Bonnie and Clyde

Slap!

Under the twilight of the setting sun, their palms met in a pact, sealing their alliance with a handshake.

As the saying goes, when high mountains meet flowing waters, true friends are found—two troublemakers, thick as thieves, had finally found their match.

They clicked at once.

One was to play the pitiful bait, luring in the prey, while the other would leap out midway, playing the hero saving the damsel in distress, reaping the spoils.

The division of labor was clear; their coordination seamless.

“Why does this feel like a honey trap from my past life?” Ye Shu muttered under his breath, then shook his head vigorously.

No, this was different—it was living off their own skills.

Besides, it wasn’t like he forced them to covet. Had he? No, their greed was their own doing. None of his business.

Yeah, thinking like that, Ye Shu was even more ruthless.

He struck like lightning every time: leaving men stripped to their underwear and women only in their undergarments.

Mu Xi took the front, playing pitiful and dangling the bait, while Ye Shu ambushed from the shadows, sweeping through those blinded by greed like autumn wind scattering dead leaves. They’d clean them out and vanish swiftly.

Over time, legends of the “Bandit Duo” spread through the ruins. Everyone lived in fear, bolting at the sight of anyone in sackcloth, let alone daring to bully them.

One day, they began to split the loot.

“Here, take these.”

Ye Shu pulled out everything he needed from his storage ring and handed the rest to Mu Xi.

“That’s all you’re taking?”

Mu Xi weighed the pouch in her hand, looking at him in surprise. She hadn’t expected such a greedy guy to voluntarily give her the bigger share.

“Heh... I only need the alchemy materials,” Ye Shu chuckled without explaining.

Would he tell her that, after all these days together, he’d formed a bold guess?

That guess was... Mu Xi was his daughter!

Ridiculous, cliché, absurd—how could this ill-mannered young woman be his daughter?

But still—

Ye Shu had run through all his relationships.

He couldn’t think of anyone who fit the description of “half a debt of guilt, close yet distant.”

When every other possibility was ruled out, no matter how outrageous the truth, only this one remained.

Ye Shu looked at Mu Xi, his eyes conflicted.

On one hand, he felt indebted to a daughter he’d never met. On the other, although he looked like a middle-aged man in his forties, he’d spent nearly twenty years in death. In truth, he was barely a grown young man.

Suddenly having a daughter—

A kid around his mental age—

That was hard for anyone to accept.

“You can even do alchemy?” Mu Xi’s eyes widened in amazement. “Then how good are you? Are you impressive?”

“Impressive?”

Ye Shu stroked his chin. “Probably... well, I’d say I’ve already surpassed the Medicine Fairy of her time?”

At that, Mu Xi spat, “Bull!”

But she rolled her eyes and tested the waters: “Can you make that kind of pill?”

“What kind?”

“The kind... the kind that restores someone’s lost cultivation.” Her voice dropped, heavy with hope and something she didn’t want to dwell on. Clearly, this touched on a painful past.

A pill to restore cultivation?

Ye Shu’s heart stirred.

Could it be... Bingxuanzi?

He’d let that slip that time during the ascension, thinking Medusa would lift the seal. But that unreliable Medusa hadn’t done it yet?

No, he couldn’t jump to conclusions.

He still didn’t know for sure if this girl was his daughter.

“Of course I can. Easy,” he said lightly.

“That’s great!”

Hearing his affirmative, Mu Xi’s eyes lit up like shining stars. Gone was her usual craftiness; instead, she seemed almost giddy and eager. “Then... could you make one for me? I—I can pay you!”

“I can give you all of this!”

She shoved the storage pouch back into Ye Shu’s arms, hurrying as if afraid he’d change his mind.

What the hell?

Looking at her eager expression, Ye Shu felt a strange twinge.

Hajibing, what have you done to my daughter? Why is she so worried about your cultivation?

More than her own father.

“You don’t need to give me all this. It’s no big deal.”

Ye Shu waved dismissively, picking out only a few mild medicinal herbs. Then he probed casually: “By the way, I’ve never asked where you’re from.”

“With your outfit, all alone, that accent—you’re not from the Central Continent. You wouldn’t be a refugee from the Eastern Wastelands, would you?”

At that, Mu Xi shot him a wary glance.

“Why are you asking?”

“You’re not trying to hit on me, are you? Let me tell you, I have a fiancé, and he’s very formidable.”

“A... fiancé?”

Ye Shu kept his eyes fixed on her expression. When he mentioned the desolate borderlands, she’d shown a clear reaction. But that wasn’t what shocked him.

It was “fiancé”!

Was he kidding?

This girl, who he suspected was his daughter, had a fiancé?

Which, by extension, meant his daughter was betrothed.

Which meant he hadn’t even gotten to know his own daughter yet, and she was already being snatched away by some punk?

For a moment, Ye Shu’s expression was priceless.

But he forced down his turmoil, managing a weak smile: “Of course not. Just curious. I’m married. I wouldn’t hit on you.”

“Alright, enough of that.”

He waved his hand, steering the conversation stiffly away.

“Now I need to start alchemy. But without a proper furnace or spiritual flame, I’ll have to use the beast fire from the ruins, crafting a double-flame furnace. It’ll take a long time, so we absolutely can’t be disturbed—or the pill will be ruined at best, or the furnace will explode and hurt us both at worst.”

Hearing this, Mu Xi dropped her joking demeanor instantly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll guard you. I swear on my life: nobody will come within a step of you.”

“Good.”

Ye Shu nodded, then sat cross-legged.

Two wisps of blue-green beast fire rose from his body, intertwining to form the shape of a furnace.

The alchemy had begun.