Chapter 176: Basking in Glory

Thinking again of the way that powerful man had addressed him as “Master Dao,” Lady Pei and the others became even more uncertain.

Xuanyuan Dao?

Could Xuanyuan Dao actually be this man’s real name?

Niu Youdao gave a slight nod and asked as though puzzled, “That is me. Does Innkeeper have some instruction?”

The innkeeper smiled broadly.

“This humble one is Chu Anlou. My apologies for making Mister Xuanyuan wait. Your accommodations have already been prepared. Please follow me.”

The moment those words fell, Lady Pei and her companions naturally reacted.

As for the cross-dressed young woman, her eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

Was this some kind of joke?

Black Peony and the others sighed inwardly.

Look at this.

This was what a truly formidable man looked like.

Niu Youdao, however, appeared suspicious.

“I did not see anyone check out.”

Chu Anlou smiled. “That does not matter. We have already arranged accommodations for you.”

The young woman could no longer hold herself back.

One million gold coins!

She shouted, “Innkeeper, that is completely unreasonable! I paid and reserved first. Why does he get a room before me?”

Lady Pei and the two men beside her nearly had their hearts jump from their chests.

Ancestor, please stop.

Was Rainbow Inn something they could afford to provoke?

Lady Pei hurriedly caught the young woman by the arm and squeezed hard.

The pain brought her back to her senses.

Her momentum immediately weakened, and the corners of her mouth drooped with obvious grievance.

Chu Anlou swept a cold glance over her, then immediately restored his smile as he turned back to Niu Youdao.

“Is this young lady a friend of Mister Xuanyuan?”

Lady Pei’s group noticed the shift in his attitude and also heard the meaning behind the question.

Friends would be treated one way.

People who were not friends would be treated another.

Their nerves tightened slightly.

Niu Youdao nodded.

“She is my friend. Is there a problem?”

“No problem, no problem.”

Chu Anlou waved his hands repeatedly.

Then he smiled at the cross-dressed young woman.

“Young lady, you misunderstand. Mister Xuanyuan is an honored guest. These are separately arranged guest rooms and are not part of the rooms ordinarily offered to the public.”

Once his attitude became clear, Lady Pei and her companions relaxed.

Their gazes toward Niu Youdao now held gratitude, but also growing uncertainty.

Who exactly was this “Young Master Li”?

How could he be an honored guest important enough for Rainbow Inn to make special arrangements outside its normal rooms?

The cross-dressed young woman pursed her lips.

This time, even when Chu Anlou called her “young lady,” she did not dare say anything about him being blind.

She certainly did not dare use the same words on the man who ran Rainbow Inn.

“An honored guest?”

Niu Youdao looked genuinely confused and pointed at himself.

“Me? What sort of honored guest am I? Innkeeper, have you mistaken me for someone else?”

“You are indeed an honored guest.”

Chu Anlou smiled and nodded, then gestured toward the inner part of the inn.

“Mister, please follow me to your rooms.”

If the only clue had been the name Xuanyuan Dao, then perhaps there could have been a mistake.

But after confirming the registered names of Black Peony and the others as well, Chu Anlou knew there was no error.

“There is no hurry about the rooms.”

Niu Youdao spoke in a testing tone.

“If I truly am an honored guest, then... this is my first time at the Ice and Snow Pavilion. I do not know the area at all. How about Innkeeper accompanying me outside for a look around?”

Chu Anlou burst into laughter.

He assumed Niu Youdao still did not quite believe what was happening.

“Why not? Very well. I will accompany Mister for a stroll.”

“Please wait a moment while I make arrangements.”

He went to the counter and gave the attendants behind it a series of instructions.

When he returned, he once again extended a hand in invitation toward Niu Youdao.

Unexpectedly, Niu Youdao pointed toward Lady Pei and her companions.

“My friends—can they be accommodated as well?”

“Since they are Mister’s friends, naturally we cannot put Mister in an awkward position.”

