As he was eating some beef flavored crackers, He Chao saw that the door to the carriage was slowly opening. This was the first time this had happened since he originally joined the caravan, so he immediately stopped eating in order to scan the area. What caught him off guard, was a panther type demon beast poked its head out before finally exiting the carriage.
The panther had purple and black fur and the energy radiating out from its body made He Chao think about the lion type demon beast he had to fight roughly a week or so earlier. It was strange, because the lion was very tall and muscular while the panther seemed to be rather small in comparison.
Thinking about it, He Chao came up with an explanation, that the panther had yet to reach adulthood and because of this, its strength would continue to grow stronger over time even if it did not spend time training. “Since the person inside of the carriage is so influential to be considered a VIP of a caravan like this one, it is not unusual for the owner to have a demon beast that has a more pure bloodline compared to those who lived in the forest.” he thought to himself as he waited to take a look at who or what would exit next.
As he expected, a girl that looked to be about thirteen years old in a large white dress exited the carriage after a very tall and muscular middle aged man exited first. The middle aged man seemed to be related to the girl, but he only had the aura of an Adept stage cultivator. The girl was He Chao’s main focus, but the middle aged man took one look at him and suddenly his mind went blank.
“This is-” without wasting another breath, He Chao began circulating all of the ki in his body that he had, but it was too late because all he could see was complete darkness. It was unclear why, but it seemed that the middle aged man did not like that He Chao took a glance at the girl he was escorting out of the carriage. After another moment, the darkness faded as He Chao felt himself back in his body sitting down where he originally was.
“Not bad, you were able to react quickly to my Mind Cloud Technique very well. I would give you a two out of ten. Take it as a warning to stay away from my little niece, otherwise I will have no choice but to accompany you once again.” the middle aged man told He Chao in a stern voice with a big smile on his face.
The Mind Cloud Technique was a technique that many top clans that specialized in illusions and assassinations practiced. By using the technique on an unexpecting cultivator of the same cultivation stage, one would be able to use their ki to create an illusion directly into their opponent’s mind of absolute darkness. During a life or death battle, this technique was used to kill an unexpecting opponent that lacked the understanding of dealing with the type of technique.
Through Senior Cao’s teachings early on, He Chao understood the different types of techniques that were used within the world of cultivators so although this was his first time dealing with such a technique, he at least knew what he had to do to at least make his best attempt at breaking out of it. From the looks of it, he did everything correctly but he was two stages lower which was a big enough difference to where the middle aged man had to remove the technique himself to release He Chao from the predicament.
“Uncle, you should not mess around with the help, how could a child like him help but not to look at this beautiful lady.” the girl told her uncle while making a fist and shaking it towards the middle aged man. “If you are going to accompany me moving forward, you must learn to ignore such things or you will get us into too much trouble!”
“My little Song Ehuang, our Song clan is a top clan within the Ancient Mountain Commandery and even though we are elsewhere for the time being, leaving such details for those to create rumors about would actually help you. Remember, you are third in line to become the successor of our clan, so rumors about no one being able to even look at you without dire consequences would add a level of fear if someone were to speak your name.”
“Uncle, if my mother did not tell me that I had to listen to you and learn from you, I would have already sent little star after you and allowed him to eat even your bones. Hmph, I am going to head back into the carriage not for myself but for your own good as well!” Song Ehuang told her uncle as she stomped her feet with every step before finally slamming the door to the carriage shut.
“Hey kid, I heard from the owner of the caravan company that you were placed in charge to help protect the carriage so do me a favor and make sure that not a single person is allowed inside. A battle is about to occur here and if I do not assist that Wind Guard, we may be in a bit of trouble.”
All of this was happening very suddenly and caught He Chao off guard. He read up on many of the top powers in the Ancient Mountain Commandery and the Song clan was easily in the top five. However, they did not specialize in assassination which is what the middle aged man’s technique would make one think, rather, they were a clan that specialized in alchemy. Their Patriarch was a level six alchemy master and his services brought many benefits to the Song clan.
The Patriarch of the clan was known as a squad leader in the Golden Guards that specialized in slaying some of the most fearsome demon beasts and hordes that threatened the royal family to some degree. This meant that the Song clan’s influence far surpassed a normal top power in the Ancient Mountain Commandery and was a direct threat to even those who opposed the royal family due to having such a history.
