505: Chapter 502 An Imminent Crisis, Lin Wan Checks into a Hotel!

Emerging from the teahouse, Lin Wan had already grasped seventy to eighty percent of the recent minor disturbances in Peng City.

Over the next half-day.

She took Zhang Ningshuang and Zhao Qingyi on a thorough tour of several inns and marketplaces within the city.

Everywhere she went, she used the same rhetoric and that gentle, helpful-looking face.

The results were ridiculously good.

A vendor selling Immortal Beast skins, after she looked at him twice, poured out half a month's worth of neighborhood gossip.

An old woman cracking melon seeds at the marketplace entrance, after being called "Auntie" by her, was eager to disclose three generations of her family's history.

This wasn't some secret technique.

With a seventh-tier Heavenly Immortal Divine Soul, there was no need to use any special means against these Loose Cultivators, who were at most in the True Immortal Realm.

It was like an adult coaxing a child.

You just need to squat down, smile, and hand over a piece of candy.

The child will pour out all the secrets in their pocket to you.

Zhang Ningshuang watched from the side, completely stunned.

She always felt there was something inexplicable about Junior Sister Lin—she clearly did nothing, yet the way those Loose Cultivators looked at her was like seeing their own daughter returning home.

They were eager to pour their hearts out to her.

It was too eerie.

In less than half a day.

Scattered pieces of information pieced together and combined in Lin Wan's mind, gradually forming a clear outline.

"A few days ago, a group of Lower Realm ascenders indeed entered the city."

"Seven or eight people."

"The leader was a Youth in White Robes; he's young but clearly not an ordinary person."

"The team included a monk, a swordsman, and several female cultivators."

"Oh right, there was also a little girl who could eat a lot—it's said she bit off a huge chunk of the iron birch wood railing at the city gate, which had grown for thousands of years."

The last piece of key information.

Came from a place called "Yingxian Restaurant."

The one who gave her the intel was a waiter in the restaurant.

When the waiter mentioned that group, the expression on his face was complex—three parts awe, seven parts heartache.

"Oh, the group you're talking about, Fairy!"

The waiter rubbed his hands, spittle flying.

"They left quite an impression!"

"As soon as they entered, they ordered the most expensive Immortal delicacies in our restaurant, every single one of them!"

"One meal—three hundred thousand low-grade immortal stones!"

He held up three fingers and shook them as if displaying a rare treasure.

"And they even booked the best Heaven-grade private room on the second floor! They stayed for three consecutive days, eating and living inside, never even stepping out the door!"

Lin Wan listened quietly, the smile on her face deepening bit by bit.

A Heaven-grade private room, booked for three consecutive days without leaving.

All the signs pointed to one conclusion—

This group was very cautious.

Or more accurately.

The leading Youth in White Robes was very cautious.

"Thank you, young man."

Lin Wan took out a small bag of Immortal Stones from her Storage Ring, about a hundred or so, and gently pressed them into the waiter's hand.

"Take this to buy some wine."

The waiter looked down, and his eyes nearly popped out.

One hundred high-grade immortal stones!

In the three years he'd worked as a waiter in this restaurant, his total savings weren't even this much!

"Oh! Thank you, Fairy! You are so beautiful and kind, Fairy, you will surely find your relatives soon!"

He bowed deeply, his face wrinkling into a smile like a chrysanthemum.

Lin Wan smiled and nodded.

Turning around, she led Zhang Ningshuang and Zhao Qingyi out of the restaurant's main entrance.

"Junior Sister Lin."

Zhao Qingyi's voice was very low, with a hint of confirmation.

"It seems it's them."

"Mhm."

Lin Wan's gaze swept across the bustling crowd on the street and landed on the quite grand sign of the Yingxian Restaurant not far away.

Her gaze was soft, and the dimples at the corners of her mouth were sweet.

But deep within those gentle eyes, something flashed by.

Very quickly.

So fast that neither Zhang Ningshuang nor Zhao Qingyi caught it.

"Then let's go stay at the Yingxian Restaurant as well."

Her tone was as if she were saying "the weather is nice today," light and airy, without a hint of weight.

---

The three of them entered Yingxian Restaurant again.

It happened to be mealtime.

The main hall was filled with diners, shouting and cheering, as lively as a vegetable market.

As soon as Lin Wan and the others stepped over the threshold, the clamor in the entire hall visibly dropped a notch.

It couldn't be helped.

Their temperament simply didn't match this place.

It was like three orchids blooming at a barbecue stall.

Especially Lin Wan.

