Chapter Ten: The Inn at Night

  Zhang Ping left Shangqing Guan and was about to go ahead to visit his adoptive father and mother at Shangqing Guan.

  That day, Zhang Ping rode a small donkey to a small town, just in time when the roasted buns he brought from Liguang were almost gone. After circling around the town, seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Ping chose an inn that looked like it had been open for a long time and had good business to stay overnight.

  This inn is not very large, a three-story wooden building. The first floor has a hall, dining room, kitchen and several elegant rooms. The second and third floors are for accommodation, and there are also stables and several houses in the backyard, which must be the residence of the shopkeeper and his apprentices. And on a wooden sign next to the shopkeeper at the entrance of the inn, various price lists of the store are written.

  The inn is located at a fork in the road in the northern part of the town, surrounded by many small stalls and shops that serve travelers coming and going from the south to the north.

  As soon as he entered the inn, a young shopkeeper came up to greet him.

  "Sir, are you here to dine or lodge?" The shopkeeper didn't show any negligence just because Zhang Ping was a young man.

  Looking at the shop assistant who was only a few years older than himself and had already been worn down, Zhang Ping couldn't help but feel grateful that it was his Master Zhongxu who had saved him. Otherwise, he might have ended up like this shop assistant, doing menial work or apprenticeships for a meager income.

  Shaking off his sentimental thoughts, Zhang Ping replied: "Prepare a place for me to stay for the day and also prepare ten more buns of about half a kilogram each. I'll take them with me tomorrow."

  "Alright, what kind of room would you like? Also, do you want to have dinner at our place? Our food is delicious and reasonably priced, and we also have many specialty dishes. If you order two or more dishes, we can deliver them to your room for free. Additionally, all guests staying at our hotel can enjoy a complimentary breakfast with their room card."

  "Bring me a single bed in a small room, also take my donkey to the back and take care of it, and prepare some hot water, I want to bathe tonight. I'll rest for a while, and then come down to eat."

  "All right, then you go with me to the shopkeeper's place to pay the deposit first, and I'll get someone to help you take the donkey to the backyard." The shop assistant replied.

  When the shopkeeper handed over the deposit to the cashier, the price was still reasonable. The total accommodation fee was 75 cents, the deposit was 40 cents, and ten pancakes were 20 cents, excluding breakfast which was calculated separately.

  After receiving the room card, Zhang Ping chose a room on the third floor that could see the cowshed. After entering, there was a small bed, a round table and two round chairs, two candle holders of different heights, a copper mirror stand and a screen and a set of washing utensils. They were all very ordinary objects, but still clean.

  "Sir, I'll have the bathtub delivered tonight. How's this room to your liking?" asked the shop assistant with a smile all over his face.

  "Not bad, pretty good, I'll take a break and go eat later, you go ahead."

  "Alright then, you have something to say, I'll take my leave first."

  Zhang Ping tidied up his bundle and placed it at the head of the bed, then re-fastened his precious sword and slung it over his back to go down and eat.

  As soon as I sat down at a small table by the window, a waiter came over. "Sir, what would you like to eat? Our restaurant has dishes from all over the country, and I'm sure we can satisfy your taste."

  "Bring six taels of rice, and another stir-fry dish."

  "Alright, just wait a moment." The waiter poured Zhang Ping a cup of tea and then went to the kitchen to report that they were ready for food.

  It was getting dark, and the dining hall was gradually filled with people eating. Before long, Zhang Ping's dishes were all ready. Then, Zhang Ping started to eat slowly.

  Just as Zhang Ping started eating, a conversation from a nearby table caught his attention. Although the distance was not very close, the speaker did not intentionally conceal it, and with Zhang Ping's strong internal energy, he could hear it clearly.

  "Have you guys heard? The Xuan Tie Command is reappearing in the Jianghu, it's said to be somewhere near Bianliang now." A person who looked like a bodyguard said to several people who looked like they were from the Jianghu.

  "Really, then we brothers will also go to try our luck. Who knows, if we're lucky, we might find the Xuan Tie Command and become apprentices of Mo Tian Ju Shi. At that time, we'll be able to learn unparalleled martial arts and roam the world." A Jianghu person said with a look of yearning.

