The Savior of Huayuan

The big ships came an hour after Sun Yin and Lu Bang lined up at the passenger's bay. Since they traveled light, they did not bother checking in their baggage at the cargo area. Zhang Min, who was waiting with them, made quite an enthusiastic goodbye for them. It was as if she was the one excited to travel in their stead.

Ren Junjie and the others traveled by sword earlier that morning. Their job was done, and they still had to answer for those who died in the monster's belly. The proprietor of the city saw them off along with his son who had no good experience with any of them.

Since the battle between the big monster Storm Snake and the cultivators was over, the big ships dared to cross that part of the sea again. There were still some that traveled the old route, but there were some ships that wished to travel straight to the harbors of Haiyang. The city lied on the other side of the mountains across the sea that Gangkou had in its view.

The entire travel would be a long curve, but a lot moved from the southernmost Huayuan area to the northernmost Haiyang area. The placement of the core pieces confused Sun Yin before—for Yuanyan had strayed too far from her husband, Buyue.

The proprietor of the city asked the ship to give a cabin to Sun Yin and Lu Bang who 'volunteered' to travel with the people and respond in case something attacked them. However, instead of asking for the most expensive, Sun Yin just asked for a normal cabin which they were planning to buy after all. Then again, even though they had a cabin of their own, the two ended up joining the people in sightseeing on the deck of the ship.

There were children aboard, and so the wide wooden spaces had become their playground. Sun Yin was leaning against the railing, taking in the sea breeze. She had no chance to relax when they reached that place yesterday. Lu Bang was beside her, seated on the floor and catching up on sleep. Huaban seemed to be asleep as well.

Noises soon came from the other end of the deck. Sun Yin brought her attention to the crowd forming at that side. She spoke even though she knew Lu Bang might not respond. "People are gathering over there. Could something be wrong?"

"If they're not noisy, don't go," Lu Bang answered, lightly sleeping. The sound of her voice made him open just an eye.

"Stay here." Sun Yin still went. She did not need to look back to know that Lu Bang had shaken his head in defeat.

She made way through the cheering crowd. The robes that she wore made the people move a little, letting her get nearer. It was suspicious, but her silent, cold feeling dissipated as she saw what was going on up front. There were two men wrestling using only their arms in the middle. Everything seemed normal unless she stared at the big man who was clearly winning. The man whom she had never seen before wore the robes of the Huayuan Lin sect.

The arms hit the board atop the barrel, and the people started clapping. The little man that stood as the judge raised his hand to the big man who just won. The loser sobbed as he consoled his sore arm. He reached into his pocket and dropped his coin purse in a pile of purses and coins. The winner stood and flexed his bulky body, establishing dominance towards the potential challengers.

"Tch, Lin Tong remains undefeated!" The little man announced, fingers pointing at the crowd, "No tricks, no techniques! Who dares to challenge the savior of Huayuan?! Come forth and claim the pot price! But if you lose, you need to drop everything you have! Who dares—?" His finger landed on Sun Yin who had made it to the front.

"Oh, my! Big Brother! What a nice game you're playing!" She clapped and smiled sweetly at the two. However, she approached them. "Big Brother, let's make a deal. If you win, I'll give you my money, but if I win, you have to return everything to them."

"T-That's not what the game is—"

"The Huayuan Lin sect does not practice greed. Have you forgotten? You have to return everything at the end of the game." She laid foxy eyes and grin at the announcer, her wicked aura seeping from the glint in her eyes. She dragged her word. "Right?"

The winner looked down at the small woman. He smiled at her as if they were familiar. Since she was pretty, he did not mind staring at her face. "Little Sister, are you sure you want to challenge me? No tricks, no techniques. You think you can beat me?"

"Oh, my, please be very careful with the delicate me." Sun Yin covered her lips with her sleeve. However, before she could move next to the table, a hand grabbed the back of her collar. She turned behind her and saw an annoyed Lu Bang.

"Picking on the girl, really? How heroic." He made Sun Yin walk out of the way with the movement of his hand. "We're talking after this."

"Ahahaha, this is more like it!" The announcer gulped down his nervousness. Even if they were real cultivators, they should not put up a fight against his friend, Lin Tong.

"I can take him on." Sun Yin hummed as she still let him raise his sleeve and kneel to get ready.

"I'm Lin Kun's facet here, remember?" he spoke with a tint of rage. Sun Yin stepped back after so.

The announcer was excited about beating a cultivator even if he prepared for a little cheat. He eyed at the male before looking at his friend. He held their clasped hands, careful of letting Lu Bang know. Up! The announcer's hands left the clasped ones, but he hid a small blade behind his thumb. He made a small cut on Lu Bang's knuckles when he raised his hands.

Lu Bang gazed at his hand, feeling the sting of the puncture. It was too late to complain about their dirty tactics. Since the back of his hand was left unseen by the audience, he just had to win before lecturing the two.

Their arms trembled, the bigger man laughing out as he felt like Lu Bang's arm was losing strength. The placid brother only accepted the wound and eyed at his enemy. Slowly, Lu Bang gradually increased his strength to compete with the big man's arm. Veins started to show on his arm, which Sun Yin enjoyed a little. However, she certainly did not like the fact that his hand was bleeding.

"W-What?" The bigger man was starting to sweat. His arm was fighting with his full strength, but he was losing the upper hand. He looked at the man before him, that man who had nothing but rage in his eyes. "B-Big Brother—"

"Shut it." Lu Bang almost hissed. He was slowly pinning the other's arm down against the board. "You're lucky we don't want trouble. Return everything you took. Leave the robes behind, too."

"Big Brother, please go easy on me—" the big man pleaded as he could feel his muscle wring in a very bad shape.

The announcer quietly prepared a sack. When he knew Lu Bang was going to defeat his friend. He suddenly dove to grab what he could from their earnings. Sun Yin dashed and delivered a fan kick towards the little man's face. The man was thrown off the railing and had gone overboard.

"Peng Ch—OUW!" The big man turned to his friend, losing concentration. His arm got slammed to the board, breaking it. He fell to the floor and writhed in pain as he consoled his arm.

Lu Bang got up and had Huaban fetch the poor man from the water. The sword dropped the little man on the big man, and the two cultivators stood with them in between. They lifted their faces and were greeted by Sun Yin's smile.

After giving back what the people lost, the ship staff just tied the two offenders to the ship's mast as punishment. The proprietor of Gangkou City was right about them fixing problems. It was a different problem, but they still stopped swindlers from taking the passenger's money.

Instead of leaving them alone, Sun Yin approached the two at the mast. She smiled at them and raised the robes that they had on them earlier. "Would you like to help me, Big Brother? How did you get these?"

"We ain't saying anything to ya!" The little man answered on behalf of his friend. Since he was tied at the same level as the big man, his legs were left dangling in the air. He started kicking. "Let us be, you monster!"

"I brought food for you, bad boys. I guess you don't need them." Sun Yin dangled the pack that she had behind her. She then heard the big man's tummy growl. Making use of it, she fished inside and took out the first item, leaving the bag next to her feet. She opened the box and bit into the meatball on sticks. "This is so delicious, by the way."

Both tummies then growled. It was now a game of temptation.