Back at the snow peak inn, Old man Su had yet to move from his seat. Ever since Long Ye left he's been smoking those so called cigars he was gifted while drink the Wine that accompanied them in the humidor.
Since ancient china any and all liquor were called wine, from monkey wine to rice wine so on and so forth. Old man Su who his a descendant of the wealthy Su merchant family has tasted most if not all of the top wine of this continent.
As a former top ranking general he had also rubbed shoulders with some of most influential people in this country, Wines, cigarettes, delicacies ranging from fruits, meat, you named it he has sampled them.
But right now he was experiencing something he has never dreamed he could. These cigars were simply amazing, this wine's aroma was easy on the nose, smelled a bit like wood but when on your first taste it was strong, not harsh but strong and smoky.
This wine was clearly for meant for people who drink regularly, perfect for the rough and tough men on the front line, yet it won't leave a bad after effect like most wines do.
As for the cigars, upon heating them up or toast them like Long Ye said, right away you get hit with the smell of coarse chocolate and high quality tabaco.
Then when you taste it, right away you realize how potent it is,a full body, deep deep tabaco and peppery. It has good kick to it not to hot but not to mild neither, like a camp fire smokiness.
When smoking and drinking those two items together, it makes you feel at ease. They perfectly compliment each other, and old man Su could not get enough of it, he was already on his fifth cigar and wine cup.
He simply was addicted to the feeling it brought him, a slight light headed yet lucid. Suddenly a voice sounded from mext to him again snapping him out of his deay dream.
"Oh a cigar aficionado are we?"
Quickly turning his head to see who it was that interupted him, Old man Su was once again speechless, these two are seriously definitely related to one another, shaking his head old man Su replied.
"Nah, it's my first time smoking this so called 'cigar'. But one thing i can say is that now im seriously hook on em'"
Smilling Long Yi walked over to the counter, pulled up a stool and sat down. Sniffing the air he laughed a bit before saying to the old man in front of him.
"Hahaha, 'scorned woman' cigar and 'fighting roster' huh not of a choice, they both compliment each other very well. Even if they are towards the lower end of the spectrum, they are both very fine choices nonetheless."
"Yea they really do compliment each other very well and on top of.....Wait what say that again.." Old man Su was in the process of agreeing with Long Yi before his brain finally fully processed what Long Yi had just said to him.
Without a hint of hesitation Long Yi answered him in a matter of fact tone, like that was your basic run of the mill information and not some great grand secret.
"Yes, those two products are each on the lower tier of the spectrum, and hence are pretty cheap. For example one box of 20 scorn woman cigars is worth 20 low grade stone, and a vat of the fighting rooster wine is worth 200 low grade stones respectively."
Shocked speechless once again, Old man Su sat there with his mouth ajar. Once again, these pair of grandfather and grandson had managed to do the impossible.
Shaking his head. Old man Su replied to Long Yi saying "You call that cheap? that's enough to buy you an army, heck with that you can get two armies with 50,000 men each."
Shrugging his shoulders, Long Yi said "well 50,000 men but few of them would be experts, i guess but hey if you say so hahaha."
Looking at the attitude of this man before him old man Su's lips couldn't help but twitch at his comment. So what if very few of them would be true experts.
in the army a regular general would at best be a level two earth profound realm cultivator, and a newly sworn-in Great general would be at best be a level eight earth profound realm if he has enough merits.
Does this guy think that experts grow on tress like fruits do. But thinking about it now, those two's background must be magnaniimous for them to think like that, while thinking that Long Yi broke the silence by saying.
"Speaking of which, i hope you don't mind me asking but Ye'er told me that it seems like you were poison and that because of that your cultivation has been affected by it, i don't want to be rude or insensitive but now that o take a good look at you it seems it is true."
After hearing him, old man Su immidiately felt his nose turn sour, and pained look appeared on his face. Like the scabs over his heart has been peeled off.
