Xu Que had been very lucky. After escaping the clutches of the three women, the Divine Escape Emblem teleported them hundreds of miles away to a patch of ground just outside the main entrance of Tian Luo City.
Now that they had arrived at a big city, they could finally ask for directions to the Bright Moon Hotel! Xu Que walked towards the city gate, dragging Buttface behind him.
Tian Luo City was extremely large. Its size was quite spectacular!
The walls around the perimeter of the city were over three meters high. They were also extremely thick, for they had been constructed with bricks and bronze. These walls were more magnificent than any of the city walls within Five Elements Mountain.
Though the walls were old and rusty because of years of erosion, they were still firm, indomitable, and magnificent. The three words on the city gate, “Tian Luo City,” seemed to tell their own story. Each letter was forceful, vigorous, and overrun with history.
“Buttface, did you ever come here ten thousand years ago?” Xu Que asked.
“I don’t remember this city,” Buttface said, shaking his head. “Besides, how could such a small city be noticed by my dharma eyes?”
“You have dog eyes!” Xu Que said disdainfully.
Still, Xu Que was impressed. If Tian Luo City was a small city, how large were the big cities?
Before coming to the East Continent, he had been informed that the overseas area contained beings that were far more powerful than the ones in Five Elements Mountain.
However, he had not expected the cities here to be so grandiose. This small city was larger and more magnificent than all the imperial cities in Five Elements Mountain!
Cultivators who were at the Void Training Stage were everywhere in the East Continent. Thus, it was difficult for Xu Que to act tough here. The only reason he was able to act tough earlier is that he was able to escape the situation directly afterward.
It was too dangerous to be causing trouble here. The best thing to do was to meet with the Water Empress as soon as possible. Thus, finding the Bright Moon Hotel was his top priority.
Xu Que approached one of the guards standing at the city gate. He didn’t want to waste his time asking for directions within the city if he could help it.
“Sir, I am a scholar and I am new here,” Xu Que said. “I am looking for a hotel called the Bright Moon Hotel. Could you inform me of its location, please?”
Even though Xu Que did his best to ask the guard for directions in a courteous manner, it seemed like the guard didn’t like scholars much. He glanced at Xu Que and Buttface coldly.
“It is the tallest building in the city,” he said indifferently.
“What?” Xu Que was stunned.
Is the Bright Moon Hotel really in this city?
“What’s wrong with you scholars?” the guard said with a frown. “Everyone knows the Bright Moon Hotel is the tallest building in Tian Luo City. How could you not know that?”
“Maybe I am a fake scholar!” Xu Que said jokingly.
Without any further comment, Xu Que and Buttface entered the city.
This was truly Xu Que’s lucky day. The Divine Escape Emblem could have teleported them anywhere within hundreds of miles. It just so happened that it brought them to the City where the Bright Moon Hotel was located. He was more likely to have won the lottery than to have wound up just feet away from the Bright Moon Hotel.
“This is great! We could have had to spend a bunch time and effort searching for this hotel, but the Divine Escape Emblem practically led us straight to it!” Xu Que said joyfully.
“Little brat, your spells are awesome! Could you give me some of them so that I can protect myself?” Buttface said.
“No way! You need to behave yourself! If you hadn’t caused trouble back there, we wouldn’t have needed to escape!” Xu Que said, staring at Buttface.
“Little brat, it was you who caused all that trouble!” Buttface said angrily, immediately annoyed that Xu Que was trying to put the blame on him.
“Whatever! The details don’t matter,” Xu Que said, waving his hand. “Anyway, we should keep a low profile while we’re in this city! Lie low, understand?”
Xu Que knew that it was he who had caused the trouble in the burnt forest. He was just too stubborn to admit it.
Right now, all they needed to do was find the Bright Moon Hotel so they could meet the Water Empress there. He also knew that it was important to not stir up any trouble so that nothing would reflect badly on him or the Water Empress. Thus, he wanted to avoid causing trouble here at all costs.
Besides, he was just at level four of the Infant Transformation Stage. If he offended any cultivators at the Void Training Stage, he would need to run away again. He couldn’t allow this to happen. It would be too shameful!
Tian Luo City was bustling with activity. Everyone seemed to be hurrying back and forth across the streets. To Xu Que’s surprise, different kinds of creatures all lived in the city. Human cultivators, Demonic Beasts and Half-Human-Half-Demon beings all coexisted here.
