Qingliu Town was adjacent to the Maple Night Mountain Range, and so most of the residents made a living by gathering herbs and hunting in the mountains. They weren’t considered poor, but they were not rich either.
Like most towns in the empire, Qingliu Town was small but densely populated. It had good transport, restaurants, inns, and businesses.
It was noon.
Maple Night Restaurant, the most well-known restaurant in the town, was already very busy. It was filled with young cultivators taking a rest from traveling around the martial world, merchants and traders, and rich young masters and ladies sneaking out of their houses to drink and eat.
All sorts of people were in the restaurant.
Restaurants were a special place. They were always lively with all kinds of people gathered together, drinking and chatting freely about everything from the important affairs of the imperial court to the trivial matters on the streets. All were topics that livened up their drinking times.
That night, the Maple Night Restaurant was as busy as always, but the atmosphere on the second floor of the restaurant was a little quiet.
It wasn’t very empty on the second floor. On the contrary, many of the seats had been filled.
However, the figures were all drinking in silence and didn’t say much, and it made the atmosphere very dull.
“What are the signature dishes here?”“Sir, we have many signature dishes such as braised purple-tail fish, stir-fried sparrow tongue and all sorts of stewed mountain delicacies…”
”Then I’ll have one of each. What about wine?”
“Sir, the cloud steamed maple brew is a must-try in Maple Night Restaurant. Everyone who has tried it says it's good.”
“I’ll try a jar first.”
“Okay, please wait upstairs.”
A handsome and graceful figure walked up to the second floor of the restaurant.
He was dressed in a plain white robe and his jet-black hair was casually tied up with a strand of straw, accentuating his handsome and sharp face.
On his back was a basket where a three to four-year-old girl was sitting inside, looking around curiously with her huge eyes.
Of course, the handsome man was Lin Xun.
He was wearing the clothes that Luoluo’s mother gave him.
As he reached the second floor, he swept a glance over the other customers and his eyes imperceptibly narrowed while a smile curved the corners of his lips. He sat down by the window and took Luoluo out of the basket and set her down on the chair next to him.
“Big Brother, I want to play with Jiujiu.”
Luoluo raised her little face and stared unblinkingly at Lin Xun.
Lin Xun readily agreed and summoned Jiujiu out on the table to play with Luoluo.
Many customers in the restaurant couldn’t help but narrow their eyes and withdraw their gazes.
Lin Xun didn’t seem to notice as he was still watching Luoluo play with Jiujiu with a smile on his face, but his attention was suddenly drawn to the disturbance on the first floor of the restaurant.
“Damn! A rune shuttle collapsed! I heard that hundreds of people were on it, including cultivators!”
“I also heard about it. It happened a few days ago. It was said that a savage bird attacked the rune shuttle when it was crossing the Maple Night Mountain Range. In the end, the shuttle was destroyed and all passengers died.”
“All died?”
“Of course, even if they didn’t die in the attack, how could they survive in the Maple Night Mountain Range?”
“What an unexpected disaster!”
Lin Xun suddenly felt indescribably suffocated. What do you mean by an unexpected disaster? What do you mean by a savage bird attack?
It was clearly a premeditated massacre!
The enemy used a ridiculous story to cover up the truth from the world!
Lin Xun knew that the enemy had strong backing given that they dared to make up that lie. He realized that he had underestimated their shamelessness.
Perhaps, this was one of the ways the so-called influential figures deceived the world. All they needed was a casual excuse to hide their filth.
Lin Xun knew that no one would believe him even if he told them the truth!
After all, who would believe that a battleship from the empire would slaughter the citizens of the empire?
Just as Lin Xun’s emotions were fluctuating, a burst of smug laughter rang out.
“Ah Jiao, I don’t want to sound arrogant but my Rui Family is second to none in Qingliu Town! Ah Jiao, if you follow me, I guarantee that you will receive the attention of the entire Qingliu Town.”
“Brother Rui Qing, I don’t want other people’s attention. I just want you to treat me well,” a sweet woman’s voice sounded.
Lin Xun was taken aback. How could there be someone who praises himself so much in this world?
Lin Xun was most surprised by the woman’s exaggerated response. This was obvious from her coquettish voice.
Then, he noticed a young man in a luxurious robe and a pretty fair woman coming up the stairs.
The two seated themselves on the second floor. The young master called Rui Qing frequently boasted about how great his family was and the woman named Ah Qiao constantly flattered him. They seemed very intimate.
Lin Xun shook his head and paid no more attention to the two. His drinks and food were being brought over and so he concentrated on eating with Luoluo.
Yawning, Jiujiu lay on its side. It had no interest in the food as his favorite thing to eat was aeth crystals.
