Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘The lord-rank Linghu Clan’s estate was located in Linghu City, which was founded by them. Outsiders were prohibited from approaching the large eastern area in the city that the estate occupied.
The elders and disciples of the Linghu clan patrolled the area outside of the estate and would appear as soon as outsiders approached. If the outsiders did not resist, they would only be driven away. Needless to say, if the outsiders put up a resistance, the elders and disciples of the Linghu clan would not
hesitate to attack or kill them. For this reason, very few people dared to come to the eastern part of the city. After all, just one careless move could get them killed.
‘The Linghu clan was the most powerful force in Linghu City, after all. Unless it was someone from an emperor-rank force, they would not hesitate to act ruthlessly. Even the lord-rank Hidden Fog Sect and 10,000 Devils Sect were only comparable to the Linghu clan.
‘Even if I know where the Linghu clan’s estate is located, I can’t rashly approach it… I’ll have to think of a way…”
Duan Ling Tian was not in a hurry to act after arriving at Linghu City. He found an inn to stay in before he went out to ask around for the information he needed.
‘It’s not difficult for me to sneak into the Linghu clan’s estate since many of their members go in and out every day. However, due to the size of the estate, it’d still be difficult for me to find Linghu Chu Yin after sneaking in. Moreover, there’s the risk of being discovered before I can find her. Although Im
not a rudimentary King of Gods, there are much stronger powerhouses in the Linghu clan. They have quite a few Lords of Gods, after all…”
After thinking about it briefly, Duan Ling Tian dismissed the idea of sneaking into the Linghu clan’s estate.
‘It seems like I only have two choices for now. First is to wait for Linghu Chu Yin to leave the Linghu clan’s estate so I can confirm her identity. However, this isn’t ideal since I’m not sure if that old woman from before would be with her…’ A hint of fear could be seen on Duan Ling Tian’s face when he
recalled the old woman who accompanied Linghu Chu Yin previously. That old woman was a Lord of Gods; with his current cultivation base, he was definitely not a match for the old woman.
“The second way is to befriend someone from the Linghu clan. It’s best if it’s a direct descendant of the Linghu clan. With this, I’ll be able to openly visit the Linghu clan’s estate. As a friend of a member of the Linghu clan, I don’t have to worry about being attacked by the clan’s powerhouses. As long as that
direct descendant is willing to help me, it shouldn’t be difficult for me to meet Linghu Chu Yin.’
In the end, Duan Ling Tian decided to ask around about the Linghu clan and their descendants.
After half a month, Duan Ling Tian finally found someone from the Linghu clan he could befriend.
The person was Linghu Yun, the fourth son of the current Clan Leader of the Linghu clan. He was only a Ten Directions Celestial Emperor, and it was rumored that due to his internal injuries, he had no possibility of becoming a god. His internal injuries caused him to be unable to cultivate, resulting in the
stagnation of his current cultivation base for the rest of his life. He had sustained the injuries when he blocked a fatal blow for his father in the past. Due to this incident, the Clan Leader of the Linghu clan doted on him a lot even though his cultivation base was only average. The descendants and
members of the Linghu clan took very good care of him as well to curry favor with his father.
‘Since it’s pointless for Linghu Yun to cultivate, he no longer wasted time cultivating. I heard he has a hobby of listening to storytellers in teahouses.’
‘There was a teahouse in Linghu City that was owned by the Linghu clan. It was called Cloud Teahouse. Storytellers would come by every few days to tell stories. It was said that the Linghu clan opened the teahouse so Linghu Yin would have a place to listen to stories. Hence, the teahouse continued
running even though its profit was negligible.
At Cloud Teahouse.
It was rather deserted at the teahouse at this moment. There were only a few dozen guests at this moment.
At the back of the hall, there was a room that was decorated opulently. The chairs and the tables were expensive and exquisite. A curtain covered the entrance room, hiding it from prying eyes.
