The rug stopped above a certain mountain, high around the peak of it, snow was slowly raining down from the top of the clouds- and onto Bai Feng and the others as they looked around with wonder.

It was a very magical scene, but this was just the start.

As the clouds in front of them parted, a small paradise was revealed to them- at the top of the mountain.

Small palaces were placed around 100 meters away from each other. At the top of every palace, there was a sign that showed what those palaces contained.

There were both young and aged people walking around, taking in the natural sights, before looking at the palace signs and entering the chosen palace.

The strange thing was that most of the people present wore different outfits with different insignias pinned at their chests. Some people wore matching outfits and insignias, but they were mostly walking in groups, and it looked like no one knew much about the other. It was like all of these people were strangers that didn't come from the same sect.

The only similar thing about these people was that they all cycled between the palaces, some of them entered happily, but very few of them left the same way.

90% of those who left the palaces had sour or angry expressions on their faces. It seemed that what happened inside wasn't really good for them. However, that 10% who left happily immediately moved towards another palace to leave with a similar expression of that 90%.

It was a strange sight for the village boys and girls as they had never seen something like this ever before.

The only similar thing they recounted seeing was when they had a trading fair in the village, and their parents went crazy when Mu An brought some chicken for trading.

Xiao Chun couldn't help but ask:

"Master, what is in these palaces?"

Ming Du shook his head as he pointed at the signs above the palaces:

"Can't you see for yourselves? It's not written in any language besides the common one."

The village kids looked at each other with dismay. None of them knew how to read or write.

Seeing that they didn't say anything after a while made Ming Du shake his head:

"It seems the secular world is quite poor. You guys didn't even get a basic education!"

"It's ok though, if you get recruited in the sect, you will get more than normal education."

Ming Du smiled as his rug started to fly towards a separate plaza where there were no people.

Above the plaza Ming Du was flying towards was a big sign. And on it were written the words 'STAFF'.

After a short while, Ming Du made the rug land and the villagers to get off.

Bai Feng looked around in wonder as his gaze reached every nook and cranny in the plaza they were currently at.

There were no palaces in this plaza, only moderately sized buildings that looked to be residences for people to live in, and as Bai Feng smelled the air, he also felt the smell of food touching his nose... a kitchen was surely nearby.

Ming Du looked at everyone and smiled as he took out a small bell from his raggedy hemp clothes and struck it gently one time.

Out of a nearby residence came a middle-aged bald man. He had sunglasses over his eyes and wore a dark robe which gave him a gangster vibe.

The moment he saw Ming Du, he snorted and said:

"You finally got back those items you donated 500 years ago, Ming Du?"

Ming Du clasped his hands together in greeting as he said:

"Senior Brother Shredder, I have gotten them back, and now I can give back that loan you lent me some time ago."

Shredder smiled, revealing a sharp set of elongated canines. They were very sharp, and they were also glistening without the sun being reflected in them.

"Let me calculate, 25+2 then its x2 because of the time that you haven't paid back your loan... You owe me around 54 Zen Coppers. Are you sure you have enough money or collateral to pay back your debt?"

Shredder's eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, but the villagers could feel how he was glancing at them from time to time.

It was a strange experience, and Bai Feng could feel a strong reaction- coming from his fat every time the man looked at him.

It was seemingly as if his fat was scared by the man's gaze. If his belly had a mouth, it would say:

"Let's get outta here boss, this guy is dangerous!"

Atleast, that's what he thought it would say.

Ming Du was rubbing his hands awkwardly as he took out a few items and said:

"I shall let senior brother decide how much these small items are worth."

Shredder took the items that the villagers gave Ming Du and gave them each a glance before he threw them back at the old man and said:

"Trash! Useless trash! Do you think those things can be sold anywhere?"

Shredder was ready to foam at the mouth as he said with visible anger in his tone:

"If you can't pay your debts, you shouldn't gamble, you darned old man!"

Then the bald man took a knife from his dark robe, ready to shag Ming Du in front of the boys and girls from the village, without any care in the world.

Xiao Chun thought this was a part of their test to join the sect, so he immediately jumped in front of Ming Du and put his hands in front of him, and said:

"You shall not touch master Ming!"

That was the first and the last mistake Xiao Chun did, in his attempts to join the sect.

Shredder couldn't give two damns about the hicks that Ming Du picked in the mountains. Most of his sect mates usually came back with people like this, trying to con them into becoming dealers at their casinos, hoping that they would find a diamond in the rough, someone who was lucky enough. To always deal cards in favor of the house.

These things did happen, but it was so rare that Shredder never thought that there was one such person in the people that Ming Du took.

So he used his knife to easily slice through Xiao Chun's left hand until he reached his elbow and stopped there before moving the knife downwards and severing his left arm.

Xiao Chun then fell to the ground as he slowly bleeds to death. The shock from the sudden attack also sealed his fate.

Ming Du wanted to say something, but he was too scared. He could go and bully some normal villagers how he wanted. But in front of his senior brother, he wasn't much.

