"Why are you here?" I asked again.
Her expression fell even more when she heard this, but she relented and started to explain why she was here.
"Well… what actually happened was…"
****
Outside the house, stood two figures staring at the elders with haughty expressions.
The younger of the two new arrivals cupped his fist towards the first elder. "Greetings first uncle-in-law!"
Who else could it be but Zhen Paohui, the first of likely many young arrogant masters from chapter 14?
"Hahaha, how could I be worthy of being young master Zhen's uncle? There is no need to refer to me as such."
"How could I dare, first uncle-in-law? Surely, I could never disregard the proper respect and title to an esteemed elder." Zhen Paohui stated.
The first elder knew what Zhen Paohui was trying to do by repeatedly calling him first uncle. If the first elder responded to this, then he, being the one with the most authority in the clan, would be wordlessly agreeing with Zhen Paohui's request for Shen Ling's hand in marriage.
"Oh, young master Zhen, who is your friend?" The first elder wanted to change the subject, and as such brought up the person accompanying Zhen Paohui today.
"Oh! Where are my manners?" Zhen Paohui slapped his forehead. "This is my friend Tai Ren."
Tai Ren gave the elders a suffocating feeling. His body appeared to be made of earth that was chalky white while he was also packed with muscles. There also appeared to be numerous black vertical lines that ran the length of his body from head to toe.
The elders weren't aware of what type of demon he was, but their interest immediately waned when Zhen Paohui continued what he was saying.
"He was chasing after someone for quite some time and eventually sought help from my family. Since I was familiar with the area, I volunteered to help him in his search. We are only here since you're all close by, and I didn't want to appear tactless."
When the elders heard that this fellow was searching for someone, they immediately thought of the little girl they brought to the village.
"What kind of person is this young lord looking for?" The first elder asked.
"Too many questions." Tai Ren didn't want to divulge the purpose of his search to those unrelated to it.
The first elder turned red from embarrassment at this. This Tai Ren was obviously younger than him but the former didn't take his seniority into account at all.
"Well, young master Zhen, you can let your friend know that if we see any suspicious people nearby, we will immediately send word.
The first elder was fairly confident that the girl they rescued was the one who Tai Ren was looking for. They could tell by his demeanour that this Tai Ren wasn't a good person, and he didn't want to hand her over to him.
"I know you will," Zhen Paohui replied with a smile. "We'll get going now, but I don't see my fiancee anywhere. Where is Shen Ling?"
When Feng Yu and the others heard of this, their expressions turned ugly. This Zhen Paohui was obviously aware that Shen Ling was not interested in him.
In fact, she was repulsed by him, but he still kept harping on about being her fiance.
"Oh, is this young master Zhen!? Hello! Hello!" The third elder came over with a pouch in his hand. He wasn't with the rest of the elders before.
He was advised to fetch the rest of the medicine to help treat the wound the girl they rescued before had incurred. They still had leftovers from what was used to treat the first elder when he was suffering from his injuries.
"Oh, greetings third uncle-in-law. I'm just here to visit Shen Ling," he said.
"Shen Ling?" The third elder thought for a while, before his expression brightened. "Ah, she must be with the little girl we rescued, along with that brat."
"Little girl?"
"Brat!?"
Both Zhen Paohui and Tai Ren's expressions changed when they heard this before their gazes shot towards the small hut-like house that the elders and disciples came from when they arrived.
Bam!
Tai Ren stamped on the ground causing lines that extended from his feet to race all the way to the side of the house. When the lines covered half of the house, the side inflicted with this phenomenon broke down immediately revealing Shen Ling, the Nymph and Long Di who threw a disinterested gaze in their direction.
The Nymph paled in fright when she saw him. This was the man who had chased her for who knows how long after she had escaped from his clutches before.
"There you are!" Tai Ren revealed a set of fangs as his face twisted into a malicious grin!
He leapt upwards to quickly capture this slippery Nymph before she escaped again.
The lines on his body glowed as he prepared to unleash a move to immobilise her.
Curiously, however, as he closed in, the cold glint of a bronze sabre entered his line of sight!
"What the—?"
Bang!
The power behind the sabre strike sent him crashing into the ground with a loud crash!
"Greetings, my name is Long Di. Going forward, could you stop putting your neck in the way of my Saber, please? I'm not a sadist, and you are not my type."