Chapter 65

Le Xaan was seated beside Chin Wensy. Among them were another two girls, one by Soan Jingor's side, another close to a stone-faced male student. It seemed that they were also loving couples.

Boom!

A golden bolt soared into the sky and then exploded, panting a tremendous peony sprawling the night sky.

"It's starting! It's starting!" The crowd cheered and swarmed to the fences on the edge of every floor to admire the fireworks.

On the streets, hundreds of round lanterns were shining brightly, resembling hundreds of little glowing specks that were beleaguering a red paper-plastered dragon.

The dragon bolted right and left, trying to break the siege of these lanterns, which flowed nimbly in the air to match the dragon's movement, making for a very enlivened, splendorous scene.

Countless clouds of golden, red, or purple fireworks burst across the sky, a dazzling sight to behold.

They watched the display of fireworks and dragon dancing for a while before returning to the table. All of them shared a background in merchant families, not the traditional aristocratic ones.

By now, their upbringing was brought out. As they were in high spirits, they lost their good manners, laughing out loud and banging the table.

"Is just anyone allowed in the tenth floor?"

An impatient voice rang out from a table to the side.

Their laughter froze as they turned to glance at the person who said the sarcastic words.

At that table were seated three scholarly-looking young men who were looking over with cold gazes.

The speaker was one among them, a thin-faced, fair-skinned man.

"How could such a place of civility would allow entry to people so rude? Seeksun Restaurant seems to be a degrading place now." The young man said in a cold tone.

To Le Xaan's surprise, Soan Jingor, a guy prone to argument, kept silent and lowered his head to drink a sip of wine after he saw the voice's owner.

The rest of them all looked down and sank into silence. Even Chin Wensy, the one with the most prominent background among them, remained in a hush while biting her lips. Since even Chin Wensy didn't dare to say a word of rebuttal, the three young men were apparently of more elevated status.

"Eh? Aren't you Miss Chin Wensy? As expected of you, the daughter of a merchant. Even your friends seem to be lacking in the most basic grace, aren't they?

I recall that when I was together with your elder brother last time, he proposed to marry you off to me as a concubine, saying a bunch of nice words to me. To tell the truth, I was tempted back then. But now, I realize that I have done the right thing by rejecting it." Another man shook his head with a smirk, fiddling with a jeweled bracelet in hand.

Upon hearing this, Chin Wensy shot a glance at Le Xaan before lowering her head; the blushed red spread from her cheeks all the way to her neck. Even her body was shuddering slightly.

By now, none among them dared to go into a dispute with the three men.

Le Xaan shook his head secretly. He glanced at Soan Jingor, who was clenching his fists with protruding tendons crawling across his neck, a sign of his fury.

"A pack of cowards." The thin-faced young man spat out.

"Um, your mother has never taught you how to be polite? Or do you want me to teach you about it now?"

A calm voice abruptly sounded from beside Chin Wensy.

At that moment, the gaunt-faced man was about to pick up a cup of wine and drink. He had already decided to brush aside this rude group of people. However, as soon as he heard these words, he turned and glared at Chin Wensy with bulging eyes.

The other two men also showed surprise on their faces.

Soan Jingor instantly took a grip of Le Xaan's hand and signaled for him to shut up. Then, Soan Jingor stood up, turned around, and bowed to the three young men with cupped hands.

Just as he was about to pour out apologies, Le Xaan's laughter echoed.

"We did disturb others with our noises, that's what we have done wrong. But since you three hurl harsh words at a girl who has just turned sixteen not long ago, you seem no more decent than us."

Chin Wensy was actually three years younger than Le Xaan.

"How dare you!" The thin-faced young man rose to his feet and stared coldly at Le Xaan, "I have never expected that in Mountainside City..."

"Let the matter rest there, Suer Der." The only one among the three who kept silent till now spoke casually to the yelling young man.

As soon as this man said this, the other two suppressed their anger and calmed down, but now the two of them were displaying a gloating expression on their faces. Obviously, this man who had just interrupted the argument was a more formidable figure.

"It's just a trivial matter. Let it rest there. The time's up. We have to leave." This young man had a gracious manner and well-defined features. As he spoke, his magnanimous composure was exhibited. It seemed as if this dispute was just a bickering match between kids.

"Alright... Since Young Master Rouey said so! Humph!" The skinny man coldly humphed and resentfully glared at Le Xaan.

Le Xaan was originally poised for a fight to teach them a lesson. He also noticed that a few icy lines of vision swept over, whose owners were Strength Flow martial arts experts. To Le Xaan, however, they were no different than ordinary people, perhaps just costing him a few more palm strikes.

The actual strength of Strength Flow experts varied. For instance, Elder Zaner, a Strength Flow expert at the top of the Realm, could deal with two average Strength Flow experts at once. It's hardly surprising. Since even two people practiced the same set of martial arts, one of them would inevitably outclass the other due to talent, diligence, or something like that.

Presently, Le Xaan had practiced inner body Qi cultivation methods. His Dark Shadow Qi posed great threats to even Ghost Spirits, let alone ordinary folks.

