Back in Linjiang, Li Tan headed straight to the Li residence.
The matter concerning the Liu family had already been resolved. More than half of their family’s assets had been divided between the Li and Lin families. If it weren’t for the two innate experts still guarding the Liu family, they would likely have been reduced to a second-rate clan.
The Lin family had not made any comments regarding the matter of the letter of divorce either; Lin Long had indeed shown good sense.
As for the City Lord’s mansion, after the rebels had been dealt with, the City Lord’s health improved rapidly. Ming De had visited several times out of gratitude, but all attempts were in vain. Now, Li Tan had no intention of reciprocating visits. He was more concerned about matters concerning the Feiyu Sect. While this matter held little significance for him personally, it was quite different for the Li family.
Speaking of the Feiyu Sect naturally brought up the Hanshuang Festival competition.
The martial arts contest had been interrupted due to the Liu family’s affairs, and the Li and Lin families had been preoccupied with dealing with the Liu family over the past couple of days. Now that things had finally calmed down, the time for the Feiyu Sect’s recruitment was drawing near. There was no time to hold the remaining matches again. Therefore, this time, Linjiang City decided not to use any special recommendation slots to gain unfair advantages. In other words, the young members of each family would have to rely solely on their own abilities to participate in the trials.
Whether this decision turned out to be a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
In any case, after a brief chat with Li Zhen, Li Tan set off together with the main group.
The people accompanying him this time were the same ten individuals who had participated in the previous Hanshuang Festival competition. Because Li Tan was present and Li Zhen and others had been too busy dealing with the Liu family affairs lately, no other leader had been assigned. Li Yang had wanted to join them, but due to injuries sustained during the battle with that woman, he had to undergo treatment and thus missed the opportunity.
But it didn’t really matter. After the trials ended, it would take about a week for the results to be announced, and those who were accepted would receive formal notices.
“Brother Li Tan, how much longer until we get there?”
Inside the carriage, Li Jiaying, bored out of her mind, curled up like a kitten in Li Tan’s arms, while Xiaobai lazily lay on her head.
“You’ve already asked this question for the third time within ten minutes.”
Li Tan said somewhat speechlessly.
Pouting, Li Jiaying replied, “Because brother keeps saying we’re almost there, but we still haven’t arrived.”
“Okay, I admit my mistake.”
Li Tan lifted the curtain on the side window and glanced outside. The sky was filled with crimson clouds. He pulled his hand back. “It’s already evening; we really are almost there this time.”
“How long?
I’m hungry.”
“About two hours.”
“That’s not nearly ‘almost there’!”
A wail echoed inside the carriage.
Li Tan shrugged helplessly. Truth be told, he was a bit hungry too. Due to the habit of avoiding grains he had cultivated before his rebirth, he never kept any earthly food in his spatial ring, which led to this situation.
However, the discomfort didn’t last long before a faint aroma drifted in through the air. Excitedly, Li Jiaying lifted the curtain and stuck her head out before shouting joyfully, “Brother, brother, there’s an inn!”
Li Tan peeked out from the other side and saw, about two hundred meters away at the foot of a nearby hill by the roadside, a solitary two-story wooden house with a flagpole in front bearing the words “Roadside Inn.”
He pulled his head back, turned to the side, and met Li Jiaying’s expectant smile. With a helpless sigh, he said, “It’ll be dark soon; let’s stay here for the night and have something to eat.”
“Brother Li Tan is the best!”
Li Jiaying gave Li Tan a quick peck on the cheek.
Li Tan gently tapped her head in reprimand, “You’re already grown up; don’t do such affectionate things when you’re happy. You need to change this habit.”
“La la la la,” however, Li Jiaying seemed completely not listening.
Li Tan sighed helplessly, feeling very much like a father taking his daughter on a trip.
Stepping outside the carriage, he called out to the convoy behind him, and the coachman steered all the carriages toward the inn.
From afar, the inn looked decent enough, but up close, it was far worse than expected. Describing it as dilapidated was actually being generous. Even worse, the interior was extremely dirty and messy. There were even dishes left on the tables in the first-floor lobby from who-knows-when, buzzing with flies.
Li Tan immediately regretted his decision, but considering that Li Jiaying, Li Hantian, and the others hadn’t eaten all day and that traveling at night could lead to accidents, he decided to endure it.
“Boss, boss!”
Li Hantian shouted twice.
Soon, footsteps approached, and with a “Coming, coming!” call, a burly man ran out with a beaming smile, asking, “Sirs, are you stopping for a meal or staying the night?”
Li Hantian looked at Li Tan.
Li Tan gave the man a quick glance, slightly puzzled but not overly concerned, and directly replied, “Staying the night, and we’ll have dinner too.”
“Understood, sirs, please be seated anywhere. I’ll prepare the food right away.”
Li Tan chose a seat as far away from the moldy dishes as possible, and his spiritual sense immediately enveloped the entire inn.
Besides them, there were only three people in the inn, including the burly man. The man was clearly a cultivator, but his cultivation level was unclear. As for the others, since he hadn’t seen them before, it was hard to judge.
Li Tan felt a bit hopeful and thoughtfully tapped his fingers on the table. Moments later, his spiritual sense had thoroughly scanned every detail of the inn, and a cold smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“The food is taking a while. Don’t run around, Jiaying. I’m going to check on it.”
“Okay!”
Li Tan stood up and walked toward the kitchen. He pushed the door open directly and saw three people huddled together suspiciously, whispering about something.
One was the burly man from earlier, another was a slightly overweight middle-aged man, and the third was a middle-aged woman with a face full of freckles.
“Who’s there!”
The slightly overweight man quickly turned around.
Li Tan smiled lightly and asked, “Innkeeper, when will our meal be ready?”
“Oh, oh, it’s you, guest. It’ll be ready soon; please wait a little longer.”
The middle-aged man immediately forced a smile onto his face.
Li Tan pointed at the stove, which hadn’t even been lit yet, and asked, “We’ve been here for a while now. Why hasn’t the fire been lit yet?”
“Uh, this…” The middle-aged man was momentarily at a loss for words.
The woman, with a face full of flattery, quickly answered for him, “We were just discussing what dishes to cook to please you all the most.”
“Oh, I see.”
Li Tan feigned realization.
“Exactly, that’s it!” The middle-aged man nodded eagerly.
But at this moment, Li Tan’s tone suddenly shifted, becoming somewhat cold, “I don’t think that’s the case, is it? Compared to discussing what dishes to cook, you’re probably more concerned about whether to put some drugs in the food, right?”
The expressions of the middle-aged man, the woman, and the burly man froze instantly.
“Guest, you must be joking, right? Why would we drug you? What benefit would we get from that?”
The middle-aged man’s voice turned colder.
Li Tan glanced to the right and coldly laughed, “I wonder if you said the same things to those gentlemen lying on the ground over there?”
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