At this moment, a middle-aged man with a medium build sat cross-legged at one end of the hall. He held a book in one hand while the other hand stroked the goatee on his chin as he said, “The arrogant Lord of Gods who came to the Eastern Ridge Mansion 2,000 years ago intended to conquer the
Eastern Ridge Mansion. Despite his cultivation base, he looked down on the major emperor-rank forces in the Eastern Ridge Mansion. Needless to say, he was easily suppressed by one of the powerhouses from an emperor-rank force and was almost killed. He only managed to survive because he swore on
the Devil Heart’s Blood Oath to serve the emperor-rank force for 10,000 years. And, who was that person?” The middle-aged paused dramatically before he said, “Actually, there was no such person. I made up the entire story…”
The guests in the teahouse rolled their eyes when they heard the middle-aged man’s words.
“This storyteller hired by the teahouse is really terrible! Is there a Lord of God who’s bold enough to challenge an emperor-rank force? Moreover, he didn’t even leave us room for our imaginations and directly told us it’s made up!”
“That’s right. He’s really terrible at storytelling. His stories aren’t immersive at all.”
“Theard he’s very stubborn. The teahouse had offered to pay him a generous number of divine stones if he would just stop telling the audience his story’s made up, but he refused to do so.”
While the guests were discussing among themselves, a purple-clad young man walked into the teahouse. He found an empty table and took a seat, listening to the conversations in his surroundings.
Meanwhile, a young man dressed in a blue brocade robe sitting in front of an exquisitely made table in the private room frowned slightly as he said, “I’ve already told him off so many times, but he refuses to listen. Since he’s so stubborn, tell him to pack up and leave.”
‘The blue-clad young man was very pale, and his voice contained a trace of anger when he spoke.
“Yes, Fourth Young Master,” a middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese clothing said respectfully before leaving the room.
An old man sat next to the blue-clad young man. His eyes were closed, looking as though he was resting, After the middle-aged man left, he opened his eyes and said to the young man with a smile, “Yun, if you make him leave, you won’t have any stories to listen to these few days.”
“So what? It’s just a few days. We’ll be able to find someone new. To be honest, his stories aren’t all bad, but he really likes ruining the mood,” the young man said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back from beating him up if I listen to another story from him again.”
Outside the room.
The middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese clothing approached the middle-aged storyteller who was sitting cross-legged on the stage before he shook his head and said, “The Fourth Young Master asks you to leave. This is your pay for today.”
‘The middle-aged man was the manager of Cloud Teahouse. He knew that the teahouse only existed to relieve the boredom of Linghu Yun, the Fourth Young Master of the Linghu clan.
The Linghu clan could have invited storytellers to their estate, but Linghu Yun liked listening to stories with other people so he could listen to their discussions after the story was finished.
“Most stories are made up! Did you think they were real? How foolish! I have my own principles, and I won’t mislead people into thinking the stories are true!” the middle-aged story teller said angrily as he picked up the divine stones on the ground and left without looking back.
The three tables of guests rolled their eyes as the storyteller left.
The middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese clothing looked at the guests and said apologetically, “Everyone, we apologize for the terrible story today. Don’t worry. We’ll find a better storyteller in a few days.”
“Manager, you’re doing the right thing by looking for another storyteller. Before you hired that man, there have never been less than ten tables of guests coming here to drink tea and listen to stories. Look, there are only four occupied tables today.”
Out of the four tables, one of the tables was occupied by Duan Ling Tian.
When Duan Ling Tian arrived, the storyteller was already at the end of his story. Just based on what he had heard, he could already predict the guests’ reactions.
Although stories were mostly made up, one of the joys of listening to stories was immersing oneself in the story. When one was immersed in the story, one would come up with various theories and speculate about the characters in the stories. What fun would be left if the storyteller directly confessed the
story was made up? What would there be to discuss?
While the manager of Cloud Teahouse spoke to the other guests, Duan Ling Tian rose to his feet and walked to the stage as he asked, “Can I tell a story?”
Although it seemed like Duan Ling Tian was asking his permission, his actions clearly showed otherwise.