As a result, Sun Zixin slowly got up and bowed in the direction of the cultivator before hobbling over to Long Di and the others.

When he finally made his way over, Long Di asked him a simple question. “Want me to kill him?”

*****

When Sun Zixin heard the question, he inwardly shuddered. The way Long Di asked that question evoked a sense of shock and trepidation in him, as if he would truly carry it out.

Just then, a bout of panic overtook him, causing both him and his siblings to look around in fear that someone might have heard him.

Upon realising that no one heard them, a spate of relief washed over them.

He then looked at Long Di and said. “I appreciate your help thus far, but it’s best if you don’t associate yourself with us too much. Mortals and cultivators don’t mix or mingle. Doing so can very well bring ridicule your way. That’s why I’ve had us move a little farther away from you. I’ll still tell you what I learned, but after this, it’s best if we go our separate wa-.”

Long Di waved his hand to cut off Sun Zixin and fixed his expressionless gaze on him, causing a lump to form in the latter’s throat.

“I asked you if you would like for me to kill him?” Long Di repeated the same question.

Sun Zixin realised that Long Di was very serious and vigorously shook his head.

“Okay,” Long Di stood in that same spot.

He then stated. “I don’t consider you a friend since we just met and all. However, I don’t think you’re a bad person and you’re doing your best to support your family. I can respect that. Now I don’t know what happened to your parents, but considering the general make-up here,” he chanced a glance at Sun Mei and Sun Kai.

“I don’t think the conclusion for that is well met in any way. Nevertheless, you helped me and I have the power to more than help you. And no, pointing your finger to take me to a place where you were already going to doesn’t constitute help. No one here has the power to stop me from hanging out with who I want to hang out with. If I want to be with you all, and they make fun of me for it, then, in the words of my friend Yaomu Shou, screw em. If they take physical action, then I will take physical action. Spoiler alert, me taking physical action, will stop them from taking any more physical action.”

Sun Mei’s eyes actually turned glossy before a bead of tear welled up in her eyes.

Long Di was taken aback by this. “Did I say something wrong? Pebbles, did I say something wrong?”

“Meow.”

“Crap, and I thought that was good.” Long Di cursed himself and his feeble attempt at trying to make these kids feel good.

“Stop lying to him, you stinking cat! Long Di, you did good!” Mina said, glaring at Pebbles all the while.

Though she and Long Di were ever at odds, she knew the significance of him being able to say something that was actually heartfelt-ish and worked as intended. She supported him on that. In fact, she supported him on a lot of things.

Regardless, Pebbles was the last person he needed to ask anything since the latter was just as damaged as he was. Sure, he manifested being damaged differently from Long Di, but that was about as comfortable as replying to someone on the street when you thought they said hi when they were talking to someone behind you.

“Thank you, Long Di,” Sun Zixin finally said.

Long Di just noticed that this was the first time that Long Zixin called him by his name. It was either esteemed immortal or some other cringy appellation.

It seemed that by some tiny integer, Sun Zixin and the others have come to accept him.

Shen Ling and Xiannu Liang smiled at this. Shen Ling, in particular, was proud of him. Long Di was learning to be a normal-ish person.

“You’re welcome. So what’s going on?” Long Di wanted to move on quickly because he had no idea what came after any of this.

“Oh!” Sun Zixin remembered what he learned from the merchants ahead. “Apparently, some bigshot is visiting Golden Lion Gate!”

“Some bigshot?” Shen Ling asked curiously. “Did they say who it was?”

Sun Zixin shook his head. “No, the merchants didn’t know. However, the cultivators might and it’s the reason why so many from far away are congregating here. I hear that there is a competition taking place. It’s a martial competition usually held by Golden Lion Gate to temper their disciples, but since this person is coming, they’re making it an open competition to both impress this guest of theirs and expand their prestige.”

Long Di didn’t think it was Wei Yun. Based on how the latter spoke, they made it seem as if they were already at Golden Lion Gate within Cang Bian City waiting for him for a while now. With everything happening right now, that meant that something else was taking place.

“What’s the prize?” Long Di was slightly intrigued by all this.

Sun Zixin shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. They didn’t say, or it’d be more accurate to say that they didn’t know.”

He was referring to the merchants he spoke to, to gain this information.

“Well, when we finally get inside the city. I’m sure we’ll be able to get some more information,” stated Xiannu Liang.

They waited in line for the next few hours and it was then that Long Di and the others were reminded how truly fragile mortals were.

Sun Mei found it hard to hold on to Sun Kai for much longer and fatigue began settling in for them. It was the early parts of the morning by now and the biting cold gnawed at them. They shivered and their teeth clattered under its influence.

It was so bad that Sun Zixin had to tear the hem of his rags and used it as extra padding for Sun Kai before huddling with his sister and little brother to share their warmth.

They had no idea why they were only feeling it now, but it was unbearable for the most part.

The truth was that Pebble’s draconic aura carried with it a level of heat as well. Even though he had retracted it earlier, it wasn’t a hundred percent and just the heat that leaked from him was enough to keep the power of the element from affecting them as much as it was now.

The more he stayed in this form of his, the better he got at reining in his aura and it was nearly nonexistent right now.

Of course, Pebbles wasn’t paying much attention to them, to begin with since he was sleeping on Long Di’s shoulder.

