Martial Peak
chapter-5054

When Yang Kai turned around, he realised that no one was in sight.

He frowned and looked down, only to see a little girl standing in front of him. With her big eyes, she stared fixedly at the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hand.

[A little girl?] Yang Kai was stunned.

Upon closer look, he realised that she was indeed a little girl who was seven or eight years old. Although she was clad in simple clothes, she looked quite adorable. Her eyes were bright, and her jet-black hair hung low at her waist.

[Why is there a little girl in Yin-Yang Pass?] Yang Kai instinctively thought that she was an Open Heaven Realm Master who had cultivated some kind of unique Secret Art. Such Secret Arts did exist in this world. Or maybe an accident happened when she was cultivating, which was why she never grew taller and appeared to be a child.

However, after examining the little girl, he realised that even though she had cultivated before, she wasn’t very strong. She was in the Origin King Realm at most.

With that said, it was inconceivable that she was already an Origin King at her age. Yang Kai still hadn’t started cultivating when he was eight years old, which showed that this little girl had extraordinary aptitude. Her achievements would surely be staggering in the future.

Nevertheless, on the Black Ink Battlefield where everyone was an Open Heaven Realm Master, an Origin King was indeed too weak.

Those from the Cave Heavens and Paradises would only send cultivators who were at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Black Ink Battlefield. Those who were below the Sixth Order wouldn’t be asked to come here. What could an Origin King do in such a place? This little girl would probably be turned into a Black Ink Disciple the instant she came into contact with Black Ink Strength.

Yang Kai was greatly puzzled about where this little girl came from.

She was only seven or eight years old, so there was no way she was sent to this place from the 3,000 Worlds by the Cave Heavens and Paradises. The only possibility was that she was born in Yin-Yang Pass.

It wasn’t that there were no couples in the Great Passes. As they had to fight against the Black Ink Clan all year long, they might lose their lives at any moment, so special feelings would naturally develop among people when they were under such immense pressure. In fact, there were a lot of couples in different Great Passes.

However, none of them would rashly make a decision to give birth to children in such a place. That was because no one could guarantee whether they would survive the next battle. It would be the height of irresponsibility to bring a child into the world in this kind of place.

Therefore, it never crossed Yang Kai’s mind that he would come across a little girl who was in the Origin King Realm in the Marketplace in Yin-Yang Pass.

On the other hand, the cultivators in the Marketplace didn’t seem curious about the little girl, which showed that she had been around here for quite some time.

Seeing that she was just a little girl, Yang Kai didn’t intend to probe her, he just asked in a gentle voice, “Where are your parents, little girl?”

Just then, a passing cultivator crashed into a rack with a thud, which caused all the goods on it to fall to the ground. The merchant cursed at him while the cultivator apologised and picked up the goods.

The little girl, who was standing in front of Yang Kai, never moved her eyes away from the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hand. Without replying to his question, she gulped and asked, “Are you going to eat them?”

Yang Kai looked down at his hand and realised why she had been following him. As he broke into laughter, he passed the remaining 4 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits to her, “You can have them all.”

The little girl beamed at him and took the skewers. After thanking him, she started munching on the fruits and said in a muffled voice, “You’re a good guy. For some reason, the old man who sells sugar-coated fruits is missing today. I still couldn’t find him after looking for him for a long time.”

Yang Kai secretly snorted. The old man must be worried that Yang Kai would settle the score with him after conning the latter into buying 5 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, which was why he had left in a hurry.

Seeing that she was enjoying her food though, Yang Kai felt the displeasure in his heart melting away. He felt that the Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal he had spent was finally worth it. He thus patted and stroked the little girl’s head before saying, “Go home after you’re done having your food. Don’t make your parents worry.”

*Dong!*

Right then, the same rack was hit again and the merchant quickly squatted and picked up the goods.

At the same time, Yang Kai furrowed his brows. For some reason, he had a feeling that time was frozen for a moment, as though the entire Marketplace had fallen silent. However, when he looked around, he realised that everything had become normal again.

The little girl, whose head was being stroked, grinned from ear to ear.

Yang Kai nodded at her and turned around to leave.

However, he soon turned his head and gazed at the little girl, who was still tailing him, “Why are you following me? I’ve given you all my sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. There’s none left.”

It only took the little girl a short time to finish having all 4 skewers. It was surprising that she had such a huge appetite. After tossing the skewers away, the little girl put on a faint smile, “Since you’ve given me some sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, I’ll treat you to a meal. How about some steamed stuffed buns?”

Yang Kai smiled helplessly, “There’s no need for that…”

After getting conned into buying the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits and the hairpin, he was certain that all the things being sold in this Marketplace were just ordinary items. There wasn’t a need for him to pay any attention to this place anymore.

Since he had some free time, he’d rather go back and refine materials to strengthen the heritage of his Small Universe.

Nevertheless, before he finished speaking, he sported a helpless expression, “What’s wrong?”

The little girl appeared to be on the brink of breaking into tears, as though she had just suffered from the greatest grievance in the world.

She sobbed and said, “I want to get some steamed stuffed buns! The steamed stuffed buns from Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant are the best!” As she spoke, she sucked the drool back into her mouth.

