Shang Xia had a pretty good gauge of how strong the two of them were the moment he saw them earlier. The younger one who looked to be in his twenties was as strong as Hai Min, and he was in the Martial Extremity Realm.
The other member who was in his thirties seemed to have condensed his divine sense. However, he was clearly not as strong as Shang Xia. His divine sense barely completed its first transformation.
The two of them had no idea that their strength had been exposed to the other party and they continued to size him up as he approached.
Shang Xia couldn't be bothered with the two of them and he addressed Hai Min directly. “These must be your relatives. Why don’t you introduce us to each other?”
Hai Min’s face turned red and her voice was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz. “This… This is my Fifth Uncle, Uncle Cen. That’s my Ninth Brother, Brother Huang.”
Shang Xia raised the grouse in his hand and kept the grin on his face as he replied, “Oh! So it’s Fifth Uncle and Ninth Brother. You must be tired from traveling. I managed to get something good on my hunt today. If you don’t mind, please join us for dinner.”
The older gentleman’s gaze turned softer and he chuckled in amusement, “That’s alright. We won’t be staying for dinner. Thirteenth Sister likes the tranquility here. Since she doesn’t mind living here, please take care of her.”
“Of course!” Shang Xia laughed.
Nodding his head slightly, Uncle Cen turned to address his companion. “Let’s go.”
A trace of anger could be seen on the face of the younger man when Shang Xia appeared, and when he was called away, he growled into Shang Xia’s ear, “If you fail to take care of the two of them… Hmph!”
“Hey!” Uncle Cen’s voice rang through the air once again. An unmistakable trace of authority could be heard in his voice. “Keep up. We’re leaving!”
Shooting one last glare at Shang Xia, the young man turned to run after Uncle Cen. Shang Xia’s expression remained friendly from the start to the end. He seemed extremely welcoming to both of them.
Uncle Cen’s voice rang through the air as the two of them disappeared into the distance. “If you run into any trouble, you know where to find us.”
Shang Xia’s gaze landed on Hai Min and he saw her complicated expression.
Shang Xia chuckled in amusement. “Let’s return. It’s getting late.”
“Oh.” Hai Min lowered her head coyly before stepping away from the entrance.
Yuanyuan’s head popped out of the entrance at that moment. She leaped up and down when she saw Shang Xia and she pointed at her cloth tiger he was holding in his arms. “I want that, I want that!”
He handed the toy he bought for her when he was making his way back earlier before holding out a pouch that held two pieces of silver essence over to Hai Min. “These are my earnings for the day. I also brought back a grouse for dinner.”
When she was thinking about whether she should accept the pouch, she noticed the smile on Shang Xia’s face. She reached out to take it and she giggled. “We should be able to use this for a long time. You won’t have to head out to hunt for the time being. It’s getting dangerous out there due to the worsening weather!”
Shang Xia raised the bow in his hand before placing it on his shoulders. He laughed, “There’s nothing to worry about. With this bow in hand, I won’t be afraid if I meet a huge bug on the way!”
She couldn’t help but chortle at his antics. “You’re not taking this seriously! Hmph!”
Realizing something was wrong with the way she spoke to him, her face flushed red and she lowered her head to avoid looking into Shang Xia’s eyes.?Oh no! Isn’t this how couples usually talk to each other?! What’s wrong with me?!
Shang Xia didn’t seem to notice her fluctuating emotions as he entered the courtyard. “Hey, can you get me a basin of hot water? I’ll clean this bird up and we’ll have it for dinner tonight.”
After he was done, he took out a tiny bag from his sleeves and dangled it in front of Yuanyuan. “Hey, look at this. Do you want some?”
“Sesame sweets!” Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up and she picked a piece of candy to pop it in her mouth. “Thank you, uncle!”
She took out another piece from the bag and handed it over to Shang Xia. “Uncle, have one too!”
After Shang Xia took it, Yuanyuan grabbed another piece and ran over to Hai Min. “Mummy, have one too!”
The two cultivators who left earlier appeared on a rooftop not too far away from Shang Xia’s courtyard. They looked at Yuanyuan who was bouncing about in joy and looked at each other.
A soft sigh eventually escaped Uncle Cen’s lips. “Let’s go.”
The two of them finally disappeared this time. The moment they did, Shang Xia, who had just bled the grouse out and was planning to pluck off all its feathers, turned to stare at where they were standing. Content that they were really gone, he plucked out the prettiest feathers on the bird before handing them over to Yuanyuan.
As the two of them made their way back to the inn they were staying in, Uncle Cen asked, “Do you think you can give her that type of life? Are you willing to live like that?”
Brother Huang’s expression fluctuated violently and he growled, “We… No… We have to leave no traces wherever we go. Living happily with no restraints. That’s how we’re supposed to live.”
