The Hundred Flowers Pavilion maid had not expected that even after she brought up the city lord, Li Ban would still refuse to let anyone go.
She wanted to barge in, but remembering how she couldn't even defeat the little servant girl at the door moments ago, she could only stand outside and sulk.
Fortunately, it was not long before Lady Kui emerged alongside a fully dressed Cat Girl.
"How is she?" Li Ban asked with concern.
"Rest assured, Young Master. Miaomiao feels much better."
Actually, to Li Ban, the Cat Girl's expression had not changed at all, and her demeanor remained perfectly normal. He could only conclude that this Gold Badge assassin was far too good at enduring pain.
The Cat Girl walked to the main entrance, opened the doors, and smiled brightly at the maid outside. "Since Miaomiao's affairs delayed things, Miaomiao and the Young Master will go explain it to the city lord together."
Even though she had been inside the room, she had clearly heard the maid shouting out by the door.
Li Ban found this a bit strange. The Cat Girl clearly knew that the current relationship between the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and Hundred Flowers City was awkward, and that the city lord might very well be here to pick a fight.
However, since the Cat Girl took the initiative to go, he did not stop her.
Perhaps she had other plans.
Beside them, Lady Kui did not object to the Cat Girl and Li Ban tagging along, though she looked somewhat awkward.
She walked up to the maid and said sternly, "How can you be so rude to our guests? You are fined a month's wages. Go and reflect on your behavior!"
The maid instinctively wanted to retort, but seeing Lady Kui's cold expression, she opened her mouth and closed it again. She turned around unhappily. "This way, My Lady. The deputy pavilion masters are waiting for you at the Thousand Trees Hall."
Li Ban raised an eyebrow. This maid did not seem to respect Lady Kui very much either; she was indeed a little troublemaker.
Li Ban and the Cat Girl then left together with Lady Kui.
Watching their retreating figures, Deng Jun, who had been left behind in the courtyard, stroked his chin.
There must be something wrong with the Cat Girl's body. For her to actively seek out the city lord of Hundred Flowers City and the deputy pavilion masters of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion... could she be asking for a favor?
Deng Jun's heart itched; he wanted to follow them and watch.
These past few days under the Cat Girl's heavy pressure, he had behaved very honestly, cooperating with the work and acting his part, but he had never given up the thought of escaping.
It was just that the Cat Girl had fed him poison, and he did not dare gamble on whether it was real or not. He could only cooperate while looking for a chance to find the antidote, or find the same poison to test its true ingredients.
It's a good thing she has a problem with her body. Maybe I can fish in troubled waters, find the antidote, and then find a way to escape.
Deng Jun never thought about killing the Cat Girl in retaliation, nor did he think about continuing to assassinate Shi Ming.
His greatest advantage as a person was his self-awareness.
If he could not handle a job, he simply dropped it.
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed the Cat Girl, who had already walked quite far away, turn her head back.
Because of the distance, Deng Jun did not know if she was looking at him, nor could he clearly see her expression.
But his heart still skipped a beat.
Deng Jun hurriedly lowered his head to look at his shoes. Forget it, forget it. If the Cat Girl suddenly turns back halfway and catches me red-handed, I really will be silenced.
Leaving the remote courtyard, the maid walked briskly in front, but unfortunately for her, the people behind were in no hurry.
Lady Kui leaned close to Li Ban and whispered about the Cat Girl's condition.
"Miss Miaomiao's condition is best cured directly using the fast method," Lady Kui said, looking sincerely at Li Ban.
However, before Li Ban could answer, the Cat Girl squeezed her way in, grabbing Li Ban's arm and wedging herself between them.
"Thank you, Lady Kui, but we will consider it some more. Let's hurry up; we shouldn't keep the city lord waiting."
After saying that, she dragged Li Ban along, quickening their pace.
The maid in front thought to herself, At least this girl is reasonable. But it's been delayed for so long. I wonder if the city lord will blame me for incompetence?
Li Ban lowered his head and said to the Cat Girl, "If—"
The Cat Girl pinched his arm.
Li Ban had no choice but to shut his mouth.
The three of them bypassed several bustling scenic spots. Along the way, quite a few people greeted Lady Kui.
They passed through the festooned gate once more, entered the inner courtyard, went straight ahead, and took a left turn on the path to the painted boats, finally arriving at the Thousand Trees Hall.