A speechless Yang Kai massaged his temples, “If you want the steamed stuffed buns so badly, you can go ahead and buy them.”

The little girl hung her head low and said in a small voice, “I don’t have any money.”

Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter, “But you said you’d treat me to a meal.”

“I’ll treat you to a meal, but you’ll have to pay…” There was an embarrassed expression on the little girl’s face.

“That’s ridiculous…” Yang Kai was lost for words. He wanted to tell her that he also didn’t have any money as the copper coins he had traded for the Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal were used up.

However, the little girl walked up to him and took his hand before swaying it, “Please. Steamed stuffed buns are delicious…” She gulped.

Yang Kai was unable to bear the little girl pleading with him in such a way. He thought that her parents were irresponsible by giving birth to her as they never even bothered to give her some allowance. It was simply outrageous.

“Please… I really love their buns…” The little girl was relentless.

Left with no other choice, Yang Kai could only agree to it, “Alright, alright. Stop swinging me. I’m feeling dizzy!”

“So you agree?” The pleasantly surprised little girl asked.

“Yes, I’ll treat you to a proper meal,” Yang Kai nodded. In any case, he could trade materials for some copper coins, so he didn’t have to worry about not being able to foot the bill.

“You really are a good guy!” The little girl was ecstatic.

Yang Kai let out a sigh. He wasn’t aware that being nice meant he had to treat someone to a meal. With that said, the world of a little girl was simple. It wasn’t a bad thing to experience some innocence on this dangerous Black Ink Battlefield.

Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant was filled with the aroma of steamed stuffed buns. There were only a few tables, and they were all occupied. A bowl of soup and a small bamboo basket of steamed stuffed buns were all it took for one to wind down and observe the Marketplace.

The owners of the restaurant seemed to be a couple. One of them prepared dough while the other formed the buns. They appeared skilful in their craft. There was also a shop hand to serve the customers.

The instant Yang Kai stepped into the restaurant, hand in hand with the little girl, the shop hand became rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, staring fixedly at their hands.

The owners, who were preparing dough and steamed stuffed buns, shook a little.

Meanwhile, the customers in the shop, who were eating the steamed stuffed buns and soup, felt their brows twitching.

“Here it is! Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant!” The little girl said joyfully.

Yang Kai swept a glance over this place. Despite knowing that there were no ordinary people here, he still felt ill at ease.

The owners of the steamed stuffed bun shop were apparently Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. On the other hand, the shop hand, who was responsible for serving the customers, was a Seventh-Order Master.

Yang Kai had never seen any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters whose faces were covered in flour as they were preparing dough and steamed stuffed buns. He had the luck to see it in this Marketplace.

“There are a lot of people today,” the little girl took a glance around the shop. Seeing that all the tables were occupied, she turned to Yang Kai, “It seems that we’ll have to wait.”

As soon as she finished speaking though, the customers started stuffing steamed buns into their mouths and gulping down the soup.

“Get me the bill!”

They all started shouting. The shop hand quickly went around to collect money from them. In just a moment, all the customers in the restaurant were gone.

“Oh, there are seats now!” The little girl appeared elated as she pulled Yang Kai into the shop and took a seat at one of the tables. Since the chair was too tall, her feet couldn’t come into contact with the ground as they swayed in the air.

While cleaning up the things on the table, the shop hand asked with a smile, “What would you like to get?”

Yang Kai replied nonchalantly, “Get me 2 baskets of steamed stuffed buns…”

Before he could finish speaking though, the little girl cut him off by shouting, “I’ll have 10 baskets!”

Yang Kai batted his eyes, then said to the shop hand, “We’ll have ten baskets of steamed stuffed buns and two bowls of soup, then.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” the shop hand replied and headed to the kitchen.

A moment later, 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns were served, piled up on the table. The little girl then began wolfing them down as her cheeks bulged.

Yang Kai took a steamed stuffed bun and had a taste. He realised that even though it was delicious, it was just some ordinary food. It was unable to help increase a cultivator’s power. Still, he remained silent and waited for the little girl to finish having her food.

“Why aren’t you having any?” The little girl asked curiously.

Yang Kai replied with a smile, “You can have them all.”

The little glutton smiled happily and continued devouring the buns.

Yang Kai helped her wipe the crumbs off her mouth and said, “Take it slow. No one is going to take them away from you.”

He was curious about what was going on with her parents. Had they never given her enough food? Why did she look like she was starving?

The little girl devoured all ten baskets of steamed stuffed buns and two bowls of soup on her own. Yang Kai couldn’t help but wonder how the petite little girl was able to wolf down so much food. It was no simple feat.

More importantly, her belly didn’t bulge at all. He wondered where all the food went.

“Are you full?” Yang Kai asked.

The little girl nodded, “Yes.”

Yang Kai then shouted, “Get me the bill!”

The shop hand promptly came over and said with a smile, “That will be 100 copper coins for 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns. The bowls of soup are on the house.”

“Many thanks.” Yang Kai nodded, “But I don’t have any money with me. Can I cover the bill with this?”