"I am Xiao Yiren. It's nice to meet you." Yiren bowed to the Clan Leader and his wife while giving them the sweetest smile they've ever seen.
When Xuefeng entered Clan Leader's study, his mother just happened to be there with his father discussing some clan matters which was just perfect for Xuefeng's current situation. They greeted him happily, knowing that he finally came back, but then their faces changed when Xuefeng pulled Yiren through the doorstep and showed her to his parents.
At first, they were surprised, but it quickly passed as they looked at each other and Mu Lan had an expression as if saying, 'Didn't I tell you to talk to him about it already?'
Xuefeng's mother was always against Xuefeng having more than one wife, so when she saw another unknown beauty arriving with her son, she couldn't help but have some second thoughts about how bad at raising children she was. Mu Lan as a mother instantly blamed herself for not teaching her son properly. If she taught him this rule since a young age, he would not behave like this.
Only when Yiren introduced herself, did Mu Lan finally understand that there was no new woman in Xuefeng's life as she already knew about this one. It lessened her pain by a lot, allowing her to return a warm smile towards Yiren while saying, "Oh, Xuefeng's told us about you many times. Sweet child, come closer to aunty so she can see you."
"Yes!" Yiren happily exclaimed seeing that Xuefeng's mother accepted her and quickly let go of him to run into Mu Lan arms.
"You are so pretty and your dress is so lovely. Did you bring it from your home?" Mu Lan asked curiously as she touched the fabric of the flower dress. She had actually never seen such a dress before, so she knew it had to be something new.
'Fuck, I'm done for. My mother will want an endless supply.' Xuefeng cursed in his mind after hearing her mother's talk and instantly tried to save the situation by giving a light cough, hoping Yiren will understand.
Unfortunately, Yiren took it as if he was reminding her to add his contribution, so Yiren happily said as she looked at Xuefeng, "Oh, this dress? It was Xuefeng who bought it for me. He even especially prepared it beforehand. Isn't he super sweet?"
'Shiet, I called it...' Xuefeng facepalmed himself. He already knew what will happen next.
"Son? I guess you don't love me anymore, right?" Mu Lan called out to Xuefeng, just as he expected and he couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't worry mother... I will also prepare something special for you…" Having no other option, Xuefeng had to give up and say what every son would.
"Hehe, I guess my son still loves me after all. Your name was Yiren, right? Come, tell your auntie more about yourself." Xuefeng's mother giggled after getting what she wanted before she pulled Yiren by the hands and sat her on the sofa.
"Where did you get such clothes? I have never seen anything similar to this." Liu Xiaobei also asked curiously as he approached Xuefeng and touched the cool leather jacket.
"Actually it is the work of the local tailor. I only provided him with my ideas. Do you like it?" Xuefeng showed off his black jacket with a smile and asked.
"Not bad. Did you ask if that tailor would like to work for us?" Liu Xiaobei nodded and asked as he rubbed his chin.
"Of course I did. Not only did I ask, but I also partnered up with them already. Hope our clan can work with them. I already informed Elder Ming." Xuefeng grinned admitting proudly.
"Ha, as expected of my son. Our Clan is willing to hire all talented people." Liu Xiaobei patted Xuefeng on the shoulder and gave him a proud look which caused Xuefeng to have great satisfaction. He was always a filial child, so when he heard the praise from his father he couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth.
"Actually, my plan was much bigger than what you think. I don't want them to only…" After getting praised, Xuefeng wanted to present his idea to his father as well, but just when he wanted to start, he felt something coming at him.
His Spirit Awareness was trained to the level where he would barely lose any Spirit Qi when he maintained a dense net around him. Just when someone broke his net, he was instantly alerted. He already almost died to assassination once, so he was already oversensitive to such situations.
Feeling the shadow dashing towards him, Xuefeng was ready to pull out his sword and attack, but at that time he felt something familiar from the shadow.
'Wait, isn't that Wuyi…' When he finally recalled from where he might recognize it, the shadow finally arrived upon him and knocked him over to the ground as it wrapped around his neck.
"Mhmm…" Xuefeng's lips were instantly covered by something soft and squishy before there was an addition of a slimy object which quickly slipped into his mouth. Xuefeng was very familiar with this feeling so he knew that he wasn't in any threat this time. The only danger he was now facing was the lack of air to breathe.
The body of the attacker was gradually being revealed down from the legs up to the head, and soon Wuying's face kissing Xuefeng was unveiled. She had been waiting for this day ever since she left for the Central Region and she didn't show any signs of letting go until she was satisfied.
"Sigh, I do not know how he does it… God is probably ranting on right now at how lucky he is…" Liu Xiaobei sigh before he muttered under his breath. As a father, he was definitely proud of his son, but as a man, he would love to beat Xuefeng up.
Yiren already knew she would meet her new sisters that also loved Xuefeng, so she was kind of prepared for such sight. Feeling with her connection that Xuefeng was happy right now, she didn't do anything and only smiled towards Mu Lan who was glancing at her, trying to get some sort of reaction.
Seeing the smile Mu Lan thought that Yiren is only forcing herself and it pained her seeing Yiren treated like this. They talked for a moment and Mu Lan already could see how nice of person Yiren was. She hugged Yiren's head to her chest saying quietly, "Gosh, this cruel son of mine… Child, don't worry. I will scold him for you. Such a gentle girl like you deserve better treatment."
"No, no… I just want Xuefeng to be happy. When he is well then I'm too. He cares for me a lot already…" Yiren instantly denied the help, but it only made Mu Lan desire to punish Xuefeng more.
"Xuefeng! Wuying! Do you treat us as air?!" Mu Lan called out loudly to the pair kissing on the ground, but only Xuefeng reacted as he tried to stand up. Wuying was still kissing him without caring about anything in her surroundings.
"Wuying calm down for a second…" Xuefeng finally pulled away from Wuying and stopped her. He preferred for them to find a place somewhere private instead of doing stuff like this in front of his parents.
"I'm fine… I just haven't seen you for so long…" Wuying quickly hugged Xuefeng right after and called out lovingly before opening her eyes behind his back. They were both red and only after Wuying calmed down did they return back to blue. She pulled back and looked Xuefeng in the eyes and smiled saying, "With you here I'm fine."
