Chapter 331 - 330: Charming Night, Ye Liuli

As Li Jing suspected, Tongyan had already noticed that something was wrong with the mall.

However, she only knew that Li Jing was here to investigate the disciples of the sect, not knowing that he was actually on the hunt for a demon, hence she stayed quiet.

Now...

Just a few steps past the entrance of the mall, Tongyan lowered her voice.

"Most of the sales assistants and guides in this mall are not humans. It seems that the mall is backed by a group of monster beings."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing nodded.

"I do have some ability in identifying monsters, luckily you noticed here. Since we’re here, let’s have a casual walk around, then see if we can find a chance to meet the monster in charge."

Upon hearing that Li Jing has the ability to identify monsters, Tongyan was not surprised.

This ability was as common as muck in their Canglan Holy Land.

Any disciple who has genuinely received the tradition of the Canglan Holy Land can identify monsters at first glance.

The Canglan Holy Land follows the Orthodox Immortality Path, primarily focusing on swordsmanship.

The "basic skill" of the Sword Heart Tradition, is to identify friend from foe by relying on the Sword Heart.

The Sword Heart Tradition has four levels in total.

The first level, the Initial Heart of the Sword.

At this stage, it is the basic phase of identifying friend from foe.

The user can judge whether the latter bears hostility and differentiate whether they are human or not through the aura unintentionally emitted by the other party.

At this stage, the concept of the Sword Heart is the same as Li Jing’s ability to see health bars.

If the other party is a monster, those who have just mastered the Sword Heart can’t be sure.

What they can see, is simply whether the other party belongs to the Alien Species.

To make a clear identification, one has to reach the second stage of Sword Heart Perception.

Like Qi Chen, who has reached the level of Sword Heart Clarity, is the third level. Once entering this stage, one can easily discern the specific realm of opponents whose cultivation levels are not higher than their own, and clearly perceive what kind of power they have cultivated."

The final stage is Sword Heart Reflection.

Upon accomplishing Sword Heart Reflection, one will no longer be limited by their own cultivation level, and could see through opponents regardless of how much higher their cultivation level may be.

This tradition of the Canglan Holy Land, superficially, appears to be supplemental.

But in reality, the more refined the Sword Heart, the greater the power of the sword in their hands.

Such an ability, which even the newly admitted disciples of their own sect have, of course, wouldn’t surprise Tongyan due to Li Jing having a similar ability.

As a disciple of a Sect, she was also very aware.

Each sect within the Hidden World Sect has its own unique traditions.

Some seemingly mysterious abilities, are not exclusively possessed by specific groups of people.

Learning that Li Jing intended to contact the monster in charge behind the mall, Tongyan nodded slightly, gripping her arms tightly and whispering.

"We’ll take a stroll first, you shouldn’t have any objections?"

Li Jing was given ample benefits and responded smoothly, "As you wish, just don’t shop for too long."

In receiving such a response, Tongyan chuckled and pulled him towards a nearby clothing store.

As a company, Li Jing naturally complied with her.

Finding the monster in charge of the mall isn’t easy.

Monsters hiding in human society are always extremely cautious, especially in Dark Street, which is doubly monitored by the Capital Inspection Headquarters and the Dong Ye Inspection Branch.

Want to meet the person in charge of the mall? Not simply by making a scene calling for a manager, and they will come out.

Normally on Dark Street, no one would dare to cause a fuss over trivial matters.

If you are clamoring to see the manager, it would be unreasonable.

The other party would suspect you have ulterior motives. More cautious ones might just run away on the spot.

Meet the person responsible?

There’s no such thing!

What if you are an inspector looking to arrest someone?

Those who struggle on Dark Street, none of them could claim to be completely clean.

They just appear cautious and low-profile in order to survive in between the Capital and Dong Ye.

Now to the part about the monsters.

If a monster breaks the law, it dies when exposed.

If hard evidence is obtained and it’s revealed that one is a monster, it will be a dead-end street.

As it concerns their very lives, how can they not be cautious?

In summary...

The monster controlling the mall isn’t easy to meet, we need to find an opportunity.

Accompanying Tongyan into the clothing shop, Li Jing paid little attention to the sales assistants and guides present, quietly accompanying her.

At least from what Li Jing saw...

Most of the monsters in the mall are of the Three Realm level, with few being of the Four Realm level.

