The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 278: Chapter 275: Guardian?

With Kuaidong’s retreat, the Demon Sect’s forces in Dingzhou were once again left without a leader.

Or perhaps chaos was simply the normal state of affairs in the Northern Plains.

Although the Demon Sect held great sway in the Northern Plains, its followers—monsters, demons, and barbarians alike—were all an unruly and untamable bunch, making it nearly impossible to enforce the kind of strict military discipline found in the Xuanyang Army.

While the disorganized Demon Sect could still muster some resistance, their efforts were small in scale. As a result, the Yang Family easily conquered a county seat in He Ming Prefecture.

Bai Yuan seized the opportunity to kill more demons, earning a good number of enhancement points.

With He Ming Prefecture conquered, he had no reason to stay with the Yang Family any longer. He now had a clear grasp of the situation in Dingzhou, and it would be more convenient to act alone.

"Ah Yuan, are you really leaving?"

Yang Fangyu watched Bai Yuan, his expression complex.

Without Bai Yuan, he and Li Huan would never have been able to conquer Guiyuan. He owed Bai Yuan a great debt, and now he was even leaving because of the Yang Family.

Bai Yuan laughed heartily. "See you in Ling Province."

Yang Fangyu replied, "See you in Ling Province."

That night, Bai Yuan disguised himself as one of the Yang Family Members and stealthily left the county seat with a patrol team.

As for Hu Ben... he had already sent him back to Ling Province on his own.

...

Dingzhou bordered the Northern Plains. The month of Xuan Yue had just passed, yet a light snow was already drifting from the sky.

Such a strange sight was rare even in Ling Province, which was also located in the Northern Territory.

In the vast, snowy plains, a young man clad in animal skins with a saber on his back walked alone through the snow.

It was Bai Yuan, after he had left He Ming Prefecture.

Where was he now? He didn’t know either. If he hadn’t made a point of tracking the sunrises and sunsets, he might not even have known what day it was, no different from a hermit living in seclusion.

Li Huan had given the map to Yang Fangyu, so Bai Yuan had no idea of his specific location. All he knew was that heading south would eventually get him back to Ling Province.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed since he arrived in Dingzhou.

He had visited quite a few places during that time.

The Celestial Profound Sect was indeed powerful. They had already occupied the northern territories of Dingzhou, where they faced off against the Demon Sect, which held the Great Wall.

A small battle every three days, a large one every ten.

This had become the norm there.

Bai Yuan watched a major battle between the two sides from a distance. It was incredibly brutal.

The Celestial Profound Sect was based in the Northern Territory, so a steady stream of experts arrived in Dingzhou daily to provide reinforcements.

However, Bai Yuan noticed something peculiar.

Whenever someone died, whether they were one of the Profound People or a barbarian, a wisp of black energy would rise from their corpse.

The black wisp was extremely faint, so much so that Bai Yuan hadn’t noticed it before.

It was only because so many people were dying on the battlefield, combined with his heightened sensitivity to spiritual energy from being a Spirit Chef, that he finally spotted the anomaly.

It was Demonic Qi.

Bai Yuan was certain. He had felt an almost identical aura from Long Ao and the other Demon Sect People before. The feeling of Demonic Qi was unforgettable.

’Could it be the Nine Heavens Profound Soldiers?’ he wondered.

Before Old Dong left, he had told him about the Demon Sect’s Nine Heavens Profound Soldiers. Very few people in all of Xuan Yang knew this information.

The Court had obviously suppressed the news on purpose, not wanting more people to find out. As for why, Bai Yuan had no idea.

’Forget it.’

Bai Yuan shook his head. These were not things he should be worrying about yet.

He was more interested in leveling up.

Gazing at the three grayed-out words "Divine Mansion Technique" on his status panel, he felt an unbearable itch of anticipation.

As a speedrun player, he knew that as long as he upgraded the Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber and the Manggu Zhuhe Technique to the Legendary rank, he could combine them to unlock a new class.