Chu Anlou agreed without hesitation.

He turned, beckoned over several attendants, and pointed toward Lady Pei’s group.

“Settle Mister Xuanyuan’s friends in the distinguished-guest rooms.”

Under Chu Anlou’s personal guidance, Niu Youdao and the others left the inn to tour the Ice and Snow Pavilion.

Lady Pei and her companions remained where they were, stunned.

Even after the attendants invited them repeatedly, they did not know whether they should actually follow.

More shocking still was the fact that the innkeeper of Rainbow Inn had personally gone out to accompany that man around the Ice and Snow Pavilion.

Back at the relay station, seeing “Young Master Li” casually throw down a stack of gold drafts merely to buy some peace had already convinced them he was no ordinary person.

What had just happened seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Lady Pei and the others were deeply unsettled and could not stop wondering who this “Young Master Li” truly was.

What background did he have?

Xuanyuan Dao?

Was there some formidable figure beneath Heaven with the surname Xuanyuan?

Or did he have some astonishing sect background?

No matter what the truth was, all of them quietly rejoiced.

Fortunately, they had not acted rashly back at the relay station.

Otherwise, who could say what kind of enormous trouble they might have brought upon themselves?

Lady Pei and the two men looked at their young mistress, who was standing there in a daze, and inwardly wailed.

We told you not to act impulsively.

You would not listen.

Now look what happened.

One million gold coins!

To anyone, that was an enormous fortune.

This truly was not a small amount of money.

No.

Not one million.

Two million.

There was still the one-million-gold wager over entering those jade halls and towers.

Judging from what they had just seen, there was a very real chance they would lose that wager too.

Rainbow Inn’s innkeeper was personally treating Xuanyuan Dao with such enthusiasm.

If that man wanted to enter the jade halls and towers, it probably would not be especially difficult.

Now they finally seemed to understand why he had dared wager on getting their young mistress into that place.

He had genuinely possessed the confidence to make the bet.

And there was another problem.

If this Xuanyuan Dao truly had some extraordinary background, who would dare refuse to pay after losing?

If he turned around and demanded the money immediately, given the situation before them, would they dare withhold it?

Two million gold coins.

Gone just like that...

“Honored guests, please follow me.”

The attendant maintained his patience and invited them once again.

It really was difficult to reject such hospitality.

Lady Pei and the others were looking at one another when the cross-dressed young woman unexpectedly spoke first.

“Let’s go. Don’t make things difficult for them.”

The other three stared.

How had their young mistress suddenly become so reasonable?

Along one of the canyon’s cliffside terraces, Niu Youdao walked beside Chu Anlou.

The innkeeper pointed here and there, personally explaining the surroundings as they went.

Black Peony and the other three followed at a measured pace behind them.

They were basking in glory.

There was simply no way not to be noticed.

Chu Anlou, innkeeper of Rainbow Inn, was personally accompanying them and practically serving as a guide.

Many people throughout the canyon stared in surprise, wondering who could possibly command enough status for Chu Anlou to personally lead them around.

“Black Peony. Brother Duan. Brother Lei. Brother Wu.”

A cultivator beside the road suddenly cupped his hands and greeted the four respectfully.

The four nodded in return.

They were not very familiar with the man, but they did know him.

He was an independent cultivator.

This was not Black Peony and the others’ first visit to the Ice and Snow Pavilion.

They too had once come here looking for opportunities, though Star-Plucking City had been their main haunt.

And some independent cultivators who sought chances here had also gone to Star-Plucking City.

So it was hardly strange that people in this place recognized them.

From the eyes of those independent cultivators, the four could see overwhelming envy.

There was even a trace of hope that someone might be able to curry favor with them.

They understood perfectly well what those people envied.

Who would have imagined that Black Peony and the others could suddenly rise so far, reaching this level almost overnight?

Recognizing someone did not mean they needed to stop and chat.

