"Check your equipment and rations. Make sure nothing is missing."
Chen Fan watched as the knights began reorganizing themselves beside the line of horses. They carefully checked the bags attached to the sides of their mounts, making sure that everything they needed had been properly prepared.
There were around fifty people in total.
Despite the number of people moving around, the preparation remained orderly. Some checked their equipment while others secured supplies onto their horses. The sound of footsteps, equipment, and quiet conversations filled the area as the morning sun gradually began to reveal its light.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time we've left the castle together, right?"
Chen Fan turned toward the person standing beside him.
Wang Yue was watching the knights as they continued their preparations. There was a slight nervousness visible on her face, subtle enough that others might not have noticed it.
"Nervous?"
Chen Fan smiled softly as he stepped closer and gently took her hand.
By now, Wang Yue had already grown somewhat accustomed to physical contact with him in public. Still, the tips of her ears turned slightly red beneath her neatly tied ponytail.
"Yeah," she admitted without trying to hide it.
"I'm slightly nervous."
As she spoke, her fingers tightened around his hand.
Chen Fan chuckled softly as he pulled Wang Yue closer to his side.
Looking around, he noticed that some of the knights had stopped what they were doing and were simply watching the two of them. The expressions on their faces were varied. Some looked openly envious, while others appeared completely tired of witnessing yet another display of affection between them.
That only made Chen Fan smile even more.
Wang Yue seemed to notice their reactions as well. Her face immediately lowered toward the ground, but despite her embarrassment, she did not move away from Chen Fan.
Instead, she simply allowed the moment to remain as it was.
"Oh, right. By the way, you don't know how to ride a horse, do you?"
Chen Fan's smile deepened.
Wang Yue tilted her head slightly and looked up at him.
Her silence was enough to give Chen Fan the answer he wanted.
Without warning, Chen Fan released her hand before suddenly lifting her off the ground. One arm supported her back while the other rested beneath her knees, effortlessly carrying her in a princess carry.
"W-What are you doing? L-Let me go!"
Although it was not the first time Chen Fan had carried her like this, the situation was completely different from before.
During training, her exhaustion had often left her with little strength to protest.
But now, she was perfectly aware of the increasingly intense gazes directed toward them.
However, completely oblivious to her pleas—or perhaps simply choosing to ignore them—Chen Fan suddenly jumped toward one of the horses.
As they descended, he manipulated the wind around them, slowing their fall and softening their landing.
Chen Fan landed on the horse before placing Wang Yue directly in front of him.
"I don't want to."
He wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned closer to her ear.
"I've been holding myself back too much this past week, you know."
Wang Yue's entire face immediately turned red.
"All right, everyone! Have you finished the—"
Alex's voice suddenly faltered.
His eyes landed on Chen Fan and Wang Yue sitting together on the horse.
His eyelids twitched slightly.
If it had been anyone else, Alex would have immediately stepped forward and established his authority as the Knight Commander. He would have certainly disciplined anyone who behaved like this during an important departure.
But unfortunately...
This was Chen Fan.
Alex could only let out a long sigh.
His gaze shifted toward the other knights, only to find that almost all of them were now looking at Chen Fan and Wang Yue.
Their expressions varied.
Some were twitching in annoyance.
Some were openly amused.
And some...
Were clearly filled with envy.
"Brother Chen..."
Even Kazuki, who had already grown accustomed to the usual closeness between Chen Fan and Wang Yue, had not expected him to do something like this first thing in the morning.
To the point that he had completely forgotten about the nervousness he had felt only minutes earlier.
Alex eventually decided to look somewhere else.
His gaze soon landed on the princess, who was also silently watching Chen Fan and Wang Yue.
Celestia seemed to notice Alex's gaze.
She looked into his eyes and immediately understood what he was silently asking.
She simply nodded.
"All right."
Alex finally regained his composure.
"We're moving out. It will take approximately five hours to reach our destination."
His voice immediately caused everyone to regain their focus.
The knights quickly turned away and began walking toward their respective horses.
One by one, they mounted their horses and prepared themselves for the journey ahead.
"Tell me if you're tired, okay?"
Chen Fan gently pulled on the horse's reins as he prepared to move.
Wang Yue remained silent.
She watched the knights ahead of them begin their departure before puffing her cheeks slightly in a pout. Then, without saying anything, she leaned back against Chen Fan's chest and lightly slammed her head against him.
This man really just did whatever he wanted.
Hearing Chen Fan's quiet chuckle behind her, Wang Yue simply gave up on responding.
Instead, she silently looked ahead as the group finally began moving.
At first, everything seemed normal.
But it didn't take long for Wang Yue to realize something.
This was her first time riding a horse, and the speed at which it moved was...
Fast.
No.
Far too fast.
Compared to the horses in her world, the difference was almost unbelievable. Even the slowest movement of these horses seemed faster than she had expected, and once they began properly running, their speed felt almost comparable to a car.
Perhaps even faster.
Despite all the magical experiences she had gone through since arriving in this world, Wang Yue still found herself becoming slightly nervous.
The wind continuously crashed against her body as the horse galloped forward. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and leaned completely against Chen Fan's chest.
She was afraid of falling.
She didn't know how long she remained like that.
The cold wind continued to strike her body, gradually causing her to feel a chill spread across her skin.
Then, she felt Chen Fan's arm move around her body.
He hugged her from behind.
Wang Yue froze for a brief moment.
However, the horse was still moving at an incredible speed.
Her eyes immediately snapped open.
