Ways to handle this little demon

"Ahhh.... I can't.... I can't do it anymore. This is the true torture. I'd rather fight a duel against an immortal than climbing these mountain stairs."

Had someone heard these words, one might even think He Jingyi was diligently ascending the mountain right now, attempting to overcome this challenge of Jianyu Sect since he was going to fake his identity as an exchange disciple. But that's not it. The exact one here who was all worn out and exhausted was Ming Zixin. Not only this prince had been tirelessly climbing thousands of mountain stairs for a good hour but he also had been giving a particular spoiled princess a piggyback ride. 

Since both of them made it to nearly two thousand stairs, Ming Zixin had been willingly piggybacking his princess, saying he would carry her till they reached snowy-light peak. Even though it's true that Ming Zixin was really exhausted right now, he had no thoughts to go back on his words either.

Instead, deep inside, Ming Zixin was even feeling contented. For him, this was no different from a rare opportunity. Not only he could get on He Jingyi's good side this way, he would also have the chance to intimately carry his princess like other real couples used to do. 

Hearing his princess' words, Ming Zixin could barely maintain a straight face. It's almost like half an hour since he'd been piggybacking his beloved princess. But it seemed like his princess was still tired as if she was the one who was climbing these stairs. 

Glancing up at mountain stairs above, Ming Zixin could catch a glimpse of Yang Zhiqiang who was ahead of them. Right now, this young cultivator might have abhorred them for sure.

Yang Zhiqiang....so this youth was the youngest sibling of General Yang?..... If Ming Zixin hadn't asked Yang Zhiqiang's name before Jianyu sect head disciples came, there's no way the prince would be able to relate this youth with the big shot general.

People said General Yang's younger brother was a spoiled brat who had no interest or talent in cultivation. And rumors seemed somewhat true. Earlier, in Tian forest, Yang Zhiqiang couldn't even defend himself properly. As a younger brother of General Yang, he was an absolute failure. 

Now that Ming Zixin though about it, it's such a good thing that they didn't kill him in the end. Otherwise, they might end up provoking General Yang. Though Yang Zhiqiang was a spoiled and mischievous brat, according to rumors, general Yang seemed to really love his brother. If they actually killed this youth and the news reached General Yang's ears, the general wouldn't probably stay still.

He might even personally come to Jianyu Sect and try to investigate and find out the culprits. If such a thing happened, it would undoubtedly hinder their mission. Not to mention, Ming Zixin only got two weeks left for this task. 

It was fortunate that they found out the youth's weakness in next to no time. Who would have thought the prestigious General Yang's younger brother valued the life of his demonic beast more than his own? He and his princess went a little overboard in giving this young cultivator a good beating though. He bet Yang Zhiqiang might have been inwardly cursing the two of them by now. 

But, the crown prince's hunch was wrong this time. Instead of blaming Ming Zixin and He Jingyi, the only one Yang Zhiqiang kept blaming non-stop was just himself. If only he took a little more interest in cultivation, all of this wouldn't have happened. Even if he couldn't defeat that demonic princess and her ally, he would have at least been able to protect his little Xiang and make their escape. He wouldn't even need to cooperate with these two enemies either. 

Because he was a useless master, his little demonic beast almost died. He didn't even deserve to be the owner of his little Xiang. Yang Zhiqiang never felt this useless and pathetic before.

Since he didn't want to invest his whole life serving and taking heavy responsibility for the safety of imperial family just like his brother, Yang's Zhiqiang never tried to take any interest in cultivation. Nor did he have any great ambitions like others to become a powerful cultivator.

His life only belonged to himself. And Yang Zhiqiang had no thought to be a guardian of imperial family. If he didn't had any impressive power like his brother, Yang Zhiqiang thought his life would be as easy and burdenless as it always was. But he was wrong. He was utterly wrong. He forgot one most important thing.

In this world of cultivation, without having enough power, it was absolutely impossible for one to protect his own life and his loved ones. It's not like this was the first time such a thought occurred to Yang Zhiqiang though. He did. But he never thought this kind of logic had anything to do with him. In his family, there's no one who needed his protection. His brother was a prestigious general. His father, despite being an official, was also a formidable cultivator. As to his elder sister, she also was a genius when it came to cultivation. Their whole family was all geniuses. There's not even a single one who needed the protection of a brat like him.

As to his own life, Yang Zhiqiang had no worry about that. Because....come on...who would even bother to harm him when he had no power, no authority or no cultivation. He was only a useless brat who'd been living his whole life without any aim or ambition. Other than finding trouble for his own family, there's nothing he was good at. Also, he was never worried about his own life because he was so sure that no one would even bother to harm a useless brat like him. But he was wrong. How could he forget it? How did he even forget to take his little Xiang into account? His little Xiang needed his protection. A small and fragile demonic beast which had no special power to even fend for itself....of course, his little demonic beast needed his protection for sure.

How could he forget about his little pet and always stay idle in all the trainings? How could he be such a useless master? How could he..... sigh.... 

Though the demonic princess did hurt them seriously, both of him and his little Xiang had recovered completely because of her special pill. If it were not for that, his little Xiang would still be in a serious condition by now. Worst case scenario- his little Xiang's life might even be in danger. If things turned out like this, there's no way Yang Zhiqiang would be able to forgive himself.

Right now, Yang Zhiqiang had already climbed thousands of mountain stairs. But he didn't felt any exhaustion. He only felt suffocated.....suffocated by his own regrets and worries. Though their lives had been spared for now, no one knew what the wicked demonic princess and her accompany would do in the future. He needed to protect his little Xiang. And, if they made him do something extremely terrible, he couldn't comply easily either.

But with his current cultivation stage, it was impossible. He had to work hard. He had to do intense training and cultivate diligently from now on so that when the time came, he would at least have enough power to make their escape.