Just like that, despite my extreme reluctance, I ended up traveling alongside Duan Qianyue. The two of us and our two horses headed toward Solitary Smoke City.
I simply could not fathom why Duan Qianyue insisted on traveling with me. Surely, he wasn’t plotting to find an opportunity to make a move against me, was he?
Logically speaking, I hadn’t provoked him yet, and I was even afflicted with the Blue Grass poison. He had no need to push things to a dead end. Fortunately, I still had a backup plan: the teleportation talisman given to me by Feng Qiubai.
“Senior Brother, we have been riding for half the day. Let us rest here for the night.”
Duan Qianyue stopped at the entrance of an inn. Without even waiting for my reply, he tied up his horse and walked inside.
By this time, it was already dark and difficult to continue traveling. I was both exhausted and thirsty, so I didn’t say anything further.
Hanging above the inn entrance were four characters: Leaning Rail Inn. This place was called Leaning Rail Town, located three hundred miles away from Luo City.
This was the first town we had seen along the entire journey. Unlike Brocade City, Leaning Rail Town was sparsely populated with dilapidated buildings.
Only this inn looked passable. Leaning Rail Town was situated at the intersection of Luo City and Spring Night City.
A dozen horses were already tied to the hitching post, none of them inferior to mine.
As soon as I stepped into the inn, the atmosphere quieted for a split second before instantly becoming lively again.
The most eye-catching group was a table of six young women, every single one dressed in bright, watery-red skirts. Forming a sharp contrast with them was another table of five burly men holding large axes.
During that brief instant, everyone had given me a thorough once-over. It was clear that none of them were ordinary people.
Duan Qianyue sat in a corner, holding a jar of wine, while the waiter successively served dishes. I sat down, poured half a bowl of water for myself to quench my thirst, and we ate in silence without speaking to each other.
“My apologies, two young masters, but the guest rooms in our humble inn are completely full. Only a woodshed is left. What do you think?”
The waiter stood in front of Duan Qianyue, and seeing no response from him, shifted his gaze to me.
“I don’t mind, but how can my junior brother, with his delicate skin and tender flesh, possibly stay in a woodshed?” I said.
“This little junior brother has a face like white jade and a figure like a willow in the wind. Why not share a room with us sisters?”
One of the red-robed women spoke up, followed immediately by several other maidens chiming in with dainty giggles.
“Indeed, indeed.”
I managed to hold back my laughter.
“I think these ladies don’t look like bad people. Junior brother, you should…”
At that, I gave the group of women a meaningful look and stood up.
“Trouble you to lead me to the woodshed.”
The waiter nodded belatedly.
“Right, right, young master, please follow me.”
At this moment, the corners of Duan Qianyue’s mouth twitched.
“Very well, I shall listen to Senior Brother.”
Duan Qianyue’s smile gave me goosebumps. I quickened my pace and left.
I placed a barrier on the woodshed door, spread some straw out on the ground, leaned against the wall, and went straight to sleep.
The day had truly been exhausting, and sleeping like this was certainly uncomfortable, but fortunately, we would reach Spring Night City tomorrow. I could just make do for one night.
Before long, someone broke through the barrier.
“Senior Brother is certainly able to sleep soundly.” Duan Qianyue’s voice rang out.
I wasn’t actually asleep, but I didn’t want to deal with him, so I pretended to be fast asleep.
Seeing that I was truly asleep, Duan Qianyue stopped talking and sat down not far from me.
When I woke up the next day, Duan Qianyue had already finished breakfast and was feeding the horses. Seeing me come out, he said, “Good morning, Senior Brother,” looking like he was in a very good mood.
I ate two steamed buns with some rice porridge. When it came time to pay the bill, my jaw nearly dropped. “Ten taels?”
“That is how it is. Yesterday, your little junior brother nearly blew the roof off our building. You are welcome to come upstairs with me to take a look.”
“There is no need,” I said through gritted teeth.
“What about those ladies?” I asked.
“They left yesterday.”
The further we went, the hotter the weather became. Luo City was surrounded by rolling, lofty mountains, but near Spring Night City, the surroundings opened up and became very expansive.
After traveling for half a day, we finally spotted a stream in the distance. I led my horse over and sat down on a boulder, watching the horse drink. Duan Qianyue handed a flatbread to me, but I turned my head away.
“Has Senior Brother still not vented his anger?”
He seemed quite cheerful, and seeing that I didn’t want it, he simply ate it himself.
At that moment, I heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats. As they drew closer, a flash of red came into view.
In the next instant, Duan Qianyue covered my mouth and pulled me behind a boulder to hide. His movements were so lightning-fast that I didn’t even have time to react. He pressed close to my ear and lowered his voice.
“Shh, make no sound.”
Once the noise came closer, I realized it was the group of red-robed women from the inn yesterday. I had no idea where they had gone afterwards, but they had somehow ended up behind us.
“If I run into that brat again, I will surely skin him alive, eat his flesh, and drink his blood.”
I recognized that voice as belonging to the woman who took the lead yesterday.
“And that senior brother of his looks decent enough on the surface, but he is nothing good either,” another one said.
I hadn’t expected that I would also become a target of their insults.
“Exactly, exactly! If we see them again, we must teach them a lesson.”
Once they had ridden far away, I pushed Duan Qianyue aside.
“You were so capable yesterday, even able to blow up a house. What are you hiding for now?”
“Is Senior Brother willing to speak with me now?”
“Get lost.”
I mounted my horse and rode off, with Duan Qianyue following closely behind.
“Circumstances were special yesterday, Senior Brother. You wouldn’t understand. When I heard your words yesterday telling me they didn’t seem like bad people, I followed them to their room. Who would have thought that as soon as the door closed, they tried to strip off my clothes? I only told them they were old and ugly, so they whipped me. I had no choice! As for today, well, avoiding trouble is better than looking for it.”
“Please show your tokens.” The guards of Spring Night City were extremely strict. Everyone had to present a token proving their identity before they could enter.
The two of us presented our Starry Sky Sect tokens. The guards saw cultivators often enough and were accustomed to it, so out of politeness, they respectfully called us immortals and opened the gates to let us in.
Spring Night City had less than one-tenth the area of Luo City, yet its fame was on par with Luo City. Luo City was the imperial capital, so what did Spring Night City rely on? I suddenly found myself quite curious.