Chapter 2055: Bodyguard Mission
Missions aren’t unique to cultivators. In fact, rogue cultivators also take up missions. However, rogue cultivators wouldn’t earn contribution points. Instead, they earn spirit stones or jade essence. They rarely receive anything other than that.
Moreover, missions for sect disciples and rogue cultivators were different. Missions taken up by sect disciples were released by the sect and their rewards were very rich. On the other hand, rogue cultivators receive their missions from merchants and some were actually from farmers. And these missions came in all forms. Sometimes a farmer’s ca.n.a.l might be blocked, so the farmer would take out spirit stones and hire a rogue cultivator to help them. Merchants usually hire rogue cultivators as guards to protect them while transporting goods.
Don’t a.s.sume that there are no bandits in the True Spirit Realm. In fact, there were plenty of bandits all throughout the realm. Most of these bandit groups were rogue cultivators. They take from merchants to maintain their livelihood. Moreover, these rogue cultivators weren’t full time bandits. Because of this, there was no way for the sects to track them down.
Therefore, merchants would employ rogue cultivators to guard their goods during transit. So it wasn’t strange that Zhao Hai was invited by the Rong Clan’s steward.
The True Spirit Realm might be ruled by cultivators, but this doesn’t mean that there are no merchants among the mortals. There were plenty of mortal merchants in the True Spirit Realm. However, if these merchants didn’t have the support of cultivators, then they wouldn’t be able to do business for long. This was the reality of the True Spirit Realm.
This reality allowed rogue cultivators to thrive in the True Spirit Realm. This was because rogue cultivators were almost always needed by the average person. Rogue cultivators being offered missions by mortals was a common matter.
The steward looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Does mister have any goals at the moment? If mister doesn’t, then we’d like to hire mister to guard the convoy of our young lady. Our young lady is currently going to Flycloud City to visit her family. The more protection she has, the better. If mister agrees, we will be responsible for your food and lodging. And after arriving at Flycloud City, we will give mister fifty jade essences as a reward.”
The reward was extremely rich, especially for rogue cultivators. This reward was very good. However, Zhao Hai didn’t feel anything about the reward. What he cared about was the details of the mission.
The Rong Clan wasn’t a small family. They were very intertwined with the Tyrant Blade Sect, especially inside the Tyrant Blade Sect’s domain. Almost every cultivator, rogue cultivator, or bandit knew the relations.h.i.+p between the Rong Clan and the Tyrant Blade Sect. As long as they were inside the Tyrant Blade Sect’s territory, members of the Rong Clan were safe.
But now, the Rong Clan was willing to pay a high price for Zhao Hai to protect their convoy. It was certain that there’s more to the mission than what was said.
Seeing Zhao Hai frown without making noise, the steward couldn’t help but ask, “Is mister currently on a mission? Then that’s truly regrettable.”
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “I’m not on a mission. I’m just afraid that I might not be competent enough to take on mister’s mission. In fact, I just finished my previous task. If mister doesn’t dislike my level, then I will take this mission.” Although he didn’t know why the Rong Clan was being so guarded, Zhao Hai still decided to take the mission. He also wants to go to Flycloud city.
Flycloud City isn’t an ordinary city under the Tyrant Blade Sect. The city could be considered as a border city. Pa.s.sing through Flycloud City meant crossing into the territory of another sect, the b.u.t.terfly Sect.
The b.u.t.terfly Sect wasn’t a sect of demon beasts. In fact, the sect has this name because of its weapon, movement technique, and relations.h.i.+p with demon beasts. Their weapon was called the b.u.t.terfly Blade. Their movement technique was called the b.u.t.terfly Dance Movement Technique. And the sect rears special beasts called the Hidden Mist Bladewing b.u.t.terfly.
The b.u.t.terfly Sect wasn’t considered a Great Sect. However, its disciples were still hard to deal with. First, their weapon, the b.u.t.terfly Blade was one of the few hidden weapons on the True Spirit Realm. Secondly, their movement technique, the b.u.t.terfly Dance Movement Technique, was famous in the entire realm for allowing its user to drift from place to place with no pattern for the opponent to follow. Third, their demon beast.
The Hidden Mist Bladewing b.u.t.terly was a beast that could release a dense fog that could block the vision as well as the spiritual force of a cultivator. This would turn the cultivator deaf and blind. The b.u.t.terfly’s wing was also special. The wings were very tenacious yet very thin. They could hide their body in the dense fog and then use their wings to cut the enemy. It was a headache to deal with.
