by Tinalynge
When he reached the counter, the woman stopped chatting with them and turned around with a big smile beamed towards Xu Min. As her eyes glanced upon the young man, she quickly determined that he was neither a young master nor a successful mercenary. Although he had the aura of a One-Star Warrior, it was not that uncommon to see one. This was especially true since the town was filled with the geniuses from the new generation. Although she was aware that he was not a rich young master, she sent a half smile his way as she waited to hear what he had to say.
"Excuse me, I'd like to rent a room for the night," Xu Min said straightforwardly while only turning his side towards the woman. This led her to raise an eyebrow in surprise. She was considered a beauty and was used to all the young men who tried to woo her or at least, paid attention to her. Yet, this young man was busy looking at the restaurant guests instead.
At first, this woman had paid no real attention towards the young man. But as she saw that he also didn’t pay her any attention, her interest was piqued. She was even more intrigued when she noticed a green snake coiled around his neck. He had beautiful jade-like eyes which stared at her. No matter how she looked at this demon beast, it was impossible to tell what it was thinking. This was the same case when she couldn’t figure out why the snake was coiled around the neck of the seemingly poor young man.
Turning his head, Xu Min looked at the woman. As their eyes met, an uncontrollable red colour rose in her cheeks. She hurriedly found a key to one of the rooms to the inn. "Excuse me," she murmured as she traded the key for a gold coin.
Seeing that the young man was paying a whole gold coin for a night at the inn, the woman's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly curtseyed out of respect and gratitude. How could she have known that Xu Min had nothing less than a gold coin? The Pharmacy had paid him solely in gold coins, so the young man had no other option than by paying in gold.
Having received the key, Xu Min quickly made it to the room. He was quite astonished when he discovered that the room was almost as large as the one he had shared with Wang Li back at Honghe City.
'Hey, you there. I would like some more food,' a voice resounded once again within Xu Min's mind. A wry smile appeared on his face. This snake was eating a lot of food; however, Xu Min had already decided to feed the snake all that it could eat. He wanted to befriend the snake, but the young man started to wonder whether or not he had enough money to sustain having the snake. For now, he did what he could to accommodate for it.
Moving downstairs, Xu Min found a small table in the corner of the restaurant. He smirked as he saw how the lady from the counter made her way towards his table. She was ready to take his order.
"I want one of each item on your menu," he started. As he said the words, he could feel the bliss that arose from the snake as he slowly slithered down his arm and coiled up onto the table. Its eyes fastened onto the woman who seemed to understand that the food he wished to eat would be delivered to their table by her.
Alongside the food, Xu Min also ordered some drinks. As he ordered two cups, he wondered how the snake would manage to drink alcohol.
While it took some time for the food to be delivered to their table, the drinks arrived almost as soon as they had been ordered. Xu Min poured himself and the snake a cup each, smiling as he saw the hesitant expression on the snake's face.
'Father always told me not to drink this,' he murmured. However, it was clear that his curiosity was overtaking the warning from his father. After only a few more minutes, the slim snake’s tongue entered the drink only to instantly removed again as the snake shook his head, and tears appearing in its eyes. 'It burns! It burns!' the snake cried and Xu Min laughed out loud as the snake was twisting and turning on the table, behaving as though the alcohol had sat him afire.
'That was not fun,' Cao Cao complained as the burning sensation slowly vanished, his beautiful jade like eyes had unshed tears in them. 'I'm sorry.' Xu Min said with his laughter still hiding within. Although he was truly sorry that the snake had had such a reaction, it had still been incredibly fun to watch.
Hearing the snake snorting at him, Xu Min smiled at it and patted the smooth and soft head of the small snake, 'I really am sorry.' he repeated, 'I ordered a lot of food. Perhaps you'll forgive me when you get a lot to eat?'
Hearing that Xu Min had ordered a lot of food, the snake no longer felt as mistreated as it did before, as his mind started swirling around food. Looking at how simple the snake behaved, much like a little kid, Xu Min chuckled as he started observing the other guests at the inn. Every table was filled with people, and three servants were rushing here and there, bringing kegs of ale, or wine, and wine cups to the various guests. Sometimes food would be brought out from the kitchen, but the majority of the guests were just drinking their alcohol while seemingly waiting for something to happen.
It didn’t take long before plates of food were taken to Xu Min's table. The massive quantities of food caused the majority of the guests from within the restaurant to look towards his direction. Some narrowed their eyes as they saw the young, poor looking man, but others were a lot more careless and quickly retracted their gazes. Only a few of the men within the room had their eyes focused upon the small green snake. It was seated on the table and happily eating away the many dishes which had been placed around it.
Although some had been very curious about the snake by the young man's side, no one did anything about it. Soon, the chatter within the room returned to the same height that it had been previously. At the counter, one could hear how the various customers were wooing the lady while others were calling out for beer or wine to be brought to their tables.
