Chapter 278: Chapter 274: Fulong Inn

"Big Brother!"

Lieu Yahan, the young boy in fine clothes, hopped down from the carriage and ran cheerfully toward Ye Xing. Lieu Nuoning and the middle-aged woman, Aunt Qing, followed behind the boy and walked over as well.

"Alright, let’s go," Ye Xing said with a small smile.

The group immediately headed for the city gates, preparing to enter.

The Southern Tang Country was comprised of thirteen provinces in total. Central Cloud Province was one of them, neighboring Red Sun Province.

This Central Cloud City was the main city of Central Cloud Province and was exceptionally prosperous. Carriages and pedestrians filled the streets in an endless, bustling stream.

"Meat buns! Freshly baked meat buns, only one copper coin each!"

"Miss, this is all top-grade rouge and powder..."

"This mask is so cool! How much is it?"

"Huh? Boss, what is this thing you’re selling?"

"Hehe, haven’t seen one before, have you? This is called an ’Ai-mu-pi-san.’ It can play lots of wonderful tunes. It came over from Red Sun Province, and it’s quite expensive."

"Candied haws! Candied haws! Sweet and delicious candied haws, come and get ’em!"

"Don’t miss out, folks! A complete, undamaged pelt from a Fourth-level Purple Flying Fox..."

The streets were lined with stalls, and the air was filled with the rising and falling sounds of hawkers’ cries and people haggling.

It was now evening. The setting sun hung in the sky, dyeing the clouds a fiery crimson. The last rays of twilight shone down upon the streets and rooftops, coating every pedestrian and roof tile in a splendid golden light.

"Young Master Ye, Miss, it’s getting late. We should find an inn first and set out again tomorrow," said the middle-aged woman, Aunt Qing.

"Yes, let’s find an inn then," Ye Xing nodded.

"Hey, Big Brother, Sister, look! There’s an inn right over there. It’s called the Fu-something Inn. Sister, how do you pronounce that character?" the young boy asked, pointing at the inn ahead.

"That character is ’Lóng,’ as in ’prosperous’!" Lieu Nuoning said with a small smile.

"Oh, so that’s how you write ’Lóng’," the young boy said, tracing the character in the air with his finger as he walked, practicing how to write it. "Fulong Inn!"

The group of four immediately headed toward the nearby Fulong Inn.

The first floor of the inn was filled with square tables, with many people gathered in small groups, eating, drinking, and chatting around wooden tables.

Ye Xing, Lieu Nuoning, and the other two found an empty table, sat down, and ordered some dishes for dinner.

The inn served food very quickly. In just a short while, a waiter came over carrying a wooden plate.

"Honored guests, your food is here. Please enjoy!" The waiter placed the bowls and dishes from the wooden plate onto the table before leaving with the plate.

"Haha, time to eat, time to eat! I’m starving!" The young boy in fine clothes picked up his chopsticks, ready to grab some food.

"Wait!" Ye Xing suddenly stopped the young boy. He looked at the dishes, his brow furrowed, and said to Lieu Nuoning, "Miss Nuoning, may I borrow your silver hairpin for a moment?"

"My silver hairpin?" Lieu Nuoning’s beautiful eyes showed confusion. For a moment, she didn’t understand what Ye Xing wanted to do, but she still took the hairpin from her hair and handed it to him.

Ye Xing took Lieu Nuoning’s silver hairpin and stirred it in the food a few times.

Soon, the silver-white hairpin began to turn black at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Just as I thought. It’s poisoned," Ye Xing said calmly. He had long since memorized the Five Poison Sect’s *Five Poison Heart Sutra* until he knew it by heart, making him something of an expert when it came to poisons. The perpetrator’s methods weren’t particularly sophisticated—they might have fooled most, but they couldn’t fool Ye Xing’s discerning eye. He had sensed something was wrong with the food with just a single glance.

"Poison." "It’s poisoned!"

"How... how could there be poison in the food!"

Lieu Nuoning and the young boy were both stunned, their eyes filled with terror. Aunt Qing’s face paled drastically, her expression turning wary as she scanned their surroundings.

"Miss Nuoning, have you offended someone? The other party wants you dead," Ye Xing said. "Their poisoning technique isn’t very skilled, but the poison itself is extremely potent. A single bite would be fatal."

