Alex looked at the young man in front of him with a slight curiosity in his eyes.
The man who had just appeared wore a stark white robe with almost robe with no other colors.
Two golden earrings hung from the side of his ears that had a circular shape with some spikes appearing out of it. Calling it a golden ball with spikes would be enough to describe the jewelry to someone.
His blonde hair cascaded down below his shoulders and ended on black tips as if that part alone was dyed for some reason.
He was most likely two-finger taller than Alex, but for some reason, Alex felt the height to be actually larger.
His fair body skin had no blemishes at all, and his constantly smiling face made him look gentle as well.
However, the most curious thing about him was that he had no cultivation base at all. Almost as if he were a mortal.
Alex's first thought was that this man was an immortal, someone whose cultivation base was so high he couldn't sense it at all.
However, he immediately felt like slapping himself on the face. He had just learned that immortals couldn't walk out in the open freely not long ago.
The skies would split open to punish them if they even showed themselves. Lady Ren was only surviving by staying hidden underneath a massive Saint Spirit vein line in addition to a bunch of formations to keep her aura hidden.
The man in front of him was likely using a cultivation technique to hide his aura. His technique must have been one of the good ones to make him hide his aura so easily.
The man noticed Alex staring at him and smiled at him.
"Greetings little brother, where are you headed to?" the man asked.
"To Silverlead city for now," Alex said, not elaborating any further to the stranger.
The carriage started moving and soon the caravan was on its way to the next town.
The blonde-haired man's smile remained on his face, not leaving it once. That gave Ning a bit of a weird feeling like he should avoid this man.
The carriage rattled around for about 5 minutes, and the man finally stopped looking toward Alex and instead turned to a family of 3 to the side.
"What's your name, little girl?" he asked the girl that was maybe 4 years old.
"Shu Xue," the girl said softly, her parents encouraging her from the side to ask the man's name.
"What is your name, mister?" she asked.
"My name? It's… Shen Jing," the man said.
Alex's eyes immediately narrowed as a thought crossed his head. 'Shen Jing? SHEN! As in the Shen clan? The same one I'm going towards?' he thought.
There was no way things could be this coincidental, but he couldn't tell that for sure. After all, he had quite a bit of luck from everything he had gotten until now.
"Little Xue, ask this brother what his name is?" the young man named Shen said.
"Big brother, what is your name?" the little girl asked.
Alex couldn't help but put on a smile as he turned toward the young girl. "Little sister, my name is Yu Ming," he said.
"Yu… Ming…" the girl said to herself as if trying to try out the name on her tongue.
"And what's in Silverlead city for little brother Yu Ming?" Shen Jing asked.
"For now, it's just a midpoint in my journey," Alex said. "Where is senior brother Shen headed to?"
"Me? I don't know. I'm just going where fate takes me, I guess," The man said.
"I have a question to ask of you, brother Shen," Alex said, unable to contain his curiosity.
"How about you ask me one and I'll ask you one?" Shen Jing said.
Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "Are you from the Shen family?" he asked.
"Uhh… obviously. My family is Shen, isn't it?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow.
"So you are from the great Shen family," Alex shouted. He couldn't believe his luck.
Shen Jing looked at him with an innocent eye and asked, "Great Shen family? What's that?"
"Eh? Are you not from the Great Shen family?" Alex repeated the question.
"I think there is a misunderstanding here. I am from a Shen family, while you seem to be asking about a family that is more popular," Shen Jing said.
"So… you're not from the Shen family? One of the 7 colors of the Empire?" Alex asked.
"Oh, no. You seem to really be talking about an actual Shen family that's quite popular. Unfortunately, I'm not from that family," he said.
"I see," Alex said, his hopes sinking back a little. "I'm surprised you don't know about that family. It's quite popular in the empire."
"I don't really know much about the empire," Shen Jing said.
'A player?' Alex suspected now. The only person who wouldn't know about the Luminance empire would be someone that came from outside of it.
Given how the beast realm blocked the Crimson Empire from entering, and the other continents had no way of coming here, only a player could have possibly been someone that would not know about the empire at this point.
"You should read some books, brother Shen. Learning about the empire will help you a bit," Alex said.
Shen Jing immediately put up an irritated face. "No, I hate reading," he said.
Alex was about to ask something when Shen Jing started speaking. "Since I've answered a question of yours, you should answer one of mine," he said.
Alex nodded and waited for the question.
Shen Jing pointed at Alex's stump and asked, "What's the story behind that?"
Alex unconsciously grabbed his left arm and said, "it got cut during a fight in my city. Bandits attacked us, and I ended up having to fight a particularly strong one."
"Hah, you mean you were just weak, right?" Shen Jing said. That hit a nerve in Alex, but he took a deep breath to control his anger.
"If you are a man, you will have to be strong. Well, you have to be strong if you are a woman too, but since you're a man this works for you," Shen Jing said.
"Otherwise, how else are you going to protect your family? Your mother, your father, your brothers and sisters, your friends, disciples, master."
Alex felt coldness pass through him when he said the last word. If only he had indeed been stronger, Ma Rong would have still been alive. Wen Cheng's arms would've still been okay.
If only he had been stronger.
"With how weak you are, will you even be able to protect that cat of yours?" Shen Jing asked.
"HuH? How do you know about that?" Alex immediately got defensive. Out of nowhere, the man had suddenly known about Pearl. Alex wondered if this was—
Alex saw the man pointing at his chest. Alex looked down and saw Pearl poking his head through the robes.
'Ah,' he thought.
Shen Jing waved his hands towards Pearl.
"Meow!" Pearl greeted Shen Jing out of nowhere.
"Meow to you too, little fella. What's your name?" Shen Jing asked.
Alex's eyes started going wide. 'Pearl don't ans—' he tried to tell Pearl, however, he was a step too late.
"Pearl!" Pearl said out loud, shocking the family of 3 on the side. They had never seen a beast talk before in their life, and seeing one now in such a confined corner scared them.
"Come here," Shen Jing said as he opened his palm.
For some reason, as if hypnotized, Pearl suddenly jumped out of Alex's robes and onto the man's hands.
Alex couldn't even stop him at all. He started worrying. What was he to do now? Should he fight the man to keep the knowledge about Pearl a secret? What about the family?
Pearl smiled as the man rubbed his head and back. "You are amazing, Pearl," he said.
"Meow!" Pearl said happily. A small thought floated into Alex's mind.
"He's not a bad human, brother," Pearl told him in his mind directly. Alex didn't know if he should trust Pearl at the moment or not.
Shen Jing turned his head to the side and saw the family still cowering a little. Except for the little girl who was simply fascinated by a talking cat.
Shen Jing gave a reassuring smile to the family, and said, "don't worry. He's just a talented little cat. He won't hurt anyone."
He then called over the little girl, who ran off towards him.
"Put your hands forward," Shen Jing said, and the girl followed. He then placed Pearl on top of her hands. Pearl barely had any place to step on hands and jumped to her shoulders which were a little broader.
"Can you help teach my little friend a few more words?" Shen Jing asked.
The girl nodded. "Alright, go ask your father and mother for help as well," Shen Jing said and the girl left to her corner with Pearl.
He then turned around to Alex and chuckled a little. "No need to panic, little brother. I won't hurt you guys," he said. Alex could hear all the implications in his words.
It wasn't that he couldn't hurt him, but that he wouldn't. Alex needed to be absolutely sure to do nothing that would antagonize this man.
"So? Are you going to heal that arm or not?" Shen Jing asked suddenly.
"I'm going to," Alex said.
Shen Jing made a weird face and asked, "Well, aren't you an Alchemist? You should have already healed your arm by now."
