“Show me the way and make amends for your rebellious act. If you do so, I shall spare the creature’s life for your sake, as long as it stays out of my way.” Fan Qianshi made a quick flick of his sleeve, and soon, the air was filled with several other butterflies. “I will only offer you this opportunity once. If you miss it, I shall not spare the creature’s life. Three seconds to make your decision. One…”

 Little Black was dumbstruck.

 “Two…” Fan Qianshi continued with his countdown.

 Little Black finally surrendered, “All right, I promise. I shall trust you once more, master. But let me make this clear, if you go against your word again, that will be the end of our relationship. I will not follow you anymore, even if that spells the end of my life.”

 “Are you threatening your master?”

 “No, this is not a treat. I am only telling you what is going to happen.”

 Their eyes locked for a moment, and Little Black had no intention to back off at all.

 In the end, Fan Qianshi gave in first. “Don’t worry. I will do as promised. Now show me the way.”

 …

 They were back to the vast, desolate area of sand.

 Fan Qianshi took a quick look around the place before looking at Little Black for an answer.

 “They were here! I am not lying to you!” Little Black defended itself.

 Fan Qianshi looked around the place before he replied, “I know that you are not lying. I can catch some traces of the creature’s scent.”

 There was no one around, though.

 There were two possibilities in Fan Qianshi’s mind. The first scenario – Gu Xijiu was with Di Hao, but they had now parted ways with the silly pink creature. The second scenario – All three of them were still together, but Gu Xijiu did not manage to mask all of their traces. Therefore, the candle dragon’s scent was left behind.

 Thinking about the two possibilities, it seemed unlikely for Gu Xijiu to travel on her own since the pink candle dragon was probably their exit ticket.

 Fan Qianshi was quite troubled by the thought.

 He had experienced Gu Xijiu’s uncanny escapes far too many times. In addition to her wits, her teleportation skill often turned his pursuits into futile efforts.

 Little Black was able to sense Little Pink’s location, and the connection was mutual.

 Therefore, as soon as Gu Xijiu knew that Little Black was approaching, she would be able to make her escape. Running away was very easy with her magical teleportation skill.

 In that case, if he stuck to the same strategy, he would never be able to catch her. Therefore, he needed to create some sort of distraction.

 “Try again and see where they are right now, will you?” He finally broke the silence.

 After a while, Little Black pointed in a particular direction. It was about a hundred miles from where they were right now.

 Unexpectedly, Fan Qianshi raised his hand to cast a spell on Little Black, making it numb and unable to move. “Little Black, stay here. I will go to them myself.”

 In the blink of an eye, he was already almost at the location.

 Before he left, he kindly offered Little Black a big umbrella to shelter it from the fierce sun. “You can take a short nap here if you like.”

 Little Black acknowledged in silence.

 …

 “Eh? The black candle dragon is not moving anymore!” The pink candle dragon made a swift report. “Have they stopped pursuing us, knowing they will never make it?” It looked at Gu Xijiu with hopeful eyes.

 Gu Xijiu did not think so, for Fan Qianshi was not the kind of man who would stop trying.

 “Is it not moving at all?”

 “Yes, like a statue. It has not moved an inch.”

 Gu Xijiu realized immediately that something was not right. Quickly, she grabbed them with both hands and said, “Fan Qianshi is on his own now! We have to go!” She used her teleportation skill right away.

 Fan Qianshi made his way there just as she left. In fact, he had made himself invisible to help in his pursuit.