When Xuefeng stood up from the ground, he saw Yiren glancing at him with a gentle smile which made him feel quite guilty. Unfortunately, he couldn't turn from this path anymore, so he could only move forward and see where it leads him. Wuying was still hugging him when he approached Yiren and pulled her up by her hand.
Placing them in front of each other, he coughed and introduced them to each other, "Cough… Wuying, meet Yiren. Yiren, meet Wuying. I hope you two can get along well."
The two were staring at each other, testing the reaction of their new competitor, before Yiren finally reached out her hand first, saying cutely, "Nice to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you too." Wuying also smiled warmly without any ill intent and they both shook their hands. Seeing them like this, Xuefeng could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It would be best for him if all of his girlfriends could stay friendly with each other.
'Uff, two down. There is only two left. Hope it will go as smooth as this time…' Xuefeng thought as he imagined the Queen meeting others. She already met Tianshi, so there was only Wuying left. They had somehow similar personalities where both of them were cold to other people but loving towards him.
Xuefeng didn't know that Wuying was only nice to Yiren because she didn't see a threat in her. She had a good eye for judging people and could tell who was trustworthy and genuine at first glance and who shouldn't be trusted at all. Yiren was kind of caged her whole life in the Holy Land and there was barely anything there that could negatively influence her. It would be hard to find someone with a similar purity of mind.
"Can I call you sister? I always wanted to have siblings..." Yiren asked excitedly as she hugged Wuying's hands into her chest. For her, Wuying looked like she really loved Xuefeng which was enough of a requirement to become her sister.
Wuying was not used to such affections from anyone other than Xuefeng so she felt quite uncomfortable for a moment, but when she glanced at Xuefeng and saw his happiness, she couldn't reject Yiren or else she would hurt him. Wuying turned to Yiren and ended up nodding with a smile.
"Yey!" Of course, seeing Wuying's nod, Yiren couldn't help herself but hug her new sister right away.
"Roar." At that moment, a low growl sounded from the entrance of the study room and a white tiger entered inside confidently. It was the way she announced her entrance as a proud member of her race. Xiao Wen who was right behind her looked around the room and when she saw Wuying with Yiren hugging each other, she couldn't help but sigh, "Dang, I missed the drama."
"Miss Xiao, I'm glad that you are back." Liu Xiaobei was first to greet her as befitting of a host, in which she responded with a nod and approached Xuefeng instead.
"Oh, Xiao?" Yiren asked quietly while observing Xiao Wen walking towards her.
"Hey Wen, long time no see." Xuefeng smiled seeing his Fate Fragment friend once again.
"Can you tell me what is going on here? You didn't get another woman, right?" Unfortunately, Xiao Wen didn't exchange the pleasures with him but patted him on the shoulder after glancing at the unknown beauty in the room. Her strength made his shoulder numb and his face twitch, but he didn't fight back or let out a sound.
At that moment he somehow felt anger which was targeted at Xiao Wen, but he knew it wasn't his own. There was only one reasonable answer to where this emotion could come from. Glancing at Yiren, He found her staring at Xiao Wen with her smile all gone. She didn't like the tone in which Xiao Wen was talking to Xuefeng.
At first, she thought that this lady might be her real sister as they had the same surnames and she wanted to become close to her, but now her thoughts started shifting.
Xuefeng's parents looked at each other and they both agreed with a nod that they should not interfere in their son's problems and decided to leave. He created this predicament by himself, and he should take responsibilities for his deeds. It is always a good life lesson.
"We just happened to have something to deal with, so we will leave you guys alone. Take your time." Mu Lan said as she pulled Liu Xiaobei from the room. Xuefeng only received a good luck sign as they left.
"Yiren, it's okay. Don't be angry. This lady here is your real sister." Xuefeng escaped from Xiao Wen's clutches and grabbed Yiren by her waist before calming her down a kiss on the cheek. This was a clear show of affection that confirmed their relationship.
"Huh?! So you already have one of my sisters, Wuying and now you took the second one? Are two not enough for you?" Xiao Wen exclaimed hearing the news, but that didn't change the matter of Xuefeng having another girlfriend on top of the two he already had.
Her image of Xuefeng started to slowly being replaced by a playboy young master type which she hated so much. After all, he could just pretend to be nice and gentle from the very beginning while secretly being a playboy.
She rubbed her fist thinking about how she should punish Xuefeng for his actions when Yiren who was staying silent suddenly pulled away from Xuefeng and stood in front of him while glaring at Xiao Wen.
"Sister! Stop being like that. Xuefeng did nothing wrong. I wanted to be with him first and it wasn't Xuefeng who proactively tried to approach me but the opposite. If I didn't use his gentle and warm character to make him care more about me then I guess I wouldn't be standing in front of you girls today…" Yiren shouted at Xiao Wen as she defended Xuefeng.
She knew that Xuefeng was a person who was loyal to his women so she had to use a different approach. If she only tried to move him with her pretty body, she didn't think she would succeed taking his heart this fast. Yiren had to move his emotions to make him care about her.
"I'm also your older sister, so you should listen to me. You must be nice to Xuefeng, okay?" Yiren continued as she warned Xiao Wen with her finger.
"...Fine! But if he starts messing around with other girls then I won't forgive him." Xiao Wen released her tightened fist and gave in to Yiren's scolding.
"Mhmm, sure. I won't be happy if there are more girls stealing him away too." Yiren nodded before hugging Xuefeng and asked while looking at him lovingly, "You won't steal other girls hearts, right? Just us, okay?"
Just as Xuefeng about to respond, Wuying also hugged him, but from behind and she asked the same, "Just us, okay?"
"Of course… You all are more than enough to fill my heart with love to the brim." Xuefeng nodded confidently as he pulled both Yiren and Wuying into his arms and kissed them both. He was fairly certain that he wouldn't have the need to court any other women in his life. Would he even be able to handle them all? He was already struggling with those four.
Xuefeng thought about Princess Shan at this moment but after such a long time, any fascination he might have had towards her from that time they were together was probably already gone. For now, he was only connected to her by the promise he made to her because he felt the need to pay back the fragment he took from her.
