Chapter 69 A Man and a Woman Going Out Late at Night...
When Ye Jingtang passed by the people from Junshan Terrace, three pairs of eyes were also observing from the window of a teahouse that was crowded with people on the street.
Blood Bodhi was dressed as a white-haired old merchant, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand, with a frown on his face.
Chen Ming and Lu Ruan, following Blood Bodhi's arrangements to come and assassinate the personal expert of the Prince Jing, were sitting on both sides of the table at this moment, also with serious expressions.
"Yesterday, Chen Ming took advantage of the cover of the rain to go to the ship to find out the details. Before he could get close, there were strange signs in the cabin. This young man is so young, yet his experience in the martial arts world is unexpectedly too sophisticated..."
"I suspect there are still experts on the ship. But after observing for a few days, there's only that young man who often takes shifts with Ye Jingtang. He looks like he has good skills, but at most he's of second-rate standard. Could the expert be hiding in the dark?"
Blood Bodhi was also puzzled about this. Ye Jingtang had an ambiguous relationship with the Prince Jing. He guessed that the Prince Jing might have arranged guards for this trip. So after leaving the capital, he didn't rashly make a move and wanted to first figure out the identities of the guards.
However, there were only nine people on the merchant ship in total: Ye Jingtang, six servants on the ship, and two women. In terms of their martial arts foundations, they all seemed to know a bit, but when it came to experts, except for Ye Jingtang, none of the others seemed to have the bearing of a grandmaster.
According to the experience in the martial arts world, if you can't figure out the opponent's base details, it means the opponent is better. Making a rash move is courting death, and you should resolutely leave.
But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Blood Bodhi was doing a private job using the manpower provided by the employer. Once he missed it, he might never have such a chance again.
After pondering for a long time, Blood Bodhi still said:
"In our line of work, we can't be hasty. We've already arrived in Xiwang Town. Ye Jingtang will surely walk around, socialize, and attend to business. As long as we keep following him, we'll always find an opportunity."
Chen Ming and Lu Ruan were both ruthless people in the martial arts world who made a living by taking risks. Both of them felt that this job was not right.
But in terms of their seniority in the martial arts world, their combined experience was not as much as Blood Bodhi's. So for now, they obeyed the command, dressed as Blood Bodhi's attendants, and pulled a cart full of sundries and merged into the crowd.
Blood Bodhi had rich experience in assassination, and his tracking was not noticed by Ye Jingtang and the others.
After Ye Jingtang and his party entered Xiwang Town, they first checked into an inn, and then went out to the trading venues in the town to visit merchants from various places and discuss all kinds of trivial matters.
Although they didn't see any guards following Ye Jingtang, there were too many people in Xiwang Town. There were many hidden experts among them. Making a move on the street would cause too much commotion and was likely to attract chivalrous heroes to interfere.
The three of them, Blood Bodhi and his two accomplices, secretly planned for a long time but didn't find an opportunity. Time passed from morning to dusk, and Ye Jingtang returned to the inn.
There were many martial artists staying in the inn. They didn't know the situation inside the inn and didn't dare to make a rash move. They had already given up and planned to continue looking for an opportunity the next day.
However, unexpectedly, Ye Jingtang, who had been extremely cautious all the way, suddenly presented an opportunity right in front of them.
As the sky gradually darkened and the rain curtain didn't stop, the streets of Xiwang Town were lit up with lights.
Blood Bodhi and his two accomplices took turns keeping watch in an inn across the street. As they were watching, they saw two figures sneaking out from the alley on the side of the inn.
Blood Bodhi squinted his eyes and looked closely. He could confirm that the tall man wearing a wide-brimmed hat was their target, Ye Jingtang.
And the plump woman beside him was Pei Xiangjun, the female owner of the Pei family.
The two of them went out together, without bringing anyone else with them. It was a dark, windy, and rainy night. In the eyes of assassins, they were almost as good as dead.
The three of them quickly went downstairs. Lu Ruan pulled out a Qimei Spear from under the freight cart and asked in a low voice:
"What are they doing going out at night?"
