18 Ch 18 Compensating?

"Guests, if you are here to help with the beast tide. Please, continue along that way until you reach the guard mansion. If you are here regarding the mission, please follow me." An attendant said in a polite voice as he turned around and walked into the mansion. The trio soon followed, they were guided to a guest mansion of the family and allotted a room each. The mansion had a common courtyard and a common dining hall and a huge lobby. The lobby was littered with cushions and tables, maids and servants were serving wines and some dishes to the people in the lobby. A particular man with a huge sword by his side was getting far more attention from the servers and other people, there were a few beauties throwing flirtatious glances at the man while a few men were trying to chalk up a conversation with him. This man was 20 years old and was at late Ki condensing realm. He noticed the trio that had entered the room, to him, this particular group was very peculiar. A masked man who looked way too young to be of any high level, a young beauty with a warm face clearly of fire school and a cold faced man of Long clan. The group didn't even cast a second glance at the man as the took a seat in a secluded corner and signaled for a maid.

"What is going on in the village?" Jiang Long asked the maid.

"Lords may have not heard about the beast tide of the beast mountains. Every decade, a huge number of beasts would descend the mountains and ravage the lands around the mountains. Every time a roar of a mortal core beat would be heard a week before the beast horde arrives. The roar was heard 3 days ago, and the tide will arrive 4 days from now." The maid slowly explained the commotion outside as she poured tea for the trio. "If lords are unsure of your safety. The Fan clan allows anyone to leave the village. Lords can return after the tide has passed." The maid said as she handed the tea to the trio.

Lan Long lifted his mask just above his mouth and took a sip. The maid immediately knew that he was no more than 15 years of age. Lan Long took out a small cup size of a thumb and poured the tea into it. He then took out another bowl as small as the little finger and poured a few drops of tea into it. Soon, a tiny cat and palm sized hamster appeared, the hamster took the tiny cup and drank it in a very human like fashion while the kitten licked the tea with her cute little tongue. The maid unconsciously petted the hamster and kitten, before freaking out. It was considered a taboo to touch someone beast without their consent. Many cultivators had lost their lives to such an offence, there was a Clan which as their specialty was into beast taming, they would tame many beasts and nurture them to their best potential. Soon, each member of the Clan had tens of beast at minimum while the elder and the stronger people would have hundreds or even thousands. The name of this Clan was Jing, they were situated a few million miles from the village and would participate in the beast tide without fail. The younger generation of the clan would capture many beast for themselves and the clan. Since, it was a major help, none of the other clans minded their interference. There were clans the excelled in speed, puppetry, strength, defense, and even sexual cultivation. There were other infamous clans such as soul charm clan, blood clan, black lotus clan and the golden arrow. The soul charm clan had an illusion technique which would rid the cultivator of his conscious mind, turning him into a mindless puppet. The blood clan member could only increase their cultivation by absorbing blood Ki, for this reason their members would often go on killing sprees and massacres. The black lotus clan was in comparison very tame, they used poison as their weapon, which was a branch of alchemy. They were not considered evil like the other two clans but their victims never died a clean death. If someone ever offended a poison master, they would live in constant fear of poison. Sometimes, the victim wouldn't even realize that he was poisoned until he suffered from organ failure or until it's too late.

"Brother Lazy, Little Qing looks quite big for her age. Did you use a medicine of some sort?" Su Ming asked. The little cat had grown too quickly, it had been a little over a month but the kitty was almost fully grown. Her body was covered with pure white fur which was luxurious to touch. It was soft and had a sleek silkiness to it unlike Little Kong who was a ball of soft fluff.

"No, it happened by itself." Lan Long said in a calm voice. The nature of strength and growth of his pets could not be told to anyone.

"Hey, the man with the sword is looking over here. Maybe, he has some intentions." Jiang Long said as he grew uncomfortable under an unknown gaze. Jiang Long turned around and looked directly at the man and after a bit of time he looked continued to drink tea like nothing happened.

