Chapter 20: Unwanted Guest
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The sun had started to set, and only a few hours remained before night would fall completely.
In a forest east of the city of Qiyan, there was an oval shaped lake, about three kilometers long and one and a half wide.
Its dark, still waters reflected the last lights of the day, while a light evening mist rose from the surface.
Around it, the trees of the forest stood along the shores, their branches stretching out as if to touch the water.
The silence was broken only by the rustling of leaves moved by a gentle breeze and the distant chirping of a few nocturnal birds.
In this calm, harmonious atmosphere, two figures were walking toward the shore of the lake.
The closer they got, the more their appearances came into view, previously hidden by the shadows of the trees.
"Are you sure this is the place?" asked Liang Yuexin, glancing around as if to scan the area.
She no longer wore her training outfit and was now dressed in an elegant white garment, with small silver embroideries that still couldn't fully hide her curvy figure.
"Yeah, this is the right place," said Zhu Rong, emerging from the forest behind her.
Unlike her, though, his appearance was far from clean and elegant.
His hair was messy, and there were small traces of dirt on his face and on his disciple robes.
It was clear the trip here hadn't been easy for him.
After he managed to convince Liang Yuexin to help him, the two had immediately set out to search for the Evening Mist Flower.
It only grew in certain specific places, and its effects were at their peak only at night.
They had decided to leave right away so they would only have to travel in the dark on the way back.
Although Liang Yuexin was now a cultivator at the fourth stage and could easily deal with the forest beasts in this area,
it would still be difficult for her to handle the nocturnal ones, especially with him tagging along.
She wouldn't be able to fight and fully guarantee his safety, so the two had decided to leave before nightfall.
Liang Yuexin didn't know what he needed that herb for, but she knew how troublesome it was to get one.
He had promised that, once the expedition was over, he would give her the complete technique, so she had decided to accept the task.
Honestly, even the small part of the technique he had already given her was more than enough for her to consider helping him out.
And given the rank of the technique itself, she could've easily paid him handsomely for it and just bought the herb.
But when she learned what herb it was, she realized it wasn't that simple.
Even she wasn't sure she could get her hands on one in a short time, so she decided to go along with his plan and go search for it together in the forest.
Now that they were here, they just needed to find it and wait for nightfall before picking it.
Zhu Rong looked around.
He had come to this place before and knew that some Evening Mist herbs grew nearby.
He walked with Liang Yuexin following behind him, always on alert for any danger.
Finally, after nearly 10 minutes of walking along the shore, he spotted something in the distance and said:
"There it is, that's it," he said, pointing to a small patch of land near the edge of the lake.
The patch of land wasn't very big and sat there like a tiny islet, at the center of which small blue flowers swayed gently, moved by the evening breeze.
Zhu Rong could see there weren't many of them, actually fewer than ten, and only a few looked fully mature.
The small piece of land wasn't too far from the shore, and for a cultivator of Liang Yuexin's level, it would only take a small leap to reach it.
That said, he turned toward her to ask her to bring him there but stopped when he noticed her slightly frowning expression.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked confused, not understanding the reason for her expression.
She didn't reply right away but instead made a gesture with her hand, and a small beam of light shot out from the ring on her finger.
Hm?
The beam widened and lost its glow, revealing what was hidden inside it.
'Is that… a piece of meat?'
What appeared was a small piece of dried meat, and seeing it, he didn't know what to think.
"Are you suddenly hungry or something?
If you really need to eat, wait till we're done here and I'll cook you something good," he said, not having a clue what was going through her mind.
Liang Yuexin shot him an annoyed look and said,
"Who said I'm hungry? And what do you mean you'll cook me something?
Do you even know how to cook?" she said, irritated by his comment.
"Of course I know how to cook!
You might not know, but my culinary skills can put even great chefs to shame," he said proudly.
Liang Yuexin didn't believe him and decided to ignore him.
She looked toward the lake, and under Zhu Rong's still somewhat confused gaze, she tossed the piece of dried meat into the air.
It flew for several dozen meters and landed near the shore of the islet.
Plop!
Zhu Rong: "…"
He watched the piece of dried meat slowly sink into the water and didn't know what kind of expression to make.
'Woman, if you don't believe me that's fine, but why take it out on the food?'
He wanted to say something, but right at that moment, he noticed something odd where the piece had fallen.
'Hm? What's that?'
Just as he was trying to figure out what it was, the surface of the water exploded, and a gigantic mouth suddenly emerged.
Zhu Rong: "…"
He watched the monstrous creature rise from the water with a blank expression, before turning his gaze toward Liang Yuexin, who shot him a mocking look as she said,
"Looks like someone else has their eye on your herb already."