.”
Alright… Xu Lian felt that his stamina was decent, so he probably wouldn’t be exhausted to death.