Chapter 353: The Lanming Clan of Thacia City
When Jian Chen had agreed to protect them until the city, the bodyguards had been ecstatic. To have an Earth Saint Master join their ranks, their journey would be undoubtedly safe without worry or fear of anyone with malicious intent like the Blackwind Bandits.
Jian Chen had been courteously invited to sit in the carriage, and death be unto those who would ask Jian Chen to travel on foot. All of the horses that they had, had either been killed or had run away. Aside from the three Class 2 Magical Beasts pulling the carriage, there were no other horse to sit on.
Unable to refuse the hospitality and well meaning of the middle-aged man, Jian Chen chose to sit on the part of the carriage where the driver would usually sit to direct the animals.
“Little brother, the wind outside is quite big, you should head in!” The man smiled at Jian Chen with a polite air.
An Earth Saint Master would be considered a top tier expert within Thacia City, and the Lanming clan could be considered one of the two top clans since even their patriarch was an Earth Saint Master. If they were to lose their patriarch, then their position within Thacia City would irrevocably change. At the very best, the clan would be considered a high quality clan. There were already a few dozen of these types of clan in Thacia City, so it could be seen that an Earth Saint Master was a high and mighty position.
“It’s fine, I enjoy sitting out here.” Jian Chen spoke.
The middle-aged man didn’t bother to say anymore, if he were to try to convince him to sit elsewhere, then it would do more harm than good.
At this moment, a delicate fragrance could be smelled from behind as the doors to the carriage opened up, revealing the red robed girl who was walking out. Sitting next to Jian Chen on the driver’s seat, her beautiful eyes stared at Jian Chen as she spoke gently, “Many thanks to our benefactor for saving our lives. This girl is named Lanying, if I may ask for my lord’s name?”
Jian Chen swept a glance at the beauty next to him before turning back to look at the front. “You flatter me too much. My name is Yang Yutian.”
“So it is lord Yang. Where might lord Yang be traveling to, and where might lord Yang be from?” Lanying’s eyes stared at Jian Chen with her bright eyes, but when she saw the slightest furrowing of Jian Chen’s eyebrows, she spoke up in a hurry, “This girl was just curious, if lord Yang does not wish to answer, then please forgive this girl for being rude.”
Laughing, Jian Chen spoke, “The young lady is too serious, I’ve come from a far away nation to travel the entire continent and increase my knowledge and experience. The sky is my ceiling and the earth is my bed as I travel.”
“Then it is no wonder lord Yang is so strong with a long process of cultivation like that.”
……
The carriage continued to move slowly as the remaining ten bodyguards traveled close by the sides of it. On the road they came across several ordinary mercenary groups who were riding horses. The middle-aged man had then spent a wealthy sum of money to purchase a few horses so that the ten bodyguards could double up on a horse.
Four hours later, the ten blood soaked bodyguards and the carriage finally entered the city. On the road, everyone had begun to notice their identities and began to talk among themselves.
“Isn’t that the Lanming clan? For them to have so many injuries, did a powerful faction decide to be their enemy?”
“The Lanming clan is one of the top two clans of Thacia City, I’ve heard their patriarch is an Earth Saint Master as well. Who could possibly dare try to provoke the Lanming clan and the Huo Niao clan….”
The black robed Jian Chen continued to sit on the driver’s seat of the carriage as the bodyguards nearby guided him while Lanying remained inside the carriage.
Suddenly, the sounds of frantic pattering could be heard up ahead as a large group of magical beast riders charged toward the carriage. Charging ahead of them was an elderly man who was riding the Class 4 Magical Beast, Storm Wolf.
The moment the middle-aged man saw the elder, an immediate smile greeted his face as he cried out, “It’s the patriarch! The patriarch is here!”
The patriarch of the Lanming clan quickly reached the entire group, causing the entire group of bodyguards to salute, “We greet the patriarch!”
Without even glancing at them, he flew off of his mount with an anxious expression and cried out loud with an anxious worry, “Ying’er, Ying’er! Are you alright, Ying’er!”
The doors to the carriage opened as the red robed Lanying walked out. When she saw the elder, she immediately began to cry out with tears, “Grandfather!”
Seeing that Lanying was completely unharmed, the elder’s face immediately slackened as he jumped to hug Lanying, “It’s okay then. Everything is fine now, Ying’er. This was your grandfather’s fault, I didn’t hire a good enough bodyguard and so my daughter has suffered.”
