134 Ambush

"Hurry, catch that Pig, Brother Nick!" Loyd said anxiously.

And although Nick wanted to tell Loyd to go chase the pig himself, he stopped because he didn't want his palace to suffer an eternal blemish by having a naked man chase a pig inside it. So, Nick could only chase after the pig himself.

But just as Nick was about to give chase, he remembered his position as the Emperor of this palace, which meant that in here, his words were law, in here, he was a god!

"As the Emperor of this Palace, I command you to stop where you are!" Nick commanded solemnly.

Oink! Oink! Oink! The little Piggy placed Loyd's cloth on the ground to Oink, and then picked it back up and started running again.

Nick didn't know a single word out of the beast language, but for some reason, he felt he could understand the little Piggy's words. Nick felt like the little piggy was saying, 'You stop where you are stupid motherfucker! And who is the real Emperor of this palace, who died and elected you king?! Don't make me teach you a thing or two about democracy little boy!'

And upon translating the little Piggy's words however he wanted, Nick felt triggered. So, now fueled by the newfound hate he carried for the Piggy, Nick gave chase! But unlike the short and easy chase he had anticipated, the actual chase was much…easier. He had lifted the little Piggy up by his third step, and she was dangling, in front of his face, from his palm, by her neck, as she stared at him with an innocent and confused look.

"What were you saying earlier?!" Nick asked cockily.

"Oink?" Piggy asked as she pointed at herself in amazement. But she dropped Loyd's cloth from her mouth in the process, yet Nick didn't even cast it a glance as his gaze remained intently trained on the little Piggy.

"Yes, you! Now tell me, who is the Emperor of this Palace?!" Nick asked, unwilling to fall for the Little Piggy's innocent and cute act.

"Oink." The Piggy replied matter-of-factly while using both her front feet to pat Nick's head with a smile, as if she was crowning him the Emperor now.

"What a shameless Pig! Good, keep it up." Nick placed the little Piggy on the ground and crouched down to pet her head with praise.

Oink, oink, oink!

The Piggy shivered in happiness, apparently enjoying Nick's petting.

"Oink, oink." But the little Piggy soon oinked at Nick with a look of regret on her face.

"Oh, you like talking to me, but you have to go now?" Nick asked.

"Oink." Piggy nodded regretfully.

"Well, go ahead then. Don't let me hold you up." Nick said with a smile as he stood up and waved at the Piggy.

The Piggy, now on the ground, grabbed the clothes she had dropped earlier and waved at Nick as she walked away. But after she took two steps forward, she turned back to look at Nick with confusion, and after repeating this process many times, the little Piggy was still unable to shake the bad feeling she was getting, so, she did what her instincts were screaming at her to do. She ran over to Loyd by the pool and with a slight snort; she dropped his clothes into the pool and walked off with style.

Loyd was shocked by what was going on before him. Was Nick really able to understand the little Pig, or was he just crazy?! And why did the stupid pig throw his cloth into the pool, was it that difficult to just hand it to him?!

"Okay, quickly get dressed and get out of the pool! I need to soak in it before Silver reaches the Gathering city." Nick said, turning his back to Loyd allowing him to get dressed.

"Master, I am about a mile out from the city, please take over now." Silver said.

"…" Nick was stunned, he didn't even get to soak a little at the end.

"What's the matter brother Nick?" Loyd had already gotten dressed and was about to head into the palace to give Nick his privacy, but he stopped in his tracks and asked Nick what was wrong upon seeing Nick's stunned face.

"Well…I have to go outside now…" Nick said.

"Oh, that's great! That means that I can stay in the healing pool then, right?!" Loyd said happily, as he started getting undressed.

"Keep your clothes on, will you?! No, you can't stay in the pool, because you will be going into the Gathering city with me!" Nick snapped. He could not let this bastard chill in the pool as he worked his ass off out there.

"But…" Loyd tried to defend himself.

"No, buts! I will send you outside first!" Nick said, and with a snap of his finger, Loyd was teleported outside the Palace and placed right on top of Silver's saddle.

"Hi, Stupid human." Silver greeted Loyd.

"Hi," Loyd replied.

And after a few seconds of choosing what to wear, Nick went for something that wouldn't stand out among the crowd of cultivators later, he chose a golden robe with dragon embroidered on it, this was like a trend in this cultivation world as even people that have never cultivated before dressed like this as they felt it made them look cool and fashionable. And after making sure everything was in order, Nick joined Loyd outside.

