Chapter 122: Goodbye, Little Cuties

After a good night's sleep, Gu Qingyu opened her eyes and was ready to face the day. But the first thing that greeted her was a red robe floating right above her.

This piece of rock...Gu Qingyu pouted her lips and grabbed Yan Zun's robe. "Good morning, master. Stop floating, don't you get dizzy?"

"Good morning~" He yawned lazily. "Not at all, this feels really comfortable."

"Well then, maybe you should be more considerate of other people, like humans." Gu Qingyu berated.

Yan Zun raised an eyebrow. "Are you a human?"

Gu Qingyu stopped. Hm...I don't think I am a human.

She jumped out of bed with a pout, got dressed for the day then opened the door.

Qi Wan was standing at the door with a smile on his face. "The first ray of sunshine in the morning accompanied by my smile! Good morning boss!" His bright smile and cheery voice reminded her of a nice, friendly delivery man.

"Yeah, good morning." Gu Qingyu nodded and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"Boss, did you sleep well last night?" Qi Wan looked at Gu Qingyu with a wide smile.

She nodded. "Not bad, "

"Well! Your satisfaction is my honor!" Qi Wan immediately bowed deeply and led Gu Qingyu forward, "Please come to the dining room with me!"

Passerby A, who happened to be passing by, immediately bowed at the pair. "Your subordinate greets Lord Qi! Lady-in-chief!"

Gu Qingyu nodded and looked at Passerby A. "Good morning."

"Yes, good morning~" Qi Wan greeted Passerby A with a smile. Passerby A lowered his head in pleasant shock and waited for Gu Qingyu and Qi Wan to walk past him.

"Boss, what do you want to have for breakfast today? Feel free to choose from more than one hundred flavors!" Qi Wan looked at Gu Qingyu with great respect.

"Well, whatever you want." Gu Qingyu nodded. Passerby A silently closed his chin. It seemed that he had seen more of this side of Lord Qi than the rest of the squad...In that case, would he be the first to be silenced?

As they approached a door, Qi Wan opened the door for her then bowed. "Please, this way!"

Gu Qingyu relished in his dramatic and undivided attention. She lifted her feet over the threshold and walked in. The dining table was covered with steaming, delicious dishes. She sighed, "Ah, food!"

"Please, eat to your heart's content!" Qi Wan gave her a smile as he pulled open a chair for her. It reminded her of the waiters in fine dining restaurants.

"Okay!" Gu Qingyu sat down in her chair and beamed at Qi Wan. "Sit, let's eat together~"

"Well!" Qi Wan sat down next to her. While eating, he said, "Get ready, we'll be leaving soon. I found Ye Jin, we'll go find him together."

"Okay," She nodded, "Thank you."

"It's always a pleasure to serve you, boss!"

After Breakfast

Qi Wan led Gu Qingyu to one of the springboards leading out of the valley.

The squad of five followed them all the way, and the leader of the squad announced with a bow. "The horses are ready. Safe travels Lord Qi, Lady-in-chief!"

"Safe travels Lord Qi, Lady-in-chief!" The other four members of the squad also bowed and said in unison.

"Safe travels Lord Qi, Lady-in-chief!" A louder voice sounded from behind them, and a group of people stood in order.

"Yeah." Qi Wan responded softly as he watched Gu Qingyu step onto the springboard before he joined her.

On the other hand, Gu Qingyu waved cheerfully at them. "See you again, little cuties!"

The group of people and the squad were all surprised and confused. Little cuties? Why did the Lady-in-chief address them so... cordially? Would Lord Qi come after them for this?

"Boss, there's still one more cutie here!" Qi Wan batted his lashes. "Come with your dearest cutie."

Everyone's eyes widened unanimously, except for the squad. Did they misheard that? Oh, they must have misheard that!

"Come on, let's go." Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Good!" Qi Wan immediately pressed the springboard, then the springboard rose up and slowly brought them to the surface.

They arrived at the path leading out of the valley. Nearby, a pair of horses were grazing calmly while tied to a tree. Gu Qingyu and Qi Wan jumped onto the horse, and under Qi Wan's lead, they slowly trotted along the path. She hesitated, but still couldn't resist asking, "So, where is Ye Jin?"

"Boss, are you that anxious to see him?" Qi Wan sulked. "Ah, would you miss me so much if you didn't see me? Even a third of that would be nice."

She pondered for a while, then replied without an ounce of humour, "I'll miss you."

"What?" Her answer surprised him so much that he stopped his horse.

Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes and carried on. "It's nothing. Just forget it."

"Eh! Nope, nope, nope! I heard that!" Qi Wan immediately caught up with her, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm so happy, boss! I'll be fine even if that was a lie!"

