Chapter 73: Flower Street Assassination

The night in Xianglong City was destined to be exceptionally lively.

"Someone is following me."

As Qin Mu left the City Lord's Mansion, he immediately noticed he was being followed. The Mansion's cultivators made no attempt to hide their presence, likely because they felt it unnecessary to conceal themselves from a young martial artist like Qin Mu, so they simply followed him openly.

At that moment, a parade of floats was making its way through Xianglong City. Merchants had crafted these floats, some several zhang tall, into the shapes of giant mythical beasts and various deities. Dancers swayed gracefully on the floats, adorned in elaborate costumes resembling the stone statues found in different villages. As Qin Mu walked along the flower-decked street, it felt as if he had entered a world where gods and demons danced wildly.

The flower street was a cacophony of sound, deafeningly loud, packed with people shoulder to shoulder. Besides the lanterns hanging overhead, tall stone pillars lined both sides of the street, each topped with a stone basin filled with fiercely burning lamp oil.

There were also performers on stilts, some towering over ten zhang high, capable of covering six or seven zhang in a single stride. These stilt-walkers, martial artists among them, held a torch in one hand and a gourd of lamp oil in the other. They would take a mouthful of oil and spit it at the torch, unleashing fiery snakes several zhang long.

The place was bustling and prosperous, yet it retained the wild, untamed essence of the Great Ruins.

As Qin Mu moved through the crowd, the sky suddenly became incredibly bright. Unbeknownst to him, fine lines had filled the air, crisscrossing and interweaving. These lines then suddenly expanded, transforming into enormous silver dragons that swiftly weaved back and forth above the flower street.

As the silver dragons moved, it became clear they were composed of countless characters, emitting immensely loud, obscure, profound, and incomprehensible demonic sounds as they swam.

Bang, bang.

Intense tremors resonated, accompanied by towering beams of light. These lights struck the darkness above Xianglong City and were instantly absorbed without the slightest ripple. Even terrifying shockwaves vanished without a trace into the darkness, like clay oxen entering the sea.

The crowd below grew even more boisterous, erupting in cheers, completely unaware that what they perceived as fireworks was actually a battle between formidable experts. Fortunately, the shockwaves surged upwards into the darkness; otherwise, countless civilians below would have been injured or killed.

As the silver dragons weaved back and forth, several terrifying figures, resembling gods and demons, appeared in the fleeting flashes of light: Xianglong City Lord Fu Yundi, Black Venerable, the yellow-faced woman, and others, clashing in the sky.

Qin Mu quickly threaded his way through the crowd. This was not a safe place. Although the impacts from the experts' battle were directed upwards, what if they were to suddenly strike downwards?

It would surely result in rivers of blood and countless corpses!

Thunderous roars continuously echoed above Xianglong City, moving swiftly, now in the east, now in the west, darting like lightning.

Behind him, the City Lord's Mansion cultivators pursued him. Even as Qin Mu weaved through the crowd, he couldn't shake them off.

"Tonight's events are truly strange. But I've caused trouble; I couldn't suppress my murderous intent and killed the City Lord's son. I must inform Granny and Blind Grandpa quickly so we can leave this place soon!"

Just as Qin Mu was about to quicken his pace, a dragon's roar came from behind him. A cultivator, with a green dragon coiling around his body, lunged at him. The green dragon weaved through the crowd, still six or seven zhang away, about to pounce on him!

Qin Mu was about to dodge when, at that moment, a white silk sash descended from a building beside the street, wrapped around the cultivator's neck, lifted him from the crowd, and pulled him into an upstairs room.

Several young women rushed forward, hidden knives in their sleeves, and stabbed him in the chest.

Qin Mu looked up; it was the same young women who had invited him to join them when he first entered the city.

He continued walking. As he passed an alley, a cultivator wearing a straw hat inside shook his body as he saw Qin Mu pass. A monstrous wave rose from the alley out of thin air, like a giant snake, opening its mouth to bite Qin Mu. Hidden within the wave were silver fish, likely spirit weapons.

At that very moment, next to the alley was a blacksmith's forge. The blacksmith inside was a giant, some one zhang six or seven chi tall, who was forging a long bimetallic saber. The hilt was one zhang five chi long, and the blade was one zhang six chi long. The giant grabbed the saber and, with a thump, thrust it through the wall into the alley, piercing the straw-hatted cultivator's chest and pinning him to the wall.

The giant blacksmith then pulled out the saber, wiped off the blood, and resumed his forging, the flames in his forge roaring.

Qin Mu paused, then continued walking. The flower street was filled with the deafening sound of gongs and drums, and figures leaped like flies across the rooftops of the buildings on both sides—cultivators from the City Lord's Mansion, rapidly approaching Qin Mu.

One of the cultivators leaped down. Before he even landed, a snake in a nearby snake charmer's cage suddenly extended its head, which grew to an immense size, opening its mouth to swallow the descending cultivator. It then shrunk back to its normal size and returned to its cage.

The other cultivators landed and moved through the crowd. One passed a wine shop, where the shop assistant, who had been happily watching the parade floats, suddenly picked up a large wine jar and, without a word, slammed it over the cultivator's head. The cultivator fell into the jar, his flesh and bones instantly dissolving, turning into a jar of wine.

The wine shop assistant then put the jar away and sealed its opening.

Other cultivators from the City Lord's Mansion met various fates: some encountered a drunkard in the crowd who spat fire at them, burning them to ash; others met assassins who slit their throats amidst the throngs; some were embraced by women on the floats and vanished without a trace.

