"So beautiful, what do you think, Bae Ah?" Cho Byeol asked.
"Miss, you're right, they are beautiful" Bae Ah answered
"Yeah, I have never seen such beautiful flowers before. Do you think we can take them with us?" Cho Byeol said. She was smiling at the moment. She almost forgot her problems.
"Miss, I don't think so. Right now, we need to deal with the situation at hand. As for these flowers, I think they belong to someone else, we should leave as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary trouble" Bae Ah said humbly. Her expression was serious saying this.
"Why would you say that, we can at least stay here for a while, right?" Cho Byeol insisted.
Even though she said this, she also knew that Bae Ah was right. She couldn't care about the flowers at the moment and needed to deal with the situation at hand.
"I have never seen such beautiful flowers before, but I wonder who grew them. After all, it isn't possible for them to grow here in such an environment without any protection. This place has too many low-level beasts, it isn't possible for any cultivation materials to exist here" Bae Ah said.
"Anyway, let's go, miss, we don't have much time," Bae Ah said to Cho Byeol.
…..
"From the looks of it, they might be facing some kind of trouble right now." Yang Zhai, who was standing not far away, thought to himself when he saw the two girls in such a hurry.
The flowers, that he grew in the garden, weren't quite simple, they were cultivation materials. He had to work hard for six years to grow them. It took him six years because the environment wasn't suitable for them. He used other methods to forcefully grow them here. They could be used as materials to refine a defensive Ka of Rank 4.
When he saw that the two girls seemed to be in some kind of trouble, he became cautious. What if they attract some kind of trouble for him? He knew that he had been discovered and couldn't stay here anymore. But what if he's wrong, wouldn't he attract trouble for himself by leaving this place without waiting for the flowers to mature fully.
Considering this, he walked toward the girls. He wanted to know the reason for them to be here. But he was still cautious of them.
"Who are you and why are you here?" Yang Zhai asked.
Cho Byeol and Bae Ah heard a voice coming from behind and were both shocked when they suddenly heard Yang Zhai's voice, they immediately turned around and saw a man, they became cautious and immediately took some steps back. They didn't expect Yang Zhai to suddenly appear, even though they had guessed that these flowers belonged to someone.
"Miss, stay back, let me handle this and be ready to run or fight if we don't have any choice" Bae Ah immediately came in front of Cho Byeol and slowly said to her.
"Ok, but be cautious" Cho Byeol didn't say anything else and knew that she couldn't be careless and stubborn.
The reason for them to be so cautious was that this world wasn't so simple. This world contained dangers at every corner of it. There were many low and high-level beasts in this world and other dangers.
"Why should we tell you?" Bae Ah said seriously. She was already prepared to fight if needed.
"Huh, no need to tell me if you don't want to, it's not like I am forcing you to tell me and you guys don't need to be scared of me. I'm not going to do anything to you guys," Yang Zhai's face was expressionless. He didn't mind Bae Ah at all. After all, who would tell about their background to some stranger for no reason?
"Why should we believe you? And we don't even know if you're a demonic path cultivator or not" Bae Ah said seriously.
When Yang Zhai heard this he felt indignation inside, but he still didn't show any expression on the outside, his thoughts were: What the hell, It was you guys who came to my place and still think if I am a demonic path cultivator or not.
"You don't need to, it's not like I'm going to get anything if you believe me. But to tell you, the flowers, which are in front of you, are mine, so don't have any thoughts about them" Yang Zhai said to them while looking at the beautiful garden in front of him. He had put too much effort into growing them.
"Do you think we're thieves, why would we take your flowers, to begin with? And we don't have any thoughts about them. Anyway, we were just seeing these flowers and appreciating how beautiful they are" Bae Ah replied immediately when she heard what Yang Zhai said. She didn't want Yang Zhai to have any misunderstandings to avoid trouble.
"And why would I believe you? Anyway, you can't leave now regardless of what it was" Yang Zhai said casually without caring much.
"What do you mean by that?" Bae Ah's expression turned serious when she heard that.
Chi Byeol was also a little nervous when she heard that.
"Simple, you guys already saw my flowers, so how can I let you go? What if you come back with other people to take them from me? Anyway, what It means is that you guys will stay here until these flowers mature" Yang Zhai said seriously.
"Oh, do you think you can keep us here and just by yourself at that? You think it's that easy" When Bae Ah said this, she was already preparing to attack.
"Oh, you won't" After Yang Zhai said that, he released his Rank 4 aura.
When Bae Ah and Cho Byeol saw this, they became nervous. They didn't think that Yang Zhai would be a Rank 4 cultivator. After all, they couldn't sense it, which meant that Yang Zhai was at least a rank 4 cultivator even after Yang Zhai released his aura.
"He is a rank four cultivator," Bae Ah muttered to herself, completely stunned.
"Let us go, I promise that we won't tell anyone, and we won't forget this kindness as well," Bae Ah said to Yang Zhai, hoping that he would let them go.
"I already said it, no. And anyway, it's about to be night. At night, in this area, a Rank 5 beast comes out, who is very ferocious. I'm certain if you leave right now, with your strength, you won't even last a few breaths. Come with me, the cave I live in has dark shadow leaves which can block beasts from sensing us" Yang Zhai said casually, without caring much, and walked away.
When they heard this, their expressions were distorted. From the looks of it, they didn't have any other choice. They didn't think that they would encounter trouble like this.
"Miss, be careful, we can't be too careless around him. Although he isn't doing anything to us right now, it doesn't mean that he won't. And always stay by my side" Bae Ah said slowly to Chi Byeol. She was worried that this might be Yang Zhai's trap.
"Yeah, I know, you too should be careful as well. Even though I don't sense any malice from him, that doesn't mean that he won't harm us" Cho Byeol replied. She was also worried about the same thing as Bae Ah.
After talking to each other, Cho Byeol and Bae Ah followed Yang Zhai. They didn't have any other choice, it was better to not take the chance and believe Yang Zhai about the Rank 5 beast. It was always better to be cautious than not. And anyway, Yang Zhai didn't seem to have any ill intentions toward them.
After a while, they arrived in front of an old cave, it seemed to be ordinary from the outside, but when they entered the cave and went a little further, they saw that the cave had a complicated structure and had many more entrances inside the cave. These entrances seemed to be around a hundred or so. And there were more entrances in every entrance.
"Follow me closely and don't get lost, this cave is like a maze. If you do get lost, you're done. And somehow, if this does happen, just try to come back to the entrance. I'll look for you later. Let's go"
Yang Zhai warned them before entering the cave. After saying this, he went inside.
Bae Ah and Chi Byeol followed closely behind. He was already familiar with this cave. After entering several entrances, they arrived at a place as big as a room. There was a bed made of wood, a chair, and a table. The place was tidy and clean.
"When will you let us go?" Cho Byeol asked. She was surprised when she saw the place. From the looks of it, they were going to stay here for a long time or why would Yang Zhai bring them to his place, which was so well hidden.
"Until the flowers mature," Yang Zhai said casually.
"And how much time will it take them to mature?" Bae Ah asked.
"Not much, just a few years or so, until then you are going to stay here," Yang Zhai said to the two girls, making them worried.
…..
(Author's Note: Ka is an important factor of the story and will be explained later in the story. As for the protagonist, he will undergo a huge personality change, Thank you)