“Thank you, Old Lei,” said Wun Fan in a nasally voice. He suddenly felt sad. Why did Old Lei always have to make such pessimistic statements about his own life? Was there something Old Lei was keeping from him?
Wun Fan became a little anxious at the thought of that. He looked at Old Lei with sorrowful eyes and said, “Old Lei, is there a time limit to how long you can be the ring’s spirit?”
“No, I can last as long as the Spiritstartler Ring does,” said Old Lei, before he started whistling softly. He suddenly looked more relaxed as he said, “Don’t you think it’s very cool when a master talks about putting his life on the line for his disciple?”
Wun Fan opened his eyes wide when he heard this. He wasn’t sure whether to smile or get angry, so he gritted his teeth and said, “Feeling bored, are you?”98Please respect copyright.PENANAPnevNnDt2H
“Cluck cluck!”
The red sun rose, scattering faint light across the earth. The rooster let out its crow and awoke the villagers from their slumber.
Wun Fan woke as well.
Wun Fan slowly stirred on the tree branch, rubbing his bleary eyes as he did so. He couldn’t resist the call of sleep last night and eventually fell into a deep sleep. He opened his eyes and immediately saw a green silhouette. Old Lei had been watching over him all night, making sure that he was safe.
Old Lei really did treat him as his disciple.
“Morning,” said Wun Fan as he stretched and loosened his body. His joints snapped and crackled as he did so.
Old Lei immediately surprised him with a sudden kick, however. Fortunately, Wun Fan reacted quickly as he fell. He conjured soul energy and unleashed Dragon’s Might: Fierce Blast against the ground, stopping his momentum and landing safely.
“Seriously? Are you trying to kill your own disciple?” shouted Wun Fan angrily at Old Lei after recovering his senses.
Old Lei simply smiled and said, “If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead a thousand times over last night.”
Wun Fan had no rebuttal to that. There was a sudden flash of light from Old Lei’s finger. There were five loud thuds as several heavy objects crashed into the ground, creating small craters in the earth.
Wun Fan looked over and recognized the objects. It was the mutesoul armour!
He remembered what happened on the night of his tribulations. Old Lei had managed to remove the armour from his body just in time. Otherwise, the expensive mutesoul armour would most definitely have been destroyed during the tribulations.
“Listen up,” commanded Old Lei. He was always a strict teacher when it came to training. He can crack jokes with Wun Fan without any problems, but he would not compromise when it came to training. He continued, “You haven’t been wearing the armour these past few weeks. Now that we are finally out of the forest, it’s time to put it back on.”
“Alright,” said Wun Fan without any complaints. He knew that Old Lei was making him do this for his own good. Moreover, he had already gotten used to the weight of the mutesoul armour before this. Now that he had become an intermediate Martial Vassal, it was going to be no problem at all.
“Let’s do this!” he said as he rolled his sleeves up.
To his surprise, when he grabbed the gauntlet from the ground, he found it abnormally heavy. Wun Fan’s face turned pale. He stared at Old Lei in shock, unsure of what to say.
“Heh, kid,” said Old Lei with a cunning smile, “I already told you about this. The weight of the mutesoul armour increases with the amount of aether and soul energy it absorbs.”
“Ah…” muttered Wun Fan. He was speechless. He vaguely recalled Old Lei saying something like that.
98Please respect copyright.PENANAkXbAtg6kUj
The flowing river understood its duty. Its job was to transport the winter’s frost down its stream.
Even though it was no longer winter, the river continued to do its job tirelessly, ferrying ice and frost toward Green Sea Town.
The white horse Wun Fan was riding was having a difficult time carrying him. It had excellent stamina, but the person riding it was just too heavy— every step left heavy hoofprints in the light snow.
It continued galloping for a dozen kilometers, but it just couldn’t do it anymore. It was a horse specially bred and trained by the Wun Clan, but even it could not handle such load.
“That’s weird,” said Hung Yu Fei as she looked at Wun Fan’s horse panting and trembling. It was odd for the horse to be so tired, so she teased Wun Fan, “Haha, Wun Fan, why is your horse exactly like you, panting and breathless?”
Hung Yu Fei patted the pony she was riding. She chuckled as she stroked its fur and said to it, “It was a good choice buying you from Ho Siu Nam.”
Wun Fan had no strength left to banter with that damned girl. He was trying his best to get used to the armour’s weight. He was constantly channelling soul energy throughout his body to ease the burden. He rolled his eyes at the girl.
Fung Ching, on the other hand, had the sharp eye of an archer. He noticed all the minute details, including Wun Fan’s unnatural movements and the reaction of the horse he was riding. Wun Fan’s limbs seemed very stiff at the joints. Fung Ching simply laughed and said, “You are truly a fanatic for training.”
Wun Fan said nothing in response. He kept his eyes closed and paid attention to his breathing, feeling the cold air replace his hot breath inside his lungs. He tried his best to match his body’s posture to the horse’s movement to reduce its burden.
Hung Yu Fei wanted to continue teasing Wun Fan, but she saw sweat on his forehead, even though it was winter. She knew it wasn’t the appropriate time to mess with him. She was also just starting to learn when to stop.
