Chapter 138 (3): Duan Xiyang!

After leaving the Hall of Protectionists, Fang Che went straight to the escort agency.

He was set to take part in the Guardian selection trials in seven days, but before that, he had to ensure that the escort agency would operate smoothly in his absence.

He didn't know how long he would be gone for, and if everyone returned to the main church during his absence, leaving behind an empty husk of a branch helm, then the consequences would be catastrophic.

"I have been sent on a very important mission, and I'll be absent for some time, perhaps half a month, perhaps a month. All of you have already passed your assessments, so you could be summoned back to the main church at anytime. Before I go, I have two requests for you all. Firstly, please do everything in your power to make sure no problems arise during this crucial juncture.

"Secondly, do not leave this place completely deserted. If you receive a summons back to the main church before my return, then you're well within your rights to leave, and I can't do or say anything. However, I hope that you can stay for both my sake and the sake of our escort agency."

"I, Zhou Mei'er, swear on the name of Heavenly Centipede Deity to remain in the Unmatched Escort Agency until Helmsmaster Starlight's return! Anyone who tries to leave will have to step over my dead body!"

"None of us are going anywhere," Zheng Yunqi and Zhao Wushang assured with confident smiles.

"Honestly, I really don't want to leave," someone else sighed, and this sentiment was echoed by everyone.

There was such a clear sense of purpose and progression for them here that they were in high spirits all the time, even when copping abuse from Starlight.

The thought of having to return to their old lives in the main church was downright depressing.

"I don't know about all of you, but I will never forget the time that we've spent together for as long as I live," Starlight said with a wistful smile. "Perhaps these emotions will fade over time. Perhaps if we meet again someday, we'll all still remember the time that we spent together, but there will no longer be any emotional weight attached to those memories.

"In any case, I'm already very grateful that fate has brought us together, so let's worry about the future when it comes. I will be leaving tonight, I hope you're still all here when I return, but I won't begrudge you if you decide to leave. Please look after our escort agency in my absence."

"You can count on us, Helmsmaster Starlight! We'd sooner sacrifice ourselves than allow any harm to befall our escort agency!"

Starlight gave everyone a grateful smile before turning to depart.

Zhou Mei'er hurriedly ran out after him as she asked in an uneasy manner, "Is this going to be a dangerous mission, Helmsmaster?"

"All I know is that it won't be a very easy mission. As for whether it'll be dangerous or not, I can't answer that for now."

"In that case, make sure to look after yourself. I'll... I'll be waiting for you."

Starlight was silent for a moment, then said, "Last time, when Young Master Xing came to visit, he informed me that you're already in a marriage arrangement. I'm sure you'll make a great wife for your arranged marriage partner."

With that, he gave Zhou Mei'er a parting wave before vanishing from the spot, not giving her a chance to respond.

Zhou Mei'er was left standing on her own at the entrance of the escort agency with a dazed look of sorrow on her face, wringing her hands together with all the strength that she could muster.

Zheng Yunqi stepped out to join her, but she was completely oblivious to his presence, and she only realized that he was standing right beside her when he heaved a faint sigh.

She hurriedly looked away as she blinked away some tears, while Zheng Yunqi said in a forlorn voice, "You two are simply not meant to be. If you keep this up, you're going to get Helmsmaster Starlight killed!"

Zhou Mei'er was unable to suppress the tears any longer as she smiled and replied, "I know."

With that, she turned and made her way back to her room, while Zheng Yunqi could only look on with another forlorn sigh.

Fang Che didn't return to the Hall of Protectionists.

Recently, he had been a little too popular with the ladies, and as a result, he was having to hide all the time. At the escort agency, there was the bold and passionate Zhou Mei'er, while at the Hall of Protectionists, there was the shy yet persistent Zhao Ying'er.

Of course, there was also Ye Meng back home, who was by far the best of the three.

In particular, now that she had eaten a Yin Yang Fruit and consumed all those pills to cleanse her body of impurities and bolster her foundation, she was able to make rapid progress in her cultivation base simply through engaging in certain... bedroom activities.

Being one with Ye Meng was such an intoxicating feeling that Fang Che wanted to be able to experience the sensation day and night.

The only problem was that Ye Meng's stamina was far too lackluster, often passing out long before Fang Che had had his fill.