Nevertheless, Shen Ling and Xiannu Liang saw this and nudged Mina who sighed before she prodded Long Di who then saw what was happening.

“Earth flame?” he asked them questioningly.

They all performed extreme hand gestures to tell him no, which didn’t translate well at all. They were doing the most, especially Mina. They were doing the X-games of hand gestures.

Eventually, Long Di sighed and erected a qi shield around him and them, absent the Sun siblings.

“Okay now, what the heck was that?”

“Are you crazy!? You can’t use the earth flame here!” Mina blurted out after realising the qi shield he constructed had sound soundproof qualities.

“Why can’t I use the earth flame?” asked Long Di.

“It’s too powerful!” Mina wanted to smack him upside the head.

“I can control the heat. That’s not a very compelling point if I’m being honest.” Long Di wanted to help, and they were now trying to stop him. What was he to do?

Shen Ling stepped forward. “Long Di, the earth flame is extremely powerful and eye-catching. There’s no reason to be so conspicuous here. Just erecting the qi shield for them as well, since it feels a bit warmer in here.”

“Makes sense,” Long Di agreed.

Mina was appalled at this. “How come you agreed with her so easily?”

Long Di shrugged. “She put forward points that I agree with.”

Mina placed both hands on her hips. “And I didn’t!?”

“Not gonna lie. Sometimes your very existence is an argument I don’t agree with,” stated Long Di.

“Drop dead!” Mina fumed.

“Love you too Mina,” Long Di said offhandedly. He then extended the scope of his qi shield until it enveloped the Sun siblings as well.

Upon doing this, he saw the shaking that plagued them slowly peter out until it ceased altogether.

“Thank you!” Sun Mei was thankful. It pained her to see Sun Kai as he was earlier. His finally calming down put her at ease.

The only reason why he was so quiet all this time was because he was tired.

Sun Zixin thanked him as well. He was no longer so denying of Long Di and the others’ help.

“It’s fine.” Long Di waved his hand, telling him that he needn’t worry.

The line was moving rather fast and by the end of the next day. They were not too far from the city gates.

Long Di learned that Sun Zixin and the others didn’t need to eat as frequently as he thought they would. When he asked them about it, they told him the magical beast meat they ate had properties that kept them full well beyond the norm.

In addition, it was still warm, so they thanked him for this. They felt like it was something that would be able to keep them full for a month.

Once they were closer, the cultivator that tripped them looked back and sneered at the Sun siblings then at Long Di and the others before entering the city.

I’m gonna put some dirt in your eye.” Long Di decided.

Once it was the Long Di and the other’s turn, they saw three city guards who were responsible for processing the people coming in.

One of the city guards was a burly man with a severe gaze. His mannerisms reminded Long Di of those drill sergeants he watched on YouTube shorts.

He wore soft leather armour like what you would expect in your run-of-the-mill magical fantasy RPG.

“It seems you had a good haul,” he said as he espied the light-shroud evil durian on Sun Zixin’s shovel.

Sun Zixin merely smiled wryly. “I had a little help is all.”

He didn’t say anything more and simply nodded at them to enter. They bowed in his direction before going through the entrance. They walked on inside and waited for Long Di and the others on the other side.

“What are your names?” the city guard asked.

Mina stepped forward and answered for them, “I’m Tempesta Mina, this is Shen Ling, Xiannu Liang, Di Long…” Long Di raised a brow in the face of this but said nothing.

She then continued moving on to the existence on Long Di’s shoulder. “This is Pebbles.”

“Meow!”

She then corrected herself, saying. “Pebbles the Stinking ca- Ow!”

Pebbles bonked her head with his paw, causing her to recoil in pain.

She glared back at him and promised she would get him back for this.

“Sorry, I meant I Pebbles the Wondercat and the bigger-than-life magical beast over there is our beast mount Lord Whiskers Furryback the First.”

The city guard was a little taken aback by all this. He had never seen such magical beasts before and he had seen a lot especially when magical beast tamers came through every now and again.

“What business do you have here?” he asked as he scribbled something in a leather skin book.

Mina took the forefront in answering him. “We’re here to take part in the martial competition.”

The city guard seemed to have expected this and asked them. “Are you coming from the direction of the Great Forest?”

Mina was about to say yes when she saw Sun Zixin shaking his head wildly.

“N-No,” Mina answered, causing the city guard to look at her oddly before turning to look at Sun Zixin and his siblings who were whistling nonchalantly.

“Why are you still here?” he asked.

Sun Zixin squirmed under his gaze. “E-Esteemed immortals commanded us to give them a look around the city.”

“Hmmm…” the city guard didn’t see anything wrong with this and went back to dealing with Mina and the others.

“You’ll need to pay a fee of a hundred gold coins to enter and a thousand gold coins for each of your… pets.”

“Friends,” Long Di corrected him.

“Whatever,” the city guard replied.

Sun Zixin on the other hand was surprised by the high price. “It raised by so much!? And since when have we started to vet people so hard?”

“It’s not our fault. The city lord and Golden Lion Gate have agreed on it. It’s because of what’s been happening within the Great Forest.”

Mina took the money from Long Di and the others and gave it to the guard.

Once everything was finally done, they finally went through and the scene before them caused another raise from the ascending-inclined brow of Long Di.

“This looks nothing like what you described.”