Falcon City never had real powerhouses, not beyond the city lord’s level. If the necromancer mess hadn’t been handled by the gentleman, the city lord would’ve died. He wouldn’t still be strutting around. Now that the city lord has Renault, a level‑80‑plus fighter, security here is basically worry‑free.
Fili asked Qin Jun, “Should Big Brother Dante meet my father now?”
Qin Jun smiled. “I don’t think so. Your father’s probably busy. He won’t see me right now. I’m just a small fry around level twenty.”
Fili frowned. “That could happen. It’s because Father doesn’t know Big Brother Dante is super strong. I’ll try. Big Brother Dante, can you wait here? I’ll ask him.”
Qin Jun smiled. “Sure. I’ll wait here for you.”
Fili ran off.
Qin Jun sat in a chair and sensed Fili’s every move. He wanted to know what she was saying to her father.
When Fili found him, her father was assigning Renault tasks—how to defend the whole city, and what to do if Monstrous Beasts attacked the walls. Renault was to step in and help.
Renault said, “I need my master’s order to act.”
The city lord wasn’t pleased. His thought was, When my daughter speaks, doesn’t that count as my word?
He spotted Fili and brightened. “Fili, come here. Help Father discipline this disobedient pet. Order him to follow my every demand, or he won’t listen.”
Fili, of course, obliged her father. Renault agreed, reluctantly. Being forced to sign a contract with a little girl when you’re a level‑80‑plus pet was already infuriating. Who knew her father was no pushover either.
Lano Pag beamed at Fili. “Fili, you really are my little treasure.” He kissed her cheek, all doting smiles.
Fili smiled back. “Father, I need your help with something. Will you hear me out?”
Lano Pag laughed. “Of course. I always listen to my dear daughter.”
Fili said, “I have a friend who wants to meet you. He’s the one who brought me back.”
Lano Pag nodded. “Fine. But I don’t have time right now. Can he come next time?”
In his heart, he thought the man who brought Fili back was a schemer. Maybe he couldn’t return by himself and wanted Fili to escort him. After all, Fili had signed a contract with a level‑80‑plus Monstrous Beast.
Fili had told him about the beast contract first, then about Qin Jun.
Fili pleaded, “Not now? He’s in the estate right now.”
Lano Pag frowned. “In the estate? Let him stay there for now. I’ll have servants treat him well. You come with me. Someone wants to see you.”
Childlike, Fili was immediately steered by the topic. “Who wants to see me?”
Lano Pag smiled. “The man who saved Father. He’s connected to our family. He wants to take you as his student. He’s a teacher at an academy and came to convince you to study magic.”
Fili’s eyes lit up. This was exactly what she wanted now. Before, she hadn’t bothered with magic. She had no need, no drive. This time was different. The servants’ deaths and her promise to Qin Jun made her want to get stronger.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Lano Pag was relieved. His daughter had grown up. She used to be stubborn and insist on not learning magic. Now she would, and that fulfilled a wish he’d held for so long. In this world, without strength, you can’t live well. You can’t rely on the power of your relatives and friends and stop working.
Someone else’s strength, no matter how great, isn’t yours. Only your own strength is truly yours.
Fili went with her father to meet the gentleman.
Qin Jun watched and listened. When he saw Fili head off with her father, he smiled. This silly girl really cares about getting stronger. The moment someone offered to teach her magic, she forgot about me. Who knows when she’ll be back? I should leave first. I won’t be staying two or three days anyway. I’ll say goodbye, then head back and have Fulun buy travel essentials. I’ll cook some good food. Make extra. I can set up a storage space so the food keeps fresh and doesn’t spoil.
With that, Qin Jun left a small note on the table and flew away. By the time Lano Pag’s servants arrived, Qin Jun was already gone. They scratched their heads and walked off, puzzled.
“Weren’t we told there was someone? We didn’t see anyone leave.”
Qin Jun returned to the mansion close to noon. Hena still hadn’t come back. That girl was really stubborn.
Qin Jun asked Fulun, “You don’t know where she went either?”
