Since Chu Han had already spoken, Pu Feixiang could only step forward despite his reluctance.
But just as he reached out towards the young lady’s outstretched arm, the young lady quickly retracted her arm in response.
“What is it this time? Weren’t you the one who asked me to treat your wound?” Pu Feixiang felt the corner of his lips twitch.
“Aren’t you going to help me up first?” the young lady asked while giving him a playful side-eye. “Or do you secretly enjoy watching girls kneel in front of you like this?”
After she sealed her own meridians earlier, the young lady had immediately fallen to her knees due to the pressure from the Terra Seal Formation, and had remained in the same position since.
“...Just ask properly if you want something. Do you really have to say it like that?” Pu Feixiang reached out with his hand, which the young lady promptly took.
With that, Pu Feixiang helped the young lady to her feet and started treating her wound.
As they had been on a demon subduing mission where their lives could be in direct danger, Pu Feixiang naturally brought along a fair amount of medical items.
He gently applied them on the young lady’s wound, careful not to aggravate it further.
However, this only drew another comment from the young lady.
“How gentle, I knew it was the right choice to entrust my body to you tonight!” the young lady said.
Pu Feixiang: “...”
“Ahem!” Mo Mian cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Tie that woman up after you are done treating her wound. Junior Martial Brother Gui and Junior Martial Brother Zhao, go gather up the young noble’s men. We will get going once Junior Martial Brother Pu is done.”
“How rude! What do you mean ‘that woman’?” the young lady complained. “The name is Honey. Call me that instead!”
“As if your name is Honey,” Pu Feixiang rolled his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Don’t I look as sweet as honey? If you don’t believe me, why don’t you have a taste to see if I am lying?” the young lady answered with a smile.
Pu Feixiang: “...”
He immediately regretted talking about this matter.
“Where will we be going?” Zhao Yunxiao wanted to confirm.
“The local town,” Mo Mian answered. “Since our young noble says he is friends with the local magistrate, let’s bring him back to his friend and see how the magistrate wants to handle this matter.”
“He really is friends with the local magistrate, you know?” the self-proclaimed Honey interrupted. “And why go to all that trouble if you want him dead? Won’t it be much easier to just kill him here?”
“I have yet to ask you. What is your relationship with him?” Mo Mian questioned. “Aren’t you together? In that case, shouldn’t you be stopping me from killing him instead?”
“Are you curious?” Honey smirked.
“That is why I asked,” Mo Mian answered matter-of-factly.
“If you are really curious, you should show some sincerity when asking the questions,” Honey complained. “A little more appreciation for the person who will be answering you definitely helps!”
“I might be curious, but it is not nearly to the extent that I am willing to waste time begging you for answers,” Mo Mian replied frankly. “After we are done with him, you will be next on the list.”
“Ah, so I am the sweet dessert after the main course!” Honey exclaimed while pretending to be shocked. “I guess that suits me!”
Mo Mian: “...”
He could suddenly relate to how Pu Feixiang must feel when dealing with this person.
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao and Gui Longcan quickly slipped away, not wanting to be a part of this strange conversation.
First, they returned to the inn to wake up the soldiers who had all been tied up in a corner, before leading them out onto the mountain path.
It was a slight hassle to wake each of them and bring them out while they were all tied up. By the time they exited the inn, the first light had already started peeking over the horizon.
And under the illumination of the morning sun, the soldiers could see Hui Shajing, Uncle Hei, and Uncle Bai lying unconscious on the ground.
Even though Hui Shajing had managed to regain consciousness earlier, he did not manage to stay awake for long before he was once again knocked out by the aftershocks from the fight between the party and Honey.
After all, apart from the numerous explosions, each move the cultivators made had also been imbued with essence energy. This meant that even a missed attack would be capable of sending shockwaves through the air.
And these shockwaves were not something that ordinary mortals could easily endure.
Since Hui Shajing had already not been in the best condition, the first couple of shockwaves easily knocked him out cold.
“Get up!” Gui Longcan woke each of them with a light kick.
“Are you all right, Young Noble Hui?” Uncle Hei immediately asked out of concern when he woke up.
“Yeah, I... what?!” Hui Shajing was answering his question halfway when he was suddenly shocked wide awake, having noticed the young lady being tied up by Pu Feixiang not far away.
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“I lost, my bad,” Honey shrugged upon noticing his gaze.
“This can’t be...” Hui Shajing’s eyes lost focus.
The cultivator whom he had trusted to protect him all this time had actually lost!
He had suspected all along that the party would be strong, but he never thought that they would be this strong!
If he had known that, he would definitely have kept his head down and not taunted them the way he did previously!
“Finally realised the situation that you are in?” Mo Mian’s voice sent a chill running down his back. “Now then, do you have anyone else whom you wish to call for help?”
“Please spare my life, cultivator sir!” Hui Shajing pleaded. “I promise that I will turn over a new leaf. I will even dedicate myself to doing good from today onwards!”
“Save it,” Mo Mian scoffed. “But don’t worry, I won’t be taking your life here.”
“You... won’t?” Hui Shajing revealed a look of confusion. He was sure that his life was forfeit now that his ace card had proven ineffective.
“In return, you will be coming with us to visit that magistrate friend of yours,” Mo Mian continued.
