Border City

Driving away from Lin City, they headed toward Border City. The vegetation along the way grew sparser and sparser, green gradually replaced by yellow. Yellow sand filled the skies, and people were few and far between.

Bored by the unchanging expanse of yellow, Jiang Ming told Nalan Yu to speed up. Across the yellow wilderness, two White Spirit Steeds, yellowish-white in color, pulled a tawny carriage. Holding the reins, Nalan Yu's white clothes had been stained yellow, and her complexion was gloomy.

Half a month later,

Border City,

The city walls were packed with soldiers, and the gates were tightly shut. Left with no choice, Nalan Yu stopped the carriage.

"Young Master, Border City's gates are closed. I don't know what has happened."

"I know." Jiang Ming led Jiang Naicha out of the carriage. Seeing the dust-covered White Spirit Steeds and the dust-covered Nalan Yu, he smiled softly. He placed his hand on Nalan Yu's sand-filled hair, and pale red spiritual power emerged.

Nalan Yu felt only threads of warmth. Her formerly bedraggled appearance vanished, and in the blink of an eye, she was restored to the image of a fairy in flowing white robes.

Jiang Ming nodded in satisfaction and strode toward the city gates, with the two maids close behind him.

"Who are you people?" A soldier on the wall spotted them and shouted.

"We came from Azure City and are passing through Border City. We wish to enter the city and rest awhile." Jiang Ming wore a smile.

"Wait here." After saying that, he exchanged a few words with the soldier beside him, then turned and ran off.

Jiang Ming heard him clearly. He had said, "Keep an eye on them. I'll go report this."

Before long, the soldier returned with someone clad in spirit armor.

Jiang Ming recognized at a glance that it was low-grade spirit armor, the most worthless kind. He had spirit armor too, and all of it was King-grade or Saint-grade.

Spirit artifacts were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, King-grade, Saint-grade, and Emperor-grade.

"I am Wu Jie, the general guarding Border City. In a few days, the beast tide will begin. Young masters and ladies from Azure City, please return the way you came."

"Open the gates!" Zhang Chengzhen frowned. They had already said they wanted to enter the city, yet this man was still telling them to go back.

Wu Jie frowned as he looked at Jiang Ming. With his Core-Gathering Realm cultivation, he actually could not see through the man before him.

"Open the gates!" At the command, the heavy city gates opened.

Zhang Chengzhen strode inside, with Jiang Naicha following behind him, while Nalan Yu turned back to drive the carriage.

Wu Jie came down to welcome them. "May I know your surname, Young Master? The beast tide is approaching, so please remain in the city and take care."

"Mm, my surname is Jiang."

Jiang? Not one of Azure City's three great families. Still, there was no need to make enemies of people from Azure City.

"Keep going straight. There is an inn ahead, though it surely cannot compare to Azure City's prosperity."

"Thank you." Jiang Ming glanced at him. His compulsory education had left him with basic manners.

The streets truly were desolate. Every household had its doors shut. Jiang Ming arrived at an inn, where the large signboard bore four bold characters: "Fortune Inn."

"Would the young master like to stay the night or dine?" A waiter stepped forward.

"I'm staying. Give me the best room." Jiang Ming tossed out a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone.

The waiter's eyes nearly went blind. That luster, that brilliance, that abundance of spiritual energy—he had only ever seen High-Grade Spirit Stones in his life. How could he possibly have seen a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone?

"Shopkeeper, a young master wants to stay here!"

"You need to shout over such a small matter..." The shopkeeper came out, saw the gleaming Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone, and his eyes lit up as well.

"How many nights does the young master intend to stay?"

"How many nights will this cover?" Jiang Ming gestured.

"Our finest rooms cost ten low-grade spirit stones per night. Your Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone could buy the entire inn. You may stay for as long as you wish, Young Master." The shopkeeper smiled obsequiously.

"Take me to my room, and have the carriage cleaned." He gestured toward the filthy carriage outside.

