Journey

Su Qing almost forgot about this guy. She looked back at him, but his veiled face was the thing that came in her sight at first.

Su Qing looked at him lightly, and it looks like today he wore a sapphire colored robe, unlike the white one from yesterday. 

'He must be a handsome one,' Su Qing thought as she looked away from the guy and went towards the old man. 

"Many thanks for the assistance. See you again, Old master," Su Qing expressed her gratitude to the Old Master with light words that impressed him once again.

"Yea yea, look after yourself, brat. The road would be very dangerous. Always be careful," the Old Master also replied to her very casually.

Both Yuan Si and An Ding were astonished after they saw how Su Qing and the Old Master exchanged their casual greetings to each other.

Even Yuan Si never got to become this much casual with him. How did this guy manage to do it?

Anyway, after the greetings ended, Su Qing went towards Yuan Si as he started to walk away and started to follow him quickly. 

'I wonder when we will meet again, hope the girl would be safe with that brat,' the Old Master frowned a little, looking in their direction.

"Master," An Ding called him.

"Let's go!" The old man also started to walk in the opposite direction shortly after.

***

After three and half an hour, 

The starting area of Demonic Forest was coming near before it finally came into sight. 

Su Qing stood without moving as she tried to catch her breath.

All this while, both of them were walking without any rest.

Yuan Si also saw the tired face of Su Qing, so he declared to get some rest here before going inside the forest.

"You will need enough strength to survive and get to your destination. Get some rest and eat something before we go in," Yuan Si sat down at the root of a giant tree as he calmly talked with Su Qing.

"Come, sit here," he patted on the root beside him, directing the little mute to sit down.

Su Qing also nodded her head and sat down as instructed by him, and took out the bottle of water to drink some and replenish her energy. 

After Su Qing drank the water, Yuan Si took away the bottle from her hand as he also became thirsty.

He looked away from Su Qing when he lifted the veil and drank the water quickly, so the curious Su Qing wasn't able to see his face.

Yuan Si drank up the whole water in the bottle and gave back the empty bottle in her hand.

Su Qing, "..."

'Can't you be a little more considerate?'

Yuan Si also saw the face Su Qing was making, so he coughed a little as he said without any emotion, "I was just too thirsty!"

Su Qing, "..."

'Now you are even making excuses as well?'

She tossed the empty bottle back in her bag without saying anything to him anymore.

This guy was somehow a little weird. The day when he rested in the shop, Su Qing observed him for quite some time.

Originally he is very calm and reserved when he is alone or with people, so she guessed that as long as someone doesn't provoke him, he wouldn't look for trouble with them.

He is not quite the one as Grandpa Gu said, but actually the opposite one.

So Su Qing didn't do anything till now that would disturb his peace of mind, but she also couldn't just throw away her curiosity to see what his face looked like. 

Although she had her own face covered, it wasn't all over as he was.

Su Qing made a sign towards him to break the awkward silence.

'What work do you have to do here?'

'Is it something important, like a secret work? If so, then you don't need to say anything!' She didn't want him to get nervous or to lie about anything. 

Must he ignore her if it was something too important. 

But to her surprise, Yuan Si said with a relaxed voice as if it was mixed with a hint of laughter, "It's nothing that short. You don't need to be so nervous."

"Although I'm on a mission, I think I can share this little information."

"I came here to collect the Nine World's Frost Tree."

'A poisonous tree, but it's also used for making medicine as it can cure a dangerous disease that started from birth.'

'I wonder who needs it so urgently?' Su Qing didn't ask him the question in fear of prying into his privacy.

Although it was an ancient era, Su Qing knew very well that everyone had their own secrets, just like her.

But what came after this was not something she expected.

"It's for my mother," Yuan Si sighed a little before he said it to her.

Su Qing looked at him with big eyes which were full of disbelief.

'Why did he say that?'

'Isn't it supposed to be a secret?'

"Just getting the worries out of my heart. Don't worry, it's not a secret. Besides, you are one of the trusted people of my Grandfather," Yuan Si also saw the surprised look on her face.

So he explained to make her understand.

"The people that my grandfather trusted and raised are always special, so it's not a taboo if I were to even say something secret to them, too." Yuan Si said with a serious expression that made Su Qing understand that be it the Old man or this man.

None of them were as simple as she knows.

Both of them carried mysteries that were beyond her imagination, she had to be careful in each step she was taking.

'Understood,' Su Qing showed him a sign before both of them went back into silence once again.