Chapter 61 - Leaders of the Third Generation
The Merchant Union was becoming quite lively.
The five families were still trying to find a guy named ‘Ding Yan’, when the Misty Pavilion also stepped in, searching everywhere for someone named ‘Yang Hai’. But the Misty Pavilion was not as outrageous in their search, they adopted the bribing method. As long as you can prove that your name is Yang Hai, you can come to the Misty Pavilion to receive a thousand purple crystal coins.
Since the Martial Competition was about to be held, there was an endless stream of people in the Merchant Union. Although the actions of the five families and the Misty Pavilion confused many, most people still came for the Martial Competition.
Quickly, the restaurants and inns of Tianyun City were packed.
The warriors and mercenaries that come from the Dark Forest, Dead Swamp and Cloud Mountain were all hardened fighters. Even in Tianyun City they were restless, often causing conflicts, and killing each other.
Be it day or night, there were more than enough fighting warriors in Tianyun City. Every morning, the cleaning staff would often find new corpses in the ditches.
Three more days remained until the Martial Competition.
Early in the morning, Zuo Xu was resting with his eyes closed, when he heard Zuo Shi speaking outside, “Huh, old man you came?”
“How many times did I tell you, don’t call me old man in front of others!” From outside came Chi Xiao’s frustrated voice.
“You are just a little old man, it’s an old habit, I can’t change it.” Zuo Shi wasn’t afraid of him, as she laughed outside the doors.
Zuo Xu was suddenly excited as he suddenly stood up and rushed out to greet the guest. “You’re finally here!” he thought.
…
The Shi family
In the heavy weights room stood a wrinkled old crone. She held a paintbrush, and was putting a few heavy marks on Shi Yan’s brows.
Shi Yan stood in silence, carefully watching the old crone’s actions.
After a long while, the crone took back her hand. She stared closely at Shi Yan for a while, and then nodded in satisfaction, “During my visit every day, I have been changing his appearance slightly each time. Even those who are close to him wouldn’t notice such slow changes. His appearance now is much different from how it was a month ago, and nobody would be able to recognize him.”
Shi Yan’s skin was a lot darker now, his brows thick, and his figure looked quite a bit sturdier.
From how he had looked before, he now looked less fierce and more rugged. Whether it be appearance or temperament, there was a significant change.
Especially after coming back from the Dark Forest, he had grown taller and became more robust. Plus he got fixed up by the disguise artist. Compared with the time when he was in the Dark Forest, he truly looked like another person.
Shi Jian stared at Shi Yan for a moment, then nodded and said, “Good, there should be no problem.”
Shi Yan observed himself in the mirror, and was also quite satisfied: “Alright, hmm, isn’t the Martial Competition starting?”
“Three more days, so you don’t need to train hard these three days, just relax a little bit.” Shi Jian finally let go, but suddenly he thought of something, and then rebuked with a straight face, “Relaxing does not mean fooling around! Don’t think for a moment that I don’t know what you and Han Zhong did together! Hmph, if you waste your energy on women, I’ll skin you alive!”
“Stop nagging.” Shi Yan looked annoyed and said, “I’ll go take a shower, then go drink a little with Han Zhong. Is that okay with you?”
“Okay.”
…
Spring Pavilion
This was a very well-known restaurant in Tianyun city. Here not only was the food delicious, but they had the famous ‘Flame’ wine that was popular throughout the Merchant Union.
Aside from that, the Spring Pavilion was also close to the Moon Lake. Sitting in the open third floor of the Spring Pavilion, eating delicacies, drinking fine wine, and enjoying the beautiful view, was a great pleasure in life.
If you could hold a beauty in your arms at the same time, then that would be called perfection.
However, not just anyone can get to the third floor of the Spring Pavilion. Even if you were rich enough, without status, you’d only be allowed up to the second floor.
The third floor of the Spring Pavilion was usually reserved for guests from the five families. Only those from the five families could head straight to third floor when they came in, normal merchants would not have such an honor.
Han Zhong led Shi Yan to the Spring Pavilion. After they arrived, a cute receptionist immediately came over smiling, “Mister Han, please step upstairs.”
Han Zhong squinted as his eyes circled the girl, and complimented: “Xiao Feng, your thing got a lot bigger!” Then he stopped, and lasciviously stared at the girl’s breasts.
“You’re the worst, Mister Han, always staring at that place.” The girl smiled shyly, having a style of her own. She pointed up and said: “There are other guests up there, they are the young masters and mistresses of the Mo and Ling families. Mister Han, you should be prepared.”
“No worries.” Han Zhong smiled, and stopped teasing the girl. He grabbed Shi Yan and brought him straight up the third floor.
“Hey!” A tall lad wearing a navy warrior outfit sat at a good seat on the third floor, and squinted at Han Zhong, and sneered, “Here I was thinking who could it be, and it’s the Shi family’s dog.”
That seat faces right towards the Moon Lake. There sat four people, two men and two women, all looking quite attractive.
One of the group looked aloof and arrogant, and that was Mo Yanyu, but she wasn’t looking this way, her motionless eyes was only staring into the sun-blazed Moon Lake, and looked like she was in a daze.
“Oh, so these are the worms of the Mo family, how fucking unlucky.” Han Zhong shook his head, stopped paying attention to them, and dragged Shi Yan to find a good spot. He yelled, “Mr. Long! Bring four jugs of ‘Flame’, and a nice course of dishes, hurry up.”
