Chapter 276: Treasure Pavilion
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a large commotion could be heard as the sound of footsteps rang out. Ming Dong came running in with his sword in hand as he asked seriously, “Jian Chen, what happened?” Rushing forward, he saw the giant hole in the ceiling with his twinkling eyes. Looking back to Jian Chen, he asked with concern, “Jian Chen, are you alright?”
Waving his hand, Jian Chen said, “I’m fine!”
“We are in the Tianqin clan’s compound and had only just arrived at Walaurent City with no enemies. Just who could possible want to attack you?” Ming Dong asked curiously.
Jian Chen chuckled, “This isn’t the work of an enemy. Instead, this is their attempt to test me.”
“A test!” Ming Dong had a surprised look on his face, “Then you’re saying that the people who attacked you for no reason are…”
Jian Chen threw up his hand to quiet Ming Dong, “This is a matter that we come to an understanding about and say no more.”
Ming Dong went quiet for a moment before muttering, “No wonder the guards patrolling the area weren’t alerted, so it was like that?”
“Ming Dong, it’s already quite late, you should return to your room.” With that, Jian Chen began to tidy up the tiles that had fallen before climbing back into his bed.
“If you say so, then I’ll be heading back.” Without another word, Ming Dong returned to his room without bothering Jian Chen any longer.
As the night went on and the morning came by, Qin Xiao came by to Jian Chen’s room early only to see the broken remnants of the door that was caused by Ming Dong when he had kicked it open. With a stunned look, he immediately cried out, “Brother Jian Chen, are you still here?”
“Qin Xiao, come in!” Jian Chen’s calm voice from within his room.
Immediately after walking into the room, Qin Xiao noticed the giant hole on the ceiling of the room with a pile of broken tiles on the floor.
At this sight, Qin Xiao couldn’t help but be shocked. Looking all around him, he asked, “Brother Jian Chen, just what exactly happened last night? Just why is it a mess in here as if there was a fight?”
Jian Chen gave a casual smile as he said, “It was nothing major. A mysterious black robed man attacked me last night, but brother Qin Xiao shouldn’t concern himself with the matter.”
“What, someone attacked you last night?” Qin Xiao spoke in shock before instantly turning furious, “Who would dare? To think someone would try to commit such a crime in my Tianqin clan?! It would seem those guards should be swapped as well, they’re nothing more than good-for-nothings! Brother Jian Chen, I will report this to my father, don’t you worry. No matter who it was that attacked you, my Tianqin clan will definitely not let this assassin be. Hmph, never has there been such a person that would dare provoke the honor of our Tianqin clan!” Qin Xiao cried out furiously before stomping away to his father with such anger that even Jian Chen couldn’t placate him.
“It would seem that Qin Xiao didn’t know about last night’s events.” Seeing the retreating back of Qin Xiao, Jian Chen muttered to himself from his window.
Quickly, a group of people came back to where Jian Chen was. The leader of the group was Qin Xiao with the patriarch of the Tianqin clan along with a few other guards.
Jian Chen quickly made his way out from the room and cupped his hands to the patriarch, “Jian Chen respectfully greets patriarch Tianqin.”
The patriarch laughed, “Brother Jian Chen needs not to be so polite. I’ve heard that you’ve suffered an attack yesterday night, is that true?”
“It is!” Jian Chen replied.
The patriarch attitude became extremely serious after that answer as he looked at the door which had been kicked down by Ming Dong. Investigating the sight for himself, his face grew even more embarrassed by the moment before shouting, “Just how ridiculous is this, how dare someone try to act in such a way to my Tianqin clan!” With an intense glare, he stared at one of the guards that had accompanied him, “Just what kind of captain of the guard are you? For an enemy to be so unafraid of infiltrating our clan, just what good are you?”
Hearing this, the guards there began to panic before kneeling to the ground, “Please, my lord, we will do everything we can to investigate the infiltrator. Please give us this one chance to redeem ourselves.”
“Pah, because of your years of service to our Tianqin clan despite having very little contributions, I will temporarily pardon you. Hurry up and go find out just who did this to our Tianqin clan!” The patriarch commanded with a strict tone.
“We thank the patriarch for his kindness. We will definitely find out who the infiltrator was.” The guards spoke as they received amnesty and kowtowed to show their gratitude.
The patriarch turned to look at Jian Chen with his serious look fading away quickly. “Brother Jian Chen, I truly wish to give my apologies. To think that you suffered an attack while being a guest at my Tianqin clan, this is truly unexpected. However, please do not worry, my Tianqin clan will pursue the one responsible and will make sure he is handed over to you for your satisfaction.”
The guards lined up next to him looked at each other with some confusion. In regards to Jian Chen, they only had a little information about him, They only knew that the young lord had made good friends with him, but the patriarch of the Tianqin clan had began to treat this fragile youth far too well than they thought.
