Venerated Venomous Consort

The outside world remained just the same. The rain of blood would still happen every ten days. The forests were still occupied full of mad beasts.

Gu Xijiu finally realized how amazing her ride was as it journeyed through the different areas. When they were moving through the streets, the carriage was just a normal carriage. When they arrived at a place with little trace of human activity or a place without any proper paths, the carriage would extend its wings and fly into the air as guided by the majestic donkey. The donkey would use its Qing Gong to guide the carriage through the air.

Gu Xijiu was not in a hurry to get rid of the toxins, so there was no rush. They would travel during the day and rest at night. There were not many cities left, so sometimes they would not be able to make it to the city and would take a rest in the wild instead. In order to keep them safe from the wild animals, Gu Xijiu would use the trees and stones as a fence to build an array formation. Then, she would set up two separate tents for them to rest.

June was the month with the hottest days of the year. The tents were really stuffy. It was time for Zhu Duqing to show Gu Xijiu how great he was with the use of his devices. He installed a ventilator that he made on top of every tent. The ventilator was like an electrical fan in the modern days with rotating blades to create a current of air for cooling.

There were some benefits for Zhu Duqing to follow Gu Xijiu around. For example, Gu Xijiu would explain the key features of the array formation every time she built one. When they were traveling, she would invite Zhu Duqing into the carriage whenever she saw him exhausted. They would then play a game of chess or enjoy the fruits that Gu Xijiu had with her. Every time he went inside the carriage to take a rest, Gu Xijiu would stay outside to look after the donkey.

Oddly enough, the donkey did not like Zhu Duqing very much but was very pleased to have Gu Xijiu around. Whenever it saw her, it would run fast and smooth, or sometimes whip its tail to help Gu Xijiu chase away the mosquitoes.

Whenever Gu Xijiu complimented the donkey, it would raise its head, look back at her with a charming gaze, and proudly acknowledge her kind words with a firm nod.

The donkey was probably attracted by Gu Xijiu’s beauty. Thus, it was determined to protect her.

Gu Xijiu found the donkey to be quite interesting. She went into the carriage and told Zhu Duqing about it. Perplexed, he responded with a tight smile, “The donkey has always been very friendly and patient with girls. When it sees a female donkey, it will always let the female go first.” It clearly had good manners.

Gu Xijiu was quite impressed. She took out a bottle of wine from her storage bag and sat herself comfortably at the coachman seat. She shook the bottle and asked the donkey, “My fellow donkey, would you like to have a taste of the wine?”

The donkey responded with a long growl that was as loud as the sound of a dragon. Gu Xijiu was shocked by its sudden exclamation.

The donkey was growling loudly as if saying, “I want! I want! I want!”

Normally, a donkey would only be able to make a low guttural sound that was somewhat irritating to the ears. However, the majestic donkey was unlike any other donkey. Its sound was rather pleasing and melodious as if a tenor soloist that could sing high notes with ease.

Zhu Duqing walked out of the carriage and said, “Don’t give it any wine. It drinks excessively every time and will not run another mile when it is drunk. Our journey will be delayed.”

Convinced, Gu Xijiu no longer felt appropriate to offer it the wine. Unexpectedly, the donkey suddenly swept its tail across her hand and flung the wine away.