Inn

He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him for a while. Seemingly unable to gauge Xiao Ming's background, the burly man weighed the bag Xiao Ming had tossed over and replied with a fake smile.

"Certainly, sir. Please sit over here."

Xiao Ming looked in the direction he pointed, only to find that every table there was already occupied.

"There are no seats over there."

"My apologies, my apologies. Please sit here instead." Only after Xiao Ming pointed it out did the scar-faced brute seem to realize it.

He then pointed to an empty table on the other side. "Sir, please sit over there."

Xiao Ming gave the scar-faced brute a glance, then silently headed toward that table.

Watching Xiao Ming's retreating back, the scar-faced man revealed a sinister smile and headed into the back room.

Back room.

A Black-faced Fatty with his plump upper body bare questioned the scar-faced man.

"How was it? Did you figure out his background?"

"Hehe, he should be some brat who popped up from who knows where."

"Really? Don't get it wrong again. Just because someone is short doesn't mean he's a brat. The Black Corner Region is full of different races; some races are simply shorter. Last time, you saw someone with a pale face and claimed he was injured and nothing to fear. That made us let our guard down and suffer a huge loss. If Big Brother hadn't been strong enough, we would've been finished." The fatty's voice was thick and muffled, filled with distrust. Clearly, he had been badly burned by the scar-faced man before.

The scar-faced brute's face flushed red after hearing that. He wanted to loudly retort, but fearing he would attract attention, he could only lower his voice and shout.

"Fuck, there was a reason for that! Who knew that sickly bastard cultivated the Profound Yin Art, such an icy Cultivation Method that it turned him neither human nor ghost? Besides, we didn't lose out last time. The Profound Yin Art was a Profound Tier Low-Grade Cultivation Method."

Seeing that the fatty was still unconvinced, the brute could only explain further.

"Don't worry, I can't be wrong this time. That kid deliberately made his voice sound like an old man's, hid under a black robe, and even disguised his hands. But he still exposed a flaw just now."

"When he threw the money over, his wrist was exposed. Compared with the wrinkles on his palm, the skin on his wrist was countless years younger. And I deliberately told him to sit at a table with no empty seats, yet he calmly told me there were no seats. Hehehe, he's definitely some brat from who knows where. He isn't very old, and his strength definitely isn't high."

"If that's the case, we'll deal with him while we're working tonight. Hehe." A vicious smile appeared on the fatty's honest-looking face.

"Right, to be safe, add something extra to his food." The scar-faced man also revealed a sinister smile. Although he believed the black-robed kid was not very strong, he still felt it was necessary to use some special measures to be safe.

"Mm, I'll add some Muscle-softening Powder."

Just as the two finished discussing it, a burst of fighting broke out in the main hall.

The two frowned.

"Damn it, they dare cause trouble here? Let's go out and kill those pieces of trash."

Time rewound slightly.

On the other side, after Xiao Ming sat down, another attendant came over to pour him some water.

After thanking him in an aged voice, Xiao Ming merely placed the porcelain bowl before him without any intention of drinking.

Ignoring the probing gazes cast at him in secret, Xiao Ming focused on listening to the conversations around him.

Xiao Ming had not come to Green Rock Town by chance. He had come for the Green Rock Profound Water.

He remembered that, in the Simulator, the Green Rock Profound Water had been possessed by two Fishing Guys. They liked pretending to discuss the Mysterious Water's location in the inn at Green Rock Town, luring in passersby who wanted to snatch a bargain.

Once those passersby took the bait and rushed to the location they mentioned, the two would take them out in one swift move after lying in wait for a long time.

The key was that these two Fishing Guys were not weak. Both possessed the strength of Five-Star Great Dou Shi. With such despicable behavior, even if someone was lucky enough to evade their ambush, facing them alone afterward would still likely mean death.

His simulated self had been tricked by them once and had only managed to kill them after swallowing medicine and triggering a Power Burst.

Still, these two Fishing Guys were at least not the sort to lure people with nothing. The Green Rock Profound Water truly was on them.

That was why he had come this time. Naturally, he wanted to "take" the item away. It was, after all, a Heaven and Earth Strange Object, and it would benefit his Ling.

Besides, those two Fishing Guys were hardly good people.

"Ahahaha, that chick we caught yesterday was so tender."

"Oh? Next time, bring me along."

"Brother, we fought the Black Hand Gang a few days ago, and several of our brothers died. We can't let this go!"

"Drink up and eat!"

"Cheers!"

"Pah, that damned beast actually betrayed me."

"Fuck, you little bastard spat into your grandpa's bowl!"

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at you. So what?"

"What the hell is all this?" Xiao Ming's expression beneath the black robe was extremely colorful. Clearly, he had not found the two Fishing Guys. Instead, he had overheard some utterly outrageous conversations and turned his head toward where someone had just shouted about a woman.

"Ugh." Feeling as though his soul had been assaulted, Xiao Ming quickly turned his head and looked the other way.

If he did not turn away, he feared he would throw up yesterday's dinner.

The moment he turned to the other side, Xiao Ming discovered that two groups were loudly confronting each other.

It was because one person had just been lecturing his underling, who had spat into someone else's bowl and provoked the other group.

However, perhaps because the two groups were evenly matched, they had not started fighting. At the moment, both sides were engaging in an exchange filled with an extremely high concentration of profanity.

The leaders of both sides stood together, spittle flying everywhere.

Their voices grew louder and louder. Xiao Ming realized that they had not refrained from fighting because their strength was similar, but because they were wary of something.

Xiao Ming guessed that they might be wary of the inn owner's strength. Although the Black Corner Region was said to have no rules—and indeed had none, with murder, arson, and even street robbery going unchecked—

some factions would establish rules within their own territory in order to maintain stability and gain more profit. For example, fighting was forbidden at the Auction House, and members of other factions were not allowed to ride Magical Beasts through the skies In The City.

If guests were always fighting in an inn, never mind whether the tables and chairs were expensive; simply replacing them over and over would become irritating.

So this inn probably had a rule forbidding fights. Xiao Ming lowered his head and rubbed his chin as he thought.

That was also the mindset of most businesspeople. Yet for the violent thugs of the Black Corner Region to behave so obediently, the owner of this inn had to be no ordinary person.

Using his soul perception, Xiao Ming sensed that the auras released by the leaders of both sides during their standoff were both roughly at the level of Seven-Star Dou Shi, confirming his conclusion.

Since fighting was forbidden inside the inn, the two groups agreed to go outside and settle things. Just then, the underling kneeling on the ground with his face covered in blood suddenly stood up and kicked his own boss in the ass.