Chapter 370 - Miasma Mountain Range (1/2)
It was getting dark outside and the wind was still ushering in the cold. Fine, frigid rain drifted in. The mood inside the temple turned strange out of the blue, prompting everyone to shiver. One of them lowered his voice and cautiously said, “Honestly, if Xiao Chen defects to the Devil’s Practice, the throne that the Orthodox side has occupied for several thousands of years will get a new owner in just ten years.”
Another exhaled. “He’s locked up in the Demon Repressing Tower. I don’t think he’ll get out alive.”
“Well… I think I heard that Xiao Chen escaped a few days ago?”
The one who spoke earlier shook his hand. “False news, I fear! It’s impossible! The Demon Repressing Tower was built upon the collective powers of the Golden Monks thousands of years ago. A Golden Monk is on par with an Immortal King, you know. Do you think Xiao Chen would be able to leave once he’s inside?”
The twenty or so people inside the temple finally relaxed. Suddenly, the stranger in the woven raincoat in the corner stood up and walked out of the temple. When he arrived at the door, the man with the coiled beard said, “Brother, it’s getting dark and the tavern in town is full. If you leave now, someone will occupy your space when you return.”
As if he didn’t hear him, the man in the raincoat left the temple. Raindrops the size of soybeans pelted him, making loud sounds as they hit his conical bamboo hat. His raincoat was soon drenched. The ground was so muddy that every step could make him slip.
The streets were deserted as everyone took cover under roofs. The man walked over to one of the buildings. There wasn’t a tavern in town before, but people decided to turn empty buildings into makeshift taverns to accommodate the onslaught of visitors in recent months and made a hefty sum in the process.
This place was called the Robust Spirit Town, but what was robust wasn’t the spirit of humans. In fact, vicious beasts would emerge from the Miasma Mountain Range and injure humans and livestock. This prompted any youngster with an ambition to make a name for themselves in the prosperous cities of the East Continent. Those who remained were mostly elderly people whose families had been here for generations or good-for-nothing hooligans that lived every day meaninglessly.
The man in the woven raincoat walked inside one of the makeshift taverns and found it packed with heated people making a fuss. The air was permeated with the stifling stench of alcohol.
“One room please.” The man walked up to the reception counter and placed a silver ingot on it. Right at the same time, someone stepped inside the tavern and said, “Madam, one good room please.”
The one who entered after the man was a red-robed man with straight brows and clear eyes. He was handsome and distinguished, but he exuded an intense murderous aura. He held a folding fan with bones for frame and iron sheets for folds. He walked up to the reception counter and placed a silver ingot on it as well.
The proprietress of the tavern was a married woman of less than forty years old. As a businesswoman, she would tend to her guests whether they were from the Orthodox Path or the Devil’s Practice. However, she was now in quite a dilemma. Her two guests were clearly extraordinary people, but there was only one room available. If these two started fighting, the entire tavern and restaurant would be leveled in an instant.
Tension spread across the tavern. The red-robed man turned to look at the man in the woven raincoat and the latter returned the favor. Their gazes met for a split second. A hush fell over the lounge as if the air was frozen.
The two men looked at each other for a long time, their gazes as sharp and unstoppable as blades. No one breathed a word in such an atmosphere, feeling suffocated. In the southeast corner of the lounge, a man with a coiled beard dared not to put down the wine cup in his hand. It remained frozen midair. In the northwest corner, a fair-faced young man also stopped his hand mid-way toward reaching for the wine jar. In the southwest corner, a man in black wanted to leave but he couldn’t get his legs to listen to him and stand up. The proprietress at the reception counter forced a smile but couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
The moment these two start fighting, the victims would undoubtedly be those in the lounge. This atmosphere continued for a moment until a waiter shouted from the second floor, “Madam, a guest wants to check out.”
His words shattered the ice-cold mood and time seemed to flow again. The man with the coiled beard put down the wine cup in his hand. The young man picked up the wine jar. The man who wanted to leave decided to stay. The proprietress at the reception counter said with a bright smile, “Very well! Please wait for a moment!” She took out a key attached with a room plate and handed it to the man in the woven raincoat. Then, she turned to the red-robed man. “Please wait for a moment. I’ll get the room ready for you immediately.”
The man in the woven raincoat didn’t linger after getting the key and made a beeline for the second floor. When he reached the head of the stairs, he heard the red-robed man asking, “Madam, I’d like to ask about someone.”
“Very well. Please do.”
“She’s about this tall, looks like a fairy, has a vermillion tear-shaped birthmark under her right eye, dressed in purple clothes, and has a purple jade reed in her hands…”
The man in the woven raincoat paused imperceptibly but soon recovered and continued walking up to the second floor. The proprietress’ laughter drifted from behind him. “We have quite a few guests lately but I don’t think the one you’re describing is one of them.”
…
The man in the woven raincoat entered the guest room on the second floor and took off his conical bamboo hat, revealing an attractive and intelligent-looking face. On the corners of his mouth were shadows of a mustache. It was Xiao Chen. He had arrived in a nearby village on his flying sword in the evening. When a torrential rain worse than those in the seventh or eighth month poured, he bought a woven raincoat and conical bamboo hat and walked into the town.
The curtain of night slowly descended upon the town. Xiao Chen walked to the window and stared southward, where dark clouds had gathered. That was where the Miasma Mountain Range was. The sky was a sea of dark clouds, looking like a terrifying giant monster on the verge of swallowing the Human World.
The sky soon darkened completely, shrouding the room in darkness. A flurry of steps on the floor resounded until it stopped in front of his door. A young waiter asked, “Sir, I’m here with your dinner.”
Xiao Chen opened the door. When the waiter saw how dark the room was, he smiled. “Sir, why aren’t you lightning the lamp when it’s dark? Allow me to help you.”