A soft sigh escaped Uncle Cen’s lips. “Yeah. That’s the life we’re supposed to lead. However, not everyone is willing to live that way.”
“Uncle Cen?!” Brother Huang frowned.
Uncle Cen waved his hand and a look of loneliness appeared in his eyes. “Let’s head back to gather the others. We’ll come up with a plan to save Third Brother before doing anything else.”
“That’s my point exactly! Is she going to stay out of this completely?! That’s her…” Brother Huang groaned.
Pulling out a piece of cloth from his sleeves, he sighed, “Do you know why I took this away from her?” He didn’t wait for a reply as he continued his explanation. “If I’m not wrong, she was planning to use the Tranquil Cape to launch a rescue attempt herself.”
“This… Won’t she be sending herself to death if she tries to do it alone? She’s a mere Martial Extremity Realm cultivator. How can she save him under the eyes of Yang Hu?” Brother Huang gasped. His expression changed when he saw the look on Uncle Cen’s face. “You took it away because you didn’t want her to risk her life… Why would she try something like that? Why won’t she wait for us? She would rather risk it all to save him than to trust and wait for us…”
Uncle Cen sighed without saying anything more.
After a long, silent journey back to their inn, Brother Huang finally broke the silence. “Uncle Cen, were there some of us who are unwilling to save Third Brother?”
Widening his eyes in shock, Brother Huang couldn’t believe what he just heard. “What do you mean?!”
Before Brother Huang could say anymore, Uncle Cen explained, “Yang Hu has been trying to pull us over to his side for a long time. Now that he captured Third Brother and held him in the city, it’s probably a plot.”
Brother Huang’s expression sank once again. “Is that why Thirteenth Sister doesn’t trust us? She’s afraid that Third Brother was caught because some of us sold him out?”
Uncle Cen lowered his head and sighed. “Only the eighteen of us knew where Third Brother was headed that day.”
“That doesn’t mean that we’re behind this! Changfeng City belongs to Yang Hu anyway! His foundations here are deep! Isn’t it possible that Third Brother exposed himself on accident and was captured by Yang Hu?”
Uncle Cen shook his head and remained silent. He was clearly unwilling to continue arguing.
Raising his eyebrows all of a sudden, Brother Huang seemed to have thought of something. “Uncle Cen, wasn’t there someone supporting us in the dark? Why don’t we get them to appear?”
A strange look appeared on Uncle Cen’s face and he muttered, “Haa… They can’t even take care of themselves now, much less us. Otherwise, Yang Hu would just be a speck of dust in our eyes. Actually, I have always suspected that Yang Hu has been targeting us because of our hidden relationship.”
“So… That’s why Thirteenth Sister suspects that one of us has been converted to Yang Hu’s side!”
“We have been causing chaos in the Ji Continent all these years. If our backer falls, we’ll be hunted to the ends of the earth. Those in the Ji Continent won’t let us go.” Uncle Cen muttered.
A sneer left Brother Huang’s lips. “Heh. Even if we’re abandoned by our backer, does Yang Hu really think that he can protect us with his meager power? The Changfeng City is nothing in the face of the Ji Continent!”
Thinking about it for a second, Uncle Cen whispered, “At least he’s someone from our You Continent…”
A frown formed on Brother Huang’s face. He seemed to have understood something. He might have grown up in the Ji Continent, but his father and ancestors were from the You Continent.
In the Shang Clan Manor in the Tongyou City…
A month ago, Duan Hong managed to successfully craft the low-grade spear. Now that the Shang Clan nurtured their own master blacksmith, the distance between them and the other three great clans drew even closer.
However, the spear remained ownerless as Shang Xia’s whereabouts was still unknown.
No matter how hard the Shang Clan tried to look for clues on Shang Xia in the past month, they returned empty-handed. With the increasing attention they were placing on the moving of the Mysterious Coral World, no one had the time to focus on their manhunt any longer.
Yan Qi was the only one who was dealing with the matter seriously. Even though Shang Xi wanted him to give her a report on his progress every day, she had too many things to take care of. The reports he gave her only served to add to her stress.
Shockingly, Yan Qi would also receive letters from Shang Jian from time to time. Those letters would state the locations of where Shang Xia could be hiding and some suggestions on what Yan Qi could do.
Shang Jian was busy enough, but from the letters, Yan Qi could tell how much Shang Jian cared for this nephew of his.
That changed Yan Qi’s perspective towards Shang Jian. At the very least, the impression of Shang Jian became much better than Shang Yang who had his eye on Shang Xia’s spear during the crafting phase.
One fine night, Yan Qi suddenly realized Yan Ni’er and her children weren’t back yet. The birds would set out at specific intervals of time, and they would return every few days to take a break. They had never been late and their absence caused no small amount of panic to run through Yan Qi’s mind.
Just as he was about to make a report to Shang Xi, he discovered a silver streak shooting through the air. Yan Ni’er had returned!