The four simply nodded in greeting and continued onward.

As for the obvious attempts to curry favor, they had no intention of acknowledging them.

It was not that gaining status had made them aloof or arrogant.

There were simply some matters they did not have authority to decide.

They also knew ordinary people found it very difficult to become close to Master Dao.

Master Dao might like making friends, but making friends and becoming one of the people close to him were two entirely different things.

Lei Zongkang’s awkward position was proof enough.

Black Peony understood the matter even more clearly from her own experience.

When she first met Master Dao, he had tested her again and again until she nearly collapsed.

He had reduced her to tears.

She knew better than anyone how deep his mind ran.

He judged people carefully.

Not just anyone would be accepted.

Of course, the four now truly did possess the qualifications to look down somewhat on ordinary independent cultivators.

Nothing else needed to be mentioned.

The gold drafts they carried alone were enough to make those people drool with envy.

“Who is the man Chu Anlou is accompanying?”

After their group passed, someone immediately approached the independent cultivator who had greeted them and asked about Niu Youdao.

“Shopkeeper Li, I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know? Didn’t you just greet them?”

“I only know the four in the back. They used to be independent cultivators just like me. I even saw them in Star-Plucking City last year. Back then they were not necessarily doing any better than I was.”

“And now, in the blink of an eye, who knows what high branch they managed to cling to...”

The man sighed.

“Same kind of people, different lives. Some people simply have better fortune.”

Quite a few shops had been alerted by the commotion and sent people outside to observe.

Many cultivators who did not recognize Chu Anlou saw the spectacle and could not help asking those nearby what was happening.

At the Liuxian Sect shop, shopkeeper Xiao Tie stood in the doorway watching Chu Anlou’s group pass.

At first, his attention had gone to Niu Youdao only because Chu Anlou was personally accompanying him.

Then Xiao Tie saw Niu Youdao’s face and felt faintly suspicious.

When he noticed the four people following behind, especially the woman with slightly dark skin, his eyelid twitched.

Seeing people nearby discussing the group, Xiao Tie hurried over.

“Who was that man Chu Anlou was accompanying?”

Someone answered, “No idea. But I hear the four behind him used to be independent cultivators from Star-Plucking City. No one knows what powerful patron they have latched onto.”

Xiao Tie abruptly turned and stared after the gradually receding group.

Shock and uncertainty filled his eyes.

It really was Niu Youdao!

Earlier, this shop had received Niu Youdao’s portrait from the sect just as the Liuxian Sect shop in Star-Plucking City had.

The face he had just seen had looked familiar.

More recently, the sect had sent word that Niu Youdao was expected to come here.

That made Xiao Tie even more suspicious.

But with Chu Anlou personally accompanying him, Xiao Tie had not dared immediately confirm the identification.

The sect’s instructions had been perfectly clear.

Niu Youdao was to be killed.

Several nearby Liuxian Sect personnel had already rushed over and spread out as lookouts.

For such a vast region, however, they still did not have enough manpower.

That was not a serious problem.

The main force dispatched by the sect was already nearly here.

They had found Niu Youdao.

But how had he become involved with Chu Anlou?

And why was Chu Anlou personally accompanying him?

What was going on?

The background behind Chu Anlou stood among the very highest beneath Heaven.

A single sentence from that side could reduce the Liuxian Sect to ashes.

The Liuxian Sect absolutely could not afford to provoke him.

In fact, almost no one beneath Heaven dared.

This was no small matter.

The implications were enormous.

Xiao Tie hurried back into the shop, wrote an urgent message, and immediately sent it back to the sect.

After descending from one cliffside terrace and crossing the river toward another, Chu Anlou pointed to a pool steaming in the cold air.

“There are many geothermal hot springs around here. Soaking in one is extremely comfortable.”

“The room prepared for Mister has facilities that draw hot-spring water directly inside for bathing.”

“When you return later, you should try it and see how it feels.”

[End of Chapter 176]