Chapter 145: The Again-Abandoned Little Packrat

Translator: Minotauruz

At another part of the Mystic Woods, the ground suddenly lit up with an intense, eerie blue light. Then when that blue light faded, Jun Xiaomo, Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen fell from the sky and landed straight on the ground that was covered in leaves.

Jun Xiaomo was relatively unscathed from the fall. Ye Xiuwen had operated his wind-related spells just in time to catch her and soften their landing. However, the stupefied Rong Ruihan had plunged straight into the ground and landed with a sickening thud.

Fortunately, Rong Ruihan was well built and sturdy, to say the least. The rough landing barely left any lasting injuries on him as well.

Ye Xiuwen held onto Jun Xiaomo by her shoulders as they slowly descended to the ground.

Ye Xiuwen immediately noticed that Jun Xiaomo’s body temperature was shockingly low, and he furrowed his brows.

Pfft... As soon as they had landed on the floor, a mouthful of blood sprayed from Jun Xiaomo’s mouth. Some of her crimson-red blood had inadvertently landed on Ye Xiuwen’s clothes as well, but she no longer had the strength within her to even apologize to him.

If not for the fact that Ye Xiuwen were supporting her right now, she would have collapsed straight onto the ground.

“Xiaomo!” Ye Xiuwen’s heart constricted with anxiety. He quickly retrieved a bottle of recovery pills from his Interspatial Ring, poured out two pills, and fed them directly to Jun Xiaomo.

Jun Xiaomo was completely in a stupor by now, and she would not swallow anything she was fed. Nevertheless, Ye Xiuwen forcibly shoved the medicinal pills into her mouth. He even pulled down her lower lips in order to stuff the pills into her mouth.

Jun Xiaomo’s nose picked up the fragrance from the medicinal pills, and she could feel the external force pressing against her lips. Although she did not have the strength to lift her head or even open her eyes, she could only imagine the look of anxiety on Ye Xiuwen’s face right now.

In order to reassure her martial brother, she mustered the last of her strengths and forced herself to swallow the medicinal pills.

Then, Jun Xiaomo struggled to catch her breath, before she finally managed to painstakingly wipe off the blood stains at the side of her lips. Even then, her head continued to hang limply as she did all this.

A ray of sunlight peeked through the canopy and landed on Jun Xiaomo’s body, warmly illuminating the grim, horrific sights on the rest of her body.

“Xiaomo...” Ye Xiuwen called out softly to her.

He knew that the parting scene involving the little packrat must have left Jun Xiaomo’s heart feeling incredibly uneasy.

“Martial brother, I can’t take it anymore. I’d like to sit on the floor.” Jun Xiaomo responded feebly without revealing any trace of the emotions in her heart.

Ye Xiuwen retrieved an animal fur rug from his Interspatial Ring and set it down on the floor that was strewn with leaves. Then, he supported Jun Xiaomo as she took her seat on the rug.

Once she sat down, Jun Xiaomo buried her head in her knees, and Ye Xiuwen could no longer see her face.

Ye Xiuwen grimaced. Jun Xiaomo rarely revealed such a weak and vulnerable side to anyone.

Despite the danger and despondence of her circumstances earlier, Jun Xiaomo had never for a single moment revealed any trace of cowardice or dread. She had continued to battle on valiantly and courageously, working hard to ensure that she would not become a burden to Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen.

Such a display of maturity was not something that was consistent with a child who had been pampered growing up. Instead, the display of her sensibility was something incredibly heartrending, even to Ye Xiuwen.

Ye Xiuwen half-knelt to the floor to lower his stance. Then, he patted Jun Xiaomo’s head gingerly as he consoled her, “Xiaomo, you’ve already done extremely well. About the little packrat...this was all something that none of us could have anticipated.”

Jun Xiaomo shuddered slightly, causing Ye Xiuwen to mistakenly think that he had accidentally touched Jun Xiaomo’s wounds. Just as he was about to retract his hand, he noticed Jun Xiaomo ferociously clenching her fists together.

Then, a soft, choking sound came from where Jun Xiaomo had buried her head. Her head was still in her knees, but Ye Xiuwen knew at this moment that Jun Xiaomo was in tears.

