/*unedited*/

A week has pa.s.sed since the emergence of Qin Lou and the now majestic mortal's settlement.

The morning sun rose up in the sky with its golden rays bathing the land in gold. The warm feeling it gives to all the creatures and plants under its influence makes the scenery looks majestic and almost picture-perfect.

On the side of the road where a small flowing stream of water gushes forth, a man with bloodied clothes and miserable appearance lay on the gra.s.sy ground. His clothes have already traces of dried blood, but in some parts of this body, there are still small open wounds that show that he truly suffered greatly.

Many people would just pa.s.s by and never dared look at his pitiable appearance. This is because none wanted to be implicated in this situation. Some of the mortals who would pa.s.s by wanted to help the miserable man but they would hesitate upon seeing that he is wearing a cultivator's clothes. In these lands, it is normal for those cultivators who were helped by mortals to be ungrateful. Some of them may even kill the people who helped them because they think that it is below their pride to be helped by some mortal ants.

As time went by, the sun is already high up in the sky and the heat made the surrounding almost unbearable.

Right at this moment, a convoy of strange vehicles is traveling along the dirt road. The wagons look weird as they are boxes not made of wood but of metal. Plus each of metal boxes is not being dragged by Groogs or Neighs as it runs on a thing called 'engine'.

The combination of technology and cultivation materials turns the engine into something that uses spirit stone or beast core as its fuel, making it more efficient.

The vehicles on the road look like huge Humvees designed to traverse the harsh environment inside the Daemon forest. So it became truly imposing as it travels down the dirt road coming from the town of Dis.

Qin Lou and Qian Li are among the pa.s.sengers of one of the vehicles. With them are Elder Ao and the new head Elder of the Town of Dis, Guliang Fey. They are currently discussing cooperation between the town of Dis and the mortal's settlement. Right now they are going to the great city of Wu and finalize this agreement in front of the king, as the underground base is still under his rule.

Within that week, the influx of both mortals and cultivators to the town of Dis suddenly increased. This situation suddenly became a little alarming as housing and inns suddenly became in demand.

Many of those who heard this news came to the town of Dis just to satisfy their curiosity. But for the mortals, they came here to change their lives. As of now, the mortal's settlement is not yet accepting cultivators. Only mortals can enter that place but under strict rules and checking.

Halfway on the road, one of the mortal soldiers suddenly saw a person lying on the side of the road.

"Madam Mayor! There is a person lying at the side of the road." The soldier shouted.

The soldier is a woman in her twenties, so she is still a bit soft. But since she is able to be included in the guards for Qin Lou and Qian Li, she has her own sets of unique skills to boot.

"Halt!" Qin Lou commanded through her intercom.

Hearing her command, the entire convoy of vehicles immediately stopped.

When the cultivators riding with them saw this they showed an amazed and a little jealous face. Especially the leaders from the town of Dis. They can now imagine if the venture between the town and the mortal's settlement come true, then they too can have the same capability to move as one without using too much effort.

Qin Lou alighted from the vehicle and slowly walks towards the person on the ground. Some of the soldiers have already checked the man and immediately gave him a first aid treatment, as this is a normal procedure inside the underground base. Unlike the world outside where people would always a.s.sume the worst, the soldier from the underground base follows the modern rule of help first ask questions later.

But of course, this didn't mean that they would lower their guards down. While the man is being treated by a medic, two soldiers already have their rifles pointing at the man's vital spots as a precaution.

When Qin Lou uses her spiritual sense to scan the person on the ground, she suddenly froze. Her face has already been half-healed and she can now reveal her eyes. And from within those eyes, different emotions can be seen. The person beside her immediately felt the roiling turmoil of emotion coming from Qin Lou.

"Sister Qin… Are you okay?" Qian Li suddenly asked with worry.

Qin Lou didn't say anything as if she has been stunned and was turned into stone.

"Hey…" Qian Li suddenly grabs Qin Lou's small soft hand.

