Interrogation?

As I approached the group the man on the ground started to wake up. Everyone surrounded him in a semi-circle against the tree and when I stopped he had opened his eyes. They seemed a little lifeless and dull as they looked ahead.

The first person he saw was Qiao An who stood in front of him. Trailing the direction of his eyes I noticed he was staring at her chest, intentional or not. Just before I saw Qiao An about to explode in anger at the man, he started to cower.

"Hah! Ha.... aaa. Please, let me go! I-I don't want anymore trouble just let me go back to my sect!" He raised his hands in an attempt to cover his face.

Although Qiao An looked pissed she attempted to calm herself down. With deep breaths in and out her disposition went back to normal in a few moments.

"Ah, I'm right here! Do you remember? I was part of your team." Rao Nuan calmly spoke as she lightly shook the man on the shoulder.

When the man peered from behind his arms he stared for quite a while at Rao Nuan, even though his eyes seemed to regain clarity and life he didn't say a word. Instead he watched her until it started to be uncomfortable for her to which she spoke out.

"What are you doing? Stop looking at me like that!" A hint of disgust as well as anger was within her tone. She stepped back a couple of steps away from the man on the ground.

"O-Oh.. I'm sorry! Your name was.. Rao Nuan correct? What about you miss? What's your name?" The man asked Rao Nuan before switching his gaze over to Qiao An who still stood near him.

It was like he had tunnel vision, he only saw the two people in front of him completely ignoring the rest of us. The gaze he used on the two women clearly made them uncomfortable, only being broken when Chen Huang interrupted him.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? We just saved you and now you're doing this to us? We don't even get a thanks? Instead, you begin harassing the first two people you see?" He was a little angry at the man's behavior.

"Let's just leave the man here. We saved him once already so there's no need to keep protecting him!" Qiao An coldly stated before she turned around and went to where Yao Ya and I brought over Zhen Huo.

As She said that it was a like a chain reaction as everyone agreed instantly if not soon after.

"H-Hey, where are you two- er, all going? I'm still injured here, won't you heal me? At least wait for me!!" The man was surprised by our sudden and abrupt departure, trying to coerce someone into staying behind, before finally realizing he was actually being left behind. As he realized so he attempted to get up and follow us.

Qiao An crouched in front of Zhen Huo, propping herself up with a saber as a third point of contact.

"What were you all doing gathering there?"

Zhen Huo was silent as she stared at Qiao An. Her eyes scanned our group before stopping on me. Her eyes flicked across to Yao Ya a few times, but it always came back to me for some reason.

When everyone followed her sight they looked at me as well.

'I guess she really doesn't like me then huh? Well, it makes sense.'

"I understand, I'll leave so you all can talk to her."

When I turned around I spotted a nice tree to lean against, but before I even took my first step toward it she called out to me.

"N-No, wait!"

Turning back I saw her eyes had slightly widened and she even looked fearful for some reason. Was I wrong? No I couldn't be, there was clear hostility not too long ago.

"Yes?"

"I-I want that man to talk to me. O-Only him, I won't speak to anyone else!" Periodically she looked at Yao Ya again for some reason.

When I turned to Yao Ya she had already been facing me. With a gentle smile and a nod she seemed to approve of it.

"Uh, ok. Does everyone else agree?" I asked to rest

"Sure"

"I don't see why not."

"Ok, if it doesn't work we can always let someone else try."

With that they backed away from me and started head to the very same tree I was originally planning to go to. I sat down on the ground in front of her and while looking into her eyes the fear from earlier was no where to be found. There was a couple of light trails from her streams of tears a minute or two ago.

Reaching into my robe I was about to take out a cloth to wipe her cheeks before I remembered that makeup would probably just smear across her face if I didn't have anything to wash it off with. At least I think that's how makeup works.

"Why did you all go over here? *Gasp!*"

Before I could start the man we saved interrupted our process. His mouth was agape as he directed his sight only at the girl in front of me. His slightly worried face soon turned to anger as he started to march over.

"You captured that smug bitch?! Let me have a turn with her! She did so much to me I can finally pay her back for it!"

When everyone heard him their faces all changed, some held disgust while others just looked shocked he came, and soon they made their way in front of him to block his path. Seeing that we were slightly protected from the interruption I looked back at Zhen Huo.

She was really cooperative for some reason. I was truly expecting her to do something when I looked away from her. At least this makes everything easier.

Though the noises from that man were heard intermittently it wasn't enough to interrupt our conversation again. The first question that came to mind was the one Qiao An asked earlier.

Looking into her eyes I asked, "So what were you all doing gathering there?"

"Our sect is one of hunters. We were going to start a ritual where we would mark one of the enemy we've captured before setting free into the forest. After some time has passed we would begin the hunt and bring back his head.

As wolves had to hunt their pray in the wilderness with nothing but their own skills, so would we in this hunt. We would only ever do this to those people who would try bullying others though! When we found that group of people he bossing around most of the people who who most if not all had disgruntled faces!

You could ask that woman earlier in the Fortunate Sky Sect's clothing! I remember her being with that group he was in.

Wait... Liao Mu went after her...

Tell me please! What happened to Liao Mu? I just want to know."

'Whoa, she said a lot! Isn't she afraid that we'll just kill her now that she told me basically everything? Well I suppose it's not "everything," but still.

I guess I should tell her about him though, or well basically what I think happened. Well it was clear what happened, but I don't know the specifics.'

"The girl over there Rao Nuan killed him just when I found her. And my brother must have coincidentally taken the robes he was wearing as well."

A frown appeared on her face as her eyelids drooped down. Her head tilted down a little as well.

"Don't worry I won't try to avenge him. Thank you for telling me." Her gloomy appearance was reflected in her voice.

'Oh! I didn't even think about revenge! I need to be careful with my words else I might just accidently get someone else killed.'

Calming myself down I thanked her before pulling her up and heading over to the others.

'I should get away from Chen Huang for a bit. How am I supposed to find treasures for myself if he attracts all of them. Or is it that he's the one bringing them near us in the first place? Either way the more people there are the more I have to worry about.

When I propose this to them in a bit Yao Ya should be the only one who wants to join me. I don't really know about Rao Nuan's stance, but it would probably be that she would stay with the group.'

When I walked up to the group the man we saved from before was unconscious on the floor. When I asked about what happened he told me what happened when I was speaking to Zhen Huo. And in turn I told everyone what Zhen Huo said while letting her go.

After he appeared and said those things before everyone tried different methods to stop him. Apparently, he thought that I was going to rape her for some reason! That's outrageous no sensible man should do that!

But this is the cultivation world now, crime was definitely higher then it is in the modern era. Who knew how many crimes were actually being committed when no one was looking? It's not all that difficult to commit these crimes especially in isolated forests and realms like this one.

Once that matter was over I brought up the one I was thinking about earlier.

"I think I want to go off on my own."