While Su Jiu and Chu Luohen were still chatting on and off, a sudden crash rang out downstairs.
Listening closely, it sounded as though someone was smashing tables and chairs.
Su Jiu narrowed her eyes and exchanged a glance with Chu Luohen. Neither moved; she merely drew the curtain of their private room aside a sliver, just enough for them to see what was happening on the first floor.
Downstairs had already descended into chaos, all because of a group of newcomers.
Every day at this hour, a young girl came to the teahouse carrying a pipa and played some elegant music for the patrons.
Today was no exception, except that she had arrived a little earlier than usual.
The girl had barely entered the teahouse when a group of decidedly menacing people charged in.
Every one of them carried a stick. Had Su Jiu not sensed spiritual qi within them, she could hardly have believed that these people behaving like street thugs were actually cultivators.
Their leader, his face dark, shook a sheet of paper in front of the girl. It was unmistakably a contract.
"You can read what's written here in black and white, can't you?"
With that, the man waved a hand, ordering the others to take her away.
But the girl refused to submit so meekly. Her face set in stubborn defiance, she darted around the shop, determined to resist to the death.
These men were hardly gentle souls, and before long, the entire floor was in an uproar.
In the end, the girl failed to escape their grasp.
One of them tossed her pipa aside and pinned her against a table with her arm twisted behind her back.
At this point, the proprietor emerged. He was already getting on in years and was well known