The Secluded Danxia

Watching Ye Shu stride away, Xia Hanmo was completely dumbfounded.

What was going on?

How did things suddenly escalate to burning them to ashes?

She hurriedly took a few steps forward, caught up with him, and tilted her head in confusion behind his back.

"What do you mean by burning to ashes? I don't understand."

As he walked, Ye Shu said indifferently, "Do you hate that Mercenary Association?"

"I do."

"Are they good people?"

"No."

"When you left the town, did you do anything, leave behind any medical prescriptions, or give any instructions?"

"No."

"Then after you leave, or rather, after you die, the residents and mercenaries in Yuanyang Town will only suffer more. With your death or departure, they will no longer have access to cheap healing. Those who truly need help will die because they cannot afford the exorbitant fees."

"Of course, I'm not criticizing you for anything."

"I am merely stating a fact."

Ye Shu said calmly.

Xia Hanmo froze. She stood there, watching Ye Shu's retreating back, and didn't speak for a long time.

Yes, this was a foreseeable future.

It was just that she had been so immersed in her memories of rebirth that she had overlooked it.

"But why are you going to Yuanyang Town? This has nothing to do with you..." she asked subconsciously.

Ye Shu looked back and smiled.

"Good guys beating up bad guys and helping the weak."

"Does that need a reason?"

After saying that, he turned around, casually picked up a foxtail grass from the ground, held it in his mouth, and strode forward.

Xia Hanmo stared blankly at his back.

Finally, she broke into a wide smile and took large strides to catch up.

"What a cheesy guy..."

Witnessing all this, Xiaobai was dumbfounded. Sitting on Ye Shu's shoulder, she puffed out her cheeks and muttered softly.

Wait!

She suddenly realized something, abruptly raised her head, and the way she looked at Ye Shu changed.

This guy wasn't cheesy; he was a liar!

A massive liar at that!

He absolutely wasn't going there for Xia Hanmo's sake.

Even without Xia Hanmo, he still would have gone to Yuanyang Town. Actually, this guy... was going there to rob them, wasn't he?

This was already the third time.

The time before last with Lin Qingxue was like this, the last time with Zhao Zhixia was like this, and now with Xia Hanmo, it was the same.

The first time, he clearly had to kill Feng Mengli.

But what did this guy say? Xiaobai recalled Ye Shu's expression at the time. "Now, you don't have to be afraid anymore."

A single sentence had moved Lin Qingxue to tears.

But he had clearly killed Feng Mengli for his own sake. Yet, coming out of his mouth, it sounded as if he had done it entirely to protect Lin Qingxue.

The second time was clearly to ensure the Ye family's safety for a century.

As a result, he snuck into Zhao Zhixia's room in the middle of the night, tricked her into giving back the ancestral token, and then muttered a whole bunch of things to make a deal, making it seem like he was so deeply affectionate and reluctant to part!

This time was even more outrageous.

He clearly came to the Magical Beast Mountain Range to seize opportunities.

But this guy's greed knew no bounds. Taking from the Magical Beast Mountain Range wasn't enough; he also had to go and raid someone else's base.

And from his mouth, it was all for Xia Hanmo?

Now that she thought about it carefully.

The look in Xiaobai's eyes as she stared at Ye Shu wasn't right anymore.

It carried a deep sense of vigilance.

This kind of person was the most cunning. Everything he did was clearly for himself, yet he somehow made people feel like he was doing it all for them. This kind of person...

Was simply a devil who played with people's hearts.

It was truly too terrifying!

Xiaobai shrank her neck in fear, wrapped her arms around Ye Shu's neck, and whispered softly into his ear: "Confess honestly, did you ask Xia Hanmo those questions just to confirm that the Mercenary Association are bad guys? So that you could rob them without any psychological burden?"

"And then you, you bastard, blabbered a whole bunch of nonsense."

"Packaging your shameful selfishness into something like doing it for the townsfolk, or venting anger for Xia Hanmo."

"Actually, it was just to move her, right!"

"You scumbag, I've completely seen through you!"

Xiaobai gritted her teeth and spoke fiercely. And to think she actually believed her Child of Destiny was a good person.

Turns out he was just a guy who left a trail of broken hearts everywhere!

"Did I do that?"

Hearing this, Ye Shu paused his steps, his gaze drifting away.

"Let's just assume I did."

Their current location was quite a distance from Yuanyang Town. With Ye Shu's walking speed and the assistance of the Zhou Tian Star Formation, he could certainly travel extremely fast.

But Xia Hanmo was only at the Foundation Establishment realm.

So he naturally slowed down a bit.

