Chapter 52: Night of the Hundred Flowers Festival, Entering the City

The night in Linqing City was neither too cold nor too hot. Under the brilliant moonlight, a faint sense of desolation permeated the air for no apparent reason.

It seemed to be because the Hundred Flowers Festival had just passed.

Even though night had fallen, there were still many pedestrians on the streets of the city. Young maidens paused on both sides of the road to observe the varied scenes of life, the street vendors, and the acrobatics—what a lively sight!

Of course, it could not compare to the bustling, roaring crowds of the daytime, yet it could still be called lively.

Along the succession of roads leading from the official highway into the city, through the city gates, and onto the main avenues, bailiffs wearing the official uniforms of Cizhou Prefecture under the Great Gan Dynasty constantly patrolled to maintain order.

Given such scenes in Linqing City, it could hardly be described as chaotic.

Further on lay the pleasure quarters of Linqing City, which grew even more prosperous as night fell.

The people, the objects, and the scenery in the Willow and Blossom Alley constituted the true night of Linqing City.

The roaring voices, the flickering candlelight, the alluring women, and the dissolute young gentlemen entwining intimately pushed the very word extravagance to its absolute limits.

Dull yellow lanterns illuminated the night of Linqing City along the way.

Meanwhile, the Xue residence on the neighboring street was at this moment...

Filled with dirges, pale funeral flowers and mourning wreaths covered the mourning hall. The blood relatives of the Xue family and a crowd of close friends were all immersed in deep sorrow at this moment.

Tonight was the beginning of the Hundred Flowers Festival for the common people of Linqing City.

Yet for the Xue family...

It was the eve of the funeral for their young master, Xue Ting.

In the past, prior to the start of the Hundred Flowers Festival, the Xue family would not only hang lanterns all over the entire street, but also distribute alms widely and give out new clothes.

But tonight.

Only those pale mourning lanterns illuminated the inherently desolate street beneath the brilliance of the bright moon.

Appearing exceptionally desolate and bleak...

"Family head, the ones we hired are White Phoenix and Black Feather, assassins renowned throughout the entire Cizhou. They have even assassinated a fourth-rank pure-blood demon clan member. After tonight, Yang Le will undoubtedly die."

"I don't care whether he is a phoenix or a crow. I only want Yang Le's head. Tomorrow, on the day of my son's funeral, I want to use Yang Le's brain as a burial accompaniment!"

"Rest assured, family head, there will be absolutely no problem with this matter."

"Step down..."

...

After sending away the steward, Xue Tianlong did not go out; he merely closed the chamber door.

Inside the inner room of the Xue residence, Xue Tianlong's eyes were filled with exhaustion and calm. He slowly sat down on an old master's chair, his eyes brimming with emptiness.

Aside from that, there was no other emotion mixed within.

When a person is in a state of extreme grief, there is actually no fluctuation of emotion; the mind becomes mostly a blank slate.

Such was Xue Tianlong's emotional state at this moment.

He was so grief-stricken that even tears could no longer flow from his eyes.

Yesterday, Xue Tianlong was still discussing with Zhang Jun, the Prefect of Cizhou, a plan to capture the human cultivators within Linqing City.

At the same time, he intended to use this Hundred Flowers Festival to lure the humans in.

By then, all the human cultivators captured this year could be refined into great elixirs. Five-tenths of them would be handed over to the Great Gan imperial palace, three-tenths distributed to Zhang Jun, and the remaining two-tenths would be the Xue family's harvest for the entire year.

With this batch of great elixirs, the younger generation of martial cultivators in the Xue family would also obtain a massive amount of cultivation resources.

After discussing the entire plan from top to bottom, Xue Tianlong had returned home.

He was merely waiting for tomorrow's Hundred Flowers Festival to initiate the plan of capturing human cultivators.

Yet, never in his wildest dreams had Xue Tianlong expected...

That the moment he arrived home, startling news was directly piped into his ears.

His beloved son.

The direct descendant of the Cizhou Xue family who held the greatest hope of entering the Zhongzhou main family.

The hope he had meticulously cultivated for over a dozen years.

Was dead.

He had died at the hands of some wild mountain brat named Yang Le, and even his original tiger pelt had been stripped off.

The instant Xue Tianlong saw Xue Ting's corpse, there was nothing left except a pile of skinless bodily fragments.

In a split second, Xue Tianlong snapped.

Endless fury instantly erupted from his eyes.

He wanted Yang Le to die!

He wanted Yang Le's head to serve as burial accompaniment for his beloved son Xue Ting's funeral tomorrow!

Furthermore, once tonight passed.

He would use the blood of all humans in Cizhou...

Together as the price for the death of his beloved son, Xue Ting.

...

"Master, the Hundred Flowers Festival! It's been so long since it's been this lively."

"The Hundred Flowers Festival? Is there any special meaning to it?"

"Nothing much. Legend has it that the Mother of a Hundred Flowers ascended to the immortal realm on this very day a hundred years ago, but no one takes it seriously. Mostly, children just look forward to eating candied haws during this festival."

Linqing City was far livelier than Zhushan Mountain.

Up on Zhushan Mountain, there were only Li Qi'er and Yang Le in that solitary night courtyard.

Oh, that's not right; now that troublesome woman Xu Ruhyan had to be added to the mix.

Linqing City, however, was completely different.

Apart from today being the Hundred Flowers Festival, even on ordinary days there were plenty of tourists wandering the streets.

As Yang Le just stepped into the city, the eyes of Li Qi'er who followed closely behind instantly flashed with a brilliant light.

She...

Had not visited such a lively place for a very long time.

"Oh, I see."

After listening to the origins of the Hundred Flowers Festival, Yang Le merely pondered for a brief moment before quickening his pace: "Just a festival that children look forward to."

Yang Le had not come to Linqing City today to celebrate a festival, but rather to kill people.

If this Hundred Flowers Festival held some special significance, Yang Le might have cared a little.

But if it was just an ordinary festival, Yang Le truly had no mood to waste time here.

"Master, I'm looking forward to it too!"

Seeing Yang Le quicken his pace, Li Qi'er hurriedly caught up: "I can be a child too."

"So, out with it. What do you want?"

Before Li Qi'er could finish her sentence, Yang Le had already stopped walking. He realized that Li Qi'er definitely had something on her mind: "I'll give you a quarter of an hour."

"Buy candied haws!"

Li Qi'er didn't beat around the bush now. Looking at Yang Le before her, she went straight to the point: "Master, give me money, I want to eat candied haws."

"Next time it's something like this, just go do it. Don't beat around the bush."

With that, Yang Le directly handed over the money. Although he found it somewhat hard to understand why Li Qi'er would do such a childish thing.

Yang Le's mindset was actually very simple.

Not understanding, but supporting.

"Being able to act like a child is the most comfortable feeling."

This time Li Qi'er didn't detour, directly explaining: "Having left home for many years, I haven't eaten these candied haws in a long time. I just purely want to eat them."

"Mhm, eat if you want to."

Yang Le didn't delve too deeply into the reason behind her explanation. Instead, his gaze shifted toward the depths of the street, and even a trace of vigilance surfaced in his eyes.

The reason was simple.

Right here...

Yang Le actually ran into an acquaintance.

Well, not quite an acquaintance; he merely knew the name.

Before him, that fellow Qu Zhe had actually appeared right in Yang Le's line of sight.

And Qu Zhe...

Seemed to have spotted Yang Le as well, and walked directly toward him.

"You come with ill intent, but I hope you won't meddle in other people's business."

Looking at the approaching figure...

Yang Le also halted his steps.