"That's right. You three can definitely satisfy him plenty. He shouldn't be able to even think about getting more. Don't worry, if he does I will let him taste my flaming fist." Xiao Wen nodded at the three hugging each other, but if one looked at her eyes at that moment, they could see a hint of jealousy.
After still being single without a companion with her, it would be strange if she wasn't jealous of her two sisters having someone they love and who love them back. Every woman in this world wanted to have someone they can share their life with and Xiao Wen wasn't an exception.
'Wait… How come there are four? Didn't Nuwa already tell everyone that she is my lover? How come she did not count her?' Xuefeng brain suddenly reacted to Xiao Wen words and particularly the number she used.
Xiao Wen was not with them at that time but Xuefeng was sure that she would receive the information from her parents in the report or something. It was quite an important information that could be useful for her to know the full story.
'Wait... But why are Wuying and Yiren not reacting…?' Xuefeng racked his brain with another question as he looked at the ladies who happily hugged onto his chest. Only after he thought through the scenarios did he realise the problem.
'What if Xiao Wen and Wuying think the three Xiao Wen mentioned are Yiren, Tianshi together with Wuying, but Yiren missed Tianshi? Damn… Should I tell them now…?' Xuefeng thought which made him face a dilemma. If he corrected Xiao Wen now, then he would definitely face a potential beating from her.
The only explanation of how could this happen was Xiao Feng not telling everything to his daughter. The theory Xuefeng thought of first was that Xiao Feng was too embarrassed by having his woman stolen by him and that's why he dodged talking about this situation.
'Now that I think about it, he definitely missed the point when Nuwa admitted that I am her lover. Xiao Wen probably didn't meet them on her way as well, so she couldn't get the news… Damn you, Xiao Feng!' Xuefeng cursed his father in law for creating unnecessary problems.
While Xuefeng was thinking about how to solve this predicament, Yiren suddenly stopped cuddling into his chest and asked, "Sister, didn't you say a moment ago that we have another sister that is Xuefeng's girlfriend as well? Isn't there four of us then?"
This sentence of Yiren made both Wuying and Xiao Wen freeze as they looked at Yiren confused, waiting for more information. Xuefeng was also greatly surprised as his hands started to sweat but then he realised that it was actually not that bad. didn't he look for a way to tell them about Nuwa? Yiren just presenting him the best possible way to reveal it, by realising it themselves.
"What? You have four lovers already? Who is the fourth?!" Xiao Wen asked Xuefeng as she glared at him. She was already calm from her previous issue but now, Xuefeng caused her to explode once again.
Xuefeng rubbed Wuying's cheeks to make sure she won't worry and said to Xiao Wen, "Okay, listen… Your parents already know about everything as she has been here when you were away. Didn't your father tell you about it?"
Xiao Wen squinted her eyes as she looked at him suspiciously and said, "He didn't… He only informed me about your assassination and assigned me to protect you while searching for the assassin's whereabouts before eliminating him. Who is the last lady you courted?"
"It's my mom, the Queen of our race. I am Xuefeng's Princess, right?" Yiren admitted on Xuefeng's behalf before she glanced innocently at Xuefeng.
"You all are my Princesses," Xuefeng said as he patted her head.
'Well, it is better to be said earlier than later. I don't know why I would even want to hide it…' Xuefeng thought as he sighed. This was the truth, so he didn't need to hide it from his lovers. They would find out in the future anyway.
Just after Yiren admitted it, Xuefeng felt a strong grasp on his hand from Wuying's side and he immediately knew she was getting agitated. It would be strange if she wasn't. Wuying was ready for Xuefeng to have another girlfriend and she accepted that fact, but she didn't expect he would actually also claim the mother as well.
"Wuying…" Trying to save the situation, Xuefeng quickly let go of Yiren and pulled Wuying up from the ground as he hugged her. Wuying instantly turned her head away from him, not looking him in the eyes which made him even more worried about her reaction.
Wuying, of course, would be upset hearing that Xuefeng got two new girlfriends when he was away, but that was not the issue she was struggling right now. Recently she noticed that her emotions started to be affected by small things. Sometimes she would get irritated because of the sound of a bug flying next to her, or angry at someone for looking at her for too long.
Wuying also noticed that recently her emotions would have a significant boost in their strength. If she was happy, she would feel a lot more pleasure and if she was mad at someone, there better be chains holding her or she would not want to be in that person's skin.
There was also the issue of her eyes changing colour when she had those mood swings and she couldn't explain why was that happening. She noticed it yesterday when she trained her Blood Manipulation art and she tried to control it but she wasn't successful. She found that the only way to revert her eye colour back to normal was to clear her mind or just nullify it with opposite emotions.
Just now when Wuying heard that Xuefeng had another lover, she felt pretty bad for a moment which surprised her. Normally it didn't bother her this much and as long as Xuefeng still loved her, she was alright with that. Today, Wuying felt as if it was all her fault for this situation. she blamed herself for not being able to satisfy Xuefeng which forced him to search for another lover.
Wuying knew it was ridiculous as Xuefeng was not even here, but those thoughts and emotions kept coming at her, creating a deeper pit that she couldn't get out from. With her eyes closed, she felt as if she was drowning in her own depression and her mind couldn't focus on anything else.
At that moment, Wuying heard Xuefeng voice breaking through the cloud of negative emotions in the endless darkness that started appearing in her mind. She didn't understand the words, but she could feel it was her favourite one. Slowly, the warm feeling of Xuefeng's hands which rubbed on her cheeks tried to break through the blockage she had created in her mind.
Combined with his voice, the warmth started dismantling the darkness as it began filling the place with light. She started hearing more clearly with each second until she finally could tell the words apart.
"...Wuying...You know that I love you…" Xuefeng said and Wuying's mind finally showed signs of clearing.
'Why am I even upset at him… It is my Xuefeng…' Wuying thought before she snapped her eyes open and saw Xuefeng, looking at her with a worried expression.
Wuying kissed him on the lips before she replied with a smile. "I'm okay, my mind was just clouded for a moment. Don't worry about it. I think I trained too much yesterday."
