"My mother is currently discussing matters with Team Leader Zhang. Please come in, Senior Brother Qin!" Pan Qing replied, then waved to Han Li behind him.
Han Li had no particularly unfavorable impression of the young master of the Tiandong Trading Company, so of course he would not be rude. He returned the nod in kind while casually grabbing the girl who was clinging to him and placing her on the ground.
But the moment the girl's feet touched the ground, she lunged forward again, sticking to Han Li's body like cowhide, her small hands gripping his lapels tightly.
Though he had half-expected it, actually seeing this scene still made Han Li sigh with some resignation. He had no choice but to walk into the wooden house with his little tail in tow.
The house was a temporary structure, so its area was not particularly large — only about seven or eight zhang across — but it had been tidied up nicely. There was even a set of elegant sandalwood furniture arranged inside.
This furniture was obviously not hastily made!
The fair-featured Madam Fang was seated in the main chair, speaking with Zhang Kui, while six others stood nearby with their hands clasped respectfully.
The pair of gray-robed men were the very same guards who had previously suffered a small defeat at Han Li's hands, and the four young women were Liu'er and three other serving maids.
The arrival of Han Li and the others naturally interrupted Madam Fang's conversation. The woman rose to greet them:
"Cultivator Qin, you've finally returned. I was planning to have Team Leader Zhang accompany you on the trip... Oh my, Team Leader Han has been brought back with you. How wonderful — that saves me the trouble. This... isn't this City Lord Zhao's granddaughter?" Madam Fang's face lit up with pleasant surprise upon seeing Han Li, but when her gaze fell on the girl beside him, her expression shifted to shock.
The others were equally startled upon seeing Han Li and the girl, though Liu'er and the other three maids were naturally somewhat delighted.
"City Lord Zhao? You don't mean the City Lord of Anyuan City?" The brocade-robed man was stunned.
"Which other City Lord Zhao could it be?" Madam Fang said, a peculiar look crossing her face.
"City Lord Zhao's body-refining technique is nearly on par with that of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if the city had fallen, he should have been able to escape with his life. If he learned that his granddaughter was safe and sound, he would undoubtedly be overjoyed. I wonder — are there any other members of City Lord Zhao's household here?" The man surnamed Qin said thoughtfully.
"I believe there is an old steward from the Zhao household and a few servants nearby. I'll send someone to fetch them right away." Madam Fang smiled, turned to give a gray-robed guard a few instructions, and sent him out of the house. She did not inquire in the slightest about why the girl had been with Han Li.
"I must admit, I'm somewhat surprised that Team Leader Han managed to make it back safely through the beast horde. However, the fact that four separate beast hordes attacked a mere city like Anyuan simultaneously — something about it feels off to me." Once the brocade-robed man and the others had taken their seats, Madam Fang said with a slight furrow of her delicate brows.
"There is something peculiar about it. A beast tide of this magnitude would be unremarkable if it targeted a mid-sized city, but aimed at a small city like this, it's rather suspicious. By past convention, when beast tides erupt, the Qingluo Desert is not adjacent to Anyuan City, so the Sandworm Beasts should not have appeared. They're even close enough to the Crimson Serpent Beasts' territory that they'd normally be a hindrance rather than traveling all this distance specifically to attack Anyuan City." The man surnamed Qin seemed to harbor similar suspicions.
"Senior Brother, are you saying that a high-level demon beast was truly behind the fall of Anyuan City?" Pan Qing exclaimed, his face draining of color.
"It's hard to say. It could very well be nothing more than a coincidence. But regardless of the truth, this is not something cultivators of our level can meddle in. The senior cultivators of Tianyuan City will investigate the matter." The brocade-robed man shook his head and replied.
"What Cultivator Qin says makes sense — there's no need for us to dwell on this matter further. In truth, if Anyuan City had another hundred or so Foundation Establishment cultivators lending their aid, these beasts would be nothing to fear." Madam Fang's eyes swept across the room, and then she suddenly said this.
"That is simply impossible. Though the cultivators of the Three Realms are countless in number, those who happen to be in a human city when a beast tide erupts and are willing to lend their aid are exceedingly rare. After all, because so many mortals reside in human cities, the spiritual energy in their vicinity is far thinner than elsewhere — let alone comparable to those sacred mountains and blessed lands. Unless they are bound by worldly affairs, cultivators have no desire to visit mortal cities. Our cultivator markets, in fact, can only be established in the handful of great cities directly controlled by cultivators; the smaller cities have no qualification to host them. That is also precisely why the great cities never suffer beast tides. The number of low-rank cultivators who pass through those cities daily must number in the millions. What beast horde would dare attack such cities?" The man surnamed Qin replied evenly.
"In the millions?" Though Han Li already knew that the Spirit World's cultivator population was staggering, hearing that the number of cultivators flowing through a single city could be so terrifying still made the corner of his mouth twitch involuntarily.
"Then I was asking too much. The Three Realms are so vast, and the territory controlled by mortal cities is but a drop in the ocean. Naturally, they are not held in high regard by you cultivators." Madam Fang let out a soft sigh.
Hearing Madam Fang's slightly discontented words, the brocade-robed man, himself a cultivator, could only offer a bitter smile.
The friction between mortals and cultivators was common knowledge, and as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could he dare to weigh in on the matter so lightly?
Just then, a voice came from outside the house:
"Reporting, Madam — City Lord Zhao's steward has arrived. Shall we let him in?"