At the corner of the street.
A young man in royal attire quietly poked his head out, watching the direction Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan had gone. He stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Fourth Prince, those two are clearly dressed in fine clothes. They must have some powerful backing. Perhaps we should..."
A man dressed as a guard was only halfway through speaking when a wave of the hand cut him off.
"If even you can tell, do you think I can't?"
"If they were commoners, I'd have approached them already. Why would I bother following them?"
The Fourth Prince, Xue Beng, glanced at the guard beside him, then turned his gaze back toward the direction Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan had gone, immediately weighing the pros and cons.
Although he had no talent for either scholarly pursuits or martial arts as the imperial family's Fourth Prince, he had a keen eye as one of Heaven Dou City's notorious wastrels.
He had already noticed Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan on another street just moments ago.
Living in Heaven Dou City as the imperial family's Fourth Prince, what sort of beauty hadn't he seen growing up? Yet this was the first time he had ever seen women as beautiful as Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan.
They even made his heart stir in a way it hadn't for a long time.
The main reason Xue Beng hadn't approached them was that he felt their identities were anything but ordinary. They probably had powerful backing.
After all, their clothes looked expensive at a glance, certainly beyond anything commoners could afford. The Storage Soul Tools they wore on their hands only made Xue Beng more certain.
Soul Tools weren't exactly exceptionally precious, but generally speaking, only nobles, sects, or certain great families possessed them.
Ordinary Soul Masters and commoners had virtually no chance of owning such things.
The reason Xue Beng kept following them was simple, too: he had never seen them before. As a notorious wastrel, he knew perfectly well which factions in Heaven Dou City he could afford to offend and which he couldn't.
Never having seen them meant they weren't among those he couldn't afford to offend.
He mulled it over at length.
Xue Beng decided to approach them and try his luck. Although they might have powerful backing, when it came to connections, he had the Heaven Dou Imperial Family behind him. Very few people had greater backing than he did.
Still, based on past experience and just in case, Xue Beng decided it would be safer to prepare a fallback first.
"You, come here. You too."
Xue Beng's expression turned serious. "I'll go over alone in a moment to strike up a conversation and sound out their background. Stay behind and keep an eye on me."
"If everything goes smoothly, come over. If it doesn't, you go to the Prince Manor and find my uncle, while you return to the Imperial Palace and find my second brother. Have them come bail me out. Got it?"
The two guards exchanged a glance, then nodded earnestly at Xue Beng.
Having followed Xue Beng around so often, they knew this routine inside out.
If things went smoothly, they would go over to back him up. If not, they would assess the situation themselves. If they thought they could win, they would rush in to help Xue Beng. If they couldn't, they would fetch reinforcements.
Seeing the guards nod, Xue Beng smiled in satisfaction and swaggered out from the street corner as though he owned the place.
The two guards remained at the corner, keeping a constant watch on him.
Meanwhile, farther up the street.
Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan had sat down at a stall.
"Three bowls of beef soup and five meat pies, please."
After calling out to the busy stall owner, Bai Wanwan motioned for Moxiong, who had been following beside them, to sit down as well.
"Just a moment. They'll be ready soon."
The stall owner answered, then went back to work.
Moxiong sat down beside them, though his gaze kept drifting toward the other side of the street.
"What's wrong?"
Qian Renxue seemed to notice something amiss with Moxiong and asked softly.
"Young Master, someone is following us. Would you like me to deal with him first?"
Moxiong lowered his voice slightly.
"Someone is following us?"
Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan followed Moxiong's gaze and immediately spotted Xue Beng in his royal attire.
The reason they noticed Xue Beng so quickly was simple: his swagger was so brazen that he stood out sharply among the passing crowd.
"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family's attire."
"Wanwan, what do you think?"
Qian Renxue frowned slightly and turned to Bai Wanwan.
"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family... Let's see what he wants first, and whether we can use it as a pretext to make a move."
Bai Wanwan lowered her voice a little as well.
Qian Renxue quickly understood Bai Wanwan's intent. She smiled at her, then signaled with her eyes for Moxiong not to act rashly.
Soon, Xue Beng appeared before them. Under their watchful gazes, he pulled out a chair and sat down as though he already knew them.
"Young Ladies, you look very familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"
Xue Beng completely ignored Moxiong beside them, his gaze roaming over Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan.
"Familiar?"
"You must have mistaken us for someone else. This is our first visit to Heaven Dou City."
Bai Wanwan looked Xue Beng up and down and gave an indifferent reply.
At her words, a gleam flashed through Xue Beng's eyes. He immediately picked out the key point: this was their first visit to Heaven Dou City.
That meant the forces behind them weren't based near Heaven Dou City, making it even less likely that they were people he shouldn't-or couldn't afford to-offend.
"I see."
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Xue Beng, the Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Rest assured, Young Ladies, I'm not a good person..."
Hearing Xue Beng's words, Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan both turned to look at him. They had met people who claimed to be good upon introducing themselves, but this was the first time they had met someone who immediately declared that he wasn't a good person.
"Ahem, don't misunderstand. I meant I'm not a bad person."
"May I ask which family you come from, Young Ladies, and what your names are? I'd like to get to know you and become friends."
Xue Beng coughed lightly, his expression gradually becoming more serious.
"We aren't disciples of any family. Our household simply has a little money to spare, so we came to Heaven Dou City to broaden our horizons."
Bai Wanwan gently rubbed her fingers together, feeling that there was nothing wrong with what she had said.
Her grandfather would casually hand her three to five million Gold Soul Coins at a time. Calling that a little money to spare was perfectly reasonable.
"And this gentleman?"
Xue Beng turned his gaze to Moxiong.
"Traveling away from home inevitably comes with some risks. He's responsible for keeping us safe. He's very strong, so handling three or five people wouldn't be a problem."
Bai Wanwan gave Xue Beng a warning look, as if telling him not to get any funny ideas.
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