After staying inside the base for 50 long years, the two already formed a bond just like sisters. And so, Qian Li is familiar with Qin Lou's emotional distress and reactions. And right now, she can feel that there is something wrong with Qin Lou. Then her gaze turns towards the man lying on the ground while being helped by a medic. As she observes more, she too became stunned. The man has unkempt hair and his face is covered with a messy beard. But she could not deny the handsomeness in that face. And right now, she is looking at a very familiar face.

"Ma… Master… Master s.h.i.+n Jiao!" Qian Li muttered with disbelief clearly written all over her face.

When Qin Lou heard the voice of Qian Li beside her, she was suddenly jolted out of the stupor. She is not dreaming, right? Because she also heard Qian Li calling the wounded man on the ground, s.h.i.+n Jiao.

Upon hearing that name, hundred and thousands of different emotions immediately burst out of Qin Lou's chest as tears suddenly swelled in her eyes. She could not help but cover her soft mouth with her hand in disbelief as she slowly walks towards the figure of the man.

She scans his body over and over without restrain just to confirm her conjecture. And right now she is 100% sure that the man is truly s.h.i.+n Jiao.

"s.h.i.+n… s.h.i.+n!" Qin Lou is unable to control her emotions anymore and dashed towards the unconscious man on the ground.

Without a care in the world, she immediately hugs him in her bosom while crying her heart out.

"What happened to you? Who… who dare do this… Huhuhuhuuu…" Qin Lou cried as she hugs the man.

Everyone was dumbfounded upon seeing this situation. In the eyes of all the people, they viewed her as a great woman. Something that people would look up to in respect and admired. Many of the soldiers and cultivators who came along in the convoy are already her admirers. Yet upon seeing her hugging another man-made them feel uneasy. They would rather be that man on the ground being hug by their G.o.ddess.

Then suddenly another figure dashed towards the man, this time it is Qian Li. She too has already cried and immediately kneels on the gra.s.sy roadside. She extended her hand and firmly held the man's hand which is calloused and full of wounds.

"Master! Master… what happened to you?" Qian Li muttered as she cried.

The place turned silent and only two sobs can be heard.

As this area is the main road between the Great City of Yi and the town of Dis, many travelers are pa.s.sing through this road. Upon seeing the convoy, many people have already been attracted to this area. The onlookers have already gathered around upon seeing this scene.

"What a lucky man to have two supreme beauties crying beside him."

"d.a.m.n him, he is the enemy of all men trying to claim these two G.o.ddesses."

"What happened? It seems that he suffered a great misfortune."

"Maybe he was robbed or a.s.saulted by road bandits last night."

"I don't think so. Look at those wounds; they're not the work of bandits."

The people around them began to discuss the situation they are seeing as speculation and different reaction began to come out from each of them.

"Madam Mayor… commander… Please. We need to take him to the vehicle, there are many people already watching us." One of the soldiers standing behind Qin Lou suggested.

The soldier's voice woke Qin Lou from her emotional outburst and without a second thought carefully lifted the man's body. She was a.s.sisted by Qian Li and the soldiers who clear the road to one of the vehicles with lesser people.

"Qin, young la.s.s… are you okay?" Elder Ao immediately asked after the convoy continued their journey again.

Qin Lou didn't answer and she sat next to the man while slowly caressing his hand. On the other side, Qian Li also did the same as she too felt worried.

They can already see the wounds on the man's body slowly closing but still felt worried because he is still not waking up.

When the convoy left, a wagon parked beside a tree suddenly moved and followed. Inside the wagon are a few men wearing black clothing.

"Leader, our target, the youngest son of the Jiao clan is still alive." One of the men said in a low voice.

"That's impossible! When he escaped from the city we have already wounded him pretty badly from our ambush." Another one replied in a controlled yet angry tone.

"He is already a late-stage gold core realm cultivator, so there is a chance for him to survive." A hoa.r.s.e voice said coming from a man they are calling their leader.

"But I don't think you can escape the grasp of our Black Fiend a.s.sa.s.sin group… master… s.h.i.+n Jiao" their leader said in a low tone.

The sinister aura coming from his suddenly made his eyes glow from within the dark corner of the wagon.