"How do you know?" Xuefeng asked surprised, not expecting her to guess in the first glance at the box.
"There is a Tang Family mark on the box. Xuefeng, tell me. Were the ones you fought the Tang Family members?" Xiao Wen questioned him right away with her face turning serious. Tang Family was too big of a deal for Xuefeng to anger them. Especially now when the war between Xiao Family and them was almost certain.
Xuefeng scratched his head and replied, "I actually didn't ask. I went to meet with Tianshi and pass her the dresses I ordered for her, but who would have thought that I would appear right when someone tried to kidnap her?"
Hearing his last words, Xiao Wen quickly jumped off of Lulu's back, landing right in front of him and cried out, "What?! Is she alright?!"
Hearing her so impatient Xuefeng quickly narrated the story, "Yes, she is alright. Fortunately, I came at the right time and saved her. Tianshi also behaved really calmly during the whole situation and almost ran away on her own, but a strong swordsman stopped her before she could escape."
"Damn bastards! It was definitely Master Kai… They probably wanted to kidnap Tianshi to stop the war from happening. They don't stand a chance against the Xiao Family's Army." Xiao Wen cursed, instantly knowing who was behind it. At the same time, she felt like a rock was lifted from her heart, knowing that Tianshi was alright.
"War? Why is your family in war with them? Is that because of my assassination?" Xuefeng guessed, recalling Tianshi mentioning the guy from another powerful family who courted her.
"You think we wouldn't do anything knowing the culprit? You are already tied to our family no matter if you want it or not. Anyway, how did you beat them? They for sure had many Saint Experts with them." Xiao Wen asked curiously as she didn't believe Xuefeng was strong enough to fight them off alone.
Xuefeng shrugged and said humbly, "I only managed to kill two of them as I stalled for your father to come. He eventually came a killed off the rest while I slipped away."
"Mhmm," Xiao Wen nodded already knowing the answer before asking further, "When you use this hidden world to transport anywhere around the world, can you take others with you?"
"It's not possible. Only Yiren can join me as she was born there." Xuefeng patted Yiren on the head making her join the conversation. She rubbed against him with her cheek as her hands were busy holding Fluff and pleaded sweetly, "Is the Tianshi you are talking about my sister? Can I go with you next time you go? I wish to meet her."
"Sure." Looking into her sweet eyes, Xuefeng just couldn't refuse her. He also glared at the rabbit for occupying his girlfriend, but the fluff didn't care as he was in the hands of its owner.
Turning back to Xiao Wen, he asked pointing at the box still in her hand, "So how much is this pill worth?" He only planned to sell a few on the cheaper ones today and decided to leave the rest to Manager Wu for sale, but still asked out of interest.
"You shouldn't sell it. It's a pill that can help gather Air Qi from the air faster. Unless you want to sell the Air Element Cultivation Manual together with this pill, no one will buy it here." Xiao Wen advised after looking at the pill in the box.
"Oh. I might keep it for myself then." Xuefeng kept the box, thinking it might be useful if he wanted to save of Fate Stones before asking, "Shall we get going?" It was already a peak hour for dinner and he suspected that it would be impossible to find a place in a good restaurant if they didn't hurry.
Xiao Wen wanted to talk about more important matters, which were meant only for Fate Holders, but knowing they were not alone, she nodded, saying, "Okay, but we have to talk later. I need to tell you some stuff when we are alone."
"Alright," Xuefeng agreed right away and they continued walking. After leaving the forest, they quickly reached the main road leading towards one of the gates and tried to blend into the crowd of merchants. Unfortunately, their attempts turned out to be ineffective.
Actually, it would have been strange if they succeeded as no one in their right mind would stay close to such high ranked Spirit Beast. Lulu also wasn't a friendly tigress anyway, so whenever other people looked her way, she didn't mind showing her fangs at them.
They were quickly isolated from others, but after walking for a while they realised that it wasn't that bad. Having peace and space for themselves allowed Lulu to relax for a bit.
"Why are we stopping?" Xuefeng asked confused seeing that every merchant in front of them stopped moving forward and started waiting.
"They are probably waiting in the queue to enter the city. I don't think we need to wait with them. We can just go past them and enter at the front." Wuying answered, knowing that they had Xiao Wen and Lulu who could help them force their way in.
Feeling that he didn't want to wait and how far the city was from their spot, Xuefeng decision was quick, "Alright. Let's go." He knew he was no longer on Earth where there was a rule, 'first come, first served' but in a world where the strong could bend the rules to their will.
