Ibeiya carried Xiao Lin and walked forward with a stagger in the desert. Her pace was not that quick, but her vampire bloodline gave her a decent enough physique that would not tire her. At her current speed, she would surely be unable to reach the destination before dark. Ibeiya looked worriedly at Xiao Lin, who was sleeping like a dead pig.
She knew very well that the territory was regarded as belonging to the orcs even though Dawn Academy had established a town there. It had only been ceded to Dawn Academy after the war, which meant that it would still be subject to sporadic harassment from time to time.
Upon hearing some dense hoofbeats clopping on the ground, Ibeiya was nervous at first, but soon breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the cavalry’s figure amidst all that sand. It was a scout cavalry from Dawn Academy, and it was likely that Xiao Lin’s Dragon Breath Sword was so powerful that it attracted the attention of people around. However, since those people were from Dawn Academy, it also meant that Ibeiya and Xiao Lin were safe.
…
Xiao Lin slept deeply, but it was not until the next day that Ibeiya realized that Xiao Lin’s exhaustion was not as simple as it looked. It was not something that he could recover from just by sleeping, especially when the local healers came to Xiao Lin and fed him several mouthfuls of high-level medication, all to no avail. Ibeiya was told that Xiao Lin’s coma was not a trauma.
In fact, even though Xiao Lin suffered minor injuries during the battle with the dark elf, the dragon blood’s influence allowed him to heal automatically after such a long time.
What really kept Xiao Lin from waking up all day was his lack of spirit. It occurred only under very severe overdrafts, and it did not necessarily occur even in a life and death situation. The therapists were very confused and asked repeatedly, but Ibeiya’s words were vague and half-hearted. Even if those people belonged to the Dawn Academy, she was smart enough to know when to say something and when to keep her mouth shut.
Xiao Lin’s coma lasted for two days, and many of the healers experimented using various methods. Once there was nothing else that they could do, they were prepared to bring Xiao Lin back to the capital of Dawn City for inspection by more powerful healers.
When the third day came and everyone was ready to set off early that morning, Xiao Lin woke up suddenly. Since it happened without warning, those who had been preparing for the journey looked as though they had seen a ghost. They then hurriedly called the rest of the people.
Xiao Lin felt that his spirit was in good condition. His body was filled with energy and he felt better than ever. Ibeiya, who was crying tears of joy, flew directly into his arms and kept rubbing her fair and tender face on his shoulders.
Of course, the reason Xiao Lin felt good was not because of what Ibeiya was doing. Even though Xiao Lin was quite embarrassed due to the enviable eyes all around him, he did feel that he was very physically very strong. He even felt light when he walked. He remembered that using the Dragon Breath Sword in the Ruin state brought a tremendous load to his body, causing him to pass out. After waking up again however, the exhaustion was completely wiped out.
Based on the clothes and words of the people nearby, Xiao Lin could easily determine that they were his comrades. After pushing away Ibeiya, he managed to elicit the details of his situation.
The town he was at was located in the border area between Dawn Academy and the orcs, but rather than calling it a town, it was much better to consider it a large-scale outpost. Although there were civilians inhabiting it, they were mostly relatives of soldiers and the town’s main purpose was for the military.
With towering city walls and forested defensive towers, the place lacked the dazzling array of small merchants and vendors that were present in town. Instead, a larger number were blacksmiths selling various different kinds of weapons.
“I slept for two days?” Xiao Lin was obviously shocked after hearing Ibeiya’s words. The aftereffects of using the Dragon Breath Sword were so tremendous that it took him two days of sleep to completely replenish his overdrawn body.
“Have you met anyone else on the road?” Xiao Lin originally wanted to say the name Asabanor, but he closed his mouth and changed it to something less obvious. He trusted that Ibeiya would understand what he was talking about.
“No, but I met a Big Sis on the way and she brought us back.”
“Big Sis?” Xiao Lin was feeling somewhat speechless about Ibeiya’s penchant of acknowledging people as her sister. He just had to be the one who was always referred to as uncle.
“Huh? You actually woke up?”
“Uncle, it’s her! She said she’s your superior.”
Ibeiya suddenly clapped her hands and called out. Xiao Lin looked in the direction of the speaker and it turned out to be the heavily-armed Yu Mei striding over to him. Xiao Lin was not too surprised, as he had a rough idea of who it was when Ibeiya mentioned the person being his superior.
The only person whom he could rightly refer to as his superior was the Sixth Regiment’s Major, Yu Mei.
Yu Mei walked closer and scanned Xiao Lin’s body for a long time. She then patted him on the shoulder, then nodded and said, “Well, it looks like you’re alright, but we can’t stay here for too long.”
“Wait, don’t you think you should give me an explanation first?” Xiao Lin quickly stopped Yu Mei after seeing her about to walk away.
“Explanation? What explanation do you want?”
Xiao Lin opened his mouth and looked at the soldiers around him again.
Yu Mei waved her hand. “Don’t worry. They’re all the dean’s people.”
Xiao Lin understood and was no longer worried. He then asked bluntly, “What’s up with that arrest warrant?”
“Oh, so you do know about that. Well, I’m here to arrest you and bring you to justice!”
“What!”
“Haha! Major Yu, don’t scare him!” Someone joked next to him.
Yu Mei curled her lips. “Just kidding. Okay, I’ll spare you the jokes. Don’t worry, we’re here to escort you back to Dawn City safely. The people in the military department wouldn’t dare to take you.”
“Does the dean know?”
“Yes, and that’s why I came here. But it was really hard to find you. I went from Wildfire Town to Gold City and practically flipped Silver Province upside down these few days. But it looks like my prediction was right. You did choose this path to return.”
When Yu Mei said that, she glanced at Ibeiya and raised her brows before saying with a smile, “I was worried about you, you know. But you seem to have been enjoying yourself during this period. Tsk, tsk. You even hooked up with a little Lolita. Where did this girl come from? You abducted her, didn’t you?”
“No! Uncle is a good person!”
“Oh, I see. A good person.”
Xiao Lin looked helplessly at Yu Mei’s suggestive smile. He felt that there must have been some misunderstanding.
Their brief chat did not last too long, and soon the team of more than ten people continued to set off. However, the carriage originally prepared for Xiao Lin was no longer needed after he woke up. In addition to Yu Mei, there were several other people joining them on the road. Xiao Lin did not know who they were, but he chose to trust them since they were the dean’s people.
Yu Mei’s plan obviously did not include Ibeiya, but it was not safe to leave that girl near the outpost as she might be harassed by the orcs at any time. As a result, she was brought along, and three people were specifically assigned to Ibeiya for the purpose of protecting that delicate-looking girl at all times.
Meanwhile, Xiao Lin and Yu Mei were in the forefront, making it abundantly clear that Yu Mei did not want certain conversations to be heard by any strangers.
