Thud thud thud — the sounds echoed without end. The Landlady was giving Yang Kai a beating, and he had absolutely no power to fight back. But though her strikes were fierce, she wasn't actually using much force, and she certainly hadn't tapped into her Kai Tian Realm strength.
As for Yang Kai, with his rough skin and thick hide, how could he possibly fear a mere thrashing? Back at the First Inn, there had been times when the Landlady hit him even harder.
After a while, the Landlady suddenly grabbed Yang Kai by the ear and hauled him up in front of her. When she saw that cheeky grin plastered across his face, she immediately gnashed her teeth and said, "You little brat, why are you so happy about being hit?"
Yang Kai said with a grin, "As long as you feel better, that's all that matters." Happy? How could he not be happy? Ever since arriving beyond the Universe, the Landlady had been the person who cared for and looked after him the most, providing him with far more shelter and support than anyone else. When he first joined the First Inn, Yang Kai had actually been quite resistant to it, but over time as they grew closer, that resistance had been replaced by warmth.
He couldn't quite explain it, but the Landlady gave him an incredibly familiar feeling, as though she were a long-lost family member.
The words sounded familiar. Time seemed to shuttle back many years — there had been someone standing before her who had said similar things, again and again.
The Landlady's eyes went slightly unfocused, and an image of a face involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
She quickly collected her thoughts, raised her hand, and rapped Yang Kai on the forehead. "Don't think this lets you off the hook. I'm putting this debt on your account, and we'll settle it slowly later."
What debt? The debt of having made her worry for over a decade, of course.
Yang Kai's grin widened even further, and he nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
The Landlady rolled her eyes at him, then turned around and addressed a stern-faced, white-haired old man beside her. "Grandmaster Wuliang, this is my good-for-nothing employee. I'll need your help with the formation here."
Hearing this, Yang Kai immediately understood that this old man was a formation master the Landlady had brought in. He stepped forward and bowed hastily. "Junior Yang Kai greets Grandmaster Wuliang!"
Grandmaster Wuliang flipped open a pair of triangular eyes and looked Yang Kai up and down. Seeing he was merely at the Emperor Sovereign Realm, he naturally paid him no mind. He nodded toward the Landlady and said, "Since Madam has invited this old man here, naturally I will do my utmost. I observed this grand formation from the outside earlier, and it's rather decent, though there's considerable room for improvement. However, exactly what measures need to be taken, I'll need to conduct an inspection before I can decide."
"Naturally!" The Landlady gave a gentle, radiant smile and glanced meaningfully at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly said, "Lu Xue, take Grandmaster Wuliang on a tour of the premises."
Lu Xue, who had returned with the Landlady and the others, immediately responded, "Yes!"
She gestured with her hand. "This way, Grandmaster."
Grandmaster Wuliang gave a faint nod, transformed into a streak of light, and shot forward. Lu Xue followed close behind.
Seeing this, Yang Kai felt relieved. Grandmaster Wuliang was clearly a man of decisive action. He had been planning to host a welcome gathering for the Landlady and the others first, and let Grandmaster Wuliang rest a bit before getting to work, but the old man had volunteered to inspect the site on his own initiative.
This suited Yang Kai just fine. The sooner the grand formation was repaired, the sooner he could free his hands to attend to other matters.
The people the Landlady found were truly reliable.
Once Grandmaster Wuliang departed, only the Landlady and Bai Qi remained. Old Bai had come along this time as well, standing behind the Landlady the whole while, watching Yang Kai with a grin on his face — but there was a great deal of guilt mixed into that smile.
After all, back when he had achieved Fifth-Order Open Heaven, he had immediately set off to find the Landlady, leaving Yang Kai behind all by himself. If he hadn't been so hasty back then and had instead brought Yang Kai along, perhaps all the trouble that followed could have been avoided, and Yang Kai wouldn't have been completely out of contact for over a decade.
All these years, the Landlady had worried about Yang Kai's safety, and Old Bai had been no different. Every time he thought about it, he blamed himself endlessly, secretly regretting the decision he had made back then.
Seeing Yang Kai alive and well before his eyes today, the heavy stone in Old Bai's heart had finally been set down.
Their eyes met, and Yang Kai gave him a slight nod before turning to look behind him.
Yue He had been walking with her head lowered and her lips pressed tight ever since she had come with him, her expression flustered and uneasy, like a child who had done something wrong facing a parent.
"Yue He!" Yang Kai called out to her softly.
Yue He then moved with great difficulty, taking a few steps forward until she stood before the Landlady, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sister..."
The Landlady acted as though she hadn't heard a thing. She didn't so much as glance at Yue He, speaking only to Yang Kai. "I'm tired from the journey. Where can I rest? Take me there."
With that, she walked straight past Yue He without a second look.
Yue He's face went deathly pale in an instant.
Yang Kai's head was pounding too. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea what kind of grudge existed between these two women. He could only guess that they had once been very close, but had somehow fallen out and become enemies. After that, Yue He had even colluded with Qi Jin and the others from Golden Rainbow Province, using the Sun-Locking Ground controlled by Golden Rainbow Province to lure out the enemy — and that was how the Landlady and Bai Qi had been drawn in.
When Old Bai had been advancing to the Open Heaven Realm, everyone had launched a surprise attack. Despite the Landlady's desperate efforts, she had been unable to protect everyone, and Old Bai's advancement had ended in failure, his life hanging by a thread.
Old Bai was the Landlady's trusted confidant, who had followed her for many years. Sabotaging his advancement was practically a blood feud — one that could never be resolved.
"Stop dawdling and get over here! What are you waiting for!"