As Qin Mu walked, witnessing these scenes, he felt a mix of shock and uncertainty. A considerable number of cultivators from the City Lord's Mansion had come to pursue him, yet they all died silently within the crowd.

"Who exactly is helping me? Could it be the Heavenly Devil Cult? Does the Heavenly Devil Cult really have such immense power in this city?"

He arrived at the inn and was about to enter when he suddenly saw the blind man.

Next to the inn was a gambling house. The blind man was being dragged out by two men in black, then thrown onto the ground. One of the black-clad men kicked the blind man hard in the rear and spat, "You're blind, yet you dare to cheat right in front of us? Do you think we're blind too?"

Qin Mu hurried over. The blind man had already picked himself up, brushed off his backside, and called into the gambling house, "My bamboo staff!"

The gambling house door creaked open, and a bamboo staff was thrown out, hitting the blind man squarely on the forehead.

The blind man picked up his staff and laughed, "My luck wasn't good this time, but next time I guarantee you won't even notice I'm cheating, and I'll surely win back my capital with interest! Mu'er, is that you? By the way, I saw something interesting tonight. I saw a big female bird dressed up beautifully, going out for a stroll, with a small male bird following along."

Qin Mu was puzzled and said, "Just two birds, what's so strange about that? Blind Grandpa, let's go back to the inn."

The two returned to their inn room, where Granny Si's astonished cry reached them. Qin Mu quickly entered and saw Granny Si holding a money bag, looking utterly surprised.

Qin Mu stared blankly, then quickly pushed open the window to look outside. He saw the silver dragons formed from the Grand Creation Heavenly Devil Scripture still battling terrifying experts above Xianglong City. He turned back to see Granny Si in the room, which confused him greatly.

"Could the Cult Master's wife I met at the City Lord's Mansion not have been Granny Si?"

Feeling increasingly strange, Qin Mu smiled and said, "Granny, did you just get back? I brought some food for you and Blind Grandpa." With that, he took out the oil-paper package, placed it on the table, and gently unfolded it.

Granny Si's dim, elderly eyes showed a touch of emotion. She sat down, trembling slightly, and laughed, "Mu'er is certainly filial. But what's this bag of dragon coins about?"

Qin Mu looked at her eyes, feeling puzzled. Granny Si's gaze was indeed very similar to that of the Heavenly Devil Cult Master's wife, and the scent of rouge on her was identical.

But then, why were there still silver dragons formed from the Grand Creation Heavenly Devil Scripture outside?

He composed himself and recounted his experience in the alley.

Granny Si's expression was strange. She stammered, "You earned over three thousand dragon coins with just one? If I had known you had so much money, Granny would have been out indulging herself long ago, and wouldn't have needed to swindle food and drink."

Qin Mu then described what happened when he encountered the beautiful woman in the City Lord's Mansion, saying, "Granny, I killed the City Lord's son. This place is not safe for us to stay; we must leave as quickly as possible!"

Granny Si pulled a jade hairpin from her hair and waved her hand. Suddenly, a fine thread flew in from outside the window. The thread automatically spun around the jade hairpin, forming a ball of thread in a single breath. She tossed it into a basket and chuckled, "I turned the Xianglong City Lord's wife into a cow, and you killed his son. This City Lord really is unlucky. But there are even worse things waiting for him; he's committed too many evils, so this is his due. These dragon coins you earned yourself, keep them; they might be useful someday."

Outside, earth-shattering roars echoed. One voice, unmistakably Black Venerable's, sharply cried, "The Cult Master's wife has escaped!"

"Search everywhere, quickly! You must find her!"

"It's completely dark outside; that devil woman can't escape the city!"

The blind man listened to the commotion outside, then suddenly said, "That young General Qin, who uses the surname Qin, is staying here and not leaving. He carries the Yong River Geographic Map, so he's naturally waiting for the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang. The Imperial Preceptor is preparing to wage war on the Great Ruins. Xianglong City will be the first target. The fact that young General Qin is staying at the City Lord's Mansion indicates that City Lord Fu Yundi has already reached an agreement with him. At that time, Xianglong City will be the first stronghold for attacking the Great Ruins. This city is large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of troops."

Granny Si smiled, "So, Fu Yundi is going to die."

The blind man nodded, "He must die. Mu'er killed his son. If Mu'er leaves the city, he will surely pursue him, and that will be his end. The Great Ruins is not a place where the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang can set foot. He'd best go back where he came from."

Qin Mu looked at the blind man, then at Granny Si, wondering what scheme they were plotting.

However, it was strange that Granny Si never used to bring the blind man with her when she entered a city, yet this time she did. Qin Mu hadn't thought much of it before, but now, upon reflection, there was something very odd about it.

The blind man had been in the gambling house the entire time and hadn't left; how could he possibly know what happened in the City Lord's Mansion?

Or rather, was the blind man also in the City Lord's Mansion at that time?

"Mu'er, go to sleep early. Granny might just be the City Lord of Xianglong City tomorrow!"

Qin Mu slept outside, while Granny Si slept in the inner room. Just as Qin Mu was feeling drowsy, he suddenly heard Granny Si tossing and turning in the inner room, whispering excitedly, "Too excited to sleep! Tomorrow, I'll not only bring Xianglong City's dragon pillars home but even the entire city will bear my surname, Si! No, I really can't sleep, hee hee hee hee..."