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“Understood.”

“Traveling Buddha, cut down a few trees and construct a pontoon bridge.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Traveling Buddha, I’m a little thirsty.”

“Honeyed green tea suit your taste? I mixed some up before leaving.”

“I guess. Give me the canteen.”

The other members thought that Traveling Buddha, with his supreme Vajra skill, would be the undisputed commander. Jiang Zhibei and Du Yu were extremely excited to be commanded by a mighty figure like him. They had felt truly fortunate, for if they served the Little Old Buddha well, they could avoid being bullied around by other warriors in the future.

But it was the thin Xia Fan, with his nose more sensitive than a dog’s, who was ordering Traveling Buddha around, even giving Traveling Buddha the duty of serving tea and pouring water.

Even more bizarre was that Traveling Buddha had accepted it easily, taking on the tasks of clearing the path and setting up pontoons.

“Why don’t we help Big Brother Traveling Buddha with some of the work? He seems rather tired from all the stuff he has to do,” Jiang Zhibei and Du Yu said. They volunteered primarily because they couldn’t watch as Xia Fan ordered the divine warrior descended from the heavens to go and chop trees!

“It’s nothing. Traveling Buddha has a much better constitution than the two of you,” Xia Fan said indifferently.

“Big Brother Traveling Buddha, I think we’ve already traveled far enough. Why don’t we hide here and erect a shelter?” Du Yu and Jiang Zhibei cautiously asked for Traveling Buddha’s opinion. In their hearts, Traveling Buddha was the real backbone of the squad.

“You guys are so annoying. For things that need thinking like that, it’s better to let Xia Fan handle them,” Traveling Buddha said, blind to their desires.

Uh…

Jiang Zhibei and Du Yu felt like their worlds were being turned upside-down. It was clearly Traveling Buddha who had the dominant combat power, but he was willing to listen to Xia Fan’s commands. Wasn’t it supposed to be Might makes Right? Why did the guy with the sharp nose end up holding the reins of power?

Le Jiajia had been quiet this whole time. Today, she appeared heroic and elegant, the tight green combat uniform showing off her graceful curves, her exquisite face like a representation of all things beautiful. It was just that behind her beautiful face was a coldness that was difficult to approach.

There had been only that one time when she had ever gotten close to someone. Xia Fan had been crying after reading his father’s letter, and in that small bathroom, Le Jiajia had mysteriously appeared in the small bathroom, sitting on the edge of the bathtub bobbing her long slender legs as she said, ‘My next-door neighbor was crying, so I naturally had to come and look…’

‘Tsk, you don’t even know how to lie. Is there any wind in this room?’

The day Xia Fan read the letter from his father was the most fragile moment in Xia Fan’s life. For some reason, Le Jiajia had suddenly felt sympathetic and followed the sounds of Xia Fan’s weeping to find him. On that day, at that particular time, the two of them had put down their disguises and faced each other with their true selves for a few minutes. But as time passed, they had put their masks back on.

99.99% of the time, Xia Fan wasn’t that fragile. He was a descendant of the Fiend Blade Skywings, possessing astonishing intelligence, talent in multiple fields, and a sharp and calm personality. Even the Little Old Buddha was willing to serve Xia Fan without asking why.

Le Jiajia was the same. 99.99% of the time, she wouldn’t feel sympathy for anyone. As a demon Bloodline descendant, she didn’t fit in with the rest of the world. She was always in a corner, quiet and alone, never opening her heart to anyone.

If there was anything to blame, it was that their personalities were both too strong. Xia Fan essentially cried only once every hundred years, and Le Jiajia felt sympathy just as rarely, and they had happened to meet at the intersection of these moments. The vast majority of time, they didn’t need the sympathy or help of anyone, stubbornly living on like the most tenacious of weeds.

—

“Rest for a while. Traveling Buddha, come with me.”

After Xia Fan gave his orders, he went off with Traveling Buddha. Jiang Zhibei and Du Yu whispered to each other. In their eyes, Traveling Buddha was a divine warrior who held up the heavens, a formidable existence who even high-ranked warriors would have to come out and bow to. But the powerful Traveling Buddha was like Xia Fan’s lackey, which was a powerful shock to them.

“Xia Fan is so cool. Look at how he lightly waves his arm and says ‘Traveling Buddha, come with me’, and then Traveling Buddha immediately goes over. Who would believe it if they didn’t see it with their own eyes?”

“Ha, it seems like we were wrong to try and flatter Traveling Buddha. We should have tried to get on Xia Fan’s good side instead…”

As Le Jiajia listened to Jiang Zhibei and Du Yu whisper to each other, she fanned herself with her hand. As she looked at Xia Fan’s rather slender figure, she gradually began to recall that stuffy afternoon. She had been curled up in a corner of her room, her windows shut so that the place was pitch-black even in the middle of the day. While she was curled up in the corner, she heard sobbing from the room next door. That sound made Le Jiajia think of her father.

Her father was a very tough man. When he had married her mother, who was considered a demoness, he had been expelled from his family and was mocked by the entire world. All of his best friends gradually distanced themselves from him.

Despite the injustice, her father had always been optimistic, taking care of his family and wife, ensuring that his wife and daughter weren’t harmed in any way. If anyone displayed contempt toward Le Jiajia, he would immediately step in front of Le Jiajia and fight for her sake. That figure had been rather thin, but it seemed particularly large and impressive in her eyes.