As they walked on the side, straight towards the city without worrying about the queue, many people wanted to argue and stop them, but the sight of a giant white tigress deterred everyone from doing so.
It hasn't been more than a few minutes until they finally reached the front of the queue and realised what was the problem that forced people to wait. The city was enormous, but with such an influx of people, sometimes in the peak hours, there were just too many people inside which forced the guards to moderate the number of people they allow inside.
Just as they neared, one of the guards spotted them and called out sharply, without batting an eye on Lulu, "No one is allowed to skip the queue! Even rich has to wait like everyone!"
"Yeah! Get out! We were waiting for the whole day but they want to cut in. What a shame." Hearing that the guard didn't mind Lulu's presence, the others who were at the front of the queue lashed out at them as well.
"Xuefeng, don't worry. I will ask them nicely to let us in. " Seeing the situation, Yiren decided to help and moved forward before Xuefeng could stop her.
"Hello everyone. We came from really far away and we are all hungry. Can you gentlemen let us in earlier? I would be eternally grateful for that." Yiren smiled sweetly and tried to convince them with her appeal, but before she knew, she was already met with a backlash.
"Who cares! We are all hungry! Go back to the end of the queue!" The merchants shouted at her and even the guard wasn't moved by her cuteness as he said, "Even if you want to enter, Spirit Beasts or any pets are forbidden in the city. You will have to leave your fat rabbit behind.
"She is not fat! That's her fur! I'm not leaving her!" Yiren argued while hugging Fluff into her chest. She didn't understand why those people were so mean to her. She was nice to them, but they only showed hate which made her sad.
'Sigh, at least she will understand now that people are not as kind in this world…' Xuefeng sighed and started walking up to Yiren to shield her as her boyfriend. The earlier she learned about it, the fewer problems they would have in the future. Xuefeng already learnt that the best solution was to display your straight first before talking and all your negotiations will go the way you want.
Just as he reached Yiren, he heard Xiao Wen's commanding voice from behind him, "Lulu, eat him."
"Roar!" Lulu was already waiting for the signal earlier, so when she heard it, she jumped forward right away, while roaring loudly. Xuefeng only had time to quickly cover Yiren's eyes with his hands before the guard was cut in half by Lulu's bite. He couldn't even react to a rank 6 tigress' speed.
This one move silenced everyone who was around them as they all stopped moving as well as breathing, hoping they wouldn't become the next target.
Xiao Wen flew up into the sky and glared at the crowd from above, declaring, "That's for making my sister sad. Anyone have a problem with that?"
Xiao Wen glared at the silent crowd after they avoided her gaze, before glancing at the second guard by the gate and repeated, "No problem, right?"
"N-no, milady. E-everything is alright. Milady can enter the city without delay…" The second guard stuttered, shaking his head right away. He didn't dare to look at Xiao Wen and bowed the whole time instead.
For cultivators in the lower stages, the ability to fly was their ultimate dream and goal. They all believed it was the pinnacle of cultivation as not many heard about higher stages after a Saint in the Aurora Country.
"Oh? What about your rule forbidding Spirit Beasts from entering the city? I am not going anywhere without her." Xiao Wen asked coldly, waiting for the guard to clarify.
"This rule doesn't apply to milady. I will make sure no one troubles milady in the city." The guard quickly promised, afraid to anger the powerful expert. He glanced at Lulu's bloodied teeth, but hearing her growl, he looked back into the ground once again.
Seeing him complying with everything, Xiao Wen changed her target towards the one merchant who shouted earlier, thinking no one could recognize him later and pointed at him, saying, "You! Apologise to my sister for being rude."
Gulp. Within the perfect silence, the people around the merchant heard him gulp and they quickly moved away from him. They were glad they didn't vent their frustration on the poor girl as he did.
"I-I beg your pardon, young lady… Can you forgive me, please…" The man didn't hesitate and approached Yiren and Xuefeng, before he kneeled on the ground, begging for forgiveness. There was no talk about hesitation when the other party had a Saint Cultivator while he was only a weak Merchant.
Seeing the begging man, Yiren felt bad for him and decided to aske Xuefeng to let him go, but he stopped her before she could say anything, knowing exactly what she wanted.
"No. He is getting what he deserves. Next time he will remember that he shouldn't talk trash to others. Let's go." Xuefeng declined and pulled her by the waist, leading everyone into the city. Xiao Wen also landed next to them after glaring at the crowd for the last time and followed him with Lulu.
The city was extremely busy, with thousands of people walking back and forth on the streets and when Xuefeng passed through the gate, they were already met with a crazy crowd, almost getting pulled into the river of people. Only when Lulu entered behind them did they receive a small place for themselves near the wall. They had to finish teaching Yiren her life lesson else she wouldn't understand.
