Caravan

As the carriage traveled along, Yao Shi came across a caravan with dozens of Soul Masters. Several carts of goods trailed behind them, while one particularly luxurious carriage was guarded with extreme care.

At that moment, Snow Empress sent Yao Shi a message from within the Pure Land, telling him that the caravan had Soul King- and Soul Emperor-level Soul Masters stationed within it. This showed that the person seated in the luxurious carriage was certainly of no ordinary status.

When the caravan's outer guards spotted a carriage suddenly appearing behind them, they immediately reined in their horses and became wary.

The coachman driving Yao Shi's carriage saw the dozens of guards ahead staring intently at him and was frightened out of his wits. He hastily stopped the carriage, cold sweat continuously beading on his forehead.

As if sensing that the carriage had stopped moving, a woman's voice came from inside the luxurious carriage.

"Uncle Mu, what happened? Why did we suddenly stop?"

As soon as she spoke, the curtain beside her was gently drawn aside, revealing the face of a beautiful woman around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. Beside her sat a girl of fifteen or sixteen with long purple hair tied into a ponytail.

This caravan belonged to the Starlight Auction House and had just brought back a batch of goods from the Heavenly Soul Empire. The people seated in the carriage were Qing Ya, an auctioneer of the Starlight Auction House, and Xu Jiujiu, the current princess of the Star Luo Empire.

The middle-aged man driving the carriage, whom she had called Uncle Mu, replied, "Master Qing Ya, a carriage suddenly appeared behind us. We were worried..." He did not continue. Some things needed no further explanation. Anything appearing near a caravan was either a passing traveler or soul beast—or... a bandit out to kill and rob.

After hearing this, Qing Ya turned to look toward the rear of the caravan and saw a dark-skinned young man staring nervously at their guards.

She smiled at Uncle Mu and said, "No need to mind him. There are no soul power fluctuations coming from him, so he should just be an ordinary person passing by. Let's continue onward."

As she spoke, she prepared to lower the curtain. However, Uncle Mu continued, "My spiritual power sensed another person inside that carriage, and they should be a Soul Master. Should I send someone to inspect it first?"

Qing Ya pondered for a moment. "That would be best. To ensure the safety of the prin... of Jiujiu, we should inspect it."

She did not directly address Xu Jiujiu as Princess. Making her identity too conspicuous was not a good thing, especially since the strongest person in the caravan was only a Soul Emperor. If they encountered bandits at the Soul Sage level and those bandits learned that Xu Jiujiu was the princess of the Star Luo Empire and the current emperor's younger sister, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Yes."

Uncle Mu immediately answered and ordered two three-ring guards to inspect the carriage at the rear.

"Hello, we need to inspect your carriage. We hope you'll cooperate."

The two guards came before Yao Shi's carriage and asked the coachman in low voices. Their tone was quite polite. They did not act aggressively just because he was an ordinary person; after all, the most important thing in escorting caravans over the years had always been caution.

When traveling outside, offending ordinary people or low-level Soul Masters was one thing. But if a poor tone accidentally offended some important figure and they were casually killed, they could only blame their own bad luck.

Seeing that the approaching guards were not as overbearing as he had imagined, the coachman's earlier fear faded by more than half. Still, he stammered, "P-please, my lords, have a look." As he spoke, he quickly jumped down from the carriage.

Before the two guards could lift the curtain, it slowly opened from within on its own. The two Soul Elder guards immediately became alert, staring fixedly at the person about to emerge.

The curtain lifted, revealing a face of peerless beauty. A trace of surprise flashed through both guards' eyes as they looked at it. A woman with such beauty actually dared to travel alone on this trade route, where bandits frequently appeared. She really had no idea how dangerous the world could be.

Yao Shi ignored their gazes, stepped directly out of the carriage, and lazily stretched before saying flatly, "If you want to inspect it, hurry up. I still want to keep sleeping."

Since these people had spoken rather politely, Yao Shi did not care much about their sudden demand to inspect the carriage.

The two guards immediately came back to their senses. They nodded to each other, then one entered the carriage to inspect it while the other checked around its exterior.

After fussing around for several minutes, they found that it was nothing more than an utterly ordinary carriage and finally relaxed. They came before Yao Shi with apologetic expressions.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Sorry for disturbing you."

Yao Shi waved a hand indifferently. "It's fine. You really should be more vigilant when escorting a caravan. I understand."

The two guards said nothing further. After nodding at Yao Shi, they returned to report.

After hearing the two guards' report, Uncle Mu softly said to the two people inside the luxurious carriage, "Master Qing Ya, Lady Jiujiu... according to the guards, it is just an ordinary carriage. However, the person inside seems to be a girl around Lady Jiujiu's age."

"I told you. How could we run into bandits so frequently? Besides, with your cultivation at level sixty-seven, Uncle Mu, what bandit would be foolish enough to approach us?" Qing Ya said with a faint smile after learning about the carriage behind them.

At that moment, Xu Jiujiu, who had been silent for a long time, spoke. "A girl around my age probably does not have a high soul power level. It is truly unsafe for her to appear here alone without guards at her side. If possible, we should look after her a little."

Hearing Xu Jiujiu's words, Qing Ya softly told the middle-aged man, "Uncle Mu, we are not far from the Star Luo Empire anyway. Slow down and escort the carriage behind us for a while."

"Yes." After hearing Qing Ya's order, Uncle Mu responded and immediately turned back. His deep voice, carried by soul power, entered the ears of everyone in the caravan.

"Brothers, adjust the formation and slow down."

Upon hearing the words of the Soul Emperor, the dozens of caravan guards quickly changed formation, slowing the movement of the carriages and goods.

Because the caravan had slowed down, Yao Shi's carriage soon caught up, leaving only a few meters between them.

After the caravan traveled for some time longer, the sky gradually darkened.

At that moment, Uncle Mu gave instructions to the Soul King beside him, then suddenly called out, "Brothers, it's getting late. Let's stop here and rest for now. Eat if you need to eat, rest if you need to rest."