"Yes, you worked hard. Make sure you rest properly aside from training." Xuefeng smiled gently and adviced, to which she nodded.
"Wait, so you won't do anything with him having four women in total?" Xiao Wen asked, ultimately confused. She would definitely beat Xuefeng up if she was in Wuying's place.
"I wish I could have him to myself, but if I can't, I should be happy with what I have," Wuying answered with her mind clear and hugged into Xuefeng's chest once again. She felt amazingly calm inside of his embrace, as if she found her sanctuary.
"I also think the same!" Yiren shared the same thoughts and joined Wuying in hugging Xuefeng.
"Okay, I'm not going to do anything then. It's your choice." Seeing them both like that, Xiao Wen threw her hands in the air as as a sign? of giving up. She didn't understand what magic did Xuefeng used to make them so loving towards him.
'I guess I will have to observe him and find out… If I find anything, I will make sure to expose his ass.' Xiao Wen thought as she started planning. She was intrigued about how good of a match Xuefeng actually was or if he was just a fraud.
"Anyway, what are your plans for now? I was supposed to protect you and catch that guy but if we just stay in the city, we will not be able to lure him out. Do you maybe plan to leave the city?" Xiao Wen asked, trying to change the subject as she knew she wouldn't be able to convince the two lovestruck ladies.
"Good question. I actually do plan to travel around right now. I need to earn some money while also do some hunting… You know." Xuefeng said but he wasn't sure how his hunting plan would work out if he took Xiao Wen. He was glad to have her near him, in case he is attacked once again, but she definitely would want some cut.
Just as he expected, Xiao Wen laughed and said, "That's great. I take fifty percent." When he was about to complain she glared at him and continued by adding, "Non-negotiable. I will follow you anyway."
"Tsk, fine…" Xuefeng rolled his eyes and finally agreed. He was confident in his fighting skills now, but he was doubtful that he could win against her. After all, Fate Fragment Holders were on a completely different league than normal cultivators.
"We are going too!" Yiren and Wuying said right after, making sure he wouldn't forget about them.
"Do not worry, I did not plan to leave anyone behind," Xuefeng assured them. He wanted to have a great fate fragments hunting experience but in the end, it turned out he will be going on a family trip instead.
'Xuefeng, I want to pay back the debt to Lang. Can you pass a few Fate Stones to Xiao Wen?' Ling called out to Xuefeng for the first time since they left the Holy Land.
Earlier, they moved to his courtyard and Xuefeng started listening to Wuying's trip to the Central Region. Xuefeng would have to visit those trials one day too, so he was quite interested in them.
Wuying told him almost everything in the greatest detail as she cuddled with him. She also told him about her new arts which Xuefeng couldn't wait to see in action. To be able to manipulate someone with their blood, if caught by surprise, sounded too awesome. He couldn't wait to actually start learning Blood Element, so he can try it out. Xuefeng decided to train on his hunt with her so he has the control of all elements as soon as possible.
'Oh, right. We should definitely pay him back for the losses he incurred when he shared his Fate Qi with you. I will find some time alone with her cause she probably will not want to talk about Fate Fragment's stuff with anyone else. Also, Yiren might suddenly reveal that there are many Fate Stones at the Holy Land and that would not end up well if exposed to the public by accident.' Xuefeng agreed to Ling's suggestion and shivered when he thought of the possible consequences.
They would definitely be hunted down by a group of Fate Holders to learn more about this source of Fate Stones and if they learned that only elves can go in and out of the Holy Land, there is a high chance that they would force Yiren under the threat of hurting him, to go back and forth while bringing Fate Stones with her.
It would be better if no one knew about it. He was sure that with Wuying's character, she wouldn't tell anyone and neither would she be broken even in the face of tortures, so he could trust her. The only problem would be Xiao Wen herself as Xuefeng was certain that once she learned about his secret, she would try to abuse him to provide her more Fate Stones in the future.
'You have to tell her to keep quiet about it or else we might have problems in the future.' Ling advised to which Xuefeng nodded but then a sudden thought entered into his mind and he asked, 'By the way, would it not be easier to not reveal Fate Stones to Xiao Wen and instead use the same method he used? This way I will not have to worry about Xiao Wen trying to scam Fate Stones away from me in the future.'
'Of course not! You propose something without knowing its meaning… For us Fate Spirits, it's extremely intimate to share our Fate Qi with each other. It is almost the same like your night activities with your women. Do you want me to do such stuff with him?' Ling exclaimed in his mind, completely rejecting his idea and explained what it actually meant for her.
'Well, if you put it like this then of course not, but didn't you already do "it" with him?' Xuefeng imagined Ling becoming intimate with Lang and somehow didn't want her to sacrifice herself this much. From her tone, Xuefeng could tell that it was a big deal for her.
'That was a different situation, where he wanted to help me regain my memory. Without him, we would be struggling right now. I already forgave him for his action back then, but I wouldn't want to repeat it now.' Ling said, leaving Xuefeng no chance but to follow their original plan.
There was still a lot of time left today, so Xuefeng wanted to use it properly to prepare himself for his journey. He didn't know where he should search or where he should even start. It would be extremely hard and time-consuming to search in every city. Xuefeng did not have this much time to spend.
"Wen tell me, when you go hunting, how do you usually search for your opponents?" Xuefeng asked Xiao Wen after he couldn't think of any good methods himself. Yiren was playing around with her new friend Lulu, and Wuying decided to continue hugging Xuefeng after she told him her experiences. She found it very calming and wouldn't let go of him.
"I don't. When you enter into Central Region you will understand that things work differently there. You can't just randomly kill anyone, so you should probably enjoy while you still can. Those rules only apply to the Central Region, so as long as we stay in the other regions, they don't concern us." Xiao Wen shook her head and explained the rules, before she asked, "Did you maybe think of using those clones of yours to maybe search through different cities as we travel?"
"Oh!" Xuefeng exclaimed and asked in his mind, 'Can we do it like this?'
'Hmm, we can, but the range won't be too long. I can't control my Qi from hundreds of Li away. Few tens of Li should be alright and after that, I'm just losing connection with my Qi.' Ling replied after a moment of thinking. She already tested it in the Moon Lake Valley so it shouldn't be a problem to repeat this feat.
