49: Nanjiang City

Setting out on a long journey for the first time, Qin Chen's heart was filled with excitement.

Having been cooped up in that small place called Longyang Town for over a decade, he had long yearned to go out and see the world.

In the past, his strength was insufficient, and hearing that bandits were rampant outside, he didn't dare to wander recklessly.

Now that he was at Heavenly Human Realm Perfection, let alone in this Great Yan Dynasty, even looking at the entire Tianhuang Continent, there were very few people who could exchange blows with him.

With great skill comes great courage; he was now bursting with energy and couldn't wait to find a master to have a proper match with.

He hummed a little tune all the way, and when he arrived at Nanjiang City, he saw the ten-meter-high towering city walls standing before him and the five-meter-high iron-clad city gates with a magnificent Aura, making his heart beat a few points faster.

After entering the city, he walked on the ten-meter-wide main road, where pavilions lined both sides and horse-drawn merchant caravans were endless. The hawking of vendors, the bargaining of customers, and the laughter of young men and women rose and fell one after another, while the aroma of freshly roasted meat and the scent of newly brewed wine wafted from the restaurants in the air.

Qin Chen took a deep breath, his face blooming with a smile: "Refreshing, even the air is sweet!"

He thought of how Longyang Town only had a few potholed streets and suddenly felt that place was simply unbearable to recall.

"Once I'm done with business, I must buy a large mansion here and enjoy myself properly!" He plotted happily, his steps becoming much lighter.

As he walked, he spotted a shop named "Golden Phoenix Tea House" and walked straight in.

There were only two people in the shop—

A young woman stood behind the counter, her temperament cold and elegant, with a natural hint of nobility between her brows, like a snow lotus on a snowy peak.

The other was an Old Gentleman with a red mole between his eyebrows, holding a box of tea leaves and bargaining with the Female Shopkeeper.

Qin Chen stepped forward with a smile and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where the residence of One of the Three Tyrants of Nanjiang is?"

The Female Shopkeeper waved her hand impatiently: "If you're not buying tea, get out!"

Qin Chen smiled and felt his pocket, pulling out a tael of silver and handing it over: "I'll buy one tael of tea."

The Female Shopkeeper's face darkened, and she ignored him.

The Old Gentleman on the side spoke with a smile: "Little brother, the tea in this Golden Phoenix Tea House is not cheap; one box costs ten taels of silver."

"So expensive?" Qin Chen blurted out.

The Old Gentleman squinted and smiled: "Little brother must be an outsider, right?"

"Your eyesight is really sharp!" Qin Chen nodded.

The Old Gentleman smiled, opened the tea box in his hand, and handed it over: "Smell this tea fragrance—it's harvested from the first spring buds on the summit of Nanjiang's Cloud Mist Mountain. Even a hundred old tea trees couldn't produce this one box."

Qin Chen leaned in to smell it and only felt refreshed and clear-headed, secretly surprised—the Aura of this tea was mysterious and could actually invigorate one's spirit.

He was, after all, at the Heavenly Human Realm cultivation, so he naturally recognized that this was good stuff.

Seeing this, the Old Gentleman continued to introduce: "Furthermore, this box is made of high-quality agarwood, which is both moisture-proof and retains the fragrance. This box alone is worth two taels of silver..."

Qin Chen raised his hand to interrupt: "Old Gentleman, I'm just asking for directions; there's no need to work so hard on the sales pitch, right?"

The Old Gentleman shook his head: "Young man, it's not that I'm unwilling to tell you."

"Why?" Qin Chen asked with a puzzled look, "Is there some special etiquette just for asking for directions?"

The Old Gentleman's expression immediately became serious: "Little brother might not know, but Jin Wansan is one of the three tyrants of this Nanjiang City. He is arrogant, overbearing, and unreasonable. He has caused countless families to be ruined, and no one in the city dares to even mention his name!"

"And precisely because he has too many enemies, he has at least a hundred residences in Nanjiang City. No one knows exactly where he lives."

Qin Chen was already well aware of what the Old Gentleman was saying—

As a tyrant of Nanjiang, Jin Wansan had certainly offended many people, and there were no few who wanted to kill him. Naturally, few people knew his residence.

If it were himself, he wouldn't easily let others know his residence either.

The more status, position, and strength one has, the more cautious they become instead.

Unlike before—knowing little, but having great courage.

However, Qin Chen was not in a hurry; there would always be an opportunity to find Jin Wansan.

Seeing the Old Gentleman still talking incessantly, Qin Chen shook his head helplessly and turned to leave.

"Wait," the Old Gentleman pulled him back, "The most luxurious Drunken Immortal Tower on He'an Street in the west of the city is a property of the Jin family. You might run into Jin Wansan if you go there."

Qin Chen was delighted upon hearing this and cupped his hands with a smile: "Many thanks, Old Gentleman."

After Qin Chen left—

The Female Shopkeeper glanced at the Old Gentleman: "Little Cheng, you're already at this age and still talk so much. No wonder you've been stuck at Golden Core Perfection, unable to advance a single step!"

It turned out this Old Gentleman was Uncle Cheng, whose original name was Liu Chengyu, from the Liu Clan Immortal Family.

His favorite thing in life was traveling around, taking small advantages, and freeloading food and drinks everywhere—he was precisely the Uncle Cheng who always came to Qin Chen's house to freeload in the second simulation.

Liu Chengyu held up the box of tea and smiled: "Second Elder, you see how hard I worked to help you promote this just now. This box of tea, is it...?"

"Beat it," the Female Shopkeeper snapped coldly.

"Alright! Many thanks, Second Elder!" Liu Chengyu immediately beamed with joy, picked up the tea box, and ran off in a flash.

The Female Shopkeeper shook her head: "He's so old, yet he still lacks any sense of propriety."

In fact, as the Second Elder of the Liu Clan Immortal Family, she opened this tea house not just because she liked tea, but also to use tea to cultivate her heart and temper her Dao realm.

Therefore, she frequently changed locations, opening one "Golden Phoenix Tea House" after another, using this to experience different lives and gain insights from them.

On the other side,

Qin Chen, who was heading to the Drunken Immortal Tower, suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened, and he felt a chill down his back—he suddenly remembered the red mole between that Old Gentleman's eyebrows.

"Could it be that old man? Why would he be here?"

"It shouldn't be him. How could there be such a coincidence in the world?"

He shook his head, cast aside his distracting thoughts, and continued toward the Drunken Immortal Tower.

A moment later, Qin Chen finally found the Drunken Immortal Tower.

However, a scene at the entrance caught his attention—

A thin young man was walking inside with a delicate-looking young girl.

The girl was very young and looked naive. In Qin Chen's experience, she clearly hadn't experienced the world yet.

Qin Chen was curious and followed them in, wanting to see if this girl was being tricked by that thin young man.

After following them in, Qin Chen saw the young man take the girl to see the madam.

From the conversation, he heard that the girl was named Feier and called the man "Brother Yao," appearing like a young couple.

While the young man spoke, he gave the madam a meaningful look: "Auntie Lan, this is Feier. She doesn't understand anything yet and came here to find some work!"

The madam smiled knowingly, pulled out ten taels of silver and handed them over, then took Feier's hand and walked toward the inner courtyard: "Come on, little girl, I'll arrange some light work for you."

As Feier was being pulled away, she looked back at the thin young man from time to time: "Brother Yao, remember to marry me once I've earned some money."

"Don't worry, go on!" The young man waved his hand at her.

After the madam took Feier into the inner courtyard, the young man looked at the ten taels of silver in his hand, his eyes shining: "Little girls are so easy to trick!"