Who is My Father!?

The terrain was rough with rocks everywhere and not a sign of any greens. There were brown mountains far into the horizon but none of those mountains had a tip as if they had been sliced off.

Up ahead, there was that cave blended with its surrounding that it will hard to tell that it was man-made from afar. It was surrounded by hill like mountain that popped out of the ground with only a gap for people to enter and leave.

The slave traders drove the lizard close to the cave. The lizard stopped at the entrance of the cave since the gap was small that the lizard could not fit in it.

One of the slave traders hopped down and walked towards the cave. "You two wait here, I go fetch the assistants." He headed towards the cave leaving the two behind to watch their goods.

"We will surely get enough core for this. What will do with your half?"

"I am going to join a sect. I want to be stronger so someday I can leave this life behind."

"What? Why? We have money, women, authority. Why give it up to join a sect? You know they are strict and once you joined them, and then if someday you changed your mind and leave, they will cripple your foundation. Besides, you will lose your freedom. Freedom is what made the abandoned continents feel like paradise."

"It is paradise for the wicked and hell for the kind. Those who lived in the abandoned continents will eventually realize that. Only those with strength by exploiting the weak can live like a king. This even goes for sects and clans."

The other man could not disagree with what he said. He casts away his morals to survive. As a slave trader, he sold war prisoners, children who were sold by their parents, and those who offended someone they should not have. At first, he was reluctant to sell humans, but eventually, he got numb to it.

The two continued to wait until a half an hour had passed. Then they saw two people walking out from the cave. One of them was the slave traders and the other was a muscular man with a knife hanging from his belt.

"Ok, there they are, Honorable Yi Da" The slave trader pointed to the three unconscious bodies inside the cage. The muscular man examined the three with scrutiny.

He was not a normal attendance. He personally came because he felt something amiss.

"Hmm, the girl seems very ill and also a mortal… Her bones seem to be normal… It seems she had her vital energy sucked out. I give you one qi condensation core for her." He materialized one core from his storage ring and threw it to the slave trader without waiting for the slave trader to answer.

"This man here…" He looked at the mid-age man, Wu Xinyi, and was surprised by him. It was faint but he can feel the peerless strength emitted from him. "One hundred qi condensation core."

The slave trader did not understand why he would cost so much but he did not ask. He was happy about it nonetheless. It would have taken around a year to gather that much and he got it in one day.

Yi Da examined the young man, Long Xiuying. After a second, he broke down in sweat. "Where did you find him?"

The slave trader did not understand why a person with like him would be anxious. Rumor said his physical base was iron and some even said he was silver. Therefore, The slave traders hesitated to answer because of how he would react.

"I SAID WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM!?" Yi Da exploded with anxious anger. The slave trader perked his ear like a dog being yelled at by his master.

"I-I… We find him about 10 kilometers away from here." The other two gave a nervous smile when he included them also.

"Release him now!" Yi Da commanded.

The three moved as fast as they could to get Long Xiuying out of the cage and his collar off.

"Bring the other two the cell. I will bring this young man along with me." He carried the unconscious Long Xiuying in his arms.

"May I ask why?"

"Just be glad that y'all still have your lives." With that said, Yi Da walked inside to the black market with Long Xiuying. The three looked at each other like they did something wrong.

The black market was bustling with illegal activity. There were slaves, medicine, rare artifacts, and even secret manual from different kind of sects. If not for a powerful backing, this place would be raided in an instant.

Inside the cave was a market filled with people with their face covered by masks, hoods, and some even painted there face. There were a few that did not cover their face was either due to their confidence or their face was a disguise also by some technique.

Lights were shined from the ceiling by floating orbs throughout. The black market was filled with bright light as if it was daytime.

To prevent any thievery, there were many enforcers constantly patrolling the area. All the enforcers had a cultivation base of mid qi condensation with a physical base of at least copper.

To have many mid qi condensation cultivators gathered was impressive in the abandoned continent. It says a lot about the owner of this place.

Seeing Yi Da returned, the crowd silently looked at him carrying a young man on his shoulder. Many made way for Yi Da as if he was a dangerous fire waiting to burn anybody to ashes. Those who had done business here all knew Yi Da and if someone gets on his bad side then they will never escape this place.

