Chapter 91.2

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

Ever since IV-1 had left, Lin Qiming’s presence in the tour group had decreased significantly, completely different from his usual attention-seeking character. Most of the time, the other members of the tour group wouldn’t even notice his existence. Even the group that he’d been assigned to at the Ruins of Xiangxiong had forgotten his existence in the beginning. However, they remembered his presence later and assigned him a role.

Back then, Yin Baitao apologized to him, but Lin Qiming indifferently told her that this was an effect of his title.

Obviously, he knew how to protect himself very well. No one noticed whether he was forced to curry favor with IV-1 or voluntarily followed IV-1 previously, but he was indeed standing on the opposite side of other tour group members. After IV-1 disappeared, although his shackles disappeared, it also put Lin Qiming in an embarrassing situation. It would be the most sensible choice to reduce his own sense of existence and live at the fringe of the tour group.

It seemed that Jiang Hongguang and others had ignored Lin Qiming at first but now, they were able to occasionally say a few words to him on the way to the second scenic spot.

“Yes, if this is a test for us tourists, then this big fella that is comparable to a bulletproof car can instantly turn into an iron lump with a flat tire.” Jiang Hongguang sighed.

He told Yin Baitao about the army ants he had met and the experience of being chased by wild wolves in the Gobi Desert.

t/n: The name army ant is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as “raids”, a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited area.

In the other car, Fei Lezhi was driving, and Ji Hongcai was sitting co-pilot, directing Fei Lezhi.

“Lezhi, do you know why I asked you to drive the first portion of the journey?”

“There must be a reason behind Big Brother Ji’s arrangement.”

Fei Lezhi smiled, as his words happened to lift Ji Hongcai’s mood. “Hey, you have a sweet mouth, so I’ll give you a few more tips.”

Ji Hongcai was a straightforward and simple person. He liked to listen to words of flattery. In a similar vein, Fei Lezhi was also used to coaxing his elders back home. Along with Xu Yang, who was basically silent, and the Lama, the four of them got along well.

“I see that you drive very steadily, so you should have driven around all over with a car.”

“Yeah, I used to like to do self-driving tours.”

Fei Lezhi was not short of money, so he had been to many places in a free-spirited manner. This was why he had started driving a lot by himself. This time, when Ji Hongcai asked him to drive right away, Fei Lezhi began without a second thought.

However, Ji Hongcai laughed when he heard his words. “This is not a self-driving tour. If I have to put a name to it, it would be a tour where we may lose our lives.

“Have you ever driven with a flat tire while being chased by wild wolves?”

Fei Lezhi was shocked when he heard this, and said bitterly, “Big Brother Ji, I haven’t even seen a pack of wolves in the wild.”

There was a short pause before he asked worriedly, “Will there really be wild wolves chasing our car?”

“Of course, I think back when I was on the border of Inner Mongolia…”

Ji Hongcai began bragging about his adventures in Inner Mongolia. In his words, the black wolf king was described to be as big as a Tibetan mastiff. Back then, Jiang Hongguang and a few other tourists were considered newcomers, and they suffered quite a lot of injuries before they could escape from their close shave with death. A deep friendship was formed during that tour.

“Don’t let your guard down just because the first scenic spot was simple.”

Ji Hongcai opened the window and lit a cigarette. The gray and white smoke drifted out of the window with the wind, and his thoughts seemed to drift away with him. There was a tinge of regret on his face as he reminisced, “Wolf packs, wild yaks chasing cars, wild donkeys, snow leopards… We may encounter all of these dangers. For example, if we went on a tour to the rainforest or deep mountains, there would be poisonous snakes and beasts. It wouldn’t be so easy to keep our little lives intact.”

Fei Lezhi grew serious. He knew that Ji Hongcai was giving him some pointers. Indeed, although they had faced the danger of being cursed if they ate fish and the earthquake in the first scenic spot, the overall difficulty of this tour was much lower than what Fei Lezhi had expected, and he had unconsciously decreased his vigilance.

Fortunately, Ji Hongcai found out that he had relaxed in time and pointed it out.

“Even a Safe-level tour is dangerous, let alone our Difficult-level journey.”