"Xuefeng… Why were they all mean to me when I didn't even say anything wrong... Wasn't I nice?" Yiren asked as she hugged Fluff tightly. She really didn't know what just happened.
"You did nothing wrong. Most people in this world are just rude and mean. There is nothing we can do about it." Xuefeng explained, slowly breaking her innocent point of view.
"I don't like it…" Yiren declared, not happy with such truth and asked confused, "Why can't everyone be nice and kind to each other…?"
"Many tried to find a solution for this problem but no one ever succeeded. In this world, strength means everything. Your kindness won't work in most scenarios. Only with strength, will you gain enough respect from others to make them follow your words." Xuefeng replied while rubbing her cheeks.
"But…" Yiren tried to give some counter argument when Xiao Wen finally appeared next to her and cut her off by saying, "Xuefeng is right. It is better to just show your strength right away. Unnecessary kindness will only invite others to bully you."
"Sister, I was wrong earlier… You are actually much cooler when you are like this…" Yiren admitted her mistakes, recalling Xiao Wen talking coldly to the crowd. She could feel the power behind her words. Thinking about that, her method really looked pathetic.
"What are you talking about. You were also right. Being cold and indifferent to everything is bad too. We need to be kind to our loved ones, but cold and heartless to our enemies. Don't worry, we can both help each other." Xiao Wen hugged Yiren, knowing that they both were lacking something.
"Mhmm, we can." Yiren nodded, thankful that she actually ended up helping and returned the hug. The biggest winner was Fluff who enjoyed being in two beauties embrace.
"I don't know what are you girls talking about, but I'm glad we made some conclusions from this incident. Yiren tell me, what did you learn today?" Xuefeng asked, wanting to make this lesson the first and the last one.
Yiren thought for a moment and answered, "Uhmm, that we first beat them up and only ask questions later?"
Yiren thought for a moment and answered, "Uhmm, that we first beat them up and only ask questions later?"
"Yes." Xiao Wen replied right away, but Xuefeng quickly countered her, saying, "No. Don't listen to her. It's okay to be kind to others, but you can't let them bully you. To some people, kind words don't reach them, so sometimes there is a need to use other methods."
"Mhmm... Sigh, I just wanted to help you a for once, but I ended up creating trouble..." Yiren nodded with understanding and sighed, blaming the whole incident on her.
"You did nothing wrong. You actually helped us a lot. If not for you we would be wasting even more time there. We have to thank you." Wuying also joined them and cheered Yiren up.
"Really...?" Yiren asked, looking at them all doubtfully.
"Yes, of course. It's all thanks to you. I will make sure to reward you with a nice snack later." Xuefeng confirmed and kissed her, right in front of the public eye, but he didn't mind it. Only after this did Yiren cheer up again and smiled once more.
"Alright, let's go. We should get out of here before other guards come and trouble us." Xiao Wen commanded, and they all finally entered the crowd.
As they walked aimlessly, Lulu's pressure pushed everyone away from her, creating a small empty space around them. Lulu didn't like being surrounded by too many people, so she didn't mind growling at people as a warning if they came closer than she allowed it. They didn't stop her as it came in handy for them.
Xuefeng had his Spirit Awareness spread throughout the crowd, and he found it interesting what people thought about them. He could hear almost all of their conversations where some complained about them, some admired Lulu's power and some even talked dirty about his women. Unfortunately, if he wanted to eliminate those people, he would have to kill almost half of the crowd from the streets and that wasn't something he wanted to trouble himself with.
What he was more invested in, however, was a group of children at around ten to twelve years old, from whom Xuefeng happened to overhear a conversation, where one boy called out in amazement to the young lady next to him, "What a mighty Spirit Beast… Don't they know that the new City Lord forbid the entrance of Spirit Beasts into the city? Should we tell them? They might be fined by the guards later if they are caught."
The girl quickly covered the boy's mouth and whispered into his ear, "Shhh, don't meddle yourself with them. If you say one wrong word, you won't even know how you died. Don't worry about their safety, they shouldn't have a problem with the guards. Do you see this girl with red hair? Her Spirit Qi level is so high that even the City Lord who is a Saint would be a bug in front of her."
"Wow, really…?" The boy whispered back watching Xiao Wen with shining eyes.
"Mhmm, but she is not the only one that is powerful. The others are also great. Look at this white haired guy. He looks kind and harmless, but there are many energies mixed together in his dantian which increase his power immensely. Same with the other two beautiful sisters." The girl smiled at the boy's reaction and explained further.
