The Silly Alchemist

Before Li Yue could ask what Ye Lang was doing, he said, “Just tell me where to go for the first part of the journey. Tell me the rest later when we arrive!”

“Alright… Also, put me down! I’m not weak now, I don’t need you to carry me everywhere!” Li Yue was wriggling in his arms but to no avail.

Ye Lang’s strength and the Yang energy radiating off him slowly made her stop struggling.

“You’re not weak but you run too slow, it’ll be faster for me to carry you!” said Ye Lang, who proceeded to prove his point.

Initially, she did not understand him. What did he mean? He’d be faster if he carried her? However, when she saw the extreme speed in his sprint, and the wind roaring in her ears, she understood- he thought she was too slow.

However, it was true. He was running faster than the fastest horse in the world, how could she keep up? It was no wonder they travelled hundreds of kilometers in one afternoon, he really carried her all the way!

All of this seemed so unbelievable. This speed was unfathomable- she couldn’t understand how he could do this using only the muscles in his legs and without an ounce of magic.

Ye Lang, O’ Ye Lang, how many secrets do you hold? How many inexplicable things have happened to you?

Li Yue gave up thinking about how odd Ye Lang was. Treating these matters as a daily occurrence was the smartest choice.

Her head slowly tipped closer to his chest and as she lay quietly, she listened to his heartbeat, completely forgetting time…

“Roar…” A violent roar startled Li Yue.

“What’s going on?! Eh? It’s almost noon?”

Although she didn’t know how much time had passed, she was sure it was almost noon from the position of the sun in the sky. That meant Ye Lang had been running for almost four to five hours since this morning.

She couldn’t believe he could maintain his speed for such long hours, she thought that was only a temporary burst of energy!

Let’s not think about that for the moment- what was that roar?

“Ah, it’s a lion…” Li Yue saw a male lion chasing after them from behind. It was very muscular, looking very majestic as it tailed Ye Lang.

“You just noticed? It’s been after me for an hour now. Not bad for a lion, it doesn’t even look tired,” Ye Lang said with a grin.

“One hour? Then I don’t think it’s a regular lion? What did you do to anger it? It would never follow you for an hour for no reason,” said Li Yue. Why would a lion follow a human for an hour? Even if it had the strength, it would not have the patience.

Plus, lions usually had their own territory. They would not chase after a prey too far outside the boundary of their territory.

And… this lion didn’t have the usual yellow coat, it was a fire red. This obviously was no regular lion, it must be a magical beast.

“As I was running, I accidentally stepped on its tail, then it started to chase me!” he answered nonchalantly.

“…”

Li Yue could imagine that Ye Lang must’ve been running too fast, plus he did care too much about the lion. Probably thought it was a regular animal… Although it was as red as fire, with his clueless personality, he would still not think much of it.

“You must’ve thought it was a rock or something, right?”

“How did you know, I haven’t told you! Yeah, it was curled up into a ball, I thought it was just a red boulder…” said Ye Lang.

“…”

“What the hell, is this a super lion or something? It’s running even faster, fuck!!” Ye Lang suddenly noticed the lion was closing in, he could feel it running faster and sensed magical energy within the lion.

“It’s so obvious it’s a magical beast, what super…” huffed Li Yue, magical beasts had many different abilities. Perhaps running fast was one of the lion-type beast’s abilities.

“This is a magical beast, yes, but it is a very weird one. I’ve never seen any records of this lion, it must have evolved from a regular animal very recently,” said Ye Lang.

Other than magical beasts who were born with magical blood, there were also beasts that evolve from regular wild animals. These were very rare, for the conditions required for evolution were stringent.

However, how many millions and billions of animals were there in this world? While the probability was low, they still existed- but chances of meeting one were very low. Usually, these beasts weren’t noticed until their pack was formed.

“How are you sure it’s an evolved lion? Perhaps it’s the second or third generation,” she said indignantly. She wanted to find a mistake in his explanation.

“No, when I stepped on its tail, there was a pride of lions around it. They were all regular lions, that’s why I thought this one was a rock,” he said, shaking his head.

“You saw a pride of lions, then ran straight through them? Did you want to die?” said Li Yue immediately.

“Do you think regular lions can catch up to me? It doesn’t matter if I run through a group of them, they’ll chase me for a bit but give up very quickly. Just this one behind us is a little troublesome…”

“Looks like it sped up again. If this goes one, it will catch up to us.” Li Yue looked at the lion and sensed it picking up speed.

“I can run faster too. Hold tight!” as he spoke, he used more force in his legs and pulled a distance between himself and the lion in a moment. The lion at the back was shocked for a moment but with a roar, it increased its speed too.

Li Yue did not notice, only obeying his instructions. She did not want to trouble Ye Lang, if holding tight would make it a little easier, she would do it.

“Ye Lang, what if you put me on your back? I’ll hold on tight, and you’ll be able to run faster!” she said gently after a while.

“You don’t have to. I think the lion won’t be able to run much longer, but I can! And if I carry you on my back, what if the lion pulls some trick? You’d be bearing the brunt of the attack, I can’t have that!” he shook his head.

“…”

Li Yue was stunned for a moment, she didn’t expect Ye Lang to think of her safety in a moment like that, giving up the better choice because of her.

To be honest, if Ye Lang wasn’t carrying her, he would’ve shaken off the lion a long time ago. Yet, he did not do such a thing, he did not toss Li Yue aside.