Chapter 29: Touched

Xu Haobo’s lips twitched as he watched Xu Ziyan follow Xu Haofei away. He wanted to call out to Xu Haofei and secretly tell him about Xu Ziyan’s situation. But looking at Xu Ziyan’s determined retreating back, he softly sighed in his heart and ultimately did not make a sound.

Following Xu Haofei along the right fork in the road were twenty new Outer Hall Disciples and thirty Senior Outer Hall Disciples from Xu Ziyan’s group, along with fifty Inner Hall Disciples. In terms of both cultivation level and status, the new disciples were the weakest, so they very consciously walked at the very back of the group.

“Big Sister Ziyan!” Xu Li, who was walking closely beside Xu Ziyan, said quietly, “We really are being used as cannon fodder.”

Xu Ziyan grabbed Xu Li’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, saying softly, “Little Sister Li, are you afraid of fighting?”

Xu Li gently shook her head and said, “That’s not it. It’s just facing death, that’s all. I just feel somewhat unwilling in my heart.”

Xu Ziyan turned her head to look at the expressions of the other new disciples around them. Their faces were uniformly serious, revealing nothing. But when they saw Xu Ziyan looking at them, their eyes immediately betrayed the unwillingness in their hearts. Xu Ziyan sighed softly to herself, knowing that saying anything now would be superfluous. She simply quietly raised her right hand, clenched it into a fist, and swept her gaze over everyone, her eyes filled with firmness. Seeing Xu Ziyan’s action, the new disciples immediately also clenched their fists. Their gazes towards Xu Ziyan filled with trust, and then their own eyes also became resolute.

Seeing the emotions of the new disciples stabilize, Xu Ziyan nodded silently and sighed softly in her heart:

“All I can do is encourage them. Their fate depends on their future luck.”

At that moment, a male voice suddenly reached her ears: “Ziyan, Hall Master Xu truly has commanding talent! Considering the overall situation, taking care of the big picture, digging traps, setting up mechanisms, and now sending us to lay down the first line of defense. He really is a brilliant strategist in our clan!”

Xu Ziyan turned her head and saw that Xu Lin had come to her side without her noticing. She let out a soft sound of surprise and said:

“Senior Brother Lin, you were also assigned to the first line of defense?”

“Yes!” Xu Lin laughed “hehe” and said, “I spotted you right away just now. I didn’t expect you hadn’t noticed me.”

Xu Ziyan felt the gazes of all the new disciples focusing on her now. Her face couldn’t help but redden, and she said softly:

“Ah! We new disciples are all of low cultivation level, and we were all thinking about the future encounter with the Monster Beasts. How could we compare to you Inner Hall Disciples, who still have time to look around everywhere?”

Xu Lin said with a bitter smile, “Where did I look around everywhere? I just saw you immediately!”

“Ah?”

A chorus of soft “Ah” sounds came from the new disciples behind them. Xu Ziyan glared fiercely at Xu Lin, her face flushing red again in an instant. She hurriedly changed the subject:

“Senior Brother Lin, we are about to fight the Monster Beasts. Aren’t you afraid?”

Xu Lin also heard the soft collective “Ah” from the new disciples. He gave an awkward laugh and said, “What is there to be afraid of? Monster Beasts are full of treasures from head to toe. Besides, those who practice cultivation must grow through battle. Otherwise, why would there be the concept of going out for training? With such a good opportunity right in front of us, we should grasp it properly and train ourselves more.”

Seeing Xu Lin’s face full of heroic spirit, Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but feel admiration in her heart. She nodded and said:

“Senior Brother Lin is right. With such a mental state, your future cultivation level will be limitless.”

Xu Lin became embarrassed from Xu Ziyan’s praise, and his face actually reddened slightly. Seeing this, Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but chuckle. Seeing Xu Ziyan’s light laugh, Xu Lin became even more embarrassed. For a moment, the atmosphere actually became ambiguous. Both of them fell silent.

At that time, the sky began to snow heavily again. The marching group gradually moved up towards the high slope. Peaks rose on both sides of the forked path, and because of this, a fierce mountain wind roared into the passage. In an instant, the wind was swift and the snow dense.

Xu Ziyan followed the group as they hurried along the mountain path. The cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, beat against her face. The biting mountain wind whipped up the hem of her clothes, making it flap loudly. Xu Ziyan took a deep breath, squinted her eyes, and looked up at the sky. The sky was filled with swirling, thickly falling snowflakes, just as confused as her current state of mind.

She had inexplicably come to this world, inexplicably become someone who practiced cultivation, and now she was inexplicably about to fight Monster Beasts she had never faced before. Just then, the group came to a stop. They had reached the first line of defense. Xu Ziyan raised her eyes and looked into the distance down the forked path. Suddenly, she felt a rush of a wild, violent, and ferocious aura surging towards them.

Xu Ziyan’s eyelids twitched. Remembering the beacon fire of Fang Tian City, she couldn’t help but think to herself that this Beast Tide was probably going to be really big.

Xu Lin was now standing beside Xu Ziyan, also gazing into the distance. The wind and snow beat against his tall and somewhat thin frame, but his eyes were filled with fighting spirit. Turning his head, he saw that Xu Ziyan’s expression was somewhat lost. Thinking she was afraid, Xu Lin couldn’t help but gently take Xu Ziyan’s hand and whisper:

“Ziyan, don’t be afraid!”

Xu Ziyan let out a soft sigh, blinked, and her eyes instantly became as clear and bright as water. She gave Xu Lin a faint smile and said:

“Thank you, Senior Brother Lin. Ziyan is not afraid. I was just thinking about some things from the past.”

“Hmm!” Xu Lin nodded, looking as if he understood. But then he immediately said, “Little Sister Ziyan, if this defense line cannot be held, you run back first. Run back to Hall Master Xu. I will cover you.”

Hearing Xu Lin’s words, Xu Ziyan felt somewhat moved in her heart. She didn’t know if Xu Lin said this because it was her, or if he would say it to any girl. But she still looked at Xu Lin and said softly:

“Senior Brother Lin, thank you. But I won’t run away alone. We must always follow Uncle Twelve’s orders.”

Xu Lin thought for a moment and also smiled, saying no more. But his demeanor showed that he would definitely protect Xu Ziyan. Seeing Xu Lin’s expression, Xu Ziyan’s heart was unavoidably touched. She found that at this moment, Xu Lin had actually stepped a little bit into her heart.

At that time, Xu Haofei began to assign people. He divided the hundred disciples into five groups. Each group had ten Inner Hall Disciples and ten Outer Hall Disciples, stationed respectively at the five small paths leading to the fork entrance.

Xu Lin originally wanted to be in the same group as Xu Ziyan. But in the end, Xu Ziyan persuaded him to join a group with ten other new disciples, asking him to take care of those ten new disciples who were separated from her. Watching Xu Lin’s retreating back as he finally led those ten new disciples away, Xu Ziyan’s mood felt somewhat gloomy.

In her heart, she somewhat liked Xu Lin. But now, facing unknown dangers, she didn’t dare to invest her feelings. She sighed softly in her heart, thinking it was better to maintain the current situation.