“Magistrate friend... you mean Magistrate En?” Hui Shajing’s face lit up noticeably.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Mo Mian warned him. “Worse comes to worst, this magistrate friend of yours will be in trouble as well!”
Hui Shajing’s expression fell immediately.
He knew that Mo Mian was right.
The magistrate of a local town might wield considerable power, but that was only limited to ordinary mortals within the local context.
When faced with a group of cultivators, even the magistrate of a local town would have to put down his pride and show some respect!
Hui Shajing could only hope that Magistrate En either had some stronger connections, or had some ways to appease these brutal cultivators!
With that, the party started deviating from their original route as they made their way towards the local town, with Honey and Hui Shajing’s entourage in tow.
It was like a criminal procession as the members of the party took the front and rear on their spirit horses, while their captives walked in the middle with ropes tied around their hands.
In fact, their ropes were all tied together as well to ensure that no one would be able to run off alone.
As for Hui Shajing’s horses and carriage, they were simply being pulled along instead of having anyone ride them.
***
Mountainhorn Town was located not far from the mountain inn – only around half a day’s journey away on foot.
It was located at the foot of the mountain, with the mountain path linked to paved roads that led straight to its entrance.
Though it was just a small local town, Mountainhorn Town had all the traits of a formal town, including high walls and armed guards at the gate.
As the party approached the gate, their conspicuous way of travelling instantly drew the attention of everyone else.
It was not too uncommon to have people moving around while being all tied up. After all, slavery was not banned in the Duyuan Empire.
The problem here lay with the identity of the captives.
“Look! Isn’t that the young master of the Hui Family? How did he and his men end up in such a sorry state?”
“How overbearing! Who are those people who captured them? I don’t recognise any of them.”
“They don’t look familiar. Could they be officials from the city? Or the capital, perhaps?”
“The Hui Family is not going to be happy about this. I wonder if they are already aware of this matter?”
“One thing is for sure – there is going to be a show to watch!”
Onlookers gossiped among themselves, though none stepped forward to confront the party.
At the same time, the members of the party perked up their ears and listened closely to every single word that was being discussed.
This actually gave them a rough idea of the power dynamics at play here.
“It seems like you are rather famous,” Mo Mian remarked.
“I am nothing compared to your greatness, cultivator sir...” Hui Shajing answered wryly.
“How humble,” Mo Mian commented. “I wonder if your Hui Family thinks the same.”
“P-Please spare my family!” Hui Shajing quickly pleaded.
“That depends on how they act,” Mo Mian narrowed his eyes, causing Hui Shajing to swallow his saliva in nervousness.
It would be best if everyone knew what was best for them.
But if this Hui Family tried to do anything funny, then Mo Mian would not hesitate to punish them along with Hui Shajing.
After all, it was more than likely that they had given their implicit consent to Hui Shajing for his ruthless ways!
Under everyone’s curious gazes, the group quickly made their way to the gate.
There were two guards there at the moment, each dressed in light chain armour and had a spear in their hands.
Mountainhorn Town did not impose strict restrictions on visitors, so the two of them were simply leaning lazily against the open gate as they silently watched the people passing by.
However, things changed the moment they saw Zhao Yunxiao’s group approaching the gate.
“Hold it right there!” the two guards immediately walked over in an imposing manner.
“What is it?” Mo Mian held a hand up, and the group stopped on his cue.
“How dare you abduct reputable members of Mountainhorn Town?!” one of the guards roared. “Release them immediately!”
“You are telling me to release them without asking me the reason for capturing them in the first place?” Mo Mian asked.
“I am the one asking the questions here!” the guard shouted angrily in response. “Release them right now if you know what is best for you. Otherwise, I’m afraid I can’t guarantee your safety!”
“Is that a threat?” Mo Mian let out a cold smile. “Is it really all right for you to coerce visitors into doing your bidding like that?”
“As the ones responsible for safeguarding Mountainhorn Town, we naturally have the duty to ensure the safety of our people,” the guard clarified. “Now then, I’m only going to say this one last time. Release them and get lost before I get angry!”
“You’d better do as he says,” the other guard added. “Trust me, you would not like it when we get angry!”
“Wait a minu-,” Hui Shajing tried to say something, but stopped halfway as Mo Mian raised a hand to stop him from speaking further.
As much as he wanted to warn the guards who were trying to help them, Hui Shajing knew better than to undermine Mo Mian’s instructions.
“Well, guess what? I am not releasing them,” Mo Mian replied firmly. “If you really want me to do so, go get your boss to come tell me that in person.”
“What did you say?” the guards furrowed their brows immediately.
“Do you know what you are saying?” one of the guards said. “We work for the esteemed Magistrate En. By saying that, you are effectively demanding to talk to His Honour!”
“Oh? How convenient,” Mo Mian smiled. “That’s exactly who I wanted to talk to. Bring him here.”
“Preposterous! Is His Lordship someone whom you can meet just because you want to?” the guard shouted. “Mind your words!”
“Just from that ignorant comment alone, it is more than enough of a reason for us to place all of you under arrest for making disparaging remarks towards His Honour!” the other added.
The onlookers took in a deep breath as they heard that.
Not only did these strangers capture the young master of the Hui Family, they even dared to defy the town guards and undermine the magistrate.
This matter was escalating much faster than they had expected!