Under the cover of darkness, two figures quietly flew into the city. It was forbidden to fly in the city, however, it was only an issue if you got caught. The guards themselves were usually lazy and unmotivated. After all, only those cultivators who had no other choice would be willing to work as a city guard.

Once they sneaked into the city, Zhou Mei put away her flying sword and made her way towards the house of the Old Couple.
Although she was carrying Mu Chen who was heavier than herself on her back, her footsteps were very light. They didn't make any sound, nor leave any footprints. And a single step of hers could cover a distance of several feet. This was all because she was using a movement technique.

In just a little while, she came in front of the broken residence of the Old Couple.

Knock! Knock!

Zhou Mei knocked on the door in anxiety. Mu Chen had fallen unconscious on the way, so she didn't know what he had in mind.

"Who?" A voice sounded from behind the door.

"Grandpa Wu! It's me, Zhou Mei…Mu Chen-he is injured!" Zhou Mei said in a rush.

The door creaked open almost immediately and Grandpa Wu came outside. Seeing Mu Chen who was bloodied lying on Zhou Mei's back, Grandpa Wu was shocked but responded very quickly.

"Come in! Quick, bring him in!" Grandpa Wu opened the door wide as he moved aside to let Zhou Mei in.

"Wife! Prepare a tub of hot water and a set of clean bandages! Hurry! It's Chen'er, he's injured!" Grandpa Wu cried out to Grandma Jie who had just come out of the bedroom. "Mei'er, bring him to the basement…"

Once Zhou Mei came in, Grandpa Wu took a quick look outside and after confirming that no one had followed her, shut it behind her.

Grandma Jie had also realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly set out to make preparations.

Grandpa Wu and Zhou Mei brought Mu Chen into the basement. The basement was the place where the Old Couple usually stored the raw materials for their food stall. But after Mu Chen had convinced them to come and stay with them, they had started to get rid of most of the stuff, while packing some that could be brought back with them. The basement would make it difficult to probe using divine sense thus acting as a natural barrier, in case someone was after Mu Chen. So it became a natural choice.

Grandpa Wu cleared some more space and spread a blanket on the floor so Zhou Mei could lay Mu Chen down on it.

Then he began to remove Mu Chen's clothing to get a better look at his injuries. Zhou Mei stood nervously by the side.

"What happened?!" Grandpa Wu asked after he had examined Mu Chen's injuries and confirmed he was in no immediate danger.

"I-I don't know! I was just passing by! Everything was already over when I saw him...if-if I hadn't found him...he-he would have…" Zhou Mei couldn't bear it anymore and began to sob.

"There...there...don't cry...everything will be fine…" Grandpa Wu patted Zhou Mei on her back and consoled her. "The worst is already over."

"Oh dear!" At this time, Grandma Jie also came in with a tub of hot water and some bandages and medicines. She saw Mu Chen's condition and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Alright, let's first patch him up!" Grandpa Wu said.

#

When Mu Chen woke up, he found his body hurt almost everywhere. There were almost no clothes on his body, but he was wrapped in bandages. A piece of blanket covered him.

He tried to move a bit and the pain flared up, making him pause. However, this slight movement was enough to awaken the person that was cuddled next to him.

"Mu Chen! You are awake! How are you feeling?" Zhou Mei asked as she looked at him in worry. Although Grandpa Wu said Mu Chen would be alright, she couldn't help but worry. It wasn't that she didn't believe Granda Wu, just that she couldn't relax seeing Mu Chen's condition.

"I feel blessed." Mu Chen felt warm in his heart. He could still see the dried stains around the corner of Zhou Mei's eyes and they were slightly puffed. He didn't need to guess that she had cried herself to sleep.

Zhou Mei was puzzled by Mu Chen's reply. However, Mu Chen didn't explain anything further.

"Help me sit up…" Mu Chen said.

Zhou Mei helped Mu Chen get into the seating position, with the wall behind his back. Both of them sat side by side with their legs unfolded.

