Alice

Though he wished he could stare at her for longer, pounding footsteps coming towards them interrupted that moment. As soon as the girl heard that sound, her eyes squinted in fright before she got up and ran towards the auction house. This would have been a good place to part from her, but Shui was already curious, so he wouldn't allow her to vanish before his very eyes. And so, forgetting why he was going towards the auction house in the first place, he ran after her.

"W, wait!"

The girl wasn't sure if someone was calling her but she looked behind and was surprised to spot a cute child following her. She had no idea why this bandaged child, who she couldn't tell the gender of was chasing her, and she couldn't stop to ask either. The men who were chasing her weren't the type to show mercy to children. Knowing this, she felt worried for the child despite her situation.

"Don't follow me! Get away!"

After shouting that at the child, she picked up her pace and dashed through the crowd, however, Shui wasn't about to get left behind. Based on her speed, he knew the girl was a cultivator, most likely around the fifth or sixth level in the Mortal Realm. This knowledge was shocking but merely supplementary. If speed alone was required, then those chasing her, who he could easily tell were at least in the Soul Realm, would have caught up already. Instead, he had to predict where she was going and evade the people in the shortest path available. Still, he had confidence that he could do it. He might have a lower cultivation, but he had better tricks up his sleeve.

With his eyes, he could analyze and predict the movements of the people in front of him with high accuracy, but if he tried to dodge them while chasing after her then he wouldn't be able to catch up to her in time. Once he realized this, Shui changed his plan, since he couldn't avoid the obstacles in time then he would simply have to remove them.

Shui dashed towards her in a straight line and the distance between them was decreasing. In a crowded street like the one they were on, trying to run in a straight line should be impossible unless you were going to knock everyone out of your way, but Shui didn't have to do that. He had a much better way; using his martial intent. There were more than a few Soul Realm cultivators in the crowd but his martial intent wasn't something that could be sensed with just that level of cultivation, he had already tested that fact with Bartos and his fellow apprentices. Since he could predict the movement of the crowd, he merely adjusted their projected path by using his martial intent to drag their clothes. Even a peak Soul Realm cultivator wouldn't be able to resist such a sudden interference. This swift and precise use of his martial intent would have been impossible when he first acquired it, but after realizing he could use it to create artifacts, he started putting some time into manipulating it.

Within a few seconds he was in range. There was no time for a proper introduction, so he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a wooden stall.

"Follow me!"

In his head he apologized to both the girl and the owner of the stall in front of him then, he used his martial intent to break one of the poles holding up the roof of the stall. Next, he jumped onto the now slanted roof and pulled the girl with him up onto the roof of the building behind the stall.

"Ha...ha...ha..."

Once they were on the roof, both of them sat down and tried to catch their breaths. As her chest heaved up and down, the girl looked at Shui's face. Though his eyes were bandaged, she could see that he had a face delicate enough to be a famed beauty. This was the one who helped her. She was a bit curious about how he could chase her with bandages over his eyes but she chose to hold back that question for the meantime.

"Thanks."

"No, I, it was just a whim."

"Even so, I'll ensure that you're rewarded for your help."

"Well, that would be nice but we're not out of danger yet."

From the top of the roof they could see three men in black outfits rushing down the street. The two might have evaded them, but they still hadn't solved the problem.

"Indeed. I need to get to the auction house. My uncle works there."

"Let's go then."

They sat up and continued towards the auction house while using roofs as their path. Along the way, the girl looked at Shui with a faint smile.

"My name's Alice, what about you?"

"Uh, Shui."

"So do you run on roofs often?"

"No, do you get chased often?"

"Every once in a while."

Alice's response cleared a small portion of her mystery. Shui stared at her with a pensive look. Though they were still in danger, she could now put on a smile. She might have been trying to be considerate of him, or maybe she was happy to have a companion, either way she definitely didn't live a normal life.

They were on the last roof before reaching the auction house when Shui stopped her.

"What is it?"

"Look, don't those guys at the entrance look suspicious?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it..."

He didn't have to elaborate any further. The two of them stayed up on the roof with solemn faces pondering their next step.

"Do you have anywhere else you can go?"

"Not any place I can place my faith in. What about you? Would you happen to know anyone who could get us out of this?"

"Hmm, I might. Wait here for a bit."

"Okay."

It hadn't even been an hour since they met but Alice already trusted him to a certain degree. At the very least, she didn't believe this cute kid would hurt her. It wasn't an assumption based on fact, but one based on instinct.

Leaving Alice on the roof, Shui went down to the street. From the high vantage point, he had picked up on the figures of Bartos and Yur looking around anxiously.

"Uncle Bartos."

From their perspective, Shui had suddenly disappeared before suddenly appearing again, so naturally they were frightened.

"...Where were you?"

"Oh, I just got caught up in a bit of trouble. Could you help me please?"

Bartos and Yur looked at each other in a dazed manner. They had no idea what trouble he had gotten into, so they heard him out first. Once they heard the full story from him, both of them had a astonished look in their eyes.

'Look at this kid, just got here and already picking up chicks!'

'Looks like my daughter won't have an easy time.'

Though this was a potentially dire matter, if they were on the same side as the auction house it shouldn't too big of a problem. The Coin Storm Auction House had branches all over the kingdom and was a major-level force, two whole levels above the Heaven Clan. Even if it was another major-level force, they wouldn't openly provoke the auction house. After all, money had power and power was needed to protect money. Of course this would still be very dangerous, but Shui's plan and determination convinced them to take the risk.

By herself, Alice would probably be captured before entering the auction house, but if they went together, there wouldn't be much danger since Shui was sure there were no Earth Realm cultivators among the suspicious men. However, his guarantee wouldn't be very trustworthy so he said that Alice had told him this information. With just his cultivation it would be impossible to detect their cultivations, however, he could see the nature energy that leaked out of them and deduce it. Someone in the Mortal Realm would generally have transparent energy, in the Soul Realm it would be mostly transparent with a tinge of another colour while for the Earth Realm it would have its own personal shade. The colour he saw in this case wasn't only due to the intensity of the energy, but also the characteristics it gained after being integrated. The cultivator's cultivation method, their personality, their skill, everything would generate a unique colour that he could 'see'.

While Bartos and Yur followed him, Shui went back to Alice who was sitting cross-legged where he left her. Though he didn't think she would leave, he was still glad she was still there.

"I brought my uncle. He's in the late Soul Realm so I think we should be able to go in without them trying to stop us unless they know you're there. But just in case,"

Shui took off the coat he was wearing and gave it to her for her to hide her face with the hoodie portion. Winter was just beginning so it wasn't that cold, still, he shivered from the cold temperature that he felt once his coat was off.

Once she put the coat on and hid her head and the profile of her adorable face, the two descended from the roof and met up with Bartos and Yur. When they saw the girl that Shui had brought along, they froze in shock for a few seconds.

Too impressive!

The boy had only vanished for a couple minutes and got a future famous beauty in his arms. Both of them had to admit that his skills were too good. Even with a bandaged face he earned such an achievement, so what if his face was unveiled? Terrifying!

As Shui expected, no one stopped them from entering the auction house and so they calmly made their way to the receptionist. Of course, this was also because Shui used his aura restraining art on Alice, otherwise they might have found her by using their spiritual sense. Though it was naturally harder to use the art on another person, due to his practice he was able to limit the aura that leaked out of her body.

From here on, Alice was the one in charge of the group. She revealed her face and walked up to the woman behind the counter with an arrogant demeanour suddenly bursting out. She slapped a golden seal on the counter and then said her command.

"Call your manager."