The three of them arrived at the gates of Green Sea Town eventually. The two guards saw the coat that Wun Fan was wearing and recognized him as a lineage disciple of the Wun Clan. They hurried forward and said respectfully, “Greetings, Young Master Wun.”
Wun Fan raised his quivering right hand and waved it slightly, motioning for the guards to step down. He kept his eyes closed and said nothing. The two guards thought that Wun Fan was in a bad mood and were terrified. They were afraid of being punished.
The group walked into Green Sea Town. Wun Fan and Fung Ching did not have much of a reaction. After all, Wun Fan was gritting his teeth and enduring the unbearable soreness throughout his body, while Fung Ching had already been to Green Sea Town several times before.
On the other hand, Hung Yu Fei was shouting and crying about everything she saw. She was very interested in this lively little town. She never saw small streetside stalls like this back in the capital. She hopped off her pony and tossed the reins to Fung Ching as she said, “Hey, Mr. Fung, help me take care of the pony. I’ll go find you guys at the Wun Clan in a bit.”
“You know the way?” asked Fung Ching. He didn’t mind helping this unreliable girl, but he was a little worried about what kind of trouble she would get into if they left her alone.
“That’s no problem. Someone will know the way,” said Hung Yu Fei confidently. She was sure most people in town knew the location of the Wun Clan. She quickly walked away to a nearby stall. She pointed at the candied fruit that some children were eating and said rudely, “Hey, how much is this?”
Fung Ching’s mouth twitched. He prayed to all the gods he knew that this demon lord of a girl didn’t start any trouble. After all, even back in the capital, she didn’t hesitate to prank the third prince by putting laxatives in his food.
The Hung Clan had to have several private audiences with the emperor to resolve the matter. After all, the court was a dangerous political stage. Enemies were always waiting to pounce from the sidelines. If anyone were to try and take advantage of the situation, they could accuse them of poisoning the prince, which would be a very serious crime.
The horse’s feet clopped against the ground. Finally, the two boys and three horses arrived outside the gates of the Wun Clan. A slender figure wrapped in a coat was already waiting for them.
“You’re back?” she said. Her voice was as beautiful as a valley flower and gentle as a pillow. Wun Fan turned to look and saw that it was none other than Chan Chi Yuet. A shy smile spread across his flace.
“Haha, I still owe you a meal, after all. Can’t leave you hanging like that,” said Wun Fan smoothly. He couldn’t resist taking a tone like that when talking with Chan Chi Yuet.
“Hmph! Brat,” said Chan Chi Yuet as she slowly approached. She couldn’t wait until they were inside the Wun Mansion to take a better look at him. Wun Fan quickly got off the horse as well. The white horse was relieved of its incredible burden after a long time and almost collapsed on the spot.
Chan Chi Yuet took a good look at Wun Fan. He seemed to have grown six or seven centimeters while he was gone. He almost reached her chest already and his pants could no longer reach his ankles. Chan Chi Yuet caressed his face and said softly, “It must have been hard.”
Fung Ching, who was watching everything, was completely and utterly impressed by Wun Fan now. The woman in front of them was older than even himself but she was clearly smitten with Wun Fan. He couldn’t help but wonder to himself, “Is Wun Fan’s martial path a path of love? Is that why he has so many lovers out there?”
Suddenly, another girl’s voice rang out from a distance, cutting through the lovey-dovey atmosphere, “Heh! Who are you and why are you putting your hands on our Wun Fan?”
A vein bulged on Chan Chi Yuet’s forehead and she frowned. Someone was walking toward them with candied fruits in her hands. It was a prideful little girl, who didn’t seem graceful in the slightest.
Chan Chi Yuet ignored Hung Yu Fei entirely. She didn’t even bother to glance at her. Instead, she brushed Wun Fan’s hair with her fingers and patted his shoulders to shake off the non-existent dust from his travel. She said, “Ah, you’re always not good at taking care of yourself when you go out. Look at the garbage you brought back with you.”
Hold on, what were these two girls doing? thought Wun Fan to himself. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but he definitely had no idea what to do.
Hung Yu Fei wasn’t the sharpest kid sometimes, but even she knew that the woman in front of her was taunting her. In particular, when Chan Chi Yuet touched Wun Fan all over and he didn’t stop her, Hung Yu Fei felt a lump in her throat.
Her mood turned sour in an instant. She felt like killing someone!
“An ugly flower has no business commenting on garbage,” shouted Hung Yu Fei angrily at Chan Chi Yuet, “The young master of the Wun Clan has just returned from his trip. He has no need for prostitutes. Leave, now!”
“Who are you calling a prostitute?” said Chan Chi Yuet as she summoned her martial soul. Her soul energy rose in an instant. She had ascended to advanced Martial Vassal during this time.
The two girls’ locked eyes, sending sparks everywhere. The guards in front of the Wun Mansion noticed trouble brewing and quickly hurried inside to inform their superiors.98Please respect copyright.PENANAre8BFU8D90