"Okay, we will do it like this. We can fly in the sky while patrolling the ground with my clones. I hoped to depart tomorrow morning, so we have to make all of the preparations today. There is no need to waste time anymore." Xuefeng decided to go with Xiao Wen's idea, and as he recalled Xiao Wen's words in his father's study he asked, "Also, earlier you acted as you know the assassin who tried to kill me. Who is he?"
"Yeah, I know him. He is just like us, having special abilities, but unfortunately, he uses it to murder for hire. Don't worry, if we meet him, we should be able to kill him easily. As I said, Central Region rules don't apply here, so he is not protected." Xiao Wen nodded and assured him with a smile.
"Okay." Xuefeng nodded before he kissed Wuying on the lips and asked, "Then the only issue we are facing, is where should we start our journey. Wuying, do you have any suggestions?". She was just listening to them conversing while sitting comfortably on his lap, so he decided to pull her into the conversation.
"I got a report today from my vice leader of the Shadow Guards, saying that there is a new bandit gang in the mountain area, which is quickly expanding. They have a base near the pass on the country border, which many merchants use to travel back and forth. We can start with them and proceed from there. I wish to test my abilities so it should be a good opportunity." Wuying proposed.
"Oh, good idea! I also need to stretch my arms and legs a bit. I didn't battle for a while, so it would be a nice warmup." Xiao Wen immediately exclaimed and agreed with Wuying. of course, Xuefeng didn't expect anything else from a battle maniac like her.
"Well, let's do it as you suggest. We can also check the Trade Union for the missions to destroy their group as we are going to do it anyway. We might as well earn something from them too." Xuefeng agreed and added shamelessly.
"I like your thinking, haha." Xiao Wen laughed as it was almost the same thing she thought.
Xuefeng decided to finish everything today and asked, "How about we go check the Trade Union out right now? Wuying can you stay with Yiren and protect each other?"
Even with her name being called, Yiren didn't react as she was being occupied with the cute Lulu. She rubbed Lulu on the belly and the tiger would only ask for more, like a kitten instead of being like a vicious beast.
"Who wants some more belly rubs? Yes, you want more belly rubs…" Yiren talked happily to Lulu who enjoyed Yiren's attention to the fullest. Xuefeng was sure that if he said something like this, he would be bitten for sure.
"It should be alright. She is quite easy to handle." Wuying admitted as she looked at her new playful sister.
"Thank you." Xuefeng gave a kiss to Wuying as a reward before he called out to Yiren, " Yiren, I will be leaving you with Wuying for a few minutes. I will go with Xiao Wen and come back after a moment."
"Okay! I will play more with Lulu." Yiren waved towards Xuefeng before she continued to play with Lulu.
"Let's go then," Xuefeng called out to Xiao Wen before walking out of the room and creating his Air Qi wings. Wuying was surprised by seeing his ability to fly, but then smiled and nodded while thinking, 'As expected of my Xuefeng.'
"I see that you learned some things while you were away. I guess we will have to spar soon." Xiao Wen rubbed her fingers and proposed as she followed after him.
"Why not. You will be surprised." Xuefeng launched into the sky after those words and waited for Xiao Wen to follow him.
She didn't have any other choice but to use her Spirit Qi to fly, as she didn't think Lulu would agree to leave her new belly rubber behind.
"Do you maybe have a free and empty Storage Artefact?" Xuefeng asked as they slowly flew through the air.
"I do." Xiao Wen nodded and threw a ring towards him, which he caught cleanly. Ling put ten high tiered Fate Stones inside of it and Xuefeng threw it back towards her. He chose this option as it allowed them to partially hide it.
"Ling wanted to pay-back for Lang's help back then, so she asked me to pass you guys those stones," Xuefeng said with a playful smile.
Xuefeng didn't expect her to react even louder than what he expected. After looking at the content of the ring, Xiao Wen face froze and she quickly flew up to him and cried, "Where did you find them!?"
"No! Don't say it out loud. Come with me!" Just as Xuefeng wanted to speak, Xiao Wen closed his mouth with her hand and suddenly pulled him upwards with a panicked expression.
They flew high into the sky and only stopped when they passed the cloud line. From up there, they could only see the city as if it was just a small dot. The cold air up there was sharp and the wind strong but Xuefeng quickly created a thick cloud beneath their feet while Xiao Wen made a barrier that could block the sounds of her conversation.
Xiao Wen let go of Xuefeng's hand and held him by the shoulders instead before asking him after a deep breath, "Do you understand what it is that you gave me?"
"I thought they were just stones that contained Fate Qi. We wanted to pay you back for your Fate Fragment's kindness. Are they really this rare?" Xuefeng asked confused. He did expect Xiao Wen to get excited but not to such extent.
"Of course they are! Especially the kind you just casually gifted me. Those are High-tiered Fate Stones! Usually, there is only one or two of them each time someone finds the aggregation of them. Can you imagine how rare they are?" Xiao Wen explained as she shook his body from excitement.
Xuefeng smiled playfully as he said "Then shouldn't you be happy? Now you have twenty of them."
"I am happy! Where did you get them? Or no, don't tell me. I don't want to know. Remember, don't tell anyone!" Xiao Wen exclaimed wanting to know more but then quickly closed Xuefeng's mouth again and stopped him.
Seeing Xuefeng nod, she explained further, "If someone from the Central Region found out that you had some high-tiered Fate Stones they would definitely group up and hunt you down. Fate Stones are like a quick boost to your cultivation and they can act as a currency. With those twenty high-tiered Fate Stones you made me rich overnight…"
"I know. That's why I didn't even plan to tell you anything else. It's just a gift of appreciation for your help." Xuefeng admitted the truth, which instantly made Xiao Wen's expression turn upside down.
"What? You think I am not trustworthy enough that I can't keep the secret between the two of us?" Xiao Wen asked while squinting her eyes as she wrapped her hands under her chest. At this moment Xuefeng knew, he fucked up.
"No, no…You are definitely a trustworthy person. If you weren't, I would not even tell you anything…" Xuefeng tried to save the situation but Xiao Wen didn't react the way he thought she would and put on an angry expression which made him laugh.