That simple green cloth dress looked ordinary, but on her, it somehow brought out the aura of an orchid in a secluded valley.

Not eye-catching, not ostentatious.

But you just couldn't help but look twice.

"Shopkeeper, three Upper-class rooms, please."

Lin Wan walked to the counter, smiling slightly, and spoke to the fat shopkeeper who was currently clicking an abacus.

Just then—

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

A series of hurried footsteps came down from the stairs on the second floor.

Two figures walked down, one after the other.

The one in front.

Wearing pink gossamer, her figure was so enchanting it could ignite the air. She walked with the wind, and between every frown and smile, her charm was natural, as if she had crushed the entire spring and sprinkled it over herself.

Sect Master of Hehuan Sect, Hua Nongying.

The one following behind was also in a Pink palace dress, her appearance strikingly beautiful, with a prideful air of "I am the most beautiful in the world" hanging between her brows.

Hua Nongying's disciple, Hua Yingxue.

As soon as this Master and disciple duo appeared, the effect was instantaneous.

The perceived temperature in the hall shot up by several degrees.

Every male present felt like their necks were on springs, snapping around in unison.

Hua Nongying was used to such scenes; she partially covered her face with a peach blossom fan, revealing only half of her eyes, and walked forward unhurriedly.

Though she enjoyed the attention, her steps were steady and her posture was perfectly composed.

Hua Yingxue was different.

She was young, she was proud, and she felt she was bubbling with beauty.

Men in the Immortal Realm were no different from those in the Lower Realm—wouldn't they be unable to move after just one look?

So she subconsciously did as she had in the Lower Realm, casting a wink at the room full of male creatures—a wink she had practiced eight hundred times and considered a perfect soul-stealing move.

Then she forgot one thing.

This was the Immortal Realm.

The suppression of the plane's Law was many times heavier than in the Lower Realm.

This action, which she could perform easily in the Lower Realm, directly drained a large chunk of her immortal essence here.

Her legs went weak.

Her body tilted.

Her center of gravity was gone.

In that instant, only one thought flashed through Hua Yingxue's mind:

It's over.

I'm going to fall flat on my back in front of the entire hall.

My idol image is shattered.

She could already imagine the mocking looks of those Loose Cultivator men and the subtle "how can you be so embarrassing" expression of her Master, Hua Nongying.

However, just as her body was about to have a close encounter with the floor.

A hand steadily caught her waist, the force neither too great nor too small, just right.

A voice as gentle as a March breeze drifted into her ears.

"Sister, be careful."

Hua Yingxue was stunned and subconsciously looked up, her eyes meeting a face that made one want to drop all defenses.

So gentle.

With two sweet dimples when she smiled.

Her eyes were as clean as freshly melted snow water from the mountains, without any Impurities at all.

That cleanliness wasn't faked.

At least, that's what Hua Yingxue thought.

Her proud heart, which always had its thorns up, inexplicably relaxed the moment she saw this face.

It was like meeting a long-lost, trustworthy person.

"Tha... Thank you."

Hua Yingxue regained her balance, her face still flushed from the narrow escape, and she hurriedly tidied her skirt.

"You're welcome."

Lin Wan let go and stepped back half a pace.

She performed a proper salute to Hua Yingxue and Hua Nongying in front of her.

Her bow was just right.

Neither humble nor arrogant.

"This humble girl is Lin Wan. Greetings to both sisters."

Hua Nongying's peach blossom fan spun half a circle in her hand.

Those fox-like eyes narrowed slightly as she looked Lin Wan up and down.

Who was she?

The Sect Master of Hehuan Sect.

A woman who had made a living all her life by reading people's hearts.

She could sense that this girl named Lin Wan didn't have a high cultivation and looked quite ordinary.

But there was something indescribable about her.

Very comfortable.

Like walking on a mountain path all day and suddenly seeing an old tree by the road with a pot of cold tea under its shade.

You wouldn't think too much; you'd only want to walk over, sit down, and rest your feet.

Hua Nongying nodded secretly in her heart.

Interesting.

"Sister, you are too kind."

She closed her fan, revealing most of her charming face, and gave a flirtatious laugh.

"I am Hua Nongying, and this is my disciple Hua Yingxue. Thanks to your help just now, otherwise, this worthless disciple of mine would have made a big fool of herself today."

Beside her, Hua Yingxue's face was red, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.

Master! Can you stop mentioning it!

"It was nothing."

Lin Wan shook her head with a faint smile.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned her head and said a word to the fat shopkeeper behind the counter.

"Shopkeeper, what a coincidence."

"We are also here to stay at the inn."