Chapter 86: Late night stalking.
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The wagons carrying all the contestants made their way through the city under the watchful eyes of the citizens, some cheering for those they knew while others just remained silent. Yin Long was given a wide berth by the citizens closest to the wagons, the image of him stringing someone up to bleed out was still fresh in the minds of everyone so they knew that this handsome youngster hid a dark viciousness underneath his casual elegance.

Lan Yun snorted disdainfully at their actions, but Jin Wang was more than pleased with them and raised his head high. Finally they had understood their own position, understood that they weren't suited to approaching them and should just cower in silence. Yin Long himself didn't really bother with the surrounding citizens or how they acted when he passed by, it really wasn't worth worrying about how every single person perceived you.

Glimmer Void city was quite a large city, and since it had already been afternoon when they set out, the sun had already set when the wagons reached the spatial array. There was also no way for all the wagons to take the spatial array at once so they had to line up and be sent off one by one, a process that slowly added up and increased the time needed to reach Starblood city.

By the time Yin Long and Lan Yun's group reached the grand city, which was built with such a diverse architecture that you could see different styles by just moving your eyes, they were only an hour or two from midnight. They had fought throughout the nights previously, but there was no way they would do that during the extravagant Three-Fold Territory Clash, there was no way all the spectators could sit around 24/7 to observe the matches.

They were also given five days of rest to relax their bodies and mind, but most would take this chance to learn more about their teammates so that they could form a simple strategy. And of course, as they were the representatives of their respective territories, there was no way that they would just be left to rest in their wagons. Each wagon was quickly approached by a youthful woman when they reached the city, the warmly dressed woman bowing to the wagon and its driver.

"Dear competitors, please follow this little one to your lodgings. We've prepared the proper inns to ensure that you'll get to relax in an undisturbed manner."

The woman snuck a glance at Yin Long, or rather at Jin Wang, but she maintained her professional and polite attitude as she guided them. The inn was located quite close to the spatial array they arrived at, the inn itself shaped like a large silver pyramid adorned with a wavy pattern that flickered with yellow light.

Yin Long could feel some familiar fluctuations coming from the inn itself so he wasn't surprised when they stepped through the doors and the inn was revealed to be larger on the inside. If even Starfall city could use space-expanding and space-shrinking arrays on their buildings then there was no way that Starblood city couldn't. And with so many people arriving for the Three-Fold Territory Clash, these large inns finally got to fill up all their rooms.

The first floor of the inn was slightly peculiar, it looked like a vast plain that even had small rivers meandering through it. What looked like small mountains dotted the plain and there were even spiralling stairs ascending into the sky, leading to the upper floors. For even the first floor of the inn to look like this, it had clearly been built for the rich and the powerful, it wasn't an inn normal people or weaker cultivators could afford to visit.

A man dressed in a luxurious golden robe was already waiting for them when they arrived, ten youthful women clad in skin-tight blue uniforms waiting silently behind him. The man swept back his short brown hair with a quick and graceful move as Yin Long and the others stepped into the inn, greeting them with a warm smile and a fractal bow.

"Good evening, Esteemed Guests. I am Zhou Sheng and I'm the owner of this little establishment. We've long been told of your arrival and have already prepared rooms for all of you, our diligent maids will quickly take you there. As for your companion, would you like to leave him in the stables?"

There was only one among them who fit the term companion, and that was Jin Wang, who Yin Long had dismounted as they reached the inn. Yin Long felt it a bit funny that the man wanted to send a lion into what was likely a stable filled with horses, sending an amused sideways glance at Jin Wang.

"Stables? What do you think?"

Jin Wang didn't look as amused as Yin Long, his expression somewhat dark as he growled. What an utter joke, why would a beast like him get relegated to some stables? With Jin Wang growling like that, Yin Long simply shrugged his shoulders to Zhou Sheng, who scratched his sideburns somewhat awkwardly.

"I see. Then I'm afraid you will have to give us a slight bit more time. We've only prepared one room for each of you, so we'll have to prepare an additional one for him, please understand our plight."

This wasn't the first time Zhou Sheng had encountered a Demonic beast companion, but it was definitely the first time he had encountered one that reacted so grimly to the mere prospect of being sent to the stables. But he had his orders, so he could only do whatever he could to please Yin Long's group. But when it came to his proposal, Yin Long only shook his head and pointed at Lan Yun with his thumb.

"No need, me and she will share a room, and he'll be staying with us anyway so there's no need to prepare an additional room."

A faint light of understanding flashed through Zhou Sheng's eyes as he caught onto the hidden meaning in Yin Long's words. He maintained his pleasant smile as he shifted his body to gesture for them to move forward, quickly sending a stealthy sign to one of the maids.

"Very well, then please follow our maids."

Each of the maids gracefully walked up to one of Yin Long's team members, one of the maids retreating as the one assigned to Yin Long led both him and Lan Yun away. They all headed for one of the mountains that dotted the area, entering a delicately carved tunnel that moved through the entire mountain, a door occasionally appearing on either side of the tunnel.

Each person in the group was brought into one of the rooms, Bai Mu being the first, the maids following after them as they started to explain the various amenities. Yin Long and Lan Yun were the fifth and sixth among the group to be led into a large and decadent room that even had a fountain with a statue featuring a winged-man wielding a glaive.

But the maid didn't enter the room after them, politely bidding them farewell and closing the door after her. The room was supposedly prepared for a single person, but there was still a grandiose bed covered in red silk sheets placed on the left side of the room, more than large enough to accommodate two or three people.

