*Slurp

Swallowing spoonful after spoonful of the pottage, Yang Ze couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder. Even though it might seem simple, the thing was extremely delicious. He didn't know what Lin Meilin put in it, and he didn't dare to ask, but this didn't prevent him from enjoying a warm meal after an entire day of running like a horse.

"Is it that tasty?" Lin Meilin merely raised an eyebrow, but the corner of her ears turned red as if she was embarrassed.

Yang Ze could only sneer in his heart at her impeccable acting skill before nodding in response.

"In that case, please take more." Lin Meilin kept on pouring more and more pottage for him, afraid that he wouldn't have his fill.

Yang Ze, too, didn't refuse. He kept on eating one mouthful after another till the entire pot was empty.

It wasn't until everything was finished that he smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"This..." The middle-aged man beside him could only watch helplessly as Yang Ze emptied the entire pot.

Looking at the empty wooden bowl in his hand, which was dry, he almost wanted to cry. He hadnt even gotten to eat. He was about to say something when he felt a pair of eyes locking on him.

"Gulp!" Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he merely let out a smile that was uglier than crying while averting his gaze and walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh." It was only now that Yang Ze seemed to have noticed what he had done.

"This..." For a moment, his face was flushed with embarrassment as he put the bowl in his hand down while looking at Lin Meilin with an apologetic smile.

"My mother used to say..." Picking up his bowl, Lin Meilin washed it with water before speaking further. "That a person who could eat was someone who had an honest heart."

"If you are still not full, how about preparing another pot for you?"

"No. No need." Yang Ze hurriedly shook his head as his eyes occasionally glanced at her as well as the middle-aged man who was now brooding in the distance.

"Mmmm." Lin Meilin merely nodded in response as she put aside the bowl, the pot and the few cooking items before adding a bunch of dry wood into the campfire.

Listening to the crackling sound as well as the warm temperature and a full stomach... Yang Ze felt a rare sense of peace.

"What are you thinking about?" Just when he was sitting there in peace, Lin Meilin's charming voice sounded in his ears.

Yang Ze didn't give an immediate reply but thought for a moment before deciding to play along with her.

"I was just wondering why a family like yours would travel so far away just to sell some medicines?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong..."

"I admire your courage and what you are willing to do for your family. But there are definitely better ways to sell the herbs, right?"

"Why don't you sell it in your city, or a nearby one?"

"Surely there would be buyers for them there as well!"

"..." Lin Meilin merely narrowed her eyes, wondering if this little bastard saw through her disguise. Otherwise, why would he keep on asking about her destination and reason for going there when he had already told him so?

"It's because these herbs are for someone important. And the profit that we make is almost thirty times higher than what we earn in our town."

"I see." Yang Ze merely nodded in response.

"In that case, why don't you cultivate?"

"I mean, won't it be easy for you to run on these escort missions if you have sufficient strength?"

"I can't cultivate." Lin Meilin's words were sharp as if Yang Ze had touched a sensitive topic.

"Then..." Before Yang Ze could speak further, Lin Meilin turned around before gazing deeply into his eyes.

"Does the Young Hero want to humiliate this humble woman by asking these questions repeatedly?"

"....." Lin Meilin's words caught Yang Ze by surprise as he merely let out an embarrassed smile while cursing her for being such a vixen in his heart.

The two of them didn't say anything else for a while.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes passed and the middle-aged man once again came near them that Lin Meilin broke the silence.

"By the way, you seemed to be in a hurry."

"If you don't mind me asking, are you going there for any particular purpose?"

"Maybe we can help you out."

Yang Ze didn't give an immediate answer but thought for a while. Lin Meilin was the most mysterious woman that he had ever seen after coming to this world. He didn't know what she wanted or what she was planning. But one thing was for sure... she was strong...

And as the matriarch of the Lin family, her knowledge was bound to be vast.

Perhaps... just perhaps, she could help him out. Perhaps he could ask her about the materials and the locations needed for Spiritwing evolution.

With this in mind, Yang Ze didn't hesitate anymore.

"I do have something I am looking for."

Speaking in a soft voice, Yang Ze took out a piece of paper upon which he had written every single material needed for the evolution before handing it over to Lin Meilin.

"I am looking for these."

"Do you know any of them?"

Lin Meilin simply nodded in response before taking the paper and looking at it under the fire.

Initially, Lin Meilin didn't seem to pay any attention to it, but the more she looked, the deeper the frown on her face became. By the time she had finished reading the list, her face was filled with confusion.

"What happened? You don't know about them?" Looking at her expression, Yang Ze's heart thumped for a moment. If even someone like Lin Meilin doesn't know about the materials, then the chances of him coming across them are slim to none. In that case, he could kiss goodbye to the little butterfly.

"Please don't doubt our young miss's knowledge." It was the middle-aged man who spoke.

"In the entire family, she is the most knowledgeable person."

'I bet.' Yang Ze muttered inside his mind, but didn't show it on his face. He merely glanced towards Lin Meilin, waiting for her answer.

"Mmm..." This time, Lin Meilin didn't keep him waiting. "I know about them all, but if you are thinking of finding them in the Tianxu trade zone, then I have some bad news for you."

