(Southern Region- Xercopolis Empire)
(Huren Province)
"Where is it?! Where is it?!" Xu Lu frantically muttered as she looked around the forest clearing for the bracelet that was on her arm last night.
She rummaged around the nearby bushes, under the trees and even picked up large rocks in hopes of finding the keepsake.
Nothing. Not even a single trace.
The saintess had been searching for two hours now without any luck. The silvery grey mask covering her face could not hide the desperation that shone in her eyes.
Xu Lu did find the kneeling figure carved into the bracelet quite creepy, but she still wore it to sleep every night.
And now it was gone…
It may sound silly, but the bracelet was the only physical connection that she had left that linked her with the mesmerising mortal woman.
She didn't understand how it had disappeared.
Four days had passed since she had left the small village where she had met Jiang Xin and her journey so far had been unusually uneventful.
Squeak! Squeak!
A little white mouse standing on a nearby rock stretched out its tiny arms towards Xu Lu as if asking for a hug.
"Oh, come here you…" Xu Lu smiled briefly as she walked over to her pet and stretched out her right palm.
The mouse scurried up her palm without hesitation and rubbed its furry face against the side of her index finger.
"Do you know where my bracelet is?" Xu Lu jokingly asked.
Squeak! Squeak!
The little white mouse turned away to answer because it didn't want its master to see the guilty expression on its face.
That thing on its master's arm… was yucky… it smelled bad… it smelled wrong…
But its master still wore it on her skin…
The brave white mouse decided to take matters into its own hands and get rid of the nasty thing before it hurt its master.
However, it knew that Xu Lu cherished the nasty thing and with no way of communicating… the mouse decided to just get rid of it while she slept.
Xu Lu reached into her storage bag and fed her pet a small cheese treat. The mouse squeaked happily and then darted into one of the pockets of her robe.
The saintess stood up from the ground and looked around the clearing one more time. No matter how hard she looked… there was nothing there.
"Fuck…" Xu Lu cursed silently under her breath as she looked up at the sky with a trace of regret in her voice.
Maybe… maybe it was for the best…
Cultivation involved transcending beyond human emotions and the connection that she felt with the mortal woman would be dangerous to both herself and the beautiful girl.
Jiang Xin was not a cultivator and even if she was… Xu Lu was not going to make her travel down the thorny path that she needed to go.
In the future she would be one of the most wanted cultivators on the continent. Hundreds if not thousands of cultivators would be hunting her down.
Theoretically those on the demonic side should come to her aid but Xu Lu was not going to trust that den of vipers.
There was a reason why righteous cultivators ruled the continent and that was because they knew how to present a united front if needed.
While on the other side it was basically every man or woman for themselves.
Xu Lu let out a light sigh under her breath and slowly walked away from the clearing.
There was a part of her that still wanted to look for the bracelet, but she forced her legs to move.
She had no idea how long she walked in that dazed state.
All Xu Lu could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other in a never-ending march that seemed to last for eternity.
The sun slowly began to set towards the horizon and dark shadows crept up just waiting for their chance to plunge the world into darkness.
The saintess' footsteps paused as she finally saw a large city in the distance. She reached into her pocket for the map and unfurled the piece of paper.
She had arrived at Tianjin City.
The first major transport hub that would take her to the outskirts of the large metropolis city beneath Mount Xilean.
Xu Lu rubbed her fingers together absentmindedly as she still could not get the image of Jiang Xin out of her mind.
She was just so beautiful… what would happen to her?
Would she settle down with one of the men of the village? Marry and have several children?
Spend the rest of her life as a housewife?
Xu Lu took in a deep breath as she fought down the urge to immediately turn around and run towards the village.
Jiang Xin was hers… hers… HERS.
The saintess stumbled slightly as she gripped her head in pain. What the hell was going on? Was she a lunatic?
Why was she feeling this way towards a girl that she had met for only a single day?
If Jiang Xin could hear her thoughts… she would think that she was a damn psychopath!
(And who could ever love you?)
(You hideous… hideous… monster…)
"Deep breaths… deep breaths… deep… fuck… it's not working… deep breaths…" Xu Lu whispered slowly as she tried to calm herself down.
"If one voice wasn't bad enough… I got a second one chiming in…. fuck… just… SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME THINK!"
It took several long minutes but eventually she managed to somewhat relax. Xu Lu shakily walked forward with long pauses between her steps.
She needed to see a psychologist, but she was fairly certain that there was no one with that occupation in this ancient society.
Xu Lu continued to focus on her breathing as she approached the large stone walls that protected the inside of the magnificent city.
Tianjin City was under the control of the Heavenly Divination Sect. One of the four most powerful cultivation groups on the continent.
They had the smallest number of disciples but that did not mean that their influence was any lesser than the other three.
Those who joined the Heavenly Divination Sect would learn forbidden cultivation techniques allowing them to see beyond the veil of this world and spy on the secrets of heaven.
An interesting method of cultivation… in fact Xu Lu was a little bit curious about how it worked.
Xu Lu approached the city gates and handed over a pass to one of the guards standing lazily by its entrance.
The guard scanned the wooden slip and then motioned for her to go inside. Xu Lu nodded politely and reached out with her hand to slip him a few coins.
The guard's eyes lit up and he quickly pocketed the money. The saintess entered the city without any problem.
In this world or any world really… there were few issues that money could not solve.
Xu Lu entered the city and was taken aback by how clean everything was.
The city's roads were well paved, the houses were properly constructed and there were no traces of public defecation or urination.
Guards dressed in dark black uniforms patrolled regularly along the streets and maintained order swiftly and professionally.
Xu Lu watched quietly as two drunken men brawling in public were immediately tackled to the ground and led away with ropes binding their wrists together.
"Order is truly the cradle of civilisation," a calm voice spoke next to Xu Lu. The saintess turned in the direction of the sound and saw a young man staring at her.
He had soft almost feminine- like features with dark curly hair and green eyes that were like pools of emeralds.
Standing next to him was a young woman with almost identical facial features who looked to be the same age as him.
In fact, the pair were near indistinguishable were it not for the two small protrusions on the woman's chest.
"Brother don't tease the poor girl…" the woman smiled at Xu Lu, but her eyes were a void that contained no trace of emotions.
"Welcome to Tianjin City… saintess of the Holy Sword Sect."
"We have been expecting you."
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