Freezing rain was worse than snow. Icicles fell from the sky, coating the rammed-earth road to Immortal Cave County with another layer of ice.
This made it difficult for horses to travel, forcing passersby to seek lodging at nearby inns attached to relay stations and wait for clear skies tomorrow.
Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou had only just led their horses to the entrance when an attendant came forward with a practiced, courteous smile.
"Gentlemen, we only have a few Human Character Class rooms left, forty copper coins a night. If you board your horses, each gets five sheng of feed and a bundle of grass, thirty-five coins altogether."
The feed meant black beans, at five coins per sheng.
"Two rooms..." Before Pan Yunzhou could finish, Ding Songyan interrupted him.
Ding Songyan smiled.
"Senior Brother Pan, one room will do if we squeeze in together. This freezing rain came out of nowhere. Who knows how many more people will need lodging? If we take all the rooms, surely we can't make them sleep beside the kitchen stove in this bitter cold?"
For a moment, Pan Yunzhou froze. It was as though the person before him wasn't Ding Songyan, but Zheng Zhuxi.
"You've thought of everything, Junior Brother Ding." He took out a tenth of a tael of silver and thirty copper coins and gave them to the attendant.
After settling their horses and checking the room, the two returned to the ground floor with their packs, intending to order some food and drink some hot wine.
Every table in the main hall was occupied. Some guests seemed to be traveling merchants, others wealthy men returning home, and others were clearly martial artists roaming the jianghu, many with bodily abnormalities. There were also itinerant performers traveling north and south who seized