YIN-YANG DEVOURER

"It was an excellent idea to save the heads of those cultivators… In the end their rewards made us earn some juicy extra income" Lira said with a smile as they chatted relaxedly with Ruvan.

It had been a week since they had been ambushed by Wiltord and his accomplices, since then everything had been going smoothly for Ruvan's group.

"And what do you say… The treasures those cultivators had in their space rings were no small feat either" Ruvan said with a smile as he remembered the profits he had obtained from looting the space rings. A huge variety of resources and weapons had been added to the harvest inventory. However, the most important of all was what seemed to be a fragment of the map that was going to be auctioned at the Commerce Pavilion auction.

'Well if I get that piece of the map I will already have two pieces in my possession... I wonder if that treasure is meant for me'

A copy of the map had been shown to Ruvan by Manager Lan. Manager Lan offered Ruvan an attractive reward if he found another piece of the map, a piece that Ruvan coincidentally obtained from the space ring of one of the wandering cultivators. However, unfortunately for the Manager, Ruvan had no intention of selling it.

"And Ling'er? I haven't seen her in a while?" Lira asked when she didn't see the always playful girl around.

"She's taking a nap in the carriage. Apparently even that little demon gets tired…" Ruvan said with a tired expression. Ling'er had become quite lively since the events of the ambush.

Although no one dared to say it out loud, it was evident that little Ling'er had become Ruvan's darling. Even Xin showed signs of jealousy as he demanded Ruvan's attention.

Ruvan turned his head towards the carriage only to see a beautiful Su Meiyao caressing Ling'er and Xin's heads as they both slept soundly on her lap.

For her part, Su Meiyao had become accustomed to this leisurely lifestyle while they traveled. Although from time to time they encountered spirit beasts and bandits, they were quickly exterminated by Lira and the rest of the mercenaries. Ruvan's intervention was rarely necessary.

"I hope Jonah has taken good care of the house" Lira murmured with concern as she remembered the unreliable guy they had left in charge of taking care of their property.

"Don't worry, although Jonah is a drunk, that doesn't mean he's irresponsible... Besides, no one in the City is his rival in terms of cultivation" Ruvan said while giving assurances about his unreliable friend.

"And by the way... What will we do with Su Meiyao and her daughter?" It's obvious that the little girl has become attached to you. Even I have become quite fond of her if I'm completely honest" Lira admitted as she turned her head in the direction of the carriage where the mother and daughter were traveling.

"Initially our agreement was to escort them to the Yellow City however perhaps I can offer both of them to stay with us" Ruvan said after thinking about it for a few moments.

"You really don't have to pretend with me that you thought about that until now?" Lira said while rolling her eyes.

"Wait… Why do you say that?" Ruvan asked playing dumb.

"I saw your look from the first moment you saw Su Meiyao… It's obvious that you want to devour this poor and inocent mother" Lira said as she punched him on the arm.

'I swear to the heavens that no one knows me better than her…. At least in that aspect' Ruvan thought to himself with a bitter smile.

"Hey, don't accuse me falsely! When have you seen me flirt with Su Meiyao since she's been with us?" Ruvan questioned while making an indignant tone of voice. Although he knew that Lira had been right, he was not going to admit it so easily.

"Oh really? So you're going to tell me that it was by pure chance that every time we fuck you forget to activate the sound restriction matrix?"

"Or are you also going to tell me that your gesture of carrying her to cross the river came from your noble heart" Lira said with a triumphant smile. It was evident that she had caught every subtle move that Ruvan had made toward Su Meiyao.

Su Meiyao had seen the worst possible version of men that was something that Ruvan knew, so he decided to opt for a slightly slower and more indirect strategy while little by little he got into the mature woman's thoughts.

"Crossing the river was necessary after all, the current was quite strong and she has no cultivation…"

"And about the sound restriction matrix… Oh, forget it" Ruvan said as he lowered his arms at the mocking look he was receiving from Lira.

"Seriously Ruvan… You can't let anything go, right?" Lira rebuked with a false tone of anger.

"It's not my fault! That real woman who is sexy… That mole under her eye gives her a very particular charm…" Ruvan said while complaining.

There was a misconception in cultivation myths and that concept was that beauty went hand in hand with talent and cultivation level. Beauty was a gift from heaven to certain individuals. On the other hand, cultivation was the result of people's effort and luck. A cultivator could raise his cultivation to a high level with the help of all kinds of resources, but if he had not been blessed with good appearance he would still be ugly no matter how powerful he was.

The same goes for personal tastes. Not every fairy can be beautiful in everyone's eyes, after all beauty was quite subjective and this was something Ruvan knew very well.

"I admit that Meiyao has a pretty attractive body despite her age. Several of the mercenaries have tried to flirt with her but apparently none have had results" Lira said with a smile as she remembered the poor attempts of the mercenaries to get close to Su Meiyao.

"How are they going to have results if you practically force them to go to confession drunk?" He questioned Ruvan with a smile as he remembered how Lira made fun of the mercenaries. Every time one of them lost in one of the games they played while drinking. The looser had to confess to his love or if he did not have one within the group, he had to tell a shameful story of his own.

When Lira suggested this game, everyone was hesitant but they quickly got into it and it became a pretty fun dynamic within the group. Even Ruvan found it quite funny until he received a couple of confessions from some drunken mercenaries. 

From that moment Ruvan had stopped participating in the games…

"It seems we are close," Ruvan said as he watched the trade caravans increasing. It was evident that they were getting closer to Civilization again after two weeks in the jungle.

After a couple of hours the group was finally able to see the City walls.

"We're finally back," Lira exclaimed with a smile.

"Mmm, are we there yet?~" A sleepy Ling'er stood up upon hearing Lira's scream.

"We are finally home"

"I hope my wife missed me as much as I missed her."

"My children must have grown quite a bit in these months"

"Damn, I can't find the time to go to the girls at the brothel."

"Me too!! Those women in the City of Four Paths were of very poor quality."

"And you say it... I still feel like I'm infected with something but I don't know what yet..." Upon hearing the last mercenary's exclamation, the rest around him took a step to the side, maintaining a safe distance from the poor guy.

"Hey!! I was just joking!!" the poor mercenary exclaimed, but none of his companions paid any attention to him as they kept their distance.

At first, the mercenaries comments moved Su Meiyao, but after hearing the next ones, her expression cooled completely.

'Men will always be despicable,' the mature woman muttered to herself.