Chapter 0068

“Everyone goes to the main hall,” the man barked out his orders.

The redhead signaled Tempest with her eyes, “Follow the order for now. We’ll escape in the confusion.”

It was the safest thing to do and Tempest would have followed the redhead out if the man hadn’t moved to stop her.

“You can go,” the man said to the redhead then turned his attention towards Tempest. “I’ll interrogate this one myself.”

Tempest eyed the intruder warily. He might have been considered handsome by Asian standards.  He had his long black hair tied into a bun on top of the head in the style of Ancient China, revealing clear white skin, deep black eyes, a straight nose and plump lips women get injections for. He wore a light blue robe that looks good but is completely impractical when fighting.  The clothes were meant to showcase his lean upper body and long legs.

All in all, the man made a dashing figure and can pass for the 3rd male lead in a movie — he isn’t handsome enough for first or second male lead in Tempest’s mind since she favored the Western sense of aesthetic rather than the Eastern sense of beauty — if it wasn’t for his sinister leer.

His intentions were so obvious he couldn’t fool a ten years old child. Tempest’s body is 13 years old but she looks younger than ten. She wasn’t fooled by the lame excuse the perv gave.

The redhead can also read the man’s intentions. Tempest can see it in her gaze. Still, the redhead bowed as low as she could and moved to leave the room.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Tempest was deeply disappointed with the redhead’s action but held no grudge against her. The man was obviously a cultivator from the Heavenly Mountains.

Mortals in the Cardinal Realm all dressed the same, in somewhat form fitting thick coarse clothes than can protect them from the elements.

Cultivators from the Ethereal Depths favors embroidered tunics and pants designating their clan while cultivators in the Mysterious Wasteland dressed in an ostentatious manner to display their wealth. 'Fake it until you make it' and 'no one will do business with a beggar' are their mottos.

The Magus Alliance has two cultivation methods, knights and mages. Knights cultivator uses a body method influenced by affinities to cultivate while mages cultivate through affinities. Knights, therefore, dressed in form fitting clothes which allows them to execute their attack without worrying if the hem of their clothes caught a snag. Although Emery looks like a poser in Tempest’s eyes, her manner of dress conforms to the knight’s standard. Mages dressed in robes cinched at the waist with a belt. The inner layer of the robes is lined with pockets where they place different space bags.

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Space bags are very convenient but certain materials can’t be placed together. Therefore, mages, in the spirit of research they claimed, have many space bags.

As for the cultivators from the Heavenly Mountains, they dress in long silk robes that flutter in the wind.

Hence, Tempest could tell the man was from the Heavenly Mountains.

The red mage began to prepare spells to kill the bastard in front of her. Making a move on a little girl, the bastard deserved death.

When the man was focused on Tempest and what he was going to do to her when he gets his hands on her, the redhead girl attacked. She jumped on the man’s back and covered his face with a cloth.

The man is around 170 cm tall, built like a lean swimmer while the redhead is small and scrawny, probably from malnutrition, and slightly taller than Tempest’s 138 cm height.

There was no way she can beat the man yet she made an attempt and that’s all Tempest can ask for. Her heart warmed at the redhead’s action.

Just as Tempest was about to make a move to help the redhead, the man fainted.

Tempest looked at the redhead; the redhead looked at Tempest.

A person has to have certain tricks if they wanted to survive in the Cardinal Realm and the method the redhead chose was poison. Poisons are easy to carry, easy to administer and easy to deny. A good poisoner can easily kill a cultivator regardless of their cultivation. There is a drawback.  The poison can easily affect the poisoner as easily as it can affect the intended victims. Unsurprisingly, poison masters are despised by everyone.

The redhead knows the perception of poison master, yet she still revealed her ability to Tempest. She was anxious about Tempest's reaction to her ability but Tempest only smiled sincerely.

“Thank you.”

“You aren’t worried I’d poison you?” the redhead asked hesitantly.

“You and I have no grudge against each other. If you wanted to poison me, you would do so earlier. You didn’t have to reveal your ability to me either. You could have left and no one would have faulted you.” Tempest reassured the redhead. She meant every word she said. Poison is merely a tool. Intentions matter. The cultivator from the Heavenly Mountain is more disgusting to her than the redhead before her.

“You really mean it.”

“I do.”

“Thank you.”

The two shared a heart to heart moments, like two children who open their hearts to each other and shared their deepest darkest secrets.

Like all good things, the moment did last long. Loud voices from outside disturbed their bonding period, alerting the two to their current situation.

“Go.” Tempest urged the redhead, “I’ll take responsibility for this. I can easily run away. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“There are strong cultivators out there. I heard someone saying the leader of the group is at the Core Formation stage. You won’t be able to escape.”

Tempest snorted her contempt at a Core Formation cultivator.

Wipe away your arrogance. At your current strength, you can’t take on a Core Formation cultivator.

“But…”

No, butts!  Xing Zhi Hui is only at Foundation Establishment stage and she can harm you if she goes all out. There wasn’t a Core Formation expert among the bandits chasing you, or you’d be caught before we can do anything about it.

“They are that strong?”

They are not strong. You are weak.

A simple statement but it highlights an important fact. Tempest is too weak in the Cardinal Realm. She could reign as a god on Earth but she is a weak chicken in the Cardinal Realm.

“Hurry and run. The drug won’t knock him out for long.” the redhead urged.

“What about you?”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I have my ways.”

“What kind of person do you think I am running away from the crime scene and leaving my benefactor to take the rap for me?”

“Take the rap?” the redhead asked in confusion.

“Ah sorry. It means to take the blame.”

The redhead looked at Tempest, obviously in a dilemma as she chewed on her lower lip. Finally, she made a decision. “I have a way to hide us, but you have to trust me.”

“I already do.”