Return to the Warcraft Mountains

"So... why didn't you go to the Zhao family?"

Dust and smoke rose everywhere in Moon City as the Zhao family's flying ship slowly ascended, carrying all the members of the Ye family towards the Central Province.

Ye Shu strolled leisurely, a piece of foxtail grass dangling from his mouth.

Behind him lay the empty, deserted courtyard.

In the distance, the setting sun was as red as blood.

Xiaobai sat on his shoulder, and Danxia floated by his side, yet the shadow cast by the sunlight showed only a single person's silhouette.

That shadow stretched very, very long...

"Because..." Ye Shu chewed on the foxtail grass and gave a crooked smile. "I'm a guy with a rather tough stomach. I was never born to live off a woman."

"But most importantly."

"If I just leave like this, what about the fortuitous encounters here? What about my three-year agreement? Who's going to make up for my missing out on showing off at the Alchemist Grand Meeting, the Green Lotus Core Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame, and the Azure Profound Sword...?"

"Comfort breeds weariness.

Weariness breeds slackness.

Slackness leads to regression.

And regression brings death."

"To think you are the Heavenly Dao, yet you don't even understand this basic logic."

Xiaobai was taken aback by his words. Wanting to retort but unable to find the words, it could only angrily turn its head away.

Ye Shu smiled, shook his head, and strode toward the city gates.

"Now, it's just us again."

"I will stay by your side."

Two responses rang out simultaneously, yet the ones speaking were invisible to the rest of the world.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell upon them.

Casting a single shadow moving forward.

................

"So... where exactly are you going?"

On a desolate, uninhabited road, Xiaobai kicked Ye Shu in exasperation. "You've been holding that exact same pose for five hours now. Haven't you snapped out of it yet?"

Chewing on the grass stem in his mouth, Ye Shu scratched his head. "Well, uh, actually, I don't know where to go either."

"Huh?"

"You idiot, getting lost the moment you step out, and even acting all cool saying 'comfort breeds weariness'. You're pissing me off!"

"Isn't that your fault?"

"My fault?!"

Xiaobai pointed at its own nose, looking completely innocent.

"Yeah, who told you, a useless scam of a Heavenly Dao, to give me zero information? Now I'm completely in the dark."

Ye Shu shifted the blame with a straight face.

"Other systems at least know to give the female lead and the villain their rebirth memories, making it crystal clear where all the fortuitous encounters are."

"But now, I don't even know where the Little Fairy Doctor is."

"To put it plainly, I've just been talking to a wall."

"Even the villain's faction knows better than I do about where I should go to find treasures. How the hell am I supposed to play this? Huh? How do I even play?"

"Uh... this... that..."

Xiaobai suddenly sweatdropped. "Didn't I show you in the first chapter?"

"You only showed me how I was going to die, alright?"

Ye Shu waved his hand dismissively. "I only saw how miserable my fate was, but what about the fortuitous encounters I was supposed to have? Where am I supposed to make up for the parts I'm missing?"

"Uh..."

"That actually makes sense."

Xiaobai scratched his head, then clapped his hands together. "Alright, then let me, the Heavenly Dao, give you some spoilers. Next, you should head to Yuanyang Town, where you will meet the lively and adorable Xia Hanmo. The locals all call her the Little Fairy Doctor. She has a pure, sweet personality, and is kind and generous. She has saved countless people and holds an excellent reputation in the area. Then, while exploring the Magical Beast Mountain Range, you will happen to see her being besieged by magical beasts. You will step in to help, and the two of you will hit it off instantly. She happens to have a treasure map, and you will decide to explore it together..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Ye Shu waved his hand violently to cut him off.

"After that, are we going to run into some young master of a mercenary group, and ultimately, while being hunted down by them, we tumble down a cliff, and then obtain some Flying Dou Skill and the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture?"

"And then this Xia Hanmo also happens to possess a Poison Body."

"Because of this, she always feels a deep sense of inferiority, but I won't mind it at all. I will be the first person to treat her with true sincerity, and so I will become her one and only true friend."

"Finally, we will part ways in Yuanyang Town, each going our own way."

"She will stand on a mountain cliff, her white dress fluttering in the wind, watching me leave, and I will become the most unforgettable first love of her entire life?"

Xiaobai opened his mouth wide, at a loss for words for a moment.

After a long while, he finally spoke in a daze.

"H-how did you know?"

"You motherfucker!"

Ye Shu looked utterly heartbroken. "I thought you could come up with some new tricks, but it turns out to just be the exact same plot from Battle Through the Heavens. You didn't even bother to change it! Tell me honestly, is there going to be something about the Snake-People Tribe later on?"

"Uh... y-yes."

Xiaobai gave an awkward smile. "Paying homage to a classic, just paying homage."

Ye Shu was completely speechless.

"No wonder you only managed to get into a vocational college. Your graduation project was completely copied, with a hundred percent plagiarism rate." He sighed up at the sky, but ultimately took large strides toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Halfway there, he suddenly stopped.

"Where is Yuanyang Town?"

"I don't know."

Xiaobai shook his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

"H-how about we go find someone to ask?"

"Fine."

Ye Shu shook his head and strode forward in the direction of the sunset.

"Destination: Qingshan Town, let's go!"