Faced with the several young women's questions, Yang Kai kept a cold expression and maintained his silence, playing the part of a mysterious expert.
Water Spirit, on the other hand, was curious about everything and soon struck up a friendship with them, chattering away without end. But when they asked about Yang Kai, she was clever enough to keep her lips sealed.
After walking together for a while, the young women dejectedly realized that they hadn't managed to extract any useful information whatsoever.
They still had no idea what purpose this man and woman had in coming to the Senluo Hall, or what connection they had to Senior Sister Zimo.
Half a day later, Yang Kai's expression suddenly shifted. He focused his attention toward a particular direction, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
He sensed a familiar presence—the aura of a soul that belonged to him.
Zimo must be over there.
The young women were still plodding along at their own leisurely pace, no doubt plotting something. Yang Kai couldn't be bothered to play along. He shot forward in a blur toward the source of his sensing.
"Hey—" The Senluo Hall girls were startled, calling out in alarm, but Yang Kai had already vanished without a trace.
A stick of incense later, above a stretch of forest canopy, Yang Kai hovered in midair, gazing down from his vantage point with furrowed brows and an odd expression.
Below him, mountain ranges rose and fell in waves, showing no trace of what he'd expected a superpower's stronghold to look like. Instead, thirty li away, he spotted a sprawling complex of buildings—vast and imposing. Even from thirty li out, he could sense the auras of quite a few powerful cultivators emanating from it.
That, most likely, was the Senluo Hall of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.
But why would Zimo be here?
There wasn't a soul in sight. The interior of the mountain must conceal a hidden world—Yang Kai understood at once.
He released a subtle fluctuation of his own power. Before long, a sharp feminine voice rang out from within the mountain: "What more do you want? We've already left the Senluo Hall. Are you really going to hunt us down to the last? Have some shred of old sentiment, at least—we all came from the same Sect, after all."
Yang Kai was taken aback, then chuckled. "Woman, what's with the temper? You don't even know who it is and you're already interrogating them?"
"Who are you—" The woman's voice inside the mountain trembled slightly, as if she were searching her memory for the newcomer's identity. After a long moment, she gasped: "You bastard Yang Kai?"
"You can drop the 'bastard' part," Yang Kai said darkly.
"Hehehe..." A string of bell-like laughter drifted out from the mountain. Shortly after, a massive boulder slid to the side, revealing a cave entrance, and from within it flashed a delicate, slender figure.
It was Zimo. She was dressed in her characteristically bold fashion as always, her exquisite skin bared to the air, a sight that invited all manner of fantasies. She looked up at Yang Kai standing in the sky with an expression of delighted surprise, seemingly not having expected that after several years, she would run into him again.
She curled her lips slightly and said, "You bastard. What are you doing coming all the way to our Heavenly Wolf instead of throwing your weight around in Great Han?"
"Missed you. So I came looking for you," Yang Kai replied with a grin.
Zimo rolled her eyes at him: "I'm no little girl you can bamboozle with sweet talk." She glanced at Water Spirit standing beside Yang Kai and clicked her tongue in amazement. "You've got another beauty by your side. You lecher—you simply can't be happy without a pretty face around."
"Hey, watch your mouth. I have nothing to do with him," Water Spirit said indignantly.
"It doesn't matter. Stay around him long enough and you'll be his before you know it. If you want to keep your virtue intact, the farther you stay from him, the better," Zimo said with a teasing laugh.
"It's been a few years, and you're already slandering me like this? I never did anything to you," Yang Kai groaned, his head aching.
Zimo pouted her rosy-red lips and huffed. "Never did anything? Back then you groped and kissed me all you wanted. If something unexpected hadn't happened, I'm sure you would've had your way with me by force..." As she spoke, she put on a pitiful expression, eyes glistening with unshed tears, as though she had suffered the greatest injustice imaginable.
Water Spirit stared at Yang Kai, her face filled with wariness, and said through clenched teeth: "So that's the kind of person you are!"
"You believe her slander?" Yang Kai erupted in indignation.
"Senior Sister! Senior Sister!" Just then, the several young women Yang Kai had shaken off finally caught up. They flew down and landed beside Zimo, pointing at Yang Kai with guarded expressions: "This man said he was looking for you."
"Mm, I know. No need to be on guard—he's not an enemy," Zimo explained with a smile. "He's a bit of a bastard, true, but he also saved my life once."
"Oh." The young women nodded, visibly relaxing.
"A guest has traveled a long way, and this is how you treat me?" Yang Kai let out a soft sigh. "Women really are heartless."
"Stop being so dramatic," Zimo huffed. She paused in thought for a moment, then said: "Come inside and talk."
"Senior Sister—" the young women exclaimed in alarm.
"It's fine. I'll explain everything to Master later," Zimo reassured them.
Yang Kai's gaze flickered. Though he had no shortage of questions, he knew it was better not to ask. The more he asked, the more trouble he'd invite.
He and Water Spirit descended and entered the passage within the mountain.
Zimo formed a few hand seals, and the massive boulder at the entrance sealed the cave once more.
Inside the cavern, crystalline lights shimmered along the walls every dozen steps or so, keeping things adequately bright.
Zimo led the way at the front, her face bright with cheerful delight, her step light and buoyant—as though she hadn't felt this relaxed in a very long time.
She guided Yang Kai to a spacious stone chamber deep within the mountain, arranged a place for him and Water Spirit to rest, and had the young women bring over some fresh fruit.
"There's not much in the way of hospitality here—make do with what we have," Zimo said with a merry laugh.