13 You have a minute

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Sieg was that figure who catched the item that the woman surnamed 'Chu' threw. He looked carefully at the item he catched.

It was some sort of a beast skin, it was somewhat torn and ragged, he thinks that it was because of the ravages of time. There were something that's etched into the beast skin however Sieg doesn't have any idea as just what exactly it is.

"There! That bitch threw it to him! Take it!"

Suddenly, Sieg sensed some people closing in on him, they charged at him with ferocious eyes and greed. He frowned, he wasn't even completely out of the Dark Bamboo Forest and he's already caught in a mess that he had no idea what's about.

A man wearing a dark red robes brandished his sword, he was covered in a malicious aura that swept over Sieg's body. The man sneered as he looked at Sieg's clothing, it seems that he viewed Sieg as a 'non-hostile' lamb that probably froze in fear due his fearsomeness. But what happened next made his eyes dilated.

He just blinked his eyes, which didn't even took a whole second, yet when opened them, Sieg was already standing in front of him. In his eyes he was looking down to Sieg, who's now emitting and terrifying amount of killing intent. It wasn't until he felt a sharp pain coming from his neck that he fully realized the situation that he's in.

He was being lifted by Sieg in the neck using one hand.

The other people froze, they felt an intense sense of danger, they can't wrap their heads around what just happened. Literally one second ago their comrade was charging head first with a ferocious manner then before they can even say the word 'stop' their target lifted thier comrade by the neck. They understood ont thing from what happened though.

They've kicked an iron plate this time.

The man in dark red robes struggled, but no matter how much he did, Sieg's hand is like a tightly clamped steel in his neck. His vision is becoming blurry due to the lack or air.

Sensing the predicament of their ally, the other four wanted to say something. But they can't even utter a word since they also have to take care of thier trembling bodies.

"I will give you all 1 minute to explain why you attacked me. I might let you go if I'm satisfied but I don't think you would like to know what would happen if you lie."

Sieg's killing intent was so heavy for them, it was even enough for them to be rooted in place. 'These guys must be amateurs' he thought, but he was also waiting for someone to give him explanation.

"S-senior. I wante-I mean We-we're terribly sorry for o-offending you. W-we actually didn't mean to do, w-we're just…we're just-"

"30 seconds…"

"Were trying to retrive an the item that was passed to you by those guys in blue since they stole from us and we thought thst you guys are collaborating together!"

*Shank*

"Ahhhh!"

"Lies…" Sieg's words were chilling to the bone. He knew it from the way the other guy speak that he's telling a lie. Since he used to stay inside the Dark Bamboo Forest and recieved training from his Master Wilson. His senses were sharpened to a degree that he can freely tell if one is telling a lie thanks to the 'Deer Stance'.

The instance he realized this, he cut the left hand of the man who just spoke.

The others was so close to pissing in thier pants seeing what happened to thier ally, while they didn't see when or how Sieg did it, their ally's hand just fell from it's former place. Thier trembling intensifies.

'We're gonna die.' Is the only thing that they can think of during these moment.

Sieg slightly loosened his hand and looked at the nearly dead person on his hand. Then he asked:

"Speak the truth and I might release you, lie and die. You have 1 minute."

"W-were trying to steal that item from the ones who handed it over to Senior a-and give it to our s-sect and be rewarded heavily. W-we apologize if we offended S-senior, w-we were blinded by our greed, w-we are truly sorry." At that instance, Sieg let go of the man. The man gasped few lungfulls of air and violently coughed a few times as well, the he asked again.

"What was the name of the woman who threw this item to me and which sect do they come from?"

"R-reporting to Senior, the woman was named Chu Xiaoxiao and they are disciples of the Freezing Sky Sect." Seeing their ally still violently coughing, one guy took initiative to answer Sieg's question despite of the trembling of his body.

"Freezing Sky Sect huh?" Sieg placed his hand on his back and sighed slightly, he slowly walked away from the people who just attacked him while also thinking deeply.

Seeing the enigma walking away, they all breathe a sigh of relief and slumped down to the ground, thier trembling however still didn't stop, they managed to help thier other allies. And slowly walked out of the vincinity of the Dark Bamboo Forest as well.

"Senior Brother do you know who that man is?" One asked while helping the man, who was choked by Sieg, stand up.

"I never heard of someone like him before. Must be a mercenary."

"How can that be? From what it looks like he wasn't even older than us, I think he even younger than us!"

"Who knows? Maybe he's just one of the experts who disguises to con people to fight them! I don't know!"

"Then w-what about the map?"

