Chapter 306 - Hope Your Day Gets Better

Clap-! Clap-! Clap-!

The applause from the crowd seemed to drag on for eternity, raining down mercilessly upon Lu Tianzi's eardrums as it tested his patience to the limit.

Damn old hag!

Lu Tianzi cursed in his heart.

Just a moment ago, he had been certain that he had come to the right place, but now everything had changed.

Well to be fair, it could still be the right place, just that it was partaking in such unorthodox activities at the same time. However, buying poison materials was already the last thing on his mind right now.

"Hahaha all right, all right. Quieten down, everyone. It seems that your warm welcome has caused him to be at a loss," the well dressed man laughed before turning to Lu Tianzi. "White Griffin, why don't you come with me? Let's have a short chat."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lu Tianzi hurriedly waved his hands. "I am short on time today, so I am just here to take a look. I will surely return again when I have more time on hand. It is not too late for us to have our chat then."

"Oh? Is that so?" the man certainly did not expect to be turned down.

"What are you saying, White Griffin?" Old Harpy nudged him with her elbow. "How can you give up on such a wonderful opportunity? You have to know that not just anybody can have a private chat with Aged Crow even if they want to!"

Lu Tianzi had to take in a deep breath to control his irritation.

"It is unfortunate, but I would have to take my leave," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards the crowds.

"Please hold on a minute, White Griffin!" the well dressed Aged Crow called out before Lu Tianzi could turn to leave.

Aged Crow then leapt from the platform, jumping over the entire crowd to land on the ground near Lu Tianzi.

"If my actions just now offended White Griffin in any way, I sincerely apologise. I thought that this manner of introduction would please you, but it seems like I was wrong," Aged Crow kept his volume to a soft whisper. "If White Griffin insists on leaving, I certainly will not stop you. But let's exchange communication marks at least, so that we will be able to contact you from now on."

"Communication marks?" Lu Tianzi looked at Aged Crow in surprise.

"That's right," Aged Crow continued. "It is a sensitive period in Bog Town right now so it is not convenient for our leader to be present. But with your communication mark, our leader can at least contact you remotely."

"I see, that's fine then," Lu Tianzi nodded.

After hearing what Aged Crow had said in his speech, Lu Tianzi had more or less figured out that this cult-like organisation was probably the source of the unrest in Bog Town.

And despite how influential he was, it seemed like Aged Crow was not the leader of the organisation.

That was only natural as well.

Even if Bog Town was under the protection of the Divine Storm Sect, how could an organisation led by a mere Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artists ever stand up against the noble families?

Lu Tianzi did not know about the other families, but just the Dongran Family alone had at least two Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists.

If they so wanted to, either one of them would be capable of flattening this whole bunch in less than half an hour's time!

But since he had no idea just how strong this leader of theirs actually was, it would be best for Lu Tianzi to never step foot into this house again.

In any case, Old Harpy that damn old hag was the only one who knew how he looked, so the risk was not too great. All he had to do was to be constantly aware of his surroundings from now, making sure that he strictly avoided wherever Old Harpy was at.

While it would be troublesome, with his level of perception, this was not a difficult task at all.

That way, unless Old Harpy had some way of reproducing how he looked, nobody would ever be able to recognise him in the flesh.

On the other hand, exchanging communication marks was fine with him.

After all, he could easily ignore every single message that Aged Crow or this leader of theirs sent to him, and there was absolutely nothing the other party could do about it.

With that, Lu Tianzi and Aged Crow recorded each other's communication marks.

Aged Crow personally opened the door for Lu Tianzi, who stepped out immediately.

Old Harpy remained in the house, showing no intention whatsoever to follow Lu Tianzi out.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi paused for a moment before turning back to Aged Crow. "Just to check, you guys are not really selling poison materials, are you?"

"Haha, what are you talking about?" Aged Crow laughed. "Of course not."

"Right," Lu Tianzi sighed inwardly. "Farewell then."

"Farewell, and may we meet again soon."

"May we meet again soon," Lu Tianzi repeated before turning around and walking away.

This time, he was determined to find a real shop that sold the materials he needed.

And he would do so himself, without the help of others!

"Aged Crow, why are you giving him this much attention?" Bald Falcon walked up to him and asked. "He might be from outside of Bog Town, but that doesn't change anything, does it?"

Aged Crow glanced over at Bald Falcon before snorting. "Idiot! Do you think it is normal that he knew of our code even though he isn't from Bog Town? Would you tell any outsiders of the code?"

"No," Bald Falcon answered uncertainly.

"Do you think anyone in the organisation would tell any outsiders of the code?"

"I don't think so…"

"Exactly!" Aged Crow grabbed Bald Falcon by his broad shoulders. "Nobody in the organisation will do so. Given that, why do you think he still knows of the code?"

"Erm…" Bald Falcon thought long and hard. "Why is it?"

Aged Crow retracted his hands from Bald Falcon in disappointment. "Damn it, you really are clueless. Go figure it out yourself, idiot. There are more important things that I need to tend to right now!"