Ji Hongcai saw that Fei Lezhi understood what he meant the minute he pointed it out, so he didn’t bother to lecture him and continued, “I instructed you to drive first because the first half of the road is usually the safest. From this afternoon onwards, we must be careful, as dangers may appear at any time. You don’t have the experience, so watch me drive and learn as much as you can.”

“Okay!” Fei Lezhi solemnly agreed.

However, in the end, he was young and good-natured and not someone with a serious personality, so he adopted his lively disposition again. Out of curiosity, he lowered his voice and asked, “Hey, Big Brother Ji, since you shared so many of your experiences with me, wouldn’t you…”

His gaze shifted towards the rearview mirror. He was referring to the Lama sitting in the back seat with Xu Yangqi. Everything about the Travel Services should be kept secret, right? But just now, Ji Hongcai discussed many issues regarding Safe-level tours and the wolves in a Difficult-level tour. Obviously, they shouldn’t let the Lama hear this.

“It’s fine. If we talk about these matters during a tour, it will automatically sound logical and normal in their ears. Our conversation will not reveal the existence of the Travel Services.”

Ji Hongcai smiled, and continued, “The power of the Travel Services is far beyond your imagination. If you don’t believe me, then ask him a question.”

“How could I even ask him a question? Big Brother Ji, stop joking with me,” Fei Lezhi said with a bitter face.

From the time he was born, Fei Lezhi held feelings of fear towards people with stern expressions, let alone a straight-faced Lama who seemed difficult to get along with. How could he ask the master: Master, do you know of the Travel Services? Who knew what his words would sound like in the Lama’s ears? To be on the safe side, it was better not to ask such questions.

“Master, did the Lama from Xiaolin Temple really ask you to pick up Brother Wei?”

“Hey, Xu Yang, you…”

Fei Lezhi didn’t expect Xu Yang to open his mouth. He immediately grew worried, fearing that Xu Yang would make the Lama angry, so he wanted to apologize on Xu Yang’s behalf.

However, he didn’t expect the Lama, who seemed serious and inhumane, to have a good temper. He was not angry when he heard Xu Yang’s straightforward question. Instead, he replied seriously, “Yes, the Lama from Xiaolin Temple had a vision of the Buddha the day before yesterday in his dreams. The Buddha told the Lama that the devil had awakened. It would cause chaos in the world, but the Buddha is merciful, and he will never see the world be reduced to a sea of suffering, so there will be an emissary to eliminate the devil…”

This Lama could speak Mandarin, but the words he used weren’t very accurate, and when he was speaking out the names of the gods and Buddhas, he wouldn’t use Mandarin. He would use Tibetan, uttering a long chain of names. It sounded like a bunch of tongue twisters, and Fei Lezhi felt dizzy hearing him speak.

But in general, he could understand that these Lamas probably regarded Brother Wei as an envoy sent by the Buddha, and the bunch of modifiers that they added were actually no different from rainbow farts.

t/n: modifiers – referring to the adjectives the Lamas used in the title to call Wei Xun

t/n: rainbow farts: slang for words of flattery

“It should be a dangerous feat to conduct an exorcism, and we are just ordinary people.”

They didn’t expect that this Lama with bushy eyebrows and big eyes would mutter rainbow farts, but the way he delivered the rainbow farts sounded too eloquent, and one would need to have a certain level of cultural literacy to understand his words. Otherwise, one wouldn’t understand them at all.

t/n: bushy eyebrows and big eyes: an idiom, referring to someone who has coarse facial features

When the Lama praised Wei Xun, Fei Lezhi similarly felt honored. But when his feelings of happiness faded, he grew worried again. The title, Exorcist Emissary, was not just a good title bestowed by the Lama. What if these Lamas really wanted Wei Xun to wipe out the devil?

“The Exorcist Emissary is blessed by Buddha Tonpa Shenrab. Any demon who sees him will flee as though they’ve seen the Buddha himself.”

Wow, what big shoes to fill. Fei Lezhi felt even more worried for Wei Xun.

“It’s dangerous, but it’s also an opportunity for Wei Xun.”