"In you go Silver." Said Nick, and took Silver into his Pet space.

"Where are we headed, brother Nick?" Loyd asked, completely unbothered by the disappearance of such a large fellow, he had already seen Nick teleport him in and out of that magical palace, so he wouldn't be surprised now even if Nick pulled a rabbit out of his ass.

"For the third time, we are going to the Gathering city. We will be looking for the rest of the crew in there, here, take this picture and show it around, and inform me the second you find out anything!" Nick snapped.

"Yes, brother Nick," Loyd said seriously, he knew very well that his value to Nick would depend on how well he performed on this mission, so he was determined to prove himself.

"Off we go then," Nick said.

Snap, snap, snap! Loyd rushed ahead, using his very precious Speed technique, the Snappy feet technique. But after moving forward for a few meters, Loyd stopped and looked back to find Nick staring at his feet in an inquisitive manner. Loyd was proud upon seeing Nick's look of interest, and he introduced his skill.

"Brother Nick, I see that you are a man with sharp eyes, yes, this technique I am using is very unique and powerful, It is called the Snappy feet technique, and it is a very powerful speed technique! And although this technique is unimaginably precious to me, I don't usually share it with others, but since you have helped me so dearly, I can teach it to you. Just that, it will take you years to reach my level of mastery." Loyd said, cockily.

"Hmm, not bad, I like the snaps it makes as you run, it has a nice sense of rhythm to it, I will use it now," Nick said, and he immediately used the Snappy feet technique to rushed ahead of Loyd.

"What?! But how?!" Loyd, unable to believe what he was seeing asked.

"Please keep up Loyd." Nick didn't answer his question, since the bastard was so cocky just earlier why not let him continue acting cocky.

"Wait up, brother Nick, please explain this!" Loyd gave chase, but no matter how he barraged Nick with questions, he couldn't get a straight answer.

Silver had stopped tens of miles away in order to avoid detection from the peak powerhouses that might be in the city. So, Loyd and Nick had a long way ahead of them.

"People up ahead, be vigilant!" Nick stopped in his tracks all of a sudden and said.

"I don't see anyone though." Loyd darted a confused glance at Nick, but it stunned him to find Nick's eyes had turned golden and dilated.

Nick had been using the Dragon eyes just to be vigilant, and living up to their name as the eyes of a dragon, they uncovered the group of cultivators up ahead, who were camouflaged and waiting to ambush them. The people were skilled enough to avoid Loyd's detection so their skills were up to standard, but Nick's eyes could see where they were hiding and the uncomfortable position they were in, cramped together under the ground.

"What should we do now?" Loyd asked.

"Act like you haven't noticed, and just go ahead, I'm pretty sure you can handle them," Nick said encouragingly.

"But…you, what will you be doing?" Asked Loyd, a little dumbfounded by Nick's shamelessness.

"I will act as backup, of course. I will clean up those that try to get away." Nick said. But as he saw the twenty people that were hiding underground, he prayed that Loyd would survive this.

"How many are there?" Loyd asked.

"I don't know, I just know that there are enough…" Nick replied with his innocent blinking eyes.

"Well then, here I go," Loyd said, trying his best to pump himself up.

"Go ahead, rest in peace, I mean, don��t rest until they are in pieces!" Said Nick, with tears in his eyes, making Loyd feel very uneasy.

Gulp!

Swallowing hard, Loyd walked straight forward, taking caution at every step, maintain strict vigilance all the way. And he kept turning his head to see if Nick could tell him if he was close, but all Nick did was wave at him sadly, as if he was walking to his doom. Loyd felt tempted to turn back already, but as he thought about all the things Nick had done for him, he felt like turning back now would make him look ungrateful.

The first step, second steps, third steps, nothing. Now he began doubting Nick, were there really people around here.

Fourth step, fifth step, sixth step, still nothing, Loyd's doubts grew. Was Nick playing a prank on him?

Bang! But out of nowhere, the ground around Loyd caved in as a large group of cultivators jumped out and pointed their weapons at him.

"Haha! We got you surrounded, put your hands in the air!" One of the men from the group said. This man's name was Greg, and he was the leader of this merry band of bandits and thieves.

"Brother Loyd, Fighting!" Nick cheered him on from the sidelines, which was a big mistake since it only served to annoy Loyd and alert the bandits to his presence.