Chapter 20

You rushed in and found this was a room of about thirty to forty square meters, with a large long table in the middle occupying most of the space, and several bookshelves and wine cabinets neatly placed against the walls; clearly this should be a meeting room, but at this moment it was being used as a gambling den.

Inside were about ten people gathered around the table gambling; you couldn't make out their game, but three men who clearly looked like the bosses were holding scantily clad female workers in their arms, sipping wine, their smiles unchanged as they stared in shock at you bursting through the door.

After entering, you merely glanced around the room before beginning to swing your freshly wiped longsword, slaughtering every enemy before you; by the time the enemies recovered from their shock, you had already killed half the people in the room, for they all had their backs to you, leaving them barely enough time to turn and glance at you once.

The enemies opposite finally reacted, pushing away the women in their arms and grabbing whatever was at hand to throw at you, trying to disrupt your movements; you casually punched with your left hand, shattering a wooden chair that might have hit you, then leapt onto the table and charged at the remaining four.

The few opponents were clearly skilled fighters, but to you they were merely adequate; after a few rounds, only two remained standing in the room: you and a bearded, stubbled man, his upper body bare, gripping an imperial broadsword—the only one in the room who could exchange a few blows with you, and at this moment his left hand was already gone.

He panted heavily, dropped the imperial broadsword, tightly gripped his left wrist, dropped to his knees, and begged you for mercy; you gave no reply to his plea, but instead raised your longsword, raised your voice, and asked him, "Where is Daofeng Yawen?"

He told you, "Daofeng Yawen often appears at the Lvteng Jiuguan in the noble district, where he discusses matters with others; otherwise he knows nothing more; he also told you that behind him is Governor Jiastes of Boshi Cheng, and if you dare kill him, you cannot possibly leave Boshi Cheng on foot."

You severed his urge to continue speaking with a single sword strike, tore off a piece of tablecloth to wipe your longsword, and at the same time glanced at the three surviving female workers, trembling and prostrate on the ground, their heads as if wanting to bury into the floorboards; you gruffly told them, "The Snake Cult sends greetings to Governor Jiastes," then left the room and returned to the third floor.

You first searched the entire room amid the resentful gaze of the female elf, finding three small bags of diamonds—hard currency of the Pendor Continent, each worth ten thousand dinars, exchangeable at redemption points in every major city—along with many IOUs and property deeds, which you took; finally, you came to the bedside of the female elf.

You whispered with the female elf, telling her you could send her back to the Noldor Elf Forest, but not yet, for having killed so many, you must lay low; if you swaggered out now, you would inevitably be caught by Governor Jiastes, so you wished to establish three articles of agreement with her.

You told her that before returning to the Noldor Elf Forest, all matters must obey you, and she must not act on her own initiative; you likewise told her her worth in the outside world was extraordinarily high—selling for several thousand or even tens of thousands of dinars would not be an exaggeration; you told her you had no interest in money, nor lacked it, but you could not guarantee others felt the same; saying this, you shook the diamonds in your hand, tossed her a bag, and told her this was your guarantee—if she agreed to your proposal, you would undertake the commission to escort her back to the elf forest.

The female elf blinked her dazed eyes at you, nodded, put away the bag of diamonds; then you unbound her, found her a set of male clothing to wear—admittedly ill-fitting, but there was no help for it, as her previous attire was truly an eyesore.

You led her out of this villa now a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, returned to the Fengrao Jiuguan, re-entered through that window, and for the third time saw the guard sleeping extremely soundly; you wondered, could this man be the owner's relative?

You walked up the stairs and came again to the owner's door; standing at the threshold, you could hear the man's snores, you smiled, and knocked on the owner's door.

You could hear the panic inside the room; soon, the owner, fully dressed, opened the door holding a candle, his face full of alarm as he looked at you; you shook the diamonds in your hand, handed them to him, and told him you needed to stay here for a time, unknown to anyone, and this bag of diamonds would cover the expenses.

The owner gave you a strange look, glanced at the diamonds, then back at you, and with a wry smile said you could stay as you liked, he would not take the money, and would do his utmost to settle things so no one would disturb you; saying this, he returned the diamonds to your hand, took the candle, and gave you and the female elf behind you a room.

The female elf seemed reluctant to share a room with you, but said nothing; you sensed it, and told her it had to be one room—she could sleep on the bed, you on the floor; she nodded and told you her name was Freya.