"Yeah, you are right. They shouldn't face any problems." The boy nodded, happy for them.
"Wait." At that moment, Xuefeng stopped the girls from continuing walking and called out to the group of children, pointing at the boy and girl duo, "You, boy and girl, come here for a moment."
What intrigued him the most from this conversation was the girl's knowledge. How did she know about their stages? He could clearly feel that they both of them were only at the Spirit Master Stage, just barely started their cultivation journey. It was impossible for her to see through them unless she kept some secret.
Hearing Xuefeng's call, the kids paled right away, thinking that Xuefeng wanted to do something to them and didn't move out of fear. The killing wasn't uncommon in this world and they didn't have a chance to run away even if they wanted.
"What happened?" Xiao Wen asked, looking towards the kids. She didn't bother to listen to others as that would only make her mad, with the possible deaths occurring later.
"I just overheard something from those kids and I just wanted to ask a few questions. Come here. It will only take you guys a moment." Xuefeng replied to her before beckoning towards the kids again smiling kindly.
"Don't you see how scared they are?" Seeing that they were still too scared to move, Yiren hit Xuefeng on the shoulder, scolding him lightly for having a bad approach and squatted down herself, smiling kindly to them, she said, "Don't worry guys, sister can assure you that he won't hurt you." Hugging fluff in her arms, she definitely looked like a trustworthy person.
The girl finally braved herself and grabbed the boy's hand, slowly approaching them.
When Xuefeng's group stopped in the middle of the street, it was bound to create trouble for everyone. With a giant tigress blocking the way, everyone had to squeeze by on the other side of the road. Knowing the difficulties and how there might be something entertaining happening, many decided to stop by and watch the situation from the side.
It hasn't been a minute before they were circled around by many people, waiting to watch the show. Xiao Wen was quite annoyed by this and quickly waved her hand, creating a golden barrier which separated them from the crowd.
In a moment, they were only hearing the sounds of their breathing and the kids' footsteps. The others outside could only sigh and get angry at them. Not only had they blocked the road, but they also took the fun away from them. They could only see, but without the content of their conversation, they wouldn't know what happened.
"We didn't say anything wrong…" The girl muttered quietly after they approached Xuefeng. They felt much better after the loud noises from the crowd disappeared, but that didn't mean their anxiety vanished as well. She knew how powerful Xuefeng's group was, which added to her stress.
"Yes, you didn't do anything. Actually, I quite liked how kind you two were, even wanting to warn us about the City Lord ban. Do you guys live in this city or are you just visiting?" Xuefeng asked, looking at the boy, as he also squatted next to Yiren to not look at the kids from above.
"Mhmm, we live here..." The boy answered happily, knowing that Xuefeng didn't plan to hurt them. The girl glared at him right after, but he didn't care and avoided her gaze.
Yiren followed up with the question, asking sweetly, "Are you two, brother and sister? What are your names?"
"Yes, she is my older sister, Wu Lan and I'm Wu Kong." The boy replied right away, and asked before his sister could scold him, "Can I pet it?"
"Sure, she likes to be rubbed behind her ears." Yiren nodded, placing the Fluff on the ground, so Wu Kong could pet it. Fluff behaved really nice, not running away from the boy's hand and even licked him on the palm to show its friendliness.
"Sister, she is so fluffy and soft, do you want to touch her as well?" Wu Kong smiled and teased his sister, knowing how she liked cute things.
Instead of reaching out to the rabbit, Wu Lan looked towards Xuefeng and asked suspiciously, "I don't think Sir called us here to pet a rabbit? Tell us your real purpose or we will leave."
"Indeed, I had another purpose. It's our first time here and we don't know where the best restaurants are. We also want to find an auction house. I wish you two to be our guides. What do you think about it?" Xuefeng smiled, deciding to slowly get on the girl's good side, showing his kindness before he would finally start asking the real questions.
She looked to be a smart girl and definitely wouldn't reply to him unless she feels no threat from them. Knowing that the boy was really easy-going, Xuefeng also wanted to question him as well, but couldn't because while his sister is present, she would definitely stop him.
Rumble… Just as Xuefeng mentioned the restaurants, the boy's stomach rumbled, asking for food. Xuefeng noticed earlier that they didn't wear clean clothes, so they probably didn't have much money on them. It wouldn't be surprising if they couldn't afford food as well.
Wu Lan looked at her brother's embarrassed face, provided from the fact that his hunger was exposed and decided to use this opportunity, asking, "Will Sir buy us food in exchange…?"
