But this incident served as a wake-up call for Yang Xiao; if he encounters that group of East Japan Ninjas, he should prioritize dealing with anyone from that side who wields a staff-like magic artifact.
"How far is it from here to the Secret Realm Core Area?" Yang Xiao asked Jiang Qingluan.
"Not far, according to our pace, we’ll reach there in at most 3 hours." Jiang Qingluan replied as she put away the map in her hand.
"We still have enough ti, I suggest we rest nearby for a bit," Yang Xiao scanned the surroundings; this place had been attacked by Japanese Apostle, which ant those guys wouldn’t be far away.
Through site reconnaissance, they determined that the group from the One-character Sect had just been attacked, and they were highly likely to encounter that group of East Japan Ninjas next.
"I agree on resting, but not here, this place is a trap, the commotion just now might attract those guys." Nalan Shuo said cautiously.
Led by Nalan Shuo, the team continued westward and found a cave in an inconspicuous mountain nook on the west side. The cave entrance was relatively secluded, covered by a few trees outside. They decided to rest here temporarily, recharge their brains, and head into the Secret Realm Core Area.
After traversing mountainous roads and encountering Stone Statue Ghosts and Poison Puppets one after another, everyone was tired, fatigued, and sleepy, but soone needed to stand guard.
The woman from the Chamber of Comrce was injured and not considered. The remaining four were divided into two groups, each standing night watch for two hours. Jiang Qingluan suggested teaming up with Nalan Shuo voluntarily.
The Chamber of Comrce pair glanced at Yang Xiao with confusion, believing Jiang Qingluan should happily choose Yang Xiao, her boyfriend, as her teammate.
Yang Xiao knew that Jiang Qingluan was drawing a line between them in front of others, preventing him from exploiting her credentials for his benefit.
But who was Yang Xiao? Such small tricks couldn’t trouble him; his performance quickly drowned out Jiang Qingluan’s sche with a complex sigh.
This sigh contained six parts helplessness, three parts lancholic complaint, and the remaining part of emotional uncertainty—a stroke of genius.
Sure enough, after this sigh, the scene’s dynamics reversed instantly; the Chamber of Comrce pair turned their heads to Jiang Qingluan.
"Why are you looking at ?" Jiang Qingluan was both angry and annoyed, and at this mont, she directly revealed, "I’m not familiar with him!"
"Right, we’re... we aren’t familiar with each other now." Yang Xiao took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, a magnetic voice filled with stories.
Seeing the Chamber of Comrce woman also sighed, Yang Xiao guessed that she must be conjuring a brilliant narrative in her mind.
"Outside affairs should be discussed outside; don’t let personal feelings affect the mission." The next second, before Jiang Qingluan could explain, Nalan Shuo sternly cut in.
Jiang Qingluan: "???"
Yang Xiao: "... Truly my good Director, although his looks are not quite on par with mine, he too is a dragon among n; surely was a prodigal son in his youth!"
If the Chamber of Comrce pair had doubts about Yang Xiao and Jiang Qingluan’s relationship earlier, Nalan Shuo’s remark practically settled the matter.
It’s simply because Nalan Shuo seed extrely reliable, always maintaining a serious deanor, unlike soone who jokes around.
"TThe 1 is right, the mission is paramount," the Chamber of Comrce man turned his head, speaking in an experienced manner, "5, there might be misunderstandings between you and 2, which we outsiders are not fit to comnt on, but during the mission, you must follow orders. Hmm... I’ve sparred with No. 2 before, he’s quite formidable, you must follow his commands."
Typically, given Yang Xiao’s character, he would certainly interject a couple more lines, but truthfully, he didn’t dare as he noticed Jiang Qingluan seed a bit flustered.
Admittedly, after all of Yang Xiao’s actions, the previously tense atmosphere within the team dissipated considerably and the mood relaxed substantially.
Nerves eased, and everyone relaxed quite a bit.
Except Jiang Qingluan.
After replenishing food and water, Nalan Shuo, Jiang Qingluan, and the Chamber of Comrce woman stayed inside the cave to rest, while Yang Xiao and the Chamber of Comrce man guarded the entrance.
Unnoticed, a layer of fog gathered in the valley, a gray mist not very dense nor toxic, but making outside visibility poor for a ti.
Earlier Jiang Qingluan had warned them: there is much fog within the Secret Realm, especially in the core area where mist lingers, although harmless to people, it blocks spiritual power detection.
Practice is the only standard for testing the truth; upon retrieving the Human Bone Staff, Yang Xiao frowned deeply, indeed, this fog greatly reduced the detection range of the Human Bone Staff—a definite bad news for him.
They had recently experienced an attack by Poison Puppets, prompting him to worry that Japanese Apostle might follow the fog to sneak in silently.
"Should we go back and take a look?" The Chamber of Comrce man suggested; being experienced himself, he had thought along similar lines to Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao possessed a Space-type Magical Artifact capable of teleportation, and his abilities were related to water, fortuitously the tent was near a water body, advantageous for them even if faced with danger there’d be confidence in escaping.
"Let’s not, it’s too risky," Yang Xiao had previously t the Japanese Woman and knew her difficulty, Second Demon Uncle once comnted her: "Upon encountering her, flee imdiately; there is likely nobody in Rongcheng who is her match, besides advising Yang Xiao to return to the hotel for reinforcents."
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