Wu Long arrived at a small town. It was relatively peaceful, but his gaze saw a different picture since there were several high-level cultivators pretending to be townsfolk. Once he appeared, he was immediately locked onto by their gazes and in the case of some of them even spiritual senses.
“Is it him?”
“The realm and description matches…but we cannot be sure”
“Report it just to be su-…”
Before the two of them could finish their discussion Wu Long stepped forward and arrived in front of them in what seemed like an instant.
“Shit!”
“It’s him!”
“Run!”
Several panicked shouts resounded and seven people from all over the small town launched in different directions. But the two that Wu Long was in front of did not manage to make even a second step before falling to the ground in pieces.
He quickly rushed off after the rest of them and made sure to hunt them down to the last. It seems even if they did not know his location or purposes, they anticipated his route since he first disrupted plans in the Fantian Kingdom, and then in the Tingren Kingdom, so the next place was correctly assumed to be this country. And the subversion of the biggest sect in the kingdom was bound to be one of the bigger undertakings so they placed people to report if he showed up in addition to the personnel that was probably here already.
“…M-Mister Wu?”
As he hunted the last one down he heard a familiar voice and with a smile on his face raised his head to see Wei Lan’s surprised one. She was also wearing a bamboo hat and cloak to shield her from the spring rain.
“I told you to call me Wu Long, it is more inti-…”
“What are you doing here? …And who are these people?”
She demanded halfway through his words. His smile turned a little wry in response.
“I have finished my business in the Tingren Kingdom and decided to visit for that gratitude you promised, but it seems the people who are doing shady things here were anticipating my arrival”
“What do you mean by shady things?”
“Hmm, I will explain, but let’s find someplace cozier than under the rain first, shall we?”
“Where is Miss Shen? Is she nearby too?”
“No. She is handling the remaining lust cultivators in the Tingren Kingdom. It should have been my work but she generously offered her help, not to mention that she has her own grudges with them”
She looked at him for some time as the rain fell over their bamboo hats and then nodded. He led her to a randomly chosen restaurant in the town but as they approached the doors she spoke from behind him.
“This place’s food is not that good. Follow me, I know a better one”
He turned to look at her with a little surprise. She was from the sect located right near this town so she of course knew it quite well, but was it really that important how good the food was in this situation?
“I don’t like to eat food that is not to my taste”
She added not turning back when she felt his gaze and he smiled, as he marveled at how her thought process worked. But something about her interested him.
Once they arrived at an ‘acceptable’ place they entered a private booth and she ordered for both of them as he said that she was more familiar with the food here. Though he paid the gold upfront, which she tried to protest but then remembered that even the money she had was technically his since she took it from the Supreme Master Pavilion.
She excitedly introduced the food that arrived not long after and Wu Long looked at her with a fascinated gaze as he never saw someone get so enthusiastic about food. But once he tasted it, he felt strange enjoyment.
He never really paid much attention to the food he ate. Even when tasting street food on dates with his women, he enjoyed their company, while the food itself was mostly ignored. His early life was spent on battlefields, and his later life was that of a rogue cultivator. Other than in company he took sustenance in the form of fasting pills. Cultivators above Nine Mortal Realms did not need food, and the further the realm the rarer it was for someone to eat to enjoy it. Only enthusiasts continued while the rest simply thought of it as an unnecessary hassle. But after seeing her so excited about it he decided to pay a little more attention and was surprised to find it enjoyable if he actually paid attention to the taste.
She got even more delighted when she saw him appreciating it and began talking as he listened, and watched her, fascinated by how something so simple could make her so vibrant.
After they ate, he secured the room and gave her the scroll he purchased not long ago. By the time the food was gone she returned to her normal composed and calm demeanor which somehow made Wu Long chuckle. The transformation was just too abrupt and noticeable.
He turned more serious after, as what she was about to learn was not something pleasant. She silently read the scroll but halfway through her eyes widened and she raised her gaze to him.
“This is- This is impossible, Honorable Master would not allow…”
“This is something I purchased from the Thousand Eyes Information Bureau”
She looked at him in silence for some time, shock, disbelief, and a flurry of other emotions creating a storm inside her eyes, one much fiercer than what was outside.
Thousand Eyes Information Bureau’s information was highly accurate, thus she was forced to face reality.
She then forcefully calmed herself down and lowered her eyes to the scroll again, looking through it, paying more attention to each and every word and name. Her frown deepened and more and more shock, as well as anger, appeared in her eyes.
She finally finished reading to the end and looked up while raging flames of fury burned in them. Among those who were dead were the ones she respected and valued the most, but what enraged her the most, was that there were some of them among those who lived.
When she read that the sect master she respected so much was still in charge of the sect despite what happened to the others her hands were trembling in indignation. She already sensed that it was all true, but she had to confirm it for herself. The sense of betrayal and loss was gripping her heart.
Wu Long silently sat opposite her, giving her time to digest all of the information and the emotions it brought. 𝘦.𝘰𝘳𝑔
“I need to go to the sect, but I am afraid I cannot show you the hospitality that I was planning to”
She finally said after adjusting her mood, looking into the window their table stood by.
“Not a problem, as long as you are welcoming me I do not care about anyone else”
“Quit joking! I am being serious!”
“As am I”
She looked at him when she heard his response which sounded a bit like the teasing he did before, but in a slightly different tone, and saw a calm expression without a hint of laughter as he said his next words. Her eyes widened as she did not expect a sincere look from him.
It seemed he sympathized with her pain and did not make that comment in jest. He was just saying that as long as one person he knew welcomed him he did not care about what attitude other people who he did not know showed him.
“Are you saying that you still want to go with me there?”
“Yes”
“Even after knowing what the situation is like from this scroll?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
“Because I was promised to be welcomed when I came here”
“…”
She looked at him for some time in silence, trying to figure him out.
She did not detect any signs of lying from him, so it could very well be true. But then again, she did not notice the betrayal of many people she trusted and respected before so she was not as trusting of her own ability to distinguish lies, malice, and treachery at the moment. The only factor she could trust was that he saved her before and was even generous enough to provide her with what she needed for travel.
He looked back completely calm. She did not see any teasing or mocking on his face, nor was there pity. If she trusted her eyes she would simply see goodwill.
“You know that this is not a joke right? I do not expect to return alive from there”
“I know that, though you can expect to return completely safe as I need someone to welcome me to be welcomed”
He smiled a little at the end of his sentence, but this smile strangely did not make her feel bad. It was as if this humor was a soothing one.