***

"Welcome back, Master."

The servants greeted respectfully as Master Dongran entered the residence.

"Fetch me some tea," Master Dongran ordered before taking his seat in the front hall.

"Yes, Master!" the servant immediately hurried off to prepare, almost bumping into Madam Dongran while rushing out of the door. "Ah! I'm sorry, Madam!"

"Don't worry about it," Madam Dong casually patted the young girl on her head before entering the front hall. "How was it? What did the Town Lord say?"

"The situation is worse than we thought," Master Dongran let out a long sigh. "I will fill you in about it later. Did anything happen while I was away?"

"Nothing important," Madam Dongran shook her head with a smile.

"How is there nothing important? Madam was reprimanded by Old Master Dongran!" her personal servant said in indignation.

"Gui'er!" Madam Dongran glared at her in caution, causing the young lady to look away in guilt.

Master Dongran frowned. "Gui'er, speak. What happened this time?"

"The Dongluo Family sent gifts to thank Master Dongran for helping out Dongluo Xi yesterday night, but Housekeeper Heng is unhappy that Madam accepted the gifts so he snitched on her to the Old Master," Gui'er kept her voice as low as possible, not wanting anyone else to hear her.

"So that's what happened," Master Dongran sighed before walking over to Madam Dongran and caressing her face with his hand. "I'm sorry, I should have thought through my actions."

"No, it's not your fault," Madam Dongran smiled in response. "It's just a short talk anyway, I didn't lose anything from it."

"Yeah, a short two hours scolding…" Gui'er mumbled at the side.

"Gui'er!" Madam Dongran snapped at the young girl who quickly looked away.

"Hmm?" Master Dongran furrowed his brows as a message came in through his communication ring.

"What is it?" Madam Dongran asked.

"It is from the other noble families, they have gathered and wish to meet me right now," Master Dongran explained.

"They must have heard about your meeting with the town lord," Madam Dongran speculated. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"That would be good, I will fill you in along the way then," Master Dongran nodded. "In any case, we would need to get them involved soon anyway. The fact that they are making the first move might actually be beneficial for us."

"It is as you say," Madam Dongran smiled.

***

Lu Tianzi walked through the streets, slowly making his way back to the Dongran Residence with heavy steps.

He was not feeling physically tired, but mentally drained.

Everytime he closed his eyes, he could vividly recall the seemingly neverending applause from the crowds as they welcomed him into their shady organisation.

Damn old hag!

The whole reason why he ended up in that house was because the old lady led him there, knowing that it was not where he wanted to go.

Why do people do such things?

What was she even trying to get out of it?

Or did she think that someone who was scammed into visiting their gathering would be convinced into joining?

What a joke!

It was a good thing that he at least managed to find a few of the materials he needed after leaving the house. Otherwise, he would really have wasted the day away because of that old lady!

"Brother, are you all right?"

A curious voice suddenly came from beside the distracted Lu Tianzi, causing him to look over in surprise.

It was a young man sporting short brown hair and dressed in a long heavy cloak. He looked to be in his late twenties, but judging from his Third Cycle Origin Core realm cultivation level, he was likely older than he looked.

"You aren't looking too good," the young man scanned Lu Tianzi's face meticulously. "Then again, there doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with you, so I am not too sure. Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I am fine," Lu Tianzi gave a weak smile. "Thank you for asking though."

"Don't worry about it. When you have been on the road for long enough, you naturally reach out to everyone you see along the way. After all, you never know when you would be the one who needs help one day," the young man's smile was far brighter in comparison to Lu Tianzi's.

"That's true," Lu Tianzi agreed. "If there's nothing else…"

"Wait, actually there is something I would like to ask," the young man hurriedly called out. "This is a little embarrassing to say, but here goes! I am not a poison master but I am trying to collect poison materials, some which cannot even be found on Wondertrap Mountain. Would you perhaps know where I can find them?"

"…" Lu Tianzi was speechless.

Only a few hours had passed since then, but that the old woman had told everyone about what happened, such that his story had already become a joke that was being spread around town?

That must be it!

Apart from that reasoning, he simply could not see any reason why this stranger would suddenly walk up to him and mock him like that.

Rather than that, he must be going up to everyone and spreading this nonsense!

That damn old woman!

Right now, Lu Tianzi could only feel relieved that he had at least been wearing a mask and using an alias. Otherwise, who knew how much worse things would get?

Nanlan Qianxue would surely make fun of him for days!

"Seems like this brother here is unaware," the young man clasped his fists towards Lu Tianzi. "Then I shall not bother you anymore. Farewell, and I hope your day gets better!"

Lu Tianzi looked at the young man, then at the young man's raised hands that had a small bracelet around each wrist.

These identical bracelets were a shiny black and embedded with a silver emblem resembling that of a raven. With a single glance, Lu Tianzi could tell that these bracelets were not cheap by any measure.

To think that even a well off Third Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist would partake in such childish rumour spreading, having fun at the expense of others!

Hope my day gets better?

Thanks to you, it probably couldn't get any worse than this!