But on the day of her grandfather’s funeral, Le Jiajia found her father crying in the basement. It was only then that she learned that when her father had gone to the funeral, he had been denied entry to the graveyard because his marriage had not been blessed by his family. Thus, he couldn’t perform his filial duties, and did not even have the right to grab some soil and sprinkle it over his father’s coffin.

From then on, Le Jiajia understood that even the toughest person could cry.

Thus, on that sultry afternoon, when Le Jiajia heard that suppressed yet heartfelt sobbing, she couldn’t help but think of her father. Unable to restrain herself, she used her spatial transmission ability to enter Xia Fan’s room and see what was going on.

Although that was her first time meeting Xia Fan, there was no sense of distance whatsoever. This stranger Xia Fan had a very special Aura. First of all, he didn’t seem to know Le Jiajia, and he was not aware that she was a demon’s daughter. Second, he liked to laugh and seemed to be very easy to talk to.

But the past was the past. Xia Fan was very powerful, and he would not cry again. Le Jiajia also kept to her corner, not letting any strangers inside.

After walking some distance, Xia Fan looked around. After confirming that no one was around, he said to Traveling Buddha, “I think I now understand what the noise is.”

“What are you playing at? Stop being so mysterious and tell me already,” Traveling Buddha grumbled.

Xia Fan chuckled and and parted some tall grass. Behind the grass was a snow-white mother leopard. Her newborn cubs were wriggling at her belly, greedily nursing from her.

“Watch out!” Traveling Buddha called out in alarm, wanting to stop Xia Fan. The leopard was sleek and muscular, more than two meters long and possessed sharp teeth and claws. The strange light it exuded indicated that this was no ordinary beast, but an extremely dangerous creature.

But Traveling Buddha saw this mother leopard lower her head and prostrate piously to Xia Fan, like a trained Husky paying respects to its master. Even her two kittens stopped drinking their mother’s milk and bowed, their little bodies trembling.

“They’re… bowing to you!?” Traveling Buddha was stunned.

Xia Fan squatted down and stroked the leopard gently. He then picked up the two kittens, hugging them to his chest. He reached out a finger to the kittens, who licked it with their little pink tongues to show their good will. It was a beautiful scene of man coexisting with beasts.

Traveling Buddha was in disbelief. “This body, the energy pulses, and those teeth! I would wager that this leopard is on the same level as the Lightning Cathead Eagles that sent us to Subduing Demon City. How did you manage to do it? Why is such a high-ranked beast bowing to you?”

Xia Fan thought it over. “It should be due to the Awakening caused by the demonic music. I’ve seemingly unlocked some sort of thought transmission ability.”

“Thought transmission?” This was the first time Traveling Buddha had heard of such an ability, blinking rapidly in confusion.

Xia Fan explained, “I learned how to control beasts from Fisherman Grandpa, but that was a kind of skill, and it was only able to control lower-level creatures like rats, sparrows, and little fish.

“But Thought Transmission is different. It’s like I’ve had a beast radar installed. The noises I’ve been hearing belong to the nearby beasts. If I’m willing to, I can establish a mental connection with them, and it’s even possible for me to control them!”

As Xia Fan spoke, he drew out a diagram on the ground with a branch. He was able to hear so many weird sounds because Thought Transmission needed to identify the beasts to be controlled, after which it established a connection.

Traveling Buddha squatted down and looked at the diagram. Stroking his chin with his right hand, he said, “I get it now. The sounds are your brain scanning the surrounding area like a radar. But how did you come to suddenly understand all of this?”

Xia Fan smiled and patted the leopard warmly on her head. “It was pure coincidence. When we entered this forest, she had just given birth. Thus, the voice that appeared in my mind was very gentle and weak, almost begging me to not hurt her. You know that high-ranked beasts are intelligent, right?

“I became immensely curious, and I started paying attention to the voice, feeling the pain from birth and the powerful love she felt for her cubs. There were also the weak voices of these two little guys. In short, it’s hard to explain. In any case, I was able to take advantage of the weak state the leopard was in from giving birth to enter her mind, and I found out that I could actually control her.”

Traveling Buddha was startled at first, and then he grew excited. “If it’s like that, then when those guys come hunting for us, can you control their flying beasts? Forcing them to land and enter my attack range?”

Xia Fan thought it over. “Although I’m still not too familiar with it, I should be able to pull it off.”

...

Traveling Buddha was delighted. “That is a powerful ability! Wonderful! I no longer have to worry about being beaten up by those guys flying in the sky. You’ll be responsible for bringing them in, and then you can leave the rest to me!”

Traveling Buddha rubbed his hands happily. This hunting test was very unfair, since the hunters were in the air while Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were stuck on the ground. Now that Xia Fan had discovered this ability to control beasts, they could avoid being bullied around by those guys!

Xia Fan frowned. “While controlling beasts is pretty nice, it seems like I’ve also stirred up some trouble.”

Traveling Buddha was startled. “What sort of trouble?”

Xia Fan looked around. “Not all beasts will listen to me. There’s this very powerful guy in the forest. He became very agitated after sensing my existence. It seems he wants to kill me!”