Under the night sky, a huge crimson aberrant bird circled down, stirring gusts of Astral Wind that swept great sheets of snow off the ground.
"Thank you for bringing us here, Senior Red Peng!" After leaping to the ground, Cui Hong addressed the enormous bird, whose body glowed red, with great courtesy and bowed to it as an elder.
The young man in brocade and fine robes was named Cui Chongyi. He bowed as well and watched Red Peng fly away.
"Uncle Hong, is this where Chong He has been staying? It's desolate. The Fire Spring in that little town ahead is very low-grade. It can hardly produce any Spiritual Objects. Why wasn't he given somewhere better?"
"My lord, please don't call me Uncle Hong. I don't deserve it." Cui Hong hastily stopped him. He looked to be in his thirties, and his arms had grown unusually long from practicing the Heavenly Passage Skill.
His face looked carved with a knife, and his eyes were exceptionally sharp. He first surveyed the wilderness warily, then sighed. "I was only following orders."
Cui Chongyi nodded at that and said no more on the matter.
He was not yet twenty. A beauty mark sat at the corner of his left eye, but he did not seem especially sentimental. Talkative by nature, he said, "Uncle Hong, we're away from home. There's no need for so much ceremony. I'll be training out here for a while, and I'll need you to look after me. No need to stand on formality."
Cui Hong did not press the point. He led him toward Silver Vine Town.
"Why is no one living in this house?" Cui Hong stopped at the town entrance, his expression changing at once. The fairly large residence stood empty.
He questioned the neighbors and