At night, with the rain, there were few people on the street. Ye Jingtang was walking in an alley, which meant they could make a move at any time.
But Blood Bodhi didn't act rashly. He held his iron walking stick and followed from a distance in the darkness:
"I'm not sure. This young man has rich experience in the martial arts world. Be careful that it's a strategy to lure the enemy out. Figure out their intentions first before making a move."
Chen Ming and Lu Ruan also thought that this opportunity had come too suddenly, and they really didn't dare to make a direct move. They silently followed Blood Bodhi, trying to figure out the intentions of the two.
And the intentions of this man and woman seemed quite obvious...
Ye Jingtang and the female owner walked side by side, sharing an umbrella. The female owner's shoulder was pressed against Ye Jingtang's. She was like a charming and beautiful young wife. I'm afraid no one would doubt that they were a couple strolling around in the middle of the night.
And the place they were going to became more and more remote. Finally, they directly left the town, came to a small street by the riverbank, and entered an inconspicuous old inn on the street.
"..."
Blood Bodhi had been wandering in the martial arts world all his life. For this kind of behavior, it looked like "adultery" no matter how he saw it, and his aged face showed a slightly strange expression.
The two people behind also clearly understood, but Chen Ming was more cautious and said in confusion:
"If the two of them want to have an affair, they could have done it in the inn. Why did they come to the riverside in the dark to find another small inn?"
Blood Bodhi thought for a moment: "This young man has an ambiguous relationship with the Prince Jing. He's probably afraid that the Prince Jing will find out if he has an affair with a woman privately."
Lu Ruan also chimed in: "According to the information we gathered, that woman is called Third Miss Pei, and Ye Jingtang is the adopted son of the Pei family. Technically, he should call that woman 'aunt'. An affair between an aunt and a nephew, of course, has to be kept hidden from the family."
"Pfft..."
Chen Ming spat in disdain: "He looks so handsome on the outside, but he's doing such immoral things behind the scenes. I even regarded him as a difficult person to deal with."
"In wealthy families, it's not uncommon for people to have affairs with their aunts. This kind of thing is not surprising."
Blood Bodhi raised his hand to stop their idle chat. After observing in the dark for a long time and not finding anything strange about the old inn, he silently crept towards the back alley of the small street...
-----
Crackle...
The raindrops fell on the umbrella surface, making the umbrella ribs tremble and splashing out some water droplets.
Ye Jingtang was afraid that Third Miss's shoulder would get wet, so he moved the umbrella closer. He was almost hugging Pei Xiangjun with one hand, but his arm didn't touch her back.
Pei Xiangjun walked slowly along the riverbank, with the demeanor of a noble lady: "This street is called 'Koi Street'. Privately, it's the property of the Zezhou Hall. There are quite a lot of tourists during the day... Recently, the hall masters are having a meeting. To prevent the news from leaking, the people on the street have all been replaced with their own people, and they don't accept outside guests."
If Third Miss hadn't mentioned it, Ye Jingtang really wouldn't have been able to tell that all the idlers, boatmen, and shop assistants on the street were their own people. He took a brief look:
"How many people from the tower are here?"
"More than three hundred people, most of them from the Zezhou Hall. Honghua Tower has twelve halls, located in the twelve states of the Great Wei respectively. Some are big, some are small. The ones who came this time are all the core members. Each hall has only about a dozen people, and they are all waiting in the big round building ahead... When you meet Hall Master Song and Hall Master Chen later, you'd better be polite. Both of them are genuine grandmasters, much more powerful than me. If you act tough without saying a word, they can really beat you up..."
"I naturally know that..."
While chatting, Pei Xiangjun led Ye Jingtang across the small street by the river and came to the door of an inn.
The inn looked quite old. It was estimated to be about a hundred years old. The doorhead had turned black under the erosion of the wind and rain. There was an oil lamp lit in the lobby. The old innkeeper was doing calculations behind the counter, and the waiter was lazily leaning against the door.
When the two of them came, the waiter didn't show any surprise. He just raised his hand:
"Welcome, esteemed guests. Please come in."
Then he led the two of them towards the back of the inn...