"If you want to die then don't take us with you! Specially me! Just his mere killing intent prevented us from moving! We didn't even see how he managed to get close to me in literally a blink of an eye or how he chopped Yun Tao's hand! And you're still thinking about the map? What you must think about is how are we going to recover from all of this! Don't you know that we're still trembing until now?"

Thier backs went cold when they heard his words. They all silently swore that if they ever meet that guy anywhere, they would stay away as far as possible.

***

Sieg had no idea about thier thoughts or even thier conversations up to this point. Nor did he care really. He could've finished them in just one breath but he chose not to. From what he can tell about thier uniform and badges, they were mostly likely be disciples of a sect. He don't know anything about the place he's going to so he didn't want to create as much trouble as possible.

He knew that they won't tell what happened, and even though they did, it wasn't his fault. They even admitted that they acted out of greed.

His next target also came from a sect as well by the way, which made his head hurt. From his perspective, he deserved an explanation and compensation about what just happened. He was just peacefully coming out of the forest and then that woman named 'Chu Xiaoxiao' dragged him into this mess.

He looked in front of him and saw a towering stone wall and the majestic iron gate of the Great Blue Carp City. His eyes sparkled, he was struck a wave of nostalgia, well not a very good one really.

He recalled the time when he was still living in this very city, it wasn't as majestic as it is now. There are only some stone houses before in this area and only the city lord's place is made out of some metals and jades. The city walls aren't also that high and the only entrance to the city is the east gate. Now however, there are tons of majestic looking houses, the city expanded and added more entrances, the city walls are higher and the city gates are reinforced.

He also recalled some of the bad things that he experienced when he was still living in here. A wave of sadness resurfaced from the depths of his memories.

He smiled and shrugged it off. There's absolutely no use on dwelling in these types of memories now. He's already far different compared to what he's like before. So lifted his chest and walked straight ahead.

He too fell in line with the people who wanted to enter the city. The city guards are only so few so the line paced like a snail. He didn't mind it that much since he understood that there is a big event that's going to happen in a just a month. This was also the reason why he was here in the first place.

As time went on, he was finally able to enter the city and it went pretty smooth. He was greeted by a wave of noises from merchants, people recruiting members for an expedition, arguments from opposing sect disciples and some conversations from normal residents.

Sieg's eyes sparkled. 'Is this still Great Blue Carp City? It feels totally different now.' He can't believe that just a 'piece of news' can bring this much effect to a city. 'Is this the influence of a Holy Land?' He thought. His heart pounded with anticipation, a wave of fighting spirit ignited in his heart. It feels like the last mission that his master gave him is really challenging.

"Hello there Big Brother! Would like me to give you a tour inside the city? It's not that expensive, two spirit stones would do!" A young boy approached Sieg with his eyes sparkling, the boy knew that Sieg was knew to the city so he immediately offered his services up.

Sieg thought for a little bit before nodding his head and handed two spirit stone to the young boy. The young boy's face lit up, he patted his chest and said: "Thanks Big Brother! Don't worry, I, Jiang Yu would give you a full tour of the whole city! Is there anywhere that Big Brother wants to go first?"

"Hmm." Sieg thought for a bit before saying, "Give me a tour of some stores around first."

"Alright, please follow me Big Brother!" Jiang Yu walked in front of Sieg and he was introducing some place to Sieg.

Pretty much all of the stores that existed inside the city is controlled by the Merchant Guild, not only that but the headquaters for the Merchant Guild is also in the close vincinity of the four sect which Jiang Yu also introduced to Sieg.

"Oh right! There also some rules that Big Brother needs to follow while inside the city. Though fights are not allowed inside the city, disputes are unavoidable so if it can't be solved through diplomacy, then you can choose tl fight it out at the 'Deciding Grounds'. "

"Deciding Grounds?"

"Yes! The two parties will agree to a certain terms like, life and death battle, ability showdown, Dao preaching, and many more. But the life and death battles are the most famous since strength is king." Jiang Yu sighed while explaining to Sieg.

"Hmm, strength is king huh?" Sieg pondered for a bit, Jiang Yu looked at him, confused to whatever this Big Brother is thinking, it is not his business so he wouldn't ask. Then he also informed Sieg about other rules as well which basically means that, 'If you're gonna cause trouble, do it in the right place.' Which is much simpler for Sieg.

"Let's go to some inns. I'm want to rest."

"No problem Big Brother! Follow me."

Jiang Yu led Sieg to a remote inn, it was his request so Jiang Yu can only follow. Sleeping Snail Inn was it's name, the surroundings were quiet and peaceful just fit according to Sieg's liking. He thanked Jiang Yu for his services and went inside the inn, he paid 10 silvers of a nice and cozy room at the second floor, entered his room and lied on the bed.