Home sweet home

From Master Xia's Perspective:

Consciousness returned with difficulty. My entire body ached, from my muscles to my left buttock for some reason. Apparently, I strained my buttock; never thought that was possible.

My goodness. Struggling to open my eyes, I found myself embracing Lin Qing, who was sleeping with a blissful smile on her face. We were both naked. It seemed the evening went well.

Recalling our wild night, I couldn't help but smile. Yes, it was an interesting experience. We behaved like animals! Haha. I can see myself getting addicted to such pastimes.

Looking around, I spotted a pair of feminine legs gently swinging. Raising my head a bit more, I saw Mei's face. She was sitting in a chair, reading a book, one leg crossed over the other, swaying her foot.

Sensing my awakening, she lowered her book a bit, and upon catching my gaze, put it down completely, smiled, and said:

"Oh, Master, you're awake? How was your sleep in the new place?" She said it with a mischievous smile.

"Teasing me, aren't you? Instead of offering the master some tea" I glanced around, then continued "or clothes."

To this, Mei replied: "Oh, but you looked so peacefully asleep. I thought you were fine as is."

"Alright, Mei, that's enough." I said and gently kissed Lin Qing's ear, whispering "Wake up, we've been caught." I carefully nudged her shoulder.

Getting up and stretching, I surveyed the area and saw remnants of my torn clothes. Taking a new set of clothing from my ring, I began to dress.

Lin Qing got up and greeted Mei: "Good morning, mistress" she said and stood up, stretching as well.

I admired her as she stretched, but couldn't help but notice the evidence of our passionate night – marks of suctions and bites were all over her, along with a few bruises.

The most curious one was the bite mark on her left buttock. Haha, yes, in the heat of passion, I had bitten her there. Haha. Judging by the way she reacted then, she was delighted

Having dressed, I walked over to Mei, took a chair from my ring, and sat down at the table where Mei was. I poured myself an herbal brew, took a sip, and asked:

"How are things with us?"

"There are a few fresh pieces of news. Yesterday Ye Chen visited along with the Talking Goose and some girl. As a result, the girl decided to stay. She mentioned that you should know her from a recent journey. Ye Chen and the goose left on their own business, mentioning that they'll be back soon with more news. Do you have anything you'd like to share with me? Perhaps about your journey?"

Sipping the herbal brew, I began telling Mei and Lin Qing about our journey, and they listened attentively.

"What about those stones you found?" Mei asked curiously, waiting for me to share my findings.

Taking out the stones that glowed even brighter in the sunlight, I handed them to Mei.

She examined them and inquired: "Did you find many of these stones there?" Her curiosity was evident.

"Well, there was an entire cave filled with these stones, forming walls of sorts. I can't say exactly how many, but you know what these are?"

"Yes, I can tell what they are, and it will be very important for us to find these stones. If I remember the price of these stones correctly – they're called Celestium, by the way – they are an extremely rare and valuable mineral. As far as I know, finding such quantities as you mentioned is almost unheard of. It's quite strange.

We'll definitely need to explore and study that place. I'm almost certain there's something much bigger hidden there. I'm genuinely surprised you stumbled upon it. As far as I know, it's very rare in our region. Can you guide us to that network of caves?"

"Oh, indeed, I can guide us to the network of caves. I remember the way. The question is finding that exact spot. And why is this mineral so famous?"

"Essentially, it's used to craft expensive artifacts or to create very potent or costly arrays. To give you an idea, a low-quality piece of this mineral fetches about 1-2 million spirit stones for a 300-400 gram piece.

The ones you found are of such high quality that we usually use them in auctions. The kilogram-sized piece you brought could be worth around 100-150 million, conservatively estimated. So, I'm earnestly asking you not to tell anyone about them.

The secret of this crystal cave will only be known to the three of us. But we'll have to think about how to use these crystals.

Simply selling them won't be easy; they would just be confiscated here, and we'd either be buried alive or interrogated about such a treasure. We need to be more subtle in our approach."

