Back at Qing Shan City, Tian Yi, as pointless as it seemed, helped Caiyi lock the doors to her house before leading Meng Xiang out of Qing Shan City and into the wilderness where a road meant for merchants existed.
After staying in the city for four days, he believed it was about time for him to leave and find another place to tour.
"Big Brother, where are we going?" Meng Xiang asked him in a low voice, her eyelids feeling as heavy as a mountain.
"Are you tired?" he asked her, totally forgetting that she was a mortal and that she needed sleep and food to function properly.
Meng Xiang nodded.
She has been awake for an entire day, after all. And not to mention the fatigue she had built up from walking the entire time, something she rarely did, exhausting her small, mortal body.
"Okay, let's rest for now. After that, we will continue our journey across the Nine Heavens," he said to her despite having no idea where to go.
Meng Xiang nodded again, causing her body to almost fall forward due to fatigue.
She then walked to a random tree beside a road, one made by travelers from generations of walking the same path, and she sat down.
Tian Yi looked at her with a puzzled expression. What is she doing, looking as if she wanted to sleep there?
"Big Brother, are you not going to sleep, too?" Meng Xiang slowly patted the space next to her with her eyes nearly closed.
Tian Yi was speechless, not because he did not want to be dirtied by the mud, but because he already has a place for the both of them to sleep in.
"Umm… Meng Xiang, I have a place to…"
However, before he could even finish speaking his sentence, Meng Xiang's eyes were already fully closed— she had fallen asleep faster than he could even blink.
Tian Yi smiled bitterly as he walked to sit beside Meng Xiang. 'This is kind of exciting…' he thought as he closed his eyes.
If the world somehow learned that the son of the Celestial Emperor had slept beside a muddy road in the middle of the wilderness like a homeless person, none of them would be able to sleep on a bed peacefully knowing the fact that their beloved little emperor had slept on mud while they slept on soft, comfortable beds.
Under the moonlight glow, Tian Yi and Meng Xiang soundlessly slept side by side, their backs supported by a wide tree. And as time passed, Meng Xiang's head would slowly slip from its position until her head was leaning on Tian Yi's body, using it as a soft pillow.
Meng Xiang suddenly smiled.
It has been a long time since she last had a dream that was not a nightmare. Unlike her usual dreams of seeing her parents die repeatedly from that incident, she skipped around on fluffy-looking clouds, and in the distance was a young man in pure white robes silently watching her, his facial features blurred out.
Although she was unable to see the face clearly, she could feel that he had a gentle smile, one that was filled with warmth.
She skipped to in front of the young man and asked out of curiosity, "Are you His Highness?"
The young man did not speak, but instead, nodded.
"Waaah!" Meng Xiang's eyes sparkled like the stars in the starry sky upon his confirmation.
"Will you play with me?" she asked him in a pleading tone.
She has always dreamed of playing with this 'His Highness' ever since she learned of his existence.
The young man nodded again, and the two started to play like siblings.
Meng Xiang picked one of the clouds she was standing on and tore a piece off to make a ball-shaped cloud.
She threw it at him, and he would return it.
The two continued to play for what seemed like an eternity before moving onto the next game where the young man carried Meng Xiang around this world of endless clouds, showing her beautiful sceneries such as a floating crystal mountain, a forest with trees made of entirely out of beautiful jade, even a dragon statue that was life-sized.
The two continued on this journey that seemed eternal, and the young man would show her everything there was to see about this world, as though he was giving her a tour around his home.
One day, one month, one year, ten years, one hundred years— the young man and Meng Xiang traveled the world as a pair, encountering mythical beasts and ancient creatures. In addition, during the entire journey, Meng Xiang would have a bright smile on her face.
And although it seemed like many years had passed, Meng Xiang herself did not feel it, as though only a few hours had passed at most since he met the young man— it was a mysterious and profound feeling— one she did not understand and could only ignorantly enjoy.
While Meng Xiang was having the best and most mythical dream of her life, Tian Yi's eyes opened under the still dark sky, his black orbs glowing with coldness.
He turned to look at Meng Xiang who had her head leaning on his body, smiling and drooling at the same time.
The coldness in his eyes disappeared for a moment to make sure she wouldn't wake up from whatever was about to come.
Silently and gently, Tian Yi tapped Meng Xiang on the forehead, and her body disappeared into the thin air, as though she had never existed in this Universe to being with.
With Meng Xiang gone from his view, Tian Yi stood up, his gaze narrowed.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could come out, a silver light flashed in the midst of the darkness, directly heading towards his head.
A gentle wind blew by Tian Yi's face right before the silver light could reach his face, and the moment the silver light touched the wind, it stopped moving, as though it was frozen in time.
The silver light disappeared, revealing a 3 inch-long needle with the thickness of a toothpick.
Seconds after the needle was revealed, it quickly disintegrated into tiny particles before disappearing alongside the gentle breeze.
Shocked gasps could be heard from the darkness. Whoever threw the silver needle was clearly shocked at what he had just witnessed.
Tian Yi's brow furrowed into a frown. "Who are you and what is your reason for attacking me?" he spoke out loud.
It was silent at first, but the sound of bushes brushing against each other entered his ears.
"Hahaha! To think you were able to stop my sure-kill attack, you must have some skill!"
Three figures clad in black clothing appeared like ghosts and surrounded Tian Yi in a triangular formation with a few meters between each other.
"I will ask again— why did you follow us, even attacking me?" Tian Yi's expression was calm, as though he was a lake without a ripple.
The three masked men laughed loudly, their powerful voices shaking the leaves on the surrounding trees.
One of them slapped his thigh, saying, "Two young and fragile looking mortals walking down a road meant for merchants with no bodyguards, you were basically looking to get robbed and killed!"
"Speaking of which, where is the other one? I swear I saw her just a moment ago; that little girl— she will definitely make us a lot of money if we sell her to some noble with that kind of hobby… hehe…" grinned another as he licked his lips behind the mask.
"She's definitely hiding around here somewhere. We can just look for her after we take care if this brat. How far could a little girl like her go by herself, anyway?"
Tian Yi's furrow deepened. Although he had no idea what the masked man was talking about, the tone he used made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Her soft-looking skin, her silky hair, her round eyes— she will surely become a beauty when she grows up!"
"We've struck gold! Ahahahaha!"
The three masked man continued to laugh and joke as though Tian Yi was invisible— an ignorable existence they did not put in their eyes.
However, unbeknownst to the three masked man, the dark sky above them was changing in both colors and atmosphere.
The dark color that resembled the night sky slowly turned red, and pitch-black lightning flashed across the gloomy clouds like lightning snakes without making the slightest of noise.
If one looked at the sky at this moment, they would clearly feel the anger within the dark clouds and deadly lightning snakes— the Heaven is furious!