Her heart sank a little when he said that, but she still had a scowl on her face. "Tch, who would even bother to lie to you?"

"Boss!" Qi Wan's grin grew even wider.

"Yeah." Gu Qingyu said in response, speeding up. "Hurry up, maybe we'll get to a ctiy or something by noon." She wanted to ask if they could find Ye Jin by noon, but that would really put Qi Wan in a spot, so she changed her question.

Qi Wan squinted as he scanned the path ahead. "Ah, you'll probably be able meet Ye Jin in the afternoon."

"What?" Her excitement escaped her lips. "Really?"

"When did I lie to you?" Qi Wan also seemed to be in a good mood. "Speaking of which, what do you plan to do when you find Ye Jin?"

"Erm, well..." To be honest, She really hadn't thought about it. After a short pause, she answered, "I want to gather everyone, then continue the search for the Spirit Gems."

"There's still three more." Qi Wan blinked and said, "I knew you would say that. If everything works well, everyone would be there to meet us just when we arrive."

"So fast?" She looked at him with surprise. "You're really efficient, I should really just leave things to you! You even read my mind!"

"Of course!" Qi Wan tossed his hair and posed, then looked forward. "It's the exit. We'll be in Dongxuan once we leave this valley."

"Dongxuan..." She repeated after him with a mumble.

That place could be considered as her hometown. It was the place where everything began, and where she met everyone.

"Don't you want to go back?" Qi Wan asked. He watched her carefully, afraid that she would be unhappy.

Gu Qingyu shook her head. "No, I was just reminiscing. I do want to go back, have a look, and visit my mother here while I'm at it."

"Huh? I thought you didn't like your family here." Qi Wan raised an eyebrow.

"Hahaha, yeah. Only a handful of people were nice to me." She laughed. "And those are the people that I want to see."

"You're surprisingly sentimental." Qi Wan sighed as he murmured, "You're my only family here."

Gu Qingyu stunned for a moment, then reached out and stroked his head. "Ah, think of it this way," She waved her hand, "A place where you can breathe can be called home, and a place where there is space is a place to live!"

That did derail Qi Wan's brooding thoughts. He doesn’t understand what she was talking about, but it kind of made sense.

"Let's go!" Gu Qingyu yanked the reins and sent her horse into a gallop. "Qi Wan, lead the way!"

"Yes!" Qi Wan galloped after her. "Boss wait for me! Be careful!"

"Relax, with my skills? I'll be fine!" She said proudly.

An hour later

They came to a stream, Qi Wan stopped, got off his horse and led it to the water.

"This place is?" Gu Qingyu copied him, her horse leaned down to the stream and lapped at the cool water.

"The place where we scheduled to meet up." Qi Wan rested as he leaned against the tree beside him.

"Scheduled to meet?" Gu Qingyu felt her heart rate quicken.

"Yeah, Ye Jin will definitely be back." Qi Wan looked relaxed. "Just wait for a while more."

"Okay." Gu Qingyu looked up at the sky. The sun was shining, it was almost blinding. She held out her hand and shielded her eyes from the sun's glare, then a shadow came over her.

Jia Qizhe?

A wide smile split across her face, but that person's robe was not blue, but black.

"Boss, careful!" Qi Wan's voice suddenly sounded, and his ribbon flew out, wrapped around her waist and pulled her towards him.

Was that Xian Di?

Before she realised, she was already in Qi Wan's arms. Qi Wan was glaring intently at Xian Di. It was obvious that he felt the intense pressure emitted by the person before them.

"What a coincidence, nice to meet you again." Gu Qingyu feigned a relaxed smile, but the Soul Chain slowly formed behind her and circled her and Qi Wan.

Xian Di tugged at the corner of his lips and said. "No, it's not a coincidence. I have been looking for you."

"Boss, who is he?" Qi Wan looked at the man in black robe in front of him, a sense of deja vu pulled at the back of his mind.

"The one from the first kidnapping." Her lips tightened to a thin line. "Xian Di."

Xian Di suddenly held out his hand. "Come to me." Gu Qingyu froze, then her feet started moving towards him against her will.

"Boss!" Qi Wan immediately pulled her back. "What's going on?"

A green aura burst out from him and encircled her. Gu Qingyu also held onto Qi Wan's arm with dear life, trying her best not to move even an inch towards Xian Qi. Beads of perspiration slid down her forehead. "Xian Di, just what are you up to?"

Xian Di smirked. "Initially, I only wanted the Lifeblood of Jewel of Destiny. Now, I want both you and the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny."

"Talk about objectification, I'm really just a thing in your eyes..." Gu Qingyu smiled wryly.

"Don’t you dare touch them!" Qi Wan immediately pulled her behind him, released his ribbons and sent them flying towards Xian Di.