Seeing this Long Ye once again said "the reason i ask is because like me, you are a war pig, a man who lived for the battlefield, one who has sacrificed body and soul to face his enemies and caused his name to spread far and wide.
So for me to see you wallow in this tavern, yet your soul still has that fire burning. My friend we are much alike you know, we are both swords, sharp and deadly swords, the only thing is i am in my scabard and you are on the verge of breaking apart, so i'd like to see if i can remedy that".
The room got quiet, it was like a ghost town. Old man Su sat there with a blank expression on his face as Long Ye had his eyes closed, he seemed like he was not in a rush, just there waiing for old man Su to began speaking.
After what seemed like hours had passed, old man Su picked up the second wine cup from the humidor and filled it before slidding ot to Long Ye, then poured some on his cup and began talking.
Elsewhere Long Ye was walking around town, he was walking aimlessly trying to enjoy the night life of this town. Since in his old life he never had that luxury, everything he did was always controlled by others.
Soon he realized he was standing at the city gate, he was going to turn back and make his way the inn but he descided to just sprint his way over to the next town over called Red Rose city.
With a smile he walked out of the gates and in to the bushes. There he changed his clothes to that of traditional swordsman clothing with a leather armor on top.
'something like this (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1e/be/2a/1ebe2a1a901245d242396943f996c1c4.jpg)'
And so he used a martial skill called 'crossing worlds' like the name suggests its a movement skill that focuses on straight line sprinting, it is perfect for long distance runs and it consumes very little energy to maintain.
Without time to enjoy the scenery, Long Ye was like a blur as he passed some of the travalers on the road. Both mercenaries and merchants didn't even see him, just felt a breeze blow bye them.
It was dark but not late enough for the cities to lose they're gates, some cities like floating cloud closed their gates at midnight, other way earlier than that.
But around these parts, since mercenaries are regularly active most town opted for midnight. In less than an hour Long Ye was already approaching the gates of Red Rose city, and as he made his way to the line he saw beds of red roses on bothe sides of the road.
"Ehhh, i see why its called Red Rose city" said Long Ye as he admired the beauty of this magnificent display.
"What is that the first time you've been to Red Rose city? what are you a bumpkin or something?" the voice of a woman which was as crisp as the bird’s chirping yet with strong loftiness and disdain sounded out from behind him.
After hearing that the people in front and behind him all begin the snicker, clearly they relished at others missfortunes so long as it's not them than everything are ok.
Using his spiritual sense, he was able scan his surrounding and had long sensed the group who was now behind him, there were four young women, and two young men all around the same age as him.
The one who just spoke was the one leading the group, she could be considered fairly pretty. But not extreemly beautifull and not on the same level as the women Long Ye has meet so far anyways.
Long Ye rolled his eyes, it seems like education in these lands are severely lacking and that anybody with a bit of background can be overbearing, so with that Long Ye descided to tell a white lie and get this over with since he had no desir to be mixed with these type of people.
So without even turning around answered the woman. "If coming from Imperial city considers me being a bumpkin than yes i guess you can call me that."
After saying that gasps could be heard as everybody in the vicinity heard him, they were all shocked at his comment. Calling those who lived in Imperial city bumpkin was like slapping ones own face.
Even the poor who lived there had seen more than them, most major big clans had buisnesses there some even moved their entire clans there for more proffit.
"Hmph, big words, from a dirty street rat, senior sister Murong don't waste your breath on him"
The voice a one of the young man in the group sounded out, he was clearly acting this way in order to earn the favor of the woman who spoke before.
Long Ye shook his head before chuckling a bit at the young man's stupidity. This young man is barking, yet he knows not the danger he is in right now.
"Boy im a say this once, wheather or not you heed my advice or not is up to you. But know this is you follow it you may stay alive longer.
'Running your mouth off for the sake of a woman you fancy will only lead you to an early grave, the skies are grand and deep, you know not when an expert wil blend in a crowd of people, nor when a wolf will hid in sheeps clothing'
With your fourth level nascent profound realm, you should not be shooting your mouth off so recklessly, OR SOMEONE MIGHT SHUT YOU UP PERMANENTLY"
Long spoke to the young without even turning around neither, he sounded like a scholar yet as he finished his words he spoke in a grave tone and released a bit of his killing intent in order to prove his point.
