Chapter 158: Underground Bare-Knuckle Fighting

At dusk, at a noodle stall somewhere in Luocheng.

Liang Yan sat casually at a wooden table, while opposite him, Li Xiaosong was holding a large enamel bowl, slurping down noodles in big mouthfuls.

"Such a huge bowl of noodles, and it vanished into your stomach in the blink of an eye. Are you a starved ghost reincarnated?" Liang Yan teased the young girl across from him.

At that moment, Li Xiaosong was sucking the very last strand of noodles into her mouth. Without answering, she picked up the bowl with both hands and gulped down the remaining broth in one breath. Only then did she pat her belly with a look of satisfaction and say:

"Noodles and noodle soup are the two things in life one must never let down!"

"Alright!"

Liang Yan stood up and said, "You've eaten and you've played. Time to take me to that underground gathering of yours, isn't it?"

"Sigh, what's the rush? Wasn't it not time yet earlier, so I had you take me around Luocheng..." Hearing this, Li Xiaosong noticed the dark lines on Liang Yan's face and immediately changed her tune:

"Uh... but calculating the time now, the underground gathering should have started by now. Let's go, I'll take you!"

Li Xiaosong took the lead, and Liang Yan followed behind her. The two wound their way through various alleys until they reached a corner of a bustling market, where the sky had now turned completely dark.

Although this was a bustling area, what stood before Liang Yan and Li Xiaosong was an old, dilapidated courtyard. Inside the yard stood a few racks for weapons, though having been left untouched for years, they were covered in a thick layer of dust.

"It looks just like a martial arts school from what I've seen before."

Just as Liang Yan was thinking this, Li Xiaosong pushed open the door and stepped inside. The two passed through the courtyard into the inner hall, which was completely empty except for an oil lamp flickering dimly on a table.

However, Li Xiaosong seemed quite familiar with the place. She stepped forward and gave the oil lamp on the table a gentle twist, and immediately a low, rumbling sound echoed through the room.

Following that, the floorboards in front of Liang Yan parted automatically, revealing a stone staircase leading underground.

"Let's go!"

Li Xiaosong clapped her hands to brush off the dust and was the first to step into the secret passage.

Liang Yan cast a glance around, and finding nothing unusual, followed Li Xiaosong down into the secret passage.

The two walked down the stone staircase all the way, taking about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, before suddenly spotting a small door ahead with a man dressed in black standing guard in front of it.

At this moment, the man was eyeing them suspiciously.

"Why is it you again? Didn't I tell you, this place is no playground for kids like you!" The man in black cried out the moment he caught sight of Li Xiaosong walking in front.

A moment later, however, his gaze shifted as he seemed to notice the gray-robed youth following right behind her.

"Ah, it's you! Hao Chou of the Fragrance-Scenting Sect!" the man in black exclaimed, looking rather excited.

"Oh? Do you know me?" Liang Yan asked with a hint of curiosity.

"You defeated three opponents in a row with just three punches and a couple of kicks at the Luohe Tournament—who doesn't know you now? I just never expected you to be a man of our circle as well. A pleasure to meet you, a pleasure!" As the man in black spoke, a trace of genuine admiration appeared on his face.

Confused, Liang Yan asked, "Huh? What circle..."

Before he could finish, Li Xiaosong cut him off, snapping at the gate-keeping man in black, "What are you chattering on about? I'm asking you, can we go in now or not?"

"Of course, of course! Since Daoist Hao brought you here, I'll open the door for you right away." With that, the man in black pulled open the wooden door behind him and bowed, gesturing with an inviting hand.

Seeing this, Li Xiaosong narrowed her eyes into crescents and skipped inside, hopping lightly.

By this point, how could Liang Yan not realize that he had been used as a tool? The truth was, Li Xiaosong couldn't get in here on her own, so she had dragged him along simply to serve as the key to open the door.

Yet, having come this far, Liang Yan certainly wasn't going to turn back and walk home. Besides, he was quite curious about what lay beyond the door, so he braced himself and stepped through the wooden threshold.

The moment he crossed the door, a wave of boisterous noise washed over him. Looking around, Liang Yan saw a very spacious underground hall with a circle of cultivators gathered in the center.

To Liang Yan, most of these cultivators looked somewhat familiar; they must have been participants in yesterday's Luohe Tournament.

In the middle of these cultivators stood a tall stone platform, upon which two figures were flashing up and down, engaged in a fierce magical duel.

At that moment, a crisp chime of a bell rang out. Shifting his gaze, Liang Yan noticed a table set up amidst the crowd. Behind the table sat a short-statured man, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"The match has begun! Place your bets now, no more bets will be accepted once the fighting starts!"

"What is this!" Li Xiaosong said with a deeply disappointed expression. "We arrived a step too late. Looks like we'll have to wait for the next match!"

Liang Yan looked at Li Xiaosong and said with a grim expression, "So there's no gathering here at all. This is clearly an underground gambling den!"

"Hehe, don't blame me. If I hadn't said that, you wouldn't have been willing to bring me in! Ow! Stop hitting my head... Consider my mistake admitted, alright?!"

Li Xiaosong clutched her head and darted like a wisp of smoke straight into the crowd.

"Get back here!"

Liang Yan let out a low shout and followed after her, walking right up to the edge of the fighting stage.

The duel on the stage had already reached its conclusion. One of the slender cultivators, manipulating a ring-shaped spiritual weapon, advanced and retreated with well-practiced rhythm. After just a few exchanges, he drove the ring hard against his opponent's chest, blasting him straight off the arena.

"I didn't expect that besides the Luohe Tournament by day, there would be underground dark fights by night." Liang Yan muttered to himself, watching the gambling match on stage.

"That's because you didn't know!"

Hearing this, Li Xiaosong shook her head sagely and said, "In any tournament, each sect or faction can only send a handful of people to compete, leaving all the remaining senior and junior brothers with nothing to do but watch in frustration. Some of these sects build up grudges on stage, while others might have existing conflicts, which is why they set up this underground fighting ring here."

"There are no rules here, and you are responsible for your own life or death. As long as it's a one-on-one match, nobody cares even if you use lethal force. Those two just now might not have had a deep feud, but the next match might turn into a fight to the death!"

"I see." Liang Yan nodded silently. He swept his gaze around the room, but failed to find any trace of Li Huan, which left him feeling somewhat disappointed.

By now, Li Xiaosong had already run up to the wooden table, holding a pouch of spiritual stones and waving it grandly as she declared:

"I'm betting on that fat guy!"

"You got it, little miss! Bets are locked in!" The short man behind the table beamed with a wide smile. Acting as the house here, he took a ten percent cut regardless of whether he won or lost, so he naturally adored big spenders like Li Xiaosong.

Liang Yan glanced at Li Xiaosong, shook his head helplessly, and was just about to step forward to dissuade her when his spine suddenly chilled, followed by a surge of coldness rising from the depths of his heart.

"Who is spying on me?!"

Startled, he turned his head to scan his surroundings, only to see a bustling crowd of figures with not a single suspicious person in sight.