172 Infiltrating Xuan City
The next day
Cao Mao rode a warhorse to Xuan City, 10 kilometers north of the Siren City. His belonging was the invisible spatial ring, aka the Ring of Yin Slave Master, and a jade phone.
With a semi-long hair that touched his shoulders, Cao Mao tied them under a black bandana. With that kind of hairstyle, he no longer looked like a stray slave. His black exterior robe and white inner robe made him look mysterious and charming. Combined with the influence of the orc king bloodline and the makeup that Ju Shoufen gave him, Cao Mao's current face was handsome enough to be a K-Pop star.
When Cao Mao got to the city wall of Xuan City, he was stopped by the patrolling guards.
"Halt! Who goes there!?"
All patrol guards were mid-rank 4th-stage experts. Meanwhile, Cao Mao had just recuperated from the loss of life essence, and he had 1,000 liters of energy as a reserve. He didn't want to fight anyone right now, so he raised his hands over his head.
"I'm a rogue cultivator from the central plain. I want no trouble."
"The central plain? From which city?"
Cao Mao recalled the relationship between the Qiang Clan and the Liu Clan. If he were to say that he came from the Red Sun City, these guards might kill him on the spot. Therefore, Cao Mao chose to use a background story that had a beef with the royal clan.
"Mountain Goose City."
"Mountain Goose City? THAT Mountain Goose City of Wei Huang!?"
"Yes."
The guards circulated their yang essence, preparing for combat, "So, you're one of the demons, then!"
Cao Mao's heart sank, but he tried not to show any emotion. He scoffed and yelled at the guards, "Haven't you learned about the art of war!? An enemy of my enemy is my ally! Your enemy is the Liu Clan, and the demon's enemy is also the Liu Clan! Use your brain, you dumbfucks!"
Cao Mao's voice was so loud that the guards on the 20-meter-tall city wall could hear it. Several guards rushed to the site to check the commotion right away.
One of the newcomer guards was a mid-rank 5th-stage expert. He flew from the top of the city wall and float before Cao Mao, who was still on the horse.
The expert was a middle-aged man in ancient China lamella armor, but they shone in red light, leaking the malicious aura of killing intent. From Cao Mao's perspective, that armor might have soaked with the blood of the middle-aged man's enemies to the point that it became a cursed armor.
"Junior, speak honestly. What are you doing here?"
Cao Mao was aware of the strength difference. He got down from the warhorse and knelt. Then, he cupped his fist, "This junior has heard about the fame of the Qiang Clan. My family wishes to form a connection with the Qiang Clan, so they sent me as their representative."
That was the probing question from this middle-aged man. The 5th-stage expert wanted to confirm if Cao Mao was really a demon from the Mountain Goose City.
Cao Mao frowned for a moment since he couldn't transform into an orc. However, he had copied several racial skills from his yin slaves, who could transform into either vampire or succubus.
Cao Mao took off the upper pieces of robes to reveal his chest and back. Then, he activated Ju Chen's racial skill.
Vampiric Transformation
This was not the first time that Cao Mao had used this skill. He had tested it in the Isolation Training Space to check its effect. Unfortunately, other than transforming himself into several bats to run away or make himself more handsome, this skill didn't have other usages.
Two bat wings grew from Cao Mao's back, and his fangs became sharp and long. His white eyes blackened while his dull red pupils became bright red. His face got more refined and became more attractive. Even several guards dropped their jaws as they had never seen a man this beautiful.
"Well? Will this do?"
The 5th-stage expert raised his eyebrows. He nodded, "That's good enough. Transform back into a human and put on your clothes. You're making my men gay."
"…"
Cao Mao undid the transformation spell while he glanced at the onlooking guards. These men were looking at him as if he was a sexy woman, which gave Cao Mao severe goosebumps.
After Cao Mao put his clothes back on, the expert turned to his men, "Open the gate! I'll guide this young demon to the lord!" Then, he turned to Cao Mao, "Follow me. Let's talk inside. By the way, what's your name?"
Cao Mao contemplated. He couldn't use the new name or Xu Miao's identity since there was a warrant for his head. Thus, he used the original name as his alias, "Mao Miaomiao."
"… You have a weird name."
"It's a demon name. It means magnificent and mysterious."
"I doubt it."
"I got that a lot. Hahahaha!"
"…"
.
.
The expert brought Cao Mao to the government grand hall.
Rather than calling it a grand hall, it was more like a throne room. A long red carpet extended from the entrance to the elevated ground at the other side of the room. Only one seat was present while the other meeting participants had to stand on the sideline.
Ten late 5th-stage middle-aged men and two initial 6th-stage elders stood in line, observing Cao Mao and the guard leader, who was entering the room.
The governor of this city, Qiang Han, the younger brother of Qiang Sui, was sitting on the throne. He was a muscular bald old man, who wore only long pants. His bulky chest muscle was similar to modern bodybuilders, but his entire body was glittering in golden light. Sparkles of Gold Element Qi lingered around the lord, flexing his unique element mastery and strength.
Qiang Han was a peak 6th-stage expert, whose strength was at a similar level with Ju Shoufen and Jia Wenhe. However, he was trained specifically in combat, so his battle experience surpassed the two alchemists.
