Old Guard

Quinlan and Xiyadie quickly packed their things and stood up, following after Lady Moon. Without hesitation, she went straight for the gate, bypassing the long line.

"You, stop!" And, of course, a guard had to stop her from entering. "Can't you see the line, lady? Don't make our jobs any harder!"

"Hmmm?"

Hearing the guard's rant, Lady Moon simply smiled while tilting her head. After giving a glance at the long line, she then turned back to the guard and asked. "If I kill everyone that is on the line, will that enable me to enter immediately?"

"..."

The guard scrunched his brows, thinking that the lady before him was some crazy chick.

"What? I don't know who you are, but murder is a heavy offense here. If you did that, then you will be able to enter and then go straight behind bars for the rest of your life!"

"Hmmm? That's troubling," Lady Moon muttered, placing a finger against her lush lips. "I'm in a hurry, after all."

"What's going on?"

At that moment, an older, middle-aged guard came and intervened. He sent a scrutinizing gaze toward Lady Moon, as if licking her body with his gaze, before a faint smile covered his face.

"I'll handle this; you get back to work," the man said to the first guard before taking his place standing before them. "Well, it's not like we can't make an exception, pretty lady. If you can spare about half an hour with me, then I can especially allow you to enter."

Quinlan, just from hearing the sleazy voice of the old guard, could already imagine what he was planning. However, before he could notify Lady Moon to reconsider, she had already cheered with a wide smile.

"That's great! If it's just half an hour, then I can spare some."

If they went to the back of the line, then it would take them over two hours just to enter. Only needing a quarter of that time, Lady Moon quickly jumped into the deal.

"Hehehe. Well then, please follow me."

The old guard's smile was making Quinlan feel goosebumps run across his skin. He hasn't seen anyone with such an obvious frivolous plan before, other than the ones back in the slums.

"Well, I guess there's no need to worry, though."

Rather than wasting energy worrying about Lady Moon, it would be more productive to simply continue observing her. After all, Quinlan still had no idea how powerful she was. He could feel the Qi in her but was unable to quantify it. Furthermore, she lacks the intimidating presence that the Old Doctor or General Mugen had, so it's extremely difficult to pinpoint her exact level.

The old guard led the group into the guardhouse, and as soon as they entered, he closed and locked the door behind him. Quinlan sighed, realizing that he read the man correctly. Still, it would look bad if he didn't try to warn him at least, so Quinlan took a step forward, standing between Lady Moon and the guard, before opening his mouth.

"Sir Guard, whatever you're planning, please give up on it. If you continue with your plan, I can't guarantee your safety." Quinlan tried to sound as serious as he could.

The guard, hearing his words, opened his eyes wide in surprise for a moment before laughing loudly. "Ha ha ha! Young lady, if there's someone who needs to worry here, that's you three! I'm at the Golden Core Stage, while you all are only at Qi Refinement!"

"...!"

Quinlan was surprised, seeing that the guard even labeled Lady Moon as a Qi Refinement Stage cultivator.

He turned to look at Yinuo's master but noticed that the smile on her lips wasn't reflected in her eyes. Even though her gaze wasn't on Quinlan himself, he could still feel the danger to his own life. He felt a shiver run down his spine as if he were left in the middle of a snowy plain in the middle of the night, naked.

"I see. So that's what it is." She nodded her head lightly. "I thought you're simply a good person for letting us in and wanting to spend some time to chat and exchange knowledge regarding cultivation..."

Although she tried to hide it, Quinlan noticed her sigh while muttering to herself. "I guess this is how it'll go in the end."

Before Quinlan could take a step back, the guard had already fallen forward, with the white of his eyes showing.

*THUD!*

He fell with a loud thud due to his heavy armor, causing Quinlan to worry about others peeking inside out of curiosity.

"I-Is he... dead?" Xiyadie, who was still cowering behind the two, asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

To confirm, Quinlan strode forward and held the man's carotid artery. It didn't take him long to feel a faint, regular beating of a pulse. At that moment, Lady Moon patted Quinlan's shoulder as she showed a sweet smile.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't kill him, though I did tinker with his mind a bit." The smile on her face suddenly looked scary to Quinlan, causing him to take a couple of steps back. "Anyway, we should get going. I'm really short on time since I only have until sundown before the gate I used closes."

After saying that, she then opened the door and exited. Quinlan and Xiyadie had to walk faster just to catch up with her. While they were trailing behind, Quinlan then began to explain to Xiyadie about Feng Yue Xianzhi.

"So she's the cultivator that you were supposed to meet as dictated by the voice of heaven!" Xiyadie gasped. "And now we should follow her and become disciples in her sect, right?"

"Exactly." Quinlan smiled while nodding his head. "So, for now, we should stick close to her. Try to butter up to her if you can; I'm sure that will help us later down the road."

The two of them then continued following Lady Moon, before she stopped in the middle of a small plaza. There, she then took out several paper talismans and threw them in the air. The talismans then turned invisible before they split in different directions.

Lady Moon closed her eyes before declaring with a wide smile. "Now we wait."