Chapter 56: Caught

It was the darkest night Xu Ming had ever seen.

During the day, he had subtly inquired about the inner sect and the core sect. 

Dong Zhen was quite naive and didn't wonder why Xu Ming was asking and simply told him everything he knew.

Xu Ming now knew the direction towards the inner sect, from there he wanted to go to the core sect. Although he understood that it was risky for him, he didn't want to leave the necklace that contained his mother with someone else.

His mother was the last person of his family that was alive at the moment. He didn't want to risk her, even if it cost him his life.

He didn't have any special movement skill, thus he could only walk at his slow speed.

Xu Ming was quite lucky as he had managed to travel half the journey without being caught by a guard. Just a little more and he would be at the entrance of the inner sect.

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Yao was sleeping peacefully when he felt the need to go pee.

He opened his eyes and sat up. He was still half asleep, thus he didn't notice that Xu Ming was missing.

He left the hut and after being done with his work, he walked back inside and fell down on his bed.

He had just closed his eyes again when he felt like something was missing. He opened his eyes again as he sat up.

He looked towards Xu Ming's bed. His eyes opened wide as he found the bed empty.

"Get up!" He got off the bed and woke up the other three who were still sleeping.

"Uhmm. What happened boss. Why are you creating such a commotion?" 

Dong Zhen woke up and asked as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Xu Ming is missing!" Yao let out loud.

"Get off your ass and help me look for him." He said to all three of them.

All of them were shocked and instantly got off the bed and followed Yao as they left the hut.

"Brother Yao, Now that I think about it, I think Xu Ming might have gone to the inner sect or the core sect? " Dong Zhen remembered Xu Ming's question this morning and informed Yao 

"That... How do you know about that?" Yao inquired with curiosity. Although he knew that the words made sense, as he knew how eager Xu Ming was about his necklace, he wondered how Dong Zhen knew.

"He was asking about the direction in the morning. I didn't think it through and told him about it." Dong Zhen said in an apologetic tone.

"You idiot!"  Yao let out loudly as he started running towards the inner sect.

The others followed him.

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Xu Ming was still treading ahead, but his luck didn't help him anymore.

"Who's there? Stop!" A guard noticed Xu Ming and called out. He brought out a transmission talisman and informed the other guards.

Soon, Xu Ming was surrounded by guards who were pointing their sword towards Xu Ming.

"Who are you! What were you doing sneaking in our ward!" One of the guards asked.

" Hah, If it isn't the bastard that was following Yao? Did that bastard send you alone to steal from our ward?" 

Before Xu Ming could answer, he heard another voice.

He saw a man walking towards him. The man looked like he was in his late twenties.

Xu Ming recognized that person. He had seen him in the morning. He was Zhang, the chief servant of Ward 1. He was a 7th stage Body Refining Realm Cultivator

"I'm going towards the inner sect. It's not my intent to stop at your ward." Xu Ming softly replied.

" Hah, do you think that we would believe you? Catch him and take him to the cell. We'll take our sweet time beating him and getting him to accept his crimes. Let us see how long he can keep lying" Zhang said with a grin on his face as he ordered his subordinates.

The subordinates walked towards Xu Ming.

"You dare!" Just as they were about to catch him, a powerful voice stopped them.

They looked in that direction and saw 4 people running towards them.

"Yao! What do you think you are doing in our ward? Do you want to attack our ward?" Zhang called out as he glared at Yao.

" I have no such intention. I just came to take Xu Ming back with me." Yao said as he continued walking towards Xu Ming without stopping.

"Let's go, little guy. Don't create trouble." Yao looked at Xu Ming as he said in an annoyed tone. 

"Do you think you can take him? That guy was sneaking in our ward. It was clear what he wanted to do. Do you think you can take him without any punishment?" Zhang said with an amused smile on his face.

" He will be in our cell. We caught him and it's our right to punish him." He further said.

Yao was starting to get angry.

"Don't annoy me, Zhang! Do you really think that we would send someone who can't even cultivate to steal here and come here after him? Stop with this Idiocracy!"  He yelled.

" If he wasn't here to steal, then why was he here? Do you have an answer?" Zhang asked with a smile.

" Yes! He snuck out of our ward. He wants to meet battle fairy Mia to take back his necklace. If you don't believe it, you can talk to Elder Jin about it. He knows about it. I told him against it, but he ignored me and left." Yao explained in short.

" Now move aside, and let me leave with him." He further said as he walked ahead.

" If you want to fight, then I'll oblige you, but in any condition, I'm not leaving without him tonight." He warned Zhang as he saw him not moving to the area.

" Let him go," Zhang said in an upset tone as he moved. He didn't want to fight right now.

Yao walked forth and grabbed the hand of Xu Ming and left.