10 Return

Wang Qing was carefully examining her surroundings when three figures suddenly appeared on the side of the tree branch. It was Wang Bao and her senior sisters.

Wang Luo was one of the girls who stood panting while the other was Wang Xiurong, the twin sister of Wang Luo. While Wang Luo had that elegant aura, Wang Xiurong has that wild, unrefined aura around her. You can tell from her aura that she's a free-spirited girl. They were all wearing blue robes that have protective and trace runes in them. Wang Qing and Wang Bao had regular swords while the other two had treasures: a water-type and a fire-type mana sword.

Wang Luo quickly asked them while gasping for air, her eyes filled with a desperate longing. "D-Did... you see a cave?"

The three girls simultaneously looked at Wang Luo then back to each other. "A cave? What are you talking about? You were searching for a cave filled with demons for 4 months now and our family has been thinking that after you returned, you turned in to some lunatic. What is in that cave that made you this way junior sister?" Wang Xiurong said while the other two looked at her with a worried face.

"I'm telling you, a cave was here before-" Wang Luo stopped her sentence when she caught a glimpse of an entrance from in front of them. They were high up the ground but, then she jumped down and immediately sprinted towards the cave's location, surprising her companions.

"That girl..." Wang Xiurong groaned then looked at Wang Bao and Wang Qing. "Wang Qing stay here and continue to observe the surroundings, Wang Bao let's go!" Wang Xiurong and Wang Bao didn't go down the ground but leaped from tree to tree with incredible speed.

"Wang Luo! Where are you going?!" Wang Bao yelled as she and Wang Xiurong quickly caught up with Wang Luo, leaving Wang Qing.

...

"There it is! Finally...!" Wang Luo said as tears of joy ran down her supple cheeks. Wang Bao and Wang Xiurong still had their guard up in case something attacks them.

When Wang Luo arrived at the entrance, two figures were coming out of the cave. One middle-aged man, slightly tall, and his body, arms, and legs were thin and looked malnourished. He had black hair tied at the back of his head, reaching his neck. His face almost visible except his eyes because his hair covers it. The other one looked like he was a teen. He was a small, slightly fat kid that has short red hair and bright red eyes. He looked below-average because of his facial features.

The two acted like they didn't notice her and just continued to walk towards the exit.

Wang Luo stood there dumbfounded while tears were running down her cheeks, the trauma that she went through and her hero's mysterious and cool figure flashed through her mind. She didn't mind the two men walking towards her and just continued to stare at the straight path leading inside.

When the two men were near Wang Luo, they were suddenly startled when two figures who jumped down a tree and blocked the entrance looked at them with hostility.

The two girls that jumped from above both unsheathed their swords, imbuing them with mana.

"Who are you and what were you doing inside this cave!" Wang Xiurong shouted, pointing the fire-imbued sword at the middle-aged man.

Wang Bao looked at the middle-aged man, her eyes nearly closed. "You look familiar..." she leaned in front to take a better look at the man's face.

The middle aged-man suddenly kneeled with his head down, surprising the two. "It's a great honor to be able to meet the two young ladies here..." he said humbly.

Their eyes widened, jaws wide open when they heard him. "W-we thought you were dead..." Wang Xiurong shivered while Wang Bao turned white. Wang Luo suddenly snapped into reality and asked the shivering Wang Xiurong.

"Senior Sister! Why are you terrified-" she notices the middle-aged man inside the cave who was kneeling to be familiar and became surprised. She suddenly thought of someone. "Wang Lao...!"

"Why are you scared Ms. Xiurong? Did you forget me?" he said with a frown and a sad look in his eyes.

"No! That's a ghost! Uncle Lao is already dead 4 months ago! He was killed by those damned demons!" Wang Xiurong exclaimed while holding her tears back. She was close to Wang Lao when he was alive. He was the only one to teach Xiurong swordplay when she was a kid. When she heard the news of Wang Lao being missing, she begged her father to send more people to find him. He ignored her because Wang Lao was but a personal attendant. It doesn't affect the family whatsoever.

Wang Xiurong was angry. She directed her anger at Wang Luo, the only survivor.

"Ms. Xiurong..." Lao looked up and stared at the eyes of Wang Xiurong. "... I used to teach you the Wang Family's sword techniques when u were a kid. We played together when you finished..." Lao recalled the memories when Xiurong was a kid. His words made her face blush with embarrassment.

Xiurong rushed towards Lao and covered his mouth. "S-Stoooop! You're embarrassing me!" a flustered Xiurong yelled at him.

Lao removed Xiurong's hands from his mouth and said. "Now you trust me?" Lao whispered near Xiurong's ear, giving her goosebumps.

Xiurong immediately backs away, more flustered than before. Lao slightly smiled towards Xiurong, Bao, and Luo's direction. "I'm back... Ms. Bao and Ms. Luo," he said with a gentle voice.

Wang Luo ran and hugged Lao tightly. She buried her face against Lao's thin body. "Wang Lao! Why did you stay in the cave for 4 months!?" she asked worriedly.

Wang Lao was surprised when she suddenly jumped onto him. "A man wiped out all of the demons inside and took a red core with him. He entrusted me with a boy. His name is Hong Ling and he's the eldest son of the Hong Family. He said that this boy will be attending a banquet and that he will be there to search for someone who owes him and to get this boy's family to repay him." Lao said. "We stayed here for so long with little food from those demons because he wrote runes to hide this cave from the outside world so that he can 'purify' his 'mana' in peace. He said we need to stay here so we can help him with stuff. He just left a while ago and it looks like he was in pain."

"Maybe that crying that we heard came from the man who helped them. We need to find-" Wang Bao thought but was interrupted when the atmosphere became heavy.

Wang Lao looked at Wang Bao. He already knew what she was thinking. "He said never to look for him and just tell people he was gone. If we say more than what is needed, he may kill us..." Lao's eyes looked like he saw a monster, his hands shaking nonstop.

Wang Luo, who was still hugging Lao, looked at his terrified face and recalled the same man who said the same thing to her. "It's that man!" her eyes widened with joy. "He'll be at the party..." she buried her face even harder than before, trying to hide her face.

"Okay! Enough of this talk! Let's head home and report this to father. Wang Lao, you will come with me with the boy to alert his family. Maybe they are also finding him." Wang Xiurong said while looking at the blushing Wang Luo jealously. She was the first to return to Wang Qing's location.

Wang Luo released Lao from her arms and turned back to run off the cave. "Okay Sister! Lao, follow us!"

Wang Bao nodded then followed her with Wang Luo, leaving Lao and the boy behind.

"Master, shall we go?"

"Okay..."

A pair of demonic shadows with glowing red eyes and an evil smirk appeared behind the two men.

The silhouette of the middle-aged man can bring shivers to your spine. Like a dragon, but much scarier.

With a slight smile, Wang Lao muttered: "Looks like the plan worked."