Enslaved

Xiao Lan was being dragged through the streets of Green Silk Town, caged inside a steel cage. Everyone gazed at her in all kinds: kind, disgusting, and mocking. She could sense all of them but didn't care one bit.

They were humans and she never had a good impression of humans, especially after experiencing her new life. Humans were all wretched creatures who would enslave their own kind and would be happy about it.

What were these beings if not pure disgusting?

That's why Xiao Lan didn't care about the gazes she received. For her, the crowd was nothing but ants. She snorted and rested her head down, ignoring the curses of the man who was dragging her cage.

It was nothing new. She had been treated this way for the past few years and had gotten a habit of it. Even the bumps on the road didn't manage to change her posture.

However, then she felt a strange gaze upon her. It was different from the gazes she always received. It was filled with anger, but that anger wasn't directed at her. It was more of for her.

She got confused and perked up her ears to listen to the conversation around her. She closed her eyes and focused on the conversation of a man whose gaze she had perceived and the man who was dragging her cage.

After hearing the exchange, she scoffed, feeling disdain creep in her heart. As she expected, all humans were the same. But this human was slightly different. Others would want her if she was dressed nicely and looked beautiful, but this man wanted her even with her rough appearance.

It didn't change the fact that he was also treating her like an object and was planning to buy her.

Xiao Lan didn't really want to see the man's face. Still in curiosity, she raised her face and looked at the man who had walked as her cage was again being dragged towards the Auction House.

'Why can't I sense his aura? Even if he was a mortal, I should have been able to tell. Why is it that I can't sense his aura?'

Xiao Lan forgot about her earlier thought and looked at the man with confused eyes. She was the Heavenly Phoenix Empress, and even though she didn't have her Cultivation, her soul was very strong. She could even sense the people from the Divine Realm, let alone the weak Cultivators of this small realm.

She could even sense Mortal's aura and tell how powerful they were, how their health was, and practically everything. 

However, she couldn't see through the young man. It was as if he was covered in a fog of mystery. But that fog was eroding her mind and was forcing her to believe that the man was very ordinary.

But Xiao Lan had a powerful soul, and she instantly detected the change in her mind. Startled and alarmed, she immediately used her Soul Energy to cleanse her mind.

Instantly, all of her confusion and the veil that was preventing her from seeing through the man vanished. She still couldn't see through the man, but she could now see the emptiness hiding in his body.

It was horrifying, and when Xiao Lan tried to see that emptiness, she felt her soul being split apart. Afraid, she hurriedly looked away and gasped for breaths. Her face was covered in sweat as her chest rose and fell rapidly.

'W-What is he? Why does an existence so horrifying be living in this shit place?'

Xiao Lan was too confused, but first, she needed to do something about her soul, which was on the verge of falling apart. A single glimpse inside the man had almost destroyed her Divine Soul to oblivion.

No, destroying wasn't a correct word. It was as if her soul was slowly being forgotten by the world, as if her soul was being slowly dissolved in something too horrifying to imagine.

Xiao Lan closed her eyes and tried her best to calm her soul. Fortunately, she had looked away in time, and the damage wasn't huge. It would only take a couple of days for her soul to heal to its previous state.

Xiao Lan sighed after finally having her Soul stabilized. She frowned, thinking of something. Now that her soul was damaged, she couldn't escape from the Slave Organisation or the one who would buy her.

The single glimpse had caused enough damage to her soul that she wouldn't be able to use her powers for a couple of days, meaning she was left at the whims of the slave organization or the one who would buy her.

'Hah! So, I'm going to lose my virginity, which I saved even in my previous life like this? To a random lustful guy? Huh! What a tragedy.'

However, it was then she remembered something that she had forgotten because of the side effects of looking into the inside of that strange man.

She narrowed her eyes as she thought about what happened back then. When she was looking at that man in confusion, he had mouthed some words, but what were they?

Xiao Lan tried hard to remember and finally remembered. 

'He will save me? What?'

Xiao Lan was even more confused by his words. He would save her by buying her? But the most confusing thing was, if he really wanted to save her, then he could simply save her directly; why go through so much trouble to buy her? With what Xiao Lan had seen, she was sure of one thing.

The man was at atleast the top of the Divine Realm. The power he held was too much. Just by existing, he could vanish Divine Souls. Just from that, one could imagine the power that man held.

But why would such a man would be found in this weak world and refuse to use his powers?

'Is he perhaps one of those seniors who seek mortal worlds and mortal life to understand the meaning of life and transcend above the Dao?'

Xiao Lan sighed, feeling a headache from all the questions she had. She shook her head and thought.

'Well, I'll find out everything tonight when he buys me. If he buys me, that is.'