The next day, the central district of Boshi Cheng was in chaos—over fifty people had died that night, and moreover in the wealthy district; reportedly the murderer was a notorious follower of the Snake Cult; the central district's garrison commander faced immense pressure, even Governor Jiastes of Boshi Cheng had sent people to demand accountability, demanding the culprit be caught within a time limit; for a moment, the central and lower districts began the classic door-to-door search for criminals.

You were not disturbed, even though outside the guards had turned the area upside down; the tavern owner told you that besides giving a quarter of his monthly income to the gangsters, he also gave a quarter to the captain responsible for guarding this district; no matter how chaotic outside, the guards could not possibly conduct a thorough search here—just going through the motions would suffice.

You believed him, and also believed he already knew how that whatever beard gang was destroyed; at this moment his family lived in the room next to yours, and he had not tried to move them away, but instead told his wife to keep the son indoors as much as possible, saying he would settle everything; this was a very shrewd person, and you had already begun to take a liking to him.

You thus hid in the tavern's second floor for three days; during these three days you often chatted with Freya, her voice clear and pleasant, talking with her a pleasure; thus you established preliminary trust—this was a girl who, even if trafficked, remained pure; you saw her appearance and figure were certainly adult, but her mindset seemed not yet mature; in just half a day, you could talk about anything with her; her fluency in Elvish amazed her greatly, and if not for your lack of pointed ears, she would have thought you an elf; now she suspected you were a half-elf stranded abroad; you teased her, telling her this was miraculous magic, which obviously piqued her interest; she kept pestering you until you told her it was merely a joke.

Three days passed quickly, after which you began occasionally appearing in the tavern lobby, seeing no attention drawn, you started doing odd jobs like serving drinks and dishes, outwardly claiming your identity as Allen, nephew of the tavern owner's neighbor's son, come to Boshi Cheng to find an opportunity to make a name for yourself, temporarily residing with the tavern owner—oh, this tavern owner is called Paul.

Soon you became acquainted with the tavern's regulars, often chatting with these drinkers to gain outside information; one day you learned from these drinkers' strangely accurate mouths that the central district's garrison commander could no longer withstand the combined pressure from the wealthy and Governor Jiastes, preparing to randomly arrest a Snake Cult follower in the jail and hang him at noon the next day in the square to put an end to this scandal that had shaken Boshi Cheng; a drinker chuckled and said offhand, "A bunch of scoundrels—dead is dead, still kicking up such a fuss," before being stopped by his companion.

You had no interest in going to the square to watch the farce of hanging the "murderer"; you had seen too many such farces of capturing criminals, and you would not make this mistake—this was good for both you and the garrison commander.

Soon the matter settled, the tense atmosphere on the streets of the first few days gone, and you knew you still had some things left unfinished.

You had not forgotten that Daofeng Yawen was still issuing warrants for your arrest everywhere, but the noble district was not so easy to enter—the entire noble area lay behind the city walls, constantly patrolled by true imperial regular troops; you might want to climb in, but had no way in; most residents were imperial knights or officials' relatives, and without proper credentials, each entry required travel documents.

You again sought out the tavern owner, with no choice—you were merely a newcomer who had arrived here less than half a month ago.

The tavern owner told you he indeed lacked the connections to help you obtain free passage into the noble district, but he could write you a recommendation letter to the mistress of Lvteng Jiuguan, which matched your need to make a name for yourself; coincidentally, he would be picking up a batch of fine wine from Lvteng Jiuguan tomorrow, and the documents for entering and leaving the noble district he could issue, but he begged you to be sure to return within the time specified on the documents, otherwise both he and you would be ruined.

You had no reason to disagree, so the next day you set out, presented the documents, and after surrendering your weapons, entered the noble district smoothly.

The living conditions here were indeed much better than in the central district—tree-lined streets several meters wide, with benches for pedestrians to rest, the streets very clean, presumably swept regularly; houses stood neatly on both sides, clearly planned and built; occasional patrols of guards watched warily at strangers like you.

You certainly would not see the stalls everywhere as in the central district; gentlemen and ladies on the street dressed properly, walked with leisurely confidence, followed by one or several maids and servants; from time to time ornate carriages passed by your side, you did not know what the carriage insignias meant, nor did you particularly care.

