Hou rolled his eyes slightly then said,

  "I guess, I can help you,"

  He held out his hand and Xiao Ye took it, standing by his side. He walked out of the inn and out onto the streets.

  Mo Huai walked behind, he revealed a portion of his act to Xiao Ye. He pretended that while he was young master he cared for Hou and wanted him to have a good experience.

  It was actually Mo Huai's idea for this date!

  Xiao Ye did not have a map but she lived in the city and had her own mental map, she corrected Hou as they walked through the streets to better paths.

  Initially they walked through the bustling town centre lane, which had a lot of big building and stores but little markets.

  Xiao Ye wanted to visit a market on the way, so she directed Hou to a separate direction to the police station. If the main street is forward, this route goes in from the right.

  Slowly, the scenery started to change. The large clean building became smaller and more dirty. They started to arrive at the real city and then into the edge of the slums.

  "I know it looks rough but this is where the good stuff is, if you know what to do. Like me!" Xiao Ye started to pull Hou by his hand as they closed in on the market.

  Hou referenced his inner map and noticed that the market just intercepted the Rotten Sewer District on one side.

  'Now I just need to get rid of Mo Huai and Xiao Ye, just temporarily...'

  They walked through the market, on the edge and missed the Rotten Sewer District just slightly. They got near the edge where through a small alley, they could see the cleaner streets and the Guard Station.

  Even Hou could tell it was the Guard Station without using the map, it was made of glass and inside Hou could see guards holding prisoners with shackles on them.

  Despite the seemingly lax security, the prisoners didn't try to escape, and Hou could see why. When he heard of the guards, he imagined normal people but these...weren't normal people.

  The guards looked like humanoid animals. One was a large dog, but standing on two feet and more like a human. It still had fur and a snout but it was clearly somewhat human.

  Hou focused on a smell he had been sensing and caught the mingled scents of wet fur and iron from the guards, an unsettling combination that made his nose twitch, reminding him of the beast attacks with iron scented blood in his past.

  "What are those?!" Hou said aloud, before he could even think properly.

  Xiao Ye felt Hou squeezing on her hand and chuckled,

  "That's exactly how I reacted when I first saw them. Those are guards, they're a mixture of animal and human. I've heard it was a technique created by Elder Nine Clouds Green Dragon himself!"

  "Human and animal?!" Hou looked at Xiao Ye confused.

  She shook her head and laughed a little more before continuing,

  "Don't worry, they are perfectly human in mind normally. However, they can release their animal traits at the cost of some sanity temporarily. They might seem scary, but when they're working for you it's called being reliable,"

  Stolen story; please report.

  Hou looked at them a bit more and thought to himself,

  'Interesting, very interesting! I almost don't want to bother with Cang Ying and just ask about them. Isn't this a superior move to imitating the animal, actually using what the animals does. But there must be downsides...'

  That was when from within, Hou heard Yue speak,

  'I felt a slight resonance from the consciousness we absorbed from Cang Ying's flies. He's nearby, you should quickly find a way to remove Mo Huai and Xiao Ye.'

  "Can I speak with Zhao real quick," Hou looked towards Xiao Ye and peeled his hand away from hers.

  He went on his tiptoes and went to Mo Huai's ears, and with a bit of acting he pretended to be embarrassed,

  "Can you do this alone, can I be with Xiao Ye. And also can I learn about those human-animal...people for tonight's lesson?"

  As soon as Hou whispered to Mo Huai, he had already activated a quick sound suppression technique. He listened to Hou's request and while he felt something was off, he agreed and nodded his head.

  "Thank you, thank you" Hou whispered back to Mo Huai.

  In truth, he really did want to be alone with Xiao Ye but first he needed to deal with Cang Ying. Once Mo Huai started to walk off, Hou put his arm around Xiao Ye.

  "How about, I get you anything you want. Maybe a nice red jewel necklace to complement your crimson locks," Hou suppressed his embarrassment and acted like a player.

  However, his face betrayed him and his blush was evident to Xiao Ye. She covered her smile and said,

  "Yeah sure, follow me!"

  She grabbed Hou's hand and pressed it around her as she walked to a certain stall. At this point, he was in Rotten Sewer District fully. Xiao Ye looked at a range of different jewellery laid out on a table while pointing some out to Hou.

  He was distracted and said shyly,

  "Actually, I need to go to the toilet. Can I leave you here for a second?"

  Before a response he ripped away from Xiao Ye and ran off. Xiao Ye's hand lingered in the air where Hou had thrown it off, her smile froze. Her eyebrows drew together as she watched him disappear into the crowds. She took a step starting to chase after him before the jeweller called her back and she instinctively turned her head. When she looked back, he was gone and she decided to stay here instead of getting lost.

  He turned into a dark alley then looked back. Taking in the dark abyss, he closed his eyes and activated a technique he had not done in a long time.

  He went back to magic and activated scrying, seeing into the astral world partially. Then he added his intuition into that and looked around.

  Unlike before, in this society the astral world was full of man-made actions. The array of lights looks completely different and more structured. There were blank walls of laws and the people looked much more complex than before. He moved his sight away from the crows of people and markets, instead turning to the ground.

  As he did, he saw a floating mass moving through the ground,

  Cang Ying!