Cao Mao observed the lord in astonishment. Judging by his expression and the threatening glare, Cao Mao believed that this lord might not be as merciful as Xu Xiuying or Wei Huang. He had to be careful around this governor.
Taking a humble stance, Cao Mao knelt and cupped his fist as if he was having an audience with a king.
"Junior Mao Miaomiao greets Lord of Xuan City. Thank you for inviting me here."
Qiang Han snorted, "Enough formality. We're having an important meeting right now! State your business!"
The guard who brought Cao Mao here also knelt to report, "This person here is a demon from the Mountain Goose City. He said something about [Enemy of my enemy is my ally], so we guide him here."
"Huh?" Qiang Han leaned forward. He observed Cao Mao's body and his Qi. When he noticed the leaking wood element Qi from Cao Mao's breath, he grinned. "A rare find indeed. Tell me, brat. Who are you? What are you doing here in my city?"
Cao Mao gazed at Qiang Han, "My vampire clan would like to establish a friendly relationship with the Qiang Clan, and so my elders sent me here to express our goodwill. I've also brought a gift."
Since coming here without a gift might be awkward. Cao Mao decided to take out something that he could easily produce.
A hundred pill bottles were placed on the ground. 10 orc strength pills were inside each container.
"These are aphrodisiac pills with a mild healing effect. I hope that my vampire clan and your clan can be allies after today."
"Aphrodisiac pills!?"
The Qiang Clan and the Liu Dynasty were enemies, so the former couldn't contact the Myriad Cauldron Sect to purchase pills. As such, they relied on black markets and smugglers to import rare pills from the central plain.
As everybody here bought pills from black markets, the cost of each pill skyrocketed. Aphrodisiac pills, which were banned from the central plain, were also extremely rare and expensive.
When the elders in the hall saw 1,000 sex pills, they widened their eyes in astonishment.
"A hundred bottles, 10 pills each, that's a thousand pills!"
"An aphrodisiac pill's market price is 100 refined stones per piece. I bet those horny bastards at the main clan are willing to pay double-price."
"These pills are as good as 100,000 refined stones. If we convert this to an army fund, we can raise more talented youngsters in our clan. Maybe we can have two or three 5th-stage fighters in our army soon."
These people didn't plan to use aphrodisiac pills for their sexual activities. They treated it as a currency, which was smarter than 3rd-rated villain organizations.
Qiang Han nodded at Cao Mao, "We accept your goodwill. As you said, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. From now on, the Qiang Clan and the vampire race are friends. You can tell your clan that our city welcomes the vampire race."
Cao Mao smiled and bowed, "Thank you, senior. I'm sure my elders will be delighted. Oh, one more thing. I would like to request permission."
Qiang Han and other members were caught off guard as Cao Mao was not supposed to take initiative in the conversation. The city lord replied in confusion as he couldn't think fast enough.
"What is it?"
"I would like to stay here for a few days to resupply and buy some souvenirs for my friends and family. May I have permission to stay?"
"Oh, sure. Go ahead and roam the city as you like as long as you don't break the laws. Just don't kill or bully my citizens."
"Of course. Then, I won't trouble other seniors in your important meeting. I shall take my leave."
Cao Mao was decisive in the meeting. He excused himself and left the throne room as quickly as he could. He didn't even ask for a formal alliance document or proof of alliance from Qiang Han.
Learning from the past experience, Cao Mao couldn't give these suspicious people enough time to think. He took initiative in the conversation without letting them come up with something troublesome, such as [Let's take him as an adopted son], [Let's marry him to one of our daughters], or [Join our clan, or die].
By the time that Cao Mao and the guard left the building, many elders clicked their tongues as they missed the opportunities to ask Cao Mao several questions.
"I forgot to ask the brat his name and his detail. We don't even know who he is."
"It doesn't matter. We can capture the brat and interrogate him later."
"But if we do that, we will lose another pill smuggler. We can use him to import rare pills from the central plain."
These elders regretted that they didn't react in time. Since complicated diplomacy was involved, they didn't dare to lay their hands on Cao Mao, fearing for the hidden life brand on his body and the demon army of Wei Huang.
Qiang Han also regretted letting Cao Mao off too early. He patted his forehead, "We forgot to verify his authenticity. We didn't even get a token or the contact detail of his leaders. We don't even know about his background."
Greed got the best of them. Their brains stopped functioning when they were too fixated on the aphrodisiac pills.
"Well, it doesn't matter. He gave us the expensive pills, so he's somewhat sincere. Let's send someone to watch over him for now. Also, let's resume the previous agenda." Qiang Han continued the meeting, "Last week, my brother's son was assassinated in his sleep. No trace has been found other than the wound and a strand of gold element Qi. Can someone verify how many cultivators in our city can use gold element?"
.
.
Meanwhile
A kilometer east of the government hall was the courtyard of Ma Ping, the former hero of human cultivators.
A white-haired elder with a long full beard was staring at his grandson, doubting his ears.
"What did you say again?"
Ma Ping, the muscular old man, had heard something unbelievable from his trash grandson.
A handsome 17-year-old teenager was looking back at his grandfather without showing the slightest hint of fear, "I'll say it again. I need you to believe in me."
Ma Moxi paused before he declared again, "I want you and uncle to follow my instructions. If you do, I can restore your dantian."
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