As the atmosphere returned to the way it had been before, Xu Min finally started straining his ears to their limits. He listened in on every conversation that was being held within the restaurant.
"I heard that the Black Wolves moved their headquarters into the forest itself. It seems that they are planning on making the forest into their own personal space." someone mentioned. Xu Min had finally understood why a lot of mercenaries were within the forest. However, that did not explain why many families had sent out their geniuses alongside many warriors, and not to mention, why other mercenaries were flooding into the forest. While trying to pick up on other conversations, he honed in on anything from a man talking about wedding his daughter to a local mercenary discussing with someone on how to kill a friend of theirs who had been lucky enough to achieve a treasure from within the forest.
After having listened to the conversation within the room for more than an hour, it was shown to be possible for Xu Min to get his hands on some information. The information was given by two customers dressed as soldiers who were discussing their master's plans.
"Having arranged for this many soldiers to set out, we will, without a doubt, find the hidden treasure within the forest," one of the men said in which the other man nodded. "When I heard that they had found an ancient cave filled with the leftovers from a Nine-Star Warrior, I thought it was a joke," the other said with his eyes glistening with greed.
"Although we will enter the cave, we aren’t eligible to get any of the treasure anyway," the first man continued. He sighed deeply as he also had a hint of greed within his eyes. "The young master will get all the treasure we find. Although we might get a raise in salary, we won’t be getting anything from the cave itself."
Having heard enough, Xu Min looked at the men and noticed that both of them had a key laying on the table in front of them. They were the keys that showed that they were staying at the inn just like Xu Min himself was.
'Eat up,' Xu Min said with a chuckle. The snake had been eating one dish after another with an expression of utter bliss. After the snake had finished the final plate it slithered up Xu Min’s arm with an experienced move. It coiled itself around his neck once more. If it were not for their blood bond, Xu Min would have been incredibly uncomfortable by having a snake around his throat.
The two youngsters, man and sn
ake, moved towards their room where they both sat down. Xu Min once more entered a meditative state where the snake coiled up within his lap and looked at the surroundings. From time to time, he grabbed one or two sparks of the golden light.
The night went by quickly. As he woke up the following morning, Xu Min felt much more energetic than he had been previously. Too many mercenaries were entering the forest and he felt that he should enter to see what was going on. However, unlike the majority of the men who had entered, Xu Min had no wish of achieving anything from the cave itself.
Xu Min already had a great weapon that had been granted to him by his teacher, Wang Li. He also had the snake which was far stronger than he himself was. When it came to martial arts, he was learning the Radiant Jade Shower. Currently, he felt as though he had everything he needed. However, he still wished to see the surprises in the cave. At the same time, he wanted to get a better look at the geniuses to measure his own strength against theirs.
Waking up early, Xu Min went down to the restaurant where he ordered a hearty breakfast for both him and Cao Cao. The snake was filled with excitement because it understood that they were going to enter the forest once again.
‘Let me kill some of them this time,’ Cao Cao said with a childlike excitement. This was something which caused Xu Min to frown a little. Although he was aware that he had to kill humans to stay alive and prove his strength, he still prefered to not kill if it had no reason. If any of the men they came across had any ill intentions, he would be as merciless as the Zhong family leader had been back when he knew that Xu Wu had been killed.
Finishing the food quickly, Xu Min smiled as he picked up Cao Cao and allowed for the snake to coil around his neck once more. The two, man and snake, left the inn and followed the big flood of humans that was making its way into the forest ahead.
Chapter 20 - Immortal Cave
Cao Cao and Xu Min both made their way down the bustling street of the small town. The small snake constantly looked at the numerous street stalls selling food; however, this time Xu Min did not buy anything. He could only do nothing and sigh heavily as he opened his mouth to complain about not getting enough food.
'I'm a snake in the midst of growing into adulthood. How can you not feed me food?!' an indignant voice sounded out from within the head of Xu Min. The only reply it got was a chuckle from the young man. He left the main street and readied himself to follow the mercenaries and guards into the forest in front of him.
'So Cao Cao, you've lived within this forest for a long time right?' Xu Min asked curiously while looking around at the people in front of him. He noticed that none of them knew where they had to move to. Each group was going in different directions, so they hoped that they would be the lucky ones to come across the cave. None of them even knew whether or not there truly was a cave to be found within the forest.
Hearing the question, Cao Cao snorted in contempt as he thought the answer was obvious. 'I'll buy you all the food you want for dinner if you take me to this cave,' Xu Min edged the snake. He was offering the only thing he knew the snake would definitely work for. Only after a few moments did the snake stop contemplating and the previous indignant expression had suddenly changed to excitement.
'I know where the cave is,' the snake said. 'But it doesn't matter because it was emptied long ago.' ‘Emptied?' Xu Min asked, feeling slightly disappointed. He truly wished to see a cave which had previously been the lair of an extreme expert. However, here he was being told that there was no such thing. Disappointment was shown on his face.
