Chapter 54: The Kindhearted Soul

The disciples, upon hearing Jiang Yan’s coughing, realized they had yet to thank him.
“Jiang Yan, we owe our escape to you. Your lifesaving kindness will never be forgotten.”
“Jiang Yan, thank you. Not only are you gifted, but you’re also compassionate.”
...
Hearing their praise and gratitude, Jiang Yan’s lips curved into a slight smile. “You’re welcome. But next time, try not to be so careless. If you encounter those monsters again, remember to avoid being caught or bitten.”
“Alright, Jiang Yan, thanks for the reminder.”
“Yes, we’ll be careful.”
Master Xuanqing spoke, “Since all is well, you may return now.”
“Yes, Master.”
With that, they departed one by one.
“Thank you all,” Master Xuanqing suddenly said.
Jiang Yan hadn’t expected this icy figure to actually express gratitude.
He chuckled, “No need for thanks!”
After bidding them farewell, Master Xuanqing returned to his disciples.
Jiang Yan and his companions climbed back into the RV.
“Should we set out now?” Xie Lingzhou asked suddenly.
Ji Chuxue replied, “Yes, we can depart.”
“Excellent! Staying here has been suffocating for this dragon lord!” the little dwarf dragon exclaimed excitedly.
It trotted over to the driver’s seat and said to Xie Lingzhou, “You’ve been driving so many times—shouldn’t it be my turn now?”
Xie Lingzhou glanced at the little dwarf dragon. “You… are sure you want to drive? Then go ask the others first.”
In truth, Xie Lingzhou was reluctant to let the little dwarf dragon drive. So he decided to throw the question to the others in the RV.
The little dwarf dragon actually went around asking them, “Well, this dragon lord wants to drive the RV. None of you object, right?”
Jiang Yan patted the little dragon’s “dog head” and coaxed, “Little dragon, you’re still young. Driving such a big RV isn’t really suitable for you. Your legs are short; you’d get tired standing up to drive. Besides, we might encounter monsters on the road—don’t you want to shoot them instead?”
The others nodded in agreement with Jiang Yan’s words.
Listening to him, the little dwarf dragon became conflicted.
He wanted to experience the thrill and excitement of driving, yet he also yearned to shoot monsters…
After a bout of indecision, it finally chose to give up driving and opted to hunt monsters instead.
After all, he was Jiang Yan’s so-called sharpshooter!
How could Jiang Yan’s group go without their sharpshooter?
The little dwarf dragon announced, “Fine, I won’t drive. I’ll stick with you all to hunt monsters.”
“That’s the spirit!” Jiang Yan praised.
And, silently, he added to himself: this is the professionalism a bodyguard should have!
From the driver’s seat, Xie Lingzhou overheard their conversation and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
He started the RV.
The disciples watched in amazement as Jiang Yan’s wooden cabin began to move forward.
“So that wooden house is actually a mount!” one disciple realized.
“What a practical mount,” another said enviously.
Even Master Xuanqing was surprised to see Jiang Yan’s wooden house move.
Watching their departure, he told his disciples, “Let’s set out as well.”
At his command, the disciples rose and continued deeper into the desert.
They followed behind Jiang Yan’s RV, the distance between them gradually widening.
“Ah, I really envy them. No wonder Jiang Yan is so energetic—it’s like he’s out on a holiday.”
“Exactly. Unlike us, still trekking on foot—even with spirit beasts as mounts, we still have to endure this wind and sand.”
The disciples gazed longingly at Jiang Yan’s RV, their hearts full of envy.
...
Deep within the Death Desert.
Snow Eagle and Soul Hunter had been lying in wait for days, but not a single soul appeared.
The Resurrection Flower remained elusive, though countless high-level monsters had arrived.
Snow Eagle and Soul Hunter were locked in fierce combat with a host of powerful monsters, while the captive male disciple cowered behind Ironwing for protection.
Ironwing watched coldly as Snow Eagle and Soul Hunter battled the monsters, making no move to assist.
His master had once told him: the enemy of your enemy is a potential ally.
Ironwing secretly hoped these monsters would grow stronger and thoroughly defeat the two threats to his master.
But perhaps that was only wishful thinking.
“Hahaha, it’s been ages since I stretched my muscles!”
Snow Eagle wielded two enormous axes, swinging them wildly and decapitating the monsters that approached him, leaving their heads littered across the sand.
Soul Hunter gently caressed his dagger with his fingertips and asked the emotionless monsters, chillingly, “Can you guess what I’m thinking?”
“Roar! Roar!”
The monsters, their eyes vacant, responded with a series of roars and charged at him.
“Heh, evil things of the lower realm think they can harm me?”
No sooner had he spoken than the dagger in Soul Hunter’s hand multiplied into countless blades, raining down like arrows upon the monsters.
Under this indiscriminate assault, the monsters were shredded into pieces of rotting flesh.
The male disciple, witnessing this, pressed himself even closer to Ironwing in terror.
Ironwing glanced at him, disdainful. “Coward.”
Seeing the monsters dispatched, Snow Eagle complained, “Soul Hunter, why didn’t you leave me a few?”
“Those lowly evil creatures aren’t worth my time. Enough exercise for you—let’s hurry and search for the Resurrection Flower,” Soul Hunter replied coldly.
“But how do we find it? Besides, we don’t even know how many there are!” Snow Eagle said dimly.
“Find as many as we can—no need for so much fuss,” Soul Hunter replied impatiently.
“Oh, so which way do we go?” Snow Eagle asked again.
“We keep exploring ahead. The Resurrection Flower should bloom in the next few days…”
With that, they leapt onto Ironwing and sped deeper into the desert.
...
Two days later.
The off-road RV entered the heart of the Death Desert.
“Look over there—so many monster corpses!” the little dwarf dragon cried out.
On hearing this, Xie Lingzhou immediately hit the brakes.
Jiang Yan and the others peered out the windows and saw monster corpses scattered across the sand, most hacked into pieces.
Wu Qianqian asked curiously, “Did someone come here before us and wipe out all these monsters?”
Jiang Yan replied, “It must have been someone powerful who arrived ahead of us.”
He thought to himself: no wonder there were fewer monsters on the way…
Though he didn’t know who they were, they had cleared obstacles for them, and he decided to treat them as well-meaning strangers.
“Senior Sister, where do you think the Resurrection Flower might be?” Jiang Yan asked.
Ji Chuxue answered calmly, “That will depend on our luck.”