’Almost there...’

His current progress was already heaven-defying; even Old Dong in his prime couldn’t compare.

Slaying those in the Perception realm while only being in the Entering Strength realm was as easy as butchering dogs for him. Very few people could achieve such a feat.

The wind and snow intensified, making it hard to even open one’s eyes.

Although Bai Yuan was still managing with ease, it would be difficult to gain much by continuing onward.

Monsters and barbarians weren’t masochists; they would definitely be hiding somewhere in this weather.

Just as Bai Yuan was about to find a cave to start a fire and warm up, his brow suddenly furrowed.

’Someone’s here?’

The spot was a full four li away. If not for the open terrain and Bai Yuan’s vision, which far surpassed 20/20, it would have been impossible to see anyone in such a heavy snowstorm.

Soon, he noticed several demons seemed to be following the person.

Bai Yuan focused his gaze.

’That person looks so familiar... Lu Xiaoyu?!’

To his surprise, he realized the person being chased by demons was none other than Lu Yu.

...

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Lu Yu struggled to run across the snow.

His injuries were too severe; he could only use thirty percent of his Lightweight Technique’s full power at most.

Facing the demons at full strength behind him, he stood no chance of resisting.

’Am I really going to die here?’

A wave of despair washed over him. In his daze, the image of an ice-cold woman appeared before his eyes.

’Am I dying?’

Lu Yu felt all his strength drain away, and his body involuntarily pitched forward.

The cries of the demons grew closer...

...

"How long are you going to lie there in the snow?"

"Huh?!"

Lu Yu suddenly heard a familiar voice. ’It sounds like... Big Bro!’

He snapped his head up.

He saw a face appear before him that was ordinary yet held an extraordinary quality—ordinary in its physical features, but extraordinary in its metaphysical presence.

"Damn, Big Bro!"

His eyes filled with ecstatic joy. He never would have imagined he’d run into Bai Yuan in the middle of this desolate wilderness.

Bai Yuan took a bottle of Spirit Liquid from his robes and had Lu Yu drink it.

Lu Yu was badly injured, with seven cuts on his body. Luckily, none had hit a vital spot, or the kid would have been long dead.

After drinking the Spirit Liquid, the color returned to Lu Yu’s face, and he could at least walk on his own.

He stood up and looked at Bai Yuan. "Big Bro, what are you doing here?"

Bai Yuan replied, "Would you believe I’m just sightseeing?"

"..."

But Bai Yuan hadn’t expected to run into Lu Yu here either. It was a complete coincidence—though it was also possible that it was some karmic intervention from having cultivated the Four-Nine Book.

Who could say for sure with things like that?

"Aren’t you supposed to be in Yongjia Prefecture?"

"This *is* Yongjia Prefecture."

"..."

Bai Yuan coughed lightly. He had been so focused on hunting demons along his path that he hadn’t paid any attention to his route, unknowingly crossing into the territory of Yongjia Prefecture.

"Then why were those demons chasing you?"

He remembered visiting Yongjia Prefecture once before. The Lu State Fang Family was powerful and had already eliminated most of the Demon Sect remnants within its borders.

Lu Yu’s face darkened. "It was those bastards from the Jiangnan Commerce Association. I was in charge of guarding Cui Shui County. Yesterday, I heard there was a demon disturbance nearby, but it turned out to be a trap set by the Jiangnan Commerce Association. They even lured in Demon Sect monsters, trying to use them to kill me."

Bai Yuan nodded.

"Let’s get out of here first."

If the Jiangnan Commerce Association was involved, their pursuers couldn’t be far behind.

With a flick of his finger, a few drops of poison flew out and dissolved the corpses of the two demons he had killed into a bloody pulp. Then, he took Lu Yu and vanished into the snowy plains.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a squad of burly men in thick, padded jackets arrived at the spot where Bai Yuan and Lu Yu had been.

"Where’s the kid?" one of the burly men asked, frowning.

