Tang Shaoyang immediately activated [Spirit Eyes] and scanned the surroundings. He checked if the old man came with the other people to capture him. However, [Spirit Eyes] caught no one, the old man came alone.
"Don't worry, I come alone. I just want to talk with you," Carlos Artura noticed Tang put his guard up at his sight. It was something natural since people were chasing after his life now.
'Does Selena tell him my position, or is he following Selena?' He could not think that Selena would betray him since her life was bound to his.
"I want to talk about your conflict with the Church and City Lord. Don't worry, I move on my own and I don't take their side too," Carlos was trying to convince Tang that he meant no harm.
"Alright then, how do you find me?" Tang Shaoyang questioned the old man.
"I have been following Selena, she was moving suspiciously," the old man did not plan to hide the truth since he truly came to talk with Tang, "I am not that naive to believe that she was mourning for her party in the dangerous forest all night."
"Good, you can talk now," Tang Shaoyang nodded, for now, he chose to believe the old man.
"Can we end this? The conflict between you against the Church and the City Lord, I want to help you out of this situation," Carlos Artura tried to be sincere with his words but Tang Shaoyang cracked into a grin.
"In the end, you just want to capture me, right old man?" The old man immediately shook his head, Tang misunderstood him, "No, I don't want to capture you, I just want to end the conflict. As you know, the Beast Stampede is near, we can't afford to lose more people than we are now, or the Beast Stampede will break into the city."
"Not my concern," Tang Shaoyang shrugged.
Carlos Artura furrowed his brows, "You know, many lives are at stake here, don't you have sympathy for the innocent? Your action has been terrorizing many people, including the children, shouldn't you stop?"
"Then why don't you talk with your Gods, old man? They started this first. You should have asked them to stop, not me!" Tang Shaoyang found it was ridiculous for the old man to ask him to stop while it was not him who started this.
Carlos Artura had a bewildered look when Tang brought up Gods. He was confused that Tang suddenly mentioned Gods, 'Is it because he has the conflict with the church now he blamed the Gods?' The Guild Master himself did not know why suddenly the church and the city lord targeted Tang and his party.
"Huhu, it seems you are clueless what you are into, old man," Tang Shaoyang smirked at the confused old man.
"I may not know the cause, but I have a way to end the conflict," the old man took out a skin mask, "Look at this, I made a mask for your face, and I will let the criminals wear the mask. I will kill them and give the head with your face to the church, and then the problem will be solved."
"Don't worry about the mask, it's permanent. Once the criminal wears the mask, it can't be taken off by anyone. I spent quite a lot for this, you know," the old man seemed proud with his plan.
"Old man, oh, old man, you are too naive for your age. Don't you realize it by the quest? They want me alive, me and my party," Tang Shaoyang was shaking his head upon realizing the old man did not know the root of the problem.
"If you don't want to lose your people any longer, you should pull off the quest. This is my battle against the Church and that stupid city lord!"
"I can just tell them that you are killed while I and my party try to capture you, they can't pull off the mask!" Carlos Artura insisted on his idea, but Tang Shaoyang shook his head, "Those fake Gods can tell if my corpse is real or not, you can't trick those fake Gods."
He kept calling them fake gods, but he actually acknowledged their strength. If those Gods came for him, his only option was to run. But if it was their followers, he would fight them. He gained more levels by killing those people than killing beasts and monsters combined so far, so the choice was obvious.
"Y-you actually met the Gods and angered them?" Carlos Artura's voice was trembling. As Tang kept mentioning fake Gods, the old man realized the young man in front of him had a conflict with the Gods instead of the church.
"Angered them? Nah, it was them who angered me," Tang Shaoyang waved his hand, "Alright, that's enough old man. As I said if you don't want to lose your people, just pull off the quest. This is a war between me and the church!"
"What about the City Lord? Why would they after you as well if it's between you and the church?" There were so many questions that popped out in the old man's head the more he knew about the root of the problem.
"Like hell, I want to know as well. Why would they target me? You should ask them yourself!" When the Royal Knight was brought up, Tang Shaoyang was pissed off.
"There's no need to continue this pointless talk, old man. You can't mediate this issue, you don't have the power to meddle!" Tang Shaoyang turned around, he did not want to continue the talk
But he stopped at his fifth step, "But I can't leave you alone, you know too much about me and Selena. You have to die, Old Man!"
Carlos Artura flinched back as Tang radiated thick killing intent toward him. He could feel that the man was serious with his words, "Calm down! I put her unconscious there!" He pointed to a spot behind a tree.
Tang Shaoyang activated [Flash Step] to reach the spot. Sure enough, he found Selena lying down behind the tree. He checked the girl, and the girl was fine. She was still breathing fine, and there were no injuries on her body.
He turned around and found the old man was no longer around. Carlos Artura gave up convincing him after knowing the Gods were involved.
"I guess this is the best," he muttered while looking at the unconscious Selena. If the old man could track her like this, that meant the church and the city lord could do the same. He did not want to lose Selena, not because he had affection for her, but the feeling of losing what belonged to him was unacceptable. Not after he gained all this power, one of the many reasons he wanted more power.
He picked the unconscious girl and went further to the north. Before he was going to the north, he checked the surrounding with his [Spirit Eyes]. After making sure no one was around, he dashed toward the north.
Thanks to the uninvited guest, he did not manage to test the new skill.
*** ***
Tang Shaoyang dashed toward the north non-stop for like thirty minutes with the unconscious Selena on his back. A sight of a wooden fence came into his vision. At the entrance, two women wore two armors with bows in their hands.
Yes, that was where the armor he took from the dead adventurers. He armored the villagers to protect themselves from the dangerous beast in the forest.
Old Man Rick and his people were building a new village in the deeper part of the forest that was partly safe from the beast. This was where he had been all this time.