Depthless Hunger

"That's him, that's the one!" Kai recognized the man speaking: it was the idiot from the restaurant, hovering just behind the leader of this new group. "You see, he has those women ensorcelled somehow."

"Difficult to believe," the leader said, "but what else could explain it?"

"Are we doing this again?" Omilaena threw up her hands and turned away, which made the cultivators she was ignoring bristle.

"Don't make light of me!' The leader took a step forward and cast his hand to the side, flapping his sleeve dramatically. "I am Kan Jin Kung, heir to the Heavenly River sect! Rank 16, beyond what can be attained by mere mortals! Whoever you are, whatever your methods, I will not allow you to enslave these women!"

Kai blinked, then raised his hands to try to stop a pointless fight. "Alright, this is actually a misunderstanding. I'm not enslaving anyone, I'm here to stop the slavers down there."

Kan Jin Kung glanced briefly toward the caravan, then sneered. "The slave trade may be crude, but it's profitable so long as it stays within its bounds. We-"

"Wait, you know?"

"Of course. This group may be far beneath me, but they're likely a subsidiary of a subsidiary of our sect." Kan Jin Kung thrust out a finger toward him. "But a vulgar man like you, kidnapping and enslaving such exceptional maidens? We cannot allow such beautiful flowers to be trampled into the mud!"

All at once Kai's understanding of the other man flipped on its head. He'd thought of this as a misunderstanding and hadn't wanted to start a fight against an honorable cultivator, but now he understood that this man was just another princeling who considered himself above the entire world. There was no point talking to scum like that.