“Hey, what a cute little thing. Look, Big Brother Rui Qing, what kind of rune beast is that? I want to pinch its round belly.”
Suddenly, Ah Jiao pointed to Jiujiu and screamed like a love-struck little girl.
“Haha, since you like it, I will get it for you.” Rui Qing chuckled, got up and strolled towards Lin Xun’s table. He gave Lin Xun a sidelong glance and said, “Buddy. Is this your rune beast? How about this? I’ll give you one hundred silver coins for it.”
He brought out a bag of money and slammed it on the table. Before Lin Xun agreed, he was already stretching out his hand to grab Jiujiu.
PA!
A pair of chopsticks accurately swatted Rui Qing on the wrist. Rui Qing drew back his hand with lightning speed, inhaling sharply in pain.
Ah Jiao shrieked, sprang to her feet and anxiously ran over. “Big Brother Rui Qing, are you all right?”
He had lost face in front of his woman and had been hit. How could he control his anger? “I’m fine, but that kid won’t be! I have never suffered such humiliation in Qingliu Town!”
He swung his hand to slap Lin Xun in the face.
Simple, direct and bad-tempered were all words that described Rui Qing. Lin Xun wondered whether Rui Qing was just too arrogant or just plain stupid.
PA!
Lin Xun sat there motionless, but his chopsticks accurately stabbed Rui Qing in the wrist again. Rui Qing screamed in agony and his face twitched.
“Damn it, you have a death wish! How dare you hit me! You’re dead. Don’t even think about leaving Qingliu Town alive today!” Rui Qing roared in rage.
After being taught a lesson twice in a row, not only did he not take the hint, but he also became even more aggressive. Lin Xun realized that he hadn’t only encountered an arrogant rich young master, but an absolute idiot.
Suddenly, Lin Xun noticed something. He furtively swept his eyes around and scrunched his brows. Without any hesitation, he rose to his feet and said with a smile, “Friend, how about I send you to find reinforcements?”
Roaring in rage, Rui Qing was taken aback. “What the hell do you mean?”
Lin Xun grabbed Rui Qing by his clothes with lightning speed and threw him out of the window.
Following a muffled thud on the street, Rui Qing’s shrill cry rang out, “Bastard, just you wait!”
Ah Jiao was so frightened that her pretty face blanched and she screamed, “You—you—do you know who Rui Qing is? He is the third young master of the Rui Family, the strongest clan in Qingliu Town. If you’ve angered him, don’t even think…”
Before she finished, Lin Xun grabbed her and threw her out the window.
Lin Xun shook his head nonchalantly. “What a weird couple.”
He lowered his head and asked Luoluo, “Are you full?”
Luoluo nodded and tightly wrapped her arms around Jiujiu as though she was afraid someone would take it away.
“Then let’s get ready to go.”
Lin Xun picked up Luoluo and placed her in the basket. Then, he carried the basket on his back.
“Big brother, were those two bad people?” asked Luoluo.
“They’re not exactly bad. At worst, they are a pair of idiots.”
As Lin Xun explained, he ran his eyes across the customers in the restaurant and an imperceptible smile came to his lips. “But Luoluo, close your eyes. The real bad people are about to appear.”
Luoluo was terrified, but she still listened to Lin Xun and covered her eyes. She crouched in the basket and said, “Big brother, don’t worry, I won’t watch.”
Lin Xun nodded and his dark eyes suddenly became void of emotions. As he swept a glance across the customers on the second floor, he said with a smile, “Everyone, we have finished eating and it is time for us to go. What about you guys?”
Clang!
As he was speaking, the Flowing Light Blade suddenly appeared in his hand. With a slight movement, the blade slashed through the air with an incomparably fierce aura toward the three people at the nearest table.
Almost at the same time, the three charged forward. They were waiting to strike. When Lin Xun attacked, they subconsciously launched a counterattack.
“He saw through us! Let’s attack together!”
Following a roar, all customers eating on the second floor sprang up with chilling expressions. They clasped their aeth tools and attacked together.
The calm atmosphere was instantly destroyed and the restaurant had turned into a battlefield. Swords glinted and blades flashed while murderous intent raged like the storm!
All the customers on the first floor screamed and fled in panic.
The entire Maple Night Restaurant was caught in a bloody slaughter. Blasts of wind wreaked havoc, walls were torn down, and tables, chairs and cups were constantly being shattered.
Even the pedestrians on the nearby streets avoided the area for fear of being swept into the battle.
However, no one noticed that figures were silently lurking on the top of the many residential buildings and shops around the restaurant.
Each figure was wielding a crossbow or bow and aiming it at the Maple Night Restaurant!