"I will give you these people, senior brother. Besides the one you killed, they should value around 50 Zen Coppers!"

Shredder nodded. Bai Feng and the others started moving towards him against their wills. They didn't know why but their bodies moved on their own, despite the commands they were giving them.

Bai Feng didn't like the feeling of having his fate into another one's hands. He slowly tried to break through the control of this foreign energy that took over his body.

But no matter what he did or what he tried. There was nothing much he could do.

He was powerless in front of the powers of the bald immortal, Shredder.

He glanced back towards Ming Du, but all he could see was the man smiling and rubbing his hands before waving towards them. The man that brought them here didn't even glance at the corpse of Xiao Chun, who was supposed to be his disciple.

Shredder shook his head as he looked at Ming Du and muttered:

"Weasel."

Shredder took all of the villagers with him into his residence, which was way bigger inside compared to its outside size.

There was nice furniture placed here and there, tables, chairs, furs on the walls or the floor.

It was a nice and cozy place, but it didn't seem really characteristic to the gangster-mobster Shredder to have such a nice place. The villagers thought that they would be tortured or put in some type of prison after they saw how the bald man took care of Xiao Chun, but they were surprised to find out that it wasn't so.

Bai Feng watched as Shredder plopped himself on a fine chair and looked at each villager with his glasses-covered eyes.

He first glanced at the three young men that ranged from ages to 16-18 and said:

"You three will be my personal slaves from now on, chop-chop!"

The three young men were hot-blooded and in the prime of their youth. If it was anyone else in front of them that called them slaves. They would have given them a good thrashing but considering how Xiao Chun ended up. They bowed their heads and nodded without saying anything else.

"You three go behind the house and meet with the other slaves, they will give you the heads up on what to do, also if you don't meet your quota on work you will be punished, the other things will be explained to you by the slave leader."

The three young men left with their heads down as the only people that remained from the village being Mu An, the young girl who was 13, and Bai Feng.

Shredder then glanced at the young girl and shook his head as he said:

"You are too young for me, but my son is around your age, so you shall become his maid."

He clapped twice, and two thick women who wore maid uniforms and had their hair done into buns came and took the young girl who tried to cry out for help, only for one of the maids to put a hand over her mouth. The maid shook her head as she intended to tell the young girl this way that nothing could be done.

But the young girl didn't understand as she bit the maid's hands. However, the maid endured and smiled sheepishly at the girl. Then continued to take the girl away as she didn't want to anger her master.

Shredder then looked at Mu An, glancing at her up and down then shook his head:

"You are too fat and too short for my tastes... but I can feel that you are rather special, you have a faint spiritual aura around you, have you ever eaten spirit food before?"

Mu An was a strong woman that had lived independently while helping Bai Feng grow up. so she was a little bit more courageous than the three men who became slaves. Combined with the fact that it seemed the conversation was going in a good way, made her respond confidently:

"Yes, I have eaten spirit chicken, and so did my brother here."

Shredder looked at Bai Feng and squinted his eyes at him under the sunglasses.

"I don't feel anything from him, he seems just like a plain old fatty to me, but you, you are different. I think you have the potential to become a disciple of the sect!"

Mu An looked reluctant as she gazed at her brother, she did want to become an immortal, but Bai Feng also needed to end up somewhere well, or else her heart wouldn't be at ease, nor would she be able to meet her parent's spirits with a head held high in the afterlife if she ever died during her trials of becoming an immortal.

So she gritted her teeth and asked for a favor:

"I want to join your sect, but what about my brother?"

Shredder glanced at Bai Feng a few more times, but he couldn't find anything special about him, so he said:

"Well, since you love your brother so much, how could I not indulge you? After all, you are my future junior sister. From his build, I can see that he is a man that likes to eat, so I can pull some strings and get him to the place where food is being cooked. However, if he doesn't work and only gorges himself with food, I can't guarantee that the guy that works there won't gut him like a fish."

Mu An glanced at Bai Feng and signaled him with her eyes.

She told him to accept the offer as it was pretty much perfect for him as he always said how he loved food.

Bai Feng was almost salivating at the thought of eating things similar to the spirit chickens that he usually ate at home that he actually started daydreaming during the conversation.

Only when his sister elbowed him in the gut did he nod furiously and saluted like he was a soldier ready to go to war.

Shredder laughed at Bai Feng's antics.

Then he clapped, summoning a slave from the backyard of his residence.

The slave bowed towards Shredder and awaited instructions:

"Take this fatty to the grub making place and install him there, tell the bamboo pole that I sent him there, and he should be given work."

"Also, tell him that I shall cut his debt in half as a favor if he accepts him."

The slave bowed then grabbed Bai Feng by the only place that was the least sleazy at him, his ponytail. Leaving Mu An and Shredder alone.

Bai Feng took one more glance at his sister as he and the slave left the residence behind them... the door closed, and his view of his sister also disappeared.

Who knew- when they will see each other again?