Maiden Of The Splitting Moon - Chapter 733: The Den

Ming Yue saw his look and said nothing. Instead, she walked over to the sleeping child and gently picked her up, putting Hongyu on her back. The little girl moved a bit, nearly waking from her slumber before finding a comfortable position to sleep in.

“Alright, we found what we came for, I will be heading to the Den… will you be coming with me?”

Ming Yue gazed at everyone else who nodded in response. When her eyes met Elder Shen’s, they seemed to have a tacit understanding.

“Of course, and I’m sure that Hongyu would like to go see some new sights”, he said.

The young cultivator nodded.

“Alright then, together we go.”

And so, she led the way out of the fortress, heading in the direction of the Den.

As they journeyed on, things had grown quiet within the group. After all, the young cultivator had a lot on her mind. Knowing what she knew now, she felt somewhat wary of Elder Shen and at the same time, her mind wandered off to Senior Cheng Wei.

“Was that why he hid away the Evergreen Heart from me? He knew that it was special and wanted it for his own designs”, she pondered, “For Elder Shen, how much of his actions were genuine, and how much was just for his curiosity?”

She furrowed her brows while thinking this.

“Wouldn’t there be other ways to find answers?”

However, it was hard for her to imagine using people for her own means much less other people doing that.

It took them a few days to reach the Den. With a group as large as theirs, one couldn’t go too fast.

Along the way, Ming Yue and Elder Shen continued to be distant from one another, only speaking whenever necessary.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand what the Elder meant by satiating one’s curiosity. But as he chose to use her, Ming Yue’s trust in him was quite low.

Let alone being careful of suspicious figures, it seemed like she had to doubt the actions of those close to her.

Who else had sought to use her or even thought about using her?

“Haah, damn it, this shouldn’t bother me so much but still… my life was on the line.”

She suddenly sighed, looking forward at the path ahead of her.

“This is a reminder or perhaps a lesson, trusting people… I shouldn’t do it so easily.”

She peeked over her shoulder, seeing the Elder look around the wilderness with interest.

“He saved my life, taught me many things, and I did succeed in obtaining Mental Force. I can’t ignore that. Even if he had ulterior motives, I did benefit a lot. Perhaps… I’m just overthinking things, though, can I trust still trust him with Hongyu?”

When it came to the child, it troubled her greatly.

And on one night, she approached him about it.

Sitting in front of a campfire, Ming Yue looked at Elder Shen. Flickering flames lit up against their faces. Hongyu was already fast asleep and the four beasts had spread out, keeping watch of their surrounding. At this moment, it was just them.

“Elder Shen. When you told me that you would never dare do such things to Hongyu, did you mean it?” she asked him.

The elder looked at her with surprise before nodding his head.

“Of course, the other elders and I practically treat her like a granddaughter. We would never use her for our own goals!” he said.

Hearing his answer, she took in a deep breath and looked straight into his eyes.

“Using me for your own curiosity, it isn’t enough for me to mistrust you. You have helped me so much. But Hongyu is still a child, even more so, she is special. As you said, there are many who would seek her for her body. I don’t doubt that you, Elder Hua, or Elder Xiang would do anything to harm her. But I hope to make it clear that should anything happen to her, I will stop at nothing to do what is needed.”

The tone of her voice was calm as she made a genuine threat to Elder Shen, who looked at her seriously.

His eyes moved down, looking at the fire. In his mind, he knew that this was non-negotiable.

“I understand, I will let the other two know. Hongyu will always be under our protection, always”, he responded.

Matching her gaze, it seemed like he truly did mean it. And though Ming Yue knew that, she stayed through to her stance.

“I hope so.”

As the night concluded and a new day came, a grand city would come into sight. Seeing it with her own eyes, Ming Yue was wowed by it. From a distance, she could see that the Den was no ordinary place.

Things seemed somewhat unfinished, as plans were in place to expand it further. But what had been completed was a metropolis that was crammed with all sorts of structures.

From tall spires to underground homes, stone roads and flowing waterways, this was a city that catered to a myriad of folk. There was no particular style that described it, the Den was divided into so many little communities.

Calling it a maze would be quite appropriate.

“Wow, this is… quite a spectacle.”

Elder Shen stood beside her, staring out at the metropolis. Hongyu was in between them, the little girl’s eyes widened with excitement. There was a slight twinkle to her expression, no doubt anticipating the experience.

Looking at the two of them, Ming Yue turned back to back to the Den.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

As they arrived at the gates, several guards stood by. They didn’t resemble anything like guards. Some wore armor, others didn’t, some had weapons, and others just had their body. However, they all wore a steel bangle on their wrist.

The gates themselves were wide open with lines coming in and going out. All of them had their belongings out to be examined. Whether it was an ordinary farmer with a cart of vegetables or a merchant looking to sell their wares.

Coming up to the guards, Ming Yue reached into her spatial ring, taking a badge out to show the guards.

“We are guests of the Zodiacs.”

They checked the badge before looking at her and the others. Sharing looks with one another, one of the guards handed the badge back.

“Welcome to the Den.”

They lowered their heads and parted the way, allowing them to enter before resuming their duty.

Ming Yue looked back at Elder Shen and the others before leading them.

“Before we do anything, I need to go meet with some people”, she said.

The Elder nodded.

“Of course but… this place is quite crowded, do you know where to go?”, he asked her.

“They gave me directions so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

The woman then took out a piece of paper, reading through it. She then looked up and scanned her surroundings before walking.

“Let’s see, we have to go through here and then turn here. What next? Down this street then cross that road…”

She constantly moved between the directions and her surroundings making sure that she was going the right way. Her group did catch quite a bit of attention, three humans and four beasts were certainly a sight to see.

But there were those who paid little attention to such things. They had much better things to tend to.

“Mm, that shop didn’t have anything new. The one before that had nothing either. There’s only a few other places to check before I have to go out on my own.”

With a hood over his head, Cheng Wei walked down the street, passing but Ming Yue’s group. He paid little attention to them, only focused on obtaining more ingredients.

However, the young woman noticed him.