However, Buttface informed him that the Demonic Beasts that he saw were actually Orcs, and the Half-Human-Half-Demon creatures were more closely related to the Demons. Buttface also said that these three species seemed to live in harmony, but that there were many private conflicts between these creatures.
Suddenly, Buttface came to a stop.
“Little brat, the tallest building is over there,” Buttface said, pointing at a tall building close by.
The antique building was dozens of meters high, much like the skyscrapers on Earth. With its green tiles, crimson roofs, carved beams, and painted rafters, the building was quite artistic!
“Awesome! Who knew that a hotel could be so magnificent?” Xu Que exclaimed. This building could be compared to a six-star luxurious hotel on Earth.
“Boo, another hillbilly!” called a male voice. The voice was full of sarcasm and disdain.
Xu Que and Buttface frowned, turning around to see who this guy was. Several rich kids in fine clothes were looking at them contemptuously. One member of the group, who looked a little older, was fiddling with two white jades, passing them over each other again and again in the palm of his hand.
“Little brat,” the guy with the jades sneered, “did you just call this place a hotel? That’s pretty big talk, hillbilly! Only the sovereigns of large sects could rightly treat this place like a hotel. But you… hmph! You have no respect for this building!”
Holy sh*t! Xu Que thought. I never thought that the pedestrians here could be provoked so easily!
Xu Que looked at the rich kids with widened eyes. He was trying to keep a low profile. How could his guy be offended by such a casual statement?!
“Guys, you know I didn’t mean to offend you, right?” Xu Que said calmly with a smile.
“You have offended the entire city by calling the Bright Moon Hotel a hotel,” the guy with the jades said with a cold smile.
“Then could you please tell me what the Bright Moon Hotel is if it is not a hotel?” Xu Que said, embarrassed. While it was true that the Bright Moon Hotel was quite magnificent, its name still indicated that it was a hotel.
“The Bright Moon Hotel is the holy place of Tian Luo City. As a hillbilly, you are not qualified to comment on it. You must kneel and worship it, understand?” the man with the white jades said arrogantly, staring at Xu Que with cold eyes.
Xu Que’s face darkened. Murderous intentions were raging in his heart. He didn’t want to get into any trouble, but he also didn’t want to just stand here and be bullied like this!
“Little brat, beat him up!” Buttface said, egging him on. Even Buttface couldn’t stand this unfair treatment.
“What? You want to fight me? You are not qualified to fight me! Especially here in Tian Luo City,” the man said, smiling arrogantly. Apparently, he had an extraordinary reputation.
Xu Que hesitated.
These guys were making his blood boil. However, he needed to meet up with the Water Empress. Fighting this guy would just be a waste of time. Plus, if he got on anyone’s bad side, his connection to the Water Empress might force her to become involved. This was another reason to avoid conflict.
Forget it and just let it go! Xu Que thought to himself as he shook his head.
“Buttface, let’s go!” Xu Que said, patting Buttface on the head.
“Sh*t! Little brat, you’re just going to leave?” Buttface asked, unwilling to drop this dispute.
“It’s alright. We’re not here to cause trouble,” Xu Que consoled.
“Fine, you’re the boss this time,” Buttface said.
Since Xu Que was being true to his word about not causing trouble in the city, Buttface had to wimp out alongside him. Besides, even Buttface didn’t dare to fight these people.
As Xu Que and Buttface turned around and began to walk away, the rich kids started laughing.
“Haha! Well, that was boring. This hillbilly doesn’t have any balls at all! He is just running away like a coward!”
“Alas, our fun has been ruined again!”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Hillbillies come to the Bright Moon Hotel every day. There’s always one who has a bad temper. All we need to do is wait a bit longer for someone with a short fuse to come along. Then, we will provoke him so that he will attack us first. Then we’ll have an excuse to fight back. Then we’ll break his arms and legs and throw him back into the garbage dump where he belongs!”
“Haha, Brother Han is always so smart!”
“You flatter me. I, Han Guoqiang[1], have always been good at bullying!”
Xu Que stopped in his tracks. He turned around, a shocked expression on his face.
“What was your name again?” Xu Que asked, staring at the man with the white jades.
“What? Have you heard of me before? It seems even hillbillies know my name now,” the man with the white jades said with a cold smile.
“Han Guoqiang?” Xu Que said, squinting his eyes.
“Exactly!” the man replied confidently.
“You motherf*cker! Buttface, charge! Let’s beat him to death!” Xu Que cursed.
He summoned his Dark Heavy Buster Sword and swung it at Han Guoqiang!
[1] Qiang means powerful in Chinese.