บท 54: Return to Huang City (1)

The next morning, Kai woke up in a good mood. For the first time in a very long time, he didn't have to worry about having to fight right after waking up. He walked over to the table where Old Lao had already prepared breakfast for the group.

The group enjoyed the meal before they each when off to shower. The previous night, Kai had instructed them that they would be heading back to Huang City in the morning so, everyone was well prepared and had already packed.

Kai didn't feel completely safe in this town while knowing that it was controlled by the Roaring Sands Sect. He had killed the man-hunters who were unofficially working for them so the sooner he could leave town, the better.

Once everyone was ready, Kai led them out back to the stables. Qiulong happily greeted Kai by nuzzling her big head into his chest.

Lao Ren was surprised when he saw the [Rock Stalker] as he almost couldn't recognize it. "How did it grow this much in just one night...wait a minute, these patterns... Did it become a [Grade-2] beast already?!" Lao Ren said in complete shock.

He knew that it wasn't easy for domesticated beasts to reach higher grades. Out in the wilds, they would fight for survival and the strong would naturally emerge while the weak perished, so it was common knowledge that domesticated creatures would hardly ever evolve on their own.

Ryu and Mina hadn't seen what Qiulong looked like before so they weren't as shocked, but we're still surprised that Kai had gotten such a strong-looking mount.

"Master is this your mount?. Wow, look at these scales and those sharp teeth. It looks so strong! as expected of Master!" Ryu said excitedly as he ran around Qiulong.

Mina walked up to Qiulong and softly rubbed her scales. "She's beautiful..."

Kai just smiled as he hooked Qiulong up to the Wagon. She was now big enough to pull the wagon will all of them on it so Kai wouldn't have to spend money on those expensive carriage rides anymore.

Under the morning light, the group headed out of Beifong town. They headed for Huang City just as the first morning light broke through the horizon. The journey would take about 3 days, but with Qiulong's new power-up, they could probably get there in two.

Qiulong ran across the gravel path quickly with her body swaying slightly from left to right. The reigns were connected to her tail which remained completely motionless despite her body movements so the journey was a relatively smooth one.

The group had been having small talk but after a while, Kai handed the reigns over to Lao Ren as he, Ryu, and Mina continued their cultivation.

Kai was focused on absorbing Qi from the air while Mina and Ryu were focused on improving their Qi potential. Unlike Kai who could accurately quantify his progress with numbers, Ryu and Mina were essentially running blind. They didn't know when they would reach the limit that Kai had mentioned, so all they could do for now was cultivate.

"My lord, there seems to be some trouble ahead", Lao Ren suddenly spoke with a worried tone. Kai opened his eyes and saw a half overturned carriage. Surrounding the carriage was a group of hooded men wearing desert clothing and masks over their faces.

There seemed to be three distinct groups of people. First were about 20 attackers who were wearing masks over their faces, surrounding the overturned carriage. Next was a group that seemed to be guards who numbered around 10 in total. They surrounded the overturned carriage as well but were defending it from the attackers. Lastly, there was a group of well-dressed people huddled inside of the overturned carriage.

"Looks like some sort of attack, go around it...", Kai said without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Kai's suggestion shocked everyone in the wagon. They knew how powerful Kai was so why were his firsts instincts to go around instead of helping?.

As for the Kai, he simply ignored their stares while observing the scene in front of them carefully. He didn't know what was going on and wouldn't randomly take sides just because things seemed obvious at face value. There was also no reason to get himself or his people in danger for a fight he knew nothing about.

The attackers noticed the oncoming wagon and nervously started to back away.

"Dammit, did their reinforcements arrive already?...looks like we'll have to run..."

When the guards heard this, they looked over to the oncoming wagon with eyes full of hope. Some of the female passengers even started to wave at the wagon, hoping it would speed up and come to them much sooner.

However, everyone was gobsmacked when they noticed the wagon suddenly veering off the path. It quickly went around them in a long arch before rejoining the road far ahead and continued off into the horizon.

Guards:"..."

Attackers:"..."

Passengers:"..."

"Master, why didn't we help those people?..." Mina asked carefully. She didn't know why he decided not to help, despite being so strong.

"Mina, who do you think we should have helped in that scenario?"

"The passengers...they were the ones who were attacked so the attacker's motives must have been bad..."

"That's the obvious assumption, but what if the people inside the carriage are murderers or slavers who have captured those men's families. Who would we help then?"

"I..."

"Worse still, what if the whole thing was just an elaborate trap to stop gullible people so they can rob them?" Kai said calmly as hundreds of other possible scenarios flowed into his head.

"My lord is correct" Old Lao quickly chimed in. "I have experienced many things in my day, including one such ambush, so I've learned that one can never be too careful. I believe lord's actions were prudent and in the best interest of us all"

"I see, thank you for the lesson master!", Mina quickly said with a nod.

Ryu also nodded his head in understanding while listening to the slowly fading sounds of battle.

Kai didn't want to turn them into cynics, but at the same time, he needed to wipe away their naivety as quickly as possible. Being overly kind would only make them easy targets.

Later that afternoon, the group finally arrived at the outpost between the border of the Roaring Sands Sect and the Twin-Lions Sect. Kai tied Qiulong up out front alongside the other carriage beasts and walked into the only Inn at the outpost.

The dining hall in the Inn was a lot busier than when they had first come here. They found a table near the back then had dinner while chatting cheerfully. As the sun began to set, a group of men suddenly entered the dining hall while causing a ruckus, causing the entire dining hall to fall into silence.

Kai looked over and recognized them as the guards who he had ignored on the road, but he didn't bother after and went back to his food. He had nothing to do with those people.

"Who is the owner of the [Rock-Stalker] outside?. Show yourself now!", yelled the tallest of the men.

Kai was surprised and looked at the group curiously. They seemed angry and on the verge of tearing the outpost apart. "Are they seriously mad?..." Kai thought in disbelief.

"Nobody?, then I will chop off the beast's neck, seeing as it has no owner..."

The silent room was full of soft murmurs as people looked around curiously. Some who had seen Kai's group enter the outpost knew that the beast belonged to them so they watched Kai's group with amused smiles. In that silence, Kai's chair creaked as he stood up then slowly walked towards the group.

"You dare threaten to hurt my Qiulong?, You must be courting death!", Kai said angrily as he secretly thanked the man for giving him the perfect setting to use his favorite phrase.