You politely asked a guard, whose eyes were wary, for the location of Lvteng Jiuguan; he told you and added, "Be honest, don't cause trouble here." You thought this might be his catchphrase.

A quarter of an hour later you arrived at the gate of Lvteng Jiuguan; on your way there you had deliberately circled the noble district—though the environment was fine, the place was small, half an hour sufficed to cover it all, about the size of an ordinary residential complex from your previous life; during your stroll you memorized the architectural layout for future use.

In the morning, Lvteng Jiuguan had few customers; sitting at the bar, you felt this place should not even be called a tavern—if possible, you would prefer to call it a club; it was a two-story building, lacking the large hall tables of Fengrao Jiuguan, only having private booths or upstairs private rooms; the decor and furnishings were far more luxurious than ordinary buildings, even the wine cabinets and the bartender's bar were gilded, a taste you could not comprehend.

Upon arrival you told the guard at the door your purpose and handed over the tavern owner's recommendation letter; you had of course read it, found no issue, and indeed there was none; soon, seated at the bar, you received notice that the mistress of Lvteng Jiuguan, Sophia, wished to see you.

This was a woman of mature charm, her face lightly made up, with a head of brown curly hair, deep blue-green eyes, a pert nose, thick lips, dressed in a white lace long dress, the waist-cinching design displaying her exaggerated figure before you; even you had rarely seen such a Western beauty.

At this moment she held a cup of wine, sitting at a table, half-smiling as she looked at you.

You approached and asked what she wished of you; Sophia placed her wine on the adjacent table, feigned surprise, and laughed, asking, "Isn't it you who came to her for help?"

Her voice was sweet and alluring; under her questioning, you could only state your two purposes for this trip: one, to bring back the wine Paul needed; two, to obtain an identity allowing free passage in the noble district, so as to gain more opportunities to make a name for yourself; this lady was greatly surprised, her eyes blinking, she covered her mouth and laughed, asking, "On what grounds do you think you can make a name for yourself in this upper-class residence?"

You said you had no special talents, only that your martial skills were passable, and perhaps you could gain the favor of some great figure.

Sophia this time truly looked surprised; she examined you from head to toe, and just as you felt inexplicably uneasy, she issued the order to leave.

She told you she needed to think carefully about how to help you, that Paul's wine would also be prepared, and you could come back this afternoon.

As you left Lvteng Jiuguan, you faintly felt something was off; you did nothing extra, but instead sat rigidly on the bench outside for two hours, until afternoon, when you re-entered Lvteng Jiuguan; the guard at the door told you Sophia was waiting in the original room.

Just as you stepped into the room, you felt wind coming from both sides; ambushed, you for a moment even thought your identity had been exposed.

You easily dodged the ambush from both sides, and with a few casual moves brought the attackers under your control.

That the ambush could be so easily resolved made you cease your move to take their lives; you felt this might merely be a very clumsy test.

Indeed, Sophia opposite looked at you in astonishment, expressed admiration, smiled broadly, invited you to sit, poured you a cup of wine, and asked why you had such superb skills.

You could only repeat your prepared lie, telling her your father was a retired mercenary, your skills partly learned from him, partly innate talent—you were naturally stronger than ordinary people.

Sophia raised her brows, her alluring face breaking into an even brighter smile, she stuck out her tongue to lightly lick her lips, and told you she could grant you free passage into the noble district, but you must do something for her.

You asked what it was; Sophia said you could only choose to agree or refuse, with no other options, and no questions allowed.

You agreed.

Upon hearing your agreement, Sophia rose and told you Paul's wine had already been arranged for delivery; for the next two days you would stay here, and in two days she would tell you what needed to be done; the travel documents and your weapons had already been arranged by others; now she wanted to take you to meet some people.

Following behind Sophia, a flicker of ill omen passed through your heart.

Soon Sophia brought you into a private room where four strong, sharp-looking men sat; she first introduced you to the four men in the room, not sparing praise for your neat skills; you clearly felt two middle-aged men harbored hostility toward you, for which you could only sigh, "Beauty brings disaster."

Soon Sophia introduced the last man—a close-cropped head, a face covered in short bristly beard; behind the beard you could not judge his age, but his narrow, long eyes gave you a sense of extreme danger; he wore an ordinary jacket, with a golden-hilted curved blade on his belt, its scabbard inlaid with several dazzling gems; Sophia spoke his name, and your nerves tensed—that was Daofeng Yawen.