Jiang Chen could tell that Shen Sanhuo had already put a great deal of effort into this matter. Still, when he thought about how Ling Bi'er had risked her life to save him in the Myriad Manifestations Extreme Realm, a pang of guilt stirred in his heart.
Ling Bi'er had vanished without a trace. The world was vast—there was no telling where she had drifted to.
But her father and younger sister had come to the Glazed Tile King City, and he would make sure to take care of them. He absolutely could not allow anything to happen to them.
This wasn't merely a fellow disciple's responsibility—it was also a way of making things right with Ling Bi'er.
"Sanhuo, let's go right now. I'll come with you."
Jiang Chen could barely sit still.
Since the father and daughter had already arrived in the Glazed Tile King City, he wanted to bring them to the Taiyuan Pavilion immediately and ensure their safety.
The Glazed Tile King City generally maintained good order, but among wandering cultivators, the strong devoured the weak. With Ling Su and Ling Hui'er's level of strength, they would inevitably come to harm if they lingered too long in the city's wandering cultivator circles.
...
In the northern part of the Glazed Tile King City, the Haiqing Block was a famous gathering place for wandering cultivators. Every day, at least two to three hundred thousand loose cultivators passed through the area, and during peak times, the number of wandering cultivators gathered there could reach as high as a million.
This place was practically a paradise for wandering cultivators—an area the Glazed Tile King City had specifically set aside for their use.
Here, wandering cultivators could cultivate, trade, accept missions, relax, indulge in entertainment, and do whatever they pleased.
There was endless fine wine to drink, beautiful women to behold, and money to be made without end.
Because of this, wandering cultivators from every surrounding region had long regarded the Haiqing Block as their paradise.
Of course, the surface-level prosperity concealed the darker corners where the sun's light couldn't reach. A place that looked like paradise also harbored countless unseen shadows, filth, and evil—all playing out, scene by scene.
But among wandering cultivators, everyone looked out for themselves. No one worried about anyone else's fate—to every other loose cultivator, each person was just a stranger passing by.
As a result, the Haiqing Block had become a place where dragons and snakes mixed together. Some made both fame and fortune here, while others ended up as corpses on the street.
Ling Su and Ling Hui'er had already been here for three days.
For the first two days, Ling Su had still taken his daughter around the Haiqing Block, quietly making inquiries.
But over the past two days, Ling Su had become far more cautious. With his years of experience as an old hand in the jianghu, he felt certain that he and his daughter had been marked.
So today, he barely stepped foot outside the inn.
The Haiqing Block may have had many unsavory things going on, but basic rules still applied. At the very least, staying in an inn was safe.
Ling Hui'er, however, was feeling restless. She pouted her little lips. "Father, being cooped up in this inn all day is suffocating me. At this rate, when will we ever find news of Sister and Brother Jiang?"
Ling Su knew his daughter's temperament—being stuck in the inn was genuinely hard for her. But as a seasoned jianghu veteran, he also knew the Haiqing Block's waters ran deep.
"Hui'er, don't be headstrong. This isn't the Myriad Manifestations Territory. Our father and daughter can only scrape by in the middle-to-lower ranks here. If something were to go wrong, even your father couldn't guarantee your safety."
"Father, it's not as terrifying as you make it sound!" Ling Hui'er tugged on Ling Su's arm. "We'll just go out for a stroll during the day and be back before dark. Nothing will happen."
Ling Su hadn't been roaming the jianghu for just a day—his experience and judgment far surpassed Ling Hui'er's. If he hadn't noticed some troubling signs, he naturally wouldn't be this cautious.
He urged her in a grave, earnest tone. "Hui'er, would your father ever hurt you? I want to find your sister just as much as you do—even more anxiously. But your father has crossed more bridges than you've walked roads. Let's lay low in the inn for a couple of days. Once the trouble blows over, I'll take you out to look around."
When Ling Hui'er saw that her father refused to budge, she grew sullen and sat down in a huff.
"Hui'er, you—"
Just as they were speaking, footsteps sounded in the hallway. An inn worker knocked on their door. "Guests, the crystal stones you've paid are almost used up. If you don't top up before noon today, you'll have to check out."
Hearing this, Ling Su's brows furrowed, and his expression turned grave.
All this time, they had been wandering outside. To avoid the searching parties from the Undying Heaven's Capital, they had taken many detours.
Fortunately, the Undying Heaven's Capital was hunting for Jiang Chen—people like them weren't even on the wanted list, which was how they had managed to slip into the Glazed Tile King City.
But the journey had been exhausting, they hadn't dared reveal their identities, and they'd had to be careful the entire way without any real means of earning money. Their crystal stones had been draining fast.
Sure enough, after only three days in the Glazed Tile King City, their supply had nearly run dry.
They had originally thought the crystal stones in their pockets would last them ten days to two weeks in the Glazed Tile King City, and then they could pick up a few missions to more or less sustain themselves.
But once they actually arrived in the Glazed Tile King City, they realized how naive they had been.
Inns in the Glazed Tile King City were far more expensive than those outside.
The prices were three to four times higher.
However, inns in the Glazed Tile King City were also much safer than those outside. Staying in a Glazed Tile King City inn, you absolutely didn't have to worry about someone coming to bludgeon you in the middle of the night, or having your throat slit in your sleep.
Such things simply did not happen in the Glazed Tile King City.