Chapter 3

For a city that rarely saw much rain in the past, the sudden downpour caught everyone unprepared. The torrential rain knocked down the banana plants, tilted the fences, leaked through the roofs, and soaked the goods that had not been moved in time, causing much frustration.

Wutongluo, this street, literally means a place where the fallen aristocrats lived, with many Wutong trees planted.

In Changling, the term "fallen aristocrats" referred to small vendors, itinerant doctors, tenant farmers without their own land, and even idlers. The living areas of such people were naturally less refined compared to ordinary streets.

Besides the leaves swept down by the wind and rain, the uneven bluestone pavement was also dotted with puddles, in which floated some foam mixed with vegetable leaves and chicken droppings.

Ding Ning, with his feet already soaked through and his body covered in mud, seemed somewhat anxious. However, the thousand-craft yellow oilcloth umbrella he held was much better than the average umbrella on the market, and also much heavier. This formed a considerable burden for him, and he had to frequently switch hands holding the umbrella and the oil bottle, while also preventing the umbrella from being blown to one side by the wind and rain. As a result, his steps could not speed up.

All the shops along the street were hidden in the dark shadows of the heavy rain and the Wutong trees, and only a vague, wordless blue wine flag could be seen fluttering helplessly.

Below the blue wine flag was a small wine shop, with no difference in layout and furnishings from an ordinary home-brewed wine shop. The hall facing the street had a few crude square tables, and the counter held wine jars as well as coarse porcelain jars containing peanuts, pickled vegetables, and other small dishes for drinking. Inside was the place where the wine was brewed and the living quarters.

Walking under the eaves of the wine shop, Ding Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief, put away the heavy umbrella, shook his sore arms, and casually scraped the mud off his shoes and the sides of his shoes on the threshold before entering.

The wine shop was empty, with no customers.

It wasn't that the business was usually cold; just by looking at the table and chair corners worn smooth and shiny by sleeves, one could tell how many times they were touched every day.

It was just that in such weather, the wealthy and refined customers might not have the mood to go out, while the less refined customers might be busy dealing with the rain leaking through their roofs.

"Can't you scrape the mud off your shoes on the stone steps outside? You have to do it on the threshold?" A clearly displeased woman's voice echoed from the inner courtyard, like a cold autumn wind sweeping over the empty tables and chairs.

Ding Ning smiled indifferently, "Since you don't even want to do business properly, you even skip a few of the basic brewing steps, why are you afraid of a little more mud on the threshold?"

The inner courtyard was silent for a few seconds, then soft footsteps sounded, and the curtain separating the inner courtyard was lifted.

"If I had known that opening a wine shop in such a place would attract so many idlers, I would never have listened to your advice," the woman's cold voice was filled with intense anger. "Moreover, whether there is mud at the door is a matter of personal feeling, not business."

Ding Ning thought for a moment and said seriously, "I can apologize for the part about personal feelings, but what does it have to do with me that the business is too good and there are too many idlers? It's just because you are too beautiful. Besides, opening a wine shop is more stable than your initial plan to live in the pleasure quarters to gather information. When have you ever heard of a decent woman who is doing well in life wanting to enter the pleasure quarters? Either they are born prostitutes, but prostitutes don't sell their bodies, which is unusual... Do you think the people of the Tianjian Bureau and the Shen Du Bureau are fools?"

The woman didn't say anything more because she knew every word Ding Ning said was true.

Including the part about her being too beautiful.

Most women's beauty comes from their makeup and charm, and they usually have particularly beautiful parts or unique qualities. Even some women whose individual features are not particularly attractive, when put together, can be very pleasing to the eye.

But the woman standing quietly in the cold wine shop was beautiful in every aspect.

Her facial features, posture, and demeanor, whether viewed individually or as a whole, were all extremely beautiful.

She was no longer very young, but more importantly, she was at the perfect age between youth and maturity, possessing both charm. Even with the hidden anger in her eyes and the overly cold expression, wearing the most ordinary plain linen clothes, she still looked incredibly beautiful.

The ordinary linen clothes on her seemed to be the most elegant and precious attire in the world.

Anyone who saw this woman would believe that the beauty described in books, capable of making a city lose its color, truly existed.

She stood there coldly, wearing the most ordinary and plain clothes, but every part of her body seemed to glow, able to stir the strings of the heart.

Her beauty was extraordinary, and her conversation with Ding Ning was also extraordinary.

Because in the records of the Shen Du Bureau, her name was Changsun Qianxue, and her identity was Ding Ning's aunt, but no aunt would have such a confrontational atmosphere with her nephew who depended on her for survival.

The wine shop was temporarily quiet, feeling cold.

Ding Ning's expression gradually became serious. He began to recall the five Tianjian Bureau attendants surrounding Zhao Zhan's courtyard, and the small courtyard that turned into countless fragments in an instant. His bright eyes began to fill with many complex meanings.

"Zhao Zhan is dead, and Ye Caileng has returned," he said softly.

A long silence followed, and the woman, who was beautiful in every aspect, frowned and asked coldly, "Did Ye Caileng act alone?"

Ding Ning guessed the woman's thoughts and said seriously, "She acted alone, but the formation created by the five Tianjian Bureau attendants caused Zhao Zhan's essence to leak into the sky, and Ye Caileng was also injured."

"Was she injured?" Changsun Qianxue frowned.

"Can't tell how severe, but she was definitely injured," Ding Ning looked into her eyes and said, "Ye Caileng comes from the Tianyi Sword Pavilion and specializes in the Lishui Divine Technique. In such heavy rain, she is much stronger than usual. So even though she killed Zhao Zhan alone, the fact that she was injured can only mean that her cultivation is actually on par with Zhao Zhan's."

Changsun Qianxue thought for a moment, "Then she is at the lower level of the Seventh Realm."

The tone of their conversation was already very calm, like casual chat, but if the officials of the Shen Du Bureau could hear it, they would be shocked beyond imagination.

Although in that shabby alley today, dozens of cultivators appeared, and several sword masters were even knocked to the ground and spewed blood from the released essence, looking extremely miserable, in normal times, any one of those sword masters could easily sweep through a dozen such alleys in half an incense stick's time.

Only those with talent, opportunity, and unique constitutions could enter the ranks of cultivators.

Cultivation itself is an unattainable existence for ordinary people, and those who can cultivate to the Sixth Realm and above are destined to leave a significant mark in the history books of the future.

Especially someone like the head of the Night Bureau, whose origin and cultivation techniques are extremely mysterious, even the attendants of the Tianjian Bureau might not know, but for these two, it seemed to be no secret!

If the plain-clothed old man and the refined young man on the corner tower could hear this conversation, they would be even more shocked.

They were among the best observers in the city, but if they could hear this conversation, they would realize that these two had a deeper understanding of cultivation than they did!

A breeze blew into the wine shop, disheveling Changsun Qianxue's long hair.

The woman, who was beautiful in every aspect, casually gathered her disheveled hair and said seriously and commandingly, "Go wash up, then go to bed and wait for me. I'll close the shop."

Even Ding Ning was clearly taken aback, then he looked distressed, "Now... Isn't it too early?"

Changsun Qianxue glanced at him and turned coldly, "The cold from this heavy rain might be too strong, and my true essence is a bit unstable."

Ding Ning's relaxed expression disappeared, and he said solemnly, "This is a very important matter."

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