As Zhang Jian and his entourage were in a relaxed state enjoying their dinner, Lin Xi was sitting on a stone chair in her cave sipping calmly on her tea.
A small black crow entered the cave and landed at the table in front of her ready to report to his master.
Flying animals were very suitable for relaying news as well as espionage, they can hide unnoticed in trees, and travel by air, which was faster and more convenient.
Lin Xi had many demons coveting her beauty and favor, and they were willing to do anything to please her, even if it meant losing their life.
That's how Ge Ta lost his life, but Lin Xi treats them all as insects below her feet, and only uses them to her advantage, just like the crow that was shaking in front of her, while bluebird was assigned to keep watch over Zhang Jian, this one responsible for keeping for monitoring Ge Kai's movements.
He was really good at doing his job, that even a great cultivator like Ge Kai didn't notice, because stealth was his specialty.
Irritated by the news bearer who disrupted her peace, Lin Xi glared in his direction and said,
" Speak! "
The crow opened his crooked beak and reported, " Master I have some good news, please spare this lowly servant's life "
This only increase Lin Xi's anger towards him as he still didn't announce any news, so she pursed her lips and tried to contain her anger.
Noticing this, the crow hurriedly said, " Black crow reporting to Lady Lin Xi, Ge Kai, sent Tiger to steal the sapphire from Zhang Jian's home when he stepped away, he fought with Wang Yan, Cerberus, and Black Pheasant, he almost defeated them"
The crow then shuddered and continued, " But Zhang Jian is indeed an unparalleled master, who knew that he'll have defense mechanisms all over the house, at the critical moment when Tiger was about the land a lethal blow and steal the sapphire from them, one of them activated and enveloped Tiger's body in a mist and swallowed him, no sign of him nor his qi was seen"
The crow bowed his head as soon as he finished talking.
Lin Xi widened her eyes in shock and laughed at the misery and failure of her nemesis, but she really didn't expect Ge Kai to succeed but she still didn't foresee the death of a formidable power like Tiger, truly a shame for the Demon world to yet lose another talent because of Zhang Jian, she dismissed the black crow and lowered her head to ponder over the situation at hand.
The demon realm from the first look, appeared to be full of bloodthirst and malice, where only the strongest survive, while the immortal real appeared to be peaceful and harmonious, but Lin Xi was well aware of the bitter reality, both realms shared more in common than they let out.
Humans and demons both had a power-hungry nature, it's just that humans were good at hiding their cruel true selves, smiling at each other's faces yet waiting for a chance to stab the other in the back for benefits.
In order to achieve their goals, humans can be very selfish and self-centered, not even the misfortune of others would stop them, not even their own children's sadness.
Lin Xi knew this all too well because she was the one who faced the atrocities of both worlds.
Lin Xi used to be a happy child, loved by both her parents despite the hardships that they faced in life, her father was from a powerful family in the immortal world and her mother was a well-coveted beauty from the demon world. But the two had a tragic love story after they fell in love at first sight while on a mission.
The Lin clan of the immortal world had a powerful genius, the young master who was going to inherit the title from the head of the clan after his grandfather and father, while on a mission to a remote village to check for mysterious demonic events, he met his soulmate who was chasing a demon that escaped her family's hold after committing a crime, she was tasked with its capture.
In love, and knowing that their families, let alone their realms will let them unite, the two abandoned their original missions and eloped together.
The couple got married and hid in an insignificant small mountain village in the immortal realm, they soon had a baby daughter, who they dearly cherished.
Growing up Lin Xi didn't have many friends as her parents were always on the run, they were her teachers who taught her how to cultivate and her friends whom she liked to play with.
Her parents discovered she has two completely different auras in her body at the same time - evil qi and immortal qi, which let them to keep her very sheltered.
On an eventful night, both parents sensed both sides approaching, so they Put money and a letter they had already prepared for Lin Xi and went ahead to fight both sides, who had no idea of her existence.
Lin Xi learned the truth in the morning, but she realized that her parents were long gone after seeing the battlefield, she couldn't even find their intact corpse.
So she decided to bury their things at the cliff nearby, as to give her troubled parent's souls some peace.
She stood over the edge as if overseeing all the evil deeds that both races had done, she swore on her parents grave, that day, that she would destroy the two realms that separated her too early from her family, for the sake of traditions and family honors, all pretenses humans and demons alike, lived by, when they only sought was their personal gains.
Lin Xi shook her head trying to forget her painful memories and stood up at the entrance of the cave, gazing at the glowing moon in the sky.
Zhang Jian's simple yet resolute appearance flashed in her mind, such a powerful man, yet he wore simple and cheap clothes, did farm work, went fishing, and even cooked like a housewife, that, she couldn't simply comprehend.
Because, a man with unparalleled power, has the ability to roam the lands freely without any law holding them back, they did as they pleased, and wherever they went, they were greeted with fear and respect. In addition to that, those people always held important positions in society, which gave them access to luxury goods, all types of delicacies, huge mansions full of maids, and servants at their beck and call.
Lin Xi wondered how can a man of such prowess, could live in such a shabby and desolate environment, yet still have powerful people willing to serve by his side. There must be a secret concerning this matter, and she has to find it out.
She has never seen such a person before, and so her curiosity had reached an interesting level, for an uncaring person like herself.
Lin Xi whispered to the dark cold night ' Just what are you hiding Zhang Jian? ', and turned back to go to bed.
Back to Zhang Jian, he woke up early in the morning and hurriedly made his way to the fields to check on the crops and the seeds, and was glad to know that there was nothing that was missing from his farmland.
After making that scarecrow, it was like a magical guardian rose from the ashes and started protecting his land, warding off all the enemies that approached.
But sadly the imaginary magical guardian can only protect his farmland, but not everything else that is nearby.
He went back home, to make breakfast as usual, but his actions were all on auto-pilot as he was pondering over a way to protect both the farm and the hut.
Zhang Jian, hit the counter with his fist, " I finally got it ", he finally thought of a nice way to ward off those beasts once and for all, so he lowered his head to think about the materials to use as the soup boiled over.
He picked up the soup pot so that he could put it, on that table, and turned to call the rest for breakfast, but he was shocked to see that everyone was standing in line, with their heads bowed as if they were standing in command before a military general.