Lin Feng... You... Devil...
The main road through Suotuo City's south gate was lined on both sides with tightly packed shops and taverns, their din filling the air. The scorched smell of iron being forged mingled with the aroma of roasting meat and the mixed Soul Power fluctuations coming from Soul Masters of all kinds.
The purple-gold celestial abyss that had torn the sky apart last night had undoubtedly injected a powerful stimulant into this major city of the Balak Kingdom.
Everywhere, Soul Masters gathered in groups of three or five at street corners, talking loudly. Quite a few burly men dressed as mercenaries carried charred black stones they had just picked up outside the city, hurrying toward the exotic treasures auction house in the west with excitement written across their faces.
Chu Yuan walked at an unhurried pace through the bustling crowd, his right arm resting naturally around Keqing's slender, supple waist.
Wherever he and Keqing passed, the noisy, crowded throng was repelled by the invisible presence of the Heavenly Principles, and people instinctively parted to either side, leaving a wide passage.
Keqing nestled obediently against Chu Yuan's side, her amethyst eyes calmly sweeping over both sides of the street. "I can sense a few faint traces of Geo and Anemo to the west and north of the city. They should all be relics from Teyvat that fell with the celestial abyss last night."
"Those things aren't going anywhere. Someone will gather them for us later."
Chu Yuan's fingertips tapped lightly twice against Keqing's smooth waist, bringing a faint warmth to her ears. Only then did he smile and point toward a distinctive three-story building on the street corner ahead, decorated entirely in red and white:
"That astrologer lady's presence is two streets ahead. But before we go see her, we'll settle on a place to stay at this hotel."
Keqing looked in the direction Chu Yuan was pointing.
Above the entrance of the three-story building hung a sign carved with an enormous red rose: Rose Hotel.
The hotel's somewhat suggestive, romantic decor made the Yuheng's cheeks grow warm. She had only just experienced intimacy and become the woman at Chu Yuan's side, but her heart and eyes were already full of the man beside her, so naturally she had no objections. She merely nodded obediently. "Mm, whatever you say."
When the two were still a dozen or so steps from the Rose Hotel's entrance, a slender figure in black suddenly darted out of a secluded, shadowy alley to the side and headed for the hotel entrance as well.
She was a girl who looked no more than twelve or thirteen.
She wore a tight-fitting black leather outfit that outlined every curve of her shapely figure, far more developed than those of her peers and voluptuous to the extreme.
The full, prominent curves of her chest nearly burst the black leather, while her waist was so slender it could almost be encircled in one hand. Below it were a pair of long, straight, shapely legs, brimming with explosive power.
The girl had neat, short black hair, skin as white as snow, and delicate, strikingly cool features. Her dark eyes, however, held a deathly chill, as though she cared nothing for anything around her.
She was none other than Zhu Zhuqing, the Hell Spirit Cat, who had just broken through the pursuit and assassination attempts of men sent by the Star Luo Empire's eldest prince, Dai Weisi, and Zhu Zhuyun, concealing her tracks all the way to Suotuo City.
Zhu Zhuqing's steps now looked steady, but she was actually biting down hard on her bloodless lower lip. Her right hand, hanging at her side, was pressing ever so subtly beneath her left ribs.
Last night, in the dense forest on the Balak Kingdom's border, she had overdrawn her Soul Power to shake off the last two Agility Attack System Soul Elders above level thirty-five who were pursuing her. She had also taken a direct knife-hand strike beneath her left ribs, and her internal organs still ached faintly.
The terrifying pressure when the sky split apart at midnight last night had frightened off her pursuers, allowing her to escape by sheer luck. She had rushed all the way to Suotuo City, where Shrek Academy was located, intending to find a hotel first to regulate her breathing and heal.
But as Zhu Zhuqing stepped onto the stairs in front of the Rose Hotel, she caught sight of Chu Yuan and Keqing, who had arrived beside her at almost the same time. The girl, usually icy toward everything around her, abruptly halted.
As an elite Agility Attack System Battle Spirit Master, Zhu Zhuqing was far more sensitive to people's presence than an ordinary person.
Yet in her perception, the black-haired youth beside her, dressed in a white robe patterned with gold and handsome to an almost uncanny degree, gave off not the slightest Soul Power fluctuation belonging to a Soul Master of Douluo Continent.
And yet, standing there, the youth gave her the suffocating feeling of facing a vast, star-filled sky and an abyss ten thousand feet deep!
As for the purple-haired girl with twin ponytails in the youth's arms, Zhu Zhuqing likewise could not discern her Soul Power Level. Yet the sharp sword intent and the presence of thunder flowing from the purple-gold crystal at her waist made the level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster's every hair stand on end!
"What a powerful presence... How could people like this be in a place like Suotuo City?"
Deep wariness and astonishment flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's cold, lifeless eyes. She instinctively moved half a step aside, putting a safe distance between them, and lowered her gaze slightly, not daring to look directly into Chu Yuan's eyes.
Chu Yuan glanced impassively at the black-clad girl beside him, with her voluptuous figure and slightly disordered presence. A trace of understanding flashed in his eyes.
Zhu Zhuqing of the Star Luo Empire's Hell Spirit Cat Clan?
Judging by the stagnation of Soul Power beneath her left ribs and her depleted Qi and blood, she had clearly suffered serious internal injuries during her escape.
Chu Yuan said nothing more at the entrance, however. With his arm around Keqing's supple waist, he stepped through the Rose Hotel's doors. Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, then followed close behind.
As soon as they entered the hotel lobby, a rich fragrance of roses greeted them.
The lobby was decorated with great swathes of red and white roses, making it especially luxurious and romantic. Yet at that moment, an arrogant, frivolous male voice in front of the reception desk shattered the refined atmosphere:
"What? You dare disobey this young master? I don't care how many rooms your Rose Hotel has left. This young master is taking the last top-floor suite today! If you know what's good for you, hand over the key card, or I'll tear down your lousy sign!"
A tall, broad-shouldered, handsome blond youth was leaning against the counter.
He had a pair of strange double pupils and a sinister, arrogant sneer on his lips. He held a pair of scantily dressed, heavily made-up twin girls, one in each arm, while one hand freely kneaded the buttocks of one of them. He was every bit the debauched libertine, with no regard for anyone else.
Behind the counter, the hotel manager and the greeter were drenched in sweat, intimidated by the faint pressure the three-ring Soul Elder gave off. They forced smile after smile, but their faces remained troubled.
This blond youth was naturally Dai Mubai, a student of Shrek Academy and the third prince of the Star Luo Empire.
Zhu Zhuqing had just stepped into the lobby behind Chu Yuan, and her gaze immediately fell on the back of the blond youth with double pupils.
Looking at the man who was supposed to be her fiancé, but who was now holding two common, gaudily made-up girls and seeking pleasure in full view of everyone, Zhu Zhuqing felt a flash of intense loathing and disgust sweep through her formerly cold, lifeless eyes.
She had narrowly escaped death again and again on her journey, fleeing to Suotuo City with internal injuries and the threat of being eliminated by her clan hanging over her. And the man who kept saying he was fleeing the struggle for the throne was actually whiling away his days in a place of wine and women?