Chapter 113 - Not For You

What did you find out?" Da Xia asked the kitty as soon as they returned to her house. She was filled with anticipation to hear all that the kitty had got from its search through the inner circle of the mountains.

"Master, I checked the area and just like what Master Yichen told you, there's really a divine spiritual flower growing on the tallest peak of the inner circle. Most importantly, according to the system's data, that spiritual flower has five spiritual circles and it will get the sixth one on the night of the full moon." The kitty told her what it had found out.

"A divine spiritual flower with six spiritual circles. It's such a rare treasure. I don't think it will be easy for us to get our hands on it." Da Xia stated as she started working on washing the vegetables to start cooking the dinner.

She had specially bought some pork during the morning so that she could cook some meat for her husbands who had been eating only simple vegetables for years. They really needed a well-balanced diet to build up their lean bodies.

The kitty nodded his tiny head in agreement to its Master's words. "You are right about that. It looks like Master Yichen forgets to tell you that getting your hands on that spiritual flower is almost next to impossible. Do you know why you barely came across any powerful spiritual beast today even though you went as far as the outskirts of the inner circle?"

Da Xia stopped in her movements at Kitty's question before she let out a small sigh and resumed her work. "I had my doubts that it wasn't all because of the six rings spiritual core that I have in my possession. But I could not find out any other possible reason. Though it seems like you know the answer."

The kitty flapped its wings twice before it jumped to sit on the counter before it started speaking, "That happened because nearly ninety-five per cent of the powerful beasts of the Phoenix mountains are currently at the tallest peak of the inner circle, guarding the spiritual flower. It's almost impossible to step your foot anywhere near that peak, let alone the spiritual flower itself."

Da Xia let out a deep such as she found her biggest fear coming true. She had guessed that there would be some powerful spiritual beasts guarding that divine flower but she wasn't prepared to find out that there wasn't just some but nearly all the powerful spiritual beasts standing between her and the spiritual flower.

"There's more..." The kitty spoke again, successfully pulling its master's attention towards itself.

"What is it?" Da Xia asked as she finished chopping onion rings and moved to prepare the meat after putting some water to boil.

"It looks like you aren't the only one who is aware of the presence of this divine flower. During my search today, I found three different noble families from the capital and other cities, camping around the area. And they are the ones in the open. There is the possibility that more people will appear on the night of the full moon. Who knows what kind of scene is going to play out on that night in the inner circle?" The kitty shivered as some disturbing scenes appeared in its head.

Da Xia was silent for some minutes as she continued working on the meal before she finally spoke, "We don't have the option of backing off. That divine spiritual flower is important for the Princes to continue with their cultivation. Let's find a plan to get this situation in our favour. I'm not sure how we are going to do that. But we have to find a way soon."

They stopped discussing the matter after that as Da Xia prepared the meal. She did find some meat packets from the system to feed Li Jun's little snake before she returned to the underground cave to give the meal to her husbands.

That evening, she didn't stay with the Princes and returned home as soon as they finished their meal. Sh I didn't want to distract them too much from their daily practices. As she closed her eyes that night while going to sleep, Da Xia wasn't aware that a not-so-beautiful surprise was waiting to greet her in the morning.

***

"You guys... are back..." Da Xia stated as she stared at Shu Mei and Bai Lin who were standing outside her house. Who would have known that she would stumble upon them as soon as she would set her foot out of the house early in the morning?

She really thought that the two of them had left Jia Province since she neither saw them nor heard anything from them in the last few days. She wasn't expecting to find them standing right outside her house's main gate so early in the morning.

"We spent the last two days looking around the village. It's way different from what I used to hear back at my hometown. Everyone outside thinks that Jia Province is still a poor and barren land like before. But it's far from reality." Bai Lin spoke first as she glanced in the direction of the dirt road that led deeper into the village.

"Yeah! We also found out from the villagers that you are the one who has helped to bring these impossible changes in this village and that too in a very short period. You are really impressive." Shu Mei sounded like she was praising Da Xia and her eyes were staring at the latter with a look of awe in them.

Not knowing how to reply, Da Xia ended up just nodding her head in acknowledgement with an awkward smile on her lips. "So..., what are you both planning to do next?" She finally asked the question.

Both Shu Mei and Bai Lin shared a quick look between them before they turned to look at Da Xia and for some weird reason, the look in their eyes made Da Xia uncomfortable as she suddenly had a feeling that she won't be liking their reply.

"We have decided to stay here for a little while longer. We will be staying with you." 

There you go! That's why she had felt that weird feeling that something bad was about to happen. What did these girls mean? Why would she take them in? Da Xia wanted to reject immediately but as if they sensed it, she got stopped by Shu Mei even before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Lady Xia, you shouldn't reject us before finding out why we have decided to stay here. I'm sure you will change your mind after hearing what we both have to say." Shu Mei sounded so confident that it made Da Xia hesitate and in the end, she decided to give them a chance to speak whatever they had to tell her.

"Wait! Are you two familiar with each other?" Da Xia asked as she looked at the woman and the young girl with suspicion filled eyes.

"We don't..."

"Of course not..."

Both Shu Mei and Bai Lin answered at the same time and shared a heated glare right after that. It ended Da Xia's suspicion but she still was a little sceptic towards what they were planning to tell her.

"Let me talk first. Since I'm the first one who met her, I have at least that much privilege. Right?" Shu Mei asked as she looked at both Da Xia and Bai Lin with questioning eyes.

"Whatever!" Bai Lin muttered in response before she headed inside the house to both Da Xia and Shu Mei's surprise. It seemed like they would be taking outside the house if they needed privacy. What an irony!

Da Xia turned her attention to the young girl and asked, "So, what's the thing that you want to tell me?" 

The girl gave her a little smile before she pulled out a white jade pendant from her sleeves and handed it to her. As Da Xia's eyes looked at the carvings on the pendant, she found herself star-struck. She looked up from the pendant and stared at the young girl before whispering, "So you are a descendant of that family..."

As Shu Mei nodded her head in affirmation, Da Xia found her head spinning as she still was struggling to believe it. This was the last thing she expected to find out early in the morning. Though she always knew that Shu Mei wasn't a normal girl or from a normal family, she would never have guessed her real identity to be this noble and high.

But the truth about the young girl's identity wasn't the only shock she received that morning. When she later got to talk with Bai Lin, the woman also revealed something that once again blew her mind because Bai Lin's identity was even more scarier than Shu Mei's.

Just how did things end up like this?