"Right away!" The waiter immediately agreed and led the carriage toward the rear courtyard.

Led by the shopkeeper, Jiang Ming arrived at the inn's highest floor—the third floor. There were not many rooms on the third floor, only three or four. Their layouts were roughly the same. The rooms were spacious, but each had only one large bed.

After the shopkeeper left, Jiang Ming walked to the bed and lay down. Nalan Yu froze where she stood, while Jiang Naicha stepped forward to remove Jiang Ming's clothes.

Only then did Nalan Yu come to her senses. She poured tea, picked up some fruit, and offered it to Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming frowned. "You still expect me to eat it myself?"

Nalan Yu lowered her head and began feeding him.

Early the next morning,

When Jiang Ming opened his eyes, he saw only Jiang Naicha. The previous night, the two maids had slept beside him, one on each side.

"Where is Yu'er?" Jiang Ming looked at Jiang Naicha beside him.

Looking into his beautiful golden eyes, Jiang Naicha's little face reddened. "She went out to buy breakfast."

Jiang Ming looked at the plain congee on the table and asked, "Didn't the inn prepare food?"

"They did, but she was afraid it would not suit your tastes." Jiang Ming nodded and said nothing more.

Under Jiang Naicha's service, he bathed and changed clothes.

Jiang Ming opened the window and looked out at the empty street. He spread out his spiritual sense but could not find Nalan Yu's trace. His brows furrowed slightly, and his spiritual sense instantly enveloped the entire Border City.

He discovered Nalan Yu's aura in the city center.

"Is the City Lord's Manor in the city center?" Jiang Ming looked at Jiang Naicha. Seeing her blank expression, he came back to himself. The little cat he had raised did not understand such things.

City Lord's Manor

"Young City Lord, she is the maid of that young master from Azure City."

"So what? This is Border City. A mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake, much less when she is only a maid." The Young City Lord said this with a roguish look on his face.

The woman bound to a chair before them, her face filled with panic, was none other than Nalan Yu.

"Keep watch outside!" he ordered the subordinate at his side.

"Hehehe, little beauty, let this young master pamper you properly." With a lecherous look on his face, the Young City Lord walked to Nalan Yu's side, ready to grope her all over.

"Manor Lord!" A subordinate's voice came from outside.

Bang! The doors were shoved open.

"You unfilial bastard!" Xu Kai, Border City's City Lord, stormed in furiously and grabbed Young City Lord Xu Fan by the ear.

"Father! What are you doing? Ow!"

"I could overlook your usual antics, but you dared lay hands on people from Azure City? You're going to anger me to death." Xu Kai wanted to strike him, but restrained himself in the end.

"Father, she's only a maid." Xu Fan was unconvinced. Maids held low status, and he and his friends even traded them among themselves for amusement in private.

"Oh? Only a maid?" Jiang Ming suddenly appeared in the doorway, with Jiang Naicha standing behind him.

"Who are you? How did you get in?" Xu Kai's face was filled with shock and suspicion. He had only heard Wu Jie mention visitors from Azure City; he had never seen them himself.

"You kidnapped my maid, and you still ask who I am?" Jiang Ming laughed in anger. In all his years, no one had ever dared shit on his head.

"Young Master, my dog of a son was muddleheaded for a moment and committed a grave mistake. I hope you will not take it to heart." Xu Kai was exceedingly courteous.

"Untie her already!" he barked at Xu Fan.

Xu Fan ignored Xu Kai completely.

"Young Master, I imagine you are already tired of playing with this maid. I just got a new one today, and she is still a virgin."

Jiang Ming looked at Xu Fan's smugly sleazy face and smiled. "She is the Nalan Clan's second young lady."

Xu Fan said in terror, "Impossible. She is only a maid. Young Master must be joking."

Xu Kai's eyes widened, and he too looked at Jiang Ming hopefully. If she truly was the Nalan Clan's second young lady, their City Lord's Manor would be finished.