As the trees passed by one by one, Ye Shu suddenly realized something.

Wait, where was his master?

Why wasn't she speaking anymore?

Wasn't she quite active just now? He didn't know when, but it was as if she had suddenly turned invisible.

With a thought, Ye Shu sent his divine sense into the ring.

In the empty, void-like space, he saw Danxia sitting in a corner, hugging her knees with her head buried in them, completely motionless, like an abandoned little puppy.

"Master, what's wrong?"

Ye Shu was a little worried.

Danxia didn't answer.

"Master?"

"Master?"

Ye Shu called out a few more times, but there was still no movement.

What was going on? Just as Ye Shu was feeling a bit puzzled, Danxia's voice slowly sounded.

"Shu'er... am I completely useless?"

She slowly raised her head, revealing a tear-stained face.

Ye Shu was stunned for a moment.

He had never seen Danxia like this before. The last time he saw her like this was the day their bond ended.

"Master, what's this about? Why would you say that?"

"That Xia Hanmo... she clearly doesn't know you at all, yet she can trust you. Even though she was reborn, she never harmed you. After just a few meetings, she was already starting to doubt her own rebirth. And that Ye Xiaosu, even after being reborn, all she wanted was for you not to leave again..."

"And what about me?"

"We spent day and night together for fifteen years, yet we didn't even have the most basic trust. The moment I woke up, I wanted to kill you..."

"Wu..."

As she spoke, her tears fell again.

"I'm truly useless, not even as good as an outsider..."

There is no harm without comparison.

Danxia... shut herself off.

Ye Shu stood there, somewhat speechless.

After all that, it turned out his master had started wallowing in self-pity again. He thought it was something serious.

Sometimes it was really hard to tell who was the master.

She was already this old, yet she still cried so easily.

He crouched down, gently wiped away her tears, and said softly, "Actually, you are indeed quite useless."

"Waaah!"

Hearing him say this, Danxia cried even more sadly, large teardrops falling down.

"But actually, from a certain perspective."

Ye Shu slowly continued, "Doesn't this also show that you care about me too much, Master?"

"Care?"

Danxia froze.

"Yes." Ye Shu nodded. "If you didn't care too much, why would you be so angry? If you didn't care enough, why would you be willing to listen to my explanation, and get completely disoriented by just a few coaxing words from me?"

He reached out and gently wiped away her tears.

"You just cared too much, so you let it go to your head."

"Besides."

Ye Shu suddenly smiled. "Although you wanted to kill me at first, Master, if it weren't for you, I would have already died from taking the Qi Recovery Pill, been killed by Lin Qingxue, or been killed by Feng Mengli."

"Come to think of it, I still owe Master two lives."

Danxia stared at him blankly, the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes forgotten. Looking at Ye Shu's smile, she suddenly felt as if his entire being was glowing.

The guilt in her heart lessened significantly.

"Then... then you don't despise me?"

She sniffled and asked cautiously.

"How could I?"

Ye Shu chuckled softly. "Haven't I said it before? We are the best master and disciple in the world."

As soon as these words came out, Danxia threw herself into his arms, hugging his neck tightly and bawling out loud.

"Waaah! Shu'er... Master is useless, Master is useless..."

Seeing Danxia finally let go of the knot in her heart, Ye Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

While using his divine sense to soothe her emotions within the ring, he continued his journey toward Yuanyang Town.

Finally, they arrived at Yuanyang Town.

A massive town came into view.

It spanned a few miles—not too large, but not too small either.

"There, that is the Mercenary Association."

Standing on the roof beams of a certain building, Xia Hanmo pointed at a three-story pavilion in the distance and spoke indifferently.

"But the president of the association is at the Nascent Soul stage."

"Even if you're incredibly strong for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you probably still can't beat them, right?"

"About that... I have my ways."

Ye Shu gave a crooked smile, raised his right hand high, and snapped his fingers under Xia Hanmo's bewildered gaze.

Snap—

The sound of the snap rang out.

A blinding golden light instantly tore through the night sky. Shooting up from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, it pierced the firmament and exploded violently in midair.

Boom—

Golden radiance illuminated the entire sky.

At the same time, an illusionary figure hundreds of zhang tall stood silently in the distant void. With a head of white hair and the bearing of a transcendent immortal, the vast and boundless figure radiated golden light from head to toe.

"My legacy is about to open, awaiting those fated..."

"You!"

Xia Hanmo stared at the phantom, her eyes filled with shock.

That direction was clearly... the very treasure trove they had gone to together in her memories of her past life!

Ye Shu looked at her shocked face and smiled faintly.

"You see, hasn't the opportunity presented itself?"