But to those around him, they felt like a savage hungry beast has oocked on to them. They could hear him, feel him breathing down their necks.
Bloodlust was so thick that some lost they balance and fell on their butts, the girls were scared sh***less, they were sweating, one even began to tear up.
The young whom Long Ye directed his words at was the worst off, as Long Ye had directed the greater part of his killing intent at him without any restraints at all.
He was on A**, the pugent smell of amonia waffed up everybody's noses as Long Ye retracted his killing entent, sighing at the group yet kept facing forward he said
"Consider yourselves lucky, if you guys had met my brother here instead of me all of you would have been corpses long time ago, hahaha and to think father had wanted to send him here instead of me."
Shaking his head Long Ye started to walk forward, and as he did the entire line made way for him. It was like moses parting the red sea, nobody even made a sound as he moved forward.
Back to where he was, the group of young men and women stared at his departing back, this time there were no traces of arrogance in their eyes.
They felt lucky that this young man had only given them a fair warning, not sliced their heads off. They knew that this world was big, and that they were insignificant in the eyes of some.
But being raised in a backwater town, and having been from influencial families from that very same town had clouded their eyes, never would they have thought a big shot would come around here.
As for Long Ye since he never put them in his eyes to begin with, hem could careless about what was going through their minds as he walked forward and oaid his toll of three copper coins.
Upon entereing the city, there were various stalls and so on. But Long Ye kept in walking towards the center of the city, but he still kept looking around enjoying the busy streets.
Soon he reached his destination, and that was the so called Central Plaza. It was filled with stalls selling vegetables, spices and other such commercial products.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Amidst the crowds, the stall-owners energetically shouted their sales pitches to the people walking by, while the older women haggled with the merchants as they looked for fresh food.
Drawn by fragrant scents, young men purchased skewers of roasted meat which oozed with warm juices. Others were selling clothes, shoes and so on.
The rowdy, energetic atmosphere of this place seemed to have lasted from when the sun went up until the it went down, where ever you went it was busy.
Since this was a night out for the heck of it Long Ye picked a random direction and began walking, as he so he was dodging the people who were about to bump shoulders with him as he walked against the flow of the crowds.
He didn't know for how long he did so but soon he reached a less busy erea on the road, it had few people walking around, because some of the peeple there were less than presentable.
Looking around he was able to see some women past their prime, some were around 40's others in their late 30's. One could see that life and time had not been kind to them.
They were dressed in cheap revealing clothes, some of them had lost thir original colors and looked faded as if they've been washed to many times.
Looking to his right he saw two women standing there, leaning against the wall, they were wearing small clothes, showing a greater part of her legs and most of their cleavage.
They also put some, no alot of cheap makeup on their faces and body but it poorly hid the bad skin and some the scars they had, it was a poor attempt to look prettier, but if one were to look closely at them you could tell that if raised in different enviroment the both of them would be beauties.
The both of them had plump bodies, clearly showing signs of aging and lack of care to their bodies, if maintained properly they would've also had a voluptuous figures.
Sadly life was not kind nor forgiving, instead they were here struggling day to day.
Also because of the overwhelming amout of cheap make up and perfume used, amd on top of the poor hygiene of those around the street had a particularily unpleasant smell to it.
The characteristic odor that emitted from the surrounding was that of people who haven’t washed in months, mixed with strong odor of dried fruits.
All in all very, very unpleasant on the nose. He threw a look at them before turning around, he had enough of this. He needed a change of scenery and fast.
The women showed no interest or reaction as the young man's action, they seemed very used to this reaction and also showed that they are pros at their jobs.
Suddenly the Long Ye turned around before glancing at the street one more time, this time his gaze was feirce. Nobody knew why, those who were looking at him quickly looked away, they knew that this young man was dangerous.
