Hotel Conflict

"Brother Lang Lei, you're so mean~" As soon as they left Flender's little shop, Griseo unhesitatingly poked Lang Lei's cheek from within his arms.

Griseo could naturally tell that Lang Lei had taken a liking to that piece of Gold Ore the moment he entered the shop. The bargaining afterward had merely been to haggle the price down with the owner.

Still, his method had been a little too mean. He had scared the owner badly.

"Oh, Little Griseo, how can something both sides agreed to be called mean~?" Lang Lei said with a smile. He had profited, and Flender had profited too. Everyone was happy, wasn't that right?

As for why he had taken that piece of Gold Ore...

Given the grudge between him and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, along with his connection to Qian Renxue, he was destined to stand against Tang San, the protagonist of the original story. How could he pass up the chance to weaken his opponent a little?

The Dragon Whisker Needle had given Tang San quite a bit of help in the early stages. Better to take away whatever he could.

Even if it just gathered dust in storage, that was better than letting it fall into an opponent's hands and be put to use. Besides, he was not short on one Gold Soul Coin.

"Oh~" Griseo nodded and did not bring it up again.

"Then where should we go next?" Lang Lei had not forgotten that he still had a Passive Grant Card to use.

"Um..." Griseo lowered her head and thought for a while before shaking it. "I don't know."

"Then let's wander around and buy something to eat!" Lang Lei suggested.

"Okay, okay!" Griseo's eyes curved into slits.

"You little foodie, were you too embarrassed to say it outright just now?" Lang Lei poked Griseo's cheek with one finger.

Little Griseo's face instantly flushed red, making her adorably cute.

"Brother Lang Lei, you're awful..."

"Wuwuwu, Little Griseo actually hates me now~" Lang Lei pretended to be on the verge of tears.

"That's not it!" Griseo burrowed her head into Lang Lei's chest and wriggled about in embarrassed frustration.

"Okay, okay, I know~" In an excellent mood, Lang Lei quickened his pace, looking as though he was about to start skipping. "Let's go, time to eat something delicious~"

After satisfying their appetites, Lang Lei and Griseo wanted to return to their hotel room.

Lang Lei was rather curious about what kind of improvement that Passive Grant Card of unknown quality would bring him. After all, the previous passive, Down-to-Earth, had greatly enhanced his endurance. Although he rarely used his Martial Soul in battle, using Soul Power to strengthen his body was still very practical.

As for Little Griseo... of course she was going back to paint!

Of course, it was also possible that they both simply wanted to return early and spend some quiet time together...

Just as the two returned to the hotel and were about to head upstairs to their room, the Hotel Front Desk stopped them. Nearby, a somewhat impatient blond man waited with a pair of twin beauties in his arms, one on each side...

"Hello."

"Hello. What is it?" Lang Lei glanced at Dai Mubai, who was waiting there, and roughly guessed what was about to happen.

However, he did not take the other man seriously. Without the protagonist Tang San's extensive support and the chance to ride the protagonist's coattails, Dai Mubai probably would not even survive until his brother ascended the throne on his own merits.

His very nature was that of a coward who had abandoned his own fiancée and fled alone, which made Lang Lei despise him even more.

"Sir, may I ask... are you still staying in your room?" the Hotel Front Desk asked cautiously.

"Of course I am. Wasn't I just about to go upstairs?" Lang Lei nodded. "I remember paying several months of room fees upfront, didn't I? It's only been a little over a month. Even if the Soul Master Academy enrollment period has brought more people to Suotuo City as one of the main cities, your room rates shouldn't have risen this fast, right? They've nearly doubled, haven't they? Besides, I booked early. Are you saying your hotel raises room fees midway through a stay?"

"No, no, you've misunderstood..." The Hotel Front Desk was starting to panic as well. "How about this? I'll refund all your room fees in full. Could you let us have the room?"

"Huh?" Lang Lei tilted his head. Though growing somewhat impatient, he still refused in a fairly normal tone. "No. You know there are a lot of people around right now, and hotels are hard to book. If we check out now, are you going to find us another hotel? Also, why come to me when there are so many other guests? Because I'm younger?"

"No, no, it's because of that blond Soul Master guest." The Hotel Front Desk wiped away his sweat. "He wants to book the best type of room our hotel offers—the same type you reserved..."

"But I remember there being more than one room of that standard. Are they all booked?" Lang Lei raised his leg to head upstairs. He did not want to waste time arguing about this. If Griseo had not been here and he had not wanted to be a well-mannered older brother, he probably would have simply left after hearing the request.

"Please reconsider!" The Hotel Front Desk hurriedly stopped Lang Lei. The other top-tier rooms were all booked by regular customers, every one of them a Soul Master. He could not afford to offend them, so he could only try his luck with this guest who looked quite young.

"Guh... move aside!" Lang Lei frowned and patted Griseo, signaling for her not to speak.

"It seems you can't properly handle my request either." At that moment, Dai Mubai, who had been watching from the side, walked over.

"Y-Young Master Dai, please give me a little more time..."

"No need. I'll talk to him myself." Dai Mubai waved his hand irritably.

"It would be the same no matter who came." Lang Lei said expressionlessly.

"Kid, you don't know who I am?" Dai Mubai sneered upon hearing that.

"Blondie, you haven't been to the Great Soul Arena lately, have you?" Lang Lei was amused by the man's confident attitude and spoke in an unfriendly tone.

"Hm? How did you know? No, since you mentioned the Soul Fighting Arena, that means... you're a Soul Master too, right?" Dai Mubai roughly judged Lang Lei's age and said confidently, "Let's fight. By the rules between Soul Masters, whoever wins gets to stay. How about it?"

"How about no? What kind of stupid rule is that? Why haven't I heard of it?" Lang Lei sneered. "The room was mine to begin with. But if you want a beating, I'm available anytime."

"Oh? You've got quite the mouth on you."

"Brother Lang Lei..." Griseo glanced at Dai Mubai with some disgust. She possessed a strange ability: her eyes could see a person's "color." And she really did not like this man's color...

"Oh~ Your little sister is quite pretty~" Only then did Dai Mubai see Griseo's face, which had been buried in Lang Lei's arms. He spoke in a frivolous tone. "How about letting her follow me from now on?"

Lang Lei's gaze instantly turned icy as he looked at Dai Mubai as though he were already dead.

"Griseo, go back to the room and wait for Brother for a while. If anyone stops you on the way, just knock them out however you see fit," Lang Lei instructed as he set Griseo down.

"Mm, okay." Griseo obediently nodded and ran upstairs. She was not worried about Brother Lang Lei at all, because that bad blond man was very weak...

"Alright. I hope you can hold out a little longer!" Lang Lei turned toward Dai Mubai, his face cold as frost. "Don't die too quickly. That would be no fun..."