“I’m one of Cheng Hao’s… well, servants, I guess?”

Aster’s lips stretched into a tired smile as he extended his hand.:

“Oh, whatever, that is not important. As you may have guessed, my name is Aster, Nice to meet you!”

Up to here, nothing surprised Fang Lu too much.

Teleportation? Yeah, he could bear that knowledge of that, especially since the way it worked was explained to him. The guy was the rowdy girl’s martial brother? Happier than ever not to have defied the girl’s orders and grabbed her somewhere else than her arms. Cheng Hao’s servant? Man, that guy never ceases to amaze me… This guy’s name was Aster? Cool bro, name’s Fang Lu, thanks, bye.

“I hope we will get along, otherwise these remaining twelve months are going to be hell!”

However, the first thing that went through Fang Lu’s mind as he processed those words was:

Twelve Months? What. The. Fuck.

The chubby youth waved his arms around and shook his head:

“Waitwaitwaiwaitwait… hold on a second! Did you just say-”

…Only to be interrupted by an excited Fu Yin.

“Woah! Lao Jianghu told me about you! You are an ancient, right???” Before anybody could react, Fu Yin had disappeared from his previous spot and had appeared in front of the white haired man, frenetically shaking the other’s hand.

“The other girl didn’t look the part, she was quite a brute actually, but you are the real deal! Oh, dear me, those red eyes are so cool! Please tell me, who a-” the boy’s words were cut off as white light lit up the room once more.

Whoosh!

This time as well, three figures walked out from within the door of white light.

In the middle was the ginger haired girl, her complexion even paler than before. Beneath her breath, as she panted, mutters of “Never doing that again” and “Gonna kill that Lao Jianghu bastard, devise your plans without counting me in next time!” reached the ears of those present.

On the right, a beautiful girl with bright, phoenix eyes, her long, dark hair tied into two buns, held her right hand. The sleeveless robes showed the toned arms and fair skin as she smiled powerlessly and patted the ginger haired girl on the back comfortably.

Finally, on the left, a young child, her green eyes glittering with excitement, walked forward, examining the familiar faces looking for the one she was searching for. Then, her eyes lit up as they landed on Fu Yin’s figure:

“Bro! You really are here!”

The boy immediately shut his mouth and turned to look at her, his excitement bordering on madness completely washed away as he waved at her smiling:

“Yo sis!”

“Brother!”

The girl started running. Fu Yin couldn’t help but feel touched as he saw the girl coming at him with her arms opened wide…

“Sis!”

“Bro!”

The girl’s purple and blue locks fluttered behind her as she ran towards the white haired youth, a broad smile on her face as she summoned the Black Dragon Sword...

“Sis?”

“Bro!”

“Sis, what are you…”

“How dare you keep me out of your plans, you dense bastard!”

Slash!

“I-I’m sorry! It was not my choice!”

“Oh? Then make it your own! You have the power, don’t you!”

Slash!

“But…”

Slash!”

“No buts!”

“However…”

Slash!

“No synonyms allowed either!”

“Oh come on, that ain’t fair!”

Slash

“But it does look fair in my eyes!”

“Hey! You said no buts!”

“...”

Slash! Slash! Slash!

…

Iris was staring wide-eyed at the unlikely situation unfolding before her. What was happening right now was something that was both shocking as well as ridiculous. Huge gashes were created on the walls, floor and even on the ceiling as the two small figures chased and dodged all over the place.

The sharp black blade cut through the materials with which the room had been built in like a hot knife cutting through butter… soon, the whole place was trembling with rubble falling from above as the room’s foundation was shaken.

She really didn’t know how exactly she should act. Just as she was about to step in, Aster appeared beside her, grabbing her shoulder before she could make a move. Her red eyes, full of doubt, met his own.

She saw the lack of fear and carefreeness of the man before her, a person that had been her big brother for longer than she could remember, reflected within the red orbs. She sighed and waited. For what she didn’t know yet…

Just then, a loud voice rang across the room, a vicious and overbearing presence spreading all over the place.

“WILL YOU TWO EVER STOP ACTING LIKE BRATS!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TIME IT TOOK ME TO BUILD THIS PLACE?”

An old man, bordering his eighties, had stepped into the room. His cultivation was one that made even the arrogant Iris gulp. She remembered him as being the first person she had transported here a few weeks ago to perform the task of securing a safe heaven for them to escape to on any given occasion…

She shook at the thought of her having vented out her feelings of annoyance on the old man. Now, she deeply regretted it. After all, the feeling the old man gave off was not one bit inferior to what she remembered her brother had given off just a few weeks before reaching the peak of the Mortal Realm.

The old man… was actually an high level Reverend expert!

The two children, however, did not even do as much as flinch at the appearance of the old man.

“Oh, come on old man… we are brats!” Fu Yin replied as he dodged a vicious slash from the girl’s blade.

“Wrong. You two are not just brats. You are the brats I am supposed to take care of!” The old man’s presence flared up and both Fu Yin and Xiao Wu stopped in place, unable to move as they were locked in place by their opponent.

Iris was staring wide eyed, gaping at the situation…

“You are no fun, old man!” Fu Yin chuckled.

“Senior Lu Fang! Please, let me go and kick big brother’s ass! Pretty please?” Xiao Wu put up a cute appearance, her green eyes sparkling as she stared at the old man.

Lu Fang sighed:

“I swear, if you two do not stop this…”

“Not even a little poke? I swear I’ll try not to kill him!”

“Act your age Little Wu!”

“Oh, com-”

“Could everyone just SHUT THE HELL UP for a moment?”

The whole room went silent as they all turned towards Fang Lu. The chubby youth’s eyes were filled with bloodlust as he opened his mouth again:

“Listen closely and answer to my question… I have no qualms about hurting people, and I am sure I would be able to take some of you down with me if I so wish. Where are we, and why am I here? Be sure to answer that truthfully, otherwise…”

The scroll hanging from the youth’s back suddenly slid out of its sheath and unravelled. It floated in midair and, when its content was revealed, even a few of the people with their cultivation at the peak of the Mortal Realm couldn’t help but shudder.

The reason for that was because, of the nine characters on the scroll present in each of the nine columns, seven each, for a total of sixty three characters were all lit up and shone an eery, multicolored light…

“... this shall turn into our tomb. Mine, and that of the unlucky members of this group whom I will bring down with me!”