Chapter 330 Chapter 330 – The Allegedly Dead
Back to the present:
"Ok, everyone, hop on."
They all cramped on Emrys' back, and the wolf set out on the trip to the east. The five had nothing to do on the way; Emrys knew the map and was avoiding the dangerous places acting as habitats for Supremacy-rank beasts.
As for the others, the most they dared do was growling while cowering away. Emrys' pure bloodline acted as a strong deterrent against beasts. The downside was that stronger beasts would take huge risks to hunt him down should they locate him and believe he had no backer.
"We will take a break in Blooming Lotus City, the easternmost city in the sect's territory. Henry, have you handled what I asked you for?"
"Diligence is a good quality. However, you haven't told this monk you wanted to visit the city so soon."
Ken turned his head to look at the monk in surprise. Henry was unusually talkative; he rarely offered more words than necessary.
"I only decided to go with this plan when I asked you to take care of it two days ago," Ken shrugged. Due to their large networks, Henry and Tiara were in charge of most long-distance tasks. Tiara had a long list of admirers, while Henry… was surprising.
Emrys ran faster than a racing car of Ken's previous world, often running in the air while condensing Qi underneath his feet as stepping pads when crossing mountains or forests. The travel took some days until they finally reached their destination.
The Blooming Lotus City was rather special in its design. Before them, a magnificent city made of wood and flowers was revealed, a green city. Even the wall surrounding the city was in fact a palisade made of excellent wood wrapped in beautiful bloody roses that did nothing to hide the dangerous spikes the climbing rose plant aimed everywhere.
"Emrys, I can't let you be seen with us publicly yet, go hide," Ken instructed the wolf. Emrys had a supply of Beast Concealing Pills just like the rest of the group. The pill dimmed one's presence much like Ken's Sheathed Man technique did. Emrys' pill was a bit special because it was adjusted to beasts and worked on concealing the bloodline rather than the cultivation.
"Grr," the wolf growled in annoyance but nodded obediently. He was often left out of important missions, making him feel like a mount instead of an important group member.
"Don't worry, you will have a major role to play in the future," Ken patted his head and whispered some sweet lies. He had no idea if Emrys would ever play a major role, but giving him a sense of belonging was important.
After the wolf galloped away, the five walked toward the guarded gates. There, they saw five guards outside and five inside plus two who were in charge of opening and closing the gate in case of an emergency.
As a border city, they took matters more seriously; there were two cultivators of the fourth stage on each side of the gates. Their role was to prevent smuggling and to identify rogue cultivators who tried to cross the border.
'If that's the security in the western side of the city, it should probably be even tighter in the eastern side,' Ken mused.
Ken and his group flashed out their discipleship tokens to the guards, and the five bowed with their fists cupped.
"Welcome to Blooming Lotus City, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters" the two fourth-stage cultivators greeted them.
"Senior Brother?" Ken asked.
"Yes, we are outer disciples in the sect, we are here on a mission to stay guard," they explained. They were both around the same age as Ken, perhaps a bit older, but they referred to all inner and core disciples as seniors.
"I see. Is it a routine mission?" Ken wondered if there was anything special going on.
"Yes, the outer disciples always go on missions to work as guards in cities, major paths, or other important places."
"Alright, good luck."
"Work hard," Vivienne nodded, making the rest of the team smile and greet the guards with their own words.
"This monk will go to check everything is ready," Henry said and disappeared from his spot.
"Wait." Ken appeared in front of him. The two had traveled a couple of hundred meters in that instant. "Take me there with you, I don't mind if it's messy." Ken was suspicious and wondered what was going on.
Henry hesitated for a moment but then just nodded. His assignment was to purchase a small house in the city in a place with a low crime rate and ensure that the mayor or someone else of influence would be aware that they must not touch the house until Ken's return.
"Is it over there?" Ken pointed in a certain direction where he picked up three familiar presences.
"Mm," Henry nodded.
"I see how it is," Ken remained calm and the two stopped a cab to take a ride there. The cab was a simple wooden cart pulled by two large black horses. They didn't seem perfectly nurtured, but they were still healthy, nonetheless.
"To The Wizard Avenue," Henry instructed and tossed a silver coin.
"Right up!" The driver said happily and placed the coin in his pouch without offering the change. The two were clearly from out of town. Henry and Ken did not mind, a single low Qi Stone was enough to get a thousand gold coins. The only reason they did not overpay was that it would pull robbers, which was unnecessary trouble.
"Stop in front of house number 24."
"Hiyaa," the driver pulled the reins, signaling the horses to stop. "Have a great day, gentlemen."
The two nodded and entered the small yard surrounding the house. It was a simple one-story building, made of wood like the rest of the city. As a matter of fact, Ken did not see a single house made of bricks since he set his foot inside the walls.
They ducked under a branch of a lemon tree that invaded the walkway leading to the door and entered without knocking.
"Who is there?"
Two women and a man instantly unsheathed their weapons. The man held a silvery spear carved with intricate runes that Ken could easily recognize, meaning it was a sixth-grade weapon. One woman held a bow of the same grade, and the last woman also used a spear as her weapon.
"Young Master Ken," the three paled and made their weapons disappear immediately, bowing instantly and keeping their heads low. They sent a few desperate glances at Henry whose face remained stoic and expressionless as ever.
"Maria, Odette, Yuri," Ken named the three. They were his allegedly dead subordinates. Allegedly killed by Henry.
"We are honored to have our names remembered, Young Master," they said, their heads still kept low.
"I would never forget you," Ken stated. He did not mean anything special by that. He remembered everybody he had crossed paths with, which was how he recognized their presence despite the years that had passed since he last met them.
"We will talk about it later, you may go. Find another place to stay in."
His order to kill them was from over fifteen years ago. Since they were still alive and worked on Henry's assignments, there was no reason to kill them now. However, the monk would still have to offer some answers.
"Why didn't you kill them?" Ken asked.
"This monk judged them as loyal and useful. They have performed many tasks in recent years and have helped this monk establish the movement of inner peace."
"They are key figures in your cult?" Ken asked in amusement.
Henry's network was built on his cult, or 'Inner Peace movement', in his words. He swept thousands of people in his journeys across the sect's territory, teaching others to receive enlightenment and affecting them with his dubious Buddhist Qi.
A few years prior, the independent 'fans' started finding each other, creating a cult together with Henry as a leader. The members came from all walks of life; some were insignificant workers from the slums, others were part of the city guards, captains, merchants, and even one mayor.
"Fine, it's pointless to get angry over it," Ken shrugged. Fifteen years ago he might have seen it as a betrayal, but things have changed. His team had their own goals and thoughts, and as long as those did not hold him back in some way, he did not try to oppress them.
Henry nodded in silence, albeit his face revealed a hint of relief. Fifteen years ago when he was sent to kill those three, he found them helping a stranger. He was unable to see them as beasts, meaning killing them would contaminate him with bloodlust. Unable to kill them, he converted them, a prototype of what would be later known as the 'Inner Peace Movement'.
Ken brought out his communication token from his storage ring and contacted the rest of the team.
"You can hang around the city for the rest of the day. Talk to Henry to find the house he purchased for us. We will leave here all our belongings above the third grade and leave the city at nightfall."
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