Chapter 133: Red-Clothed Girl
Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas
The interior of the carriage was deathly silent.
Li Fei and Ke Er were both intelligent and thus didn’t say a word.
Li Rou’s eyes were slightly red, as she could feel her son’s resentment from the way he spoke. After a long time, she sighed and said lightly, "Fine, Tian, since you’re unwilling to go, then we won’t."
"Mom, don’t be upset." Duan Ling Tian’s heart ached slightly when he saw his mother like this. He sat over beside her and held her hand. "I know that you want me to go acknowledge my ancestors and return to the clan for the sake of father, but why did you leave the Duan Clan all those years ago? Surely it doesn’t mean that you’ve forgotten all that, right? When father was alive, everyone respected you, but once father disappeared, those jealous people were the first to make trouble for you! I’m sure that even if father was still alive, he wouldn’t blame us."
Li Rou nodded, and a smile appeared on her face. "Tian, you’ve grown up. Mother can be at ease. Mother doesn’t have any other requests for the remainder of my life; all I hope for is to be able to see you and Little Fei and Ke Er bear children together, and then I’ll be satisfied."
Duan Ling Tian’s heart trembled. The love of a mother was as heavy as Mount Tai, and it caused his heart to ache and his eyes turned misty.
"Mom, rest for a while." After taking a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian returned to the side of Ke Er and Li Fei before sighing.
He would go to the Duan Clan, but it wasn’t to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan…. Instead, it was to kill that Duan Ling Xing!
Before long, the wagon arrived before the Imperial City, and the large wagon that was pulled by three Ferghana Horses naturally attracted much attention wherever is passed.
The Imperial City encompassed a vast expanse of land, and it stood there like an enormous fierce beast in hibernation, giving people a type of oppressive feeling.
Surrounding the Imperial City was a wide moat, only leaving a single stone bridge to provide access towards the city’s main gate. This was precisely the one and only city gate in the Imperial City… and thus there was only this one method of passage in and out of the Imperial City.
As the wagon traveled on the stone bridge, ferocious fish-type fierce beasts could be vaguely seen leaping about the city moat, revealing their vicious sharp teeth.
The denseness of the fish-type fierce beasts within the city moat would cause anyone’s scalp to go numb.
It’s imaginable that even if a Nascent Soul martial artist were to fall in, he would still probably have only a slim chance of survival.
As the one and only city gate of the Imperial City, it was extremely large and completely made out of Fine Steel. Its height was over tens of meters, and on either side of the city gate were mighty soldiers wearing armor. These soldiers held sharp spears within their grasps, and they separated into two squads that stood guard on either side of the city gate, not moving an inch.
Wherever Duan Ling Tian’s wagon passed, the crowd would move aside; even the soldiers stationed on either side of the city gate did not dare come close.
A wagon pulled by three Ferghana Horses wasn’t a common sight even in the Imperial City, as a figure who could travel on such a wagon was either rich or noble.
After entering the Imperial City, Duan Ling Tian, Ke Er, and Li Fei carefully sized up the Imperial City through their carriage’s window.
On either side of the wide road were plenty of stores and restaurants, and the area was extremely bustling.
Li Fei faintly sighed. "Aurora City can only be considered a small, countryside city compared to the Imperial City."
Duan Ling Tian deeply agreed with Li Fei’s sentiments.
Aurora City was completely unable to compare with the Imperial City.
Meanwhile, Xiong Quan’s voice sounded. "My liege, the Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Imperial City is divided into the outer city and inner city. We are currently only in the outer city."
"Outer city?" Duan Ling Tian was surprised. Such a flourishing place was only the outer city of the Imperial City?
"My Liege, look, the inner city is right up ahead." The wagon traveled for around another half an hour before Xiong Quan’s voice sounded once more.
At this time, Duan Ling Tian glanced over to see that at the end of the road, there was a city inside a city standing there. This inner city seemed no different than the outer city.
If there really was a difference, then it would be that the area it occupied was smaller than the outer city. The moat, the city walls, and the stone bridge, they were all exactly the same as the outer city’s.
Presently, the inner city’s city gate was shut tight, and the stone bridge was devoid of people.
"This inner city is actually not open." Duan Ling Tian’s brows slightly knit.
"It’s probably time restrictions," Xiong Quan said.
"Xiong Quan, you seem to be familiar with the Imperial City. You’ve come here before?" Duan Ling Tian asked, as from Xiong Quan’s introduction earlier, he had noticed that Xiong Quan seemed to be very familiar with the Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Imperial City.
"I’ve come here once." Xiong Quan sighed. He seemed to be recalling past events.
At that time, he was acting on his status as the Guardian of the Boundless Sect, and he passed through here while leading some disciples to run some errands.
Now that he recalled it, he couldn’t help but sigh…
"Let’s find an inn in the outer city to stay at first," Duan Ling Tian instructed.
"Yes," Xiong Quan respectfully replied, before looking for a slightly luxurious inn to stay at.
The manager of the inn personally came out to greet them, as a wagon that was pulled by three Ferghana Horses caused him to tremble with fear. He was deeply afraid of irritating the esteemed guest.
Duan Ling Tian arrived before the door of Li Rou’s room and quietly said, "Mom, let’s go get something to eat."
"Mom isn’t hungry and wants to take a rest. Go on ahead… Hmm, remember to bring Xiong Quan along, as the Imperial City is full of powerhouses. Be sure to not cause trouble on your own accord." Li Rou’s voice sounded, and she didn’t forget to warn Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian acknowledged her before leaving the inn with Ke Er and Li Fei. Xiong Quan followed suit.
