"Watch as your destiny destroys everything you hold dear," The masked man said as he smiled.
Long Chen slowly lowered his sword which was dripping with blood.
"Will you choose family or love… It would be interesting…." The masked man muttered as he disappeared. Long Chen slowly began disappearing as well.
" Stooop!!!! " Mingyu screamed loudly as she extended her hand towards his direction. The whole place shattered like glass as her eyes opened.
She looked around with a sweating face as she breathed heavily.
"Did you have a bad dream? " Came a voice from her side. She turned her head only to find Long Chen sitting there with his eyes closed and beside him sat Zhiqing who was now looking at him with a worried look on her face.
"Yea, it was a bad dream" Mingyu muttered with a confused look on her face. She couldn't help but gaze at Long Chen's face carefully.
Zhiqing was about to ask her about her dream when there was a sudden knock on the door. Zhiqing opened the door and saw a guard standing there with two plates in his hand. She took one of the plates.
"I believe that you wouldn't leave this carriage so I called for breakfast either. Here… "She said as she handed the plate to Mingyu. She then took the second plate from the guard and closed the door.
As everyone finished with their breakfast, their caravan began moving once more.
The carriage kept moving without stopping as they left the Huanji Kingdom. They kept entering and exiting various kingdoms as they moved towards their target location, the kingdom of Xuan.
As the carriage was moving, Little Snow, who was previously resting in the back of the carriage, had now come back to sleep on Long Chen's lap.
Five days passed as they traveled without much trouble. Although they faced some gold realm beasts, their guards were able to defeat the beasts easily. Those that couldn't be defeated by the guards were killed by General Yao who was an Earth Realm Cultivator.
Zhiqing and Mingyu were talking when they noticed something strange. The atmosphere… The carriage which was previously at the normal room temperature had now begun feeling much colder. It was as if the whole atmosphere inside the carriage suddenly changed.
Zhiqing opened the door of her running carriage as she looked outside but she could see that the outside weather was much hot as the guards were sweating.
"What's happening? How can there be cold inside and hot outside? It's like the inside of the carriage is in a different place than the outside? " Zhiqing let out with a stunned look on her face.
'Is it because of him? What kind of enlightenment is he having?' Mingyu thought as she gazed at Long Chen.
"You shouldn't worry," Mingyu said as she comforted her.
"Why should I not worry? This can get dangerous. We need to get out of the carriage with master Chen! " Zhiqing hurriedly said to Mingyu.
"As I said, You don't need to worry" Mingyu again said as she tried to calm Zhiqing.
"Are you sure that we will be safe? Do you know anything about this?" Zhiqing asked as she looked at Mingyu.
" Not entirely, but I know that we are safe," Mingyu replied.
" I'll trust you," Zhiqing muttered as she glanced at Mingyu and then at Long Chen. She somehow felt that it was related to Long Chen.
Amidst their conversation, their entourage entered the capital of Dongxin Kingdom. It was also a second rank kingdom but it was slightly stronger than the Huanji Kingdom. Dongxin even had the advantage as they were near a first rank kingdom.
As the team of Huanji Kingdom was passing through the capital of Dongxin Kingdom, A few guards from Dongxin Kingdom blocked the road in front of them.
A Young Man who looked to be in his early twenties stood in front of the Dongxin Royal Guards as he gazed at the carriage. Near him stood a middle-aged man with a clean look. He had no beard and looked like he was in his early forties.
"Hmm? Why did we stop? " Zhiqing was still worrying but she noticed that the carriage stopped.
"I'll be right back," She said as she opened the door of the carriage and tried leaving but she realized that she was unable to leave the carriage. It was as if there was a barrier around the carriage. Whenever she tried leaving, the barrier would act up as she would get locked in her place. She tried for a while but she couldn't leave.
"There's a barrier around the carriage preventing me from leaning… Try checking your side if you can leave. " Zhiqing said with a grave look on her face.
" Alright…" Mingyu said as she opened the door on her side and tried leaving but even she found herself trapped. She couldn't leave.
"I can't leave now either," She said as she sat back on her spot.
" Looks like we are trapped… Why is everything so strange today? The weather inside the carriage… the barrier… will we really be safe inside? " Zhiqing asked as she frowned.
General Yao left his carriage and left Prince Estelin inside the carriage. He walked towards the guards blocking their path.
"Do you need anything from us? I believe our Huanji Kingdom never had any problems with your Dongxin Kingdom. Why are you blocking our path? Do you think we are easy to bully? " General Yao said loudly as he spread his Earth Realm Aura.
"Such a strong aura… There are only two Earth Realm Cultivators in Huanji Kingdom. I believe you must be the one they call General Yao. " Said a man in his early forties who stood beside the young man.
"Yes .. and who night you be? And why did you stop us" General Yao asked as he looked at the man. He acted as he felt an Earth Realm Aura from this man as well. He could feel that the man had a similar Cultivation than him
"I'm the royal tutor of Dongxin Kingdom. I apologize for stopping you but it was just that our crown Prince heard that the people from Huanji will be passing through. He had always appreciated Princess Maia, so he wanted to greet her and talk with you about the possibility of traveling together as he will be leaving for Xuan as well" The Royal Tutor said as he looked at general Yao.
"I apologize but Princess Maia is not feeling well, so she can't meet you right now. As for leaving with us? I'm sorry but we are in a hurry and can't stop for you" General Yao said as he lightly shook his head.
" You won't need to wait. Everything is already prepared on our side. We were just about to leave when we heard about you people passing through" The Royal tutor said with a wide grin on his face.
" Ahmm… I'll have to talk about this. Wait here" General Yao thought for a while before he said to them. He turned back and walked back towards the carriages.
He stopped in front of Princess Zhiqing's carriage as he knocked on the door. Zhiqing opened the door as soon as the knock was heard. Although she couldn't exit the carriage, she could easily interact with people from the outside.
"Princess, The crown Prince of Dongxin stopped our carriages. He said that he wanted to travel with us and that they are ready to leave. Should we allow them to travel with us? " General Yao asked as he gazed at Zhiqing.
Zhiqing had a weird expression on her face as she noticed that although she could see General Yao, she couldn't hear a single word he was saying.
'Is the barrier blocking even the sounds from entering and exiting? What should I do? Should I try telling him? ' She thought with a grave expression on her face.
She shook her head as she gave up on this thought as she assumed that any action general Yao takes might interrupt Long Chen's comprehension.
"So you don't agree as well. I think that's a wrong move too, as although there aren't any ill feelings between us, it's not too safe traveling with them. I have a suggestion… How about we agree to travel with them not instead of mixing our teams, we will have their team lead on the journey while our team follows close behind? It will be much safer and won't make us look hostile to them" General Yao took Zhiqing's shaking her head as her disapproval, this he suggested his idea with a smile on his face.
Zhiqing noticed General Yao saying something else. Although she couldn't hear his words, she noticed the smile on his face.
She trusted general Yao and his facial expression didn't make it seem like he was talking about something negative, thus she nodded her head silently.
"Alright, I'll go inform them," General Yao said as he closed the doors of the carriage. He walked back towards the young man blocking their path.