This elder was the patriarch of the Lanming clan and doted upon his granddaughter. She was the pearl of the clan and someone he had always protected. When he heard that several bloody bodyguards of the Lanming clan had appeared by the city gates, he had instantly guessed that the bodyguards that were protecting Lanying had been ambushed. In fear for the life of his granddaughter, he had immediately ran for the gates as if he were on fire.
As he consoled his granddaughter, he turned his icy eyes toward the middle-aged man who was in charge of protecting her. “Guard Yun, just what in the world happened on the road? Who would dare cross paths with our Lanming clan?”
“Patriarch, we had encountered the Blackwind Bandits who had far outmatched our strengths. If it were not for lord Yang who was passing by in our time of need, then I’m afraid we wouldn’t have been able to come back to report to you.” Guard Yun spoke with regret.
Hearing that, the patriarch of the Lanming clan turned to look at the cross-legged Jian Chen on the carriage as if to quickly measure him up. Then, he cupped his hands together, “I thank little brother for his assistance. My Lanming clan will be sure to reward you.”
Jian Chen laughed, but returned the polite gesture, “Patriarch is too kind, but your thanks will be unneeded. This one was only there by coincidence.”
“Little brother here has saved the life of my Lanying, this is something my Lanming clan will never forget. If you could come by our Lanming clan and be our guest, it would be my greatest honor to receive you.” The patriarch spoke earnestly.
For a moment, Jian Chen hesitated, but in the end he replied with a smile, “Then I’ll be troubling you for a place to stay.”
“Trouble? It’s no trouble at all!’ The patriarch waved his hand with a merry laugh.
At that moment, guard Yun pointed at the three firmly wrapped up bandits and spoke to the patriarch, “Patriarch, these three were the ringleaders of the Blackwind Bandits. Lord Yang was the one who captured them and they now await your verdict!”
The three bandits had their mouths wrapped up so all they could say were muffled cries of forgiveness as they pleaded at the patriarch’s feet.
The patriarch’s eyes grew cold as he ordered, “Take them back first.”
……
Traveling to the north eastern part of Thacia City, the group soon reached a large and expansive house that was extraordinarily pretty. Even the decorations added to its beauty as the patriarch led Jian Chen to the receiving halls where they began to talk while the patriarch slyly tried to figure just what identity he had.
Jian Chen calmly answered each and every question the patriarch had, but when it came to answers regarding himself, he had naturally answered with what he had told Lanying.
Jian Chen had even masked his aura so that the patriarch would be unable to ascertain Jian Chen’s true strength. However, the guard Yun had guaranteed that Jian Chen was an Earth Saint Master, so the patriarch had been extremely courteous without bearing any tint of arrogance.
Then, Jian Chen changed the topic by asking, “Patriarch, might you have heard of something called the Space Gate?”
“Space Gate? What is that?” The patriarch was confused, clearly not understanding what that was.
A look of dejection could be seen on Jian Chen’s face. His purpose on coming to the Lanming clan was to find news if there was a nearby Space Gate. Since this place was extremely far away from the Gesun Kingdom, he had wanted to travel via Space Gate to shorten the trip. Otherwise, even if he were to use the Illusionary Flash, the journey would been extremely long and the Saint Force consumption would be unbearably high.
Back when he was leaving the Blue Wind Kingdom, the relations between the Gesun Kingdom and its neighbors had already been extremely tense. Two years had passed and he didn’t know what the current state was or if war had already broke out. Unfortunately the place he was in right now was too far away to hear news of the Gesun Kingdom. After all, the Gesun Kingdom was rather small, and the amount of kingdoms within the Tian Yuan Continent numbered over the hundreds. Even if one were to be extinguished, the rest of the continent would still carry on.
That night, Jian Chen and the rest of the high ranking members of the Lanming clan dined on fine delicacies. Right now the Lanming clan was enthusiastically talking to their new guest while at the same time in a closed off area, another group of high ranking members were talking secretly.
“Father, I don’t find this method appropriate. We don’t know anything about the identity of this Yang Yutian and have only come to know him for a small amount of time so we have no idea of even his personality. Just how can we so easily betroth Ying’er to him, we cannot be careless about this.” A middle-aged man said, this was Lanying’s father.
“Patriarch, that man is an Earth Saint Master. While his appearances are rather average, if he was able to reach the Earth Saint Master realm by the age of thirty, that means his potential is unlimited. It is possible that he could make the breakthrough to become a Heaven Saint Master soon. In the case that we have the support of a Heaven Saint Master, then our clan would undoubtedly become stronger.”