These beings are, at best, little monsters.

They couldn’t possibly know much.

Those serving as sales assistants and guides in the mall, by human standards, were simply lower-level "workers". To get any information, he needed to find the monster truly in charge.

...

In a blink, more than two hours had passed.

Unconsciously, Li Jing had accompanied Tongyan on a walk throughout the entire first floor of the mall.

This time, Tongyan indeed enjoyed herself.

In order to avoid wasting unnecessary time, she simply ordered the purchase of anything she liked without even trying it on.

There are two types of women when it comes to shopping.

One shops for the sake of aesthetics, choosing carefully.

The other simply shops to shop, to satisfy their shopping desire.

Tongyan belongs to the latter category.

Mainly because she simply isn’t short on money.

Even if the sizes were too small when she took them home, it wouldn’t matter.

Regardless, just buy them first.

People like her often have countless clothes in their storage spaces. They can’t even wear all of them one by one every day, yet from time to time, they still buy new ones.

Having a few pieces that don’t fit won’t make a difference.

After shopping around the first floor of the mall, she seemed satisfied. As they were heading to the second floor of the mall, she whispered to Li Jing.

"You’re going to meet the mall manager, have you thought of a way yet?"

"I have."

Li Jing nodded.

"What kind of way?"

She curiously looked at him.

While Li Jing was accompanying her for window shopping, she also put her mind to figure out a strategy.

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t figure out a way to call the manager here for a discussion without provoking the manager’s monster alter-ego.

As a member of their sect, she had no prejudice against monsters and would never casually raise opposition against them.

Li Jing would not, either.

After all, one’s power speaks for itself.

The fact that monsters aren’t welcomed in human society largely comes down to humans in lower power levels feeling insecure about shapeshifting beasts.

The problem now is,

the other side is not aware that the two of them bear no ill intentions, and as they are accustomed to the chaos of Dark Street, they might be overly sensitive.

At this point,

Li Jing answered her query with a smirk.

"You’ll find out when we reach upstairs."

Seeing that he was playing coy, she frowned but didn’t ask further.

Upon reaching the second floor of the mall by the elevator, she saw a notice next to the exit advertising a business hotline. She picked up her phone, tapped in the number, and dialed it.

Seeing him making the call, she obediently stopped and waited.

Soon, the call was picked up.

A lovely female voice was heard from the other end.

"Hello, this is Charming Night Market Leasing Department, how may I assist you?"

Charming Night was the name of this shopping square.

The various stores within this mall primarily sell women’s clothing.

There’s nothing much to say about that.

Even though Charming Night, compared to other Black Street malls doing legitimate business, serves more as a front to deflect attention,

the operations of such a massive shopping mall still need to be profitable.

To consider profitability, one must decide who - men or women - is more lucrative to target?

Setting those matters aside,

Upon hearing the lady on the phone, Li Jing calmly said,

"I am interested in buying the entirety of Charming Night."

"...."

The woman on the phone fell silent.

Li Jing’s statement had left her speechless.

She was just...

The call was supposed to be for leasing stores, not buying the entire mall.

How could she even respond to such a request suddenly?

Not just the woman on the line, even the woman beside him was shocked by his words.

Is buying the entire Charming Night his plan? Has Li Jing gone mad?

Although buying the mall essentially just means buying the building since each store is leased out individually, it still isn’t worth that much money.

But is it worth it to spend that kind of money just to speak with the manager of the mall?

Coming back to it,

If Li Jing wanted to buy, it wouldn’t mean the other party would be willing to sell!

After all, this mall serves as a front, it is not there for commercial purposes.

If they sold this front, where would the monster behind the mall and the monsters working as store clerks and guides go to find another inconspicuous place to settle?

Just as she was interrogating, Li Jing calmly said, holding his phone,

"My final offer, fifty billion. Tell your boss the price, have them contact me."

With that said, he hung up the call.

Watching as Li Jing nonchalantly dropped a figure of fifty billion before ending the call, a twitch formed at the corner of her mouth.

Li Jing’s quote was undoubtedly sky-high.

In a way, the Black Street is considered a prime area.

A lot of people are willing to spend their money here.

The main reason is the mystery of Black Street.

On this street, everyone is a law-abiding citizen.

But once they step out of Black Street, they transform into mobsters, thugs, societal figures, and some even becoming major underworld bosses in the capital.

