Legacy World 3.11 Cooperation

She dashed forward and kicked his leg with her full strength. Pain shot through his entire leg from his shin but the only reaction he gave her was a mere twitch of his eyebrows. Since he did not move, BaiXue ended up ricocheting off his leg instead.

She leapt up, aiming for his chin next, then spun in mid air to kick his cheek. Each time, his head snapped along with her kick. A little bit of blood trickled from his lips. However, that was it. LongFei stood there without moving a single step. It was as if he was merely slapped hard by someone.

BaiXue retreated and charged forward to lunge at his stomach. She knocked the wind out of him but he still refused to move an inch. He behaved like a human punching bag.

BaiXue breathed heavily. /...Am I still weak or is he really strong?/ 

[Regardless of that... He's...] BaoBao sounded a little concerned.

/Not defending at all./

[But why?]

/.../

BaiXue pondered for a while before she asked him coldly, "Why aren't you defending?"

"I know I'm being selfish." LongFei replied easily.

"After you've seen how much I hate it, you're still set on not bringing me down?"

Instead of replying, he threw a question back at her, but in a small voice. "Don't you have to focus on cultivating?" This was his last attempt at keeping her here. He abhorred the idea of her getting close to that black bird or relying on anyone else, but it would be worse if she ended up hating him.

"What do you mean?" She wondered what he was coming up with now, to make his offer more desirable to her. She changed back into her human form to talk normally. "I AM planning to cultivate while I keep watch."

"I can help you keep an eye on whatever you need to watch out for. This way, you can fully focus on cultivating without a worry that you'll miss anything. If you need to rush down the mountain because of something, I'll help you do that as well. Use me as your eyes and limbs." This was the first time in his life that LongFei explained himself this much. He felt a little nervous. /Did I get my point across?/

BaiXue did not have to think about it for long to know that there was no value added for her. She already has BaoBao who could look out for her while she focused on cultivating.

Seeing that she was unconvinced, he added on, "I will still cook for you so that you have no need to hunt and there are countless longevity peaches for you to eat here." He was referring to the peaches that seemed to cleanse and improve her body constitution.

"Can't you do that for me while I'm below the mountain?" BaiXue still tried to make it difficult for him.

"If I flew down and go to you each time, won't it give away your position?"

/He gave a reasonable explanation. There's nothing for me to reject now./ She really did value maximising her time to cultivate. Time was tight for her. Moreover, she did not expect him to stay with her all the time while she cultivated, neither did she wish for that to happen.

She started to waver a little. BaoBao could not appear any longer because LongFei was watching.

However, she really disliked the idea of owing LongFei. She truly could not think of anything to give him in return. This cultivation method she was trying out in this world is unlikely useful for him.

As if he could read her microexpressions, LongFei's gut told him he was about to get rejected. His shoulders slumped. His face fell. He really wanted to be of use to her. He wanted to be the one she could rely on. /Am I not the strongest after all? Maybe someone else deserves to stand by her side instead.../

"Can you at least tell me your reason for not wanting my help?" LongFei asked solemnly.

"I don't want to owe you. You've done more than enough for me already." BaiXue outrightly admitted.

"But you wouldn't owe me... If anything, you're doing me a favour." LongFei looked at her with sad eyes.

In contrast, BaiXue's eyes widened in slight surprise. "What?"

LongFei looked back at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked him calmly.

"I'm the one requesting for you to stay. If you talk about owing, then I'm the one who would owe you a favour." He elaborated.

BaiXue frowned a little. When he said "favour", Ethan from the previous world appeared in her mind. /What a coincidental choice of word.../

BaoBao had a hunch but did not dare to voice his opinion out. He knew how much she did not trust in any of the main characters from day one.

BaiXue sighed aloud then accepted his proposal. "Let me know when there is an attack on the village."

His face brightened up considerably and he smiled for the first time in this world. Although it looked a bit awkward, it was still charming. "Feel free to explore the house. Treat it like your home."

She left him and did exactly that, in search for a spot to cultivate peacefully. The entire place was designed in a similar way to the room she had woken up in last time. It was spacious and sparsely decorated with extravagant pieces. There were two other bedrooms that she deemed useless, since he did not seem to have guests over. There was a common area to have meals in and an open kitchen beyond the common area, where a pale plum blossom tree, a little further away, swayed in the cool gentle breeze. She instantly grew a liking for that spot.

Once she walked to the tree, she realised that it had a clear view of the mountain with the basilisk's cave, which made her raise an eyebrow. She could not see into the cave like LongFei could, but if her orientation was not messed up, she guessed that he should be able to.

[Pfft! The second male lead of this world has stalker-like behaviour. His arrivals were not timed, he had always been watching you!] BaoBao snickered.

/Well, that would explain how he kept appearing on time whenever FengJiao needed his help./

[Like how he appeared whenever YOU were ready to eat too.]