"Why did you do that?" Su Ming questioned, she too had grown uncomfortable but she was used to stares in her direction.

"No reason. Just wanted to see the reaction. WATCH OUT." Jiang Long yelled at the end as he moved sideways without standing up dodging the huge sword cleanly. The sword continued on it way straight to Lan Long, who just flicked his finger at the tip of the sword and cancelled all its momentum and balanced it on his pinky finger. He then spun the sword about its tip as he sipped his tea with another hand. The man was surprised that his attack was cancelled like thrown candy but surprised him further was the fact that he could no longer call his sword back. The sword was made with thunder steel and weighed over 500 kilos, it was over two meters tall, 5 centimeters thick and 30 centimeters wide throughout. The man finally stood up and walked over to the trio and stared intently at Lan Long who was sipping tea leisurely.

"Young man, the sword." The tall man said in a low voice. He was domineering and proud. Judging by his attitude, heavy swords suited him perfectly.

"Hmmm, I have taken quite a liking to this sword. Thanks for gifting it to me." Lan Long said as he continued to spin the sword on his finger. He simply couldn't wait and swiftly moved in front of Lan Long and grabbed the swords hilt. Lan Long in return grabbed the sword in between his fore finger and middle finger, still refusing to stop drinking tea. The man then tried to dislodge the sword from Lan Long's fingers but failed. He then tried to use his Ki to move the sword but failed again.

"Brother, please." He said in a low voice, desperation evident in his face. "It was my fault. I apologies." The man then immediately turned his tone from domineering to polite in an instant. Jiang Long and Su Ming were surprised to the max. From the tone, this man was no more than 17, just a little older than both of them. Lan Long smiled and let go of the sword, he had sensed the attachment this young man had to the sword. He then signaled the man to sit down.

"Do tell me. Why a silk pant such as your self is out at green village during the beast tide?" Lan Long questioned as he continued to drink tea. Lan Long was able to guess that this was a sheltered kid judging by the severe lack of killing intent and the sword that was thrown was not even aimed at Jiang Long's head. Even if Jiang Long had failed to dodge, he would have only had a graze on his shoulder. The kids lack of pride at the last moment was his true self, he was not a warrior. The statement when he had stared intently at Lan Long was lacking any substance, if Jiang Long had stared at anyone at the same level as himself, he would induce almost crippling fear in anyone.

"Hey, I am not a silk pant. You are a silk pants, your whole family is a silk pants." The young man retorted in a hap hazard fashion. His face was red as he had said this. Lan Long was immediately stumped at the reply, he wanted to smack the man, he also wanted burst out laughing.

SMACK. . .

Jiang Long ha smacked the man's head and Su Ming had burst into laughter. They could not bear to see such a burly man with such a weird personality. Finally, the trio had not been able to contain themselves and laughed. This was too delightful.

"Brother, tell us your name." Lan Long said after he calmed down.

"Huang Ren. Listen, I am not a silk pants don't call me that." Huang Ren said in a serious tone which induced another round of giggles from the group. "What? If you don't stop, I will complain to Uncle Tian and get your ass kicked. Yes, I know a very significant elder from your Long clan." Huang Ren said in a proud voice. This introduced another round of laughter mainly from Lan Long and Jiang Long. Su Ming was confused as she still didn't know Lan Long's identity.

"How do you know him?" Lan Long asked after he had calmed down, again. He was quite curious, this man knew his father and going by the name, he may as well be from his mother's clan.

"I am his relative." Huang Ren said. He was looking intently at Jiang Long, as if expecting an apology.

"So, you are actually related to Lady Su." Lan Long said in a very calm manner as he sipped his tea.

"What you even know aunty Su?" Huang Ren said in shock. Poor, man didn't even know basics of negotiation and etiquette of responding to questions, He didn't even try to hide any information.