  "Never mind, I'm afraid you'll be killed by someone before you even understand the situation. You don't know, every time the Xuan Tie message appears, it's always a river of blood. Just honestly stay as a guard." The escort said.

  The speaker is unintentional, the listener is intentional. Zhang Ping, who received this news, decided to change his route and head to Bianliang. Because he believed that his adoptive parents would also go to try their luck.

  At night after taking a hot bath, Zhang Ping's soul left his body and wandered around the inn, while his physical body lay on the bed continuing to practice his skills.

  After the watchman struck the third watch drum, Zhang Ping's soul body was studying medicine in his room. In recent years, Zhang Ping felt that his soul body absorbing moonlight had reached a bottleneck, and there was no morning chanting to support it. Therefore, Zhang Ping is now less interested in absorbing moonlight. However, knowing some medical skills while traveling the world would undoubtedly be very convenient, so at night, Zhang Ping's soul body studies medicine in his room, also keeping watch.

  Maybe Zhang Ping has a lucky face, the first time he stayed in a hotel, someone already had their eyes on him. A small knife was inserted through the door gap, and soon the door was knocked open. Two sneaky guys walked in, Zhang Ping saw that they didn't seem to have any martial arts skills, so he prepared to pretend not to know them and see what they wanted to do.

  "Wen Dong, you're really something. It looks like we can make a big deal today." One of the two men, who was slightly taller than the other, said to the shorter one.

  "That's right, I saw him riding a donkey on the street today, looking around nervously, and I knew he was a rookie. Plus, look at his tender skin, he's just a young boy, definitely many adults like this type."

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Ping suddenly became enraged, and with a surge of internal energy, he shook open the sword scabbard and sword cloth. With full force, he flew forward with a straight stab, instantly piercing Wen Dong's heart. Immediately following, his left hand swung lazily, sending Gao Ge flying into the wall corner.

  After killing the two, Zhang Ping calmed down and looked at the two corpses, especially the tall one whose chest was caved in by Zhang Ping's palm, with blood gushing out... ( Warning: graphic content ) extremely nauseating.

  Then, Zhang Ping vomited beautifully, and the rice and dishes he ate in the evening basically all came out. After vomiting for a while, Zhang Ping finally recovered, after all, he had been through two lifetimes and "died" once, plus his internal strength was deep. Therefore, Zhang Ping's physical and mental state were still good.

  Zhang Ping, who had calmed down, began to think about how to deal with this matter. First of all, there should be other partners in this group, and they must have colluded with the local forces. For people like them, it is suggested that one should kill a hundred as a warning on matters of Jianghu, and the more ruthless the means, the better.

  He then took the belts from the two corpses, used them as ropes to hang them on a nearby pavilion of the inn, and wrote with blood on the ground: "Two seeking death".

  After wiping the bloodstains in the house with a basin of water, Zhang Ping began to think. Would there be an internal ghost in the inn, or would the inn be a black shop? Thus, Zhang Ping decisively released his soul from his body and checked around the inn. Fortunately, the remaining people in the inn did not have any abnormalities.

  The next day, Zhang Ping finished his morning class and went downstairs to eat. As soon as he sat down at the dinner table, he heard everyone discussing the two losers who had been beaten up by him last night.

  Because it was a complimentary breakfast, the style was fixed. After checking the room card, the waiter quickly brought over a breakfast set. A bowl of porridge, two pancakes, a small dish and a salty dish. Zhang Ping, who had vomited too much last night and felt a bit hungry, asked for another pancake before he was full.

  Listening to the crowd's slightly fearful discussion, Zhang Ping suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. This made him feel that he could control his own destiny and didn't have to live by looking at others' faces. Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of the two envoys who reward good and punish evil, so Zhang Ping became even more determined in his pursuit of martial arts.

  After finishing breakfast, Zhang Ping went to return the deposit and led his little donkey out of the inn. Looking at this inn, it can be said that this is also the beginning of Zhang Ping's Jianghu. Here, he first inquired about Jianghu news, first encountered a sneak attack, and also killed someone for the first time.

  Here is the beginning of Zhang Ping's Jianghu, but this is just a small episode in Zhang Ping's Jianghu. Riding on a little donkey on the official road to Bianliang, Zhang Ping is walking on the road to Jianghu.