"Of course, I wouldn't ask you to work for free. I will buy you guys some food and clean clothes in exchange. I can also give you some money later so you can live without being hungry for a while. What do you think?" Xuefeng proposed generously. He didn't think they would resist such an offer.
Sure enough, when Wu Kong heard the offer, his eyes quickly brightened and he ran up to his sister hugging her before calling out, "Sis, please. I know the whole city. We can help them. We haven't eaten since yesterday…"
Hearing her brother, Wu Lan didn't have the heart to say no to him, even though the offer sounded too good to be true and agreed, "Okay… We can help you. But we don't need money. We will just be robbed later if people hear that we have money…"
"Oh, don't worry about that. We will take care of that." Xuefeng assured her and approached Xiao Wen, whispering something into her ear. She was very confused from the start as she watched Xuefeng interact with the kids, thinking they didn't necessarily need the guides, but when she heard his explanation, she finally understood what was the whole hassle for.
"Okay, now I'm also interested. Let me do it." Xiao Wen agreed to all of his suggestions and suddenly lifted the golden barrier around them, flying above the crowds.
The loud noises of conversations quickly died down when everyone saw the red-haired beauty fly up into the sky. They knew the group had to be strong with such a strong beast tamed but none of them knew exactly how much. Now seeing one of them fly, no one dared to talk and everyone waited for Xiao Wen to speak.
Xiao Wen reached out with her hand and suddenly a giant fireball started forming on top of her palm. After only a few seconds, it was almost as big as her, which shocked everyone beneath them. Some panicked and had the thoughts of running away, but before they did so, Xiao Wen suddenly threw the fireball towards the big boulder about one Li away from the city walls.
The barrier protecting the city didn't stop the fireball at all as it passed through it like a knife through sand, heading straight towards the rock boulder. Xiao Wen especially chose one that could be seen from the streets.
Bang! The explosion sound resonated throughout the city as the whole boulder was blown away into bits. The Vibrations from the blast spread towards the city, shaking the ground for a second, making everyone shocked beyond measure.
Satisfied with her display of power, Xiao Wen called out coldly, "Those two kids are under our protection now. If I learn of anyone bullying them, those people will beg to die after I'm done with them."
"How did I do?" Xiao Wen asked happily after she landed next to Xuefeng. The people around them already backed away a few more meters, scared of her.
"Why are you so happy… You clearly overdid it… I said show your power, not destroy everything…" Xuefeng rubbed his temple, speechless. He forgot he couldn't trust her in delicate matters like this.
"Oh, stop it. Look at them, they are fine." Xiao Wen argued and pointed at the crowd planning to show that her actions didn't affect them this much, but as she did, the kids who stood where she pointed started to cry, scared thinking she would kill them.
"Cough, okay, maybe a little bit, but it worked in the end. Let's get out of here before the guards trouble us." Xiao Wen coughed, partially taking the blame under Xuefeng's glare and jumped onto Lulu, ready to explore the city from the sky.
"Sigh, Wuying take Fluff and go with Xiao Wen. I will take the kids with Yiren." Xuefeng quickly decided and turned towards the kids, saying with a smile, "It will be faster if we fly, are you coming?" As he said so, his wings burst out behind his back, shocking everyone further. Many knew about legendary Saints, but no one has ever seen someone who can create wings for themselves like that.
"Wooow, big brother! You have wings! Can we really fly?" Wu Kong exclaimed excitedly as he ran up to Xuefeng.
"Yes, but you have to hold me tightly or you will fall. You said you know this city so you will lead the way for us." Xuefeng nodded and picked the boy up before launching into the air with Wu Kong laughing out in excitement. Wu Lan wanted to stop them on instinct, afraid for her brother but Yiren appeared next to her and assured her, "Don't worry, he is very caring. He won't do anything to him. Hold tightly onto me."
Yiren picked up Wu Lan as well and flew behind Xuefeng followed by Xiao Wen's Lulu. Flying above the buildings, now everyone could see them, but they already made such a big scene that it didn't matter anymore.
"Big brother, the best restaurants are in the inner part of the city. There are many of them there and only the rich can afford eating there. I have never been in any, but people say that the Red Rose provide the best entertainment and food in the city. It's located in the red tower in the middle. Big Brother can see it from here." Wu Kong entered into his role as a guide after they hovered in the sky.
"Okay, first lead me to the auction house," Xuefeng nodded after quickly localizing the building. He wouldn't even be able to eat if he first didn't exchange the pills for Spirit Stones.
