257.1 – Motley Crew
Xia Xue suddenly raised her head, probably to observe the sky.
The sun is slowly setting in the west, announcing that nightfall is around the corner.
“Well, we have to find a place to stay first! If we can’t find a place, we’ll have have to sleep on the street and pretend to be disciples of the Beggars’ Union.”
Xia Xue left the wall and said indifferently without looking at anyone. She did not forget to make fun of disciples of the Beggars’ Union, whom she dislikes.
Before the others could answer, Xia Xue took the lead and started walking to the town’s center. Xue Qilin and Li Wanting could only follow behind her at a rapid pace.
They have arrived in the town late in the afternoon.
Originally, they wanted to find a place to stay immediately after arriving. But shortly after they entered the town, they met mechanism weapons escorted out of the town by an army and stopped to watch for a while. Then Li Wanting went out of control and caused a disturbance, which delayed them quite a bit. Now a corner of the sky is already ablaze, yet they still don’t have a place to stay.
Although they knew since before that the only inn in the town is already full, but they still made a trip there to try their luck and see if anyone checked out.
Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have much luck.
They made a trip in vain and finally got a reply from a shop assistant, “There are no more rooms left.”
“Are there really no rooms?”
In the crowded and noisy lobby, the unresigned Xia Xue asked the shop assistant whom she called over. The latter replied with an embarrassed look on his face, helpless.
“Esteemed guests, you came very late. Our establishment is the only inn in the town. The day after the discovery of the School of Mo’s remains, our establishment was already full… As you can see, the people who arrived later can only stay in the stable and the hall.
Listening to the shop assistant, Xue Qilin looked around.
They are in the inn’s hall.
This place is supposed to be used as a canteen, but now there are no signs of tables and chairs here. Instead, there are dozens of quilts spread on the floor, and they all have owners.
Evidently, this space has been transformed into a makeshift living quarters for guests to reside. Even the hall is full of people, let alone the rooms.
Only, it’s a little strange that Xue Qilin can’t see disciples of the other four great sects. There’s no need to talk about the Shadow Gate. But it’s a little strange that even disciples from the One Dao Cult, the Beggars’ Union, and the Spirit Moon Valley cannot be seen anywhere.
“We can only see if there are any houses that can be rented. How annoying…”
As she muttered thusly, Xia Xue wrinkled her eyebrows and assumed an expression of distaste.
“The chances are slim. The three of you really came very late. Our town is small, with only a few hundred households. However, there are too many outsiders, roughly several thousand people… They have already rented all the places with a roof. Even the broken temple outside the town is said to be full of people.”
The shop assistant’s words caused Xia Xue to wrinkle her eyebrows tighter.
Xue Qilin tilted her head and asked, puzzled, “Are there really so many people? There’s not even a single empty place?”
“Indeed. Our inn has never been fully booked before…” The shop assistant put on a half helpless, half bitter expression, “I don’t know whether I should be happy for my boss or feel sorry for myself.”
Are we really going to sleep on the street? Xue Qilin wrinkled her face.
“Ah, are we really in trouble…”
“Of course we are!”
While crossing her arms, Xia Xue sneered with her nose and replied so.
She appears to be a little on edge.
As a martial practitioner, although Xia Xue has plenty of experience sleeping outdoors, but she is also a girl and doesn’t like sleeping outdoors.
Perhaps because he felt that Xue Qilin and them are distressed, the shop assistant put forward some suggestions enthusiastically, “Esteemed guests, if you really don’t have where to stay, you might as well put up with it and sleep outdoors outside the town. I’m not trying to brag, but the people here are simple and honest folk. The public security has always been quite good. Moreover, seeing that you are martial practitioners, this shouldn’t be something to care about. … by the way, uncle Huang from the neighboring street seems to be selling camping supplies. He is a tailor by trade. But these days, now that the School of Mo’s secret hall suddenly emerged, there are many people looking for him to make tents. Uncle Huang has earned quite a bit! He’s face has been glowing recently.”
Is he an outgoing character? Xue Qilin wrinkled her nose, and then faced Xia Xue to ask about her opinion.
“Little Xue, what do you think we should do? I think that it’s fine to stay outside for a few days.”
“Ha, of course it’s fine for you! You can sleep like a log no matter where you are.”
“Hey! Isn’t that a bit excessive?! After all, I am –”
“Oh, do you still have that kind of self-awareness?”
In the middle of Xue Qilin’s protest, Xia Xue interrupted her with an enigmatic smile. Li Wanting, who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, unexpectedly scratched her head and butted in to express her opinion, “It doesn’t matter to me. I can sleep wherever…”
Is this a diss? Xue Qilin, who doesn’t know whether to feel angry or amused, took a look at Li Wanting. The latter knitted her eyebrows in perplexion.
“Gosh, it looks like we can only sleep outdoors.”
Fed up, Xia Xue made a decision.
The shop assistant, who has been observing Xue Qilin’s group of three alternately, raised a probing question at this time, hesitant.
“… dear guests, you should be from some big sect, right?”
Although Xue Qilin and them are only wearing ordinary clothes, but whether it is in terms of materials, quality, or tailoring, they are excellent, giving off a sense of unusual value.
If not from a big sect, then how could they possibly come to explore the School of Mo’s secret hall in high-quality clothes? Probably in consideration of this point, the shop assistant guessed that the three are from some big sect.
“Indeed.”
Li Wanting was the one who answered.
After a short pause, she added something superfluous, saying, “We are from the Merak Temple.”
When this remark came out, everyone at the scene simultaneously cast surprised looks at the three people. The shop assistant more so has a blank look on his face.
“Senior Disciple Sister Li, do you know what doing more than what is required is?”
Xia Xue spoke in a helpless tone with a tinge of rebuke.
Is it because Li Wanting’s remark attracted the people’s attention? Xue Qilin doesn’t quite understand why she has such a reaction. After all, their origin is not a secret.
However, what happened next told Xue Qilin the reason —
“… Merak Temple?” The shop assistant repeated the name of the sect absentmindedly, “I seem to have heard of… is it the one from the Five Great Sects?”
When he asked this, everyone at the scene pricked up their ears, and a mixture of hesitation and expectation appeared on their faces, quietly waiting for the answer.
They aren’t sure.
After all, there are so many sects of different sizes in the Hua Dynasty, that it wouldn’t be at all surprising if there is some small sect called Merak Temple or whose name is a homonym of Merak Temple. In fact, Qi Qiqi has previously mentioned to Xue Qilin that there is a small sect called Merak Temple [1].
[1] – the name of the Merak Temple that we all know of is spelled 天璇宫, while the name of this small sect is spelled 天玄宫
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