Ken's Bloodlust Sense picked up another presence nearing them. In fact, it was five presences, moving as a group two kilometers behind Maria.
'I guess I wasn't worried for nothing. Let's see what's going on,' Ken pondered curiously while following the former bandit. Maria stopped 20 kilometers away from the meeting spot and waited for the group to catch up.
When the group of five noticed her halt, three of them followed her example and the remaining two, assumingly the scouts, split up and circled around her carefully in a radius of 2 kilometers in two different directions until they met each other. They both nodded to confirm there was nothing to worry about and returned to Maria.
ραndαsΝοvεl.cοm The group of five surrounded the former bandit and the scouts gave their reports, "I've found no humans in a radius of 5 kilometers," "Same here," one scout declared his findings, and the other confirmed.
'I'm right here though,' Ken amused himself as he listened to the conversation, hidden by the Sheathed Man technique.
"All right, as we agreed under Mr. Darma's instructions, we will listen to your arrangements since you know the target best. However, I still doubt there's a young child who can be that powerful while also being an alchemist and a formation master," The group leader, a woman named Tiffany, spoke next.
"Thank you. I insist on being extremely careful when dealing with him. Don't underestimate him only because of his stage and young age. When I last met him, he was at the intermediate phase of the Core Formation Stage, and he easily dealt with me, a peak fourth-stage cultivator, along with many others."
Maria insisted on cautiousness. Just the thought of confronting her previous young master intimidated her and made her resolve waver.
"So he probably already advanced to the High Core Formation Stage since then. I believe he just left a heart demon in you, which leads you to fear him so much. You're as strong as Yuri and Odette, there's no way a fourth-stage cultivator can defeat you easily," Tiffany voiced her opinion.
Little did they know that Ken was already at the peak of the fourth stage thanks to the Twilight Apples he found in the secret realm. However, they'd probably remain complacent even if they knew his real stage. The difference between stages was not something to be underestimated.
"Okay, let's move, we can't make him wait too much. I bought us around five hours back then by saying I'm going to be late, but he will get suspicious if we make him wait more than that. He is very untrusting, so go get into positions silently and carefully," Maria wanted to get the ordeal over with.
"I hope he really is as valuable as you say. Remember, if he fails to impress us, you won't be able to keep your life," Tiffany said, making it clear that Maria wasn't at the top of the group hierarchy.
"Don't worry, Mr. Darma will not be disappointed, I won't gamble with my life if I'm not certain of the outcome," Nervousness pervaded Maria's voice as she tried to reassure her companions.
'Hmm, their appearances seem quite… different,' Ken thought to himself amidst the conversation. He noticed their skin was more tanned than most cultivators he had met so far, and they had a few shared rare facial features such as their broad noses.
He also didn't fail to notice the weird way they referred to Darma. Instead of referring to him as "Master", "Elder", or "Senior", they said the less frequently used honorifics.
"You remain here for an hour to give us time to get into positions and you can start riding not too fast and not too slow. Let's meet the mysterious jumpy kid of yours," Tiffany gave her instructions, and the group of five set out, bringing Ken out of his reveries.
'All right, I guess there's nothing else to do here for me,' Ken began running back to the designed meeting spot, pulling his white mask out of his storage ring.
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"Young Master, I've missed you so much! Won't you give your favorite subordinate a hug?" Maria faked a smile to mask her nervousness as she approached the sitting child.
"Take this pill to fight off your poison for now," Ken ignored her remark and threw a pill as he always did whenever they met.
"Young Master, why are you wearing a mask when it's only us? I feel like our relationship regressed now. I thought we were getting close enough for you to completely detoxify me after over a year of service under you," Maria said cheekily while looking at the shiny pill.
Ken knew she was buying time for her team to close on him, but he didn't mind. She couldn't take the pill as they both knew it contained Truth Drug which would force her to spill the beans on her betrayal.
"No, we are not that close, take the pill," Ken instructed with a cold tone.
"We can get as close as you want, Young Master. You seem to have grown up since we last met, didn't you develop new… interests?" Maria leaned forward with a suggestive smile, letting her robes hang loosely and reveal her ample chest. To her delight, Ken's gaze was attracted to the cleavage, unlike the previous times she tried this kind of move on him.
"No, I haven't."
"Your eyes tell me a different story, Young Master. Don't be shy, how about touching them?" Maria said with a hint of lust in her voice when she recalled the visage hiding under the mask.
"Sure," Ken said and reached out with his hand to touch her skin. A millisecond before he made contact, his hand was coated in Sword Qi and pierced into the woman's shoulder.
"AH!" Maria screamed in horror and stumbled back, falling on her buttocks. "Young Master, what are you doing? I'm not into that kind of thing," her voice quivered in pain and fear as she noticed his face's skin stretches, disclosing the evil grin beneath the mask.
"Haha, Maria, why are you retreating? I was just starting to have fun!" Ken laughed and revealed a hint of bloodlust.
At that moment, Maria's trauma relapsed in full force. The memory of herself kneeling helplessly on the ground in terror surfaced. She could hear how her teeth chattered on that fated day over a year ago when she first met Ken and he displayed his Mind-Poisoning Domain to humble her.
She could smell the scent of her piss when she lost control over her bladder that day as if it happened less than an hour ago. The past and the present mixed in her mind as everything recurred with the increase of Ken's bloodlust.
'He knows! He knows everything! I shouldn't have tried to fight against him!' She thought to herself hysterically. Ken never said anything, but she filled in all the details, sure he was aware of everything she had ever done since the last time they met.
"I- I'm sorry, You- Young Master! I've been forced by them! I've been tempted by lies and deceit, let me prove my loyalty! Young Master, spare my life!" She begged as tears and snot streaming down her face, and she didn't even dare move from the now-stained ground.
"I will help you recall why you shouldn't ever resist. Being my slave was your greatest honor and hope for power, let me remind you why," Ken said in a cold and detached voice as he opened a distance away from the shivering woman.
"All five of you, come out to play, there's no use in hiding!" Ken stood straight and called to the newcomers.
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