In the lead-up to the selection trials, he had to advance his cultivation base as quickly as possible, so right after leaving the escort agency, he went straight home to hone his spear techniques with Ye Meng.

He was very diligent in his spear training, working hard all the way into the night.

It was only when the stars had appeared in the sky did Ye Meng finally receive some respite, at which point she hauled her exhausted body out of bed to make some dinner.

However, at the dinner table, she was so feeble that she was barely able to hold onto her chopsticks.

"Do you need me to feed you?" Fang Che asked in a concerned manner.

"No, no! I'm fine!" Ye Meng hurriedly replied.

If she were to allow Fang Che to feed her, one thing would definitely lead to another, and before long, they would end up in bed once again!

With that in mind, her survival instincts immediately kicked in, and she began frantically shoveling food into her own mouth to show Fang Che that she didn't need any help.

"I made a breakthrough to the eighth-rank Lord tier recently," Ye Meng reported in a quiet voice.

"So the dual cultivation really is working!"

"I feel like I'm progressing too quickly," Ye Meng hurriedly said in a panic. "My foundation has become a little unstable, so I should slow down a little."

"That's not a problem. After dinner, we can do some sparring to help you consolidate your foundation."

Thus, the two of them sparred for two hours out in the yard after dinner, and Fang Che didn't show any mercy at all, beating Ye Meng until she was black and blue.

At the end, he even had the audacity to look upon her with disdain as he urged, "Hurry up and get rid of the swelling! You look hideous right now!"

Ye Meng stormed into the room in a furious fit, only to hear Fang Che call out from behind her: "Never show your back to an enemy!"

Immediately thereafter, she received a kick up the backside, sending her sprawling forward onto the bed.

She let loose an enraged scream of frustration as she pounded her pillow with all her might.

How could you do this to me? I'm your wife!

Fang Che walked into her room with a jar of expensive ointment, then said, "I'll apply some ointment for you. Right now, you're sorely lacking in practical combat experience."

Ye Meng laid face-down on the bed, unwilling to speak.

"Take off your clothes!" Fang Che urged. "How am I supposed to apply ointment to you otherwise?"

He then jumped onto the bed to strip off Ye Meng's clothes despite her protests, and before long, what was supposed to have been a treatment of her injuries quickly turned into a second round of spear training...

***

Later that night, Fang Che got dressed and made his way out into the courtyard on his own for some spear training... As in actual spear training.

Ye Meng had already fallen asleep.

It was still two hours before midnight.

At this point, his divine metal was already over 95% of the way to taking on the form of a finished spear, but instead of summoning it from his consciousness, he picked up another spear from the weapons rack in the courtyard instead.

From there, he sprang up into the air and took to the sky.

In all honesty, he didn't want to go, but he couldn't just turn down a secret invitation from Dong Changfeng.

He could even already guess why Dong Changfeng wanted to see him.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Before long, he had already arrived at the northern city gates, but all of a sudden, a sense of overwhelming fear and foreboding flooded into his consciousness, stopping him cold in his tracks.

In this moment, he felt closer to death than ever, at least in this lifetime.

Standing on the vantage point of the city walls, he frantically scoured his surroundings, but didn't see anything amiss.

However, the sense of peril in his heart didn't abate in the slightest.

"Why did you stop?"

A voice had suddenly rung out directly behind Fang Che, so close that he could feel their breath ruffle the back of his head as they spoke.

A layer of goosebumps instantly broke out over Fang Che's entire body as he swung around in a blind panic.

"Who's there?!"

He found himself face-to-face with a thin, white-robed man with incredibly sallow and sunken cheeks, as well as a pair of eyes that glowed like a couple of ghostly flames in the night.

He was like a zombie that had crawled straight out of a graveyard, but he was standing ramrod-straight as he examined Fang Che with an indifferent expression.

Even though their eyes were roughly level with one another, it felt to Fang Che like the white-robed man was standing far above in a position of near-unmatched superiority.

In this instant, Fang Che felt his breath constrict in his throat, while all of the blood in his entire body seemed to have congealed.

He was immediately able to identify the white-robed man standing before him, even though he had only ever caught a single fleeting glance of the man across both of his lifetimes.

It was the wielder of the White Bone Dream Shattering Spear, Duan Xiyang!