Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine: The Disturbance in Black Spirit Town (Part Two)

“In a place where you don’t know anyone or anything, could you at least behave yourself? If you break the wine jug, can you afford to pay for it?” Little Gold shot Jin Lie an irritated glance. It was deeply dissatisfied with his taste in wine. After all, he was a demon beast bearing the bloodline of some divine beast—so how could his taste in wine be so appalling?

The moment Little Gold spoke, Jin Lie drew his head back, crouched beside the table, and fell silent. The lion dared bare its teeth and glare at Su Ye, but it would never have dared do the same to Little Gold. For one thing, it was weaker and genuinely could not defeat Little Gold. For another, Little Gold’s bloodline seemed to exert a natural suppression over it. In Little Gold’s presence, its fiery temper subsided of its own accord.

“Indeed, everything has its bane.” Ji Mo glanced at Su Ye with a look of deep sympathy.

“There’s been a major incident in the Central Qin Kingdom recently. Have you heard about it?”

Su Ye had originally intended to trade a few more barbs with Ji Mo, but the conversation at a nearby table caught his interest. He paused, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, and listened intently while sipping his tea.

Seeing this, Ji Mo also began to pay attention. Six tables away from them, beside a window near the entrance, sat five people: two burly men, a middle-aged man in scholar’s robes, a handsome young man, and an exceedingly beautiful young woman. The one speaking was one of the burly men, who wore a yellow sleeveless jacket.

“I’ve heard. The rumor is that the Brocade Moon Palace, which lies close to the Black Crystal Mountains, was wiped out overnight. I don’t know whether it’s true,” the other burly man in gray garments replied. The information they revealed was clearly explosive. Since they made no effort to lower their voices, the moment those words were spoken, the patrons at countless surrounding tables fell silent and turned their eyes toward them.

“It should be true. I received the news only yesterday. Young Master Jin, you’re from the Central Qin Kingdom, so you should know the details best. Have you heard about it?” The man in yellow turned his gaze toward the young man in a dark-blue brocade robe.

“It is true.” The young man surnamed Jin nodded and continued, “The Brocade Moon Palace is a fourth-grade sect. Among all the fourth-grade sects in the Central Qin Kingdom, its overall strength ranks among the top five. Yet ten days ago, the entire sect was annihilated overnight. Tens of thousands of disciples within the palace were left without a single survivor. The methods employed were remarkably similar to those of the demons from beyond the domain. By now, the news has spread throughout the Central Qin Kingdom.”

“A fourth-grade sect has been destroyed, and neither the imperial family of your Central Qin Kingdom nor the other major sects have made any response?” The middle-aged man in scholar’s robes frowned slightly. Clearly, he did not know much about the matter.

“My lord Yan, our Central Qin Kingdom has only four third-grade sects in total. A force like the Brocade Moon Palace is already a colossal power in our kingdom, yet it was silently annihilated overnight. The sudden emergence of such a force has already exceeded our ability to investigate or control.”

“Without the intervention of the Lan Feng Empire, Central Qin truly has no means of investigating this matter. I hear that our king and the masters of the four great sects have jointly reported it to the Lan Feng Empire, hoping that the empire will send people as soon as possible to investigate alongside Central Qin.” Young Master Jin shook his head and sighed.

“My lord Yan, the Central Qin Kingdom borders the Western Yue Kingdom, where you reside. Have any unusual incidents occurred on your side?” The beautiful young woman’s eyes shifted slightly as she took up the conversation.

The five of them came from five different kingdoms. Through a twist of fate, they had met one another and formed a close friendship. All five were Nascent Soul cultivators, with the middle-aged scholar being the most powerful. He had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage and could break through into the Deity Transformation realm at any moment. He was a military commander of the Western Yue Kingdom, exceptionally skilled in warfare, and possessed remarkable literary talent as well. He was a famous scholar-general of his generation in Western Yue.

“Yun Ji, I came here from the border, so I’m not particularly well informed about recent developments in my homeland. I don’t know whether anything major has happened. What is it? Have you heard something?” The middle-aged scholar addressed as Lord Yan first shook his head, then looked at Yun Ji suspiciously.

“Lord Yan?” Yun Ji was just about to answer when a voice suddenly came from outside the door.

Three people appeared at the entrance of the tavern: two young men and a middle-aged man. The leader was a dark-faced man of middle age. They clearly knew the scholar, for the three faces brightened with delight upon seeing him. The two younger ones—a young man and a young woman who appeared to be around twenty—looked utterly exhausted.

“Geng Qing, Bei Fu, Qing Yu, what brings you here?” Lord Yan turned toward the voice, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes when he saw the three of them.

“Ah, Lord Yan, it’s a long story. We had just crossed the Western Yue border and entered Central Qin territory when, for no apparent reason, we were attacked. We barely managed to escape all the way here.” The dark-faced man called Geng Qing sighed heavily.

“You were attacked as soon as you entered Central Qin territory? That’s impossible. Western Yue and Central Qin have always enjoyed good relations. Why would anyone attack you without cause?” Lord Yan’s brows drew together involuntarily.

“Could it have been the same people who attacked the Brocade Moon Palace?” The burly man who had spoken first once again joined the conversation.

“Impossible. If they were the ones who attacked, these three would never have been able to escape here.” Young Master Jin glanced at the three newcomers. The strongest among them, the dark-faced man, was only at the Core Formation stage. If the people who destroyed the Brocade Moon Palace had made the attack, how could the three of them have survived? The Brocade Moon Palace alone had ten Deity Transformation experts.

“Hmph. Perhaps these three are simply spies for the demons. They came here under some pretext to lead those people to us, then wipe out everyone here in one fell swoop.”

The instant Young Master Jin finished speaking, an unfriendly voice rang out.

“Who said that?”

Young Master Jin and the other four turned toward the source of the voice. The speaker sat beneath another nearby window. He was a young man in a brocade robe who appeared to be in his twenties. Across from him sat an old man with a black beard and a radiant young woman dressed in red.

“What do you mean by that, Young Master? Geng Qing, Bei Fu, and Qing Yu are members of the Azure Sea Sect of our Western Yue Kingdom. They are absolutely not spies for the demons. I can vouch for that.” A trace of anger appeared on Lord Yan’s face, though his tone remained relatively courteous.

“Have you ever heard of a spy admitting that he’s a spy?” The young man in white robes chuckled.

“Young Master, that is a reasonable point. But if you have no evidence and accuse someone without cause, then your conduct makes you look even more like a spy for the demons.” Lord Yan was clearly truly enraged. His expression hardened, and his tone grew cold.

“Speaking of spies, I think those two over there look more suspicious.”

At the words, the young man in white furrowed his brows and was about to explode in anger. But the red-clad young woman sitting opposite him shifted her eyes slightly and turned her gaze toward Su Ye and Ji Mo. Her identity was clearly extraordinary. The moment she spoke, the young man in white forcibly suppressed his anger and followed her gaze toward Ji Mo’s table.

(To be continued...)