Bai Mei Li smiled and took the identity token and looked at it. The token was black jade and had a very domineering appearance to it. It was in the shape of a rectangle with smooth edges. On one side it had the character 'Jin.' On the backside it said 'Yuan Jun.' It remained cool to the touch no matter how long it was held. The quality of the jade was obviously very high. It silently spoke about the ability of the people who were able to have something like this made.
After using her Qi to examine it and finding nothing unusual she gave it back to him.
She bent down and kissed his forehead. "Thank you for trusting me with this." The name didn't mean anything to her, but that didn't stop her from understanding that just by looking at the quality of that token, Jun'er had an extraordinary background. There was nothing simple about anything that Xiao Jun pulled out.
She was also a little surprised that Xiao Jun had enough awareness to know who he should share his secrets with and who he shouldn't share it with. He was only four after all. Children usually couldn't tell the difference like that.
The longer she was around Xiao Jun the more she could tell that the child wasn't simple at all. She felt that his comprehension was way above other children his age when it came to certain things.
When she'd first met him and had started questioning him about where his family were at, without hesitation, said that his parents were dead. It had been clear that he didn't really understand what that meant. She knew from various other conversations that they'd whenever his parents were mentioned his saddens and longing for them was written all over his little face.
Then there were times like now when he met Fan Tao, his personality had done a one-eighty and he became like a little man. He was able to keep his secret from Fan Tao without making him suspicious. Yet he'd felt guilty about keeping the secret from her and had shared it with her the moment they were alone.
He was a complex child.
"You can put that away. I don't recognize your family but that doesn't mean that no one will, so it's best that you keep that to yourself. Jun'er was smart to keep this secret. I'm very proud of you." She reinforced what his parents had told him. Just because she didn't know about his family didn't mean that no one would. While she didn't think that Fan Tao it Chai Ying held any ill intention towards them she still decided that it was best to keep some things to themselves.
The main reason for this decision was because she just wasn't strong enough.
Those two were both extremely strong. She'd seen Chai Ying's strength with her own two eyes. As far as Fan Tao went she hadn't seen his strength but her instincts were telling her that there was no way his strength could be lacking. People like Chai Ying didn't have the kind of personalities were they would willingly follow an incompetent leader.
"Are you hungry?" She asked Xiao Jun after he'd put away the token.
He smiled and nodded. She sat him down in the living room so that he could play while she cooked.
The layout of the small apartment was very convenient. It had a primitive sink with water that ran cold but could be heated up on the charcoal stove that was right beside it. There was a decent amount of counter space for cooking preparation. Off to the side was a large wooden and metal box. Without even opening it she knew that it was a refrigerator. It likely had ice runes attached to it keep things for fresher longer.
In the modern world this apartment with it's low tech appliances, it's wooden furniture, and low quality lighting would have been seen in an extremely poor village… maybe. But right now from Bai Mei Li's perspective it was the most beautiful living space she'd ever seen in. It was luxurious and wonderful… honestly she couldn't and wouldn't ask for more.
After living in a cave for so many days this place was in embodiment of paradise.
She sighed in absolute contentment and then she started to take out the cooking ingredients that she had out of her ring. She placed the majority into the fridge and kept a potion in her ring for emergencies.
She prepared a light lunch because she intended to make a large dinner as a celebration later. The was a BBQ pit in the back she was thinking about using. She was sure that Xiao Jun had never tasted outdoor cooking the way it was done back home. She was sure that he would enjoy it.
Once the food was done she placed it on the table in the living room where Xiao Jun could reach it. She played with him a little bit and ensure that he ate. After that she went to the bedroom and started cultivating.
No matter what she had to get stronger. Without strength in this world she wouldn't be able to accomplish much of anything. She couldn't protect or preserve anything.
She inhaled and then exhaled slowly several times to clear her mind of all unwanted thoughts so that she could cultivate.
*******
After several hours of cultivating she opened her eyes and stretched. She left the room and returned to the living room where Xiao Jun was. He was playing with a book. She frowned a little and walked over to him.
Sitting down on the 'couch' that he was leaning back against on the floor she looked at the book. It was a child's picture book. She was shocked. She hadn't seen him playing with this kind of thing before.
"Jun'er where did you get that?"
"That big sister and little sister came. They left after they gave Xiao Jun some gifts because sister Mei was busy. That Big sister said she would come back again later?"
"That big sister and little sister were their names Chu Ling and Chu Fei?" Bai Mei Li asked.
"Mmhmm. That little sister was very cute. Xiao Jun likes them. They gave Xiao Jun a lot of things to play with." He said happily as he looked over the picture book.
Bai Mei Li looked at the table. On it were numerous books. There weren't just children's books there. There were also books for adults, toys, and puzzles. There were even some board games.
On top of the pile there was a piece of folded parchment. She picked it up and unfolded it to read it. It said. 'Sorry I missed you. I peeked in the room and saw that you were cultivating and I didn't want to disturb you. I hope you don't mind that I left some toys and stuff for the both of you to help pass the time when you aren't cultivating. Don't you miss T.V and movies?! Lol I know I do. Fei'er and I will visit again later today. Xiao Jun is so adorable!'
Bai Mei Li smiled. There was no problem with her leaving things. She could feel Chu Ling's kindness and welcomed it.
"Jun'er do you want to explore?" She asked while stroking his soft hair.
Xiao Jun immediately put down the book he was looking at and jumped up. He'd wanted to explore this place the moment that they'd come here. Everything was new to his eyes and he wanted to touch it all.
"Xiao Jun wants too!" He grabbed hold of her hand and started pulling her to the front door. She laughed and followed him. Her mood was very good right now.
She wanted to allow Xiao Jun as much freedom as possible. He'd been locked up in a cave for weeks. That wasn't a good environment for any child to be in.
"Alright alright lets go then." She followed him to the door, opened it, and then closed and locked it behind them.
She led him out of the building and back into the street. There were now dozens of people walking around going to and fro. They looked at the all the buildings and entered in the shops one by one. Xiao Jun marveled at all the stuff.
To make things easier Fan Tao had adopted the currency of this continent so Bai Mei Li could buy things with the money that she had. She also realized that the money that she had on hand wouldn't last too long. The previous Bai Mei Li had spent too much money on her preparations for her trap. She would need to earn more.
After speaking with a few of the other residents she discovered a few things. The first was that not only transmigrators lived here. There were lots of people that originated from this world that lived here. In fact they out numbered the transmigrators ten to one.
Apparently they were people that had lived in the forest before Fan Tao had come here to establish Sanctuary. They'd been hiding here because a county lords son had nearly killed them all because they refused to send their daughters to the county lords mansion.
The Young County Master had been so enraged that he's sent soldiers to wipe out the men, old, and children. Their intention was to just take all the young and attractive girls and women.
Luckily a servant of the mansion couldn't bare to just keep this information to himself and warned the villagers. They'd immediately abandoned the village in the middle of the night and had fled into the forest. The demon beast had been picking them off when Fan Tao had stumbled upon them and saved their lives.
It was with the help of these villagers that the Sanctuary had been built.
Besides Chu Ling, Bai Mei Li hadn't bumped into any other transmigrators so far while they explored. A villager had told her that practitioners of the city were all usually busy. Either their were cultivating, on missions, or spending time with their families. It was rare to see them just strolling around the city streets.
Bai Mei Li had spoken to quite a few people. They were all friendly and although their answers varied slightly they were very consistent. She felt comfortable with believing what they told her.
She'd also been told about the community building that held all the available news about the outside. It was also were cultivators could get missions that were requested by the neighboring cities. Bai Mei Li was quite interested in this.