Duan Ling Tian looked for a nearby restaurant that seemed good before walking in with large strides. This restaurant was a multi-storied pavilion that was divided into three floors. The first floor’s surroundings were filled with flora and fauna that were extremely pleasing to the eye, and since it was lunchtime, the first floor was already packed with people and bustling with activity.
Duan Ling Tian followed the stairs and walked swiftly up to the second floor. Compared to the first floor, the second floor was instead much quieter. Although many people were conversing, they intentionally suppressed the sound of their voices, as they were very conscious of their image.
"Guest, please come over here." Before long, a female attendant greeted Duan Ling Tian’s group and brought them to a nearby table.
"Bring me a serving of all the specialty dishes in your restaurant, and a jug of fine wine," Duan Ling Tian instructed.
"Yes." The female attendant respectfully nodded before turning around and leaving.
In next to no time, good wine and delicious food were placed onto the table…
"This restaurant is really special." Li Fei lightly smiled. They were nearly unable to hear any of the loud noise from the first floor while sitting here on the second floor, and everything seemed so calm and peaceful.
A small portion of the surrounding patrons were discussing private matters, whereas the larger portion were discussing the Paladin Academy.
"I wonder if the Paladin Academy will receive another genius student like Xu Qing this year."
"What a joke, that Xu Qing is a rare genius martial artist, and in our entire Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Paladin Academy’s history, only one person from 20 over years ago could compare with him.."
"Who?"
"Naturally it was the Duan Clan’s Duan Ru Feng!"
"Who’s Duan Ru Feng?"
"You actually don’t even know Duan Ru Feng? He’s a peerless genius of our Crimson Sky Kingdom from over 20 years ago and is a direct descendant of the Duan Clan."
"I actually have never heard of him."
"That normal, because he disappeared 15 years ago. If he didn’t disappear, the number one powerhouse in our Crimson Sky Kingdom might not be the figure from the Imperial Family."
"Shhh! Softer! Are you courting death? Is that figure of the Imperial Family’s figure someone you can wildly talk about?"
...
Duan Ling Tian’s eyes narrowed as he heard the discussion from the nearby table. Duan Ru Feng was precisely his father of this lifetime!
"I never imagined that there were still people who remembered that deadbeat father of mine," Duan Ling Tian thought in his heart, as he was slightly surprised.
"Hmph! Duan Ru Feng was only just a short-lived guy!" Just at this moment, a cold and indifferent voice sounded from the stairway.
A red-clothed girl around the age of 19 walked up to the second floor, and behind her followed an old woman. The old man supported herself on a walking stick, but her eyes were brilliant like an array of stars, obviously due to having a high cultivation level.
"Little girl, you’re too presumptuous! Would you dare say that if that Duan Ru Feng was around?" The face of the middle-aged man who adored Duan Ru Feng sank.
"Slap in the face!" The red-clothed girl’s icy cold voice sounded. It was unknown who she was talking to.
Instantly, the old woman behind her moved as if she had transformed into a gust of wind and flashed towards the middle-aged man!
Above the old woman, tens of ancient mammoth silhouettes condensed into form before vanishing in the next instant.
Slap!
A clear sound echoed out as the old woman returned to the red-clothed girl. Half of the middle-aged man’s face swelled up, and his expression was extremely unsightly, but although he was furious, he did not dare say anything, as the old woman’s strength was far above his.
For a moment, the entire second floor was deathly silent.
"So overbearing!" Duan Ling Tian’s eyes narrowed as a cold light flickered within…
Although he didn’t have any feelings towards that deadbeat father of his, he was still his father after all, and now that someone was insulting him, Duan Ling Tian couldn’t help but have rage arise in his heart.
"What a joke! A short-lived guy is worthy of your adoration." The red-clothed girl’s icy cold gaze descended upon the group of people that were discussing earlier, causing them to hurriedly lower their heads and not dare say another word.
Li Fei obviously detested the actions of the red-clothed girl, so she coldly grunted, "Hmph! Nowadays, people can’t even speak the truth. Would you dare insult him if he was still alive?"
The red-clothed girl’s gaze descended upon Li Fei as she mocked, "A freak covered in a veil is worthy of speaking to this Young Miss? I’ll give you a chance: slap yourself 30 times, or else bear the consequences!"
"Freak?" Li Fei was dazed for a moment before sneering, "You really think highly of yourself. With this sort of attitude, even if you give yourself over to the beggars on the roadside, they might not even want to marry you, right?"
Duan Ling Tian couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
This girl’s mouth was really unforgiving…
"You’re courting death!" The red-clothed girl’s eyes flashed with a trace of a cold light. Her hand trembled and was suffused with Origin Energy before sweeping out with a black whip, carrying violent winds and a string of afterimages towards Li Fei.
Above her, six ancient mammoth silhouettes condensed into form… Fourth level of the Core Formation Stage!
Just when everyone thought Li Fei was about to suffer a loss, Duan Ling Tian moved.
Whoosh!
Duan Ling Tian embraced Li Fei and dodged the red-clothed girl’s attack just when Li Fei’s eyes went slightly cold and she was about to attack. And Duan Ling Tian’s icy cold gaze descended upon the red-clothed girl. "So only you can mock others but others can’t mock you? If you can’t win an argument, you turn angry out of embarrassment and use force instead…. You, don’t you think you’re going too far?"