Shopping in such a place feels exciting just thinking about it.

And you may think Black Street is small, but you can buy anything here.

Behind every legitimate business on Black Street, there is at least one shady supply chain.

Without a grey area industry, how could one manage to open a shop on Black Street?

The world is realistic.

Even if you’re involved in the underworld, you need money in your pocket.

Only with money, can you be the boss.

No money.

Ha!

Since there is a grey industry chain hidden behind legitimate business, naturally, some people would come after it.

Various factors combined, the Dark Street’s customer flow kept at a high level year-round, and the commercial nature was large scale.

But one thing, has not changed.

Here, essentially, is not the capital.

You want to buy a large shopping mall in the capital with fifty billion?

Dream on!

But in Dong Ye City, it is already a sky-high price among sky-high prices.

However, the problem still exists.

Li Jing is willing to spend money, that’s his business.

People who can open such a large mall on the Dark Street may not lack the fifty billion.

Frowning at Li Jing, who was quietly waiting for a phone call with his mobile phone, the baby-faced lady looked puzzled.

"That, if you suddenly do this, will the mall manager really come to find you?"

"Don’t worry, they can’t get away."

Li Jing said, smiling.

"I don’t really want to buy this mall, the price of fifty billion alone is hard to tempt people. I mainly want to convey a message to the other party, your mall has caught someone’s eye."

"Caught the eye?"

The baby-faced lady blinked, looking puzzled.

Seeing her confused, Li Jing laughed.

"You’ve seen too little of the world, you’re still a bit green."

Saying this, he spoke softly.

"This is the Dark Street, where would there be a legitimate businessman to buy a mall? The people who can set eyes on the mall could only be ’peers’ from the Dark Street."

The baby-faced lady was smart, just naive.

Hearing Li Jing’s explanation, she immediately understood.

Li Jing was trying to portray a wealthy and unruly character from the Dark Street to lure out the monster boss behind Charming Night.

The calm of the Dark Street and everyone living "quietly" comes from a set of rules that all Dark Street people tacitly abide by.

In the Dark Street, no trouble, no provoking, everyone lives their own life.

The sudden appearance of an individual who doesn’t follow the rules would undoubtedly make the boss of Charming Night cautious.

Charming Night, he definitely won’t sell.

But he will definitely want to meet Li Jing to confirm if this "peer" is a newcomer trying to develop on the Dark Street, or a local "peer" from the Dark Street trying to break the rules, and then persuade him to retreat.

This would be the same for other Dark Street shops.

Among them, Charming Night presents a unique existence.

A mall filled with monsters will never want to be targeted by anyone.

Just as the baby-faced lady understood the key point, Li Jing’s mobile phone rang, someone was calling.

Seeing the phone ringing, the baby-faced lady looked at someone with a worshipful face.

She understood the logic, but was surprised at how simple things worked out.

Li Jing has accurately grasped the psychology of the people on the Dark Street!

On this side, Li Jing took his mobile phone and saw that a strange number had called. He casually chose to answer.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Ye Liuli, the owner of Charming Night."

A bland female voice sounded.

Seeing the other party being so direct, Li Jing was also very straightforward.

"Lu Yang Cheng."

He would not reveal his true identity, which was a dumb act he would not commit.

Now he is famous in the capital, in contrast, he is still not well-known in Jianghai.

People who are mixed up in the Dark Street basically have a background from the capital.

If you are more informed, you might be able to realize that something is wrong just by hearing the two words "Li Jing".

Normally dragging his good brother in to take the blame, Li Jing speaks bluntly.

"Miss Ye should know about this already. My stance here is very clear, Charming Night is well located, I quite like it. Fifty billion is just the reserve price, we can negotiate the price, it just I am not sure Miss Ye would be free to meet face-to-face for a chat."

With his voice, Ye Liuli from the phone was silent for a bit, then said,

"Mr. Lu, you should be from the Dark Street?"

"So what if I am, and what if I am not?"

Li Jing counterquestioned.

Again, Ye Liuli from the phone went silent.

After a while, she spoke in a light voice.

"The fourth floor of Charming Night, I will be waiting for you in the Sad Tea."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

The baby-faced lady could not hear the voice of Ye Liuli on the phone, she could only hear what Li Jing was saying on one side.

Seeing that the call didn’t last long before someone put down the phone, she asked with concern.

"How did it go?"

"Fourth floor Sad Tea, let’s go up."

Li Jing smiled.

Receiving this response, the baby-faced lady raised her eyebrows in surprise and tilted her head to ponder. Speaking,

"People say they are waiting upstairs, but they might not necessarily be there, they may be observing from hiding first. Then, let’s find a store to borrow a changing room, I’ll change my clothes to look like a gangster’s woman."

Hearing this, Li Jing frowned slightly, staring at the baby-faced lady for a moment, then silently nodded.

This seems rather necessary.

Mainly, the young girl looks too innocent.

With her exquisite little face looking so tender, filled with an infuriating sweetness, she just doesn’t look like someone from "the underworld".

Put simply, it’s a question of temperament.

If Yulian took her place, she would fit right in.

...

They found a shop on the second floor of the mall where they borrowed a fitting room. Li Jing entered one of them.

The young girl doesn’t fit the underworld image, and neither does he.

The truth is, they could only use clothes to make up for their shortcomings as much as possible.

Within minutes, Li Jing had changed out of his relatively casual outfit and into a black suit that was dark from top to bottom.

He was not typically particular about his clothes.

This suit was bought for him by Liu Sisi when he last attended Liu Teng’s birthday party in the Capital.

Having changed into the suit, Li Jing suddenly looked the part.

A moment later, the young girl also emerged from the fitting room.

The moment she stepped out, all the eyes in the shop were on her.

The youthful and energetic girl was now wearing a very revealing black backless cheongsam.

The body-hugging cheongsam pushed up her chest high, attracting even the women. There were high slits in the dress, revealing her long white legs now and then.

Then there was that open back design of the black cheongsam.

It was simply irresistible!

A smooth bareback, her skin like condensed milk.

At the bottom of the open back design, you could see her waistline, too slender to be grasped.

Upon seeing her in that dress, Li Jing was stunned.

The young girl’s transformation was quite spectacular.

As a normal man, Li Jing admitted that he enjoyed the view.

Moreover, this appearance of the young girl did give off the right vibes.

Wearing a backless cheongsam at a casual place like a mall seemed a bit startling, but as the girlfriend of a gang boss, isn’t it normal to dress however provocative they wished?

When the young girl saw Li Jing in his suit, her eyes lit up.

There’s a saying that one is judged by their clothing.

Li Jing, who had chosen the body refining path, had a great physique and could look good in anything.

He usually wore casual outfits, so this wasn’t too obvious.

But once he put on the suit, combined with his handsome face thanks to his body refining training, he looked even better than male stars.

Seeing his gaze fixed on her with a glazed look, the young girl couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

The fact proved that her charm was still intact.

This dull guy, he’s starting to react.

Indeed, cuteness is worthless in front of sexiness.

She sauntered over to Li Jing with a grin on her face and took his arm.

"Shall we go?"

"Hmm."

Li Jing responded.

...

Soon, both of them arrived on the third floor of Charming Night and found the Sad Tea Shop. They then quietly exchanged glances.

The Sad Tea Shop was not far from the elevator entrance.

The shop was now empty.

Several male monsters were stationed at the entrance of the shop, turning away all the guests who wanted to approach.

The waitstaff were also dismissed from the shop, leaving only a female waitress.

In the shop, a woman with a soft and delicate face sat lazily at a tea table.

Is it Ye Liuli?

No, it’s not.

From Li Jing’s perspective,

The woman did indeed have that monster signal over her head. She was definitely a monster.

However, her health bar only showed around 3000.

Three Realm.

A recently shapeshifted monster.

This couldn’t possibly be the monster that controlled Charming Night.

On the other hand, the waitress left in the shop to serve the woman seemed more likely to be Ye Liuli.

The waitress with the health bar above her head had the value of 7676.

A monster of the Six Realm.

It was clear who the real boss was.

However, nothing is absolute.

The young girl couldn’t exactly determine the cultivation levels of the two women in the shop.

But she seemed to have a sense of it.

The monster at the table was weak, but the waitress was very strong.

After exchanging glances with Li Jing, the young girl maintained her composure and whispered quietly.

"Ye Liuli is indeed cautious. The waitress in the shop is very powerful. There’s a high chance that she is Ye Liuli herself, but there is also a possibility that she is a decoy. What do we do now?"

"Play it by ear."

Li Jing responded, leading her towards the teahouse without batting an eyelid.