"Don't be like this. Your pretty face will look bad later if you sully it with your anger. You will not find a boyfriend in the future if you are like this, hehe." Xuefeng poked her on the nose with his finger and chuckled.
"Hmpf, If I can't find anyone then I will just satisfy myself with you." Xiao Wen sneered as she glared at him.
"I'm looking forward to that day." Xuefeng joked knowing that Xiao Wen would definitely get it, but then she grinned while saying, "Heh, I hope you will remember your words when I come knocking on your door in the future."
"Okay. Let's go down, Wuying and Yiren are waiting for us." Xuefeng thought she was not serious so he nodded with a smile before he decided to go down.
"Wait, let me absorb them! I'm not going to keep Fate Stones on me or it will definitely be detected once I enter back into the Central Region." Just as he was about to jump, Xiao Wen stopped him and sat down on the soft cloud Xuefeng created. Picking out a Fate Stone, she started absorbing it greedily with her eyes closed.
"Can't your Fate Fragment absorb it on your place?" Xuefeng asked confused. He never did anything and he left everything for her to do as it was more convenient for him.
Xiao Wen opened her eyes in surprise and asked confused, "Huh? You are still not connected with your Fragment? Don't tell me that it's your fragment that is using all the abilities you got in your place?"
"Well yeah? Aren't those her abilities?" Xuefeng didn't understand her.
Hearing her secret was just about to be revealed, Ling suddenly appeared in Xuefeng's mind and said weakly, 'Xuefeng, don't listen to her…'
"Haha, you better ask your fragment what is going on, then. She probably knew what she was doing. I can use all of my fragment abilities on my own as I connected with Lang." Xiao Wen looked at Xuefeng as if he was an idiot and laughed before she continued doing her thing, leaving him alone with his problem.
'Ling, what is going on? What did you do?' Xuefeng quickly asked in his mind with his thoughts full of question marks.
'I didn't have a choice... I couldn't trust you at first… If we connected and you started using my Fate Qi as you wished then we both would probably die…' Ling explained her actions with her voice quivering. Xuefeng instantly realised that it was definitely a big thing.
'You didn't even tell me that there is even such an option. Could we connect all this time? What about now?' Xuefeng voice turned more serious as he dug deeper trying to get his answers.
'...We could, in the first month after I regained my memories... It is not possible anymore...' Ling was silent for a moment before she finally replied with guilt in her voice.
'Ling!' Xuefeng exclaimed in his mind. He didn't like to get mad, but it was hard not to in such a situation. If not for Xiao Wen, he wouldn't even learn about it.
'Would you even want this type of connection? It basically lets you use all my abilities but also put more pressure on you as you have to be the one to control everything. With greater power comes greater responsibilities. You would have to learn how to operate all abilities first before you could even use them and much more…' Ling tried to convince but the conversation wasn't in her favour.
'At least I would have a choice. If Xiao Wen can do it, why can't I? You also can't explain your action while saying that I would use all of your Fate Qi when it was within the first month that we received many Fate Stones from Nuwa. I wouldn't be able to use all of it even if I wanted.' Xuefeng said with his voice raised. There was no need to cry as it was too late already but Xuefeng still felt upset about it. Ling was definitely not telling him the whole truth.
'If you want us to be a good team, you can't keep secrets like that away from me…' Xuefeng added.
Ling thought for a moment but in the end, Xuefeng didn't receive the reply he wanted as she apologized, 'I am sorry… I can't tell you yet… I will tell you in the future when the time is right…' before escaping from Xuefeng's mind and not responding to his questions anymore.
While Xiao Wen was absorbing Fate Qi from one crystal after another, Xuefeng was puzzling over this situation but couldn't think of a good solution. If he continued to be mad at her then that wouldn't bring anything good.
"I'm done. I regained all the Fate Qi I gave to you. Now we can go…" Xiao Wen called out when she was done but then saw Xuefeng deep in thought and asked, "What's up?"
"It's nothing. I just didn't learn anything from her." Xuefeng shrugged.
"Don't worry, she must have had some special reasons. Lang was also against it but I forced him, so he had no other choice. Anyway, this connection doesn't bring you anything anyway. It just allows you to draw power from your Fate Fragment. If she is willing to do everything for you then you should be happy instead." Xiao Wen patted Xuefeng on the shoulder before she deactivated the barrier around them and jumped down, yelling, "The last one on the ground is a rotten egg!"
Xuefeng smiled seeing her in a playful mood and joined her small competition. At least it distracted him from thinking too much about Ling's secrets. Xuefeng wished he knew everything but in this case, only with time will he will get some results.
Xuefeng, of course, didn't win due to Xiao Wen's headstart but he didn't mind as long as she had fun. They arrived quickly in the Trade Union building and didn't waste any more time before they went straight towards the Mission Boards. There were many people waiting for the new missions to come up on the board, or just searching for one that suited them.
When Xiao Wen entered the hall, many lustful eyes instantly found their way towards her great figure and slim waist but especially her ample bosom, that just as usual, wished it could escape from her tight black leather outfit. They didn't know who they were dealing with, so some dared to look. Just as there appeared thoughts of approaching her to flirt in men's minds, Xuefeng entered behind her in a cool black jacket and a pair of new pants.
Their clothes somehow matched very well, which made some think that they were a couple. There were rumours of Young Master Xuefeng having multiple beautiful women, and now that the cultivators saw it first hand, it was hard not to believe. Xiao Wen also behaved really cheerful as she talked with Xuefeng who also smiled from time to time.
They didn't know that Xiao Wen was just happy after absorbing so much Fate Qi. Xuefeng on the other hand, had his mind full of different thoughts, but he still tried to smile to keep a good atmosphere between them.
"Welcome Young Master. Have a nice day." Many greeted Xuefeng as they walked around the boards to search for the Mission they wanted. He was much more famous in the city since he awakened his black talent and many actually recognized him already. When Xuefeng walked around the city with Tianshi, his appearance was spreading each time he was recognized on the streets.
