12 The City Lord's Nephew

"Daddy?" Fiona poked my arm. "Daddy?"

"Mmhhrttth." I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's morning! Fiona will show you around the city now." Fiona sat at the edge of the bed, her legs dangling in the air.

Mph! So cute. I pulled her over to my lap again and poked her cheeks. "You're so nice, Fiona, waking up early for daddy."

"Ehehehe. But," she glanced sideways. "What happened to the door?"

"Hmm. Some people last night were looking for you, but daddy chased them out. Do you know anyone from the city? They're probably waiting for us outside."

"Eh? Looking for me?" Fiona pointed to herself.

"Yes. Shall we go meet them?"

".... sure."

"Oh, and we need to pay 5 taels of gold for the night."

"Mmhmm."

Fiona paid the fare to the old receptionist, and we left the inn. In front, waiting for us, were two city guards. They look no more to be over 20 years of age; around the same height as me. Dressed in silver clad armor with a symbol of a mountain and a cross embroidered on it, and two swords strapped to the side, they carried an aura of superiority and some levels of ferociousness.

Well, if only they weren't cowering in fear and on the ground last night with me, a cultivator who just started my cultivation, and wanted to ruin my cuddling time with Fiona, I'd probably want to stay out of their way.

I placed my hands on Fiona's shoulders and looked them straight in the eye. "Now, tell me who you are, and why you're looking for her."

Their cultivation base… Spirit Severing realm… it's higher than Fiona's nascent realm and mine. If we fight, we will lose, guaranteed. I just need to put on this facade of a 'master' and scare them a little.

"S-sir, we truly h-have no ill intentions." It worked. Haha, posing as someone strong sure feels nice.

They glanced at each other and nodded. "Let us introduce ourselves. We're city guards, and they sent us from the city palace about the appearance of you, and your, uh, daughter."

"Oh? I suppose the city lord knows about this?"

They nodded hastily. "He would like to invite the two of you to the palace to chat."

There are no weird feelings coming from them, so it's not a trap. But these are just guards, and inexperienced ones at that, so they won't know the grand scheme. I'd better be careful and see if I can draw him out sometime.

No, that's a terrible idea. The citizens would most likely support their lord if they saw us battling. Their sheer numbers and higher cultivation bases will overrun us. Though this city is the weakest in the continent, cultivators that are many times stronger than us may still hide from worldly matters. Is it better to settle this privately?

Bah, Fiona just woke up and she'll be hungry. Let's just eat first, then deal with this matter.

I waved my hand. "Sorry, I'm not in the mood right now. You guys ruined my sleep, we'll come to see you later. You don't have to worry about us leaving, besides," I glanced inside the inn, at the book which I imprinted my spiritual essence onto, "the city lord should have ways to track cultivators here, no?"

The two shuddered and the one I stepped all over last night even mumbled, "How did he know?"

My goodness, is the intelligence of this world just that low, or are they just acting? First, that saint cultivator and the mosquitoes. Shocked over this simple deduction? What's wrong with the people here? No, this can't be… the main characters antagonists are always smart, so they are definitely playing some reverse psychology on me.

"S-sir, the c-city lord wanted you over now."

"Yes, you bastard! Trying to run because you're scared? You only caught me by surprise last time!"

I drew my dagger and spun it on my finger. These guys are really getting on my nerves. Fiona needs to eat breakfast! And this guy, his voice is so irritating…

"Go." I spat.

They looked at each other and scampered off.

I turned to Fiona. "Do you know the city lord… or does the city lord know you?"

She fiddled with her fingers, with her head down. "Um, Fiona's hungry! Let's go eat, daddy."

Tch. I can never argue with her. That makes me mad… why doesn't she just tell me her identity? Is it special? Come to think of it, she's a nascent realm cultivator at seven, carries spiritual rings filled with gold and pills… and her mom sent her to gain experience, like a mother bear and her cubs. Could she be a princess, maybe?

Hahaha, no. She doesn't trust me enough, wuuuuu~

We need more bonding moments! Pill-refining is one, and that's cultivation related. Something related to cultivation, as we are in a cultivated world…

What's the life of a cultivator? Ride flying swords, get a harem, go into seclusion, destroy sects, face-slap, bullshit, and make people fume in anger.

