162: Master and apprentice go shopping
Jingzhou City, a city built against a mountain, its total area was not as large as Lingnan City, but it wasn't much smaller than Flower City.
By the time Xie Ning and his companion arrived, night had already fallen over Jingzhou City.
The two of them arrived at a hotel.
"Hello, I'd like a suite," Xie Ning said, approaching the hotel counter.
The clerk looked at him and Yan Ruyu, blinked, and said, "Buddy, sorry, there's only one single room left. Why don't you two just squeeze in?"
Xie Ning: "..."
"You've misunderstood. This is my teacher."
The clerk gave a lewd smile. "Teacher, right? I get it, I get it."
Xie Ning clearly felt a chill down his spine and immediately shivered. He shouted righteously, "Stop talking nonsense! Can't I just like suites? Hurry up and arrange it for me, or I'll file a complaint!"
"What are you shouting for? You really don't know how to set the mood. ID card." After speaking, the clerk looked at Xie Ning with disdain, took the ID card, and began the registration.
When the two of them got the room card and entered the elevator, just as the doors were about to close, Xie Ning looked at the clerk again with a 'relieved savior' expression.
This guy probably didn't know that he had just been the closest he'd ever been to death.
But truth be told, bringing his Master to a hotel did feel a bit... special.
Just as he was thinking this, he caught Yan Ruyu's gaze, and his expression instantly turned serious and solemn.
"Master, I feel like I need to work hard to Cultivate tonight and strive for an early Breakthrough."
Yan Ruyu looked at him for a moment and didn't say a word.
They arrived at the suite, which was a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment.
Xie Ning first summoned two Demon Tamers Beasts. Little Mantis's Demon Taming Formation showed no reaction, but White Fang appeared, looking a bit listless.
In this series of battles, although its fights weren't as thrilling as Little Mantis's, its consumption was also enormous. After all, even Xie Ning had siphoned some of its energy. After feeding it two demon cores, Xie Ning comforted White Fang for a while and then recalled it.
He went to the window and looked at the scenery outside.
The hotel was in a good location; from the window, he could see a large expanse of the night sky without many tall buildings in the way.
People were coming and going on the streets, the cries of street vendors were endless, and occasionally the aroma of fried noodles wafted up, giving a sense of peaceful times.
Xie Ning was lost in thought for a moment, reminiscing about the events in Pingan Village and the scenes inside the Experimental Base. After a long time, he sighed, his mood somewhat dejected.
"The growth of a Demon Tamer is always accompanied by some growing pains, whether large or small, but one must get through them."
Yan Ruyu's voice came from behind. Xie Ning turned around and saw her looking at him. He couldn't help but nod, suppressed the bitterness in his heart, and grinned.
"Master, let's go find something to eat. There's a snack street right downstairs."
With those hopeful eyes, it was hard for Yan Ruyu to say 'no'.
With some gentle persuasion, they arrived at the snack street.
Looking at the rows of small stalls, Yan Ruyu felt a bit uneasy, but Xie Ning's eyes lit up.
He took two skewers of roasted gluten, handed one to Yan Ruyu, and said, "Master, try this. Roasted gluten is an indispensable delicacy at any barbecue stall, and... Mmm! Boss, your skills are great!"
Seeing Xie Ning's happy look, Yan Ruyu took the skewer. Her delicate little nose twitched, feeling a bit tempted, but looking at the surroundings, she frowned and asked, "Is this stuff clean?"
"Master, you're a Platinum powerhouse after all. Forget about a little dirt; you wouldn't even be afraid of a cup of gutter oil." Xie Ning laughed loudly, not forgetting to tease her, "To poison Master to death, it would probably take a dose fit for an elephant."
Yan Ruyu: "..."
After hesitating for a moment and seeing Xie Ning eating with such relish, she couldn't help but start eating as well. With one bite, her eyes brightened slightly; clearly, the flavor had captured her.
"Hehe~ Not bad, right?" Xie Ning said, leading Yan Ruyu toward other stalls.
At the same time, in the old district of Jingzhou City.
Old buildings, haphazardly constructed and then abandoned, stood there. The messy, narrow alleys were like a pile of scrapped network cables that no one could be bothered to tidy up.
In a certain alley, a person wrapped entirely in black cloth, with even their head covered so that only their eyes were visible, was walking through.
Her graceful figure, no matter how tightly wrapped, still managed to attract many people's attention. Especially her swaying gait as she walked made some people willing to take risks.
Sure enough, as she walked into a dim corner of the alley, several ill-intentioned men appeared in front and behind her, their lewd gazes scanning her up and down.
"Little girl, don't be afraid. We're just going to have some fun with you, we won't hurt you." The man in front rubbed his hands together, his movements hideous to the extreme.
After he finished speaking, the others also stared at her with filthy eyes.
"That's right, don't even think about running away. You can't escape."
"With such a great body, it's a pity no one's loving you. Let us uncles take good care of you."
"As long as you're cooperative, we promise to make you feel good too. We won't kill you."
The woman's eyes were filled with disgust as she coldly said, "Not killing anyone... I'm afraid that's impossible."
The next second, a large cat appeared. With a sweep of its sharp claws, the men died on the spot. The woman didn't stop her pace and continued walking forward.
Others hiding in the shadows saw this scene and fled in terror.
The woman was oblivious to this. She soon arrived outside a bungalow, pushed the door open, and after some operations, a passage appeared inside.
She followed the passage to the bottom, and after several turns, she pushed open another room's door.
"Demon Cat Woman, what are you doing here? Don't you know you're not allowed to leave the Experimental Base without permission?"
A Black-Robed Person inside the room questioned her.
The woman who had come all this way was none other than the one who had survived the base explosion but had been burned all over: the Demon Cat Woman.
"Something happened at the Experimental Base," the Demon Cat Woman said.
"Always giving us trouble to clean up," the Black-Robed Person grumbled, then added, "What do you want us to do this time? Did another test subject escape?"
The Demon Cat Woman shook her head and said, "No, the Experimental Base was blown up."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Black-Robed Person suddenly stood up. The wind pulled his black robe down slightly, revealing a green, monster-like head. He looked shocked and questioned, "Don't play those kinds of jokes on me! What exactly happened?"
"Today, an unidentified youth used the identity of Test Subject No. 187 to infiltrate the Experimental Base. He likely planted a bomb. The entire base... was destroyed, and I was also injured."
After saying this, the Demon Cat Woman's hands trembled as she pulled down the black cloth wrapped around her head, revealing a severely burned, black-and-red, distorted head.
"Useless! You bunch of useless fools! Two Golds, dozens of Silvers, over a hundred Bronzes and hundreds of Black Irons, and all together you're actually not as good as one youth?! What use are you?" The Green-Headed Person smashed the cups, ashtrays, pen holders, and everything else on the table at the Demon Cat Woman's head.
The latter didn't dodge or hide, taking a dozen hits. A shard of the ashtray cut a gash on her head, and blood flowed down.
She waited until the Green-Headed Person had finished venting before gritting her teeth and saying:
"This was our oversight; we will certainly learn our lesson in the future. But that person surely hasn't gone far from Jingzhou City. Please, Deacon, send people to find him. We cannot let him go."
"I naturally won't let go of anyone who dares to provoke us. But you've got one thing wrong," the Green-Headed Person said, a cruel smile appearing on his ugly face. "Did you think you still had a future?"
"What!" The Demon Cat Woman was shocked.