The girl hesitated upon hearing Chu Tian's words. She glanced back into the house. Chu Tian knew the direction she was looking was towards the man with the broken leg.
"We... we won't leave for now!"
Chu Tian blinked in surprise. He could tell the girl was clearly tempted. The desire to stay must be because of that man. Why didn't that man want to leave this place? Logically speaking, the developers should have offered them a good sum of money. However, the surrounding houses all bore the demolition symbol, except for their two-story building. This meant they had not signed any relocation agreements.
Seeing that Chu Tian remained silent, the Taoist nun sighed. She had confirmed that Chu Tian harbored no ill intentions. "Little brother, don't worry. With me here, they won't be harmed. My brother... alas!" The Taoist nun shook her head as she spoke.
Hearing her words, Chu Tian unconsciously turned his gaze to the Taoist nun. "Your brother?" Chu Tian appeared astonished. He hadn't expected this Taoist nun to call the man with the broken leg inside 'brother'.
The Taoist nun opened her mouth. The girl, peeking from the second-floor window, said, "Chu... uh... Boss! It's more natural for me to call you that, hehe! This is my aunt. Oh, you must have forgotten my name, right? You can call me Xixi! Boss, don't worry, my aunt is very powerful! I didn't know I had such a powerful aunt before!"
Upon hearing Xixi's words, Chu Tian looked at the Taoist nun intently. Then he looked at Xixi and even scanned the man with the broken leg inside with his divine sense. Indeed, the Taoist nun bore some resemblance to Xixi and the man with the broken leg in her features. If yesterday he was curious why Xixi and her father were ordinary people, how did Xixi's aunt become a martial artist? After all, to become a martial artist, one's talent needed to be extraordinary. He didn't know this before. It was only after he came into contact with the martial arts world that he realized how much martial arts families and sects valued talent when choosing disciples. Only those with exceptionally high aptitude were selected at a young age. Some more upright sects might inform the family and take the child away with their consent. Others, however, would disregard the wishes of ordinary families and forcibly abduct them. Therefore, not all missing children in reality are kidnapped by human traffickers. Some children with extremely high talent are abducted by martial arts sects. Of course, abductions are a minority. After all, they must consider whether the Ninth Bureau would intervene. Unless they could do it flawlessly, intervention by the Ninth Bureau would be extremely troublesome for any sect. However, there are some extremely evil sects within the martial arts world! But these sects generally pass down their lineage through a single heir. They dare not publicize themselves. Because if they were to act openly, some self-proclaimed righteous individuals would condemn them. These so-called righteous individuals are mostly seeking fame and fortune. In Chu Tian's impression, human nature is inherently greedy. Where are there so many heroic figures who act purely for justice without seeking fame or reward? Anyone with such thoughts has likely read too many novels!
Hearing Xixi say her aunt was very powerful, Chu Tian did not refute it. It was precisely because Chu Tian had discovered her prowess that he had come here first. However, he did not agree with the Taoist nun's assurance that they would not be harmed. Because in his eyes, the Taoist nun was a novice who was even less skilled than himself. Clearly, this Taoist nun had not experienced any real combat. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so verbose before. Didn't they know that people who talk too much die the fastest on television? There's also the saying, "A barking dog doesn't bite." However, since Xixi had said so, Chu Tian could do nothing. He nodded, gave Xixi a few instructions, and then turned to leave. But as he turned, he suddenly felt that the Taoist nun had relaxed. It seemed she had been wary of him until then. Why was that? Chu Tian couldn't help but glance at her again. But what greeted him was a kind and benevolent smile from the Taoist nun. Chu Tian felt something was off, though he couldn't pinpoint what. He nodded to the Taoist nun and walked away.
After moving several hundred meters away, he activated his mecha, ascended, and then returned to hover above the two-story building. His divine sense subtly extended, observing for more than ten minutes. After he left, the Taoist nun returned to the house to meditate and cultivate. Xixi was busy preparing food. After the meal was ready, she set up a table beside her father's virtual pod. Xixi had prepared a table full of vegetarian dishes, clearly made specifically for her aunt. The three of them ate with few words. The Taoist nun took a couple of bites of the dishes, and a slight frown appeared as they entered her mouth. Chu Tian saw all these scenes. She only ate a few bites and then put down her chopsticks. Chu Tian thought the dishes on the table looked quite appetizing. Perhaps they were good to look at but not to eat? However, the man and Xixi were eating with great enjoyment. Why did this Taoist nun only eat a few bites? Did she have a small appetite? Regardless, Chu Tian felt something was not right. He felt that the Taoist nun was definitely hiding something. But he couldn't discern anything unusual for the moment.
Ten minutes later, Chu Tian didn't linger. However, he issued an instruction to Suixing, asking it to activate monitoring and focus on this area. He then veered off in another direction. That guy Mo Shi was still in the cellar. Although it was quite hidden, Chu Tian felt it wasn't entirely safe. A meticulous martial artist could still discover him. Chu Tian's current location was directly east of Shengjing City, while Mo Shi was located to the west of Shengjing City. The distance was not short. Chu Tian needed to traverse the entire Shengjing City to reach Mo Shi's location. While traversing Shengjing City, he noticed many martial artists heading in the same direction. Shengjing City had indeed changed. The streets were almost deserted. Even if there were people, they were bound to be martial artists, ability users, or mutated individuals. These people, who were originally hidden beneath the bustling city, now seemed to have become the masters of this world. Chu Tian knew the direction they were heading; it was the Ninth Bureau's outpost. These people were going to register. It seemed his rampaging and slaughter of the entire city in Binhai City had indeed instilled considerable deterrence in them. If he hadn't done that, and had simply shown up to speak, these people might have dismissed him as a nobody. Everyone fears death. Martial artists fear death even more. Because they possess talents that ordinary people do not. They enjoy things that ordinary people cannot. They are closer to nature, closer to death. They fear death even more. Furthermore, a martial artist, even one who has just cultivated Qi, has a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people. In the current society, with advancements in medicine, the average lifespan has reached 82 years. However, a martial artist who has cultivated Qi, if they do not die unnaturally, can live to around 200 years. As their cultivation level increases, their lifespan can be extended further. When one has no desires, eternal life is the pursuit of all people since ancient times. With such a long lifespan, which martial artist would be willing to give it up?