Chapter 16 (2/2)

“At last!” With a light jump, Xue Qilin alighted the carriage, and then stretched herself without saying another word.

Then, she started to do stretches, to work out the muscles of her sedentary body. At the same time, she complained in a low voice: “Anyway, how come Little Qing's so fierce?!”

“Young Ancestor, you mustn't judge Qing'er by her appearance. She has never lost in a game. She's also an expert in mahjong.” Luo Qing uttered in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Did she deliberately wait until now to tell me this? Xue Qilin was stunned, then wanted to complain, but finally, the scene reflected in her eyes left her speechless.

Magnificent – probably only this word could describe the scenery in front of her.

The tall and st.u.r.dy city wall continued without end in sight. Above the city gate, a big word was written – Jinling, exuding an overwhelming and ancient aura.

Is this Jinling? Xue Qilin had often heard that ancient cities of China were a sight to behold, and today she finally realized what that really meant.

In front of the city gate's checkpoint was a long queue of people and carriages, and the carriage of Xue Qilin and company has just stopped at the end of the queue. Soon, however, some people appeared behind them. It was already dusk, yet there were still so many people rus.h.i.+ng into the city, which was a testimony to the prosperity of the city.

There were not only many people going in, but also many people going out of the city, with countless carriages and travelers pa.s.sing by Xue Qilin. The wide road was extremely crowded.

Looking at the frightening queue before her, a bitter expression crept onto Xue Qilin's face. Well, yes, she hated queuing.

Perhaps it was because the time to close the gate was nearing, but what looked like would take at least two hours to reach the checkpoint, unexpectedly, took less than 30 minutes.

The process of customs clearance was much simpler than what Xue Qilin had imagined. According to Luo Qing, the people of Demimonde just hand to hand over two silver coins before being waved in by the soldiers.

The s.p.a.ce before her eyes widened, and a dense crowd of buildings filled her field of vision. The broad road ahead of her was full of people.

“Elder Luo, where are we going next?”

“The Qinhuai Inn along the Qinhuai River.”

Suddenly, Xue Qilin b.u.t.ted in and asked: “How far is that?”

Luo Qing thought for a moment before answering softly: “It's some distance away.”

“Let's walk there. I really don't want to sit any more.” Saying that, Xue Qilin s.h.i.+vered. She really had enough.

In conclusion, Qian Duoduo drove ahead in the carriage, while Xue Qilin and the other two girls followed behind.

Although everything on the road seemed novel, but soon, Xue Qilin got tired, looked away, and started a conversation: “When is that d.a.m.n banquet?”

“Tomorrow evening.”

“What shall we do later? We're not going directly to bed, right?”

“What else can we do apart from going to bed?”

When Xue Qilin thought carefully, she felt like the other party was making sense. People of ancient times went to bed very early. By the time they settled down, she reckoned that all the shops would be closed.

“Anyhow, someone is tailing us ever since we entered the city.” Xue Qilin's eyes narrowed, yet her tone was leisurely. She had long since noticed that there were eyes focused on her.

“Some, someone is tailing us? Scared, Gong Tianqing jumped up and looked around. With this action, Xue Qilin suddenly no longer felt the eyes glued on her. But she guessed that the other party just looked away for a moment, and didn't give up tracking them. This was the intuition of a fighter.

“Qing'er, don't be nervous.” Luo Qing soothed Gong Tianqing, and then continued indifferently: “It should be someone from the Heavenly Sword Sect.”

Her tone of voice lacked any surprise. Apparently, she has expected as much.

“So we'll just have him follow us?”

“He probably just wants to know where we're going to stay.”

“What of it?” Xue Qilin was confused.

Luo Qing sighed and said helplessly: “It's all for the purpose of sounding us out at night.”

“Hey! That sounds fun!” Xue Qilin's originally listless eyes suddenly glowed with astonis.h.i.+ng brilliance.

Well, she has been bored to the core.

Qinhuai Inn – the word qinhuai refers to the Qinhuai River running through Jinling City. The inn was built along the Qinhuai River, which shows its importance. According to Luo Qing, the Qinhuai Inn was indeed one of the best hotels in Jinling. In addition to its main building, the Qinhuai Inn also included several courtyards for extremely wealthy people or caravans. Luo Qing casually picked one of the courtyards. Following which, Xue Qilin had a thought – it seems that Qi Qiqi's wallet is quite full.

Although the courtyard of the Qinhuai Inn was indeed luxurious, far surpa.s.sing Xue Qilin's courtyard in the Snow-facing Abode, but she didn't seem to care too much about that. After she put down her luggage, she left in a hurry. She went outside and, with a light bounce, jumped onto the roof.

“So you were here, Young Ancestor… I'll have someone prepare hot water, do you also want?” A voice came from below.

It was Luo Qing. She seemed to have been looking for Xue Qilin for a while.

“No need, wait until I'm done with my exercise!”

“Exercise?”

“Didn't you say that people from the Heavenly Sword Sect will come to feel us out? I'm waiting here for them!”

Luo Qing was stunned at once, then immediately shook her head, and said no more. She turned around and left.

… This wait took a whole night.

The moment dawn arrived, Xue Qilin with dark circles around her eyes suddenly stood up and cursed in rage: “Heavenly Sword Sect! This hatred is absolutely irreconcilable!”

[1] – Golden Hill was changed to Jinling, which is an old name for Nanjing

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