Looking at the woman before him, Xiao Mo's expression shifted slightly.

"What a fool."

In the end, Xiao Mo only sighed, shook his head, turned around, and continued walking forward.

Watching Xiao Mo gradually walk away, Wangxin clenched her small hands, hurriedly stepped over the fallen tree before her, and jogged to catch up.

He walked ahead.

She followed behind.

The young girl's clear eyes kept watching Xiao Mo's back, as if afraid of losing sight of him.

Over the next several days, Xiao Mo didn't say another word to Wangxin, as if he had already ignored her existence, treating her as if she weren't there but Wangxin didn't mind.

To the young girl, as long as she could stay by his side and he didn't chase her away, that was enough.

Of course.

Even if he did chase her away, she wouldn't leave anyway...

Every evening when Xiao Mo found a cave to stay in, Wangxin would gather dead branches and fallen leaves outside the cave.

While gathering them, the young girl would turn her head to look back at the cave, as if afraid Xiao Mo might leave when she wasn't paying attention.

When she had gathered enough, she would carry the dry branches and quickly run back to the cave, sitting beside Xiao Mo and carefully starting a fire.

Sometimes Xiao Mo would deliberately hunt a rabbit and, in front of Wangxin, skin and clean it before roasting it over the fire.

Watching Xiao Mo eat the cute rabbit, Wangxin would always close her eyes, press her palms together, and chant Buddhist sutras to guide the rabbit's soul to rest.

After Xiao Mo finished eating, Wangxin would also clean up the rabbit's skeleton and bury it properly.

While burying the rabbit, the young girl would mutter, "Little rabbit, if you want revenge in your next life, come find me, don't look for Xiao Mo. Xiao Mo is a good person, he's actually not bad..."

When Xiao Mo passed by and heard Wangxin's words, he couldn't help but tap her head.

Wangxin didn't get angry. She just held her small bald head with both hands. Even though it hurt enough to make her eyes mist over faintly with tears, she didn't get angry, only looking at Xiao Mo with a wronged expression.

When Xiao Mo was about to lie down and sleep in the cave, Wangxin would use tree branches and grass to make a simple bed for him.

Every morning, Wangxin would wake up earlier than Xiao Mo, afraid he might secretly run off.

Wangxin didn't know where Xiao Mo was going. She just followed.

Wherever Xiao Mo went, she would go but Wangxin had once heard Xiao Mo say that he wanted to use the blade in his hand to teach the Western Region about rules.

Wangxin knew that the rules Xiao Mo wanted to teach would result in many, many deaths...

Several days later, at dusk, Xiao Mo and Wangxin arrived before a dilapidated temple.

Wangxin tugged at Xiao Mo's sleeve, indicating she wanted to go inside and pay respects.

Although Xiao Mo looked very impatient, he still walked in.

Inside the temple were several Buddha statues. The central Buddha statue looked kind and benevolent with a smiling face.

The dharma guardian vajras on either side looked fierce and menacing, giving one a terrifying feeling.

The Buddha statues hadn't been cleaned in too long and were covered with dust and cobwebs.

"Xiao Mo, can I wipe these Buddha statues? It'll be quick..." Wangxin pleaded.

"Fine, then you stay here and wipe them. I'm leaving." With that, Xiao Mo turned to walk out of the temple.

Wangxin was slightly alarmed and hurriedly followed behind Xiao Mo.

"Didn't you want to wipe the Buddha statues?" Xiao Mo asked.

Wangxin tightly clutched Xiao Mo's sleeve and shook her head, "Xiao Mo... I... I won't wipe them anymore. Let's keep going..."

Seeing her wronged appearance, Xiao Mo tapped her head again and sat back down beneath the Buddha statue, "We're not going anywhere today. We'll stay the night here."

Hearing Xiao Mo say they would stay the night here.

Wangxin was extremely happy. She drew a bucket of water from the well in front of the temple and earnestly wiped the Buddha statues but before long, a flash of lightning illuminated the dilapidated temple.

"Rumble!"

A clap of thunder resounded through the mountains and wilderness, seeming to shake the entire mountain.

Immediately after, a torrential downpour began.

Fortunately, although the temple was dilapidated, the roof was intact, so no rainwater drifted inside.

"Master, Madam, Miss, the rain is too heavy. Let's go inside and take shelter."

"Mm, hurry inside. Our clothes are all wet."

Just as Xiao Mo was resting with closed eyes, several voices sounded from outside.

A pot-bellied middle-aged man with his family members, escorted by several guards, walked in.

From the silk clothing they wore, this was clearly a wealthy family.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the man sitting beneath the Buddha statue and the monk wiping the statues.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, this monk was actually a woman?

There were female monks in this world?

"You two, we are from Jianzhi County. Today we went mountain touring, but unexpectedly the rain became too heavy. May we take shelter from the rain?"

The middle-aged man spoke politely. He seemed to understand some principles of the jianghu, knowing that even an ownerless dilapidated temple had a distinction between who arrived first and who came later.

"As you wish," Xiao Mo said indifferently.

"Many thanks."

The middle-aged man bowed and took his family to sit on the other side of the temple.

There was quite a bit of dry firewood in the temple, left behind by previous travelers who had lodged here and hadn't used it all.

They lit a campfire to dry their clothes.

At this time, Wangxin had also finished wiping the Buddha statues in the temple and sat down beside Xiao Mo.

The middle-aged man's group occasionally glanced toward Xiao Mo and Wangxin.

The combination of "blade wielder and monk" was truly too strange.

Especially since it was a female monk.

And this female monk was also extremely beautiful.

Although she didn't have a single strand of hair, her flawless features and sacred temperament were like a celestial fairy fallen to the mortal world.

The middle-aged man tried to make conversation with Xiao Mo, saying his name was Han Zi, that he was a presented scholar from Qiuyue Kingdom, and was on his way to take up an official post in Liangsha County but Xiao Mo didn't acknowledge him at all, so the middle-aged man named Han Zi closed his mouth.

Han Zi's daughter, Han Dongling, however, kept blinking as she looked at Xiao Mo.

The young girl's eyes sparkled. She had never seen such a handsome man before.

Before she knew it, the sky gradually darkened, and the rain outside still hadn't stopped.

Han Zi knew it seemed they wouldn't be able to leave tonight.

"Big brother, the rain is too heavy. Let's hurry inside!"

"Damn it, we finally pulled off a big job."

"Forget it, forget it. Let's wait until tomorrow morning, then we'll return to the stronghold."

Just as everyone was warming themselves by the fire, waiting for the sun to rise the next day, noisy voices sounded from outside again.

Before long, several burly men violently kicked open the temple's main doors.

These burly men all carried blades, looking fierce and menacing, with several boxes clutched in their arms.

Han Zi's family was startled.

Han Dongling quickly hid behind her father, and the several guards' hearts also trembled as they vigilantly watched these burly men.

The scarred man leading them swept his gaze over the several people in the temple and grinned, "Heavy rain. Borrowing lodging for one night. Don't take offense."

Without waiting for everyone's agreement, the several blade-wielding burly men found a spot to sit down, staring intently at Xiao Mo and the others.