Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Imperial capital Yan City, Smiling Daughter Pavilion:

The usual scene of brightly lit lanterns, forever busy street, and extraordinary bustle did not exist here tonight.

Xiao Chen had broken the roof of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion with one saber strike, opening a hole there.

The various auras and intents had also wrecked the interior. Repairing everything would take some time.

At this moment, after all the principals had left, the Smiling Daughter Pavilion was a hive of activity.

Everyone worked on clearing up rubble and debris everywhere. As for the hole in the roof, that would take at least three days to repair.

It had been many years since such a huge commotion happened. Even the guards had to help tidy up.

Xiao Chen, Su Ye, Ling Yu, and the beggar—a group of four—arrived outside the Smiling Daughter Pavilion once again.

There was a massive hole in the side of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion; that was the hole that the Hundred Fairies of the Pear Garden opened under Su Ye’s lead.

When seen from the inside, it did not seem like much. However, it appeared quite outrageous from the outside.

As Su Ye looked at her work, she felt delighted. “This hole will take at least ten days to repair. The Misty Rain Pavilion’s business will probably increase severalfold. I have to consider increasing the price.”

Xiao Chen soared in the air and quickly circled the Smiling Daughter Pavilion once.

He moved like the wind. When he landed, he already found a place to enter by.

“Come with me.”

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

The figures of the group flashed, quickly following behind Xiao Chen. They dodged various waves of guards and restrictions. Usually, this place would be tightly guarded; it would be impossible to enter so easily. Now, this group practically just walked in.

“Which floor does headliner Ling Long stay at?” Xiao Chen asked.

“At the east side of the top floor. I know which room it is.”

The beggar smiled and said, “Little fellow, you truly care a lot. It was worth you getting beaten up so many times. At least you figured out which room it is. This time, you can boldly enter without worrying. If anyone dares to try and beat you up, Big Brother will beat them up for you.”

Ling Yu smiled bitterly. “Big Brother, you better stay here. I’m worried that something bad might happen to you.”

The beggar said cheerfully, “Don’t worry. Just do what you have to. Big Brother won’t peek. I still have that much moral integrity.”

“Let’s go.”

Taking advantage of the gap between patrols, Xiao Chen moved over in an instant, his figure flashing. The others followed closely, making their way to the top floor.

At this moment, the place was messy and chaotic.

Even so, the Smiling Daughter Pavilion’s guards maintained their vigilance when it came to the headliners.

When Xiao Chen approached the top floor, he frowned slightly. There are formations… If one enters the top floor without identification, the Smiling Daughter Pavilion will immediately discover one. This scanning formation is very difficult to avoid.

Xiao Chen had the Death God Mask and could go up. However, the other three would have difficulty.

“Hehe! This will do.”

The beggar took out a few tokens that turned out to be the guards’ identity tokens. To think that he pickpocketed them at some point.

Xiao Chen felt slightly startled. What a fellow! When did he do it? I did not even notice!

“How incredible. When did you do it?” Su Ye exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. She took one of the tokens.

“It’s nothing much, just some small tricks; you won’t be interested,” the beggar chirped as he shoved two tokens to Xiao Chen and Ling Yu.

With the tokens, the group walked up to the top floor without setting off any alarms and startling anyone.

The group walked along complicated corridors, making many turns before arriving at Ling Long’s room.

“This is it.”

Now that they had gotten this far, Ling Yu started to hesitate. He could vaguely see a slender figure through the doors.

[TL Note: Ancient Chinese doors and windows might not be solid wood. Instead, there would be lattices that might be left uncovered in the summer and covered with wax paper in the cold seasons. The wax paper might have paintings on it, too, like a windowpane but with paper instead of glass. There is an image of it: https://www.chinasage.info/imgs/LatticeWindows2.jpg]

“Go in, then.”

The beggar pushed, sending Ling Yu stumbling in.

“Who is it?!”

Ling Yu had just closed the door and turned around when a sword pressed against his neck.

The owner of the sword wore a long white dress. Her beautiful face appeared pale from worry.

Compared to when she performed during the day on the clouds, headliner Ling Long’s complexion appeared much poorer. Just one look inspired heartache.

Upon seeing Ling Yu’s face, Ling Long was momentarily stunned. Then, she startled awake. “Why are you here? Leave quickly. The Pavilion Master is already furious today. If you do not go, she will really kill you.”

“Elder Sister Ling Long, come with me. I was wrong. I realize my mistake,” Ling Yu blurted out, feeling sick at heart.

Ling Long put down her sword. She could not bear to look at Ling Yu lest she lose control of herself if she looked at him.

“Just leave.”

Ling Long turned her back to Ling Yu as she sighed, “It is over between us. I already gave you a chance five years ago. It is now five years too late.”

“I don’t care. No matter what, I will bring you away today.”

