Chapter 130: 130

Sitting atop Cold Flame, Michelle stared at the world beneath them, a frown on her face. “Go there!” she pointed to a place, and Cold Flame quickly descended. That was already the tenth or so time she had asked Cold Flame to land so she could check the place.

And just like before, it was fruitless. Though the field did have a small hole which resembled a cave, it was too small to fit twelve thousand people.

Also, the opening was too big, so she couldn’t hide it from people, monsters, and beasts while she went between the Land of Exile and the lower realm to bring the people there.

With a sigh, she got back on Cold Flame’s back, and he continued flying. Soon, the outline of a city appeared in front of her and Cold Flame, so she asked him to land. From there, she went on foot, using her Shadow Spirit Steps to get to the gates as soon as possible. Evening was nearing, and she was worried that the gates would be closed for the night, so she wanted to get into the city as fast as possible.

Right in front of the city gate, Michelle disabled her Shadow Spirit Steps and looked at the guards. Seeing her, they were clearly surprised. It wasn’t that they had never seen someone who was able to move as fast as herself, but her cultivation was clearly beneath the Spirit rank, so they couldn’t comprehend how she did it. That made them a bit wary.

“Who are you and what do you want in the city?” the older guard asked with a frown, blocking her path.

Michelle glanced at the guard and smiled a bit. She didn’t plan to stir up any trouble before she had taken care of the trapped souls, so she acted polite. “I’m looking for a place to sleep for a few nights,” she lied without batting an eyelid.

“How come you were able to move like that?” the guard continued questioning her. “Someone of your level shouldn’t have skills like that. Who are you?”

When his question fell, Michelle raised a brow. Were her Shadow Spirit Steps really that unusual? “I put a bit of spirit energy into my feet and used special footwork. That allows me to move stealthily and quickly.” She decided to explain truthfully so she could get it over with as soon as possible.

The guard stared at her suspiciously for a while. “Show me! Slowly!” he finally said.

Michelle frowned a bit, not wanting to, but after thinking about it for a moment, she sighed and started moving the spirit energy within her towards her feet.

The guard felt it and instantly put his guard up in case Michelle tried something, observing her every move.

Michelle slowly moved her left foot to the side, closing her eyes slowly, before kicking into the ground. She started moving her legs in a strange way as she started moving in circles in front of the guard. She moved her legs as slowly as possible so that the guard could watch it closely.

“You can speed up!” the guard said after a while.

Quickly, Michelle took her speed up, until her movements turned into a blur with which the eyes of the guard couldn’t keep up.

“That’s enough!” When the guard said that, Michelle instantly stopped and turned to look at him.

“You can go in. You can be deemed harmless.”

“Thank you!” Michelle smiled brightly and passed by the guard and his younger helper, waltzing into the city.

The guard said she looked harmless, not knowing that soon, the harmless little lady would show herself to be an important element in what would happen.

As Michelle walked through the city, she felt a gaze on her, and it annoyed her because she knew exactly who it belonged to. But since he didn’t want to show himself, she knew it would be pointless for her to point out his presence, so she just kept walking, looking for an inn where she could sleep. The night was nearing, so she wanted to wait until morning to continue searching.

But even after darkness started to set in, she didn’t find a single free inn. Because the city was close to the jungle, many young cultivators who wanted to train there stayed the night in the city so they could set off in the morning.

In the last inn, Michelle looked at the old man at the reception and asked him if he had a free room. But the answer was the same as before: “No…”

“And do you at least know a place where I could stay for the night?” Michelle asked lazily. She didn’t feel like sleeping on the street, but if it was necessary, she didn’t mind doing so. Still, an inn was more comfortable.

The old man looked at Michelle and wanted to shake his head, but under the gaze of her deep and calm purple eyes, he sighed. “It’s a dangerous place, not suitable for a lady such as yourself…” he finally spoke.

Hearing that, Michelle raised a brow. “What kind of place is it?” she asked curiously. From the way she had seen the old man act towards his other customers, it was clear he was temperamental, so she wanted to know what place he thought was dangerous.

“It can be said to be the most dangerous place in this city. If you want to find it, it’s the tallest building in the city. A small tower used as a tavern.”

“Thanks…” Michelle smiled a bit and turned to leave. She wanted to find the tavern and see what it was like.

Watching Michelle’s departing back, the old man just sighed as he returned to lazily sleeping at the reception desk. He wasn’t expecting any more guests to come at the current hour as the city gates had already closed and most people had already found a place to stay.

Michelle wandered the dark streets of the city with her head upturned, staring at the small tower in the distance. She slowly made her way to it, and when she opened the door, her smile widened a bit. Unlike the inns where she had been before, the tavern was still bustling with life.

In the inns, the guests, young cultivators, went to sleep so they could set off to the jungle early in the morning, but the tavern was filled with men and women scarred by their lives, all exuding dangerous auras. They were clearly veterans when it came to exploring the jungle, so they kept drinking until the dead of the night.

Without a single scar visible on her thin body, Michelle seemed really out of place as she walked over to what seemed somewhere between a reception and a bar.

“Hello!” she greeted the lady behind the counter with a smile. The lady was old, but her beauty wasn’t fading. The wrinkles on her face showed how much she had gone through, but it somehow only added to her charm.

“What does a young thing like you want here?” the old lady asked.

Michelle’s smile widened even more. “Do you have a free room?” she asked sweetly. It was unusual of her to act so sweet, but the presence of the old lady was able to bring something she had long forgotten out of her soul. Her innocence, which she had long lost even before she started training to become an assassin. There was something about the old lady which drew her in.

The old lady was taken aback by Michelle’s sweet smile.

“A youngling such as yourself should find a different place to sleep…” she said after a while.

But Michelle shook her head. “Where else should I sleep if not in the tavern of a lovely bar maiden?” she asked with a tilt of her head. She didn’t even know herself why she said that, but it came from the bottom of her heart, which she had thought had long gone cold. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. She was still able to feel childish happiness and naivety, but someone just had to bring it out.

With a sigh, the old lady reached into a drawer and took out a key. “The last room on the top floor. You can stay there,” she said as she threw the keys at Michelle.

Michelle caught the key and her smile widened.

“How much should I pay?” she asked. Before she had left the Archduchy, her father, Philip Grace, had given her quite some spirit stones which were used as currency instead of gold and silver outside the Land of Exile. Or at least in the lower realm. As for the currency in the middle, upper, and heavenly realms, she would need to find that out and gain it herself.

After settling the payment, Michelle went to check the room before coming back down to the ground floor. She was curious about the guests at the tavern, so she sat at the bar and started talking with the old lady.

But they didn’t talk about the guests. Just plain everyday things. Still, Michelle kept a bit of her attantion on the guests, a thought popping in her mind.

The tavern was the den of debauchery, violence, and sin.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep