Goose City, Tongful Inn.
"Dear guest, we really don't have any rooms left," the innkeeper said helplessly. "All our guest rooms are full. I had to offer a silver incentive to persuade two guests to share a room just to free up a single one for your group. The only other place to sleep is the large communal sleeping area in the main hall."
Manager Xu drew a sharp breath. He glanced at Li Ang and the others behind him from the corner of his eye. Gritting his teeth, he took so silver pieces from his sleeve and placed them in the innkeeper's hand. "Brother, please do
a favor and talk to the guests upstairs again."
"You'd be doing
a favor too, brother. If I go upstairs again, I'm afraid I'll be chased out," the innkeeper said with a forced smile, returning the silver pieces to Manager Xu's hand. "If it really doesn't work out, I won't charge you for your stay."
This... Manager Xu scratched his head, clearly frustrated. "Damn it, there are only three inns in this city, and they're all fully booked!"
Li Ang interjected, "Why are there so many people?"
"You haven't heard, guest?" The innkeeper spread his hands. "In a few days, Lvzhou City will welco an Auspicious Beast, and many devout n and won are going there to witness it."
"Auspicious Beast?" Yang Er asked in confusion. "What's that? It's not a pig with golden wings, is it?"
Before the innkeeper could answer, a rchant at a nearby table interjected, "Of course not.
"The last county magistrate who dared to present a golden pig as an Auspicious Beast, trying to deceive the Emperor and dupe his superiors, had long ago been exiled to Cliff State to feed the fish.
"This ti, the Auspicious Beast is the real deal.
"It's said that Annam captured a marvelous and rare creature that speaks human language, understands nurology, is adept in shamanistic divination and Buddhist rituals, and comprehends yin and yang. They specifically dispatched a diplomatic corps to bring it to the capital, ready to present it to His Majesty.
"The Annam Diplomatic Corps happens to be passing through Lvzhou City."
Yang Er was sowhat skeptical. "Really?"
"Whether it's real or not, where there are people, there's business." The rchant shook his head with a bitter smile. "Unfortunately, I arrived a few days too late and couldn't even book an inn room. Tonight, I'll have to squeeze into the communal sleeping area."
Upon hearing this, Manager Xu winced, then turned to Li Ang and said quietly, "Taoist priest, perhaps I should send soone to inform the magistrate at the County Governnt? I've heard the magistrate of Goose City enjoys associating with accomplished Cultivators. If he knew a Cultivator like you was here, surely he would..."
"No need." Li Ang shook his head. He wasn't carrying any official credentials, and getting involved with governnt officials before reaching Lvzhou City would only bring unnecessary trouble. "Let's just stay here for the night. The room that was freed up can be given to the won and Haier Scholar."
The innkeeper nodded. "Mhm, I'll go and arrange that."
Manager Xu still seed reluctant, but since Li Ang had agreed, he felt it wasn't his place to object further and could only mutter under his breath, "But we're a reputable large trading company..."
As night fell, the won accompanying the rchant caravan rested in a room on the second floor. A young Waiter at Tongful Inn piled all the benches from the main hall into an adjoining room, then pushed more than a dozen tables together in a corner of the main hall. He then laid bedding over them, hastily creating a large communal sleeping platform for the guests without rooms to squeeze into.
Li Ang, Wanli Fengdao, and Xing Hechou, all rough n, weren't particular about their living conditions. After all, they had endured far worse conditions during script missions; just having a place to sleep was good enough.
「At night」
The inn's main hall filled with the sound of snoring. The rchant who had chatted with Li Ang's group during the day tossed and turned. He felt sothing sharp under his bedding poking his back, making him extrely uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to quietly get out of bed and lift his bedding to see if a nail was poking him, the traveler sleeping beside him turned over with a snore.
Then, the rchant faintly slled an unusual fragrance. The scent was elusive and sweetly fragrant, like sugar or honey.
For a mont, the rchant felt as if he were floating on clouds; his head grew heavy, his eyelids drooped, and he drifted into a stupor.
When he woke again, he was still curled up in his bedding, but a pillow was now pressed heavily onto his face.
? ! ? !
A suffocating sensation rushed over the rchant. Terrified, he struggled frantically. However, his hands and feet seed to be bound tightly with ropes. He struggled, but all his efforts to break free were in vain. He tried to shout, but a pair of large hands under the heavy pillow firmly covered his mouth. He could only manage a low, faint "MMPH MMPH" sound.
A crooked inn? Have I run into bandits?
A torrent of thoughts flooded the rchant's mind. As the suffocation intensified, these thoughts dissolved into unwillingness, confusion, and agony.
My parents, my wife, my children... Who will look after them...?
"COUGH!"
A muffled cough sounded, and the hands covering the rchant's mouth stiffened instantly.
"This inn's braised beef is truly amazing... Tastes pretty good..."
A young man's groggy voice mumbled from one side of the communal sleeping platform. The rchant imdiately recognized it as the voice of the short-haired, black-robed Taoist priest from earlier that day.
Taoist priest, save ! he roared internally, struggling even more fiercely.
However, the hall was pitch-black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The "travelers" sleeping on either side of him were using all their strength to hold down his arms and legs, preventing any escape.
"Easy there, old tir, I'll just pull out your oxygen tube first..."
The young Taoist priest continued to talk nonsense in his sleep, completely unaware that the rchant on the other side of the communal platform was on the verge of tears.
"Esteed contestant, what inspired you to grace the grand stage of The Voice? My legs..."
The young Taoist priest seed to be telling la jokes in his dream and even began to chuckle to himself, laughing "HEH HEH HEH" incessantly.
The ruffians flanking the rchant waited a mont. Confirming the Taoist priest hadn't awakened, they once again shoved the pillow down hard on the rchant's face.
"I say, can't you give a man a break? Is there really a need to be so ruthless?"
The Taoist priest's voice suddenly turned grave. Before the rchant could comprehend what was happening, an explosive ROAR echoed beside his ear.
The force pinning his limbs vanished instantly, and the quilt covering him was flung aside.
Li Ang, dressed in a white shirt, stood on the hall floor. He looked at the two ruffians sent flying by Fragnt Scatter and sighed softly, "It's the middle of the night. Can't you just sleep peacefully?"
The explosive sound of Fragnt Scatter was quite loud, startling not only the people sleeping in the communal area of the main hall but also the innkeeper and young Waiters sleeping in an adjacent room on the first floor.
Three Waiters, ard with long clubs and candles, rushed into the hall. They stared at Li Ang and the others in a standoff, their faces blank with confusion.
Only Xing Hechou and Wanli Fengdao remained asleep, their eyes closed.
"Taoist priest, what happened?" the guard Yang Er asked in a low voice.
Li Ang gestured with his chin towards the two ruffians. "These fellows likely had their eyes on this rchant's money and were planning to rob and murder him tonight."
"Murder?" Yang Er frowned, looking at the two sullen-faced travelers. "Are they insane? This inn is crowded, and the doors and windows are securely locked. If they murder soone tonight, they'll be wanted by the County Governnt by morning and swiftly apprehended."
"They rely employed a thod to dismber and disperse the body," Li Ang said indifferently. "Several of them pretended not to know each other and checked into the inn together. When choosing beds, they surrounded the target. At night, they planned to use an unusual fragrance to drug the other people in the communal sleeping area. Afterwards, they would smother the rchant with a pillow. They would then use the cloth and li they brought to wrap his hands and feet, dismber him with a knife, and cover up the bloodstains. Finally, they would stuff the body parts into their parcels. The next morning, each of them would leave the inn with a parcel containing different body parts, pretending nothing had happened."
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