"Young Master, good day! Young Master is a fortunate man to have such a beautiful lady by his side." Some were even braver and instead of a normal greeting, they decided to also complement Xuefeng's companion. It was mainly because some young men wanted to take a closer look at Xiao Wen, and used greetings as a way to achieve that. They also wanted to find out if Xiao Wen was actually Young Master's lover, or maybe just a friend.
It was alright at the start, but it soon got annoying for Xiao Wen to be disturbed every once and so often which made her think of a solution. The next time someone began approaching them to offer their greetings, Xiao Wen suddenly hugged onto Xuefeng's arm and called out, "Hubby, can we go back already? I promised to give you a massage… I know how much you like it when I touch your body, hehe."
Instantly, this person's cheeks reddened and he didn't dare to approach any further. It would be dumb to ruin the date of a Young Master of a great clan. Of course, everyone who heard it, would think that Xuefeng and Xiao Wen were a pair of lovers. They also felt as if Xuefeng was cheating all of the pretty ladies from them as every time he goes out, he has a different lady by his side.
Xuefeng smiled towards Xiao Wen before he took her to the side where no one could hear them before scolding her while rolling his eyes, "Do you want every man in this city to hate me?"
"Heh, this proposition is really appealing. Maybe I should do it?" Xiao Wen grinned at his reaction and then leaned over to his face leaving only a space of a few centimetres between each other and said, "Look, now they think we are kissing in public. Is that enough for everyone to hate you?"
"Tsk, I don't think anyone cares this much." Xuefeng snickered and turned around to look at the other cultivators in the hall and found them staring at him with faces that begged for fairness in the world. He realised that he was actually played by Xiao Wen, as his act right now looked as if he was showing off.
"Okay, well played. You got me this time." Xuefeng said seeing the red-haired beauty smiling at him after he turned back.
Xiao Wen wrapped her hands around Xuefeng's neck and winked at him with her close-set blue eyes as she said, "Heh, now everyone will think I am your lover. You have to treat your girlfriend well, okay?"
At this moment, Xiao Wen's teasing reached its end when they both heard a familiar voice calling out to them from the side, "Oh, Miss Wen and Young Master, what a surprise. I see that Miss and Young Master progressed a lot in your relationship."
"Cough, Manager Wu hello. We are not together, Xiao Wen was just joking around." Xuefeng coughed as he pulled away from Xiao Wen before he asked, "Manager Wu, how are you?"
Xiao Wen was not sad about what he said and actually found it interesting. No man have ever rejected her, and probably no one would if she ever asked to be with someone. Xuefeng was the only one who actually kept his cool while staying this close to her.
"Nothing much, busy with work as always. I was just thinking 'why have my favourite Young Master forgotten about me?', and here you are." Manager Wu said with longing.
"I'm sorry. I actually was away training for quite a while and it was quite hard to find time for a visit. Now that I am back in the city, I will definitely try to visit more often." Xuefeng apologised politely. He wanted to work with Manager Wu to buy Spirit Artefacts for his auction in the future anyway, so his promise matched his goals.
"Oh, I see. Do not worry. You guys look to be busy, so I guess I will leave you guys alone." Manager Wu said kindly.
"Actually, we might need some help. We are searching for a mission about eliminating a group of bandits near the border. Have anyone requested or maybe Trade Union issued such a mission?"
"Oh really? What a coincidence. I was just about to hang it up with the others, and that's why I am even here. But wouldn't such mission be boring for Young Master? With Miss Wen by Young Master's side, it would be a great surprise if Young Master wouldn't be able to accomplish any of those missions." Manager Wu said, which made Xiao Wen look at Xuefeng with an expression as if saying, 'See, everyone knows that I am awesome.'
"Well, that's just a warmup. We have other plans as well." Xuefeng said without revealing anything.
"Here. A city next to the mountain pass is often being vandalized by those bandits who come to have fun in the city, and the Lord of the city wants them gone. The pay is quite good. Young Master can look through the details. I will register that Young Master took this mission, so you are free to go." Manager Wu pulled out a card and passed it onto Xuefeng's hands.
"Thank you, we will not be disturbing you anymore then." Xuefeng thanked her sincerely before leaving with Xiao Wen. He wanted to inform Manager Wu about his desire to buy a lot of Storage Artefacts from her in the future, but with Xiao Wen by his side, she would definitely ask thousands of questions afterwards.
When they were out on the streets, Xiao Wen took away the card from him and Xuefeng had to look at the information together with her. What Xuefeng saw on the card was:
"Rank 5 Mission,
Type: Bounty Hunting,
Location: Eastern Mountains, Blueriver Pass,
Enemy: Approximately one thousand bandits. Stages ranging from Spirit King cultivators to Spirit Lord Cultivators,
Group Skill required: Three to five Spirit Lords or one Spirit Overlord,
Reward: 10 000 high tiered Spirit Stones. Collected after bringing proof of clearing the mission in the Blueriver City, City Lord Mansion."
"Sigh, I will leave all of that for you. It would be a shame if I even need to help you with such warmup." Xiao Wen passed the card back to Xuefeng, not impressed with the difficulty of this mission.
"No problem, I would have asked for the same. I need to get used to killing and testing it on bad guys is a good solution for me. Let's go back, Wuying and Yiren are waiting." Xuefeng agreed right away before he flew into the air heading back towards his clan.
"Soooo, I should expect a good massage tonight, right?" As they flew, Xuefeng couldn't help but ask playfully.
"Tsk, you wish." Xiao Wen snickered, answering with a reply he expected. Xuefeng didn't know that, but Xiao Wen was actually willing to do it for him until he mentioned it to tease her. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction from victory over her. With such personalities, their relationship would definitely grow very slowly, if it ever will.
A few hours earlier:
"Dammit, I only have a week left to kill this kid or I will have to do it after my battle with that bastard… If not for Xiao's family head I would've been done with it already…" Thousand Blades cursed after he arrived back in the areas of Phoenix City.
He was still pissed off because he was forced to use his valuable teleportation artefact which cost him a lot to money but now, he was glad he bought a few of them. He was obsessed with killing as much as he was with the living. The more you kill, the higher the possibility to offend and anger someone more powerful just like his previous encounter.
He only found out about Xiao family's involvement right before he was about to strike. He could still resign from the mission but in the end, he proceeded with the plan. There were some risks that Xiao Feng would take revenge but he never expected he would actually be there on the spot and try to kill him.
