Chapter 1 Brother and Sister

  It was midsummer, and the green shade on the road couldn't block out the scorching sun. The sunlight filtered through the tender leaves of thousands of trees and shone down on a group of white-clad girls walking along the road.

  Jiayuan City, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. It is not far from the foot of Miyu Mountain and Qianyu Gate, about a hundred miles away. Jiayuan City is the largest capital of the Great Zhou, with a population of over 50 million. Since the Emperor of the Great Zhou settled here, he worked hard to govern, and in just a decade or so, he made Jiayuan City prosperous and flourishing, even more than before. Before entering the city, Lu Chen and others saw the bustling crowds coming and going inside and outside the city gate, what a lively scene.

  Lu Chen and Zuo Qinghua had been to Jiayuan City before, at that time they were just a small servant, wherever they went, they would stay there, making a living by begging for food all day. Now returning to the old place, it has another kind of feeling.

  As they entered the city gate, a small team of people came out from the city gate to welcome them. It was probably the palace guard of the Great Zhou imperial family. After receiving Murong Yuexi and others, they arranged everyone in an official post station. Not long after, an old man dressed as a eunuch walked in, bowed and chatted with Murong Yuexi and Lan Qing for a while before retreating.

  After the eunuch left, Murong Yuxi whispered something to Lian Qing for a while, then left the post station.

  Only Lu Chen and others were left in the house. Lan Qing shook off the dust, smiled and said: "Hui Xi needs to enter the palace once, spread the word, now that nothing is wrong, since you've come to the capital, don't let it be a wasted trip, you can all relax and travel around. However..."

  The female disciples heard the words and were overjoyed. For a year on the mountain, they had been living a life of asceticism, which was suffocating for these young girls in their prime. Seeing Lian Qing's open-mindedness, they were naturally overjoyed. Before they could even express their excitement, Lian Qing continued: "Although we are cultivators and do not fall under the jurisdiction of imperial law, you also cannot act recklessly and cause trouble at will. When you go outside, do not reveal your identities. If I find out that any one of you has used magic carelessly, don't blame me for dealing with you according to sect rules. Go!"

  It's nothing, who doesn't play pranks on others when they're out having fun. The female disciples quickly responded and left the station with joy, going out to have some fun.

  Seven female disciples, including Lu Chen, made a total of eight people. Two of the female disciples were close to Zuo Qinghe and had heard stories about his travels when he was young during their free time in the sect. They naturally followed him. In this way, the eight people split into two groups and left the station at the same time.

  Out of the station, a wide street runs north and south, at noon, it is the time when the city's traffic is most dense. All kinds of vendors on both sides of the road are competing to sell, eating, playing, performing and selling... There are countless numbers of them. The gates, houses, and shops of various sizes on both sides of the street are neatly arranged, including large and small cloth workshops, restaurants, and all kinds of stores.

  Zuo Qinghua was also considered a worldly person, but at that time, she only had the energy to beg for food everywhere, and didn't have the leisure to appreciate the prosperous scene inside the imperial city. Now it's different, like the other two female disciples (Huiyue, Huilin), the little girls' eyes weren't enough, they would look around, one moment looking at a stall selling jade pendants, another moment buying a few sugar gourds and eating them with relish, and then going to watch a street performer, following the crowd of ordinary people shouting "good".

  Lu Chen, being the only male among the four, was extremely heartbroken as he recklessly spent money from his wallet. Fortunately, previously, in order to get himself kicked out of the mountain, Lan Yu had specially prepared a hundred taels of silver for him, so spending some now wasn't too bad, as long as Xiao Yatou was happy. As for Huiyue and Huilin, they just followed along and enjoyed the treat.

  It is said that women are especially good at showing off their tireless side when shopping. For a whole day, three little girls didn't know what it meant to be tired, strolling through the east and west streets, and in between having a big meal at some restaurant, still, Lu Chen was left penniless.

  No choice, down the mountain to temper oneself, bringing Spirit Stones that can enhance and recover one's strength. As for silver coins, probably only Lu Chen has some.

  "Hey, I'm telling you, can't you guys slow down a bit?" Lu Chen couldn't help it anymore and plopped himself down on a passing tea stall, shaking his head and sighing with a mouthful of teeth.