He knew the two were close, so he thought Hena would’ve told Fulun.
Fulun shook his head. “Hena didn’t tell me.”
Qin Jun nodded. “Got it. Hena is a real headache. Why did I save her in the first place?”
Although Hena hadn’t told Qin Jun her name, his servants wouldn’t dare hide it. He asked, and they told him.
“Wait a bit for her at lunch. If she never shows, come call me to eat. I’m going to write a list. Fulun, you’ll follow it later.”
Fulun nodded. “Fulun understands.”
He kept cleaning the yard, as if he was busy every moment, never stopping.
Qin Jun headed inside to write. Just then, the Phoenixbird returned, crying out. It rushed to Qin Jun. He caught it and said, “What’s wrong? Someone chasing you? Around here, is there any creature that can beat you?”
The Phoenixbird shook its head and wrote on the ground, “I caught Hena’s scent in a brothel.”
“It was in my friend’s room. Now my friend is gone too. Master, please sense where my friend is?”
Qin Jun frowned. “Why would Hena go to a brothel? Was she abducted? Impossible. That brothel wouldn’t be that bold. This girl is such trouble.”
“But, Phoenixbird, you have a friend in a brothel?”
The Phoenixbird wrote, embarrassed, “Men all like women.”
Qin Jun snapped with a smile, “You horny bird.”
“Fine, I’ll sense where Hena is.”
He extended his senses. The area within dozens of li fell into Qin Jun’s search. In a hut in the wilderness, he found Hena’s presence—along with a man. That man felt familiar. Right, the one who stood outside Dani’s door that time. He was sharpening a knife, no idea what he was planning.
He asked the Phoenixbird, “Was the prostitute named Dani?”
The Phoenixbird nodded, surprised. Qin Jun said, annoyed, “She’s the prostitute I slept with.”
The Phoenixbird stared and wrote, “Then you’re the man she’s been waiting for?”
Qin Jun frowned. “What do you mean?”
The Phoenixbird wrote again, “She said a man who gave her a good ten Amethyst Coins would come marry her. She refused to spend them to redeem herself. She waited for that man. He gave her so much money, so he must really like her.”
Qin Jun watched the Phoenixbird finish writing and smiled. “I didn’t expect it. I only wanted to see if she’d redeem herself, fail at living simply, and crawl back to the brothel for a life of luxury. How did she think so much about it?”
“Forget it. Enough about that. Let’s go save our little Hena.”
The Phoenixbird wrote, “I’ll save the prostitute.”
Qin Jun shook his head. “I didn’t sense the prostitute at all. But I know why.”
The Phoenixbird was shocked. “Why?”
Qin Jun said, “It’s better if you don’t know. Just assume the prostitute is dead. You don’t need to ask how.”
The Phoenixbird wrote, “I want to go too.”
Qin Jun shook his head. “Stay home. If you see that scene, I’m afraid you won’t handle it. You’ll do something crazy, and I’ll have no choice but to seal you. You and I come from the same world, we’re basically hometown folk. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He froze the Phoenixbird in place and rushed out alone. In under ten seconds, he reached the small hut. He sensed Hena tied to a pillar. Her clothes were still intact. It looked like the man hadn’t touched her yet.
He didn’t plan to save her right away. He wanted her to suffer a bit, then save her. Last time he saved her, she wasn’t grateful. This time, she wouldn’t pick a fight with him again, right?
He cast a stealth spell and stood quietly beside Hena, watching her every move.
Even tied up, Hena felt no fear. Her eyes were still set on killing. The past few days of recovery had let her forget the terror of being a slave.
Or maybe there was another reason.
Hena wasn’t afraid because she had already decided. After this, if she got the chance, she would kill herself. Being caught and humiliated again and again—there was no point living in this filthy, dark world. She had no family here. No one loved her. What meaning did life have?
Old Fulun treated her well, but his master didn’t look like a good person.
Qin Jun had no idea Hena thought that. If he knew, he would’ve turned around and left. He figured he wasn’t a good guy, but he wasn’t a bad one either.