This was the main hall the Hundred Flowers Pavilion used to entertain distinguished guests.
When they arrived, the maid wanted to go in and announce them, but she was immediately blocked by the guards outside.
They only allowed Lady Kui to enter; they forbade anyone else from getting close.
The Cat Girl smiled and tilted her head at Lady Kui, then pulled Li Ban aside to clear the way.
The people inside would not even ask why they were late.
Or perhaps they simply did not care.
Even the maid who had led the way lacked the qualifications to go in and explain.
The maid had not expected that the issue that had made her so nervous would not even be mentioned by anyone in the end.
No one cared about the difficulties she had encountered while running her errand.
Her face burned. She curtsied and turned around to run off.
"Idle personnel, leave immediately," the guard said, beginning to shoo away the Cat Girl and Li Ban, who were snickering to the side.
"Alright, we are leaving right now," the Cat Girl agreed crisply, pulling Li Ban away.
But the moment they left the guards' line of sight, she pulled Li Ban into the nearby woods.
"It's perfect that Lady Kui was called away. Let's go to her place and steal back the Flesh on White Bones. Once we steal it, we'll run."
So the Cat Girl had specially tagged along just to steal the Flesh on White Bones!
As Li Ban ran after the Cat Girl, he asked, "What if we can't find it?"
"If we can't find it, we'll kidnap her child, Miaomiao, and then go back and negotiate terms with her," the Cat Girl said, baring her teeth in a grin.
She was never a good person to begin with!
"Actually, if we just use the spores to save people, it's not impossible. That way, we could also get the method for cultivating the seeds from Lady Kui," Li Ban said softly.
The Cat Girl stopped and looked back at him. "Do you really have Cyan Silk Algae Seeds?"
Li Ban nodded silently.
The Cat Girl scratched her cheek. "You aren't planning to take out the seeds just to treat me, are you? Actually, it's not as serious as Lady Kui made it sound. My Decaying Flesh element can heal this little bit of injury."
"No. I've had the seeds for a while now. Although I haven't specially tried to cultivate them, the seeds haven't shown any signs of sprouting. Lady Kui and the others are skilled in this, and from what she said, the reason she was able to discover the seeds was because the Cyan Silk Algae roots in her possession sprouted. They clearly know how to cultivate Cyan Silk Algae much better than we do."
Li Ban explained methodically, as if he hadn't noticed the Cat Girl's cheeks slowly puffing up.
"Of course, there are still risks to this matter. But if the other party can also give us a Flesh on White Bones element, then I think even with the risks, it's entirely worth a try."
The Cat Girl puffed her cheeks out the whole time as she listened to Li Ban state his reasons.
But at the very end, she heard Li Ban say softly, "So, you don't need to feel pressured."
Her puffed-up cheeks deflated. The Cat Girl lowered her head, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
Just then, Li Ban suddenly saw someone approaching from the distance.
He hurriedly grabbed the Cat Girl and climbed up a leafy tree nearby to hide.
Since they hadn't been standing on the main path to begin with, and had spotted the other party's figure first, they climbed the tree silently without drawing the newcomer's attention.
Through the dense foliage, Li Ban saw the person pass by the woods they were in and continue toward the Thousand Trees Hall.
Only after the person walked far away did he whisper to the Cat Girl, "That was Qiu She."
Qiu She, a Silver Badge assassin.
He was the person in charge of monitoring the trial when Li Ban originally participated in the Iron Badge qualification selection.
Actually, his current appearance was different from that night, but Li Ban recognized his hand.
The other party had used this very hand to draw the flexible sword from his waist and point it at Li Ban.
Li Ban still remembered the small mole on his finger, and the calluses on his palm that were different from an ordinary person's.
Because Li Ban himself was currently in disguise, he didn't just look at a person's face when observing them; he also looked at their exposed hands and neck, using this to memorize their special marks and identify them.
The reason Li Ban could recognize Qiu She now was also because when Qiu She had pointed the sword at him back then, he had placed him under an immense amount of pressure.
Qiu She's hands weren't disguised; swordsmen didn't want any hindrances on their hands.
Normal swordsmen did not like gripping a sword through gloves.
The Cat Girl seemed to just recover her senses, blinking her eyes. "People from the Assassin Hall found their way here? Could they be colluding with the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"
The recruitment conditions for the Assassin Hall weren't strict. Only core members underwent multiple screenings. Combined with the fact that they kept their identities hidden, there were latent assassins lurking in many factions.
