Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 44-Return to Lan Manor

Kairi couldn't get that crazy man's word out of her head. She was sure the person who commissioned this job was related to the beauty who needed protection. She felt unnerving as she stared at the dead man. She wasn't finished searching for her herbs but she couldn't continue to look either. It's almost the fifth day of her being up in the mountains and if she doesn't leave now she would miss the group who was setting off to protect the beauty. She yanked off the pouch from his hip and found an insane amount of herbs inside. It was probably the herbs he stole from the mercenary he killed off. Thankfully, the herbs she needed was inside. She set off down the mountain and headed back to Mercenary Core to relay what had happened.

Upon reaching Mercenary Core, the group meant to protect the beauty was nowhere in sight. She rushed to the front desk to inquire about the group.

"Where is the group that was assigned to protect the beauty?" she asked.
"They left a couple days ago."

"What? I thought they weren't leaving until today!"

"Ah, the one who commissioned it said that things changed and had them set off immediately two days ago," he explained.

The insane person from the mountain's words erupted in her mind. Xiao Huo was in that group! If they had set off two days ago, it meant he was too far away to track!

"Where is the location that they are heading to? Tell me!" she ordered.

"I... I don't know. Only the commissioner knows the real location," he said.

"Where is Elder Qin? It's an emergency!" she exclaimed. The clerk looked confused but he quickly led her up the stairs to the top floor of the building.

"What's the meaning of this?" Elder Li cried as Kairi burst into the room. The four elders were surprised at Kairi's entrance.

"Elders, we have a problem!" She quickly repeated what had happened on the mountain and the more she explained the darker everyone's faces became.

"Are you sure he was from the Evil Cult Sect?" Elder Qin asked.

"Yes, he blatantly admitted it himself," she replied.

"Can it be a coincidence that he was up there?" one of the elders asked.

"He said that the herbs we are collecting are for their enemy and it would be a hindrance to his master's plan and that those protecting the beauty will die. This can only mean that the one who commissioned these two jobs are related. If it is, we'll know the exact location where everyone is headed," Kairi stated. Elder Qin furrowed his brows as he answered her. "If what you said is true then it is quite possible that the person who commissioned the herb collection is related to the beauty but most people who come to Mercenary Core, are commissioned by a third person. We don't know the real client's identity. We don't know for sure if we'll meet the real client."

"We must find this third person. We need to warn them," Kairi exclaimed.

"Of course, we must!" Elder Li spoke up. Elder Qin sighed heavily. It was going against protocol but since his own mercenaries were killed by the Evil Cult Sect, he couldn't give out an excuse to not break protocol.

"The third person said that he'll wait every day at four at Liu's tavern. I will go personally," Elder Qin said as he got up to his feet.

"Let me go too. I was the one attacked. I'll explain it in full detail to the third person," Kairi suggested. Elder Qin didn't object and the two set off to Liu's tavern.

The two of them waited in silence in the corner of the tavern. With Elder Qin flashing his Core token every now and then, a man whose face was hidden under a straw hat sat down opposite of them.