It was someone of the Seven Great Saint Tribes!

  That black robe had seriously made too deep of an impression on her!

  She hadn't expected to encounter someone of the Seven Great Saint Tribes the moment she got to Cerulean Mountain. From the looks of it, her earlier guess hadn't been wrong. Baili Yu had definitely left due to discovering some black-clothed men.

  Tang Doudou edged backwards nervously. The monkey on her back also seemed to be very nervous. It grabbed her hair tightly as it cried out softly.

  The black-clothed man wasn't far from them. He was near the underbrush where the monkey was and was only a few steps away from her. If he wanted, he could instantly get to her, grab her throat, and snap it.

  When Tang Doudou's thoughts got to this point, she couldn't help but take another step back. However, she was also worried about causing too large of a disturbance and attracting the black-clothed man's attention.

  The only features of the black-clothed man that could be seen were his eyes. They were clear like a cool stream, and made him look much more appealing than Shen Moru, who was like a ghost.

  More importantly, she didn't sense any hints of danger from this black-clothed man. His imposing aura was restrained and not a single hint of it was let out. His gaze was also mild as he looked at her.

  Tang Doudou was thinking that perhaps this person didn't know who she was.

  After all, though her name was famous, there were very few people that actually knew what she looked like.

  As expected, right when she had this thought, she saw a hint of probing flash through that black-clothed man's eyes.

  Following that, he laughed softly. It was like the sound of an inadvertently plucked guqin string, clear and slightly magnetic.

  Tang Doudou's breath was taken away by that sound. She couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of her heart. Wasn't this sound a little too beautiful!?

  "This is Cerulean Mountain's forbidden grounds. Why did Lady run in here?" The black-clothed man slowly walked over. His eyes swept over the monkey behind her. "A nine-eared Monkey? Is it your pet?"

  "Uh……" Tang Doudou knitted her brows. The forbidden grounds of Cerulean Mountain probably pointed to the forbidden grounds of the Seven Great Saint Tribes?

  "Lil' Gray is my……"

  Usually people would be killed for breaking into forbidden grounds, but this black-clothed person actually started chatting with her. Wasn't this a little too strange?

  However, Baili Yu had mentioned before that not everyone in the Seven Great Saint Tribes was a bad person. There was for example, Jun Xin. He only joined the Saint Tribes and became a Saint Envoy for the sake of finding information on his parents.

  Then there was Nan Maner.

  If it weren't for her, she and Mu Ye wouldn't have been able to escape Tree Valley.

  So, was this person a good person, or a bad person?

  "Lady truly has good fortune. This Nine-eared Monkey is a very rare spirit beast." The black-clothed person's tone was light and gentle. It was very hard for someone to feel malice towards him.

  "Why did Lady come to this forbidden grounds?"

  Tang Doudou's eyes whirled slightly, then she pulled the monkey behind her up to the front. The monkey seemed to be very afraid of this black-clothed person and hastily burrowed into Tang Doudou's chest. It only stopped moving once its head was completely hidden.

  "I didn't come in here on purpose. It was all Lil' Gray's fault. He ran in looking for food. I was worried that he'd encounter something dangerous so I ran in after him!" Tang Doudou acted as if she had just come to her senses and explained herself timidly.

  The black-clothed man laughed again. "So it was like hat."

  "If I ended up bothering you, I-I'll leave right away!" Tang Doudou turned to leave with the little monkey.

  Her heart was practically about to leap out of her throat. She was really worried that this black-clothed man would suddenly attack her.

  In the end, he just offered considerately, "The forest isn't safe. Why don't I see you out?"

  However, how could Tang Doudou dare to accept? She hastily evaded the offer. "No need! I can get out by myself!"

  The black-clothed person didn't try to convince her and simply asked, "Lady knows the way out?"

  Even if she didn't, in this kind of situation, of course she had to say that she did!

  Tang Doudou was certain that she would rather wander around the forest blindly by herself than travel with someone from the Seven Great Saint Tribes.

  "I……"

  "Even if you do know the way, are you not worried about encountering other people? Their temper isn't as good as mine, you know." That person walked closer. "Lady should just allow this one to see you out."

  He just brought up a big truth. If she blindly strolled around this forest, she'd definitely encounter other black-clothed men and would likely be killed.

  But……

  Why wasn't this person trying to kill her?

  And why was he being so nice as to help her find her way out?

  It was odd!"There are other people? Isn't this forbidden grounds?" Tang Doudou looked at him with a confused expression.

  The black-clothed man nodded slightly but still said the same thing. "Let's go, I'll see you out."

  Tang Doudou knew that she couldn't refuse the offer anymore. If she refused again, it'd attract his suspicions, so she nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you."

  When the monkey heard that Tang Doudou had agreed, it immediately started struggling in her arms.

  Tang Doudou tried to comfort it, but it struggled out of her grasp and jumped onto a tree. Baring its teeth, it screeched at the black-clothed man for a while, then leapt into the leaves and disappeared from sight.

  Tang Doudou wanted to chase after it but the black-clothed man grabbed her arm. "The spirit monkey is smart, nothing will happen to it. There are a lot of spirit fruits that help with cultivation in this forbidden grounds so that's probably what it came here for. Lady doesn't need to worry. It'll head back by itself once it eats its fill."

  Of course she knew that it would be fine on its own. It's just that she felt safer with the monkey here. Now she had to faced this black-clothed person on her own.

  "Lil' Gray is just a naughty glutton of a monkey. How could it know anything about cultivating?" As expected, the Seven Great Saint Tribes really had something to do with cultivation.

  "As of now, only spirit animals are capable of cultivating. Its desire to eat is also instinct and its resulting increase in cultivation is simply the Will of Heaven." The black-clothed person said in explanation.

  Of course, Tang Doudou continued to act as if she couldn't understand anything as she inwardly cursed the monkey. When she saw that the black-clothed person had started walking, she had no choice but to follow.

  "If the spirit monkey doesn't come back for a long time, Lady can go to Dual Moon Palace to look for me," said the black-clothed man after they walked for a while.

  "Dual Moon Palace?""En. You can just ask someone for directions. At that time, I'll help Lady look for the spirit monkey in the forbidden grounds."

  He was actually being this cordial?

  The black-clothed man then said, "If you encounter any trouble, you can also go there to look for me. My name's Lan Jia."

  Lan Jia? Tang Doudou silently repeated it a couple times. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't recall where she had heard it before, so she just nodded, "Thanks."

  "Not at all."

  __________

  Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

  [Chiyomira's Corner]

  Enjoy~