As James Beyond left the room, Silence prevailed for a few moments, but soon the situation returned to what it had been when Xiao Ping first saw him falling in the tavern. However, no one dared to talk about James or Xiao Ping anymore; they didn't even dare to glance towards the dark corner where Xiao was sitting. They had realized that James's words held no jest.
Instead, they turned their attention towards the scene of the brutal fight that had terrified them. The three people beaten by James Beyond were still lying in their spots, no one knowing whether they were alive or dead. Just the sight of the congealed blood on the floor and the splatters on the walls like spray made their hearts race.
Some tables were shattered and overturned from the earlier brawl in the tavern. The people in the tavern no longer felt like drinking, so there were many cups placed on the tables in front of them, but no one reached out to take one. Even those who had been holding cups earlier put them down in front of themselves and stared at them fixedly.
One of them opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Do you think the branch leader of the mercenaries will let this slide in your opinion?!" He asked his friends at the same table.
One of them looked at him and said, "I don't think so! But why interfere in something that's none of our business? This is their problem, not ours." That person's reply carried a tone of fear.
The first person sighed and said, "You're right! It's none of my business, but I have an idea that could make us a lot of Lira! But you need to take risks for great benefits!" He looked at his friends' cautious expressions and continued: "We should report what happened here to the mercenaries!"
His friends looked at him with complex expressions, as if saying, 'Are you crazy?!' But no one tried to refute his idea.
Winter was approaching, and with its approach, the tax to the Snake Mercenaries had to be paid to move without consequences in the West District of the city. There was also the city living tax, which was expensive, amounting to four gold Lira! Many people couldn't afford this cost, especially commoners.
That person tilted his head and said, "So, are you with me?!"
The others were silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.
After that, the three people got up from that table and headed towards the exit. They went to the bartender before one of them took out seven bronze Lira and threw them towards the bartender, who caught them with his hand and then stepped aside. Before the men turned to the left of the bartender and passed behind the front table, and before they reached the bartender's spot, the bartender moved his hand.
Clang, clang.A sound of metal wheels hitting a wooden board was heard.
Then the shelf split into two halves in a strange way, revealing the exit. The three men went out.
....
Xiao Ping looked at that shelf,which had been a secret door all along, with a slight look of admiration that soon turned into a gaze as cold as ice.
"This world is full of surprises indeed!" Xiao Ping tilted his head back on the wooden chair and looked at all the people in the tavern with cold expressions. His head was still dripping blood and also alcohol.
Drip, drip! The sound of droplets hitting the floor was heard.
'Tch! They're a bunch of two-faced people! Just moments ago they were shouting and wanting a fight! But when they got what they wished for, they became scared!' Xiao Ping cursed inwardly, but then he remembered what James had done and that smile he had shown Xiao Ping, making him say involuntarily in his mind: 'James Beyond is a powerful madman!' He didn't know what level he was, but that oppressive feeling Xiao Ping felt from James Beyond, along with his inability to see, convinced him that James's level was very high!
Xiao Ping remembered what James had said to him when he tried to leave: 'You have some companions outside!' These words made him a little doubtful, but he ultimately had to believe them.
Xiao Ping brought his head forward again, closed his eyes, and tried to connect all those events in his mind.
Many threads had appeared, but they weren't silver threads; they were new threads, dark blue in color, floating randomly in his mind.
An idea occurred to him and he quickly tried to gather all those events into one point.Suddenly, those blue threads moved rapidly everywhere, and soon scattered, leaving only one thread behind.
Suddenly, that thread grew and grew in Xiao Ping's mind, then exploded, rapidly releasing some events into Xiao Ping's mind.
At that moment, Xiao Ping grabbed his head tightly from the intense pain; he felt the pain had multiplied and was stronger than before. He didn't know what to do; he just endured the pain as blood streamed from his eyes, ears, and also his nose.
This was the reaction to the explosion of the blue threads in his mind, so the pain was much worse than before. The pain continued but stopped after several minutes, and Xiao Ping calmed himself.
He wiped his nose with his hand, then looked at his hand and saw blood in its center. Xiao Ping knew he had been flirting with death indeed; he was still just a beginner but had used his new power excessively today, which was too much for his weak body.
He tried to look at the bodies of the people who had been looking at him with complex expressions in their eyes; they had seen him suffering in pain for no apparent reason. Xiao Ping ignored them and tried to focus, attempting to see inside one person's body, but he saw nothing. He didn't see any silver threads, and he didn't even see those blue threads representing thoughts in his mind either.
"My power is gone!" Saying this, Xiao Ping's heartbeat accelerated and he was plunged into the fear of losing his power on the very first day of possessing it!
But he pulled himself together and controlled his fearful emotions, remembering everything he had read about supernatural power novels. Every hero who possessed a new power would have a quiet period if their energy ran out.
But Xiao Ping didn't feel any energy in his body and didn't see any "mana" in the air, which made him think that the power system in this world was strange. He remembered that he was still at the first level, in the first layer, and there were still nine layers ahead to break through to reach the second level.
Xiao Ping raised his hands in front of his face and looked at them with his blood-dripping eyes, which had formed two lines on his cheeks from the bloody tears sliding down before falling to the ground.
Plop! The sound of blood hitting the floor echoed in Xiao Ping's head.
Xiao Ping scrutinized his hands carefully; he was trying to see what kind of energy was flowing in his body? Was it "mana," or was it "Qi," or spiritual energy?
But he didn't see anything.He couldn't see because his energy was in a dormant period, as he presumed.
So he lowered his hands before people started rumors about him being crazy! He was trying to adapt to this world, so he should maintain a good reputation in front of people, but he hadn't tried that with the villagers; instead, he hated them more.
Mentioning that, his eyes narrowed as he looked towards the bartender who was standing in front of the shelf with a cold expression, cleaning a cup with his hand. When he felt someone looking at him, he turned and looked towards Xiao Ping.
His gaze seemed to hang behind his neck, reflecting the light emanating from the fireplace in the right corner of the large room.
Xiao Ping looked back at the bartender's light ash-gray eyes with an equally cold expression. There was nothing suspicious about him, even though Xiao Ping couldn't use his ability now, but he had previously looked at the old bartender's body and saw nothing. However, he had managed to learn that he was a power holder only when the bartender tried to deceive him and he was saved by James.
'Well, even though he tried to deceive me, he gave me a bottle of high-concentration alcohol. At least he deserves some respect!' Xiao Ping thought to himself as he averted his gaze from the bartender.
But he felt that something bad was going to happen to him soon, so he didn't let his guard down and remained in the dark corner waiting for James as he had been told.
But at that moment, a terrifying pressure erupted, making Xiao Ping startle!
It was like a gigantic mountain on his back;he couldn't withstand something like this, so Xiao Ping grabbed the table and tried to endure so he wouldn't be crushed under this pressure.
But everything in the room began to shake violently and rise into the air; the tables, cups, and bottles on them began to rise and float.
Strangely, the bottles on the shelf didn't float but shook violently a little.
Then the pressure disappeared, and the things fell violently to the ground.
Xiao Ping grabbed his own bottle, afraid it would break from the impact!
Booooom!
A sound like an explosion echoed due to the objects falling on the floor. Everyone was shocked by what had happened! This was something supernatural, so they quickly deduced something and shouted: "It's a fight between high-level people!"
Hearing this.... Xiao Ping looked at the wall through which James had exited and said: "This is too much!"
...
End of Chapter~To be continued