"We will have to enter through the main gate into the inner city first. There is a barrier which prevents anyone from flying inside of there. We will have to land there." Wu Kong said as he pointed towards the small gate and the wall, separating the Inner City from the Outer City. Xuefeng wasn't surprised that the rich would separate themselves from the poor as the same often happened on Earth as well.
Xuefeng was leading so they all followed him as he flew towards the gate. He didn't want to bring any more trouble, so this time he wanted to enter peacefully. There were not that many people queuing in front of the gate as probably not just anyone could enter inside.
"Let's not create trouble anymore, okay?" Xuefeng said to everyone as they regrouped again, but his gaze was on the main troublemaker, Xiao Wen.
"Hey, don't look at me… Aren't I super nice? Humpf." Xiao Wen glared at Xuefeng for blaming everything on her and pretended to be angry.
"Hold my hand," Xuefeng called out as he reached out his hand to her.
"What...?" Hearing his words, Xiao Wen's brain suddenly turned blank. She didn't know if she heard right or if she just heard what she wanted to hear.
Without repeating himself, Xuefeng approached her and held her hand as if it was nothing and said calmly, "If I hold your hand, you won't do anything bad. Let's not bring any more attention to us."
Hearing his calm words and feeling the warmth of his palm transferring into her's, Xiao Wen didn't know how to react. Her heartbeat increased momentarily, pumping the blood into her cheeks and causing her to blush. She quickly lowered her head so that her hair would cover them until she can calm down.
He thought it was just a friendly holding hands, but for her, it was something more. She didn't want to lose this opportunity, so she quickly grasped his hand gently in return and whispered in agreement, "Okay…"
"Welcome." As Xuefeng approached the gates with everyone, the guards already spotted them and greeted them. Not seeing them even once before, one of them explained the rules, "To enter the inner city, one must show the token of status or pay one hundred middle-tiered Spirit Stones per person."
One could tell with a naked eye that the guards protecting the Inner City were better trained and cultured as they didn't underestimate the new visitors. Seeing the powerful Spirit Beast walking around with them as if a pet, they were bound to be strong cultivators which they didn't want to offend.
"Hundred Spirit Stones?! Yesterday it was only ten!" Wu Kong suddenly peeked out from behind of Xuefeng's back and cried out with injustice.
Hearing Wu Kong's words, Xuefeng squinted his eyes and looked at the guard with a questioning gaze. He was fine with paying an entrance fee, but if he was being cheated then he wouldn't let that pass.
The guard didn't panic after the accusation and calmly explained, "That is indeed true. Normal fee is ten middle tiered Spirit Stones per person, but today is special. There is a huge yearly auction tonight and hundreds of people will attend it. If we didn't increase the entry fee, there would be too many people trying to get inside, creating massive crowds. It is a normal occurrence. We wouldn't dare to cheat you, Sir."
Xuefeng looked at Wu Kong for confirmation, but he only blushed embarrassed without saying anything. He couldn't admit that he actually didn't know about the yearly auction at all.
"Well, we don't have any tokens of status, so our only way is to pay. Wuying, do you have any Spirit Stones on you?" Xuefeng knew he didn't have any Spirit Stones on him, so he turned to Wuying for a favour. Xiao Wen was technically working for him so he didn't want to lend from her.
"I actually don't have any. We spent everything with Wen on our way." Wuying shook her head, completely broke. She wasn't allowed to take Spirit Stones away from the Liu Clan treasury like Xuefeng could, so unless she earned them, she could only depend on Xuefeng or wait for monthly clan allowance.
"You also don't have any?" Xuefeng asked Wen as well who was next to him, but she also shook her head innocently putting Xuefeng in an awkward position. He knew that Yiren didn't have any so he didn't even ask her.
"How about this. I maybe don't have any Spirit Stones on me now, but I have many pills that I want to sell onto the auction house. How about you go with us to the auction house and I will pay you after I sell them?" Xuefeng figured out a quick solution, but the guard clearly didn't like it as he frowned right away for a second before changing his expression back to normal.
"Sir, I don't think this is a possible option. If everyone was like this, we would be quickly short staffed. We can't leave our posts. How about Sir sell the pills in the medicine shops all around the city and come back later when Sir has money? I think this will be an easier solution for both of us." The guard recommended.
Grumble… Just as the guard finished his speech, Wu Kong stomach grumbled once again.
"Big brother…" Wu Kong called out embarrassedly, trying to apologize, but Xuefeng stopped him and turned towards the guard, saying, "If you don't want to accept my proposition then so be it." The guard smiled, thinking he convinced Xuefeng, but his next words shocked him.