The first half of her sentence made Yang Ze's eyes light up, but when he heard the latter half of her sentence, his face fell.

"Hey... It's not all that bad." Noticing the changes in his expression, Lin Meilin let out a soft chuckle before handing the paper back to him.

"Out of these all, you can only find a handful of them there."

"As for how I know about it..." Lin Meilin merely let out a soft, teasing smile towards Yang Ze.

"Because I have seen them with my own eyes."

"HUH!?" Yang Ze almost jumped up in surprise.

"Which one?" He immediately held Lin Meilin's soft hands before asking nervously. Right now, his problem wasn't money, but the availability of these materials.

Feeling the heat off Yang Ze's hands, Lin Meilin's face flushed as she lowered her head shyly before speaking in a mosquito-like voice.

"Feathergrass."

Lin Meilin's words made Yang Ze's breathing stop as he thought about the evolution that uses this material.

[Zephyr Spiritwing: Light as air, it becomes one with the breeze. Its flight leaves trails of sparkling mist that heal allies or confuse foes. Few can touch it, and fewer can follow.]

[Evolution Process: Must survive three natural storms before being fed with Feathergrass, and then it needs to moult while hanging from a cliffside where winds never stop blowing.]

In that very instant, Yang Ze decided to pursue this route. This was the only route that didn't require many materials, and the evolution conditions were rather simple compared to other ones.

He only needed to find a cliff with strong winds and three natural storms.

"Just one more thing..." Since she knew about the Feathergrass, chances were that she knew about a cliff or a place covered in storm as well.

"Do you know about a cliff where the wind never stops blowing?"

"Um?" Feeling Yang Ze's hand tightening, Lin Meilin's face flushed even more as she nodded in response.

"Just three hundred miles away from the Tianxu trade zone is a small mountain range. There you will be able to find many cliffs like that."

Yang Ze's hands holding hers tightened as he ignored her made-up embarrassment and blush before asking his last question.

"Just one last question..."

"Is there any place where there are constant storms?"

"Huh?" This time, it was Lin Meilin's turn to be surprised. What was this bastard even trying to do? First, he wanted the Feathergrass that was extremely precious even for the Core Condensation realm powerhouses, and then he wanted a cliff where the wind doesn't stop, and finally a place where there are constant storms.

The more she thought about it, the less sense it all made. Wasn't this little bastard here to heal his butterfly? What was he even doing looking for all these places? Does he want to go sightseeing?

In the end, Lin Meilin still decided to answer honestly.

No matter where he goes, he will always be under her watch.

"I know of a place... but the place is rather obscure and difficult to find."

"How about it?" This time, it was she who held Yang Ze's hand gently.

"I will accompany the Young Hero to that place."

With this sentence, her face turned entirely red from embarrassment as she lowered her head while sneakily stealing glances from him.

"This..." Yang Ze's corner of his lips twitched when he heard her proposal. Just as he had suspected, she was definitely not going to let him go by himself.

But since she knew of such a location, Yang Ze was destined to accept her conditions. He didn't have much time to squander around. First, he needed to save the spiritwing and make it evolve, and then he needed to head back in time for his marriage.

He couldn't risk wasting his time by refusing Lin Meilin and searching for items and these environments all by himself.

"Fine." In the end, he was only able to utter a single sentence before exhaling a mouthful of air.

"Great, then it's decided." Lin Meilin bloomed with joy as she let out a gentle smile, but her hand never left Yang Ze's. It was as if she didn't want to let go of him.

It wasn't until Yang Ze gently prised them free from her that she turned her head in embarrassment while focusing back on the flame, intending to divert her attention to it.

"....." Yang Ze kept on looking at her, acting like a young maiden in love while admiring her flawless appearance.

Had he not known her true identity, he might have believed that he encountered love at first sight after the hero saved the beauty.

"Let's take some rest. We will head tomorrow to the Tianxu trade zone."

Yang Ze merely nodded in response while closing his eyes.

With his strength at the Vein Expansion realm, he didn't even need to go to sleep, but the moment he closed his eyes, he felt his mind relax, and before he could sense something was wrong, he immediately drifted into a sleep.

The moment Yang Ze fell down, the middle-aged man who was still sitting there suddenly stood up with a face full of awe while kneeling in front of Lin Meilin.

"Senior... If you have any further orders, this humble servant is here to fulfil them."

Lin Meilin didn't even lift her head to look at him. Currently, her eyes were focused on Yang Ze's face, as if wanting to see through that damned skin mask.

"Senior..." After not receiving any response, the man spoke again and sure enough, this time Lin Meilin finally focused on him.

"Let's see..." Lin Meilin's charming voice echoed in his ears as she spoke further.

"Since he had accepted my proposal of accompanying him, I don't think I need you anymore."

"Senior?" Before the middle-aged man could even understand the meaning behind those words, Lin Meilin simply waved her hand, and with it, the man's body exploded like a watermelon before his flesh, blood and fragments of his bones all gathered into a single small ball of blood before it vanished into the horizon.

"Now then..." With a smile, Lin Meilin gently touched Yang Ze's face.

"What should I do with you?"

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