Chapter 281: Chapter 281: 263 Tavern Chitchat

Early the next morning, just as daylight broke,

Lin Jing stood up, ending his meditation.

After a day’s rest, Lin Jing had finally recovered.

The day before,

the two had agreed to meet Elder Bai at Yuebaolou today.

So, early this morning, Lin Jing woke up.

He quickly got ready and then headed out.

Before long, Lin Jing arrived at Huang Qingling’s courtyard.

Just as he was about to knock, Huang Qingling opened the door and came out.

Seeing Lin Jing, Huang Qingling smiled and teasingly said,

“You’re quite early…”

“You seemed so reluctant yesterday; I was afraid you’d run off by yourself. I was thinking of coming to get you early.”

“I didn’t expect you to be so proactive. Now it’s perfect; I don’t have to go looking for you.”

Huang Qingling’s words left Lin Jing with a wry smile, and he replied,

“You worry too much, daoist Qing Ling. Even if I didn’t want to go, I would have explained it to Elder Yu.”

After hearing this, Huang Qingling seemed quite displeased, pouting as she said,

“Lin Jing, how about we change how you address me?”

“‘Daoist Qing Ling, daoist Qing Ling’—I hear it so often, it’s giving me a headache…”

Lin Jing looked at Huang Qingling and asked,

“Then what should I call you?”

“Qing Ling!”

“Just drop the ‘daoist’ part…”

Huang Qingling decided without hesitation.

Lin Jing’s mouth curved into a smile as he said,

“Alright, daoist Qing Ling.”

“I got it, daoist Qing Ling…”

Having said that, Lin Jing ran off first.

“Ahhhh…”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you, Lin Jing? Stop right there!!!”

Soon after, Huang Qingling realized what was happening, shouted in anger, and chased after him.

……

Arriving at Yuebaolou, Lin Jing and Huang Qingling went all the way to the top floor, where Elder Bai was.

There, besides Elder Bai,

were two others already present.

These two were none other than Zhang Yuan and the Zhang Family’s Golden Core Immortal, Zhang Wu.

It was unclear why they were here.

Upon arriving, Lin Jing first greeted Elder Bai and Elder Yu, and then clasped his hands towards Zhang Wu,

“Senior…”

Zhang Wu had protected him in front of the Wu Cai Immortal before, and hence, Lin Jing was very grateful to this elder of the Zhang Family.

Zhang Wu, with a smile, nodded at Lin Jing.

Then, Lin Jing turned to Zhang Yuan, who was standing on the side, and greeted with a fist and palm salute:

“Brother Zhang.”

Zhang Yuan, smiling, responded with the same gesture,

“Brother Lin, let’s not be so formal with each other.”

Lin Jing smiled and nodded in agreement.

Following that,

Elder Bai started speaking to both Lin Jing and Huang Qingling:

“I will be leaving today to head to the Demon Race Secret Realm. We have already arranged that in two days, Qing Ling and you, Lin Jing, will follow Zhang Wu Immortal to the Secret Realm…”

“Yes, Elder Bai.”

“Understood…”

The two of them responded simultaneously.

Elder Bai nodded then said to Lin Jing and the others:

“That’s all…”

“There’s nothing else to explain.”

“We still have some things to discuss between us; you three can leave now.”

“Yes, Elder Bai…”

After that, Lin Jing and the others left the place.

……

After leaving Yuebaolou, only Lin Jing and Zhang Yuan were left.

Huang Qingling said he had some urgent matters to attend to, then let the two of them go ahead to wait for him at the small tavern across the street.

Subsequently, Lin Jing and Zhang Yuan went to the small tavern opposite Yuebaolou.

This was Lin Jing’s second visit.

The Wang-named Pill Master who came with Lin Jing for the first time died at the hands of Liu Yiyuan’s father.

That man had also wanted to conspire with Liu Yiyuan to ambush Lin Jing. Meeting such fate was indeed his deserved retribution.

The servant of the small tavern had particularly sharp eyes, and upon seeing Lin Jing and his companion approaching, he promptly came out to greet them before they even reached the entrance.

“Gentlemen, please come inside…”

Saying this, the servant led the two guests into the tavern.

They found a spot on the second floor by the window and sat down.

“Gentlemen, what would you like to have?”

The servant asked after guiding them to sit down.

“Bring us a pot of tea first. We are waiting for one more person, and we can order more later, once everyone is here,” said Zhang Yuan to the servant.

“Alright…”

“Kind sirs, please wait a moment…”

After the servant spoke, he went downstairs.

Once the server had left, Lin Jing started a conversation with Zhang Yuan:

“Brother Zhang, it’s been quite some time since I last saw you. How have you been lately?”

Zhang Yuan replied:

“My ancestor taught me a spell some time ago, and I have been in seclusion practicing ever since.”

“Just a few days ago, the ancestor said he wanted to arrange an assessment for me, which is why I came out of seclusion.”

“An assessment…?”

Lin Jing echoed, then suddenly understood that this was probably preparation to entrust Zhang Yuan with a significant responsibility; hence the assessment.

“Congratulations Brother Zhang. If you pass the assessment, the family will likely entrust you with a heavy responsibility. It seems the elder sees you as the future Family Head,” Lin Jing said with a smile.

However, Zhang Yuan seemed not to be happy, instead he turned to look out of the window, as if pondering something.

At this moment, the servant came over with a tray.

The servant first placed the teapot and teacups from the tray onto the table.

Then, he poured the tea into the cups for them and said:

“Gentlemen, please enjoy…”

After finishing, the servant left with the tray.

It was only when the servant had left that Zhang Yuan snapped back to reality.

“Actually, if it weren’t for an accident, the position of Family Head should have belonged to my younger uncle…”

The ‘younger uncle’ Zhang Yuan mentioned must be the newly advanced Golden Core member of the Zhang Family, who got injured while hunting down the wolf-headed Demon Cultivator and eventually perished due to severe injuries.

Zhang Yuan then continued to speak to Lin Jing:

“That injury of my uncle was originally not that severe, even lighter than what the ancestor had suffered…”

“But who would have thought, just when his condition was improving, his injuries suddenly worsened, and he just perished like that…”

“I didn’t even get to see him for the last time.”

“That younger uncle… he was very kind to me…”

After speaking, Zhang Yuan looked desolate, then he picked up the cup of tea on the table and drank a big gulp as if it were alcohol.

The tea was still scalding hot at the moment, yet Zhang Yuan acted as if he felt nothing, and after putting down the tea cup, he continued to look out of the window.

Seeing this, Lin Jing felt it was not appropriate to say more, so he offered a word of comfort:

“On the road to cultivation, such days will come for us all, sooner or later.”

“The departed are gone, Brother Zhang, please try to let go…”

Perhaps Lin Jing’s consolation had an effect, as Zhang Yuan then came back to his senses and reassured Lin Jing:

“Brother Lin, don’t worry, I was just feeling a bit sentimental.”

“I’m glad you are alright, Brother Zhang,” Lin Jing replied.

Following that, Lin Jing did not dare to continue on this topic any further.

Instead, he changed the subject:

“Brother Zhang, you’ve been in seclusion all this time, so you probably don’t know that another Golden Core Immortal has been murdered here in Immortal City.”

Zhang Yuan then looked at Lin Jing with a puzzled expression and asked:

“I really didn’t know about this. Do you know who the victim was, and which family they belonged to?”

“And who would be so bold as to dare strike at a Golden Core Immortal in broad daylight?”

“The victim was a Golden Core Immortal from the Yun Family.”

“And the one who made the move, you know him well…”

“It was none other than that Demonic Path Demon Cultivator!”