Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite

The tightly packed formation scattered quickly, and as the teams split off in different directions, the weasel beasts were momentarily thrown into disarray. Some of the creatures continued to chase after Wei Yunting's team, while others veered off toward a group of mortal children. The remaining teams were followed by only two or three weasel beasts each, greatly reducing the overall threat.

Sweeping her spiritual sense over the group of mortals being heavily targeted, Wei Yunxi immediately spotted the girl who had gone to the restroom with Wei Yunqing earlier.

Her eyes shifted to the persistent weasel beasts pursuing them. That sealed it—her hunch had been right. Wei Yunqing had definitely caused this mess.

The chubby little Wei Zonghao was already out of breath. He waved a hand at Yunxi, panting, "Yunxi, don't drag me anymore. I can't keep up. You go ahead!"

But Wei Yunxi stubbornly shook her head. "Brother Zonghao, I won't leave you behind!"

She seized the right moment, yanking the little fatty into a patch of thorny vines. In one smooth motion, she tossed out a concealment formation disk and dragged Wei Zonghao into the safety of the barrier.

As soon as they were inside, Wei Zonghao collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Wei Yunxi wasn't doing much better, but during the run, she had instinctively channeled spiritual power into her legs—specifically wind-type spiritual power—which allowed her to drag Zonghao along without being overtaken by the weasels.

They chose to fall behind on purpose. She didn't want to be caught up in the trouble Wei Yunqing had stirred. Who knew what she'd stolen from those beasts?

Once Zonghao caught his breath and sat up, he peeked through the formation at the weasel beasts still sniffing around outside.

"Little Sister Yunxi... did we get left behind?"

"We had to," she replied. "Most of the weasel beasts were chasing us. You couldn't run anymore, so hiding was our best option."

"Thanks, Yunxi. Here, have some dried meat. I thought I was going to pass out just now. Gotta eat something to get my strength back."

Zonghao, surprisingly generous, handed over a piece of his precious rations. In his mind, Yunxi had more than proven herself. She hadn't abandoned him even in danger, and she used an expensive formation disk to protect them both. Just like his mother had said—this was the kind of cousin worth sticking close to.

Yunxi gratefully accepted the meat and chewed on two pieces. When the weasel beasts outside finally lost interest and wandered off, she said, "They're gone. Let's rest a little longer, then catch up to Big Sister Yunting."

"Yeah, let's not rush. We can catch up once we've recovered."

Zonghao nodded in agreement.

Then Yunxi asked, "Brother Zonghao, why do you think those weasel beasts wouldn't let up? Why were they so focused on us?"

"You saw that?" Zonghao looked surprised. "Most of the beasts were following us?"

He'd been too busy running to notice what was going on behind them.

"I saw it clearly," Yunxi said without hesitation. "Especially when Big Sister Yunting told everyone to scatter. Our team had the most weasel beasts behind it. There was also a group of mortals getting chased, but the other teams only had two or three beasts following them."

Zonghao furrowed his brows. "I saw Wei Yunqing go into the woods earlier with that mortal girl. Could it be... did they take something they shouldn't have?"

Yunxi raised her brows, surprised. "So someone had noticed Yunqing's movements. These little radishes weren't as simple as they looked."

She nodded, playing along. "I saw it too. I just didn't dare say anything earlier."

Zonghao grinned, showing a row of small white teeth. "Come on. Let's catch up and see if it really was her fault."

Yunxi agreed right away. Once they'd fully recovered, she deactivated the formation disk. Every use consumed one of her precious spirit stones—each one gone was one less she'd have in the future—so she had to be economical.

This time, the two of them held hands as they made their way forward, retracing the path the others had taken.

—

Further ahead, Wei Yunting was livid.

Glaring at her cousin, she shouted, "Wei Yunqing, if you don't want to be eliminated, hand over whatever you took from the weasel beasts. Otherwise, I'm leaving you behind!"

Though reluctant, Wei Yunqing eventually pulled her sleeve open and placed a baby weasel beast on the ground. Without another word, she bolted from the spot.

Some of the weasel beasts were already at the third layer of Qi Refining—far beyond her ability to handle. If Wei Yunting truly abandoned her, getting eliminated would be the least of her problems.

The moment she let go of the baby, the pursuing weasels halted. The largest among them approached and sniffed at the tiny creature. Once it confirmed the little one was unharmed, it gently picked it up and turned back the way it had come. The rest of the weasel beasts followed, retreating without further conflict.

They didn't want to stray too far from their territory either. The longer they stayed away, the more likely other beasts would treat their presence as a provocation.

Wei Yunting finally exhaled in relief. But her expression toward Wei Yunqing remained cold.

She couldn't understand why her cousin had done something so foolish. The weasel beasts were only first-rank, and even if they managed to evolve to third-rank one day, their abilities were still limited. They could run fast, but that was about it. What did she want with a weasel cub?

If Wei Yunxi had been present, she might have figured it out.

After all, Wei Yunqing had lost her most valuable golden-finger—her spatial token plate. Without it, even her storage pouch was practically empty. Concubine Du had gone into seclusion unexpectedly and hadn't passed along the resources she'd prepared for her daughter. Desperate, Wei Yunqing had probably planned to trade the cute baby beast for some spirit stones. The little thing was adorable enough to be popular with girls, after all.

But things hadn't gone to plan. Instead of earning a profit, she'd scattered the entire team and drawn a horde of beasts onto herself. Cursing her luck, Wei Yunqing grumbled under her breath. Then she glanced behind her.

Not seeing Wei Yunxi, her mood lifted again.

"We'll rest here for now."

Seeing that the weasel beasts were gone for good, Wei Yunting gave the command.

The remaining six members of the group finally stopped to catch their breath. When everyone had calmed down, Wei Zonghan spoke up bluntly.

"Yunqing, do you even know why we're here? Are you trying to get every Wei clan disciple eliminated so the other families in Kunyu City can laugh at us?"

Wei Zonghan was one of the first five Wei disciples accepted into the sect. He was the same age as Wei Yunting and had reached the third layer of Qi Refinement. Although he came from a collateral branch of the family, his status made him the unofficial vice-leader of the team. And he didn't hold back.

Wei Yunqing's face flushed red. Her eyes rimmed with tears as she said, "Brother Zonghan, I didn't know the baby weasel would lead the whole group after us. When I went into the woods to relieve myself, it fell from above and landed on me. Its eyes weren't even open. I thought it had been abandoned, so I wanted to raise it. I didn't mean for this to happen!"

She started wiping at her tears, making Zonghan feel like he'd just punched a pillow. He turned to look at Wei Yunting instead.

Wei Yunting also had some opinions about her cousin. But Wei Yunqing had good spiritual roots and cultivated quickly. She was a key prospect for the family. It wouldn't be appropriate to scold her too harshly, so Wei Yunting kept her tone stern but measured.

"Yunqing, you're already a cultivator. You can't act on impulse anymore. Thankfully this didn't lead to disaster. Let this be a lesson."

"I understand, Big Sister Yunting," Wei Yunqing said, blinking back tears.

Just then, Wei Zongjin frowned and exclaimed, "Wei Yunxi and Zonghao are missing!"