[天命为凰]

Untitled Part 40

040- Striking the Tiger

Encirclement hunting was really exciting, although the patrolling of the surroundings was the complete opposite.

While thousands of beast ran amok inside, those in the surroundings could only kill the occasional few that had escaped the encirclement and spent most of their time just counting ants out of boredom.

The team dispersed; Yi Jiao went the same way as Lu Mingshu.

After one round of patrolling, seeing that nothing was out of order, Yi Jiao fished out a paper bag. "Tada!" It was actually a bag of melon seeds!

As the two squatted down to munch on melon seeds, Lu Mingshu asked, "Senior Sister, do we just keep watch like this?"

"Since we got this task assigned to us, what choice do we have?" The bored to death Yi Jiao spit out the melon seed shell.

Lu Mingshu hung her head down listlessly. She did not attend the hunt in order to idle her time away. As Liu Jizhen could not cultivate, there were no offerings for Green Jade Valley. Thus, the resources she could use for cultivation were limited. This hunt was not only a chance for her to temper her skill, but also a convenient opportunity to acquire more resources. For the small-scale hunt in the Heavenly Wheel was ultimately, a secret to be kept.

Yi Jiao stole a glance at her, and said, "Given your identity, you should be pretty clear that it would be strange if nobody tried to suppress you, don't you? Even if they don't suppress you out in the open, such a small trick requires no effort at all to pull. Plus, their identity won't be revealed either. Convenient, isn't it?"

Lu Mingshu was stunned for a moment. "This was intentional?"

"Not sure." Yi Jiao continued to crack the melon seeds. "Someone naturally had to patrol the surroundings, so it isn't strange for a small team like us to be assigned such a task."

Thus, it would be an upright action, even if someone were to raise their doubts?

"But, there is still Gao Xiang and Senior Brother Shao!" Lu Mingshu turned her head over and spotted Shao Zhengyang's faintly discernible silhouette patrolling alongside Wei Peng in the mountain forest, quite a distance away.

Yi Jiao scoffed, "Seems like you don't know the current situation. Elder Yu Wen's faction has been so greatly suppressed these few years, that they had to tuck their tails in and lower their heads! As for Junior Brother Gao, why do you think the Grand Elder made such an arrangement?"

Lu Mingshu wasn't dumb but she just didn't have any sources of information. Hence, with a little hint from Yi Jiao, she understood right away. "Martial Grandfather Zhuo had the intention of protecting me, by letting Gao Xiang stay with me? Or is it an intention to protect Senior Brother Shao?"

As long as Zhuo Jiangui was around, nobody would attempt anything in fear of offending the line of Willow Woods. Although Zhuo Jiangui did not meddle in the sect's power struggle, with his position in the sect, every faction had to show him respect. By letting Gao Xiang enter this small team, he was declaring his stand – the little ones had to be protected even if their masters were given up on.

"Though I don't know who he intends to protect, the meaning of his action should be so." Yi Jiao continued, "Don't judge by how nice I am to you now. I won't be having any dealings with you anymore once we return to the sect. I don't have any Grand Elder backing me up, so who would be responsible if I were to be a target because I got too close to you?"

Lu Mingshu silently lowered her head. What Yi Jiao said were all facts.

Living together for so many days, they naturally cared for each other. Looking at her current state, Yi Jiao sighed, "You really should not have stayed in the Nine Jade Palace. Given your talent, even the top 3 sects would gladly accept you. Why bother suffering here ..."