They all looked at the skinny one.
Because the shirt was stripped off from the thin monkey-like guy.
“Well… I…” The thin monkey-like guy was shocked after being frightened by Ding Hao’s eyes. He stuttered, “Senior, I picked up this undershirt… ten days ago, from a water pond a hundred kilometers away. It fit, so I picked it up…”
“Would you pick other people’s clothes?” Ding Hao doubted. “Although the skinny man has no integrity, he’s still an expert at the Great Grandmaster realm. He’s not really a beggar, why would he pick up clothes by a water pond?”
The skinny man was innocent and embarrassed. He explained stutteringly.
It turned out that these five guys were not disciples of Sword Province, they were from Wind Province, a province of the Northern Region as small and poor as Snow Province. They were not outstanding, but they got a vacancy to get into the “Sage Battlefield” anyway. They had wanted to amaze the world with a feat. However, after entering, they found here was full of danger. Lucky for these guys that they were transported to the same place by time and space rift. They could only survive by helping each other. Ten days ago, in the battle with a King’s Stage fire ape, they were heavily beat and they nearly died. The skinny man’s clothes were burned out by the fire ape, even his Storage Ring was broken. The party suffered heavy losses. The skinny man could only use the hides and leaves as clothes.
In that case, after seeing an inner shirt by the water pond that day, the skinny man picked it up as soon as possible, as if he had found a treasure.
Together with the loose robe that he exchanged with his companion for ten mysterious crystals, he finally had a happy life with clothes on.
Unexpectedly, he was robbed by Ding Hao that day, and even the inner shirt was taken off. That was how Ding Hao saw the shirt.
After hearing the explanations and vows by the skinny man and his companions, Ding Hao knew that they didn’t lie to him. He couldn’t help but worry about it. He picked up the shirt and observed it carefully. It was a man’s shirt. Judging from the size, it could be Li Canyang, Fang Tianyi, Lin Xin or one of the others. He couldn’t figure out who owned it.
But no matter what, even the undershirt was lost; the disciple of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was definitely in danger.
“Where is that water pond? Show me right now!” Ding Hao said, since he wanted to check personally.
“Okay, Okay, senior, please. It’s not far from here, less than a hundred kilometers…” The skinny man smiled flatteringly and offered to show the road.
It was shameful to see how those five men were very timid. They were scared by all kinds of fierce beasts in the Sage Battlefield. During the period of more than forty days, they wandered around watchfully during the day, not daring not go too far, and they hid in a cave or a tree for the night. Their range of activity was limited to an area of one to two hundred kilometers.
But being with Ding Hao, an expert at the Martial Emperor realm on their side, they all felt backed and secure. They led Ding Hao straight to the water pond; they flew all the way, and soon reached the place.
It was a canyon. A waterfall that was several kilometers high fell down the canyon, like a galaxy falling down. The sound of the water was like a thunder, and the splashing water moistened the air within a thousand kilometers. The land beneath the waterfall had been eroded for many years, and formed a pond. The water in it was green, and above it there was a huge rainbow which had lasted for a long time. Around the pond there were rocks with uneven surfaces covered with moss.
“This is the place.” The skinny man pointed at the shallow side of the pond and said flatteringly, “Senior, there is where I picked up the shirt.” Then, the man jumped into the water to demonstrate how he picked up the shirt that day.
The strong men beside him also supplemented about the situation that day.
Ding Hao shook his head in disappointment.
More than ten days had passed, and under the wash of the current, there were no traces at all, nor any clues.
He released his Divine Awareness to scan around him and found nothing.
“You wait here. Whoever dares to leave, don’t expect me to spare you,” Ding Hao said. Then he moved and disappeared there. In the next minute he was on the top of the waterfall, which was over a thousand meters high.
…
“This is…”
At the top of the waterfall, Ding Hao felt the familiar aura. That was the trace of a previous battle, because the Qi remained in the air. Although it was extremely faint, it did exist. What surprised him more was that the aura was not from the disciples of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. It was the breath of the “Three Sovereigns of Ning Province” who was very arrogant.
“‘Three Sovereigns of Ning Province’ was here?”
Ding Hao was startled.
“Did some disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect encounter them here?”
“That’s bad. On that conflict, ‘Three Sovereigns of Ning Province’ were beaten so hard that they spat blood, and they lost face. Once they met a disciple from Snow Province, they would not let him go. I’m afraid the owner of the undershirt was in danger,” Ding Hao thought.
Ding Hao looked down at the broken silver ring.
It was tarnished.