"Who is that young man that Yi Da is carrying?"

"Another toy for Yi Da, I bet."

"But doesn't he usually dragged someone by their feet. For him to carry in his arms, he might be important."

There were many speculations about Long Xiuying and his relations with Yi Da. A moment later, they were even more surprised Yi Da took him to the stair where only the most important people can enter. This only proved how important Long Xiuying was.

The stairs lead to another lobby that was away from the chatters from above. There were many rooms that were designed to luxurious as possible. Yi Da handed him over to one of the attendance.

"Find him a room and let him rest there. If he wakes up, report to me immediately, got it?" Yi Da told the attendance.

She replied with a simple yes and carried Long Xiuying to his room. Her physical base was strong enough that carrying a human body was not hard at all. Besides, she got used to it by now.

She placed him on a luxurious bed and quietly left. If Yi Da was to personally bring him in, she did not disturb his rest. She even came back to bring food for him in case he wakes up.

Over the period, different attendances would come to take care of him like a nurse.

Two days had passed and Long Xiuying has yet to wake up. His food was being replaced daily by the attendances along with daily bath. They keep doing so until on the fourth day.

Long Xiuying opened his eye to see an unfamiliar girl next to him.

"Hello, mister."

"Uhm, who are you?"

"I am the attendance for the Red Earth Black Market. I am ordered by the Assistant Manager, Yi Da to be in your care."

"Ok… thank you." Long Xiuying was not sure what was going on but he decided to play along.

"If you need anything, please just ask." With that said, she left leaving behind fresh food.

Long Xiuying stomach growled since it has been days since he last ate.

He gobbled his food in matters of seconds. By the time he was done, a muscular man walked in with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you, I am Yi Da, the Assistant Manager of Red Earth. May I ask if you are from the Unforgiving Shadow Sect?" Yi Da politely asked. He wanted to know, but if Long Xiuying had no tie to them, he beat him for making him worry for the past days, and then sell him.

Long Xiuying did not get what he was saying and was hesitant to answer.

"I only assumed about this because there was no shadow on you." Yi Da was quite surprised by this when he first saw him. The only sect that was remotely able to remove the shadow was the Unforgiving Shadow Sect. That was why he was nervous about Long Xiuying when he first saw him. The Unforgiving Shadow Sect was a ruthless sect that rose to prominence throughout the Abandoned Continent couple of years ago. They rose to infamy by wiping two sects and a clan. Yi Da did not want to get involved with such sect, much less offend them.

And for Long Xiuying to continuously have his shadow removed while he was unconscious only demonstrated his power. He heard that the elders of that sect can have their shadow disappears for only twenty-four hours, but it been days for Long Xiuying. Many knew that one cannot live long in the land of the living without a shadow since it was the medium that bound them to this world.

Yi Da even mentioned to the attendances to tell him that when they can see his shadow they would report back to him, but in the end, there was none. This made him think he was a genius of the Unforgiving Shadow Sect.

Long Xiuying kind of got the gist of it of what was going on. The man in front of probably think he was someone important from some sect. Seeing how Yi Da was politely questioning him, Long Xiuying can tell that Yi Da was anxious to under his presence.

"Yes!" Long replied with utter confidence. "Then let me ask you something?"

"What is it, young master?"

Long Xiuying quickly thought of something to make him look more domineering.

"Did you happened to see my father? He was here to take care of…business…"

'Father again? Whatever it should be fine...' Long Xiuying could only think about father this, and father that after what happened at the desert. Next time, he would have to think of a better lie.

Even so, if Yi Da was afraid of him, then he would definitely be terrified of his make-believe father.

Yi Da broke down again in sweat with a twitchy smile. "Y-Your father? I-I will bring him right away. Everybody! Get over here!" Ten attendances lined up under Yi Da. "Go bring his father here this second!" They follow him obediently without question.

'I will kill those slave traders for bringing me such misfortune.' Yi Da thought as stared at the attendances running around.

Long Xiuying was confused. Was he going to meet his father? Who the heck was his father? He also wanted to know.