"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Aiden rubbed his temple, wiping the sweat from his forehead as his gaze darted left and right. "Where did she go?" Aiden's eyes darted around, taking in the gnarled roots of the White Earth Fruit, the damp earthy scent rising from the forest floor. No sign of Lan Yueya among the dense underbrush.

He scanned the ground for footprints, but found none. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. How could she have disappeared so completely, leaving not even a single mark on the damp grass around the tree? And she wore those bulky brown leather shoes that left a neat footprint everywhere she went.

A sudden thud beside him nearly caused him to lash out in panic, his fist cocked and ready. But he caught himself just in time as he recognized Lan Yueya, who had seemingly materialized out of thin air. In her open hand, she held a plump piece of fruit.

"Brother An, you are back." She tried to wrap her arms around him, but he raised his arms like a shield and saved himself from the trouble.

"Lan Yueya, where the fuck did you vanish?" Aiden grabbed her arm tightly, squeezing it until tears rolled down her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just saw this fruit and thought you would like it. You said you loved White Earth Fruit." She wiped her tears with her sleeve.

"White Earth Fruit." He frowned.

"Yes." She extended her hand, holding a red-white fruit emitting a sweet scent.

"Yes, I do happen to like it." A memory from Li An flashed in front of his eyes. Li An's town had many trees of White Earth Fruit, and they celebrated a festival, and Li An had fucked his first girlfriend under a White Earth Fruit. He was going to marry that woman, but she ran away with a powerful cultivator, breaking his heart. Despite her betrayal, he held a fond memory of the fruit and the tree in his heart.

"Love sick people are pitiful," he sighed before wiping Lan Yueya's tears. "I'm sorry. I was just worried about you." He sampled the fruit, driven by curiosity. Its flavor was creamy and sugary on his tongue. "I'm grateful you remember my likes and dislikes," he said warmly.

"Why wouldn't I. Brother An, I'll always take good care of you. It's my promise." Lan Yueya cheered up, a smile blooming on her face.

"Let's go. I brought some tea-leaves from a friend." Aiden patted on the cloth bag hanging on his waist.

"Brother An, why are you carrying them on you?"

"How would I bring them otherwise?"

"Storage pouch. You should have it. Sect gives it when you become a disciple." Her face twisted as if eating a sour fruit. "I'm sorry. I forgot you haven't become an outer disciple yet. But you will get it soon." She cheered up instantly.

Storage pouch. Aiden looked through the old man Li's memories for answer about the storage pouch and found it instantly.. It was a spatial item sold by some sects specialized in the Spatial Dao. Common disciples were given a normal storage pouch which could store a few items in the spatial dimension while inner disciple and elders got a storage ring, and high elders like old man Li had a higher grade storage ring. Old man Li's ring could store a houseful of things inside.

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That sounded awesome. As long as he didn't have to carry things on him, he would be good.

"Let's go. We have a lot to do and only twenty-five minutes." Aiden tapped Lan Yueya's back and signaled for her to move on the road toward the cave.

"Twenty-five minutes only? What action are we going to perform in twenty-five minutes, brother An?" Her cheeks flushed with red.

Aiden smiled at her and headed toward the cave. He didn't want to continue meaningless conversations and believed in taking actions, and drugging Lan Yueya was the only action he was looking for right now.

Ten minutes later, they sat on the edge of the mountain, gazing out over the expansive landscape. The huts below resembled a queue of ants, their tiny structures dotting the terrain. The gray sky loomed overhead, and a cold wind whistled, presaging the arrival of rain. Lan Yueya shivered slightly, pulling her thin shawl tighter around her shoulders as they surveyed the scene before them.

"This is so beautiful, brother An. No wonder you insisted coming here," she said, staring into the horizon.

Aiden studied her features for a moment. Usually, he'd find her unattractive, but even a plain moth could seem lovely at just the right time. For Lan Yueya, this was that time.

"Have this, it will warm you up." Aiden handed her the tea he had prepared from the special herbs and tea-leaves. It would put her to slip.

"What are you feeding to junior sister Lan? Stop there," a voice echoed from behind and when he turned, he spotted two people standing near a tree a few dozen feet away from them. One of them was the senior brother he had confronted in the exam hall, and the other appeared to be his helper, carrying a blade aimed at Aiden.

"Go, kill them. I don't want any disturbance now." Mi Tha's hesitant voice echoed in his mind, making him pause for a moment.

"Sister Lan, continue. I don't want to disturb your peaceful evening, so let me take care of this trash." Aiden jumped to his feet. He hated to walk away from a surreal scene, but it was important to get this done quickly, as only ten minutes remained for the completion of the quest.

However, at the back of his mind, he had this nagging feeling about the entire scenario. Mi Tha was an unknown factor, and he was helping her only to complete the quest, but the quest still had the Super Hard tag, and he wasn't sure if the sub-quest was also super hard or simple. If it was hard, then he couldn't trust that woman as so far he had no troubles completing this quest.

"Junior sister Lan, please stop. He is a psycho who will feed you poison." The senior brother charged forward, but when Aiden stepped in the way, he froze. "You what are you aiming to do?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"I was enjoying a peaceful date with sister Lan and your arrived trying to be a hero and accuse me of something I didn't do. So, I'm going to say this only once. Fuck off, or I will kill you."

"Brother Chang, didn't I tell you this guy has an ego bigger than your sword? Help me please, and I'll give you ten Heart Nourishing Pills." The senior brother asked to his swordsman friend.

"Brother Piaja, you can't go back on your words."

"I won't." The senior brother named Piaja nodded. "Just don't kill him and only cripple his cultivation. It's enough of the punishment for a trash like him."

"You want to cripple my cultivation?" Aiden raised his eyebrow, tapping into old man Li's memories to find more about the crippling cultivation. By crippling cultivation meant one would stab into other's dantian, rupturing it so one couldn't hold any qi, and without qi one wouldn't be able to progress further. One could use mana, but one couldn't cultivate using only mana, and qi was essential for cultivation.

"You will thank us for handing you a light punishment." Piaja chuckled, his yellow teeth flashing through his wide mouth.

"Sister Lan, don't you trust me?" He turned toward her, who was still holding her cup in her hand.

"Of course I trust you brother, An, but I just want to be prepared to help you."

"Don't worry about her. The sword guy is only at layer eight Refinement Realm, and you can easily kill him," Mi Tha said inside his mind with a weird chuckle.

"Don't worry about me," Aiden said. "Just drink the tea and I'll be back to enjoy it with you." Grinning, Aiden faced the pair. Their wicked plans had sealed their fate, and he'd be the one to deliver their final judgment. Like a reaper with his scythe, he'd swing the blade of justice their way.

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