There was no sign of the demons, nor of Lu Yu. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

"Boss, something’s not right here."

The leader followed the voice and saw two unusual depressions in the snow on the ground. There were traces of blood, but that was all.

"Keep searching! Don’t let that kid escape."

"Yes, sir!"

...

Deep in the mountain forest, in a cave whose entrance was overgrown with weeds.

Although there was no fire, it was a good place to shelter from the wind, much warmer than the snowy ground outside.

Bai Yuan set Lu Yu down on the ground.

Lu Yu leaned against the cave wall. "Big Bro, you saved my life again."

Bai Yuan stroked his chin, sizing up Lu Yu.

’Could this kid be the real Child of Destiny, and I’m just his Guardian?’

Otherwise, he couldn’t explain how he’d managed to coincidentally save Lu Yu twice.

Lu Yu said, "The Jiangnan Commerce Association has occupied Nanping Prefecture next to Yongjia Prefecture. They’ve always coveted our territory and frequently send people to cause trouble."

Bai Yuan already knew a little about this.

Although he had spent most of his time in the mountain forests, he had occasionally visited cities.

In the current situation in Dingzhou, the biggest power was naturally the Celestial Profound Sect, which single-handedly occupied ten prefectures in the north.

Besides them, the Yang Family and the Fang Family each occupied one prefecture, while the Cao Bang and the Jiangnan Commerce Association had joined forces to occupy the Three Mansions.

As for the remaining two prefectures, they were still being contested by the four factions.

As the saying goes, where there are people, there is the Jianghu, and where there is the Jianghu, there is strife. With the exception of the transcendent Celestial Profound Sect, the other four factions were no longer allies and showed no mercy when they fought.

"So what are your plans now?"

"An eye for an eye, of course," Lu Yu said viciously.

He had suffered a huge setback this time; he definitely wasn’t going to let it go.

Lu Yu’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Big Bro, why don’t you help me one more time?"

Bai Yuan sneered, "Did you find that Cultivation Technique?"

Lu Yu gave a dry laugh. He hadn’t even finished repaying the last favor; he couldn’t very well offer himself up a second time.

Bai Yuan said, "This is a matter for the Fang Family. It’s not my place to get too involved. You’ll have to figure it out yourself."

This time, Bai Yuan had no intention of intervening again.

The situation was chaotic, and he didn’t want to get involved in the conflict.

Lu Yu’s life was no longer in danger. As long as he got him back to the city, he would have fulfilled his obligation as a sworn brother.

Lu Yu looked crestfallen, knowing his request was a bit much.

Brothers were brothers, but he couldn’t just keep taking advantage of the connection. Otherwise, the goodwill would eventually run out.

Bai Yuan took out another bottle of Spirit Liquid. "Two bottles of Spirit Liquid and one Cultivation Technique. I’m putting it on your tab. Remember to pay me back."

"..."

Lu Yu decisively took the Spirit Liquid and drank it down.

He was already in debt anyway; a little more wouldn’t make a difference.

Bai Yuan glanced at the wind and snow outside the cave. "Let’s go. The snow has stopped."

Lu Yu nodded.

The Jiangnan Commerce Association was very likely to take this opportunity to make a move on Cui Shui County, which he was responsible for. He needed to get back as soon as possible.

Bai Yuan carried Lu Yu on his back and headed in the direction Lu Yu indicated.

At dusk, the two of them finally saw a city wall in the distance.

"We’re here," Lu Yu said slowly.

They were less than three li from Cui Shui County. In his current condition, Lu Yu would have no trouble getting back on his own.

Bai Yuan reminded him again, "Remember to pay your tab."

"..."

Lu Yu put on a cheeky grin. "Don’t worry, I definitely will."

"Just make sure you do."

Bai Yuan turned and left, giving Lu Yu a wave without looking back.

He suddenly felt that he should have just stuck to being a Ghostwriter. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with unpaid debts.