As the largest mercenary group in Stone Desert City, the Sand Mercenary Group's compound was actually quite decent. Although it was far inferior to the massive manor of the Xiao Family, it was about one-fifth the size of the Xiao Family.
Walking through a long corridor, the view suddenly opened up, and a spacious courtyard came into sight.
"Whoa..."
Looking at the small bridges, pavilions, and waterside gazebos in the courtyard, Chen Yang couldn't help but sigh. People in the city really knew how to enjoy themselves. Stone Desert City was located in the desert, where freshwater resources were scarce, yet this Sand Mercenary Group had actually managed to build an artificial lake, and even kept ornamental fish in it.
"This Luo Bu (Sha Luo) has quite a romantic temperament!" Chen Yang clicked his tongue in wonder. The leader of the Sand Mercenary Group was already dead, and whether he was called Sha Luo or Luo Bu didn't really matter anymore. Who would care what a dead person was called?
At this moment, the courtyard had already been cleaned up by the Amethyst Winged Lion King. Apart from a lingering smell of blood and roasted meat, there was no other scent left.
"Master, I have burned all these human corpses clean!"
The Amethyst Winged Lion King, which had now shrunk to about the size of an adult Northeast tiger, flapped its wings and flew over, landing in front of Chen Yang and speaking respectfully.
"Not bad, well done!"
Chen Yang reached out and patted the big lion's head to encourage it. He didn't feel that the Amethyst Winged Lion King eating people was wrong; in this world where the strong prey on the weak, humans could eat Demonic Beasts, so why couldn't Demonic Beasts eat humans?
However, looking at the situation with the Sand Mercenary Group, most of them were likely poisoned to death by Xiao Yi Xian. Maybe the Amethyst Winged Lion King was afraid of getting diarrhea from eating them?
"Thank you for the praise, Master!" The Amethyst Winged Lion King flashed a smiling face at Chen Yang, then slowly shrank to the size of a normal medium-sized dog—about the size of a Golden Retriever—and followed behind Chen Yang.
Chen Yang walked around and found a bedroom facing south. Judging by the looks of it, this must have been where Luo Bu used to live. Chen Yang waved his hand, clearing out most of the things inside. With the Purple Flame surging, some personal items instantly turned to ash, and the remaining tables and chairs were swept clean by Dou Qi. The entire room suddenly became cleaner than an ICU.
"Husband, look..."
Just after Chen Yang finished tidying up, Xiao Yi Xian walked in, bringing along Qing Lin, who had changed into a green dress.
After washing up and putting on clean clothes, Qing Lin looked much cuter than her pitiful appearance from before. It was just that, apart from a figure that didn't match her age, the little girl was thin all over, and her face had an unhealthy yellowish tint.
"Young Master!"
Qing Lin was a bit nervous, afraid that Chen Yang wouldn't like her dressed up like this. Her small hands nervously twisted the hem of her skirt as she lowered her head, occasionally stealing a glance at Chen Yang.
"Qing Lin is very cute!" Chen Yang smiled, walked up to Qing Lin, and reached out to ruffle her hair, warming the little girl's heart.
Having found a place to stay, the three people and two beasts went out to find a place to eat.
In a place where mercenaries were prevalent, the food naturally wouldn't be too bad; otherwise, those hot-headed mercenaries wouldn't be friendly.
After eating, Chen Yang and his group returned to the Sand Mercenary Group and saw a crowd gathered at the entrance.
When they approached, they discovered several mercenaries wearing the uniforms of the Sand Mercenary Group rushing out from the entrance with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
Seeing this, Chen Yang kicked the Little Amethyst Winged Lion King in the butt. The Little Amethyst Winged Lion King understood, roared, grew to the size of an adult Northeast tiger, and pounced, directly crashing into and killing these few Sand Mercenary Group mercenaries.
"Holy shit, a Demonic Beast???"
"A Demonic Beast that can grow big???"
"Run!"
The crowd at the entrance scattered. Seeing this, Chen Yang revealed a trace of his Dou Ling level aura, and the fleeing crowd immediately stopped.
