Chapter 56 — Changhe City
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 6
Walking through Changhe City, the three saw that the dwellings and the people's dress of the East Sea region were much the same as in the Central Plains. This place had always been a hub of the East Sea area, where traveling merchants and wayfarers mostly stopped to rest and trade. But of late, many cultivators had appeared in the city—even now, walking the streets, they saw many people in the garb of different sects coming and going. Who knew whether they too meant to go to Liubo Mountain?
Zhang Qingyue and Shitou conferred on the side and decided to find a small inn here, stay the night, and set out for Liubo Mountain first thing the next morning. Having agreed, they turned to look at Bili standing nearby. In fact, when the two had been talking, they had deliberately raised their voices, assuming that Bili, standing right beside them, must have heard every word.
To their surprise, Bili seemed utterly unaware, standing there expressionless, her lovely eyes fixed on the passersby in the street, showing no reaction at all. Helpless, Zhang Qingyue had to screw up his courage, step forward, and ask, "Miss Bili, what do you think of that plan?"
Bili started, as if startled, and only then drew her gaze back from the distance down the street.
Zhang Qingyue saw her brows knit slightly, saw her hesitate in silence—it did not look like deliberate coldness toward him, but rather as though she had seen something puzzling. He could not help asking, "What is it?"
Bili's gaze drifted and she looked into the distance again. Zhang Qingyue followed her eyes and saw only the coming and going of pedestrians in the street, among them many oddly dressed folk, presumably cultivators of the Way—but what she was looking at, he could not tell.
Bili was silent a moment, then turned her head. "What did you ask me?"
Zhang Qingyue then carefully told her of the plan he and Shitou had discussed to stay a night at an inn. Seeing Bili give no answer, and glancing at Shitou still standing some distance off, he lowered his voice. "You—what do you plan to do next? You can't very well come with me to meet my master! I see many followers of the righteous path in Changhe City. If your identity is exposed, it will be dangerous!"
Bili looked at him and suddenly said, "Are you worried about my safety, or afraid I'll get you into trouble?"
Zhang Qingyue froze. He raised his eyes to Bili and saw her bright eyes, clear as water, gazing at him. Deep in his heart, something suddenly skipped.
Bili suddenly smiled, turned, and walked off. Shitou came over from a distance, glanced at Bili, and said to Zhang Qingyue, "Well? What did Miss Bili say?"
Before Zhang Qingyue could answer, Bili had already turned back ahead of them, a faint smile on her face—rare these past days—and said, "Didn't we say we were going to an inn? Aren't you coming?"
Zhang Qingyue and Shitou both started, then exchanged a glance. Shitou's face showed admiration; he secretly gave Zhang Qingyue a thumbs-up and said, "Brother Zhang, you really have a knack—a few words and you've got this young lady in good spirits!"
Zhang Qingyue, inexplicably praised by Shitou, wanted to explain but did not know where to begin. He could only follow Bili silently with Shitou, yet in his heart a thought had already turned over: was his entanglement with this woman of the demon cult truly already too deep?
By Zhang Qingyue and Shitou's reckoning, any small inn would do for a night's lodging. But as they walked, they watched Bili, without a backward glance, enter an inn called the Sea Cloud Pavilion—an establishment that, by any measure, was more than ten times as luxurious and spacious as the "small inn" they had imagined.
Zhang Qingyue and Shitou exchanged looks, but seeing Bili go inside, they had no choice but to follow.
Along the way Zhang Qingyue whispered, "Brother Shi, do you have enough silver on you? I have only four taels..."