Seeing the disappointment, Cao Cao felt slightly guilty. Although he was not a big fan of Xu Min yet, he knew that the human had given him a lot of food these last few days. In addition, he had not asked for anything in return. Not only had he given him all the food it had asked for, but he had also started patting the head of the snake, something that it had found incredibly comfortable.
Seeing that he had gained quite a lot, the small snake pouted for a moment before deciding to pay him back even if it was just a little. 'Although it had been emptied long ago, I can still show you where it is,' the small snake said. It was trying to cheer up Xu Min in the only way it knew how to. 'It is empty, but it is still an immortal cave created by a genius expert.'
Hearing these words, Xu Min nodded his head. Although he could not get any of the items, he could still see the cave. Soon after, the snake started to describe the way that they should take. Unlike the other groups, Xu Min was not waiting at random places or looking through every nook and cranny looking for the cave. Instead, he started moving with a certainty that none of the others had, something which brought the attention of many groups to him.
Moving through the forest with a certain confidence caused many smaller groups to follow behind him. This was something that Xu Min did not notice at first as they kept a fair distance between them. As he went further and further into the forest however, he soon felt that there were people behind him when the groups were within his range. He soon stopped and pretended that he too was confused; however, his act didn’t cause any of the groups to leave. Instead, Xu Min felt the groups moved closer and closer towards him.
As he felt the groups inching in on him, he knew they had unfriendly intentions. He instantly climbed onto a tree and continued advancing through the treetops.
Having moved into the trees, he caused many of the groups that were following him to stop because they were unable to follow him. Moving with speeds as swift as Xu Min moved in the treetops was something that could only be done by few cultivators. However, many of the cultivators who had followed him were far above him in rank and they managed to follow suit. Although they could not decrease the distance between them and him, they managed to continue following him which caused the young man to feel very worried about his options.
'We can always go to father's lair,' the snake said with a careless voice. However, Xu Min shook his head, 'No, that valley is filled with medicinal plants. If even one of them survives and escapes, they will come back with many experienced experts and harvest them all. They'll bring so many people that even your dad will have problems.'
'This is something we'll have to deal with on our own.' Xu Min said with his eyes dark and his mood sour. He truly wished to visit the cave, but currently, it seemed as though it was not an option for him.
Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face as the cave was exactly where he needed to go. With a single thought, he once more followed the way that was shown to him by the snake.
'I didn't think you wanted to go to the cave anyway,' the snake said, but showed the way towards the cave without complaint. Hastening his speed, Xu Min inched closer to the cave. As he approached it though, he noticed that the people following him were decreasing in numbers. Only a couple were unable to follow him, but the majority still held out. As they went deeper into the forest, the majority continued to remain steady as they used their their full power to keep the weaker Xu Min within their sights.
The wild chase went on for two more hours before they finally arrived at a mountain side. When Xu Min climbed the mountain side, he saw a massive cave right in front of him. As he saw the cave, the others behind him noticed it too. They no longer paid any attention towards Xu Min who kept rushing through the high tree tops and quickly vanished into the forest on the opposite side of the mountain.
Seeing Xu Min escape into the distance, the groups that were following him focused on the cave that they had heard so much about. As soon as they entered, anger filled their eyes and they ordered their swiftest men to locate and capture Xu Min. Nothing was left within the cave and the only thing that could be seen was the furniture made from stone. Not even a scroll of parchment could be found lying in the corners.
Xu Min was not dumb as he knew that the groups would be anything but satisfied with what they had found within the cave. Which was why he quickly made his escape. Moments after he heard the sound of smashing trees and agitated men as he swiftly escaped through the op
posite side of the mountain into an area he had never been in before. Xu Min was already far into the middle of the forest and many beasts within this area were dangerous. So far, he had been exceptionally lucky as he had not run into even a single beast. However, he knew that the further he ventured, the more likely he was to run into a beast.
Unfortunately, he had no other option than to keep moving forward. His hope was to keep running across the treetops so that the majority of the beasts on the ground would not notice him as much. After running further ahead, he suddenly noticed the sounds of fighting behind him. As he looked back, he saw demon beasts after demon beasts blocking the road from the pursuers.
Xu Min was not dumb. He instantly understood that something like this had to do with Cao Cao. Now was not the time to ask the snake, but instead it was time to keep moving forward in order to constantly increase the lead he had gained from the men following behind him.
Having moved for a long while, Xu Min finally slowed down. He was unable to notice anyone following behind him. The forest was filled with the sounds of demon beasts, yet none of them were coming close to Xu Min as long as Cao Cao was fastened to his neck.
Xu Min’s aura was that of a One-Star Warrior. With Cao Cao coiled up around his neck, Cao Cao’s aura overwhelmed his own weak aura. He was really thankful for that.
