Bab 43: Ulterior Motives

After his children introduced themselves, Lord Luo said to Yuan, "Daoist Yuan, you came to the Pang City to rest, right? I have already arranged two of our best rooms for you and the Young Lady. And from the information we've gathered, the Mountain Lord plans on attacking us either tomorrow or the day after, so you are free to do whatever you want until then."

"I will leave one of my children with you just in case you need anything." Lord Luo then turned to look at his youngest daughter, Luo Li with a sharp gaze.

Luo Li immediately realized what her father was trying to tell her and stepped forward.

"I will be taking care of all of your needs, Daoist Yuan. If there's anything you desire, don't hesitate to talk to me," she said to him.

Assisting the guests' needs are usually the servants' job, but Lord Luo specifically assigned his own daughter to take care of Yuan simply because he hoped that some kind of romantic relationship could bud between them, as it would definitely benefit their family to have a talented individual like Yuan with them.

"I'll be troubling you," Yuan calmly said, unable to take the obvious hint.

"Luo Li, show the guests their rooms. I have to return to the other guests since I kind of left them hanging to come here." Lord Luo said to her.

He then turned to look at Yuan and said, "I won't bother you any longer, Daoist Yuan. If you need anything — anything at all — just let my daughter know and she'll take care of it. Although she may be young, I can proudly say that I've raised a very competent daughter."

After Lord Luo and the others left the room, Luo Li said to Yuan, "Shall we head to your room now?"

Yuan nodded and followed her to a large room somewhere down the hall.

"This will be Daoist Yuan's room, and the one next to it will be the Young Lady's room." Luo Li said to them.

"Xiao Hua will stay with Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua suddenly said to her.

"That's okay, too. The bed is large enough to fit four people, after all." Luo Li nodded.

A few moments later, when they entered the room, Yuan was amazed by the spacious room that was decorated with Chinese antiques in almost every direction.

"What do you think, Daoist Yuan? Is this room to your taste?" Luo Li asked him a moment later.

"Un." He quickly nodded.

"Then I will leave you alone for now. If you need anything, I will be standing outside." Luo Li said to him.

"Eh? You don't have to do that. It would actually have the opposite effect, and I won't be able to relax." Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.

"Then what do you suggest, Daoist Yuan? My father told me to stay with you, after all. He won't like it if I left you alone."

Yuan scratched his head before saying, "I guess you can stay here for now. I have a few questions about a few things, too."

"Then I shall stay in this room with Daoist Yuan." Luo Li nodded before walking to the door and standing there like a guardian of sorts.

"You don't have to be so strict with yourself. Sit down and relax." Yuan said to her with a weird smile on his face, feeling kind of awkward with her seriousness.

Sometime later, Yuan and Luo Li sat across each other on the couch.

"Your father mentioned other guests. Are they also going to be helping with defending the city?" Yuan asked her.

"Yes. Most of them are warriors who came from a very distant land, and they were all very eager to help us defend the city after we told them about our situation, and we cannot be more thankful to everyone for helping us, especially you, Daoist Yuan." Luo Li said with a beautiful smile on her face.

'A distant land? Could they be players like myself?' Yuan thought to himself.

"I see… then can you tell me more about this place?" he asked a moment later.

"Our Pang City? We're just an ordinary city with a few thousand citizens. Compared to Daoist Yuan's background, we're not even worth mentioning." Luo Li replied with an embarrassed smile.

"My background?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.

Luo Li nodded and said, "Despite being the same age as me, Daoist Yuan is already at the fourth level Spirit Warrior. I have never met anyone as talented as you before. Surely, you must come from a powerful sect or a renowned family."

However, Yuan quickly shook his head and said, "I'm neither from a powerful sect or a renowned family."

"Eh? Really? Then where did Daoist Yuan come from? And who taught you how to Cultivate?" Luo Li looked at him with wide eyes, as she cannot imagine someone as talented as Yuan coming from nowhere.

"Well, I am also from a distant land that is not well-known in this place. As for who taught me cultivation…" Yuan turned to look at Xiao Hua, who was casually sitting beside him with a calm expression.

"This Young Lady taught you cultivation?" Luo Li stared at her with a dazed expression.

However, Xiao Hua shook her head and said, "Xiao Hua did not really do anything. It was Brother Yuan who learned everything by himself."

"That's not true, Xiao Hua. If not for you I would not have become a Cultivator so soon, and you were the one who gave me the cultivation technique and taught me what it means to be a Cultivator."

"Xiao Hua merely gave Brother Yuan the chance to learn the cultivation technique. It was mostly due to Brother Yuan's own effort and talent that he managed to learn it."

Luo Li was speechless. Hearing their conversation, it sounded as if Yuan had only become a Cultivator very recently.

"When did Daoist Yuan start cultivating?" she decided to ask him out of curiosity.

"Uhh… about a week ago?" Yuan said after pondering for a bit.

"..."

Luo Li stared at him with wide eyes that were filled with disbelief. It'd taken him only a week to reach the fourth level Spirit Warrior realm from the beginning? What kind of cultivation monster is he?!