"The Sand Mercenary Group has committed many evils and has been completely eradicated by me. From now on, this place is my territory. I don't like being disturbed."
"Also, handle the other businesses of the Sand Mercenary Group in Stone Desert City yourselves. I have only one requirement: when I wake up tomorrow morning, I want to see all the shops operating as normal!"
After Chen Yang finished speaking, he led the two women and two beasts inside, and the gates of the Sand Mercenary Group slammed shut, leaving the crowd outside staring at each other in bewilderment!
...
Night!
The night sky of Stone Desert City was not much different from that of Mo City, but tonight was a sleepless night for Stone Desert City.
The Sand Mercenary Group, the largest mercenary group in the city, had been wiped out silently, and the remaining industries could naturally no longer be controlled by the original members of the Sand Mercenary Group.
Those with keen eyes naturally found other large mercenary groups like the Mo Tie Mercenary Group to join early on; all that changed was the boss, and they could still save their lives.
As for those with brain problems, or those who didn't believe Luo Bu was dead, or those waiting to sell to the highest bidder, the result was dying in the firefights between the large mercenary groups, becoming sacrifices.
However, the fighting this night naturally avoided the original headquarters of the Sand Mercenary Group, and even the footsteps of passing mercenaries became much lighter.
The reason was simple: everyone knew that a Dou Ling expert was now living in the Sand Mercenary Group's headquarters!
...
Qing Lin also found it hard to sleep tonight.
Since she was young, this was the first time she had slept in such a comfortable place.
A room that sheltered her from wind and rain, a warm bed, soft bedding...
She was so afraid that all of this was a dream, afraid that if she fell asleep and woke up the next day, she would still be sleeping on the streets, with no guarantee of her next meal.
Amidst a flurry of random thoughts, Qing Lin finally drifted off into a deep sleep, though she still remembered her status as a maid and subconsciously reminded herself to wake up early the next day...
...
Two rooms away, after Chen Yang and Xiao Yi Xian finished their Riding, Xiao Yi Xian took the initiative to ask about Qing Lin.
She hadn't had an easy childhood either, so she felt a sense of pity for the poor little girl. She didn't oppose Chen Yang's decision, but she wanted to know the reason.
"There are two main reasons for keeping Qing Lin!"
"One is her talent. Don't look at the fact that this girl isn't even a Dou Practitioner right now, but she possesses the legendary Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. This kind of talent is not even inferior to your Calamity Poison Body!"
"As for the other, of course, it's because she looks good. Keeping such a cute and pretty little girl around as a maid makes one's mood better!"
After Chen Yang finished speaking, he received an eye roll from Xiao Yi Xian, but she also understood the reason for Chen Yang's actions. A little girl with talent not inferior to her own, having her around was indeed quite good!
...
The next day, Qing Lin woke up early. She didn't really know how to be a maid, but she had seen how other people's maids did it.
The little girl clumsily carried water and held a towel, knocking on the door. At this moment, Chen Yang happened to wake up.
After enjoying the little girl's clumsy service, Chen Yang reached out and ruffled her hair, then took the two of them out to eat.
Afterwards, Chen Yang settled down in Stone Desert City. In his spare time, he would practice making Medicinal Pills and then teach Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin to Cultivate.
Although Qing Lin possessed the talent of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, the basic Cultivation could not be neglected.
Although Stone Desert City wasn't large, because there were many mercenaries and it wasn't far from Mo City, the common medicinal herbs could be collected here. Coupled with his previous looting in the Magical Beast Mountain Range and the medicinal herbs collected in Blackrock City, it was no problem for Qing Lin to use the foundation establishment divine liquid, a pill for building a foundation, as much as she wanted.
As for Xiao Yi Xian's Cultivation speed, it was even faster.
In just one month, she had risen by two more stars, becoming a Six-Star Great Dou Shi expert.
On this day, Chen Yang was sparring with Xiao Yi Xian in the courtyard when the System prompt suddenly sounded in his mind:
[Ding!]
[Detected that the person with the highest talent in Stone Desert City is Qing Lin, talent is Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, host obtained Eye of Delusion Breaking Gold!]
"Oh... Xiao Yan has reached Stone Desert City..."