“Coming right up!” A hearty voice answered from the second floor.
At this time, Mo Yanyu, who was staring at the Moon Lake looked like she finally woke up. She turned her head around and glanced at Han Zhong and Shi Yan. She threw a look of disdain, then turned her head back and continued staring at the lake water. Nobody knew what she was thinking.
Across from Mo Yanyu sat a handsome young man.
The young man had an amiable smile. While talking to one young master of the Mo family, he was also secretly paying attention to Mo Yanyu, as if trying to grab her attention with his words. However he was unsuccessful.
“Shao Feng, Xiao Yu was recently punished by my father, she’s been in a bad mood lately, don’t mind her.” Mo Zhan toasted him, and then said, “Don’t care about him, let us drink more. The Martial Competition is about to start, so these few days we can slack off a bit, treat yourself well.”
“Brother Zhan, when have you mistreated yourself?” Ling Yue Yue shrewdly looked at Mo Zhan, with a cunning smile on her face “I heard that Brother Zhan is great at going to those ‘Pleasure Quarters’! When would you enrich me a little on your experience?”
“Cough cough cough!” Mo Zhan choked on his wine, and said awkwardly, “Yue Yue, trust me, I’m innocent! I’m not familiar with those places! That was the only time I went was because I was tricked, Yue Yue, you have to trust me!”
“Teehee, who knows if you’re lying or not.” Ling Yue Yue was still smiling, but her eyes showed some other expression, “A while ago, I was praised by my sisters. They said my fiancé already has dozens of mistresses before marrying me; they said I would have so many maids to serve me in the future. Oh, just thinking of it makes me happy.”
“Cough cough cough!”
Mo Zhan’s expression was a little stiff, his face darkened and said, “Who is talking bad about me behind my back? If I find out who it is, I will skin him alive!”
“Alright, Yue Yue!” Ling Shao Feng glared at his sister, “Brother Zhan is a man, sometimes treating people with courtesy is inevitable. I trust Brother Zhan’s conduct!”
“Of course you’d trust him.” Ling Yue Yue lightly snorted, and murmured quietly, “Everyone knows that you guys always go there together, of course you would trust him.”
Upon hearing this, Mo Yanyu glanced over at Ling Shao Feng, and her brows slightly furrowed, as if she was irritated. However she didn’t say much, and again turned her head towards Moon Lake, her expression growing colder.
“I’ll deal with you when we get home!”
Ling Shao Feng glared at Ling Yue Yue, as he anxiously changed the topic, and said to Mo Zhan, “Brother Zhan, that Shi Tianyun is also in the Third Sky of the Nascent Realm, he’s even better than Shi Tianke, and I heard he has been training very hard lately. At the last Martial Competition, he didn’t show up, but this time he’ll definitely be there. Even though you won against Shi Tianke that time, you shouldn’t let down your guard this time around.”
“Don’t worry, those guys from the third generation of the Shi family can’t be placed in my eyes!” Mo Zhan smiled with arrogance, coldly glancing over to where Han Zhong was, and said, “Just watch, this year’s Martial Competition, I’ll cripple whoever comes in my way!”
“Yeah, sure enough, Brother Zhan has the heroic spirit!” Ling Shao Feng laughed. He held up his cup and said, “Come on, Brother Zhan, cheers!”
…
“Those four over there, are Ling Shao Feng, Ling Yue Yue, Mo Zhan and Mo Yanyu. They are all the leaders of the third generations of the Mo and Ling families, and they might become your opponents in the Martial Competition. Among them, Ling Shao Feng and Mo Yanyu are engaged, and that Mo Zhan and Ling Yue Yue are also engaged. Mo Zhan and Ling Shao Feng are both at the Third Sky of the Nascent Realm. Mo Yanyu is slightly worse, but still has a cultivation of the Second Sky of the Nascent Realm.”
Han Zhong lowered his voice, and explained the situation to Shi Yan. He paused and then said, “But, the one you should least underestimate is that Ling Yue Yue! We got the news a while ago that this girl broke through to the Human Realm half a year ago, and now she’s the strongest one in the third generation of the Ling family. This year’s Martial Competition, the Ling family might arrange to have Ling Yue Yue fight against Zuo Shi. Apparently, to make Ling Yue Yue win, the Ling family have spent a hell lot on her, not only buying the most expensive medicines, but they also gave her a few secret treasures to defend herself. Zuo Shi might be in a lot of trouble this time.”
“Not necessarily.” Shi Yan smiled, casually glancing at Ling Yue Yue, and spoke in a low voice, “Zuo Shi is much more fierce than she is, just watch, she’s going to lose really badly.”
Zuo Shi had now obtained the Dragon Turtle Pills and the [Basalt Scriptures], plus the ‘Dragon Turtle Armor’, which Han Zhong did not know about.
With all these things to rely on, Zuo Shi had a nine out of ten chance of winning, and besides, Zuo Shi’s realm was a little higher than Ling Yue Yue’s.
“That kid, what are you talking about?”
At this moment, Ling Yue Yue suddenly stood up and sneered, “Are you saying that I’m not as good as Zuo Shi? You think I didn’t hear that? I’m telling you, my hearing is clear as ever! Talking about people behind their backs, people from the Shi family, are you all this dirty?”