Although the b.u.t.terfly sect wouldn’t easily provoke the Tyrant Blade Sect, it wasn’t afraid of it either. But it was hard for the b.u.t.terfly Sect and the Tyrant Blade Sect to have any conflicts since the relations.h.i.+p between the two sects was very good. It could be said that they were allies.
Naturally, there were no true allies in the True Spirit Realm. The Tyrant Blade Sect and the b.u.t.terfly Sect might have some minor conflicts in their border, but it didn’t escalate into a bigger conflict. But as the matter stands, the border wasn’t entirely peaceful.
Zhao Hai wanted to visit the b.u.t.terfly Sect’s domain to see what its disciples were like. He wanted to see and experience how they use the b.u.t.terfly Blade.
Because of this reason, Zhao Hai agreed to the employment of the Rong Clan. Upon hearing that Zhao Hai agreed, the steward nodded and said, “That’s great. Mister, please get on board.” As he said that, he gestured towards the carriage.
Zhao Hai nodded that there were platforms on the side of the carriage for people to stand on. It seems like it was made specifically for guards. Without hesitation, Zhao Hai cupped his fist towards the steward before jumping onto the platform on the left side. Seeing Zhao Hai’s stable form and actions, the steward couldn’t help but nod. Then he turned towards the driver and said, “Let’s go.” The driver shook the reins to let the horses run.
As he stood at the side of the carriage, Zhao Hai looked at the rapidly pa.s.sing scenery and breathed some fresh air. To be honest, it has been some time since he experienced this. Generally, he would sit inside the carriage. But now he was standing outside acting as a guard.
Thinking of this, a smile involuntarily appeared on Zhao Hai’s face. He felt that his current circ.u.mstance was very interesting. He didn’t have any thoughts about the young lady of the Rong Clan. He already has Laura and the others, he didn’t want to provoke them.
Laura and the others have been with him for a long time. They followed him from the lower realms. Their relations.h.i.+p has reached a point where nothing can separate them. Therefore, Zhao Hai has no plans to look at other women. It would only harm his relations.h.i.+p with Laura and the others. Zhao Hai also wasn’t the kind of person who would do such a thing.
Because of this, Zhao Hai acted like an ordinary rogue cultivator. In front of the Rong Clan, he would act honestly and stick to his role as a bodyguard.
The carriage was very fast. Moreover, the driver was quite familiar with the road. When noon arrived, they arrived at a medium-sized town. This town was called River Town, due to the river that cut straight to the middle. The river itself wasn’t famous, but it was a main transit point between two territories.
Although River Town wasn’t big, its climate was very good due to its proximity to the river. Its environment was clean and the meals at its restaurants tasted very good.
The carriage stopped in front of a tavern. This surprised Zhao Hai. He thought that a young lady of the Rong Clan would look for a nicer and more solitary place. The tavern they stopped at was only a small establishment. And one could see that it has quite a lot of people inside.
After the carriage stopped, the steward got down and entered the tavern first. The small tavern was called the Yu Clan restaurant.
Zhao Hai knew what the steward was doing. With the status of the Rong Clan’s young lady, she couldn’t just enter the restaurant and look for a seat. Therefore, the steward had to go in first to prepare the seats before the young lady could enter.
Before long, the steward walked out of the shop and went to the side of the carriage. Then he bowed and said, “Young Lady, the table has been prepared. You can exit the carriage.”
Inside, a young girl’s voice replied, “Thank you very much, Uncle Gui.” Then the carriage door opened and a 14 year old girl went out first. The child had the clothing of a servant, but she looked smart and with cla.s.s.
After the little girl came out, she extended her hand towards the carriage door. The hand was then grasped by a white glove made of silk. The glove had lotus embroidered on it using gold thread. Before long, another female exited the carriage.
Zhao Hai looked at the young woman who stepped down and couldn’t see anything. However, the girl’s figure was very small. Her face was covered with a light gauze. One couldn’t see what she really looked like.
Zhao Hai has no plans to look further. He just looked at the young lady and then averted his gaze. He maintained his vigilance during this time. He doesn’t know why, but he could feel that a malicious gaze was directed towards them, especially towards the Rong Clan’s young lady.
This gaze caused Zhao Hai to feel uncomfortable. This wasn’t because he doesn’t want anything to happen to the Rong Clan’s young lady. Instead, it was because he was afraid that if there were people having ideas now, then that means that there would be more trouble along the way.