“This is already the third time...this is the third time that I’ve abandoned my little packrat...”

“It’s such a small little thing, so I always think that the enemies wouldn’t notice it. Then, whenever something happens, it’s always the first thing to be abandoned and left behind...”

“It must be extremely afraid right? That’s why it’s come looking for me so anxiously.”

“I’m not qualified to be its owner, yet that silly thing keeps following me so obsequiously... And it was even sillier this time... Why did it have to block that arrow for me? Its body is so small, how could it possibly withstand the power of that arrow...”

“What do I do? I wish the one injured had been me instead...”

It had to be said that the arrow had been aimed directly at Jun Xiaomo’s heart. If that arrow had struck her earlier, she would almost certainly be in her final moments right now.

Despite that, Jun Xiaomo still felt that such an outcome was far better than if her little packrat had blocked that arrow for her.

In her eyes, there was no way that her little packrat could survive that arrow. Therefore, an immense sense of guilt and remorse washed over her and pressed heavily against her heart, causing her breath to become shallow.

All her memories with her little packrat surfaced in her mind, one by one. That small white fluffball had always remained so obsequiously in its little bag. It had to be said that the little bag had been designed precisely to restrict its movement to begin with, yet it had never once complained about it. In fact, it had rarely caused any trouble for Jun Xiaomo at all.

On the other hand, it would even brandish its own claws at enemies far bigger than itself so as to protect Jun Xiaomo. There were even times when it would even cheer Jun Xiaomo up in her times of sorrow by rubbing its head gingerly in her palm.

It had previously saved Ye Xiuwen’s life once; and it had just saved her life as well.

Yet how had she treated her little packrat? Every time she was forced to make a difficult decision, she had invariably relegated her little packrat to playing second fiddle. In other words, she had abandoned her little packrat, time and again.

In fact, hadn’t the little packrat always seen me as its only source of shelter and protection? I should logically reciprocate this by caring more for such a weak and small creature like it. But in the end...

Jun Xiaomo thoughts about the little packrat froze in the moment that the arrow shot through its body. Her body began to shiver even more vigorously.

Was the little packrat very scared when he got hit by the arrow? Would it be hurt and disappointed by the fact that it had been abandoned again?

Ye Xiuwen keenly picked up on the fact that Jun Xiaomo’s emotions were quickly spiraling out of control. He managed to hold onto her in time and give her a big, warm embrace.

There was nothing he could say to console her right now, so Ye Xiuwen simply patted Jun Xiaomo’s back slowly as she attempted to calm her down.

“Martial brother, I want to go back there to look for my little packrat.” Jun Xiaomo lifted her head as she muttered with a hoarse voice.

Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were even traces of blood coming from her lower lips where she had earlier bit down on viciously.

Ye Xiuwen’s face immediately grew sullen, “What can you do if you go back? Do you want the little packrat’s sacrifice to have been in vain?!”

“But...perhaps the little packrat isn’t dead yet...” Jun Xiaomo choked and sputtered.

She knew that the odds were low, but she still had to give it a shot.

She did not want to abandon her little packrat again. Even...even if it was reduced to nothing more than a small little corpse, she still wanted to bring that corpse back with her.

Ye Xiuwen could tell what exactly was running through Jun Xiaomo’s mind right now. His heart sank, but he firmly held Jun Xiaomo by her shoulders and forced her to look into his own eyes as he sternly rebuked her with indignation in his eyes, “What can you do even if the little packrat isn’t dead?! Bring it back? Do you have the ability to do so? Don’t you forget for a single moment that the Grand Vizier and his men are still watchfully waiting for your return. Or do you think that the Grand Vizier and his men will let you off if you kneel down and come crying to them, huh?! Xiaomo, can you please wake up?!”

Jun Xiaomo looked back at Ye Xiuwen in shock. Moments later, large beads of tears began to roll out of her eyes uncontrollably.

This time, she no longer bore any thoughts of returning anymore.

Ye Xiuwen sighed heavily, before he rubbed Jun Xiaomo’s head gently and added, “Xiaomo, you have to understand that being rash and reckless isn’t a solution.”

Jun Xiaomo lowered her head as she muttered nasally, “I know that...but...”

