Free Web NovelChapter 1173: Chapter 791: Guarding
When Yang Xiao returned to his room, a new medicine bath had already been prepared. He took off his clothes and submerged himself in the cold bath, with ice buckets filled with ice placed nearby.
He closed his eyes, and the events of the past few days flashed through his mind like a slideshow. They had still not managed to contact those back home.
The first thing he would do upon returning was to find Elder Pu and use everything he had learned in his life to make him realize the consequences of betrayal.
Of course, Elder Pu was just a pawn; the mastermind behind it was that scoundrel Sheng Youjun, and Yang Xiao would certainly not let him off the hook either.
It seemed like something else had been added to the cold bath, offering a sleep-inducing effect. As his thoughts grew heavier, Yang Xiao’s head slowly tilted to one side, and he fell into a deep sleep.
In a half-awake, half-asleep state, it seemed as though the door opened and a figure appeared at the doorway.
When Yang Xiao opened his eyes, it was already the next morning, and the scene before him made his eyes widen in shock.
"You... who are you?"
Yang Xiao sat up in surprise, finding himself lying on a comfortable bed, and next to him lay a stranger—a young girl.
"Honored guest, please do not shout. We came on Commander Nalin’s orders to help you change," the girl explained with a blush, using slightly unskilled Chinese. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Commander Nalin..." Yang Xiao’s mind blanked for a moment, "Wait, did you say we?"
The next second, a small hand reached from behind and touched Yang Xiao’s back. Instinctively, Yang Xiao grabbed the hand and flung the person over his shoulder.
Following a scream, Yang Xiao saw that it was another scantily clad girl.
At this moment, the girl was curled up on the floor. Since there was a thick carpet, she wasn’t injured from the fall, but she was clearly dazed.
Yang Xiao looked down at his pajamas, with almost no memory of the previous night. But he could guess that the two women must have entered after he fell asleep in the bath barrel the previous night.
They dragged him out of the bath tub, dried him off, changed him into new pajamas, and finally placed him on the bed.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Just as Yang Xiao gathered his thoughts, there was a knock on the door. A slightly obsequious voice slipped in through the door crack, asking:
"Has the honored guest awakened? The High Priest instructs that when you’re ready, please go to see him."
The voice placed peculiar emphasis on the word "ready," but Yang Xiao didn’t give him any chance for imagination, quickly jumping up to change his clothes, "Wait a moment, I’ll go meet the High Priest shortly."
Once dressed, Yang Xiao noticed in his peripheral vision that the two girls were still kneeling in a corner, heads bowed, shaking with fear, as if they had done something wrong.
Feeling compassion, Yang Xiao softly told them to go rest and that he would talk to the High Priest, telling them not to come back in the future.
To his surprise, upon hearing this, both girls looked up, eyes filled with terror, "Did we not do our best?"
"I don’t have the energy to waste words with you." Yang Xiao continued packing his things, as he faced many problems now and couldn’t focus on anything else.
Just as he was about to leave, one of the girls stood up, her eyes red, pleading tearfully, "Honored guest, please, you must let us stay for at least one night; it can pardon our family’s sentence for a year. We all have family members in the Punishment Camp who won’t survive there for long."
As he was about to open the door, Yang Xiao hesitated. He believed what the girls said was true; they wouldn’t dare deceive him.
"What crime did your families commit?" Yang Xiao turned to look at them.
"We’re mountain people living off what we can find, but we can’t make a living anymore. My father secretly sold some gathered medicinal herbs and pelts to people across the mountain, which is... is..."
Seeing the girl stutter, Yang Xiao understood she meant the Dharma Sect across the mountain.
The Esoteric Sect and the Dharma Sect were at odds. Among the conservative and strict Esoteric Sect, what they did equated to aiding the enemy. freēwebnovel.com
"How long is your family’s punishment?"
"Five years." The standing girl wiped her tears, sobbing, "My father has already been imprisoned for a year."
"My brother is serving three years." The younger girl kneeling on the floor replied weakly.
Yang Xiao put down his backpack, took out two pieces of broken gold; being prepared and well-off on the road, he always carried some yellow-white stuff for emergencies.
He was about to throw the pieces of gold to the girls but worried about hitting them, so he tossed them onto the bed, "Each of you take a piece. Come stay with me for the next few days but don’t disturb me. If you have something to say, say it; otherwise, keep quiet, understand?"
The girls nodded repeatedly; once their family was back, this piece of gold could cover their family’s expenses for years.
After leaving, Yang Xiao was soon taken to the High Priest’s residence, waiting outside for a moment until someone called for him, and then he was brought inside.
"You’re here."
Seeing Yang Xiao enter, the Cannibal Buddha, sitting behind a low table, looked up, gesturing for Yang Xiao to sit opposite him.
"High Priest, did you have something for me?" Yang Xiao asked bluntly, knowing it was better to be straightforward with someone of this stature.
"Elder Pumi said you didn’t take anything last night. Is it because none of these magic artifacts appeal to you?"
"No, the magic artifacts are excellent, but unfortunately, they don’t quite suit me. There’s no affinity. Thank you, High Priest, for your kindness," Yang Xiao expressed his gratitude once again.
The Cannibal Buddha looked at Yang Xiao, his gaze calm as water, yet Yang Xiao distinctly felt his spiritual power being oddly drawn, as if he were standing naked for someone else’s observation.
"Your spiritual power is quite unstable; your nightmares must be approaching soon," the Cannibal Buddha’s eyes were sharp.
