Chapter 145: I'll Go With You

Yuan Yao nods obediently.

"I'll be careful."

Song Yan sees that she has taken it to heart, and feels considerably relieved.

After Yuan Yao finishes a whole large bird egg, she lifts the teacup on the table and takes a sip, then puts the cup down, picks up her chopsticks, and picks at the dishes.

"The meals at this restaurant are decent, but I think the ones made by Third Senior Brother taste better," she says while eating.

Ying Wuji is wearing everyday clothes today, a dark robe with his high ponytail still tied, and says, "This restaurant serves spiritual dishes; they don't focus on flavor, but rather on the Qi within."

Yuan Yao nods as if enlightened.

No wonder after eating, she feels much more comfortable, as if Qi is flowing inside her body.

At that moment, Yuan Yao suddenly receives a message from Weng Mingshu of the Heavenly Cloud Sect.

She probes with her spiritual sense and listens.

"Yuan Yao, where are you? Want to come with me to see the lanterns?"

Lanterns?

Yuan Yao raises an eyebrow, interest sparking in her heart, and immediately replies to Weng Mingshu: "I'm currently dining at the Wen Yuan Restaurant on Zhengyang Street; wherever you are, I'll go find you."

"Find whom?" Xue Jin, standing nearby, lifts his eyes slowly upon hearing that.

Yuan Yao puts down her chopsticks, her face full of anticipation, and says, "Weng Mingshu of the Heavenly Cloud Sect; she invited me to see the lanterns."

"I'll go with you." Before anyone else can speak, Xue Jin has already spoken.

Song Yan asks softly, "Do you need us to accompany you?"

Seeing them all wear uneasy expressions, Yuan Yao smiles and shakes her head, "No need, I can go alone."

"If anything comes up, message us," Ying Wuji says slowly.

Yuan Yao stands up, her smile full, and says, "Alright."

With that, she walks toward Cang Li, Xiao Lingwei, and the others, bidding them farewell.

Cang Li, who had been drunk, hears that Yuan Yao will go out alone; his hazy gaze instantly clears, and he grabs her sleeve, "Third Senior Brother will go with you."

Xiao Lingwei also gives up gambling, lifts her hand and pulls Yuan Yao into her arms, "Senior Sister will go with you."

Yuan Yao knows that Second Senior Sister has never been interested in pretty things since childhood; she likes cultivation, and… a little gambling for fun!

At this moment, Yuan Yao realizes that her senior brothers and sisters are truly overprotective of her.

"Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, I've grown up; you don't need to worry about me," Yuan Yao says solemnly, assuring the two.

Xiao Lingwei raises an eyebrow, "Fine, then I won't accompany you."

…

On Zhengyang Street, the lights blaze, and crowds bustle back and forth.

Many people keep glancing at the girl in the blue skirt; her features are jade-like, her skin whiter than snow, and each smile or frown makes hearts flutter.

She wears her hair in twin buns tied with butterfly ribbons, two small braids hanging over her chest, and she cradles a mottled fox in her arms.

The mottled fox has heterochromatic eyes; it now curls in the girl's arms, curiously watching everything around.

Its eyes shine brightly, as if delighted by new things.

While waiting for Weng Mingshu, Yuan Yao bought three skewers of candied hawthorn; one for Little Fox, one for Weng Mingshu, and one for herself.

"Eat," Yuan Yao feeds a piece of the candied hawthorn into Little Fox's mouth.

Little Fox sniffs the sweet and hawthorn scent, swallows, then opens its mouth and quickly bites one.

It's both sour and sweet.

Little Fox closes its eyes contentedly.

"Miss, hello, I..." At that moment, a few young male disciples step forward, trying to chat up Yuan Yao.

Before they finish speaking, a figure rushes forward and blocks them.

"Yuan Yao!" The newcomer wears a green dress, her face pretty, almond eyes bright, smiling warmly.

"Here you go," Yuan Yao hands the skewer of candied hawthorn to Weng Mingshu.

Weng Mingshu takes it and says, "You look so beautiful today."

As she says, she points at their clothes, "See, we dress alike."

Before Yuan Yao can speak, Weng Mingshu's attention shifts to Little Fox, and she exclaims in surprise, "Where did this mixed-breed fox come from?"

She has just finished speaking when Yuan Yao reaches out and pats Weng Mingshu's forehead.

"Hiss—" Weng Mingshu raises her hand to cover her forehead, looks at Yuan Yao with confusion, and says plaintively, "Why did you hit me?"

Yuan Yao says, "This is my spirit pet, Little Fox, not some mixed-breed fox. If you say that again, I won't be friends with you."

Hearing that, Weng Mingshu realizes she misspoke.

"Spirit pet?" Weng Mingshu looks at Little Fox in disbelief.

She really can't believe Yuan Yao would like such a mottled fox.

Little Fox, seeing Weng Mingshu's disdainful stare, immediately bares its teeth at her.

As soon as it bares its teeth, Yuan Yao reaches out and smacks its head hard.

Little Fox trembles all over, instantly extending a tiny paw to clutch its own head.

"No teeth at her."

Little Fox looks aggrieved.

Weng Mingshu laughs; she suddenly finds Little Fox actually cute, its strange heterochromatic eyes looking beautiful.

Moreover, this little fox is only at the first cultivation stage, yet its demeanor is so humanlike.

"Little Fox, right? I am Weng Mingshu," she says proudly, lifting her chin.

Little Fox whines, ignoring her.

Weng Mingshu saw their attitude and also snorted.

"Let's go look at the lanterns," Weng Mingshu said with a smile to Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao nodded.

Just as the two of them were about to leave, they were stopped by the several young male disciples who had earlier tried to flirt.

One of the men stared unblinkingly at Yuan Yao, smiling as he said, "Ladies, meeting is fate; why don't we get acquainted?"

Weng Mingshu arrogantly said, "Who has fate with you? You're not worthy!"

Having said that, she pulled Yuan Yao and was about to leave.

But they were stopped again by several people.

The leading young male disciple showed displeasure, saying, "Miss, don't you think you're being too rude?"

Weng Mingshu heard this and let out a derisive laugh.

She looked at those young male disciples with contempt, saying, "Is it too much? This miss doesn't think it's too much! You look like toads, yet you still want to be friends with us?"

Upon hearing this, the faces of those several people all changed.

"Get lost!" Weng Mingshu said rudely.

Just as Weng Mingshu's words fell, the leading man's face showed anger as he raised his hand to slap her.

Weng Mingshu seemed to have anticipated this; she directly gathered a palm force and blasted it at that man!

Bang!

The man was blown away, crashing into the crowd.

"Senior Brother Yu!" the several people exclaimed in shock.

"Seize them!" the man who had fallen to the ground, his face dark, climbed to his feet.

Weng Mingshu reached out and grabbed Yuan Yao, quickly weaving through the crowd with her.

"Stop! You can't escape!" came the angry shouts of those several men from behind, but Weng Mingshu and Yuan Yao only kept their heads down and ran desperately.

Thus they ran on; Yuan Yao remained silent the whole time, merely following Weng Mingshu in silence. Gradually, she noticed that Weng Mingshu's originally fair cheeks now had a faint flush.

Weng Mingshu was already exhausted from running.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao turned and pulled her into an alley, evading those people.