Xuefeng added, "We will just enter first and pay when we will be leaving. Girls, let's go inside." Wuying and Xiao Wen smiled, hearing Xuefeng's decision and followed after him. Yiren wasn't interested in the whole situation as she talked with Wu Lan the whole time and just walked behind Xuefeng.
The guard was speechless for a moment seeing Xuefeng's group walk past him and didn't know how to react when he heard another group's comment, "Wow, I didn't think the guards here were such pushovers. Maybe we should also pay after the event, hehe."
The guard finally recovered and quickly shouted towards his friends on the other side of the gate, "Quickly block the gate!" They couldn't allow anyone to bypass the rules or many others would find that unfair and will revolt as well.
Boom! Just as the gates closed and covered with a barrier, a loud explosion resounded around the area and a small hole was blown inside the gate. Xuefeng with his Black Flames Slayer in his hands passed through it and looked cooly at the shocked guards.
"Big Brother is amazing!" Wu Kong cried out jumping through the debris happily.
"Maybe next time it should be me who is holding your hand instead..." Xiao Wen commented as she entered behind him which left Xuefeng at a loss for words. He couldn't even follow his own rules, but at the same time, he couldn't say that he didn't try.
"The kids are hungry and I didn't want them to wait anymore. Let's go." Xuefeng shrugged and put away the sword. He didn't want to waste any more time and they left under everyone's gazes.
He didn't notice that as they left, the hand he was squeezing this whole time once again slipped into his palm.
Inside the City Lord Mansion, the new City Lord lifted his head from the desk and cried out to the nearest manager after hearing another vibration from the ground, "Can you tell me what the hell is happening?! I already heard two explosions."
"Yes Lord, I will check right away." The guard nodded and left urgently. It took him a few minutes before he finally came back and reported, "Lord, there was an incident where a group of cultivators broke through the Inner Gate as they didn't wish to pay the high fee."
"Are they already in our custody? We don't tolerate such behaviour." The City Lord asked sternly. He already took it as a given that they are caught, so he didn't put any more attention onto it, looking back at his papers.
"Actually, Lord they are not. They are too strong. Apparently, the city guards already mobilized their forces to stop the criminals but they were all beaten up with ease. They just sent an immediate assistance signal asking for Lord's assistance…" The guard hated to inform about the bad news but he had to, else the situation would turn even worse later.
"Did anyone measure the strength of this group?" Hearing the guard, the Lord didn't panic too much as he didn't expect anything serious from them. The City Lord was a Saint after all. Most of his subordinates were a mere Spirit Kings so he could understand that they failed if some stronger cultivators appeared.
"No, we did not. But I got information that they can all fly in the sky, which makes it impossible for us to catch them… We suspect there are at least three saints in their group. They even broke the barrier set up by the Lord with just one swing of the sword..." The guard shook his head, explained more causing the City Lord to drop his brush from shock.
The City Lord stood up and commanded right away, "Don't provoke them! I don't want them to create any more trouble. Let them do as they please for now. I will meet with them later."
"Yes, Lord!" The guard quickly nodded and left.
Right after the guard left, the City Lord cursed, "What the hell are three Saints doing in my city?! Damn! Even I can't destroy my barrier in one hit."
...….
"Is this how you give an example to us? By beating everyone up?" Xiao Wen teased after they finally reached the auction house and entered into the lobby. There were not that many crowds yet as there was still some time before the night event happening. Most people were in restaurants, chilling.
"Heh, look who's talking. At least I didn't kill anyone." Xuefeng snickered and teased back. He already got used to having a playful banter with her as they walked.
"Hey, I was defending my sister. You didn't do anything to shield her. You have to protect your women." Xiao Wen called out in defence and hit him lightly on the side of his belly to mark her statement.
"Au, you think you can get away with that? Take this." Xuefeng pretended to be hurt and launched a counter attack, moving behind her before tickling her with both hands.
"Haha, okay stop, I give up." Xiao Wen laughed feeling his hands glide on her stomach, but she didn't push him away or anything and instead grabbed them lightly, pretending to be powerless against him.
As they playfully argued with each other, the others stood behind them and observed them. Yiren was amazed by how quickly Xiao Wen adapted to her strategy, that she gave her and actually felt happy for her. It only meant that she was a good advisor.
But if one looked at them without knowing the context, they would definitely think that there was something connecting them. In this world, normal friends wouldn't behave this intimately with each other, which Wuying quickly detected and she couldn't say she was very pleased about that.
Wuying wasn't the only one who noticed that as Wu Lan also thought it was weird and asked, "Are all of you big brother's lovers?" She was quite smart and quickly caught that they all behaved very intimately towards him. After staying with them for a bit, she realised they were not bad people, so she decided to follow her brother's way of addressing them.
