104. Family holiday

afflinghaze

As the days counted down—four, three, two, one—thousands of cultivators flocked to the tournament stadium and the surrounding area. Tents and portable houses rose among the swaying flowers and flying ships floated in the air.

A day before the tournament was set to begin, Wen Zhihao came and set up camp a distance away from the main stadium where it was quieter. The portable houses he bought were set up in a courtyard-like arrangement, enough to house all the children and teenagers and kitchen staff who had come along. Since some kitchen staff were still required in the Sect, Liu Jing was staying back for now, while Old Tang and a group of other staff came along first.

The rectangle of grass in the middle was perfect for the demonic animals to laze about in, which they did so immediately. Wen Zhihao joined them after placing down a lot of warming talismans and fluffy blankets, gathering the children to have their naps.

Sun Fuyu glanced over the sleeping faces with fondness in his heart. He wanted to join them, to curl up inside Wen-ge’s arms. But first, he had to set down a strong protective array around their temporary home.

After a nice nap after the morning’s travel, Wen Zhihao gathered the children and the mortal staff together to go and have a wander around—the cats wanted to sleep, and the newer animals (the demonic wolves, bear, and rabbit) didn’t want to leave the protective barrier.

Ruan Lanxi proudly carried her little sword at her waist and eagerly scrambled onto the flying cart. The cart wasn’t big enough for everyone, so it was reserved for the younger and older members, while the others, like Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu, walked alongside it. Wen Zhihao rested one hand on the cart’s raised edge to control its flying.

What Wen Zhihao hadn’t realised was that just outside the protective barrier, there was a large group of cultivators waiting for him. He was taken aback when some of them hurried over upon seeing him.

Sun Fuyu grabbed Wen Zhihao’s free hand. “Don’t worry, Wen-ge. They only want to buy some stones.”

“Oh,” Wen Zhihao said sheepishly. He had taken this trip as a holiday, so he hadn’t made any more calming stones since the last round of sales.

Sun Fuyu led the way through the barrier first. The noise increased sharply.

“Fellow Cultivator Sun! Fellow Cultivator Wen! Respectful greetings!” a purple-robed cultivator rushed forward first. “Fellow Cultivator Sun, I have prepared payment for a heart-soothing treasure!”

“Unfortunately, Cultivator Wen must rest after creating so many calming stones over the last two weeks,” Sun Fuyu lied with a perfectly straight face.

Wen Zhihao cooperated with a very serious nod. “My deepest apologies.”

The purple-robed cultivator deflated. “Oh, I understand. Fellow Cultivation Wen, please recover well.”

“More stones will be sold after the tournament ends, ” Sun Fuyu said.

The purple-robed cultivator inclined their head. “Many thanks, Fellow Cultivator Sun. Enjoy the tournament.”

The other cultivators with their sharp hearing also heard the news. They scattered with disappointment.

And so, without too much hassle, the group was able to make their way to the marketplace.

While demonic cultivators and righteous cultivators mostly kept to ‘their side’, there was a large marketplace that spanned from one group to the other. Weapons, potions, talismans, and more were sold by non-combative cultivators. One famous cultivator organisation set up a small auction with items selling for tens of thousands of high-grade spiritual stones.

There weren’t only cultivators: mortals also came to join in on the festivities. Some of them set up food stalls that demonic cultivators loved, and that smelt so delicious that righteous cultivators couldn’t help but taste. And with how rich cultivators were, there was no problem in marking up the prices a little (or a lot) compared to mortal town marketplaces...

Old Tang rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “How about we set up our own food stall, ba?”

One of the other kitchen staff gave a laugh. “Old Tang, if you want to work, then I’m not stopping you.”

Ruan Lanxi half leaned out of the cart, eyes wide as she turned her head this way and that. There were so many swords!

Xiao Bai simply looked around with big wide eyes, while the other children chattered and exclaimed among themselves.

Wen Zhihao saw their lines of sight. With a grin, he took them to the stalls and bought little trinkets (magical treasures) that had caught their eyes.

“Thank you, Uncle!” the children laughed as they compared their gifts.

“Mn, Old Tang, is there anything you’d like?…” Wen Zhihao called the kitchen staff and bought them some gifts too.

As for Sun Fuyu...Sun Fuyu would hug his arm every time he tried to buy something for him.

“Wen-ge, I don’t need more talismans! I like your talismans the best!”

“Wen-ge, I don’t need that magical treasure, I’m strong enough!”

Wen Zhihao put on a sad look. “Doesn’t Xiao Yu want anything?”

Sun Fuyu threaded their fingers together. “Just want Wen-ge.”

Wen Zhihao’s heart turned to mush. Aiyo, why is his family’s Xiao Yu so cute???

When the group left the marketplace in the evening, they were all comfortably full of delicious street food. There was also a lot more food stored in Wen Zhihao’s spatial ring for the animals and for later.

As they approached their temporary place, the first thing Wen Zhihao saw were two cats chasing off a demonic cultivator. When those cats spotted Wen Zhihao, they put in one last spurt to tackle the demonic cultivator. They tore up the magical net in the cultivator’s hands, swotted the cultivator’s head a few times, ripped the robes in choice places, and then primly padded over to Wen Zhihao for head pats, tails raised to the sky.

Wen Zhihao helplessly gave them head pats. ”Where are the rest?”

“Meow!” Follow me!

The two cats led the way back to their temporary place.

Directly outside the protective barrier of their area, a group of cats were imperiously accepting offered food from two female cultivators and licking their fur whenever one of the cultivators gushed about how handsome and cute they were.

It was a shame that the first few cultivators who enticed them out had poisoned food. Those cultivators were now nursing injuries elsewhere.

Another group of cats were stretched out either among the flowers or on top of dazed humans, purring and dozing as their new human-slaves petted them. Occasionally, they would open their mouths to be fed.

Some entrepreneurial chefs were selling tea, cakes, and small bites from their moving stalls. One smart cat paid for a pile of food in human form before turning back to cat form to eat.

When the cats felt Wen Zhihao’s aura, they immediately turned towards him.

“Meow!” Our humans are back!

Wen Zhihao smiled in a mixture of amusement and fondness. He gave them a wave. “Enjoy yourselves, I’m not going anywhere.”

The cats that were fleecing food off the human cultivators decided to continue to fleece food. But the cats that were being petted decided to get up, leaving disappointed cultivators behind.

Not that the cats cared—those new cultivators were only there to serve them! It was those cultivators’ fault for not being as good as their humans.

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