Twins...?

The two slowly headed toward where he felt the gaze coming from.

And just as he thought, his senses picked up several footsteps, running up the stairs as if to avoid Xuan and Yuelan from hearing them.

But alas, there was no running.

They dashed inside the building and sprinted up the stairs until finally, they arrived on the rooftop.

Of course, the people who ran earlier were there as well.

A total of 11 people, huh?

"Heya." Xuan waved at them. "Did something catch your eye? Or do you just like staring at people fight?"

Clearly, Xuan thought of them as a bunch of scared pussies.

But the man who stepped up seemed fairly strong, possibly already at the Spirit Warrior realm.

"My name is Wu Chen," he introduced himself, bowing slightly. "Apologies for disturbing the twins. We meant no harm."

Xuan tilted his head.

"The twins?"

He turned to Yuelan.

"Do we even look alike?"

She shook her head.

"Not at all."

With that, Xuan turned back to Wu Chen, whose expression noticeably hardened.

"How do you know about us?" Xuan asked. "I'm sure we don't travel around often, and yet you call us the twins."

"I misspoke," Wu Chen replied with a slight smile. "Twins are what we refer to as duos, you see, so I—"

Xuan clapped his hands, causing the man to nearly choke on his words as a loud, almost explosion-like roar resounded.

"Let's do it this way," Xuan said, raising a single finger. "The first person who tells me how they came to know us gets to leave this rooftop alive."

The moment he uttered those words, a man shot forward like a rocket, appearing in front of Xuan and kowtowing.

"I-I can tell you! Please spare my life!"

Wu Chen grimaced, trying to approach the man to calm him down.

That was when Yuelan finally drew her sword, aiming it at the 10 survivors to the side.

"Move a muscle and you're all dead."

Xuan gave her an appreciative nod as he crouched down and tapped the man's head.

"What's your name?" Xuan asked.

"Chang Jian... sir."

A faint smile appeared on Xuan's face.

"Okay, Jian. Tell me everything you know."

"Yes, sir." Chang Jian slightly raised his head, meeting Xuan's eyes.

"T-There was another survivor camp that spread heinous rumors about you two a couple of months ago..."

Xuan's brow rose.

"What kind of rumors?"

Chang Jian flinched, his voice falling low.

"Um... the other survivor camp referred to you two as the Twin Demons. They said you go around killing innocents, and you even torture opponents who are already down."

"..."

Is he talking about that woman and her goons I killed before I entered into secluded cultivation? Xuan wondered.

"Tell me more."

"Sir... they described you two as master swordsmen who likely had prior training," Chang Jian said, lowering his head. "That is all, I promise."

"I see. Good, you may go back to the others," Xuan said flatly and stood up.

Chang Jian paused, turning pale. "B-But you promised to spare me!"

Xuan chuckled.

"And I shall spare you. Along with the others. Had we come with the intent to kill, there would be no need for conversation. But now you've piqued our interest."

His eyes sharpened.

"Which survivor camp? Where is it located?"

Wu Chen stepped forward.

"It belongs to the Snow Lotus faction... I advise you tread carefully. They are not to be taken lightly."

"Just answer my big brother's questions," Yuelan said coldly, causing a bead of sweat to drop down Wu Chen's forehead.

"North. 15 kilometers beyond the city walls. That is where their camp lies," Wu Chen replied, then took a step back. "Are we free to go?"

Xuan nodded slowly.

"If we go there and don't find anything, we'll be back to claim your heads."

With those words, Xuan dashed off the building, and Yuelan followed suit.

They headed north, past the city's center, the outskirts, and finally, the forest.

There was smoke rising in the distance, and it was clear that was where the survivor camp was located.

But now that they were here, Yuelan had some concerns.

"What now? We found them, but what are you planning to do exactly?"

"We have around 15 days to kill before the ascension happens. So let's clear our names, how about that?" Xuan replied. "If anything, I doubt these people would be any special, so we'll just have to find the one who spread those rumors and make them fess up."

She tilted her head. "Do the rumors bother you?"

Xuan halted. "No? But aren't you bothered?"

"...No."

"Well shit." He let out a sigh. "But since we're already here, let's see how the rest of humanity is doing."

Yuelan rolled her eyes and kicked off the ground.

He followed after her, and soon, they arrived right at the gate of the survivor's camp.

It was massive, surrounded by a stone wall and pretty damn safe considering there were scouts in watchtowers scanning the perimeter.

And when they finally noticed Xuan and Yuelan, they rang a giant bell, causing the entire survivor's camp to fall silent, with the only noise being the bell's thundering sound.

Xuan waited patiently for whatever they were doing until eventually, the gates parted, and two people came out.

One of them was a black-haired man holding a very long katana.

The other was a woman with her bow drawn right at them.

"Introduce yourselves!" the woman yelled.

But once she took a closer look, her eyes widened.

And without even an ounce of hesitation, she let the arrow loose as it flew straight at Xuan's head.

Faint traces of Qi surrounded the arrow, meaning it was a tad bit dangerous.

Yet just as it was about to connect, he heard a faint clicking noise.

That noise was none other than Yuelan drawing her sword out of the scabbard, then quickly sheathing it.

Of course, what came of it was the arrow splitting in two and narrowly missing Xuan.

So just like that, Xuan's perception of these people changed as he tilted his head.

"Well, that wasn't very nice now, was it?"