Huh. Sounds fun.

But they all require one to be strong!

It looks like improving my cultivation is the way to go… ah, after we eat, we can go look around for some things to buy. Money buys a lot of things, but can it buy trust?

"Sure, let's go. What would you like to eat?"

_________

"Talismans, talismans! Talisman for sale! Many high-ranked talismans! Convenient and effective, it can even protect one's life! Just 100 tales of gold!"

"Ahaha, that was a great hunt last night!"

"What are you talking about? You were halfway to heaven, and we got absolutely nothing except for being destroyed! Stop dreaming! Your fantasies will never come true!"

"Damnit, that fucking beggar couldn't sell the artifact for just a little cheaper!"

Clammers and chatter rose around the streets as Fiona and I walked around. The place reminded me of a night market of some sort, with small shops and stalls set up around the streets.

I could see many kinds of people. Tall to short, thin and fat, young and old alike. Most were commoners, with no cultivation base at all. Huh. There are some 'mortals' in the cultivation world. That's probably why Fiona adapted to my world so fast.

"Do you find anything good, Fiona?"

She shook her head.

"We'll keep looking around then."

_______

We walked around the streets for a while now. The cool morning breeze had already passed, so Fiona and I drank some osmanthus flower juice bought from a street stall to cool off.

"There's nothing good on the streets, daddy. Let's go to the stores."

"M'kay." I wasn't expecting much, anyway.

"Hey!" An arrogant voice boasted from behind us. Ooh boy, just one step into the 'rich' zone, and already an arrogant young master has appeared.

I turned around. "Are you looking for me?"

"Of course. Now, give me your spiritual rings. You look like you have some good, no, marvellous things." A short and thin teen walked in front of me. Jesus Christ, what happened to your nose? That thing is longer and sharper than Pinocchio! You can fight with that thing! Just how arrogant can one get?

"Why should I?"

"I am the city lord's nephew! You better hand over your things, else I'll call my uncle."

"No, I want my things."

Anger flared up within him, and a long stream of air shot from his nose. "Leave your things, or die!"

"..."

I truly had not expected to meet these kinds of people so soon. Come on, if you're the almighty, all so powerful city lord's nephew, why do you want my things? What a pain in the neck. Fiona should stay clear of these people, in case she gets influenced. What's a way to deal with this…

"AH! Please spare my life! I'm sorry for offending you…. How about I give my daughter to you? She's young and still pure… anything for my life!"

The arrogant boy took a long look at Fiona, his bodyguards close behind him. One of them snickered.

I elbowed Fiona, and she forced out a smile. The cuteness overload is super effective!

"Not bad, not bad. I can accept her and your ring for your worthless life."

Hey, you wanted my things, so I'm not worthless, idiot.

"Of course. Can I say goodbye to her first? We've spent a lot of time together, and I bought lots of things for her…. "

Arrogant Pinnochio waved his hand. "Yea, yea, go do your farewells fast, else you know what will happen."

"Mm." I shook my head nervously and turned to Fiona. "Daisy, I'm so sorry but daddy wants to live. How about we play one more game of hopscotch before we part?"

"One, two, three, four. We'll stop at the alley, okay?"

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Uh, sorry, sir. This is her favorite game that she wants to play before we leave, and it requires us to move around…"

"Come Daisy! We'll hop around till we're, uh, dizzy!"

So we hopped around till we were dizzy, and away from the commotion, near a deserted area.

Great. I smirked. "Looks like we have to part, Daisy. Goodbye…"

"Now, hand her over-!"

I grabbed a stone, and Fiona cast a spell.

Thump. They fell down unconscious, one, two, three easy kills.

I clapped my hands, shaking the dust off. "Never lay your eyes on my daughter."

"Daddy, Daisy is such an ugly name. Fiona is better."

I hugged her again. "Yes, yes, Fiona is better. Wonderful job with the acting!"

"Hahaha! That was fun!"

Bonding moment! This is it! Shamelessness is still the way to go in the cultivation world. Thank god I have the novels as my guidance…

"Daddy, should we go back to shopping? I don't think there are good things here though…"

"No, it's all right. We'll be getting our things in another way…"

You want to try to rob me? Well, I'll not only try, but I will rob you. Looks like we will pay a visit to the city lord earlier than expected….