Chapter 228: Mysterious Middle-Aged Man
When he heard that, Jiang Yue felt uneasy and his back was covered by sweat.
He looked at Yu Nianzhen and the other also looked a little uncomfortable.
"Who is your master?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"My master is Lu Futian." The girl said and her eyes dulled a little. Her hands clenched and her body shook trembled.
Across from her, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen didn’t miss these slight reactions.
Their unease increased and Jiang Yue couldn’t help but look at the coffin.
He subconsciously shivered and his hands clenched.
[Let’s find out the situation first.] Yu Nianzhen transmitted and reached for his husband’s hand.
Li Futian and Xuan Ke were cheap brothers he didn’t ask for.
However, they shared many experiences in the Thousand Herbs Garden and he had learned to accept them.
When he thought that something happened to Li Futian, his heart was a little depressed.
"Fellow Daoist Hongzhu, we have just arrived in the Ice Palace city and haven’t found a place to stay. Let’s settle down first and then talk." Yu Nianzhen said.
"I will follow brother Yu’s suggestion."
Yu Nianzhen sighed but didn’t correct her address.
Although it was strange being called so familiarly by a person he didn’t know, he couldn’t summon the energy to bother.
"Are you familiar with the Ice Palace city?" He asked.
"I am not." Hongzhu answered.
In fact, she arrived in the Ice Palace city more than a month before they did.
However, she stayed in a temporary tent close to the gate.
Her plan was to wait and intercept either of the three brothers.
Fortunately, she met three at once.
"What about Xuan Ke and the Thunder God Temple?" Jiang Yue asked as they walked.
"I heard that people from the Thunder God Temple arrived two months ago. They are staying on a peak of the Ice Palace sect." Hongzhu answered.
Although she didn’t stray far from the temple, she kept her ears out for news.
After all, she didn’t want to miss any news that could point her to the location of her master’s brothers.
"What about the Sea Cloud sect?"
"The Sea Cloud sect arrived two weeks ago. "
When the Sea Cloud sect arrived, she thought she would meet Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue.
However, when she neared the sect’s flying boat, she didn’t feel their presence.
At first, she thought she failed to feel their presence because she wasn’t part of the brotherhood pact.
With that, she secretly inquired and eventually found out that the two did not travel with the sect.
After that, she returned to guard near the gate until she felt their presence when they arrived.
"Have you heard anything about master Yang?" Jiang Yue asked and squeezed Yu Nianzhen’s hand.
"The Sea Cloud sect is also staying on a peak in the Ice Palace sect. All I know is that ancestor Yang is now at the peak of the core formation realm."
Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were disappointed to hear that.
However, this situation was also expected.
"Let’s contact him when we settle down." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen nodded.
After walking for half an hour, the three arrived at the West side of the city.
In the Ice Palace city, the central area where the city lord lived had the richest heaven and earth qi.
Following the central area was the West area.
Because of this, there were more inns and cultivation caves on the west side than on any other part of the city.
"Which one should we choose?" Jiang Yue wondered and furrowed his brows.
There were inns at every corner and he was a little undecided.
"If the brothers don’t mind, I can recommend one," Hongzhu said.
"Please..." Yu Nianzhen invited.
"The brothers can try the Fair Plum inn. Although it is a small inn in a remote area, I think it’s good."
"Do you know where it is?"
Hongzhu looked at the two young men and nodded.
"Please follow me."
After that, she led the way and they navigated towards the edge of the west side of Ice Palace city.
A while later, the three arrived in a Plum forest.
The Plum trees were more than thirty metres and their branches were weighted down by thick ice.
"This area has a good atmosphere." Jiang Yue said and took a deep breath.
The air was a little freezing but it was clean and rich in aura.
"I see the inn." Yu Nianzhen said and took Jiang Yue’s hand.
They stepped through an opening in the Plum trees and walked one hundred metres before stopping in front of a wooden structure.
There was no one to welcome them but the door was open so they entered.
"Welcome." A middle-aged man called from behind a counter.
The man had an ordinary face and his clothes were no different than those worn by workers in the city.
However, Yu Nianzhen almost took a step back when he looked at the man.
His qi tumbled in his dantian, his natal sword trembled, and his right hand itched.
At that moment, all he wanted was to draw his sword, grab Jiang Yue, and fight his way out of the inn.
However, reason prevailed.
At the back of his mind, he knew that the threat he perceived was not a reality. His feeling was only a reaction to meeting an extremely powerful person.
While Yu Nianzhen was frozen in place, an amused chuckle resounded in the place and he was drawn out of the mood.
"Not bad." The middle-aged man said and looked at Yu Nianzhen appreciatively.
"It’s good to meet the Supreme Sword God." The man continued and Jiang Yue grew alert.
He didn’t have Yu Nianzhen’s sharp senses but no one could read his husband better than he could.
As soon as they entered the inn, he realised something was off with Yu Nianzhen.
He could feel Yu Nianzhen’s unease through their contract but couldn’t figure out the cause.
However, the words of the innkeeper frightened him.
They had only entered the inn and hadn’t said a word to the person.
How could he know Yu Nianzhen’s title?
"Senior, we have come to rent a cave." Jiang Yue decided to ignore the man’s words.
Unless the man challenged Yu Nianzhen, there was no way to confirm the title.
In that case, he planned to act ignorant and pretend he didn’t know what the innkeeper was saying.
"What kind of cave do you want?" The innkeeper asked but his eyes were twinkling.
Jiang Yue looked at Yu Nianzhen and then Hongzhu.
Without knowing what the girl wanted, he didn’t know how to plan for her.
With a sigh, he asked, "what kinds of caves are available?"
"We have low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade caves."
"How do they differ?"
"The difference is in the level of qi gathering array arranged in the caves. Mid-grade caves have thrice as much aura as low-grade caves while high-grade caves have ten times as much aura as low-grade caves."
"Low-grade caves are two hundred spirit stones per day, mid-grade caves are five hundred spirit stones and high-grade caves are one thousand spirit stones."
"What about their sizes?"
"We have single-room caves, double-room caves, and triple-room caves. The prices I mentioned are for single-room caves."
"So expensive?" Jiang Yue muttered and frowned.
However, he didn’t dwell too much on the matter.
"What’s the cost of a triple room high-grade cave?" He asked.
The innkeeper smiled and Jiang Yue gritted his teeth. He felt he was about to be cheated but what could he do?
The inn belonged to someone else and the Ice Palace city was not his territory.
"Five thousand spirit stones per day."
[Shall we pay for one week, to begin with?] He transmitted to Yu Nianzhen.
Yu Nianzhen was not as tense as before but Jiang Yue could tell he was still not at ease.
[The Ice Palace conference is in one week. We don’t know what will happen after that.] Jiang Yue explained.
[You are right. However,...] Yu Nianzhen didn’t finish and instead looked at the man.
He felt the person was incredibly dangerous but he also felt that meeting him was also a chance.
Yu Nianzhen couldn’t explain his contradictory feelings but he felt like he needed to stay close to the person-at least for some time.
"I see." Jiang Yue said and turned back to the innkeeper.
"We would like a triple room for one year." He said.
"That will be one million and eight hundred thousand spirit stones." The innkeeper calculated.
Jiang Yue gave the spirit stones and summoned a young boy to guide them to their cave.
Before they left, Yu Nianzhen looked at the middle-aged man and the opponent smiled without shying away.
"You are a swordsman?" Yu Nianzhen suddenly asked.
Although he couldn’t feel a trace of sword aura from the person, he felt the person should be a swordsman.
"There will be a time in the future." The man said and walked away from the three.
