That night, the Governor's Mansion was once again ablaze with lights and awash in wine as a new round of celebratory banquets began.
To celebrate Yue Shan becoming the Green Forest Duke, to toast in advance the Green Forest Family and the Governor's Mansion's allied army defeating the Dragon Wing Legion, to raise morale, and so on—there were dozens of excuses, in any case, for Zeppelin and the others to gather everyone for another feast and make merry.
Not one of Lin Qi's group attended the banquet in their true bodies. It was always the same tiresome routine—what was there worth attending for? Princess Qingli had prepared nearly a hundred divine puppets and Phantom God Puppets. Everyone used a wisp of their soul consciousness to control divine puppets and attend the feast.
Under the cover of night, Lin Qi strode cheerfully through an alley leading to Silver Oak Street. He wore a tattered long coat and a filthy sailor's cap. A steel axe was hidden up his sleeve, two daggers were concealed in his boots, one on each side, and his belt bore twelve leather slots holding twelve throwing knives half a foot long.
No matter how one looked at it, this was not the attire of a law-abiding citizen. Yet Lin Qi was familiar with such clothes, loved them to the extreme. Many years ago, in the dark streets and alleys of Berely, Lin Qi had dressed just like this as he led the Iron Fist Brotherhood's brothers into brawls with their sworn enemies.
A group of underage youths, relying on the hot blood and courage in their veins, had hacked out a patch of territory for themselves on Berely's streets. They might have been poorer then, more straitened, but they had truly been happy. Even gnawing black bread