The next day,
Inside the train heading to the station closest to Hidden Crust Vige, a family of three attracted the attention of other passengers.
"Daddy, here, take a bite," Chen Miya said with a reluctant face as she handed him a potato chip.
"No need, you can have it." Yang Chen shook his head and held his forehead in embarrassment.
''If I had known she would act this way, I would have used the transformation technique,'' he thought.
He turned to look at Yao Mei, who had a simr reaction and shook his head again.
Ignoring the stares from others, Yang Chen looked out the window and watched as the tall trees shed by.
Last time, he didn''t get to travel outside Hidden Crust Vige, and now that he had the chance to see the outside, he could tell the underworld wasn''t much different from Seraphia.
Munch! Munch!
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his daughter munching. Turning his head, he saw her biting into the potato chips, finishing the packet in no time.
"Eat slowly, no one is going to steal from you," he said, flicking her forehead while taking another packet out of the system space and handing it to her.
Yang Chen wasn''t worried about her gaining weight since he knew using her talent was tiring and consumed more stamina. These potato chips were specially prepared for her, made by Xinran with top-grade ingredients.
"Mom, take some." After opening the chip packet, Chen Miya extended it to Yao Mei without taking a bite herself.
"This girl, I already told you I don''t need it." Seeing her stubborn face, Yao Mei sighed inwardly and took a chip from the packet.
''Spending the weekend like this isn''t so bad,'' Yang Chen thought with a smile as he watched them.
''But I have other things to do, too,'' he reminded himself, his eyes sharpening as he looked outside the window. ''Nyx, have you checked the surroundings? Did you sense anything suspicious?''
''Not yet, Master,'' Nyx replied with her eyes closed, still scanning the surroundings with her spectral senses.
Hearing her call him "Master," Yang Chen shook his head with a smile.
In the morning, he had told everyone to address him however they wished, but some still chose to call him "Master." Besides Nyx, Sun Linhua and Xie Qingyi also didn''t change their minds.
''It''s okay,'' he thought with a contemtive look as he came out of his thoughts.
''I didn''t have much hope from the beginning anyway, but continue searching and keep an eye on the girls as well.'' As he expected, finding Ken Tao''s clone was going to be harder than he thought, even for Nyx.
…
An hourter, the family of three arrived at their destination, Hidden Crust Vige. As they reached the vige gate, an unexpected scene unfolded.
"Wee back, Vige Chief and Chieftess!" Arge group of vigers gathered at the entrance and greeted them as soon as they saw them.
Standing at the front was a woman in a white military uniform. She had been assigned to the Hidden Crust Vige to manage everything in Yang Chen''s absence.
Naturally, Tang Bingyin wouldn''t assign a perfectly fine soldier to a menial task. The woman''s name was Wu Rong, and she was one-handed.
"Wee, Chief Chen and Miss Mei," Wu Rong stepped forward and greeted them with a smile.
Yang Chen nodded at her and followed her into the vige, along with Yao Mei and Chen Miya.
Before they took a few steps, a group of men in uniforms approached them.
After reaching their side, the men knelt in front of Yang Chen and the others, greeting him in unison. "Vige guards greet the chief!"
"Guards..?" Yang Chen looked at Wu Rong for an exnation after hearing the words. He couldn''t help but find it ridiculous, as these were the same men who had tried to raid the vige.
"Since they were freeloading, I trained them and ordered them to guard the vige," Wu Rong exined with a slight smile.
Naturally, she also knew these men were former bandits, beaten into submission by Yang Chen after attempting to raid the vige.
"Hahaha, good. I was already nning on working them to death," Yang Chen patted her shoulder, taking a liking to her.
The vige guards, still kneeling, had their backs drenched in sweat. In their eyes, Wu Rong was even more of a demon than Yang Chen.
"Now that we''re here, how about you guys y with my daughter?" Yang Chen suddenly thought of an idea and looked at the guards with an evil smile.
Sweat formed on their foreheads at the sight of his grin.
"Daddy, I don''t want to y with these smelly guys!" Chen Miya immediately protested.
"Cough, listen to me," he said, ncing at Yao Mei, who was ring daggers at him.
She clearly wasn''t keen on letting their daughter y with these men.
"Do you see the wooden walls surrounding the vige?" Yang Chen pointed to the wall, which could barely be called one.
Chen Miya nodded while looking at the wall.
"Your task is to repair the walls, and these guys will assist you in the process." Hearing his words, Chen Miya''s eyes began to shine.
"Honey, this is too much for her. She''s only just started using her talent," Yao Mei said, worried. She knew Chen Miya didn''t have the strength to repair the entire wall even with the help of her talent.
"Geez, if you''re always soft on her, she won''t learn anything…" Yang Chen paused, then walked over to Chen Miya and picked her up by the shoulders.
"Ah, Daddy!" she giggled, not resisting him at all.
"And don''t underestimate our daughter," he said confidently. Seeing this, Yao Mei relented but still advised Chen Miya, "Be careful and don''t get hurt."
Then she turned to the vige guards, her expression instantly changing.
"You all understand what to do, right?" she asked coldly, making them flinch in fear.
"Y-yes, Madam! We will protect Lady Miya with our lives!"
"Chief Chen…" Wu Rong looked at him with confusion. Naturally, she didn''t know about Chen Miya''s talent and doubted the little girl could repair the walls.
More importantly, it would be a problem if she got hurt in the process.
"It''s okay," Yang Chen replied with a mysterious smile, refusing to exin.
It would be better for her to witness his daughter''s magic than spoil it in advance.
"Daddy, let me go! I want to y!" Chen Miya wriggled in his grasp, eager to use her talent.
"All right, but as your mom said, be careful." With that, Yang Chen set her down.
Without wasting a second, Chen Miya pulled out a mysterious pen and drew a cloud in mid-air.
In the next moment, the cloud magically formed, and the onlookers'' eyes widened in surprise.
"Let''s go!" she said, hopping onto the cloud and taking off. The vige guards, left behind, stood with question marks on their faces.
"What are you all waiting for? Go and assist Lady Miya!" Wu Rong shouted at them. They snapped out of their daze and ran after her.
On their way to the vige chief''s office, Yang Chen and Yao Mei walked slowly, holding hands and matching each other''s pace.
"Honey, are you sure it''s safe to leave her alone?" Yao Mei asked, worry clear on her face.
"She''ll be fine," Yang Chen replied with a smile.
"After all, she''s our daughter." Yao Mei smiled at his words, but remembering their unusual rtionship as father and daughter, the smile quickly faded.
"Since you said so, I''ll trust you. But if anything happens to her…" she trailed off, pinching his hip with an angry smile.
"Ah, w-what''s gotten into you all of a sudden?" Yang Chen asked, puzzled by her sudden shift.
In the space domain, Nyx, who was searching for traces of the Abyssal fiends, chuckled after witnessing the scene.
"Master, you are really too much," she said with an amused smile, understanding the reason behind Yao Mei''s sudden change in mood.
Just like Yang Chen, she wasn''t worried about Chen Miya, knowing there was more than one way to utilize her abilities. Likewise, Chen Miya was a fast learner, and her talent perfectly suited her innocent and childish nature.
She was confident that, other than Chen Miya, no one would be able to fully utilize the abilities of the legendary Pen Master to their full extent.
"Now then, let''s see where that bastard''s clone is hiding."