This also allowed the Assassin Hall to obtain more information and resources.
As far as the Cat Girl knew, Qiu She was in charge of leading many Bronze Badge assassins, and wasn't lurking in other factions.
Therefore, his appearance in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion was more likely because he had been sent by the Assassin Hall to infiltrate it.
"Shall we go eavesdrop?" the Cat Girl asked Li Ban softly.
Having discovered Qiu She's whereabouts and the Assassin Hall's shift between public and hidden identities ahead of time, this was the perfect opportunity to gather intelligence.
"No, wait for me here," Li Ban said. He jumped down to the ground, merged into the tree's shadow, and disappeared.
The Cat Girl laid on the branch, looking at the shadow on the ground. "Sigh, this ability of his is so suited for being an assassin."
It was too quiet around her. Her heart was a mess. She counted on her fingers, muttering to herself, "Just how many abilities is that now?"
On the other side, Li Ban had already chased after Qiu She, returning to the Thousand Trees Hall.
He didn't rush to follow Qiu She inside. Instead, he stealthily emerged from the shadow of the eaves, and using blind spots, transferred into the shadow of the guard outside the window.
His transitions between different shadows still couldn't be done completely without revealing his form, and the Invisibility Plain Ring only had one use left. Therefore, Li Ban didn't dare rush into the main hall where the most experts were gathered, and could only eavesdrop from the outside.
Although the guard by the window vaguely heard some noise, he looked left and right without finding anything unusual, so he continued to stand guard with his back to the window.
Li Ban then used the gap in the window to prick up his ears and listen to the voices inside.
The people inside had already been chatting for a while, but the atmosphere was not good.
"—Forgive the Hundred Flowers Pavilion for being unable to comply with the city lord's request. There are currently over two hundred guests in the pavilion, many of whom are high-ranking officials and nobles. If we have to ask them all to leave just on your word, how much loss will that cause the pavilion? How is the Hundred Flowers Pavilion supposed to operate in the future?" an unfamiliar woman's voice rang out.
Li Ban stood on his tiptoes and glanced inside the window. Afraid that someone might be sensitive to his gaze, he only took one look before immediately retracting his sight.
But that one glance was enough.
He saw seven or eight people sitting in the main hall.
The seat of honor was empty.
Below that, a man and a woman sat facing each other.
The man only showed his back, sitting in a sprawling, imposing posture, wearing a flashy set of fish-scale armor.
That man had to be the city lord who had come to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and was in such a rush to summon Lady Kui over.
Sitting opposite the city lord was a woman in a loose silver robe. She had high cheekbones and projected the sharp, fierce aura of a martial expert.
To the silver-robed woman's left sat Lady Rui, whom Li Ban had met yesterday, as well as Lady Kui, who had just entered.
Lady Rui sat right next to the silver-robed woman, sharing a united front with her. She glared equally angrily at the city lord, not bothering to hide it at all.
It seemed the conflict between the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and Hundred Flowers City was even more severe than rumors suggested.
Lady Kui, however, sat far off in the lower seats. She wasn't looking at the arguing parties and wore an absent-minded expression.
It was as if she didn't care about what the city lord and the others were discussing at all.
As for Qiu She, whom Li Ban had tailed all the way here, he was standing right behind the city lord's group.
Inconspicuous and completely silent.
The heavy conversation continued.
"Loss?" the city lord sneered. "Lady Hua, if your guests knew you were harboring a large number of assassins from the Assassin Hall, then the Hundred Flowers Pavilion would truly be unable to operate."
So that silver-robed woman was Lady Hua.
Lady Hua refused to yield an inch. "The assassins of the Assassin Hall have the ability to conceal their identities. They are practically pervasive. Even the deputy tower master of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda turned out to be a Gold Badge assassin of the Assassin Hall. What's so strange about hidden assassins appearing in my domain? Who says these assassins are necessarily affiliated with the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"
"Furthermore, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion has absolutely no need to raise assassins; we aren't short of money! Who doesn't know that our cultivated treants are renowned across the Nine Provinces? There is no shortage of people willing to spend vast sums for our exotic flora and rare medicinal herbs. What reason would we have to collude with the Assassin Hall?"
"Even if assassins really did appear here, it would merely be an oversight on our part. But if we drove away all the guests touring the gardens, that would truly be disregarding the Hundred Flowers Pavilion's century-old foundation!"