"Offended someone? No, we’ve always kept to ourselves in town and never caused trouble for anyone," Lieu Nuoning murmured, her pretty face pale. "’The First Madam? Aunt Qing, do you think it could be the First Madam who wants to kill us?’"

"Heh, you’re overthinking it, Miss." The middle-aged woman’s eyes flickered as she hid a trace of worry and quickly reassured her, "We only have some disagreements with the First Madam. She has no reason to kill us."

As they were speaking, the waiter from the inn came running over.

"Honored guests, why have you stopped eating? Has something happened?" the waiter asked.

"The food is poisoned! How do you expect us to eat it?" the young boy said indignantly.

"Oh? Is that so?" A sinister glint flashed in the waiter’s eyes. He quickly pulled a dagger from his waist and thrust it toward the young boy’s heart.

The dagger gleamed with a cold, sharp light. The young boy’s face turned deathly pale, his big, dark eyes filled with terror.

"You’re courting death!"

A cold light flashed in Ye Xing’s eyes. With a CLANG, his Cyan Blade Treasure Sword flew from its sheath. A flash of cyan light, as fast as the wind, slashed forward.

SQUELCH!

A pained scream rang out as a spray of crimson blood flew through the air. Ye Xing had severed the waiter’s entire arm, dagger still in hand.

"Ah, murder!"

The sudden turn of events terrified the other patrons, who all fled the inn in a panic.

Lieu Nuoning and her brother Lieu Yahan were even paler than before. Aunt Qing’s gaze was heavy as she stood guard protectively beside the siblings.

At that moment, the waiter was clutching his severed arm and screaming, his face twisted in agony.

"Speak. Who sent you?"

Ye Xing’s gaze was indifferent as he stepped on the waiter’s chest and demanded.

"To think there was an expert here... I was worried I’d get caught up in this. Heh heh, those two little bastards will die, no doubt." The waiter’s pale face twisted into a vicious smile. His mouth moved slightly, and a trickle of black, poisoned blood seeped from the corner of his lips. He had bitten down on a poison sac hidden in his teeth and committed suicide.

’In truth, even without asking, I’ve already guessed who sent him. Based on what the children said earlier, I can basically confirm it was that First Madam, Mrs. Dong. She clearly wants the siblings killed before they can reach the Golden Scale Imperial City. After all, Lieu Yahan is the first-in-line heir of the Lieu Family. If he successfully reaches the Imperial City, it will likely cause her considerable trouble.’

Fulong Inn was just an ordinary inn, and most of its patrons were common people. After this sudden assassination attempt, many of the guests had been scared away.

The waiter’s corpse lay on the floor, dark red blood trickling out. On the wooden tables, many half-eaten meals were still steaming, but the inn was now empty of guests.

Only the inn’s Shopkeeper remained, hiding under a table and trembling in terror. When Ye Xing’s cold gaze swept over him, he shivered and stammered, "Honored guests, Great Hero! This... this has nothing to do with me! I just hired that waiter recently, I... I didn’t know he was an assassin! Spare me, Great Hero, please spare my life..."

"What are you panicking for? I never said I was going to kill you," Ye Xing said calmly. "You have rooms here, don’t you? Go prepare two for us."

"Yes, yes, this lowly one will arrange it right away," the Shopkeeper said, nodding eagerly.

At the side, a thought crossed Aunt Qing’s mind, and she hurriedly said to Ye Xing, "Young Master Ye, we are out in the open while our enemies are in the shadows. We don’t even know how many there are. I’m afraid this inn isn’t safe. We should go stay at the Wind and Cloud Inn instead."

The Wind and Cloud Inn was the number one inn in the Martial Arts Continent. Its influence spread across hundreds of countries and countless cities, and its power was immense. Few people dared to cause trouble or commit murder in the Phoenix Cloud Inn. In contrast, Fulong Inn was just a very ordinary, small inn. They had chosen it earlier simply because it was close and they hadn’t anticipated any danger. Now, after facing consecutive assassination attempts, Aunt Qing was thoroughly panicked and immediately suggested that finding the Wind and Cloud Inn in the city would be safer.

"No need to go through all that trouble. We’ll stay here," Ye Xing said calmly.

"But—" Aunt Qing couldn’t help but feel anxious.

"Don’t worry. Since I gave my word, I will definitely protect the two of them," Ye Xing said. "If anyone comes to harm you, if one comes, I’ll kill one. If two come, I’ll kill a pair!"

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