Ling Yu did not know where this courage came from. He stepped forward and grabbed headliner Ling Long’s hand.

Ling Long still did not turn around. She whispered, “Leave quickly. The Pavilion Master will be coming soon.”

“I want to bring you away.”

“How are you going to bring me away? You are just a mere Sovereign Personage. Can you compare to the First Prince?”

Ling Yu was stunned to hear that. He slowly relaxed the hand gripping Ling Long’s.

How stupid! Just directly carry her away!

Su Ye and the beggar, who were peeking from outside, immediately felt very anxious. If Ling Yu just kept saying “come with me” or “you have to come with me,” then they would have come for nothing. Clearly, the best way would be to just directly carry her away without saying anything.

“But you don’t like him,” Ling Yu said with a somewhat quivering voice.

“Who says that I don’t like him? He is the First Prince of the current regime, supported by the imperial ancestral temple’s patriarchs. He has obtained the support of the Pleasure Quarter Alliance and will soon be the crown prince. I will be the empress of the Yanwu Dynasty in the future,” Ling Long said self-mockingly. When she thought of Ling Yu’s laughable excuse five years ago, her heart ached again.

Ling Yu’s words back then were very hurtful.

Although Ling Long was a pleasure quarter woman, she did not lust after false glory or strong partners, yet Ling Yu ignored her feelings just because he could not match up to others.

Ling Long could not bear to think of this. Every time she remembered this, it was like a needle pricking her heart, feeling extremely painful.

“Impossible, you are lying to me.” Ling Yu was too honest; he could not make out the resentment in Ling Long’s tone.

“How is it impossible? Have I not always been such a person to you?”

The people listening outside felt very anxious, thinking that tonight was not going to go well.

“It’s over. This idiot is too stupid,” Su Ye murmured, frowning heavily.

The beggar said, “This won’t do. We’ve got to kidnap her. With my foolish little brother’s intellect…I really can’t bear to keep watching.”

Just as the group considered charging in and directly kidnapping Ling Long, soft footsteps came from behind. The three’s expressions flickered; then, their figures disappeared in a flash.

Someone came to the top floor. It was the veiled Pavilion Master Yang.

Pavilion Master Yang appeared calm, not overly furious over the earlier storm.

Soon, the veiled woman arrived at the door to headliner Ling Long’s room. Just as she was about to knock, she frowned slightly.

Then, she looked up quickly and was immediately shocked.

Pavilion Master Yang saw three people sticking to the ceiling, smiling at her. Su Ye smiled tauntingly, Xiao Chen smiled bitterly and helplessly, and the beggar showed a teasing smile as always.

“Plop!”

Before Pavilion Master Yang could react and scream, the beggar fell.

The collision resulted in the beggar pressing her to the ground. The two faces were merely one centimeter apart, the tips of their noses even touched.

“Hehe! You smell good,” the beggar said after sniffing, showing an intoxicated smile.

This completely frightened the veiled woman. She reacted only after a while, shouting furiously, “Die!”

“Bang!”

A 1-Vein Sovereign Emperor’s strength instantly erupted, and Pavilion Master Yang landed a palm strike on the beggar’s chest.

“Pu ci!”

The beggar vomited blood as the palm strike sent him flying back. However, as he went flying, he grabbed the veiled woman’s leg.

He pulled while in midair, wrapping his arms around the veiled woman.

As the beggar flew backward, he smiled and said, “It turns out that you like me hugging you. You should have said so earlier. I’ll hug you. You don’t have to use so much force. You nearly shattered my bones.”

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

The commotion startled the nearby guards; they instantly charged over.

When the guards saw the beggar, now leaning against the wall and hugging Pavilion Master Yang, they were shocked.

“Let go of Pavilion Master Yang!”

“Quickly let go of the Pavilion Master!”

The group of guards showed nervous expressions. A powerful enemy appeared, but they did not dare to act rashly.

The veiled woman being hugged felt an indescribable strangeness. Despite being so close to the beggar’s smiling face, she was surprised to find that the beggar was not as unkempt as she thought.

“Hehe! You also want a hug? It is very comfortable. I’ll let you try too.”

Just as Pavilion Master Yang wanted to take a closer look at the smiling face behind the messy hair, the beggar laughed and tossed her to the group of guards.

Due to conditioned reflexes, the guards quickly rushed forward to catch Pavilion Master Yang. However, they suddenly remembered her status and prestige. Just casually touching her would result in severe consequences, so they moved back hastily.

“Bang!” The veiled woman fell heavily onto the floor and grunted in pain.

“Hahaha! I’m laughing to death. Little bitch, to think that you have this day. Hahaha!”

When Su Ye saw this scene, she bent over, holding her belly, laughing without restraint. She laughed until tears came out.

The beggar showed an innocent look as though it was none of his business.

Only Xiao Chen looked around cautiously. The guards in the surroundings had already rushed over.