/...This is not about me./

With that, she changed into a rabbit under the tree and began her cultivation.

For the next 2 days, BaiXue focused on cultivating, only pausing to eat the food that LongFei cooked for her. Whenever LongFei brought her food, his heart warmed at the sight of her, calmly cultivating under the cherry blossom tree, with pink petals occasionally drifting down around her. It was a view he would never get tired of. If waiting on her meant that he could admire her ceaselessly, he would not mind it doing it forever.

One evening after dinner, LongFei finally came to her with news of an incoming attack on the village. There was a suspicious group of carnivores heading towards the village. They behaved in an orderly manner and did things with a clear purpose. Once he concluded that they were human shapeshifters, he returned to report to BaiXue. The first wave of attack had commenced.

BaiXue climbed onto his back in her human form and clutched his silver mane while he flew down closer to the ground from behind the bandits so that she could witness the attack herself. BaiXue made herself comfortable on a tree branch and watched on as the bandits wrecked havoc in the village. It was quite an interesting and refreshing sight because, unlike any other villages that she had seen, the villagers here participated in the fight to defend their village.

MengYao could not participate because he was still healing from the injuries inflicted by LongFei. He hated how he would be forced to witness FengJiao be used as a weapon to protect the village. However, he gradually realised that it was not the case.

He noticed how well coordinated their actions were. Nobody relied on FengJiao and threw her to the front lines to defend them. Instead, it was as if FengJiao was their backup and impregnable defense that would save them if they failed to protect themselves. Whenever someone was about to be killed by a bandit, she would swoop in at the right time. MengYao frowned, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Before long, the bandits who were still alive also came to the same conclusion that FengJiao was just waiting to roast them alive. Understanding that they stood no chance, they ran off.

BaiXue's eyes lit up as she sat up straight. This was the moment she was waiting for. She gestured to tell LongFei to follow the one who ran the fastest and was the furthest away from the village. However, in the midst of tailing the hyena from high above, a long pillar of golden flame shot from the direction of the village and finished him off.

BaiXue frowned. The female lead of this world was less merciful than she thought. The book only described how the village survived every attack sent by FenFang. It had not specified that FengJiao finished every bandit off. BaiXue blew the whistle that FenFang gave to her then asked LongFei to bring her back up the mountain.

FenFang was surprised when she got the signal that the attack failed. She had expected it to take around half a month before receiving news. Nonetheless, she sent out an order for the next attack. Seeing how easily this batch was defeated, she chose the people for the second batch more carefully.

LongFei came again with news of another attack in the evening 3 days later.

This time, BaiXue told him to let her dismount some distance ahead of the bandits. She hid in the bushes in her rabbit form, while LongFei stayed hidden among the trees in his human form. It did not take very long before the group of bandits ran past the bushes that BaiXue was in.

Just as the last person of the group ran past her, she jumped up and kicked his head hard. The dark brown wolf yelped in pain and suffered a concussion. LongFei then swiftly swooped in to carry them away, simultaneously knocking the wolf out cold. 

By the time the wolf in front turned back to check, they were out of sight. He frowned in confusion. He was sure that there was someone else running behind him. This made him stop to think. /Are we found out?/

"Hey! What're you doing falling behind?!" Someone ahead called back to him. "We're almost at the village! Hasten your pace! We have a deadline to meet!"

"There's someone missing!" He informed them.

"Nonsense! Only you're lagging behind! Now, hurry up!"

The guy who stopped snarled and pushed his concern to the back of his mind and ran to catch up with the others ahead of him.

/A deadline? What could she be threatenening them with?/ BaiXue wondered to herself. They were hiding up in a tree some distance away from the group but still within earshot of the conversation. 

BaiXue looked up at LongFei, who carefully cradled her in one arm and carelessly held onto the wolf in the other arm, and nodded. At her signal, LongFei brought them over the mountains to the other side. At his speed, they crossed the mountains in record time.

Just as BaiXue jumped off his back upon reaching their destination, he roughly shook the unmoving lump off his body. It fell with a thud onto the floor. The rough handling finally woke up the unconscious wolf. LongFei, with his proud and majestic aura, caught his attention first. It took him longer to notice the meek and plain looking woman standing nearer to him. His eyes then darted around. Realising that he was alone, separated from his group, he eyed the pair warily, then suddenly took off.

/What idiots for not tying me up. They're too overconfident./

However, just as he thought that, a strong force hit his stomach, causing him to fly high up into the sky. The pain was so crippling that he could not break his fall and crashed back down in a heap. He whimpered breathlessly in pain.

"She did not say that you could leave. How dare you run off." LongFei said dispassionately.

BaiXue strolled into his sight moments later. This time, LongFei stood closer to the wolf, like a guard keeping watch on a criminal.

"Where's your village?" BaiXue asked with a light and casual tone.