Planning a Long Journey

"Little Eleven, what did you do to my disciple this time?"

As soon as Xu Xian entered the backyard, Ye Xianyu's lazy voice drifted over.

Xu Xian glanced at her and complained, "He's maliciously withholding my salary. It's been eleven months, and you haven't even tried to manage him."

Ye Xianyu leaned back in her bamboo chair, soaking in the winter sunlight. She smiled and said, "That's an economic dispute. It's not under my jurisdiction."

Xu Xian sniffed and slowly walked over to her, reaching out his hand to collect the debt.

"A son's debt is a mother's burden. You pay it for him. It's not much, only a hundred and ten thousand!"

Ye Xianyu shot him a look, her eyes rolling halfway in disdain. "Then go find his mother. I'm not his mother."

Xu Xian said solemnly, "A teacher for a day, a mother for a lifetime."

Ye Xianyu raised her voice, correcting him, "The saying is 'a teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime.'"

"Is there a difference?"

"There is."

Xu Xian's brow furrowed. "Just say whether you're paying or not."

Ye Xianyu gave him a miffed look and pouted. "Why don't you just grab a knife and rob people on sight?"

"Heh..." The youth chuckled, sitting down beside her. "I don't do robberies. I only take what I'm owed."

Ye Xianyu sneered, "Give me a break. You farmed someone's land for free, lived in their house for free, and eventually forced everyone out—and now you're reaching out for wages? You're far more ruthless than a robber."

Xu Xian raised an eyebrow. Hearing it that way, he really didn't seem to have much of a point. He poured himself a cup of flower tea, moistened his throat, and changed the subject.

"Can I tell you something?"

Ye Xianyu answered dismissively, "If it's not good news, don't bother. I'm not interested."

Ignoring her, Xu Xian continued, "I have to head out once spring arrives."

Ye Xianyu's eyes fluttered open slightly. "Where to?"

"To the east."

Ye Xianyu sat up straight, sounding slightly wary. "The Great Desolation?"

Xu Xian said slowly, "Not quite. I'm going to Demon-Slaying City."

Demon-Slaying City??

Ye Xianyu lowered her gaze, her eyes occasionally flicking toward the youth. She asked in confusion, "What are you going there for?"

Xu Xian smiled. "To do business."

"What kind of business?" Ye Xianyu pressed.

Xu Xian kept it mysterious. "Trade secret. I'm afraid I can't say."

"Tch..." Ye Xianyu scoffed, then reminded him, "Demon-Slaying City isn't like the Northern Borders. It's a melting pot of all walks of life, right next to the Great Desolation. With constant beast attacks, it's a lawless no-man's land where life is as cheap as grass. People there live on the edge. Business won't be that easy to conduct."

Xu Xian feigned ignorance and teased, "Oh? A no-man's land? That's not right. Doesn't the entire Fanzhou fall under the Wendao Sword Sect's jurisdiction?"

Ye Xianyu rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Xu Xian said sheepishly, "I just came to let you know. I've looked into the situation; it's not a big problem."

Ye Xianyu asked skeptically, "You really looked into it?"

Xu Xian promised, "Of course!"

"Who's going with you?"

Xu Xian frowned. "I have to take Yao Xiaoxiao with me."

"Is Elder Yao willing to let her go?"

Xu Xian said calmly, "Why wouldn't he be? It's not like I'm taking her to her death."

"Is it absolutely necessary?"

Xu Xian said wistfully, "I have no choice. It's for the sake of making a living."

Ye Xianyu stopped pressing him and took a small sip of tea. Disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect weren't flowers in a greenhouse; if others could go, then Xu Xian could naturally go as well.

However...

"If you're truly going, take Little Wen with you."

It was as if Xu Xian had been waiting for those exact words. A flicker of joy flashed in his eyes, but he pretended to be troubled. "She doesn't listen to me."

"I'll speak to her."

"I'll be gone for quite a while. Will she agree?"

Ye Xianyu knew exactly what Xu Xian was plotting. She clicked her tongue. "Aren't you going there to do business? If you're kind enough to let someone work for you for free, then just play dumb."

"Uh..."

Ye Xianyu toyed with her jade cup and said slowly:

"However, as your Senior Sister, I still have to nag you a bit. No one can truly protect you. When walking the Jianghu, you must be cautious. That Demon-Slaying City has stood on the border for thousands of years. In those millennia, many geniuses from our sect, the Three Sects, and the thousands of clans in the Central Plains have died beneath its walls."

"Although Master signed a contract with that great beast of the Great Desolation back then—declaring the three thousand miles of land south of Boundary Mountain and north of the Wild River as a buffer zone where eighth-stage experts cannot cross, and crossing means a declaration of war..."

"But they are not of our kind; their hearts are bound to be different. A piece of paper cannot be relied upon."

"For thousands of years, although not a single beast sovereign has crossed the border, it wasn't because of that contract. They follow the rules only because they don't dare to break them. They are afraid. Afraid of Master, afraid of our Wendao Sword Sect, afraid of provoking another war between the two races, and afraid of our sect's sword edge sweeping east through the Great Desolation..."

She paused and stared at Xu Xian, continuing, "In short, you can go, but you must not venture deep into the heart of the Demon Suppression Abyss. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

Xu Xian nodded and said solemnly, "Don't worry, Senior Sister, I know what I'm doing. I'm just going for business. I won't step a single foot out of Demon-Slaying City."

"Fine, I believe you."

Xu Xian drained his tea in one gulp and stood up. "Then I'll head back first."

"Leaving already?"

"I have a mountain of things to do."

Ye Xianyu gave him a miffed look.

"Get lost, then."

Xu Xian turned to leave but looked back once more. "Don't forget about Little Wen's side."

Ye Xianyu lay back in her bamboo chair and closed her eyes without a word.

He left with a sheepish grin.

His goal had been achieved.

He had come here just to tell Ye Xianyu he was going on a long journey to Demon-Slaying City so she would assign him a bodyguard. That was all.

Although Xu Xian was currently extremely confident in his own strength.

With the Heaven-Burning Sparrow...

Once it was unsheathed...

He was invincible within the sixth stage.

He could even put up a fight against the seventh stage.

But that was Demon-Slaying City, after all.

As Ye Xianyu said, although Demon-Slaying City was in the Northern Borders, it was outside the jurisdiction of the Wendao Sword Sect and belonged to a foreign land.

It was a chaotic place where killings between humans and beasts were common. Experts of the sixth and seventh stages were certainly not few in number.

Naturally, it was better to be safe.

He had already looked into it.

The three thousand miles outside Demon-Slaying City was the buffer zone established between the beast race and the human race.

What did that mean?

It meant that no matter how much those below fought, those above wouldn't interfere and would act as if they didn't see it. But if those above made a move, it was a declaration of war.

Whether it was the human sages or the beast gods of the beast race, they all understood perfectly well.

The grievances between the two races could never be completely erased, and the struggle between them could never be stopped. Thus, both sides had drawn this three-thousand-mile neutral zone.

They allowed humans and beasts to hunt each other within it.

Yet they forbade experts above the eighth stage from participating.

This kept the conflict within a range that both sides could endure.

It had been this way for thousands of years.

Therefore...

The strongest allowed to exist in Demon-Slaying City were of the seventh stage.

And Xu Xian had asked around.

Among the seventh-stage cultivators in the sect, Wen Qingxue's combat power ranked in the top three.

Most importantly...

She was familiar!

So he had come to find Ye Xianyu, betting that she would make such an arrangement.

Indeed.

Everything was within his expectations.