CG Chapter 139: Xiao, what a lonely name that is
Black Cloud City.
The death of the city magistrate went unnoticed for a few days; in these few days, Aretius was doing his own thing as he roamed through the city while thinking of the most efficient way to begin his martial training.
However, he was also doing something more important, as he tried to gather as much information and intel as he could through several means.
People would think that the city lord's death wouldn't be quickly spreading news, or at least that his family would try to suppress it by any means necessary until they received official approval from the Ministry of Affairs to appoint the next city lord.
Unfortunately, neither of these two situations happened, as the news of his death quickly spread through the city, making the people's already unrestful hearts even more anxious.
This was because his death wasn't discovered by any of the family members or his trusted servants, but by a maid who was delivering his monthly grain pills.
Some might question why no one had asked about his absence for almost a whole month. This was due to the city lord's own personality.
As he neared his death, and for the last couple of years, he had started to become more and more distant, even from his own children and wives.
He didn't want to see the faces of the people who came to visit or talk to anyone.
Death is a strange thing; some say that people feel their own death approaching long before it actually comes, some days, and other months.
In such situations, people would go to one of two extremes:
Either fearing it and wanting to be surrounded by their loved ones all the time, as if that would do anything or protect them from the grasp of the death specter.
Others would go to the completely opposite extreme as they would isolate themselves from everyone else.
These people would feel that even the smallest bit of noise exploded like the loud ringing of bells in their heads, and as such wouldn't want to see anyone, simply being satisfied with quietness and facing the walls of a dark room.
The city lord obviously belonged to the latter group.
It wasn't known why a grand inner expert like himself turned out like this, whether it was a natural thing or because of the many heartbreaks and regrets he had in his life.
The maid who found his corpse said that she discovered him with his eyes shut and lying peacefully on the ground, as if someone had carefully laid his body there.
But what truly caused this problem was that the city lord had ordered that no one enter his room other than that one time a month, when a maid would personally deliver the grain pills to him.
The maid, having witnessed such a disturbing and tragic scene, couldn't hold her tongue and instinctively told the first group of servants she came across.
As a result, the news spread rapidly, leaving the City Lord's family no chance to suppress it.
And her fate for that crime could only be imagined, as she and her entire family were executed due to the unimaginable amount of trouble she had caused for the City Lord's family.
Because of her acts, they didn't even have a chance to grieve for their dead lord before needing to secure their own safety.
After all, who could know what the hearts of the people hid and what they would be willing to do in these troubled times?
The only thing taken from the lord's body was an elegant jade plaque, bearing the title Xiao on one side and a four-claw mark on the other, making it difficult to discern the original inscription.
Luckily, none of the people knew of the plaque's existence, or it would have caused an unknown amount of trouble and uproar in the city, or even the entire empire.
On the other side of all this, and away from these troubled waters,
Aretius was peacefully on his way to a new inn, wanting to rest before finally starting the next steps of his plans.
Above the door hung a large wooden signboard bearing the title "Warm Dragon's Inn."
Opening the door of the inn, Aretius was welcomed by the chattering of drunk guests and the loud clanking of warm alcohol cups, clicking and pouring into one another.
Among the noisy crowd sat a young Qi Hao, no older than fifteen at the time. A dark mole clung to his right cheek, giving him the look of a cunning fox spirit who had just stumbled upon a windfall. His eyes shimmered with shameless light, not minding whether he took the wealth of the old or the fortune of the young.
He waited until each guest had at least given him a sum of copper coins or had poured him a cup of wine before continuing. After seeing that he had collected all the copper coin gifts from the guests, he was about to continue.
But as he heard the sound of the door opening, he greedily smiled as he said, "Fellow guests, please believe me when I say I want to continue, but it seems that there's still someone who hasn't filled this one's cup."
His words were obviously hinting at Aretius, who had just entered the inn at that time.
The drunk guests didn't hesitate to quickly reprimand the unaware Aretius; after all, they had all paid, and it would sour their mood if someone else could hear the news without paying.
"Old man, with all your years, shouldn't you know to pay before listening to the secrets of Heaven?"
"You've disturbed this brother here."
"Heh, how about showing your sincerity by treating us brothers to a few jars of wine?"
Some of the guests, seeing that Aretius didn't seem like much with his old clothes and his sagging face that looked like it was about to fall, wanted to take advantage of the situation.
Seeing the people suddenly turn their attention to him and hearing the words of the young man in the middle, Aretius simply looked at him.
In that moment, Qi Hao turned his eyes from the people to see the old man smiling at him, and for some strange reason he didn't know or understand, he felt a sudden cold chill going down his bones and through his spine, making him shiver in fear.
The moment he saw Aretius smile at him, he felt as if the devil was licking his face and wanting to taste his blood.
It even seemed as if a few white hairs were appearing at the sides of his head.
His heart quickly pounded, and the illusion of him aging by a few years passed.
On the other side, Aretius offered the people a wide, warm smile.
"Of course, one should pay his dues, or he would incur heavenly punishment for ten generations to come."
The feeling of coldness in Qi Hao's heart quickly passed as Aretius shifted his focus, but there was still a lingering feeling of unease that made him regret playing such tricks, and even coming to this inn.