"They"re here to catch him. Lady Minerva will overlook the matter of him running away if he returns home. She is such a good woman! That abominable lover of hers, how dare he not properly treasure her!" said the man with obvious scorn towards Pei Qing.

"Right! I almost forgot. There"s a three hundred thousand gold reward for anyone who returns him. But he must not be harmed in anyway. I really want to catch that guy. I can make three hundred thousand gold!"

Little did he know; Pei Qing was standing right in front of him.

"Do you know what he looks like?" Wind asked.

"Who doesn"t?! There are posters of him all over town!"

The stranger resumed walking around after their chat. He, like everyone else, was intent on catching Pei Qing!

Pei Qing silently thanked his lucky stars that he put on a disguise before leaving the hotel. He even dyed his hair black like Feng Wu. With his already dark eyes and eastern dress it made him look like someone from the ancient eastern countries.

Unless Lady Minerva came in person, no one was likely to recognize him, at least not based on the posters.

They decided to go to a restaurant and regroup after this new information. The waiter left them alone in their private room after taking their orders.

Feng Wu looked around the restaurant while the other three, Wind, Rain and Jier looked incredibly pleased with themselves.

"You want to turn me in for the reward huh?" Pei Qing didn"t beat around the bush. He hadn"t moved since they sat down and was unexpectedly calm about the whole affair.

"You know it. But don"t feel like we"re wronging you; it"s for the good of the team." The gauntlet was thrown.

"That"s the thing though, I do feel wronged. You guys intend to turn me in for the reward. But you"re forgetting something. Lady Minerva likes me a great deal. What if I say something to her? You guys could easily become other people"s prey." Pei Qing was a strategist and he knew what made his companions tick.

"You"re ruthless." Jier and the others let the matter drop. There was no way they would convince Pei Qing to voluntarily turn himself in.

Though the atmosphere wasn"t good, the meal was delicious. They didn"t dare try the transportation array again because of all the guards there.

After talking it over, everyone agreed to go to the badlands until things calmed down.

The badlands, where ancient conflicts between G.o.ds and demons were waged, were formally known as Demonic Battlegrounds. There were many such battlegrounds throughout the world.

Back then the two races often warred with each other and used the human world as a stage for their battles. The human world would be thrown into chaos every time they fought.

Remnants of their battles remained even to this day. There were artifacts, magical beast eggs, and other mysterious items. It wasn"t just easy treasure however. There were also corpses of the fallen and the grievances they left behind. Though time dissipated their intensity, they still lingered enough to harm those who entered. In fact countless masters lost their lives in the badlands every year.

This unique place full of opportunity and danger was perfect for building experience.

With her current strength, Feng Wu would only be able to move around the periphery of the badlands.

"It"s been so many days already. How much farther is it?" Rain complained as she sat on a rock.

They had been travelling for the past week since they left the restaurant. The badlands weren"t too far from the Souya Kingdom, so despite the danger many royals went there to find treasures and to gain experience.

Wind also complained. "How can people say this is nearby?!"

Pei Qing pulled out the map. "Let"s check where we are on the map." After checking their location he said, "It looks like we"re still two days away. But there is a town up ahead. We can stop there and rest."

"Alright. We"ll keep going. We"ll eat something good once we reach the town." Jier took Feng Wu"s hand and gave everyone a meaningful glance. (You guys better keep up.)

Three hours later…

They still hadn"t reached the town but they did reach a hotel.

"Thank goodness! Captain, can we stop here?"

The trio looked to Jier with hope in their eyes. The hotel was a G.o.dsend.

"Dear customers, are you here to rest or have a meal?" A waiter greeted them the moment they stepped inside.

Those who stopped at the inn were either going to or returning from the badlands, not the kind of people to be trifled with. They put the waiter on edge and he was always careful when serving them.

"Meals and lodgings. Two double rooms, one single room. For food, whatever your house specialties are. And make it fast; we"re starving." Wind rubbed his belly as he considered what to order.

All they had had on the journey were steamed buns, steamed buns, and more steamed buns. He was sick and tired of them! He didn"t understand how Xiao Wu could eat them with such a happy expression on her face.

The waiter said, "I will prepare them right away," as he brought them over to a table.

"I can finally eat a decent meal!" Rain said as she slumped into her seat weakly.

"Aren"t these our junior cla.s.smates? Didn"t expect to see you all here."

Feng Wu"s team turned at the voice.

It was Ming Xi and his team! There were some new additions though. Sitting with them were Zi Cheng, Jasmine, and Yifu.