After making sure nobody was eyeing him, with a quick flick of both hands, one gold, one silver, and five copper coins landed perfectly inside the deep exposed cleavages of both women.
Both of them had the usual dark black hair and dark eyes combed in a similar fashion, one had a wavy hairstyle and the other straight hairstyle. They stood there motionlessly, until they felt a cold sensation in between their breasts.
They shuddered at the feeling, quickly looking at their bousom, they each noticed their gifts. They threw a quick look at each other before looking at the young man smilling at them. both of the women acknowledged the boy with a simple nod.
Turning arond Long Ye started walking away, but a figure caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. As he stopped to take a look, he saw what was the figure of a man laying down on the floor.
Curiousity took over his actions and he decided to walk over and see for himself. When got closer to the body his brows instantly tightened as looked what was in front of him.
On the floor was the body of a young man around the age of sixteen, his face was sallow and skinny. Even his hair looked dry and was fully white, causing him to look pale and sickly.
Due to the effects of prolonged malnutrition, his body was nothing but skin and bones, Looking at him he resembles more of a mummy than a live human being.
Shaking his head Long Ye sighed, just as he was about to turn a round and walk away, a weak and feeble hand grabbed the edges of his robe.
Looking down he saw a pair of bright blue eyes looking up at him, they were pleading for help. The boy opened his cracked and dry lips and tried to speak, but had no energy to do so.
Due to straining himself he once again lost consciousness, scatching his head Long Ye walked out of the dark, wet and dirty alley-way he stood in front of it and scanned his surroundings.
Soon his eyes landed on the two prostitutes from earlier, he quickly waved his hands in their direction in order to get their attention really quick.
Seeing him do so both looked in direction, smilling he quickly sent a voice transmission to both of them saying "I need your help really quick, i promise i will recompense you"
Without even thinking about it they both made their way to him. I mean this young man just gave them both gold,silver, and copper coins for free.
He did not even touch them as much a hair on them, and from the way he acts and look, he would not need to do any sexual acts with them neither.
They both knew that they are nothing but sewer whores, the lowest of the low. they are commoners who had to sell themselves for ends meat, a man like that could easily got to one of the more popular and clean brothels, why would he come here and taste this washed up Nth handed women.
Not only that from their location They were clearly monitoring the mains street. Being night workers they had developped good night vision and were able to see the whole incident from where thet stood.
It was clear to them that this young man had a good heart, if not at least he took pity on them and their circumstances. It touched them a bit, as low end prostitutes they had been abused till they lost all hope in humanity long ago.
But it was breath of fresh air to see a young man with a caring heart. It didn't take very long for the two of them to arrive by Long Ye's side.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you during your working hours, here is 2 gold coin each for your troubles."
After handing them the money, the one on the left said
"It's ok yo have given us more than we could have hoped to make in 5 years, after that the both of us wil be taking a long break from this job so thank you young master"
As she spoke the other woman nodded her head in agreement to the statement made by her friend, smilling at them Long Ye said
"Alright than, and oh don't need to call me young master just Ye will do, and please help me move this guy to another place im going to tey and help him before he dies also i'm going to need the cheapest and most discreet inn that is closer to here in order to do so."
This time it was the other one who spoke "Close to here, going about a few blocks there is the, 'dirty harlot' bar and inn, since base on the name you can tell it's where we take our customers when working the streets"
The other one also spoke up "We know the owner very well she will without a doubt help us but you would still need to pay a fee, but what ever you do there will be private and not a soul will find out about it"
Nodding his head Long Ye was satisfied with the plan and said to the girls "Ok we will go with that than, oh what are your names by the way, i haven't asked that yet sorry"
the one wit the waivy hairstyle said "my name is Gao Cai, and her name is Hao Bi" after pointing at her friend, they walked around Long Ye and picked up the boy who was on the floor.
Hao Bi lokked at long Ye and simply said "follow us" as they made their way towards the inn.