"By the way, that teleportation artifact that brought us here, I mean to the Outer Circle – I found out how to make it. Well, there's about 300 grams of this crystal in it."

I whistled in amazement. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. If I hadn't taken the protagonist out of that cave and raised him there, we would've had to share this treasure at least, assuming he didn't botch the situation.

Otherwise, the sect would've just confiscated it. Good thing I made the decision to try and get him out.

Afterward, we climbed the mountain, and I finally arrived home.

Home sweet home!

I sighed with relief. Ah, finally, I was back home!

I walked to my favorite spot on the veranda, sat down, and activated the Check-In system, seeing 2/3. Tomorrow would bring rewards. Let's hope the third time's the charm and luck shines brighter than the first time.

Lost in thought, I noticed the girl I had rescued from the cave, the one who was with Ye Chen, approaching me.

"Greetings, Xia Tao" she said and continued "I was told that I owe my life to you."

"Well, let's just say I provided some assistance. But let's leave that behind. You haven't introduced yourself?" I asked with interest.

"Oh, I apologize. I got a bit carried away. My name is Li Meiying. You saved me from becoming a sacrificial offering my Elder intended to make. It seems this is one of the few places where no one will be looking for me. If you don't mind, I would like to stay here for some time."

I pondered for a moment, but on the whole, I couldn't see a reason not to help someone in need, especially when it costs us nothing and future gratitude might be useful.

"I don't mind. Feel free to stay. As for the details, you can talk to Mei, she's the elder here"

"Can you tell me the reason for the sacrificial offering?"

"I'm afraid it's a highly painful topic for me right now, and I hope I can keep it a secret."

"Does it pose any danger to us?"

"No."

"Well then, for heaven's sake, keep your secrets, and of course the ones you'll naturally find out about us."

At that moment, we were rudely interrupted. A wave of joy hit me as Zhang Jing picked me up and sat in my place, putting me on her lap.

"Master, I missed you so much" Zhang Jing said, attempting to crush me with the hug.

"Mmm, why do you smell so much like a woman?" Zhang Jing asked suspiciously. She was accompanied by Hu Mei and Xia Lina, who also came and stood beside her. They all looked at me with curiosity.

Interestingly, they completely ignored Li Meiying and treated her like an empty space. I stretched out my arms and said to Hu Mei and Xia Lina

"Come to me, I'll hug you. I missed you too."

We hugged, and I noticed Xia Lina also trying to sniff me.

"Master, don't ignore me, why do you smell like a woman?" Zhang Jing asked with suspicion.

Yes, after my activities with Lin Qing, I forgot to freshen up. I figured the best defense was a good offense.

"Mmm, and so what if I do? You smell like a woman too. I'm not interrogating you!" I said, giving her a pat on the hip.

The reward for my remark was a collective jaw-drop and the sound of a surprised

"Haaa?"

"Let it go, Xia Lina, you can have breakfast. You haven't eaten properly for days," I said, popping a pill into my mouth and extending my hand.

Xia Lina eagerly sank her teeth into my hand and started drinking blood.

"Li Meiying, sorry we haven't seen each other for a few days, but it seems we missed each other more than I thought. I hope we didn't make you uncomfortable" I said, turning to Li Meiying.

"Oh no, not at all. I understand completely" she replied.

I could practically feel Zhang Jing's suspicious stare. I would definitely need a shower before spending the night with Mei. It probably wouldn't be too pleasant for her if I had someone else's scent on me.

After some time of chatting with the girls, I learned that yesterday when Ye Chen and his group arrived here, the talking goose made a rather ambiguous remark towards Mei, which resulted in its tail suddenly catching fire and burning off all its feathers.

After that incident, the goose remained quiet but forced Ye Chen to wrap its tail with a cloth soaked in a healing potion. Haha, that restless goose. It's a shame I didn't witness its tail catching fire.

Although, in general, I had more interesting things to focus on that day.