Anthony's horse had slowly reduced its pace to a comfortable trot after they left the canyon and crossed into the other side, closer to where people inhabited. He soon came to a plain with endless grasslands and there were lots of sheep on pasture. But there was no one looking after them.

Anthony got down from his horse, and patted it.

"Hector, wait here for me." He muttered and caressed its back.

The horse reciprocated by gently nudging his chest with its nose. Anthony quickly ran to the highest point of the plain and shouted in excitement, spreading his arms as the warm air fell against his face.

"How beautiful! This place looks so beautiful, like paradise. The flower patches around here are very beautiful: buttercups, daisies, wild indigo, prairie clovers, and of course, these beautiful grasses. There are even streams here. Wow! Ah, so beautiful." He muttered standing at the edge of the cliff.

He ran back and rolled himself on the floor close to flowers, taking a deep sniff of the daisies.

"Freedom sure smells good. Hahaha."

Anthony was obviously in a good mood at leaving Tian Luo even though he was worried about how the old man would survive without him. However, he reasoned that the old man had been surviving just fine before he showed up. That, in addition to the preparations he made to give him an easier life would ensure that he would at least have enough time to adjust to a life without Anthony's assistance.

Anthony's horse Hector came to him and knelt a little distance away.

"Hector, are you hungry? But I already made sure you ate well and drank enough water before we left. Why are you getting all clingy?"

The horse kept quiet, just lying on the grass beside him. Anthony smiled and shut his eyes, letting himself rest his bones. Less than an hour later, he heard the chattering of young girls coming towards him. He immediately stood up and looked in their direction.

"Ah? There's someone over there. He seems to be our age. Let's go check on him." Their voices filtered into his ears despite the long distance, thanks to his advanced hearing.

Three of the girls were carrying musical instruments, two were carrying shepherd sticks, probably coming to herd the animals back since it was nearly evening, another girl held a sword while the other had a bow which seemed to have been fashioned out of an animal's bones. As for the other girl that made them eight, she wasn't holding anything on her.

One of the girls who was carrying musical instruments rushed to him with a huge smile.

"Young master, are you here for the grand bazaar?"

Anthony was confused for a millisecond but quickly nodded, playing along. After all, he didn't even know where he was going.

The girls were speaking a strange language, same with Huo Fu but Anthony could surprisingly understand them, and also respond in their language.

"Yes, I'm here for the bazaar." Anthony replied with a charming smile.

"He's so handsome." The girl who didn't hold anything in her hand said, starstruck.

Her companions smiled and nodded, immediately agreeing with her.

Anthony smiled and scratched the edge of his hair lightly to hide his embarrassment. However, he was thick skinned enough to actually enjoy the compliments.

"Wow, he didn't blush. That's the first time Xinglan flirted with a guy who didn't swoon or turn red." The girl with a sword said and sneered.

"He's used to the compliments. Look at him, he's obviously popular with the girls. He has the bearing of a young master." The first girl who spoke said.

The second girl rushed forth, she had her hair braided beautifully at the front before the rest was allowed to flow down her back. She looked very beautiful and was dressed in peasant clothes. The clothes were like a gown with side slits, and beneath, she was wearing baggy trousers with the area around her ankle pulled together with a rope. She was wearing sandals but her feet were clean and beautiful, and her nails were very neat. Her fingers were slender and her face looked truly pretty. Even with only light make up and cheap clothes, she looked beautiful, as did the other girls.

She smiled and extended her hand towards Anthony.

"Hi. I'm Miao Miao." She said, grabbing Anthony's palm. Hers were soft and tender even though Anthony's was by no means tough.

"Aw! You have the hands of a sword cultivator despite having a pretty white face." She said and grinned.

The smile on Anthony's face disappeared and he quickly withdrew his hands from hers.

"You truly have a novel way of delivering insults." Anthony said and turned to leave.

Pretty white face was a term used to refer to over pampered boys who had never endured difficulties and would rather resort to being kept by a woman as a toy boy. They probably didn't expect that Anthony had something that acted as a dictionary in his mind, picking out dialects the moment they're delivered.

"Ah? Young master must have misunderstood. I wasn't looking down on you nor did I say it in a demeaning way. I'm sorry if I have made you misunderstand. I just thought it was okay to joke and speak informally since we are all around the same age." Miao Miao said and grabbed Anthony's arm to stop him from leaving.

"I'm older than you, we're not the same age. Also, men and women should keep their distance." The moment Anthony spoke, shaking her away. The girl wielding a sword chuckled, earning her a glare from Miao Miao.

"Alright, young master. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." She said and smiled at him.

Anthony sighed, one can't slap a smiling face after all.

"Since you're here for the bazaar, you're our guest. My father is the tribe chief. Follow me, I will be your host for as long as you need." She said and smiled at him.

Anthony nodded and whistled to Hector. The horse got up and trudged to Anthony.

"What a cute horse." The girl with the bow said, trying to stroke Hector.

Hector immediately snarled at her, making her shout and quickly withdraw her hand.

"Sorry about that, my horse has quite an attitude. He does not like being touched by others." Anthony said with an apologetic smile, caressing Hector's ear.

"It's fine. Hehehe. It has lots of style like its owner." One of the girls said as they led the way, going down towards the village. Anthony had initially looked around and his mind had initially suggested passing through the village to get to the city some miles after the village, so he had no problem going with them.

The girls could be thieves or a gang of assassins pretending to be innocent girls. Or they could truly be who they claimed to be. But he didn't care, he will take everything that comes along in strides.

The girls with the shepherd sticks called the animals and they went to the other side, going down to the village with them.

"We are hosting a grand feast to welcome all partakers of the bazaar tonight, a large bonfire. The cows and lambs have already been taken to the slaughter. It's drink till you drop today." The first girl which they referred to as Xinglan said, turning to look at him.

"That's right, the annual bazaar hosted by our village is always a big deal. Not just merchants and seekers of rare goods, even cultivators from martial clans also come along to see if they would find something interesting among the goods displayed." Miao Miao added, turning to him with a smile.

Anthony kept mum, only nodding at intervals. The sight of Anthony leading his horse while surrounded by beautiful women was worthy of being painted and framed, a truly marvelous sight.

The girls kept up a lively chatter all through the way, their voices ringing out like pearls. Their echoes could be heard a distance away, happy and making jokes.

Anthony looked at them and smiled, keeping silent all through the way. From their discussion he realized that they were all from the village, except two girls who lived in the next town that was mere thirty minutes away on horseback. Apparently, they had known each other for years, more like sisters. It made Anthony wonder what the huge dragon clan could have been like if there was no internal strife and bloody manipulations in everyone's bid to seize power. However, things can't be changed, wondering about it would only ignite unwanted feelings.

"Do you think Chu Lan will ask you out today?" Miao Miao asked, looking at one of the girls carrying an instrument. She was quiet unlike her counterparts and he heard them address her as A'Jiu.

The girl blushed and looked away.

"What nonsense are you talking about? There's nothing between me and Chu Lan. He's from a cultivation clan, while my parents are mere merchants. We might have a bit of money, but I'm not qualified to have that kind of relationship with him. If not for a chance meeting when he was injured by assassins, I wouldn't have met him." She whispered in a small voice, instinctively touching the pendant on her neck which seemed to be carved from a beast's horn

"Come on, what do you mean by that? Your parents might not be cultivators, but they're popular, one of the wealthiest merchants in the area. Your family has enough resources to make some cultivators work as escorts to protect the goods. Why will you think you're not qualified?" The one with the bow asked, hitting her with her elbow.

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