  Three little girls saw the situation and ran back like flying, one after another, giving Lu Chen a boost of energy and flattery. Although Huiyue and Huilin had not looked favorably on Lu Chen's relationship with Zuo Qinghua before, thinking that this useless brother was dragging down their good friend. But since Lu Chen had dominated the Array Tiger in front of Yuning Hall, the two women's views on Lu Chen had greatly changed, and now that all the expenses for today were paid by Lu Chen, they naturally showed off their smiles to comfort him.

  Actually, Lu Chen wasn't petty-minded either. Seeing the three of them getting along so well, he didn't say anything and just laughed and cursed as he waved his hand to let them go play on their own. He himself sat down at a tea stall and ordered a cup of refreshing clear tea to take a short rest.

  As soon as he swallowed a mouthful, people began to gather in the distance ahead, and a very disgusting laughter slowly came from inside.

  Lu Chen was slightly stunned and looked around, seeing the figures of Zuo Qinghe and others from the dense crowd. He couldn't help but put down his teacup and walked over.

  Pushing through the crowd and going in, Lu Chen fixed his eyes on him: "Ah, met someone who doesn't know how to appreciate a good thing"

  In the crowd, three young girls stood shoulder to shoulder, staring intently at a group of fashionably dressed young men across from them, their eyes filled with a strong sense of disgust. Having grown up in the streets, Lu Chen was no stranger to this kind of thing. It was clear that these fashionably dressed young men were not ordinary people, they must be from good families in the capital city, with some background, and often bullied others. They probably had their eyes on the beauty of Zuo Qinghe and the other two girls, and came over to flirt with them without any shame.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, when the first person who seemed to be a young leader-like figure clasped his fists together and smiled with a slightly frivolous yet polite expression at Zuo Qinghua, saying: "Miss, I am Qin Tong. Having met you by chance, I feel an urge to make friends. May I invite you to join me for a drink or two and become acquainted?"

  The young man who spoke was dressed in brocade and finery, with embroidery of tigers and dragons on his clothes. He looked clean and refined, a typical noble young master. However, Lu Chen couldn't stand people like this. He knew that beneath the handsome appearance lay a lewd heart. No need to look, just listening to these few words was enough to know that this person was an old hand at indulging in carnal desires.

  Zuo Qinghua and the other two didn't know that Lu Chen had followed them, Xiao Yatou hadn't spoken yet, but Huiyue said angrily: "Sorry, not interested, please get out of the way."

  "Well, not bad. Not stupid enough to be fooled by the other's appearance, has a promising future." Lu Chen secretly praised.

  Across from him, Qin Tong's expression had clearly become displeased, his face twisted in a scowl, a hint of cold glint flashing through his eyes. He didn't say anything, but the several followers behind him began to shout loudly.

  "Mind your own business, Qin Gongzi! Scram!" The servant yelled, his cold gaze sweeping around the crowd, causing them to shiver and retreat. At the same time, several ruffians behind Qin shouted in unison, lacking the extraordinary demeanor of a young master.

  Lu Chen could tell that this person was quite famous. Just one glance from him was enough to make the crowd back away, and he probably had some power backing him up.

  Although Qin Tong didn't stop her, on the surface she seemed to be ignoring her, but her gaze was secretly wandering up and down Lai Qinghua's body, clearly with ill intentions.

  Lu Chen looked at the situation and thought to himself, "Hmph, you few are also considered cultivators of the Qian Yu Men, how can you not even take out your skills when dealing with these little rascals? Alas, it seems that this Daoist has to take action again."

  Lu Chen didn't know that the three little girls had fully grasped Lan Qing's spirit before they came out, and would absolutely not take action unless it was absolutely necessary. But Lu Chen wasn't afraid, to say nothing of other things, if Lan Qing dared to impose any rules on himself, he wouldn't even qualify. Don't forget, a certain person's waist plate still had the word "Jade" engraved on it.

  Thinking of this, Lu Chen shook his head and slowly retreated to the back of the crowd. Seeing that everyone's attention was focused inside, he quickly pulled out a wooden stick from the Qiankun bag that had been prepared for making fire.

  One in each hand, swung them around, yeah, just right. Looking around, a black dog was crawling among the crowd, lazily closing its eyes to enjoy the sunbath, don't know whose pet it is, got it, you're it.

  One foot lightly kicked the dog's buttocks, and the black dog yelped in pain, whining as it ran into the circle.

  "Get out of the way, I'm going to beat the dog."