-- Chapter 13:

Hui was depressed. He had flung himself off a towering waterfall to escape the bothersome mutts, imagining an enjoyable and more importantly, near painless, descent, by virtue of his lightweight plant body. Everything was progressing according to plan and Hui was comfortably relishing in the once in a two-lifetime scenery when to his dismay, he landed painfully on some moronic creature that happened to be dallying beneath.

‘Shit, that hurt! I’m too old for this.’

Hui slowly picked himself out of the water and made an exaggerated motion of stretching his back. When he came to and noticed his surroundings, he froze.

‘Oh? Have I disturbed something? Sorry to intrude, carry on then.’

Qin Yu and his pursuers stood there by the river’s edge, stupefied by the unusual change in events. In this tranquil scene, a bloody mess of a person floated to the surface, having been devastated by the falling sapling.

“T-That beast killed Young Master!”

A shriek shattered this peace as one of the poor bastard’s followers cried in anger, drawing out his weapon.

“We can’t return to the sect without its h-head-body!”

Hui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was delighted to finally meet humans within this world, and furthermore, to learn that they spoke a slightly accented version of his language which was still intelligible, a marvelous coincidence which Hui again attributed to his seduction of Meng Po. However, he seemed to have been suddenly thrust into some sort of cliche xianxia situation.

Taking a glance around, even without knowing the full context, he was able to make a conjecture as to the scenario.

The group of youths dressed in coarse black robes in the back had the appearances of two-bit henchman of some minor antagonist. And the younger girl in front, who was out of breath and disheveled, was almost certainly some prestigious sect’s young talent who had wandered off on her own and incurred the lust of the villainous young master.

Hui examined the damsel in distress closely before figuratively licking his lips in appreciation.

She had a pair of doe eyes, free from any malice, and rosebud lips with pristine and silky milk-white skin. Her figure was undeveloped, but was beginning to show the makings of a fatally alluring women. As Hui continued expressing his admiration, his eyes were drawn to her neck.

‘Hm? A slight bump... Adam’s apple?”

Hui’s complexion sank. He glared at the youth staring curiously at him, who had failed to be embarrassed as Hui’s staring was through unobservable senses.

‘Cheh, I can’t believe I almost fell for a pretty boy.’

Hui grumbled in disgust as he turned and walked away. If he had a mouth, he would have rinsed it to remove the foul taste.

Before Hui could enter the woods, he was sphered by the leaderless thugs.

“You’ll pay for offending the Limitless Demon Mountain! If you kneel down and beg for forgiveness, we’ll give you an easy death!”

Hui stopped and stared back at the one who had spoken. Though he had casually addressed the situation, and even took the time to admire a man, he knew he was in a precarious spot. He had fallen several hundred meters after already having been severely injured, and was at perhaps several percent of his prime capability. However, oddly enough, his usually reliable sense of danger had yet to flare with warning.

‘Perhaps, these are weaklings?’

As Hui thought to himself, and noticed the shuddering of the youth’s legs, he confirmed his theory. If he were a spineless follower, and his boss had gotten crushed by a tree, he’d be trembling with fear as well.

Hui tightened his roots and branches and prepared to resolve this standoff.

Qin Yu stood unmoving on the riverbank. He had thought himself well-read, having poured through the many resources available in his master’s library, but he had never seen anything like the sapling savior. In this world, there were beasts, spirits, and inanimate creatures, but as far as Qin Yu knew, no one had encountered something like this undeveloped tree, which appeared to be far more human than its exterior would suggest.

Earlier, though Qin Yu thought he was imagining it, he felt as if every asset of his body was being meticulously judged, which almost flushed Qin Yu’s cheeks with a blush before he forcefully calmed himself.

Qin Yu was giddy with excitement, rejoicing that he had strayed from the group, otherwise he would never have met such a fascinating creature. He looked forward to boasting before his fellow apprentices of this adventure.

As Qin Yu daydreamed, Hui quickly dispatched the other youths, who were hardly functional with their limbs weighed down by fear. Truthfully, Hui was disappointed by the effortless victory. He had imagined an epic battle to the death between well-matched opponents for his first encounter with humans. That or an intrusion into an unsuspecting young maiden bathing in the river would have been ideal.

As Hui sighed to himself and prepared to find shelter to recover from his injuries, a soft voice called out from behind.

“Wait! Savior, how can I repay you?”

Hui turned around to Qin Yu’s clutching his hands as if in prayer, looking appreciatively at him with blurred eyes, as if he were a fawning schoolgirl. Hui’s stomach trembled as he fought the urge to hurl his breakfast. Waving his branch at him, he quickly darted off.

Qin Yu was in a panick. He hadn’t expected that his savior would flee without staying to converse. He rummaged through his space ring hoping for some trinket to take as a reward, eventually settling on a jade vial.

“Savior, please accept this meager reward for your troubles!”

Hui reflexively caught the nondescript vial and begrudgingly nodded backwards.

‘Hmph! At least he isn’t stingy!’

Qin Yu’s face lit up with a smile as he saw Hui accept his gift. Cupping his hands by his mouth, he called out.

“My name is Qin Yu! If you ever visit the Immortal Sword Sect, I’ll show you around!”

Hui sneered to himself, ‘$#^&, your father doesn’t swing that way!’, then vanished in the distant forest.