"Brother Huang, are you here for experience or are you on a mission?" Lan Long asked changing the subject immediately. He had realized that, Huang Ren was very new to the whole adventuring scenario and was will to accept him into his group.

"Father sent me out to adventure. I initially wanted to join the guard mansion but Chief of green village wouldn't allow me. He said that fighting some common beast was beneath my status. Ha-ha." Huang Ren tone was dripping with pride. Poor chief had to deal with such a brat, even lowered himself to praise him in order to bait him in to protection. After all, this brat was from the royal family. If something were to happen to him, this entire village would be sentenced to death.

"Sister Ming, can you spar with him for a few moments. Don't worry about his cultivation." Lan Long asked Su Ming in a very low voice. He was sure that Huang Ren had zero combat experience, fighting Su Ming who was an expert sword artist would help Huang Ren tremendously. Huang Ren who no knowledge of Lan Long's conversation with Su Ming, was now completely enamored with the two cute pets. If was a very unsettling to see such a huge man cooing and cuddling two small beasts.

"Brother Huang, do you like small pets, too?" Su Ming asked Huang Ren, who was holding the two-small creature close to his face and was making so baby noises.

"Yes, but father gave me a dragon snake instead of a small cat which I asked. Although, the snake is nice. I prefer, small fuzzy animals." Huang Ren said absently as he was still rubbing face on Little Kong. Jiang Long on other hand had already crushed his tea cup in his hand, he was too frustrated by Huang Ren's response. A Dragon Snake was a type of winged snake with dragon blood line. At later stage of cultivation, there was a chance for the snake to turn into a real dragon. Instead of cherishing the Snake, Huang Ren instead wanted a cat. Su Ming giggled lightly and went closer to Huang Ren and took Little Qing into her hand and gently patted its head.

"Brother Huang, can we spar a bit later. I have always wanted to fight a heavy sword user." Su Ming asked.

"Sure." Huang Ren agreed almost immediately.

"So, his sword was compensating for something." Jiang Long finally made a remark about the huge sword, chuckling to himself.

"Compensating for an utter lack of brain." Lan Long shot back as they laughed and finished their tea. Lan Long signaled Little Kong to come to him and almost instantly Little Kong disappeared from Huang Ren's hand and appeared on Lan Long's shoulder. Su Ming handed Little Qing to Lan Long and the group went outside. They soon left the green village and arrived at a desolate spot in the wilderness. Huang Ren who was still slightly dejected about Little Kong taken away took out his sword and held it in front of him. Su Ming drew her sword and immediately clashed with Huang Ren.

The sound of metal clashing resonated within the woods, followed by grunting noises which soon turned into screams of pain. Soon, the group exited the group Jiang Long was holding a very unconscious Huang Ren, Lan Long was teasing Su Ming about her brutality with Jiang Long laughing at her embarrassment. She had attacked Huang Ren with her complete strength and had rendered him unconscious. Poor Huang Ren, who had little to no experience in fighting was completely overpowered by Su Ming who was a seasoned fighter after her clashes with death and desperation. Huang Ren was not capable of using the heavy sword as an effective weapon and he didn't have any attacking arts he was completely familiar with. Soon, the group found a restaurant and retired into a room. Lan Long had already healed Huang Ren, so he woke up during the trio's meal and immediately threw a tantrum.

"Sister Ming, that was completely unfair. If you are so strong why do you bully the weak? I didn't even offend you, yet you still beat me so badly. You must apologies immediately, if not I will tell everyone that you like to bully the weak." Huang Ren stopped as he was the dishes and forgot about the rant he was going on and on about.

"Brother Huang, in our group, injuries during a sparring match are common. If you want an apology, defeat her." Lan Long said with an authority.

"You, I will defeat you. Just you wait and see." Huang Ren said with a mouth full of food and went back to eating. Su Ming smiled at Huang Ren's antiques and finished her quietly. The group soon left the restaurant and arrived at their mission quarters.