Then, she suddenly paused. Moments later, she looked up again with a glimmer in her eyes as she spoke excitedly, “Martial brother, you’re right. I still have other methods of determining whether my little packrat is fine.”

As she said that, she scrambled about as she retrieved a blank formation scroll and some drawing materials, laid it on the floor and began to draw inscriptions on it.

What she was working on right now was similar to an X-mark Array which was used to track down a person’s location. However, it was much simpler than an X-mark Array, and the amount of time needed to prepare this array was much quicker.

Jun Xiaomo still possessed some of her little packrat’s fur in her Interspatial Ring. With these fur as mediums and the formation array she was preparing right now, she would be able to track and understand her little packrat’s condition.

After all, this was her only hope right now...

Ye Xiuwen sighed again. It dawned on him that it was probably going take a long time before Jun Xiaomo would be able to overcome this hurdle within her heart. Truth be told, the little packrat’s “sacrifice” had left complicated emotions in Ye Xiuwen’s heart as well. There was both gratitude and remorse, amongst other things. But his relationship with the little packrat had been a far cry from Jun Xiaomo’s relationship with it. Furthermore, as the only person thinking rationally among the trio right now, he knew that he was the one who had to make all the necessary preparations for their next move.

Thus, Ye Xiuwen gazed into the distance as his expressions remained sullen.

This was because he knew that they had only temporarily avoided a life-threatening crisis. They were not in the clear yet.

The strength of their trio was truly too weak compared to the Grand Vizier’s strength and the depth of his resources.

This predicament we’re in...can we really break out of it?

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On the other side, the little packrat whom Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen thought had “sacrificed” itself rolled on the floor twice. Then, it shuddered for a moment before it immediately got back to its feet.

Its body was enshrouded with a thick layer of demonic energy, and it was precisely this demonic energy around its body that had acted as a buffer, preventing that ice arrow from penetrating its body.

When the ice arrow had earlier arrived at the little packrat’s body, the demonic energy around the little packrat’s body had somehow “devoured” the ice arrow.

Notwithstanding that, the ice arrow’s impact still struck the little packrat heavily. This was the reason why it had fallen back onto the ground.

The little packrat was indeed injured, but its injuries were light. They were the kind that would recover on its own after a few days of rest.

Squeak squeak... When the little packrat came back to its senses, it immediately scampered back to where Jun Xiaomo and the rest had been. Yet all it saw was an empty formation diagram.

This formation array had already been spent, and it was now completely useless.

Squeak squeak squeak...

Xiaomo ah...

The little packrat spoke in a language only it could understand. It lowered its head as it continued to call out Jun Xiaomo’s name.

Its injuries were light, but it felt as though its heart had been thoroughly torn to shreds by this turn of events.

It had been abandoned once again.

Even though it knew that Jun Xiaomo had not done this on purpose, it was still immensely heartbroken.

Why is it that the others never get left behind? Why am I always the one who gets abandoned?

The little packrat curled itself into a ball as it laid on the empty formation array in dismay. It even scratched the formation diagram in its frustrations.

But no matter what, it knew that Jun Xiaomo was never going to return to this place.

“Isn’t this Jun Xiaomo’s little packrat?” A hateful voice called out from above the little packrat’s head.

Squeak squeak! There was no need to look. The little packrat immediately knew who the owner of that voice was – it was the person that it absolutely detested, Yu Wanrou.

It lifted its head and bared its teeth at Yu Wanrou as it brandished its claws.

But very soon, it discovered that Yu Wanrou was not alone. There were several others who had crowded around it, including the Dawn Sect disciples, the Grand Vizier and his lackeys.

At this moment, all of them looked at the little packrat with cold, vicious eyes.

The little packrat’s plump little body shuddered.

By now, about a third of his strength had returned to its body. Even though it did not have the ability to revert to his original form and hurt the people around right now, escaping was still a possibility.

Furthermore, it had earlier secretly retrieved an invisible Transmittance Talisman, dripped a drop of its own blood onto it and sent a message to its parents.

I hope father and mother can get here before I get caught... The little packrat shivered as it thought.

But it knew that its hope was thin at best.