Lan Yun stretched her body the moment the maid closed the door behind them, quickly skipping over to the bed and hopping onto it. She loosened the collar of her robe and sprawled out in an enticing position that flaunted her revealed cleavage, putting on a fake bashful smile while inviting Yin Long.

"What do you say, Young Master, do you want to have some fun like the rest, or would you like to tease your meal a bit more first?"

They couldn't hear anything from the other rooms, but there was only one reason for maids to enter the rooms with their guests when it came to inns of this quality. And Lan Yun had finally snagged Yin Long and his heart, she was confident that he wouldn't reject her this time. Yin Long rolled his eyes in an exasperated manner as he looked at Lan Yun, patting Jin Wang on the head as he spoke.

"You really don't have an ounce of pat...?"

Yin Long's hands and words halted before he finished his sentence, his head turning to the side as if he was peering through the walls of the room. Lan Yun immediately realized that he had noticed something, tilting her head curiously.

"Young Master?"

He might have finally accepted his emotions for her and accepted her as his, but she still felt the most comfortable calling him Young Master as she always had. After all, to day's date, she had yet to actually call Yin Long by his name, so using it from now on would just feel strange to her. Yin Long stopped looking to the side, the corners of his mouth curving up in interest while he glanced at Lan Yun, who only shook her head and mimicked his earlier exasperated manner.

"Hey, you wanna join me and see something interesting?"

"Now why would you bother asking that, Young Master? It's not like you don't already know the answer."

Yin Long only grinned faintly in response to her manner, he had indeed already known that she wouldn't reject him. Jin Wang also realized that something was going on, but Yin Long ruffled his mane and shook his head.

"You wait here, you are way too eye-catching."

Jin Wang exhaled a quick puff of air in dissatisfaction but didn't protest further, whatever they were going out to do right now was clearly something that required them to be a bit more covert than usual. He sauntered over to the large fountain and slumped down in front of it, allowing the heat of the water to move through the air and into him.

Yin Long smiled somewhat apologetically at Jin Wang before swiping his interspatial ring and switching into a darker robe, donning a large hat with a curtain of beads dangling from the sides to cover his appearance. Lan Yun looked somewhat nostalgically at his clothing before donning her own set, both of them only missing their demonic masks to become a spitting image of how they looked when they worked for the Lang clan.

The two quickly left the inn, making sure that they weren't spotted when they made their way past the rooms that had soft moans coming from within. Yin Long moved through the dark streets and alleys with quick steps, several times stopping before turning around and heading down a different alley or road.

He didn't seem to be moving with a clear goal in mind, but Lan Yun was confident that he wasn't just dragging her around in an aimless fashion. And sure enough, he stopped walking after a little over an hour, stopping in a one-metre wide back alley shrouded in darkness. And that darkness actually gathered together to form a person in front of them, a quiet yet clearly annoyed voice sounding out as the person formed.

"Why do you keep following me? Do you really want to fight me that much?"

The person forming from the darkness in front of them was Bai Mu, but it wasn't the Bai Mu that Lan Yun was used to. His golden hair had turned pitch black, and even his golden right eye had turned white while his previously white left eye had turned as black as his hair. His demeanour was far colder and grimmer than previously, lacking even the smallest trace of the naivety he usually showed. But Yin Long had already seen this change once before so he only shrugged his shoulders casually.

"I mean yeah, but not right now. I'm just interested in seeing where you're headed with such quick and determined steps. Just curiosity."

Yin Long had noticed Bai Mu the moment he left the inn and had of course instantly seen that he wasn't in his usual state. He lost him last time, but this time he wasn't planning on letting him slip away, especially after he saw how determined he seemed. Bai Mu sneered slightly at Yin Long's remark, his expression turning a shade darker.

"Curiosity, what a cursed thing."

Yin Long didn't bother giving any comment on his statement and simply maintained a faint smile. Bai Mu allowed his gaze to roam over Yin Long and Lan Yun, his mind moving for a bit before he reluctantly spat out some words.

"...The people from the Bai clan from the Winged-Blood Territory are situated in an inn not too far from here. One among them is known as Bai Juelong and he won't shy away from anything if it means furthering his position in the clan or increasing the reputation of the clan. I'm going to kill him. There, I've told you, now leave me alone."

Bai Mu waved his hand in a dismissive manner in hopes of sending Yin Long away, but that sadly didn't happen. Yin Lon maintained his smile while raising an eyebrow, not even bothering to hear Bai Mu's opinion as he spoke.

"Nah, you've actually only made me more interested, so we'll be tagging along for a bit."

They had only just reached this city so it was strange that Bai Mu already knew about the people from the Bai clan being here, even knowing one of the members they brought along. And the sheer hatred in his voice as he mentioned this person, as well as their surname, only made Yin Long even more curious. Exactly what was the truth behind this strange fellow in front of him?

Bai Mu's eyebrows twitched, the darkness in the alley surging slightly in tune with the twitching of his eyebrows. But thinking about how Yin Long had already followed after him for an hour without losing him, he didn't doubt that it would be close to impossible to actually lose Yin Long. He thought back to his previous meeting with Yin Long and then swept his gaze over the two people once more, his gaze so sharp that it seemed like he wanted to see into the very nature of their souls.

"You'll just keep following me like a maggot sticking to a festering wound even if I say no, won't you? At least you aren't amateurs, but that doesn't mean that you can interfere. He is my kill."

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