Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Forming an Alliance

Now Yun Xi didn’t need Dian Dian to explain much more. She already knew the whole thing was a trap. She was just surprised that this Fei Xia butterfly was Third Rank, equivalent to a human Golden Core cultivator, and yet it had still been driven into the front valley.

That was what she thought, and that was what she asked. “Dian Dian, why did it come to the front valley? Does it have no ability to fight?”

In Yun Xi’s understanding, demon beasts in the Cultivation World were usually overbearing, and their sense of territory was especially strong. They rarely gave up their nests.

Dian Dian twitched its whiskers. “The Fei Xia butterfly fought back, but those bad guys used dirty stuff to contaminate its wings. It nearly got caught. It had no choice but to abandon its eggs and flee the back valley. It’s been hiding among the swarm, waiting for a chance.”

“The chance it’s talking about is me?” Yun Xi asked.

“Yes,” Dian Dian said.

“Why?” Yun Xi asked.

“It says you can restrain those bad guys,” Dian Dian replied.

Yun Xi smiled in understanding. She had a thunder spiritual root, a natural bane of evil cultivators. She hadn’t expected this little thing to be so sensitive.

She continued, “If I help it, what do I get?”

Dian Dian turned its head and communicated with the Fei Xia butterfly for a while, then replied, “Master, it says that if you can drive the bad guy away, it’ll give you ten of its eggs as thanks.”

“Ten? That’s too few. I want twenty,” Yun Xi said at once, bargaining.

After some friendly negotiation, both sides finally agreed on fifteen Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly eggs. As for the low-grade butterfly eggs, Yun Xi could take them herself with no restrictions.

After the deal was struck, they formed a Heaven-and-Earth contract. Only then did Yun Xi retract her Profound Ice Needle, and the Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly settled into Yun Xi’s hair bun, becoming a five-colored butterfly ornament that didn’t draw attention at all.

With the Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly, the original owner, guiding her, Yun Xi smoothly entered the back valley. Along the way, she also gathered some Third Rank Butterfly-Love Flowers, a type of flower Fei Xia butterflies liked very much.

Yun Xi sealed the blooming Butterfly-Love Flowers into jade boxes, then pretended to explore forward cautiously. In truth, with her spiritual sense fully open, she had already avoided two groups of cultivators trying to manufacture an “accidental encounter” with her. That made the hidden people extremely anxious.

The Fei Xia butterfly was anxious too, constantly urging Dian Dian. As a “mouthpiece,” Dian Dian dutifully passed on the words and even comforted the restless Fei Xia butterfly.

In fact, Yun Xi felt it was very unlikely this Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly would get its eggs back. After all, those eggs were something the evil cultivators had their eyes on, and Yun Xi could already imagine what the evil cultivators would use the Fei Xia butterfly for.

So even though she had signed the Heaven-and-Earth contract, Yun Xi’s real target from beginning to end was this Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly. If she could get something better, why would she insist on hatching eggs herself?

Once Yun Xi had stripped the inner valley’s resources almost clean, she stopped avoiding the cultivators who wanted to “accidentally” meet her.

There were three of them: two men and one woman. They looked extremely bedraggled. The only female cultivator was carrying an injured, unconscious male cultivator on her back. The other male cultivator guarded the two of them as they hurried toward Yun Xi’s direction.

When their spiritual senses brushed, both sides quickly withdrew, each aware of the other’s presence.

Yun Xi extended her hand and gripped the Seven-Star Doom Staff. The other side also tightened their grip on the sword in their hand. The male cultivator spoke first. “Fellow Daoist, we’re only trying to leave the valley. Please don’t block our way.”

Yun Xi swept her eyes over the three of them, then said, “Fellow Daoists, I have no intention of blocking you. I only want to ask you something. Are there Third Rank Fei Xia butterfly eggs in this valley?”

After confirming Yun Xi was alone, the male cultivator clearly relaxed. Facing Yun Xi’s question, he didn’t hide anything. “There are indeed eggs in this valley. We pulled three out from a tiger’s mouth. But when we left that mountain hollow, we were ambushed by other cultivators.

“They outnumbered us. They stole our butterfly eggs and even wanted to kill us to silence us. We fought back with everything we had. My companion took a severe injury to help us escape, so we had no choice but to retreat from the back valley.”

Yun Xi frowned and asked, “How many were they, and what was their cultivation?”

The male cultivator replied at once, “There were four of them. Three were mid-stage Foundation Establishment, and one was late-stage Foundation Establishment. My companion was injured by the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

Yun Xi didn’t ask anything else. The female cultivator beside him spoke instead. “Fellow Daoist, if you charge into that mountain hollow alone, you won’t come back. I advise you not to be so reckless.”

“I know,” Yun Xi said. “But I believe there are more than just those four cultivators in the back valley. There should be others. I can find more people and form a team. Everyone’s goal is the same anyway.”

The male cultivator and the female cultivator exchanged a look. After a silent exchange, the female cultivator spoke. “Fellow Daoist, if you don’t mind, we’d like to team up with you. Besides getting the eggs, we also want justice for our friend.”

Yun Xi looked at the three of them with some disgust. “If it were four against four, there’d be a chance. But you have one badly injured person. How are we supposed to team up? Don’t tell me you want me to be cannon fodder.”

The female cultivator’s expression didn’t change. “Fellow Daoist, the three of us have been in the back valley for several days. We know a safe place where we can rest and treat wounds. Once my companion recovers, we can team up and go to the place with butterfly eggs.

“And you look like you just entered the back valley. The place with eggs is hidden. Teaming up with us can save you a lot of time, and we can promise that when we divide the eggs, you’ll get one extra.”

Yun Xi pretended to think for a while before agreeing. “Alright. Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll team up with you for now. Lead the way. If we’re going to act, we should wait until your companion recovers.”

“Alright. Follow me,” the female cultivator said.

After that, Yun Xi stayed behind the three of them as they headed to the safe spot they mentioned.

Only then did Dian Dian send a voice transmission: “Master, they also have that smell. You still want to team up with them?”

“Of course,” Yun Xi replied through a voice transmission. “They begged for it, so I’ll play along. Otherwise, how would I get paid?”

“They pretended to be injured on purpose, just to lure you in,” Dian Dian said, reacting quickly.

“Exactly,” Yun Xi replied. “If it were one against three, I’d definitely stay far away and never team up with them.”

“Master, don’t worry,” Dian Dian said. “The Fei Xia butterfly said it’ll watch them. If there’s any movement at all, it’ll tell you right away. I’ll watch them too.”

“Good. Let’s see what they’re trying to do,” Yun Xi said.

Half an hour later, the three of them stopped in front of a cliff wall. The male cultivator formed a hand seal, and an entrance appeared in the cliff.

“It’s here,” he said, then led the way inside.

Once Yun Xi entered, she swept her eyes around and saw this was a man-made cave. Three night-luminescent pearls the size of a baby’s fist were embedded into the walls. It seemed they had prepared this resting spot in advance.

The unconscious male cultivator had already woken up. After swallowing a healing pill, he began to meditate and recover. The other two also swallowed pills to replenish spiritual energy.

Yun Xi sat near the entrance, showing she was wary of all three.

The female cultivator opened her eyes from meditation first. She smiled at Yun Xi. “Fellow Daoist, we still don’t know how to address you. What should we call you?”

“My surname is Wei,” Yun Xi said.

The instant Yun Xi finished speaking, the female cultivator crushed a pill in her hand and swept the powder toward Yun Xi with her sleeve.