"Yup, I and Wuying managed to steal his heart away. Aren't we lucky?" Yiren replied with a smile, feeling happy with her life right now. Wuying also nodded confirming their blessing to appear in his life.
"What about the sister in big brother's arms? Is she also his lover?" Wu Lan asked curiously, hearing no mention of Xiao Wen in their answer.
Yiren looked at Xuefeng who finally stopped tickling Xiao Wen and they finally turned towards them before replying, "No, but we are all good friends. We sometimes play around."
"It doesn't look like this to me. Each time red-haired sister looks at big brother, her heart starts to beat faster and happiness fills her body. They don't look like just good friends. All three of you seems to have feelings for him." Wu Lan analyzed the situation before she asked Xiao Wen, "Big sister, don't you love him?"
Hearing her question, Xiao Wen cheeks reddened, feeling hot from being exposed, but when Xuefeng looked at her, he mistook it for being embarrassed and laughed, "Haha, don't joke around. We are really good friends, right Wen?" Xuefeng even reached out to rub her cheek, to help her out of her embarrassment.
Xiao Wen wanted to momentarily get angry at him but realised that she didn't have a reason to. They weren't anything more than friends now. It would be weird if he said anything else. Knowing this, she squeezed his neck as she wrapped her arm around it and said, "Yeah! We are good friends!"
"Cough, cough, you are choking me..." Xuefeng coughed out of breath. Xiao Wen actually used some strength in her headlock.
"I don't understand…" Wu Lan muttered watching their behaviour confused. She wanted to continue her investigation but was quickly denied this opportunity when a gentle voice reached them with greetings, "Welcome guests! I'm sorry for the wait. Are you one of the groups invited for the yearly auction?"
They turned around towards the direction of the voice and saw an alluring young lady approaching them from the other side of the lobby. She surprisingly looked very like Xiao Wen with her body proportions being quite similar and also having the same haircut with the only exception being that her hair colour was black. The young lady wore a tight red rose design dress reaching to the ground with a long cut on the side, showing off her gorgeous legs.
There was also a small diamond shaped cut in the middle of her belly and deep cleavage, exposing the inner sides of her breasts. Compared to her, Xiao Wen hid her legs under tight black pants, not exposing much to the public. One wanted to show their assets giving a treat to the eyes, and the other didn't, making one wonder what was hidden behind her clothes. Xuefeng couldn't decide which was sexier for him.
Of course, Xuefeng didn't lose this chance to tease Xiao Wen who still kept him in the headlock and whispered, "How about you buy one of such dresses? So you can show us your sexy curves."
Xiao Wen reacted just as he expected, by tightening her grasps and calling out, "Do you want to die?"
"Cough cough… Worth it…" Xuefeng coughed once again and muttered before falling limply onto her, pretending to be dead. She had to finally let go of him and magically, he returned back to life right after.
"Heh, you are quite a funny bunch." The young lady blinked at Xuefeng a few times and asked him, "How can I help you, handsome gentleman?"
"Hello milady, actually, we didn't come here for the auction but to sell some valuable pills. If you are interested, we can move to some private room and discuss it." Xuefeng greeted the hot lady with a smile, looking straight into her eyes, not planning to disrespect her by looking around her body.
"Oh, that's good too. You can call me Red Rose. I can act like a special manager for you today and oversee the transaction. Follow me." Red Rose introduced herself with a sweet smile and winked at Xuefeng, before turning around, causing her dress to flutter with the turn.
Glancing with the corner of his eye, Xuefeng saw her round buttcheek getting exposed for a second, showing that she didn't have any underwear on her, which made him unconsciously follow her bottom with his gaze as she walked.
Xiao Wen was already ignited earlier by his previous comment, so she didn't mind reprimanding him by hitting him on the back of his head and asking sharply, "Where are you looking?"
Xuefeng shrugged calmly and booped Xiao Wen's nose, reminding her, "Looking is not a sin if the intention is pure. If it was you, I also wouldn't turn my head away."
This made Xiao Wen try to recall the last time Xuefeng looked at her like that and realised that he never actually hid his actions when he did peek at her. Recently she would take it as a compliment for her nice figure instead of an assault when his gaze was landing on her curves.
"Let's go." Seeing her having no reaction, Xuefeng held Yiren and Wuying by their waists before following after Red Rose without waiting for Xiao Wen reply. Wu Kong also happily followed after them, leaving Xiao Wen and Wu Lan behind.