"That man-who was he? Why did he attack you?" Zhou Mei asked in anger as her killing intent surged. If not for the fact that the person was already dead, she would have already been on the way to settle accounts on behalf of Mu Chen.

"I don't know. Just some rogue. He attacked me when I was on my way back home. Maybe he thought I was some scion of some big family and had a lot of money." Mu Chen didn't want Zhou Mei to act recklessly, so he didn't tell the complete truth. "How did you find me?"

"I was on my way back to Mu Family." Zhou Mei said. "Your fight attracted my attention, so I decided to check..."

Mu Chen sighed. He was really lucky that Zhou Mei was on her way back.

"...then I saw you who had fallen unconscious and the body of that guy cut in half." Zhou Mei continued.

"Huh?" Mu Chen suddenly noticed something he had missed. "Wait! Mei'er! You weren't the one who saved me?!"

"Me?" Zhou Mei shook her head. "When I reached the scene, the fight was already over."

"Then who killed that guy? Was it me? But that guy was even wearing an armor and my sword couldn't cut through it." Mu Chen was baffled. He had thought it was Zhou Mei who had saved him, by killing the assailant with a surprise attack. Because his mind had become foggy during his last attack, he didn't remember what exactly had happened.

"I don't know." Zhou Mei said, "If not because I saw the flash of light, I might have just passed by..."

"A flash of light?" Mu Chen was shocked, "So it wasn't my imagination?"

When Mu Chen had initiated his sword attack, he had felt that he touched some kind of concept. But it was very vague. He also saw the blade of his sword gleam with light. But immediately after the attack, he felt his mental faculties drained and his consciousness blanked. So he had thought it was just some hallucination.

Since it wasn't his imagination-Mu Chen suddenly felt as if a new door had suddenly appeared in front of him. He picked his sword that was beside him and unsheathed it, trying to discover if there was anything unusual.

"Did you see what was in the ring?" Mu Chen asked, sheathing his sword. He couldn't find anything different, but he made a firm decision to find the truth behind this matter.

Zhou Mei brought out the ring from her spatial pouch. One by one, she removed the contents of the ring. There were medicine bottles, several low-grade spirit treasures, and even a middle-grade spirit treasure. There were also a few talismans. And a lot of middle-grade spirit crystals.

"Nothing else?" Mu Chen asked in disappointment. He had hoped he could find something that could prove the identity of the employer, but apparently, it was too much to expect.

"But the pills could be useful in recuperation." Zhou Mei said thoughtfully.  "Although the bleeding has stopped, the bones will take time to heal. These pills can reduce the time by a lot."

"Indeed." Mu Chen said as he thought of something. That's right! Since Zhou Mei was with him, didn't it mean Ningxue was alone? There was also the matter of the Mu Family's internal competition. "How long was I out?"

"You were unconscious for a day and a half. It's almost noon, now." Zhou Mei said.

Mu Chen heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe there was still a chance?

"Mei'er, you go back and look after Xue'er. Don't let her get into trouble in my absence." Mu Chen said after thinking for a while.

Zhou Mei creased her eyebrows. "But you are still injured!" She was unwilling to leave Mu Chen alone in this condition.

"Don't worry, I will be okay!" Mu Chen said as he caressed through Zhou Mei's hair.

"Liar!" Zhou Mei said as she poked Mu Chen in the chest with her finger.

"Ouch! When did I lie?" Mu Chen yelped in pain.

"You lied about that guy. I know he was sent to kill you!" Zhou Mei said. "What if there are others?"

"You-how did you know?" Mu Chen was surprised.

"I found this!" Zhou Mei raised the palm of her hand and a token appeared on it.

"This?!" Mu Chen picked up the token and observed it carefully. It was hexagonal in shape and black in color. Some kind insignia had been embossed in silver on both sides. The token seemed to belong to some organization.

"The guy was obviously from some killer organization. But you said he was just some rogue cultivator-you lied!" Zhou Mei said as she looked at Mu Chen with narrowed eyes. "And now you are still trying to get rid of me!"