Engaging with five Strength Flow good hands in a battle simultaneously was no difficult task for Le Xaan, even though he had never really done so. Even if an Intelligence Flow master was hidden among them, Le Xaan was in no fear. An intelligence Flow master could take on three normal Strength Flow ones, after all.

As the three of them rose from the chairs and left, this quarrel was resolved. Meanwhile, Soan Jingor heaved a breath of relief.

As the three men left, Chin Wensy could no longer sit still and bid farewell, tears welling up in her eyes. Le Xaan stood up and offered to see her home, but she declined. Then, she left in a hurry.

The rest of them were in no mood to watch the dragon dancing anymore. Soan Jingor saw his girlfriend off and took Le Xaan and Wein Zikua along toward the riverside.

No ripples were seen in the Pine River, above which numerous painted pleasure cruisers slowly floated along, each adorned with red lanterns.

Soan Jingor seemed quite familiar with such places and led the two of them onto a large ship, where a pretty middle-aged woman walked up and greeted them.

"Young Master Soan, since you left last time, Kunny has been missing you and often talks about you."

This woman didn't appear world-weary in comparison to other women in such a place. This slightly surprised Le Xaan.

"Is Kunny free now?" Soan Jingor asked with a smile while walking ahead without pause.

"Of course, she has been waiting for your patronage." the middle-aged woman said. "These two young masters, if you have familiar girls here, please let me know."

The three of them walked into an exquisitely decorated private room.

Soon, a bevy of ten girls clad in gossamer fabric with enchantingly slender figures and a graceful air trod in. Their visages differed considerably, but all were impressive-looking enough.

"Three young masters, greetings." These girls said and curtsied.

"You two, pick one by yourself, I will cover the bill for tonight." Soan Jingor held a woman with an arm at the rear of the line before speaking to them casually.

Wein Zikua's line of sight almost consolidated at the moment while his face flushed, unsure which one to select out of the ten.

Le Xaan remained calm and chose one who looked demure, who then sat down beside him.

After the three of them finished their selection, some jugs of wine and dishes were served onto the table, and a group of girls dressed in a revealing manner entered the room and gave a dance performance.

"The matter today... Alas..." While thinking back to their encounter today in Seeksun Restaurant, Soan Jingor wore a flushed face, feeling dejected.

"Brother Soan, with such a good view before us and such lovely company beside us, why talk about those upsetting things? Come on! I toast you!" Wein Zikua said while his palm groped the girl by his side all over her. He seemingly couldn't hold back anymore.

The three beauties comforted Soan Jingor with tender words while giggling, and Le Xaan and Wein Zikua also persuaded him. These helped soothe Soan Jingor's mood considerably.

"If I'm not mistaken, the one who has mocked us back then was Wein Sinyoe. the son of the General Commander of Mountainside City's stationed army. If it were someone else, I wouldn't be afraid of him, but Wein Sinyoe is an exception... "

"And that Young Master Rouey, he must have a far greater background..." Wein Zikua added.

Le Xaan shook his head without a word. After catching a glimpse of the spectacular world revolving around Demonic Powers and Ancient Families, he cared less about these secular big figures, even though they indeed held some power.

"Don't talk about this thing anymore! Let's keep going! We're not calling it a night until we've had our fill! " Wein Zikua shouted.

Soan Jingor also decided to shake off those gloomy moods and gulped down a mouthful of liquor.

In fact, Le Xaan was not accustomed to such a scene of hedonism, but he could tell that Soan Jingor was outright downcast. That's why Le Xaan stayed here and accompanied the two of them for a drink.

The pleasure cruisers only provided customers with hostessing services. So, after they drank to their fill, they disembarked from the ship. By then, it was already early morning, around two o'clock.

After Le Xaan parted with the two of them, he had mixed feelings. When the scions of a wealthy family like Chin Wensy or Soan Jingor went into a conflict with an offspring of some powerful political figure, they didn't even have the guts to utter a single word of rebuttal.

Evidently, merchants in this world were of a much lower social status.

He had drunk a lot but was not tipsy. His mind was clear, and he didn't feel sleepy. He walked away from the riverside and headed for his dwelling. During the process, he tried to hail a few carriages, yet the seats within them were all preoccupied.

Since it was already late into the night, there were not many horse carriages on the streets. So, Le Xaan could only go back home on foot.

The streets were currently deserted; only a few occasional drunks were wandering around while spitting out nonsense.

The houses on either side of the roadways were pitch-black. Only in front of some stately wealthy homes, red lanterns were hung and got blown about by the night breeze, casting a faint glow on the ground.

The wind whooshed, bringing about cold air.

Le Xaan picked up his pace. Yet, halfway on his road home, he found his waist pouch not in place.

Le Xaan patted himself down yet made no findings.

"It must have been left on the pleasure cruiser."

The note by Deumu Wann and the key of his house were all in the pouch. It couldn't be lost. So, Le Xaan turned around and hurried his way in the direction of the riverside.