"What are you doi—"
She turned around, but her words were immediately cut short.
A faint, glowing hand made entirely from light was extending from Chen Fan's side.
The translucent hand was firmly holding the reins.
Chen Fan himself no longer needed to use his hands.
"Still cold?"
He rested his chin gently on her shoulder as his eyes met hers.
There was a faintly amused expression on his face as he looked at her furrowed brows and slightly shivering body.
"Can't you control yourself, you pervert?"
Wang Yue pouted.
Yet despite her words, she made no attempt to escape his embrace.
Chen Fan simply smiled before turning his attention toward the path ahead.
"Don't you think it looks beautiful?"
Hearing his words, Wang Yue slowly shifted her gaze away from him.
For the first time since their journey began, she truly looked at the scenery around them.
Ever since leaving the castle, she had spent most of the journey with her eyes closed, trying to adjust to the unfamiliar sensation of riding such a fast-moving horse.
Even when she was still a child, Wang Yue had never been particularly good at long journeys. Traveling at high speeds for extended periods often made her dizzy and uncomfortable.
Even now, her body still felt slightly unsettled.
But she had kept it to herself.
She knew how important this journey was.
There was no way she would allow the group to delay their departure simply because she felt a little dizzy.
Yet the moment she finally looked ahead—
She forgot about her discomfort.
The morning sun had already risen high enough to illuminate the entire land.
Golden light stretched across the horizon, washing the vast landscape in a soft, almost dreamlike glow.
The first thing that caught Wang Yue's attention was the mountain.
No.
A massive mountain range.
Far in the distance, towering peaks pierced through the sky, their upper halves covered in snow.
From this distance, the snow-covered peaks appeared almost unreal.
Their white surfaces shimmered beneath the sunlight, reflecting a faint silver glow as though the mountains themselves had been carved from crystal and ice.
The peaks stretched endlessly from one side of her vision to the other.
Some were sharp and jagged, rising like enormous blades toward the heavens, while others were covered in smooth layers of snow that glowed softly beneath the morning light.
Above them, thin clouds slowly drifted between the mountain peaks.
From where Wang Yue sat, the entire range looked like an enormous wall protecting the lands beyond it.
A wall built by nature itself.
And beneath those mountains—
Was a lake.
At first, Wang Yue thought it was simply a large body of water visible in the distance.
But as her eyes continued to scan the landscape, she suddenly realized something.
They were already riding through it.
Her eyes widened slightly.
To both her right and left, there was nothing but water.
The vast lake stretched endlessly beneath the morning sunlight, its surface gently rippling as the wind passed across it.
The water reflected the sky above, turning different shades of blue and silver depending on where the sunlight touched it.
And beneath them—
Wang Yue lowered her gaze.
Only then did she notice the narrow road beneath the horses.
It stretched straight through the middle of the enormous lake.
A path so narrow and unnatural that it looked almost completely out of place.
Water surrounded it from both sides, extending endlessly toward the horizon.
The road appeared as though someone had taken a blade and drawn a single line across the heart of the lake, dividing the vast body of water into two.
Chen Fan simply watched Wang Yue as she immersed herself in the scenery surrounding them.
He could clearly see the change in her expression.
The slight discomfort and nervousness that had followed her since the beginning of the journey gradually disappeared. Her expression brightened as her eyes remained fixed on the distant landscape, taking in everything around them.
Without realizing it, Chen Fan's arm tightened slightly around her.
Yet Wang Yue seemed completely oblivious to even his touch.
The more Chen Fan came to understand this feeling, the more he found himself wanting it.
Despite how busy he had been since learning about the urgency of the situation, everything seemed to disappear whenever he was with her.
For this brief moment, his entire attention was focused solely on her.
Nothing else mattered.
Now, he could somewhat understand why some people were willing to give up their ambitions and everything they had worked toward simply to pursue an ordinary life.
A normal life.
Something so ordinary.
Yet it was something he found himself yearning for more than he had expected.
And yet, despite wanting something like that...
Chen Fan knew that there was no way for him to simply stop moving forward.
He had to become stronger.
Stronger than ever before.
The moment he entered a world filled with magic and cultivators, he had already stepped into the cycle of that world.
The cycle of karma.
The more someone wished to live peacefully in an ideal world, the more they had to understand and accept the reality that the world itself offered.
That was why—
Heh.
Chen Fan suddenly found himself feeling slightly amused.
Why was he thinking about something so serious now?
His gaze returned to Wang Yue.
She was still looking around, completely absorbed in the scenery before them.
A smile appeared on Chen Fan's face.
He slowly leaned closer.
Peck.
He gently kissed her cheek.
Wang Yue's head immediately turned toward him.
"Seriously, you—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Chen Fan leaned forward and sealed her lips with a brief kiss.
Wang Yue's eyes widened.
A faint redness immediately appeared across her face.
"I already helped you ride the horse."
Chen Fan looked at her with a satisfied expression.
"So I just want my payment."
"You're the one who—"
Before she could finish her protest, Chen Fan kissed her again.
This time, when he pulled away, a slightly smug smile appeared on his face.
Wang Yue immediately closed her mouth.
She turned her head away and looked toward the scenery in front of them, completely ignoring him.
Chen Fan simply laughed.
After that, silence gradually fell between them.
Neither of them said anything else.
They simply continued riding forward, surrounded by the vast lake and the distant mountains, quietly watching the scenery pass before their eyes as the journey continued.
And they remained that way until they finally arrived at their destination.