Seeing that Fei Lezhi couldn’t sit still, Ji Hongcai, who rarely comforted anyone, consoled him, “Furthermore, it is almost impossible to encounter such things as demons. Even if the idiot IV-1 unsealed the difficulty, the main scenic spots will not be affected too much. I think they will probably just let Wei Xun assist them in completing some tasks, such as conducting rituals and exorcizing evil spirits, so he should be fine.”

“So that’s the case!”

Fei Lezhi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately felt at ease. They didn’t know that Wei Xun had eaten the devil’s shadow a long time ago. Therefore, when they were listening to the Lama babble about Wei Xun, they simply smiled proudly. This did not affect them at all.

“These two idiots.”

Xu Yang, who was sitting in the back seat, was expressionless as he complained in his heart. He felt that with Wei Xun’s ability, the scenic spot this time was by no means as simple as Fei Lezhi said. Just by looking at how the Lama addressed Wei Xun, one could guess the many dangers Wei Xun has encountered and the numerous tasks he had completed in the ruins just from the series of titles read out.

Xu Yang held his dog’s leash tightly. Of course, he wanted to explore with Brother Wei and go through a life-and-death experience with him. However, Xu Yang also knew that he would definitely be a burden if he followed Wei Xun. It was not only due to his blindness, but also his age, his physical strength, and other factors. They would all drag Brother Wei down.

He wanted to be useful to Brother Wei, but he didn’t want to drag him down and be hated by him.

Seemingly aware of the anxiety in his heart, Duoduo, who was meekly lying beside his legs, raised his head and licked the back of Xu Yang’s hand. Xu Yang suddenly broke away from his self-pity and patted Duoduo on the head.

He didn’t regret that he was selected by the Travel Services… Duoduo had been with him for several years, but it was not until he entered the Travel Services and he gained [A Blind Man’s Perception] that Xu Yang finally saw Duoduo for the first time. The Travel Services was an opportunity for him. Anyway, he was still a newcomer tourist. There was a long way to go in the future, so he should not be too anxious.

Even though he said that…Xu Yang pouted a little childishly, complaining inwardly.

It was fine if he didn’t even see a shadow of Brother Wei when he was exploring the ruins, but even after Brother Wei finally came back and had some time to spend with him, his time was occupied by that snow leopard again. He couldn’t even stay by Wei Xun’s side. For example, this time, when they were traveling by car, Xu Yang wanted to get on the same vehicle with Wei Xun happily, but he politely refused, saying that the snow leopard would scare Duoduo.

It couldn’t even be described as the snow leopard would scare Duoduo. Instead, it was clear that the snow leopard did not allow Duoduo to approach! Xu Yang even sensed that the snow leopard squinted his eyes in contempt, and then slid next to Wei Xun like a piece of sticky sugar, circling around the vehicle. It hopped onto the car first, sniffing everywhere before it allowed Wei Xun to get in the car. And Fang Yuhang, who was in the same car, even had to read the snow leopard’s mood and act accordingly based on it.

Why on earth was there such a domineering snow leopard!

Xu Yang gritted his teeth angrily. If it wasn’t a snow leopard, he would really think that it was a vixen from somewhere that was pestering his Brother Wei!

t/n: vixen: slang, referring to slut

“After the noon break, we will leave the national highway. Be careful of wild animals on the way.”

In Wei Xun’s car, Fang Yuhang’s driving skills were similarly very good. He kept a close distance to the car in front. They didn’t plan to go to Nyima County this time, but drove directly to Xiaolin Temple. With a Lama to guide the way, they could naturally take a shortcut.

Although the national highway was safe, it took too long to go around. If they followed the original route, they might have to drive overnight or sleep in the wilderness to reach Xiaolin Temple the next day. This was too dangerous, and it was better to take the dirt road so that they could reach sooner. The off-road vehicles specially provided by the Travel Services had good performance and high horsepower and could be easily driven on the dirt road with potholes.

One could view wild yaks and other wild animals from a distance when they drove along the national highway. As for the dirt road, it was even more dangerous as it grew more remote. If they drove on the dirt road, they would be trespassing through a wild animal’s territory. There would be a higher chance for beasts who were territorial to chase their vehicles in packs.