After using his escape Spirit Artefact, Thousand Blades appeared far far away to the west of Aurora Country which happened to be the Sacred Sword Kingdom. Afraid that Xiao Feng would try chasing after him, he spent the first two days drinking with mountain bandits who after witnessing his strength, treated him as their ancestor.
Only after that did he slowly return to finish his job, but he still took the route which was safer to travel. If he flew with his flying ship high in the sky, he risked getting caught, so he decided to return by flying by himself close to the ground.
As Thousand Blades smoothly entered into the city, he noticed something was amiss. Confirming the lack of experts in the area, he cursed, "Fuck, I can't see any Xiao Family cultivators in the city anymore… Did they take that kid away with them to the Central Region?" The last thing he wanted was having his target moved away.
Without wasting time, Thousand Blades started investigating. He cut off his awareness of his surroundings just in case there was an expert left in the city that could sense him and started walking stealthily around the city. Thanks to one of his abilities, he could completely isolate his powers which would make him invisible even to other Fate Fragment Holders.
Normally, Fate Spirits can feel one another, but now he only appeared like a normal human who never started cultivating. Even if other cultivators senses say that he is a mortal, most would simply think that he was just in a higher stage than them, and that's why they can't tell.
Unfortunately, this ability had some drawbacks as well. If he didn't want to blow up his cover, he couldn't use any of his Qi or else his disguise would break. He also couldn't sense others as usual, as the range while hidden was much shorter.
Only after he asked out many Cultivators on the streets did he confirm that Xuefeng was still in the city as many have seen him visiting the tailor shop with his woman not long ago. He also learned that Xuefeng definitely had more than one as many have seen him walking with a black-haired beauty and today he was accompanied by a sexy blond one. He also had a relationship with his servant which everyone knew about.
"Heh, I see this kid knows how to play around. Now I understand. He must be a lover of Xiao Wen's sister, and that's why Xiao Feng was pissed. I'm after all trying to kill his son-in-law." Thousand Blades chuckled as he finally understood the connection.
"Unfortunately, they cannot compare to my beautiful fairy-like Xiao Wen…" Thousand Blades said as he imagined his ideal lady. His main reason to become powerful was to finally beat her in a fight, and show her who she had been rejecting all this time.
Thousand Blades knew that killing the lover of Xiao Wen's sister wouldn't bring him any merits at her side but that's not what he was after. He knew he had no chance with her at this point, but he swore that if not him, then he wouldn't allow her to be with anyone else. Many who tried to court Xiao Wen were all killed by him in secret.
The only thing that he couldn't understand was why didn't Xiao Feng leave any guards protecting his son-in-law if he cared so much about him? He stood in front of the Liu clan's entrance and pondered about it, but couldn't think of any good reason. The best one he thought of was that there must be some hidden expert strong enough to protect him by himself.
Just as Thousand Blades thought about it, he suddenly felt a wave of invisible pressure of a cultivator who was around his stage, appearing inside the Liu Clan.
'I knew there was someone hiding, Xiao Feng is not dumb enough to leave this kiddo without protection. Let's wait and see who it is...' Thousand Blades smiled knowing that his theory was confirmed but then his smile froze when he saw the person in question.
'Xiao Wen?!' He exclaimed in his mind as his eyes opened wide. He watched as Xuefeng flew into the sky on his milky white Air Qi Wings before another figure, which he would never forget, followed after him.
He was one hundred percent sure that it was her. Even if he only saw her back profile, her long red hair which flew everywhere with the wind, were enough for him to recognize her.
'Damn… I can't kill this kid in front of her. I'm still not ready…' Confirming it was Xiao Wen protecting his target, Thousand Blades felt depressed but also jealous of Xuefeng who could spend leisure time with his goddess. He would never be with her but still felt no one deserves her other than him.
The Thousand Blades watched closely while squinting his eyes and thought with his mood shifting, 'Wait… They seem to be close… She even touched him…' His obsession with Xiao Wen started to manifest in the flesh as his eyebrow started to twitch. When he saw them flying upwards, disappearing behind the clouds, he even almost cancelled his disguise to chase after them to see what they are doing there, but he stopped himself at the last moment.
Fortunately, they came back to the ground before he lost his mind, and they flew towards the Trade Union. Thousand Blades was already extremely irritated and curious about what they did up there. He didn't hesitate to follow them from a safe distance.
'Why is she so happy around him…' Thousand Blades thought as he started to get angry at how happily Xiao Wen acted around Xuefeng. Wasn't Xuefeng her sister's lover?
Just as he thought about that, he heard Xiao Wen saying, "Hubby, can we go back already? I promised to give you a massage… I know how much you like it when I touch your body, hehe."
Crack. From the strength Thousand Blades was clenching his fists, he broke one of his fingers just like that. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Xiao Wen broke his heart many times, but this time, he could feel the greatest pain out of all of those times. He watched as she was hugging onto Xuefeng's arm and look at him with her sweet eyes.
'Why…? How…?' Thousand Blades asked himself the questions he desperately wanted answers to and listened to how his heart started breaking one piece after another.
'She is mine… No one can have her…' Thousand Blades repeated in his mind until he saw Xuefeng pull Xiao Wen to the side and cried in his mind, 'BASTARD! I will kill him!'
He could swear he saw Xiao Wen kissing Xuefeng right under everyone's eyes as if it was nothing for them. He wanted to scream and launched an immediate attack but somehow stopped himself once again as a voice deep inside of his mind started calling out to him, 'Kill them both… She deserves death too…'
Thousand Blades' eyes started bulging with several veins appearing as he glanced at the pair and thought of what his mind was suggesting.
'It is her fault too… Fucking slut... I have to kill them both together… Yes, that's the only way to stop them…' Thousand Blades thought as he stared at them paranoically. He knew that it was impossible to kill them without any preparations, but his mind was already fixated on this idea, sucking it in like a sponge.
He thought of many ways to kill them, but then he overheard their conversation with Manager Wu and couldn't help but laugh maniacally in his mind. Knowing the perfect way to kill them and torture them afterwards, he left right after, grinning deviously.