Author note: Another person out sick so had to write this up today instead of yesterday. I''ll aim for a Thursday release on the next chapter.  At the start of this we''ll roll back and switch to Sun Jiao''s point of view. I though focusing on Xu Rong last chapter allowed the moment to be more intimate and didn''t want to break the mood.


    ~~


    ~Roll time back a bit~


    Kneeling down he pulled Xu Rong into an embrace and whispered words of comfort while rubbing her back.


    "Shhhh. It''s alright."


    Some time passed while Xu Rong cried when suddenly...


    <WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I LEAVE YOU ALONE AND COME BACK TO YOU FUCKING HUGGING HER WHILE SHE CRIES? WHAT PART OF ANYTHING I''VE SAID INCLUDED HUGGING?>


    <Ahh. Xiaobo you''re awake huh?>


    <Yes. I want to just say fuck this and let you deal with it, but somehow I get the feeling that might include more hugging. Hell at this point I''m afraid I''ll come back and you''ll have chopped your damn sorry excuse for balls off so you could give them to her. She''ll keep them in a purse and have you hold it while she picks out the wedding dress.>


    <I made a mistake I know, but...>


    <Yeah you made a mistake. A mistake thinking the wedding dress would be for her. If that isn''t clear enough for you I''m saying you''ll be wearing the dress. Because you won''t have any balls. You understand?>


    <You know what fuck you. You don''t even know what happened.>


    <I know you''re sitting here holding her while she cries. I sure as hell would never have done that.>


    <Look. She saw me let a boy go an->


    <What the fuck you let someone go? Didn''t I tell->


    <Yes. He was just a child. I''m not a child killer. Besides he''s in the forest at night he might not even survive.>


    <Sigh. Well you let him into the forest so he can''t have gone far. We should chase him down and kill him to be sure.>


    <No. I''m not going to kill him.>


    Sun Jiao had grew up on earth. How could he possibly take an innocent life so casually? He was in fact a little disgusted by Xiaobo''s attitude, but it was simply a difference of culture.


    In this world when one reaches the later stages of cultivation though their life is extended by hundreds or even thousands of years. This meant letting a single child go was making endless troubles.


    Even if that enemy wasn''t particularly talented they could still have children that could be gifted or discover some special treasure. This world was filled with stories of revenge where a weak child escapes, jumps over the dragon''s gate, and  becomes a dragon of revenge.


    Knowing this how could Xiaobo let this matter go?


    <You don''t have to; I will. Just give me control and I''ll go kill the little bastard before he blabs or comes back for revenge.>


    <No. Besides what''s the worse that can happen? He gets more bandits and attacks us? Even Xu Rong could beat any bandit within 3 days of here.>


    <That''s not the worst. What if he leaves here, gets stronger and in 3 years comes back to kill you? What if he has family that is already stronger than you that he runs to? This world isn''t that simple. You can''t expect things to turn out all sunshine and roses.>


    <If he comes for revenge then I''ll just have to be stronger wont I?>


    <That...I...>


    Xiaobo was stupefied. He had always thought he knew the world, but these casual words from, in his opinion, an ignorant child had shown him a path of arrogance that he''d never considered. He''d spent his entire life, millions of years, studying the dao of arrogance but now it was as if he was a frog in the well looking up at the sky.


    Taking on a serious tone for the first time he spoke his thoughts to Sun Jiao.


    <*sigh* You may not understand the significance of you words, but I do. All those who cultivate live by the phrase ''you must pull up the root to kill the weed''. Even I have lived my life that way. Is that true arrogance though? I had thought so, but now you''ve shown me another path. I still believe in pulling up the root, and there will come a time where we need to kill without regard, but now I don''t see mercy as a weakness. Mercy too can be a form of arrogance. The arrogant belief that no matter how much they struggle you will always be above them. That is truly arrogant. Today, I will forget the boy, but you should know that you are not powerful enough to support that arrogance. That I, Xiaobo, would warn you about being arrogant should show you how serious this is. Do you understand?>


    Sensing how serious Xiaobo is he decided to think about what he had said.


    <I understand, but...I can''t agree with killing children.>


    Switching to his casual tone Xiaobo decided to let it go.


    <Whatever. You''ll learn sooner or later. I just hope it doesn''t get me killed haha! Back to the crying bitch. You let a boy go and I''m guessing she saw you do it?>


    <Yeah. Then she started walking towards me and burst into tears. I figured it was because she saw me spare the kid so since the cat is out of the bag might as well help her feel better.>


    <Cat out of...such a pussy response haha!>


    <That was lame.>


    <Fuck you that was good. Anyways what''s your plan? It''s getting damn close to midnight we can''t wait all night for this bitch to stop crying and you sure as hell won''t let me fix this.>


    <Oh you have a plan to fix this?>


    <Sure just snap her neck, throw her in your ring, and lets go.>


    Not bothering to reply Sun Jiao ignored the comment and focused on holding Xu Rong. He lost himself in enjoying the sensation of holding her soft body so when she stopped crying he hadn''t noticed.


    Feeling her press her face into his chest brought him back from his thoughts.


    "Feel better now?"


    When she didn''t reply he began to worry she might burst into tears again. Instead he felt her head nod against his chest and smiled.


    <Yawn. Fucking hurry this up and make sure she cleans shit up ok? Don''t fucking answer any questions we don''t have time for that.>


    <Yeah yeah. Calm down.>


    Surprising no one the words only seemed to cause him to get more agitated. How could Xiaobo be so simple to handle?


    After giving Xu Rong the ring Sun Jiao left quickly and headed deeper into the mountains.


