Fairy, Please Listen to My Explanation

Chapter 9: Fragile Body

The rain gradually thinned, and the tranquility of the mountain temple remained unchanged since Xu Yuan and his companion had left. The pool of blood from the corpses at the entrance had already congealed.

Suddenly, two shadows descended from the sky, landing on the blood-stained ground where dozens of bodies lay.

A man and a woman, both clad in tight-fitting attire, bearing some resemblance to the dozens of uniformly dressed corpses scattered around.

Black with red trim, their robes featured a fierce coiling dragon embroidered in gold thread on the back.

Black boots stepped into the congealing blood, producing a viscous squelching sound.

The man, with a face covered in stubble and a sword strapped to his back, cast his frivolous eyes around at the gruesome scene. He covered his nose and shook his head slightly.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… How tragic. It seems whoever kidnapped the Third Young Master is no ordinary person.”

The woman’s expression was cold and stern. Her long hair, tied into a high ponytail, cascaded down to her waist. Her slender figure was wrapped in form-fitting combat attire that accentuated her full chest. Her eyes swept over the bodies on the ground.

“Can you tell who did this?”

Strolling among the bodies as if on a leisurely walk, the man stared at the surrounding corpses, shook his head casually, and his voice carried a hint of interest.

“How can I tell? These are all ordinary sword strikes. The killer didn’t even use any sword techniques.”

The woman lowered her gaze slightly, surveying the positions of the corpses on the ground.

The woman’s eyes lowered slightly as she surveyed the positions of the bodies on the ground and said softly,

“They formed a battle formation.”

The man nodded.

“I know. Hmm… the slash wounds on these people aren’t deep, just enough to be fatal, and it all happened in an instant.”

In an instant? The woman frowned upon hearing this and looked at the man.

“Can you do that?”

The man rubbed the back of his head and glanced at the woman with a hint of mixed amusement and exasperation.

“Am I that incompetent in your eyes?”

After a pause, the man shook his head again, pointing to a corpse sitting against an old well in the temple courtyard.

He narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.

“But you’re right, I certainly couldn’t do that. Not to someone like Zhou Yuan.”

As his words fell, the woman focused her gaze in that direction.

The corpse by the well was a middle-aged man with a full beard. Beneath his clothes, one could vaguely discern his well-defined, powerful muscles. But now both his sleeves were empty, his forearms severed at the elbows, and the fatal wound was a fine sword mark across his throat.

The scene of his death was clear at a glance.

A burst of Sword Qi had shot out from the entrance. The middle-aged man, serving as the anchor of the formation, tried to block it with both hands, but the Sword Qi directly broke through his protective aura, cutting off both his arms. The remnant of Sword Qi precisely slit his throat, killing him.

Not a single ounce of Qi had been wasted.

“I could kill him with one sword strike, but I couldn’t be that precise against a martial artist of Zhou Yuan’s caliber.”

As he spoke, the man tried to emulate the killing sword strike, smiling as he made empty gestures toward the corpse.

“If I had struck, his head would have come clean off.”

After finishing,

He then sighed and glanced into the dark interior of the temple, his eyes deep in thought.

“And that Living Buddha inside, I couldn’t cut it down with one strike without using Yuan Qi.”

As he spoke, a hint of solemnity flashed in the man’s eyes. “That person might be stronger than me.”

The woman remained silent.

The man lazily rubbed his messy hair and sighed, “The Eldest Young Master has already rushed from the Imperial City to Jingjiang City because of the Third Young Master’s situation. Many people have already died in the city. You should go back first and report to him that the person who did this is very likely a Grandmaster.”

The woman stared at the man and asked, “What about you?”

“Of course, I’ll continue the pursuit. Even a Grandmaster can’t move fast while burdened with the Third Young Master. I’ll leave signs for you along the way. Remember to hurry back. Otherwise, by the time you catch up, I might be a corpse myself~”

With that, he clapped her shoulder and vanished in a blur without waiting for her response.

The woman stood still for a long moment before turning and speeding away in the direction opposite to where the man had vanished.

***

Two days later.

The rain had long ceased, sunlight breaking through the clouds and pouring down in golden splendor. A few rays pierced through the treetops into the forest, filling the air with the fragrance of grass and fresh soil.

“Ha… huff… ha… ha…”

Xu Yuan, hands on his waist, leaning against a towering tree, struggled to utter two words.

“Let’s… rest.”

The black-robed woman walking ahead heard him and turned her head, staring at Xu Yuan’s pale, exhausted face. She silently stopped, sat down, and began to meditate.

Xu Yuan simply plopped down on the ground, sweating profusely as he gasped for air.

He had never imagined a human body could be this pathetically weak, much less that such a body would be his own.

Even on flat ground, after walking just a few kilometers, his legs began to tremble uncontrollably. His steady breathing became labored, and a burning sensation gradually spread in his chest.

After walking for any extended period, he could feel an aching pain beginning to throb in his lower back.

Over the past two days, Xu Yuan sometimes truly felt that if Ran Qingmo hadn’t captured the original body’s owner, the original owner probably wouldn’t have needed a few years before dying in a woman’s bed.

Not only was he lacking in self-control, but he was also terribly out of shape.

And worst of all, he would occasionally experience a craving, similar to nicotine withdrawal but several times more intense.

This made Xu Yuan almost certain that the original Third Young Master must have also been using drugs.

The transmigration hadn’t reset the body to factory settings; instead, they had been inherited intact by the unfortunate Xu Yuan.

And the series of problems caused by his fragile body had reduced their progress through the Wanxing Mountain forest to a pace no faster than a crawling turtle.

As he rested, Xu Yuan’s breathing gradually calmed. He looked towards the black-clad woman meditating opposite him.

Sunlight filtered through the treetops into the forest, illuminating spots of light on her fair skin.

Looking at her, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke, “Heroine Ran, at our current pace, it might take at least a month to reach Tianmen Mountain.”

“I know,” Ran Qingmo replied, her eyes still closed.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, “If this drags on, we could be caught at any time.”

“…”

Ran Qingmo didn’t reply but opened her eyes and quietly observed him.

Xu Yuan smiled awkwardly.

He knew, of course, that these issues were all due to his body, but he always pushed himself to his physical limit before resting. It was just that this body’s limit was frustratingly low.

After a moment, Xu Yuan cautiously suggested.

“So… could you… perhaps capture a demonic beast… hmm… for me to ride?”

He had carefully considered this suggestion.

There was risk, but not much.

If the beast caused any problems, with Ran Qingmo’s strength, she could eliminate it before it made any threatening moves.

Ran Qingmo thought for a moment, then nodded slightly. She stood up with her sword, remained still for a moment, then glanced sideways in one direction before her figure instantly vanished.

As Xu Yuan stared in astonishment, a powerful tiger’s roar echoed from a kilometer away.

“ROARRR!!!!”

Then came a dull thud.

Thump!

“Roar!!!!!”

Thump!

“Aowu…”

Thump!

“Whimper…”