“When discussing the itinerary back then, the Lama said that we would be protected by the holy beast of the snow field, and those wild beasts would not attack the convoy. Everyone was skeptical about this, but they also wanted to reach the second scenic spot as soon as possible, and finally decided to travel on the dirt road.” After Fang Yuhang said this, he fell silent again. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take advantage of this opportunity to chat more with Wei Xun. He didn’t envision having a deep friendship with Wei Xun, but at least he wanted to be in the other’s good books.

However, every time he looked for a topic to chat about with Wei Xun, Fang Yuhang could feel a pair of extremely threatening and cold eyes staring at him.

At first, he thought it was IV-1 observing them secretly after finally catching up with the convoy, so he broke out in a cold sweat. But soon, Fang Yuhang discovered that the dangerous gaze was staring at him quite regularly, and as long as he didn’t chat with Wei Xun, the dangerous gaze would not fall on him.

He experienced a great shock in his heart. Then, he decided to test out the theory several times, and he finally found the real culprit through the rearview mirror.

The case was solved, and the culprit who was frightening him into a panic was the snow leopard.

Fang Yuhang saw Wei Xun sitting in the back seat leaning against the window. The snow leopard almost occupied the entire back seat, with its head resting on Wei Xun’s lap. Even so, it had no space to put its long fluffy tail, so it could only be rolled up and draped over its body, with the tip of the tail held in Wei Xun’s hand.

It wasn’t as if Wei Xun wanted to hold its tail. Fang Yuhang was shocked when he saw the snow leopard put his tail into Wei Xun’s hand for the first time. Although he knew that Wei Xun and this snow leopard had a very good relationship, he didn’t expect them to get along in this way in private.

The snow leopard that laid beside Wei Xun didn’t look aggressive at all. It appeared just like a lazy and beautiful big cat. But if one was really deceived by its appearance, they would make a grave mistake. At least, Fang Yuhang would not be fooled by the appearance of the snow leopard.

It had the same fierce look in his eyes when it stared at him as when it stared at the blue sheep.

So, except when necessary, Fang Yuhang kept a low profile, determined to be a perfect driver. Right now, he was worried. After a brief break at noon, he and Wei Xun should switch for driving, but he did not dare to sit beside the snow leopard.

Forget it, perhaps he should drive the entire journey.

Thanks to Wei Xun, he didn’t exert himself physically when heading to the scenic spot. He drove the whole journey to let Wei Xun take a good rest. In any case, he ought to have done it. However, when he thought that Wei Xun not only brought a snow leopard, but also a little black dog to the scenic spot this time, Fang Yuhang felt that Wei Xun felt more humane, and like someone he could get closer to.

After all, humans who liked small animals couldn’t possibly be too evil.

Wei Xun plucked the snow leopard’s fur from its roots roughly. He took advantage of the free time he had in the morning to rub the snow leopard from head to tail, but he didn’t find any difference between it and other snow leopards, with the exception that it was bigger.

If there was no difference on the outside, was there a difference on the inside?

There should be some differences. Otherwise, it would be just an ordinary snow leopard, and its Yang Energy would not be sufficient to cause the young fox to pine for it.

Including this strand, Wei Xun had already pulled a small amount of snow leopard fur for experimentation purposes, to check if its fur could truly restrain abyssals. He covered his legs with a blanket as if he was afraid of the cold, and let the snow leopard rest on his lap, just to cover up the movements of his hands. When Wei Xun pretended to close his eyes to take a respite, he had already done some experiments with snow leopard fur and Xiaojin.

Xiaojin and Xiaocui really didn’t want to stick with the snow leopard, and the three mantis brothers similarly didn’t want to stay with it. Wei Xun directed the weakest mantis to swallow a strand of the snow leopard’s fur but saw that the color of its body retreated from being colorful to its original pearl white and black colors, and at the same time, its aura grew weaker.

It was just snow leopard fur, but the changes brought to the mantis brother by its second evolution had been washed away!

If he fed the mantis a strand of leopard fur again, would it return to being a normal Insect of Evil?

T/N: Sorry for the late chapter post! I was out for a bit today and came home late :[.