“Even is the owner was dead, as long as his body were still around, the ring could sense it. But now it is tarnished, which means that the body of the shirt’s owner is not within hundreds of kilometers…” Ding Hao thought carefully. He racked his brain and figured all kinds of possibilities. He searched carefully all over the top of the waterfall again but found nothing. Then he searched along the currents of the waterfall.
He needed to see the living person, or his dead body.
If the owner of the undershirt died and he wasn’t within hundreds of kilometers, the only possibility was that his body was washed downstream by the currents.
…
By the water pond.
The unscrupulous five masters of Wind Province waited anxiously.
Their faces drooped, as if their parents had died.
“Hey, do we really had to wait like this? Maybe that guy… uh, no, the senior has left and won’t be back.”
“What do you mean? Sneak away? Are you joking? He’s a Martial King expert. Where can we go? If we anger him, we will be caught and killed easily by him at any time.”
“But if continue to wait, what if the senior can’t find his friend and gets angry with us when he comes back? We’ll die anyway.”
“F*ck, we’re so unlucky!”
“That’s not true. I think under the severe appearance, the senior is actually warm-hearted and not cruel. So, I think, on the contrary, it may be an opportunity given by God. If we can follow him, then we don’t need to worry about being chased and killed by ominous beasts or about losing our lives. Hey, if the senior eats meat, we could drink soup. Maybe we can get some benefits by following him.”
“You’re too optimistic, aren’t you?”
“Why not have a try? If we continue to live like a few days ago, sooner or later, we will die in the Sage Battlefield.”
At first, those people discussed in dismay, but after the discussion ended, they were all blushing with excitement. They all felt it was a God-given opportunity for them to meet Ding Hao with that robbery, and it was the only chance for them to live. If they didn’t seize the opportunity, they would regret it for the rest of their lives. They planned that when Ding Hao returned, they had to find a way to stay with him, even if they had to serve him and stand as sentries like grandsons.
…
Along the river, Ding Hao had searched down for a whole thousand kilometers, but found nothing.
Ding Hao searched very carefully. Even a piece of cloth or a piece of weapon debris would not escape the close search of his Divine Awareness. Unfortunately, no clues were found along the way.
He had to give up.
He thought of those five wicked masters of Wind Province with whom he still had something to do, so he returned.
“Ah, senior, you’re finally back. Great, we were missing you,” The skinny man and the others said. When they saw Ding Hao, they immediately ran over with flattering smiles. They were warm to him, as if they had seen their father. What they didn’t do was to greet and massage him.
“You… Being so hospitable, you must have something to ask for” Ding Hao said in a scolding tone. “Why are you so intimate? Are we familiar with each other?”
“Senior, we met in this vast Sage Battlefield, don’t you think this is a kind of fate?” The skinny man said shamelessly while widening his sincere and innocent eyes.
“Puff!”
Ding Hao almost spewed out.
“F*ck your fate,” Ding Hao thought.
“Yes, senior. The five of us have been conquered by your powerful strength and personal charisma. You do your best for your missing friend, we are really envious of that friendship,” said the stout man who was really good at flattering, “So the five of us decided to follow you voluntarily. All of us are willing to obey your every command. You have to accept us!”
Ding Hao really wanted to say that they were mad.
But on second thought, although those five guys were shady, his “Self in Heaven and Earth” instinct told him that they weren’t evil. It was okay to keep them. At least some people could stand guard while he was practicing or sleeping. If he encountered those ominous beasts, they could count as helpers.
Of course, for Ding Hao, what was more important was that those funny men could entertain him when he was bored.
“Alright!”
Ding Hao finally agreed.
Those five shameless guys became cheerful immediately.
…
Ten days later.
The skinny man and the stout man cried with excitement.
Ding Hao couldn’t help bursting out.
After trekking nearly ten thousand kilometers, they finally walked out of the vast primeval forest, reaching the outside world. Looking at the flat grassland in the distance and the looming outline of the city walls, none of them could wait to run for a while…
“Yep?”
“What? The outline of city walls?”
After the excitement, Ding Hao and the five looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
“Why is there a city in the Sage Battlefield? Are there any indigenous people?”
“Or are they ruins from ancient times?” They thought.
“Look, what’s that…?” The skinny man exclaimed suddenly.
The crowd looked towards the direction of his fingers, and they were all dumbfounded. When the white cloud floated away in the distance, a black floating object in the air was revealed. They weren’t birds nor giant beasts, but some mottled dark ships. Under sail, those boats seemed to be floating on the sea. They paddled across the sky, and wandered around the outline of those city walls.