The city lord flicked his sleeve. "You are all so short-sighted! This city lord is cooperating with the Imperial Court to apprehend key criminals from the Assassin Hall, yet you can only see the immediate benefits. Have you not considered the massive damage it will cause if you let these key criminals escape?"
Seeing that Lady Hua remained entirely unmoved, he stood up. "There's no reasoning with you. Better to just invite the old pavilion master out."
Lady Hua also flicked her sleeve, standing up to match him. "Our pavilion master went into secluded cultivation long ago and sees no outsiders. If the city lord has business, you can speak to me. If not, please return. All three of the pavilion's deputy pavilion masters have been summoned here by you; who knows how many matters we're delaying."
The main hall fell quiet for a moment.
One didn't need to look to know how oppressive the atmosphere inside was.
Li Ban could imagine that the city lord of Hundred Flowers City was probably glaring fiercely at Lady Hua and the others.
"Good. Very good." The city lord finally spoke, his voice so gloomy it felt like an impending thunderstorm. "I have said all I have to say. Let's see how you fare."
Afterward, the city lord aggressively led his people out of the main hall.
Even the guard watching the window was one of the city lord's men; he fell into formation and left behind them.
Looking at the city lord's back, it seemed he was extremely unwilling, yet entirely helpless.
Li Ban didn't follow them. Instead, taking advantage of the moment the guard left, he tossed the tiny Silver Kingfisher onto the hem of his robe.
After that, he dove back into the shadow cast by the wall onto the ground and waited.
Once the group was far away, he rose and cast another glance into the room.
The three deputy pavilion masters were gathered together, discussing something.
Lady Hua looked stern, Lady Rui rolled her eyes, and Lady Kui looked deeply troubled.
Their voices were suppressed very low, so Li Ban couldn't hear clearly. He only vaguely caught one sentence: "Kui Niang, we need to hurry up—"
Next, the sound of footsteps came; it seemed they were heading back.
Li Ban hurriedly detoured to a spot without windows, dove back into the shadows of the woods, and ran back.
Returning to the small grove, the Cat Girl was still hanging in the same spot, waiting for him.
"How was it? Anything fun happen?"
Seeing Li Ban return, the Cat Girl's eyes lit up. She wore an excited expression, eager for some gossip.
"The city lord of Hundred Flowers City and the people from the Hundred Flowers Pavilion are at each other's throats. I think it's only a matter of time before these two factions completely break off relations."
Li Ban told the Cat Girl about the scenes he had witnessed and heard.
He analyzed, "There's also something wrong with that city lord. A Silver Badge assassin from the Assassin Hall is clearly right by his side, yet he wants the Hundred Flowers Pavilion to clear out their guests to hunt down assassins. Looks to me like a thief crying 'stop thief'."
The Cat Girl rubbed her chin. "Very possible. The mastermind behind the Assassin Hall is Li Yuan. The city lord probably pledged allegiance to him a while ago, but why is he trying to clear out the Hundred Flowers Pavilion? He couldn't be doing it to find us, could he?"
Li Ban shook his head. "That would be making too much of a fuss. If he truly wanted to clear out the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, with all that time and commotion, we could either slip out among the guests or hop the wall. We certainly wouldn't stay put and wait for him to search. It would be much better for him to infiltrate the pavilion with his men to observe from the shadows, and then set up an ambush."
At this moment, he saw a streak of silver flying nimbly through the trees in the distance.
He smiled at the Cat Girl. "Let's hear what the city lord of Hundred Flowers City has to say."
The Silver Kingfisher flew into Li Ban's palm and opened its beak, imitating the words it had just heard.
"—I've paid three visits to the old pavilion master without seeing anyone; we can basically confirm—"
The first imitated voice was rather heavy, and its tone closely matched the city lord's voice that Li Ban had heard earlier.
"Hehe, not a single one of these deputy pavilion masters from the Hundred Flowers Pavilion is of any use. Since they can't cut it, they might as well hand the position of pavilion master over to the city lord. After all, in the very beginning, the pavilion master of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and the city lord of Hundred Flowers City were the same person."
The second voice was slightly higher-pitched, and the Silver Kingfisher mimicked the other party's flattering tone to perfection.
"Looks like the Hundred Flowers Pavilion is going to be in trouble," the Cat Girl concluded.