bookrandom Chapter 358 Dark clouds over the city
Chapter 358 Dark clouds over the city
The thunder rumbled, but was completely blocked by the protective barrier of the Cliff City.
Zhong Ming carried his half-apprentice on his back as he walked down the street, intending to find a place to rest for a while.
After tasting the golden wind, Zhong Ming didn't catch anything else while fishing, but it wasn't a complete loss. He sold the one-zhang-long bluefish to a servant on the spot and got a lot of military merit points.
Abao was full of energy. He even felt that his cultivation level had loosened. This must be thanks to Golden Wind, or maybe not!
"Ah Bao, find a quiet place, then you can leave on your own. That will complete our job."
"Alright, rest assured, sir, I can definitely find whatever you're looking for. I wonder if you mean by 'quiet'... a secluded and elegant place where a beautiful lady can play the zither, drink tea, and sing a few tunes, or a place where no one will disturb you?"
"Desolate as autumn, lonely as winter."
Six hours later, after sobering up, Zhong Ming finally remembered to put together the pretentious, broken words he had used earlier.
Upon hearing this, Abao immediately agreed.
Anyone with a conscience would never have taken Zhong Ming to one of those inns that offer kickbacks today. After thinking it over carefully, he actually came up with a quiet inn in this bustling place.
It wasn't some important city lord's residence where no one dared to make a sound. Rather, this inn was located on either side of two major buildings belonging to powerful forces. The silencers on those buildings were so tight they were practically carved into couplets, that not even the slightest noise could reach them.
The entrance to his inn was exactly the opposite of theirs, and it was across the street from their back entrance.
So... can things that can be done openly be done through back channels? We'd rather do everything quietly.
So, he immediately took Zhong Ming to the inn. The landlady was quite pretty; she might be a concubine kept by one of the powerful families on either side.
After traveling for half an hour, we arrived at our destination. It was just like the Yue family's residence at the foot of Shuangjian Mountain. There were tall buildings on both sides, and a small inn in the middle. Although the storefront was not bad, it could only be squeezed to the side compared to the two sides.
Abao entered the inn first and called out, "Landlady, I've brought you a guest."
"What are you yelling about? Be quiet, you're scaring my cat."
A woman in palace attire slowly descended the wooden staircase. Her every smile and frown was like a gentle breeze, cool yet without any allure. She held a folding fan in her hand but did not open it; it simply swayed with her hips.
"I offer a quiet room for five spirit stones a day. It's more expensive elsewhere, but I'm the only one of its kind in Cliff City."
"A room."
When the woman saw Zhong Ming carrying a boy of about ten years old on his back, she frowned slightly and looked at A Bao with questioning eyes.
"This is Master Cuihong and his disciple, and this is Miss Yao," Abao said with a smile, subtly explaining to the woman.
"Qi Refining stage... then room number six, please."
The woman turned and walked away with such grace and elegance that it was hard to distinguish her from the mountains and rivers.
"If neither of you has any objections, I'll be leaving now. I wish you a speedy Foundation Establishment, and I wish the proprietress a prosperous business."
"Business is booming? Forget it. When there are too many people, there's bound to be fighting and killing. It's hard to find any peace and quiet."
Zhong Ming followed the woman around a corner and chuckled to himself.
Indeed, it's hard to even find some peace and quiet. There's a painting hanging in the corridor with four large characters on it, but the frame is broken and it's lying on the side, not yet repaired.
She led Zhong Ming to the location, gave him the key, gave him some instructions, and then left.
But the two sides... are not so peaceful.
The next day, Zhong Ming meditated all night and helped Zhang Youcai clear his meridians. He found that the expensive "Ren Shui Jing" was indeed worth the price. Even if the spiritual energy was very strong, it would not block the meridians. It would just flow slowly and would clear itself up on its own after some time.
On the afternoon of the third day, he took Zhang Youcai out leisurely, intending to wander around for a few more hours before waiting at the assembly point that night.
As soon as you open the door, you see the landlady carrying a bucket of water and a large mop, busy in front of her inn.
"Good afternoon, boss lady. What's going on here... Holy crap, did you slaughter a pig?"
"Slaughtering a pig? Ha, hehe, yes, it really was a pig slaughtered. What's the point of slaughtering pigs every day?" She struggled to drag the mop in her hand to wipe away the bloodstains in front of the inn, but it was no easy task.
Zhong Ming also became more cautious, sticking his head out to look around a few times.
"Don't panic, it's just some江湖 (jianghu) grudges, it all happens at night. Hmph, you've been getting lazier and lazier these past few days, even making me do the cleaning myself?"
The landlady complained, looked up at the two "peaks" pressing down on either side of the inn, and sighed, "It's difficult, it's difficult."
Seeing this, Zhong Ming asked curiously, "Whose family is this, competing against whom?"
"I don't know. The Guo family has been having a tough time lately. The building on the left belongs to the Guo family, and the one on the right used to belong to the Yan family, but after the change of ownership these past few days, there's been endless infighting. Who knows who's who?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ming silently left from the direction of the Zhou family's building...
.....
At this moment, at the gathering place of the Flame Wolf Army, a powerful cultivator stood at the highest point of the cannon, looking down at the busy figures below, and spat contemptuously.
"You're the battalion commander?"
"Yes."
The battalion commander of the 134th Battalion stood respectfully below.
"Very good. You treat your soldiers like your own children and use them like clay. You've done a good job, but you can't treat them like clay too much. This clay is mixed with gold and is very valuable."
"I will heed the teachings of my predecessors."
"What respect? If I could order you around, would I need to handle things over there personally? Wouldn't it have been enough for you to send a few people to seal off the Zhou family?"
The battalion commander was somewhat embarrassed. This man had indeed done him a favor, but he dared not get involved in underworld matters.
"Senior, please don't flatter me. This mud I've made is hardly worthy of your attention."
"That's true. The people who came on this mission are all fresh graduates from military academies... Do you have any fresh graduates here who have the opportunity to enter military academies? They could get to know each other in advance."
After thinking for a moment, the battalion commander realized there were only a few candidates, so he reported the names of Zhong Ming, Chen Dahai, and others.
"Yes, I remember these people. Old Xiong repeatedly told me to observe them carefully. You should work hard, and if you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, remember to introduce them to us as soon as possible, preferably without missing a single one."
The powerful cultivator looked up at the sky. The sea of clouds that had lingered above the cliff city had turned dark and dim, and was no longer as glorious as it once was.