“Could it be that this youth has a strong clan supporting him?” The guards all thought at the same time. Despite this question all weighing heavily on their minds, they didn’t have the qualifications to ask.
The patriarch’s attitude toward Jian Chen made him feel as if he was being pampered and so he didn’t dare feel slighted by this. Cupping his hands together, Jian Chen said, “Patriarch Tianqin is far too kind. Yesterday’s night was nothing serious so please do not waste too much of your efforts on this. It cannot be certain or not if it was an enemy of mine that followed me to kill me.”
After that, the patriarch left Jian Chen with a few parting words while commanding the patrolmen to make sure that such an event wouldn’t happen again.
Qin Xiao walked up to Jian Chen’s side. With his toned physique, the comparison to Jian Chen’s slim build was strikingly clear.
Slapping his shoulder, Qin Xiao said, “Brother Jian Chen, yesterday night’s events must have startled you. It’s a good thing you came out unharmed, otherwise there would be no way for me to forgive myself.”
Laughing, Jian Chen said a few words before allowing Qin Xiao to take him on a stroll through Walaurent City.
Walaurent City was extremely large with a flourishing city center. As Qin Xiao lead both Jian Chen and Ming Dong throughout the city, they came across several thriving streets in the city.
Then the three finally came to a stop right in front of a massive building with the words, “Treasure Pavilion” written in fancy lettering.
“Brother Jian Chen, this is where the biggest concentration of treasures are within Walaurent City. This is where the rarest of treasures can be found, let’s go in and take a look.” Qin Xiao said to Jian Chen.”
Within Treasure Pavilion, many richly dressed men were walking around along with several sturdy looking mercenaries that were all looking with an attentive gaze at the merchandise around them.
“Brother Jian Chen, this place has the monopoly on the most fantastic of treasures. There are even many things here I’m not aware of that may even date to the ancient past. Although they may not have any practical use, they look quite nice if collected. Thus, many people gather here to look for things for their collections, although very rarely, there are some that later buy an unknown treasure or two.” Qin Xiao said as he looked around at the closest merchandise to him.
Suddenly, the azure and violet Sword Spirits within Jian Chen’s dantian shook once before sending a message to Jian Chen telepathically. At that message, Jian Chen could tell that the two Sword Spirits were feeling excited.
Jian Chen’s heart skipped a beat as he looked around. Without a change in his expression, he said, “Brother Qin Xiao, I’m going to take a look then.”
“Ah, go ahead. When it’s time to leave I’ll call for you.” Qin Xiao replied.
Afterward, Jian Chen and Ming Dong climbed up to the second story. The very moment they stepped foot onto the second story, Jian Chen stopped moving for a moment before continuing to climb upward.
As Jian Chen approached the fourth floor, two sturdy looking men blocked his path to the stairway. One of them looked at Jian Chen before speaking out politely, “My apologies, my lord, but only those with a Purple Card can enter this floor.”
While a Purple Card was a way of storing and saving money, within the Tian Yuan Continent, a Purple Card also signified one’s wealth. It was a symbol of status that was clearly also the requirement for entering the fourth floor to the building.
With a wave of his hand, a Purple Card appeared. Looking at the two men, he said, “Might I be allowed to enter now?’
“Of course, please enter my lord!” The two men instantly gestured for him to go past them.
Jian Chen walked passed the guards onto the fourth floor, but just as Ming Dong was about to follow, the two men immediately blocked the path once more. “My lord, please show us your Purple Card as well. If you cannot show your Purple Card, then in strict accordance to our rules, you may not be allowed entry onto the fourth floor.”
With those words, Ming Dong had a bitter look on his face before smiling to Jian Chen, “Jian Chen, you can go ahead, I’ll wait down below for you.”
“Wait a minute!” Jian Chen called out for Ming Dong to stop. With another wave of his hand, a purple card appeared in his hands. Stuffing it into Ming Dong’s hands, Jian Chen turned to the two guards there and spoke stiffly, “Is he allowed entry now?”
The two guards looked at each other with some hesitation before they relented. Although they both could see that the Purple Card in Ming Dong’s hands wasn’t his, but the rules of the building only stipulated that one must be in possession of a Purple Card in order to be allowed entry. It had never said that a Purple Card must belong to the person, so Ming Dong hadn’t broken any rules at all.
The fourth floor was rather empty in comparison to the stories below. Throughout the entire floor, there were many strange and bizarre objects on display. Ranging from many different colored stones to strange lumps of iron–there were even many antique looking pottery vases and chinaware. In short, there were many fantastical things to be seen, some from the past and many weren’t ordinary looking things at all. However, what their uses may be, no one knew.