    Sun Jiao was thinking about Xu Rong and Xiaobo was thinking about his earlier enlightenment so neither spoke much on the way to the valley. The trip didn''t take long as Sun Jiao used one of his strengthening paths to move quicker so after the time it takes to brew tea they were there.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The valley was between two peaks and ran parallel to the city. Sun Jiao took the direct route there and so when he crested the hill of the close side peak he was able to overlook the whole valley. It was almost midnight, but the flowers still hadn''t bloomed. Tiny dark red flower buds sat upon glowing green stalks. The moon was full, but even without the light of the moon the valley would still be visible due to the glow. They reminded Sun Jiao of glow in the dark stars he had on his bedroom ceiling as a child and left him with a nostalgic feeling.


    As he plunged down the hill the flower buds began to glow with a soft purple causing him to slow his pace. By the time he reached halfway down the hill the flower petals, as if greeting him, began to open and soak the falling light of the moon. Awestruck he no longer descended and instead took in the sight which was unlike anything seen on earth.


    The green phosphorescence began to fade while the purple light of the lily grew stronger giving one the feeling that the flower was drinking from the green light below. While the dark red petals slowly opened they changed color to match the light becoming a brilliant purple. Only the center of the lily petals and the stamen remained red, but they too changed from dark to a glowing blood red.


    The field of flowers was so breathtaking even Xiaobo held back the insulting comment he was going to make since he too was in awe. He was the first to recover though and quickly sent a message to wake Sun Jiao up from his stupor.


    <They won''t stay that way long. Pluck the flower below the petals, but leave enough space to tie it off so the energy doesn''t bleed out. The closer you pick to the flower the stronger the poison will be, but if you pick too close you can''t tie a knot and it will fall out and die.>


    Shaking his head Sun Jiao quickly rushed the rest of the way to the valley and began picking and tying the flowers as instructed. As the flowers were still living he couldn''t store them in the storage ring so he brought out a bag from the ring and tossed them in there. After collecting six lilies he noticed some flowers in the distance shaking and the rustling  were moving closer to him.


    <Uh Xiaobo. What''s that.>


    <Hmm? Oh probably just some low level beast. How strong could it be if it lives in a girly place like this right?>


    The rustling stopped a short distance away. A large shape rose up and two glowing red eyes glared intently on Sun Jiao''s small figure.


    <Oh.>


    <Oh?>


    <Sorry you didn''t let me finish. OH SHIT>


    ~Meanwhile in the city~


    A beautiful woman yawns as she sits upon an elegant chair. Woken in the middle of the night she was dressed in light sleep robe. The thin material clung to her slim figure revealing curves that would make the man kneeling before her drool if she wasn''t behind a thin cloth partition.


    The beauty placed a long thin pipe to her thick red lips and inhaled causing her plentiful chest to swell. As she exhaled slowly the smoke blew out of her pursed lips the mere sound of which filled the man with lustful thoughts.


    A soothing and tranquil voice followed the smoke and it too enraptured the weak willed man.


    "This information is reliable?"


    A silver toothed grin appeared on the man''s face and he replied with a hoarse voice.


    "Yes. Or my name ain-"


    A strong masculine voice cut the silver toothed man off.


    "SILENCE. Yes or no will suffice."


    The two were not alone. A large man stood in front of the partition and emanated an aura of strength. The man was at the peak of the third layer and had served as a eunuch bodyguard to the lady for many years.


    Not wanting to offend further silver tooth spoke quickly.


    "Yes sir."


    The lovely voice returned.


    "And the boy?"


    "My partner gave him to your men for questioning now."


    "Excellent. Meng Fai give him a suitable reward."


    Meng Fai spoke up with a smile.


    "With pleasure."


    Reaching out Meng Fai grabbed the man''s throat and crushed it killing him without spilling a drop of blood so as not to dirty the lady''s room.


    Had the women told him to give a specific amount of money then silver tooth would have lived, but a suitable reward always meant death. She would normally reward information with money, but she was annoyed at having been woken up.


    The women took another drag of her pipe before speaking.


    "In the morning give this information to little Jun. He will hire some men to attack the trash until his face is unrecognizable. He thinks too small though so go with him when he hires the men and pay a few to double back and kill Sun Jiao."


    "Should I not go myself?"


    "No. If you''re seen leaving the city the emperor will look into the matter. For now follow my plan. If it works, it works, if it doesn''t; well… we''ll have plenty of time in the future to kill him. He may be trash but he''s still a loose end. I do so hate loose ends."


    "Yes my queen."


    <hr />


    Author note; In case people are wondering Jiao Cho is a hercules beetle. His pincers are razor sharp and can crush steel(well his neck can anyways)!


    Straight to the side story;


    Jiao Cho was stuck between a rock and a hot place. The flames burned all around him as though he was inside an oven. You know what they say though right? If you can''t stand the heat; GET THE FUCK OUT THE KITCHEN!


    With strength that came from desperation Jiao Cho made another breakthrough and reached a power surpassing a king! Opening his wings he beat them quickly causing the fire around him to back away. Then like a rocket he jumped into the air and crashed through the ceiling into the tunnel above. He flew through the ground smashing through tunnels and ants alike.


    OH NO! Kurt Russle watch out! I mean Jiao Cho watch out it''s a Backdraft!!!


    Jiao Cho wasn''t worried though. He knew fire''s a living thing. It breathes, it eats, and it hates. The only way to beat it is to think like it. It wasn''t following him because of the physics of flammable liquids, but because it wants to!


    He exploded out of the top of the hill and like a volcano the fire exploded out as well. Together like brothers they soared in the air; finally free from the hell below.