The demon hunter in front of Jinde nodded and lowered his hands. "Naturally. The Liu He Alliance is prominent. Most people would know where it is situated."
Jinde also lowered his hands and nodded. "Ah, I thought as much. Actually, this is entirely my own fault. You have to know that the person who gave me this task is very important to me. I didn't want to look bad so I accepted the task even though …" He didn't speak further but the young men all nodded. So it was something a martial sister asked him to do. No wonder he had still accepted despite not knowing anything about the situation!
The demon hunter in front of him didn't indicate what he thought of his story but didn't reject him either. "Well, actually, we were going in the same direction. There were some sightings of demons further up in the north so we were sent to eliminate them. Making a short detour to the Liu He Alliance shouldn't be a problem."
Jinde gave a grateful smile by reflex before he remembered the veil. He cupped his hands again and bowed instead. "Thank you very much. I'm deeply indebted to you." Honestly, if he still had enough strength, he wouldn't even consider going with a group of demon hunters. But since things had already come to this point, there was no way for him to refuse. Now, if he was somehow able to save even a bit of spiritual energy, then he would do so. And with a group of several people, they would be likely to use a spiritual artifact to move instead of their own flying swords. At the very least, that had been how it was done when he came here with Chun Yin.
"There are still some things we need to do here in town. I hope you don't mind waiting a bit?"
Jinde shook his head. "Of course not. It is already my good fortune that you're willing to take me with you. How could I dare to interfere with your matters? In the end, I'll still be there much earlier if I can follow your directions as if I try to make my way over by slowly asking around."
The demon hunter nodded and then motioned to the inn. "Some of my brothers will wait here and eat. You can join in if you want to."
Jinde nodded once again and said some words of thanks before he followed the other men in.
The group went and sat down at a table. Jinde followed but still made sure to survey the surrounding on his own. These people had offered to take him along without knowing him. Maybe this was an act of kindness but maybe this was, in fact, just them having doubts about him. Who could know for sure? If they had, then he needed to find an opportunity to get away. It wouldn't be easy with his spiritual energy running low but if he formed a plan early on, it wouldn't be too bad. At the very least, it was possible.
The demon hunters ordered some food and drink and started to talk as if he wasn't there at all. It seemed what that man had said before was indeed true. They were going to eliminate demons. As for what type of demons it was … He didn't care too much. As long as he wasn't lumped together with them, it wasn't his problem.
Jinde instead looked around, trying to see just how much the human world had changed. Actually, the mortal realm wasn't too different from the immortal realms if one didn't consider that spiritual energy wasn't as thick and thus didn't allow for some materials to form and for cultivators to rise in the ranks faster. But over all, life had always been the same, especially in the bigger places.
There were a lot of people, each with their own wishes and agendas, people that fell in love and broke up, that cried and laughed. Some people would be born and others would die. It was the same for the humans as it was for the dragons. Just that the dragons could live forever if nothing went wrong while the humans had short lifetimes. But the feelings and everything else was exactly the same.
So the question was: The humans that had approached him … were they good people that only wanted to help because of the kindness in their heart? Or did they have some hidden motives? He didn't know and it wasn't like he could ask. For the time being, he could only hope that he had been lucky that things would go well, letting them arrive at the Liu He Alliance soon and maybe even meet Leng Jin Yu again.
Just then, the door to the inn opened again. Jinde glanced over and saw the person that had talked with him before come in with the other demon hunters. They came over to the table and took up the left-over seats. The man sat down next to Jinde and nodded at him.
"You're still wearing the veil. I thought you would take it off at least inside."
Jinde sighed. Yes, this was a problem. Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy left to change his appearance. Well, at least this was something that could be easily explained. "Actually, this is a rather sensitive matter. I don't really like to talk about it but … I get guess it would strike you strange and it is indeed rude on my behalf. The thing is that I had an accident a while ago. My face … I'm afraid it is disfigured. Taking off the hat … I'm afraid I would scare the common people."
The demon hunter looked around but other than the boss of the inn and one waiter nobody was around. Well, in such a small town, it was a wonder that even one group of cultivators had made their way here. "It's more or less just us here. You don't have to worry too much."
Jinde sighed again and raised his hand, lightly touching the veil. "I'm sorry but … I myself have just not gotten used to it. I'd feel better if I can leave it on. Would you mind?"
Faced with this question, the demon hunter naturally couldn't say that he would. In the end, he just smiled. "Well, if it is important to you, then you should do it."
Jinde nodded and the two of them stared at each other, both trying to guess what the other was thinking.