“Welcome traveler. Where are you coming from?”

  Lie Mo is greeted with a warm welcome.

  “Welcome. I don’t know. Somewhere around there.”

  Lie Mo is pointing in a completely wrong direction.

  “How is it called?”

  “Forest, I don’t know. After my caravan was attacked by bandits I lived the hermit live for a few years. And now I finally found a living person again.”

  “You survived a bandit attack and the forest. You must be strong.”

  “If I were strong I would have fought back the bandits. I shouldn’t have traveled with a small caravan. But they said it is perfectly save.”

  “The forest is never save. Do you want something to drink?”

  “Yes please. I noticed. All those scary animals. I’m so glad I never met a beast on my journey.”

  “Do you have something to pay with?”

  Lie Mo pulls out a bag with about a tenth of his money in it.

  “Luckily I could save all the money. This should be enough to stay for a few days?”

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  “Yes there is plenty. We don’t want to rip off people who already had bad luck.”

  “Thank you. You’re a live saver.”

  “No problem. Should I make you a meal?”

  “Yes please. It is age since I last ate something cocked in a pot.”

  “Do you want to eat it here?”

  “No, I would love to go take a quick nap until the meal is ready. Sleeping in the wild never allows for a good rest.”

  “Okay. My daughter will bring you the food to your room. Yao Ji! Go bring our guest to the guest room.”

  “Yes dad”

  A lady of around 20 years of age comes running.

  “Welcome mister. What is your name?”

  “You can call me Fang Yuan”

  “Live out here is so boring, what brings such a young mister like you so far out into the woods.”

  Even though it might just seem polite, Lie Mo actually looks like 25 years old even though he is actually twice that age. Cultivators and martials do age slower. The higher their power the older they can get.

  “I was part in a small caravan and then bandits came and attacked us. I could luckily escape.”

  “So you are a really though guy.”

  Yao Ji looks admiring at Lie Mo’s body. Thanks to his training he is lean but quite muscular. Every hour of training is visible. Even through the thin clothes.

  “This is your room. When the meal is ready I will bring it to you. Now I probably better let you take a nap.”

  Yao Ji leaves the room.

  Lie Mo acts as if he was sleeping. But actually he is meditating. Thanks to the meditation the deep blue ocean in his star is already quite a bit bigger. And a bigger ocean means a larger amount of qi.

  After a while Yao Ji knocks at the door. Lie Mo stops meditating but acts as if he was sleeping.

  “Fang Yuan. I have the meal for you.”

  Yao Ji is persistent and he wakes up. During the meal she pays him company. She is also constantly flirting with Lie Mo.

  Lie Mo is slowly loosing up to her. She is pretty and friendly after all. But he never tells much about his past and everything he tells is just his prepared story.

  After the meal he goes to sleep. This time for real.