"I-I…" Mu Chen didn't know what to say. He didn't think that Zhou Mei had already gone through the contents of the ring, moreover hid something from him.

In hindsight, he should have guessed this. There was no way he would have healed so much in just a day, without using some high-level medicine pills. Zhou Mei must have searched through the ring to see if she could find something useful. She must have fed him some pills and helped him refine using her own spiritual qi during the entire night.

"I was in the wrong." Mu Chen admitted his mistake. "But I still want you to go back."

Zhou Mei just stared at him stubbornly.

"I know you are worried about me but I have Grandpa Wu and Grandma Jie to take care of me. But Xue'er, she is alone. I will feel more relieved if you are there to take care of her. That way I can recuperate without any worry." Mu Chen gently persuaded Zhou Mei.

"Only if you promise me something." Zhou Mei said.

"What do you want me to promise?" Mu Chen sighed. Why was it getting more and more difficult to handle this girl?

"Promise me you won't lie to me again." Zhou Mei put forth her condition.

"Alright."  Mu Chen had to concede. "I promise." He knew how stubborn Zhou Mei was. If he didn't promise, she would not listen to him.

After receiving Mu Chen's promise, Zhou Mei happily snuggled next to him. For a brief moment, both of them just enjoyed each other's company.

"Since it's decided, you should hurry." Mu Chen said as he kissed Zhou Mei on her forehead. "There are some pills here that can help your cultivation. You keep them along with the treasures and the ring. Just keep the spirit crystals behind."

Mu Chen gave some more instructions to Zhou Mei. After which, Zhou Mei finally left. A few moments later, Grandma Jie came to see him.

"Chen'er, how are you feeling now?" Grandma Jie said as she came in. Zhou Mei had let them know of Mu Chen before she left. Grandma Jie handed him a bowl of soup.

"I feel like I was wrecked by a carriage...Where's Grandpa Wu?" Mu Chen asked as he took the bowl. He took a few of the pills that they had found from the rings and crushed them into pieces and mixed them into the soup.

"He is looking after the stall. We didn't know how long it would take your wounds to heal, so we decided to continue to run the stall instead of being idle. " Grandma Jie explained. "Do you want me to get him?"

"Uh-huh. I have something important to discuss with Grandpa Wu." Mu Chen said as he drank his makeshift medicinal soup.

Grandma Jie chatted with Mu Chen for some time as he drank his soup. After Mu Chen was done with his bowl of soup, she left the basement. A while later, Grandpa Wu came in.

"What is it, kid? Guo Jie said you wanted to discuss something? You should be sleeping instead of staying awake." Grandpa Wu said as he checked Mu Chen's injuries again.

"Grandpa Wu, I need your help with something. I need you to bring me something…" Mu Chen said as he handed over a piece of paper to Grandpa Wu.

Grandpa Wu looked curiously at the piece of paper. There were a few items mentioned on it. "An IOU from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?"

Grandpa Wu read through the items mentioned on the IOU and he looked at Mu Chen in skepticism.

"Brat! No wonder you made that girl go. Are you planning something dangerous?" Grandpa Wu asked because he realized that all the items he had seen were either poisonous or toxic.

"It's about time, I took some risks. I am too weak to even protect myself." Mu Chen sighed.

"Boy, don't act recklessly just because you got beaten to a pulp." Grandpa Wu advised. He didn't approve of what Mu Chen was planning.

"Grandpa Wu, I am not being reckless because I was attacked. This was something I had been planning for several months. Just I never had the determination." Mu Chen shook his head. "According to the receptionist, the materials should be available today."

"I hope you know what you are doing." Grandpa Wu sighed. "Is there anything else?"

"There is also the saliva of Three-Eyed Bone Python." Mu Chen recalled. He had used it during the encounter against the assailant, so he needed to buy it again.

Mu Chen handed over his spatial pouch to Granda Wu.

"Sorry Mei'er! But it's better if you don't know about this." Mu Chen sighed as he watched Grandpa Wu walk away.