Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Hope of Cultivation
Inside the tavern, the atmosphere became tense once again.
Jiang Lin took a slight step back. Beneath his hood, his eyes moved over the five of them again and again.
In the end, his gaze locked onto the mage. If he made his move in the next instant, he could kill that mage at once and seize the staff in his hand.
If the staff fell into his hands and he absorbed the spiritual energy within it, then Jiang Lin would be able to erase the rest of them as well.
In a single moment, Jiang Lin had already planned out everything from the first strike to the end.
Only then did Martie recover from her fright. Faced with such an icy atmosphere, she suddenly stepped forward and stood in front of Jiang Lin, shouting,
“He’s not a demi-human! I swear it on my honor! That servant is just talking nonsense to earn merit in front of you!”
Martie seemed to have returned to the way she was before, or perhaps things had already come to this point, and she no longer had any reason to hold back.
“Damn it, she’s lying! Sir Knight, I’ve served Mrs. Heath for many years. In this town, who doesn’t know that this man is a demi-human?”
The servant’s expression was agitated, and his dark face twisted slightly. Turning toward the tavern’s customers, he shouted,
“Everyone here can testify. If what I’m saying is false, then I’ll accept even the harshest hanging without a word of complaint!”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Knight Kline’s expression suddenly turned strange as he swept his gaze over the customers around him.
By now, the people in the tavern were thoroughly sober. Watching this string of conflict unfold one after another tonight, all of them felt waves of cold dread in their hearts.
They looked at one another, and in the end, someone stepped forward and raised a hand.
“I can testify. I’ve seen that guy before. He’s a demi-human. He’s just hidden his ears and tail very well!”
Then someone else suddenly chimed in as well.
“That’s right. He also has very long black hair. Damn it, I get it now. That was how he was hiding his ears!”
More and more people began to point fingers. What these drunkards in the tavern lacked least was the ability to exaggerate. Amid the overlapping accusations from all sides,
Jiang Lin’s identity had already gone from demi-human to the son of some demon.
“Damn you all, damn all of you! I see through you now!”
Martie’s eyes had turned red as she gritted her teeth and glared at the drunkards filling the tavern with their accusations. Only today had she finally seen just how utterly foolish these people were.
She slowly stepped back and said quickly to Jiang Lin in a low voice,
“Run. Hurry, run. I’ll hold them off!”
Jiang Lin said nothing. He placed a hand on her shoulder, gave it a light pat, and stepped forward.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.
Under that scrutiny, Jiang Lin slowly removed his hood, revealing his face, black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin.
There was no emotion on his face. No anger, no fear, nor did he pay any mind to the drunken shouts condemning him.
Jiang Lin looked calmly at Knight Kline before him and said in a composed voice,
“I have no need to explain my race to any of you, because it is my pride.”
“So that is your defense, boy? You know the Tanner Kingdom is not friendly toward demi-humans.”
Knight Kline’s expression shifted slightly. In that brief exchange of gazes just now, he had sensed a faint pressure from Jiang Lin. Even if he truly were a demi-human, someone with this sort of bearing should not have been possible.
His expression changed more than once before finally returning to normal as he stared at Jiang Lin.
“But you are fortunate. Today, you encountered me rather than some other knight.”
With that, he waved a hand.
“We’re leaving.”
As soon as the words fell, the young knight turned and walked toward the tavern doors.
After giving Jiang Lin one last glance, the three warriors followed him out.
Mage Orr seemed to think of something, and let out a sinister laugh. He shot the two of them with a vicious glare before walking out as well.
Now the only one left behind was the servant who had brought them to the tavern.
The servant stood there in a daze, clearly never having expected things to turn out like this.
Before he could react, Martie strode over, grabbed a chair, and smashed it toward his head with all her strength.
Bang!
The servant took the blow head-on and immediately fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Blood streamed down his forehead, and the intense pain made him curl up on himself.
“Get out!”
Martie’s eyes were icy. Gripping the bloodstained chair, she began hurling it toward the drunkards around her.
“You too, all of you, get out! I’ll remember every one of you! Don’t ever think of coming here for another drink!”
Such a fierce outburst caught everyone completely off guard. They immediately fled for the tavern doors in a panic, all the while even more astonished that Martie could react so violently, or rather, so fiercely.
Jiang Lin was nothing more than a demi-human.
The drunkards scattered in a mad rush. The tavern erupted into utter chaos, and even those companions who had drunk themselves senseless were dragged out by force.
After struggling for a while, the servant finally managed to stagger to his feet. He glared viciously at Martie, furious but not daring to say a single word. He was only a servant. Even if Martie killed him today, all that would happen was that she would have to compensate Mrs. Heath with a bit more money.
So he could only endure the pounding pain in his head and hurry out of the tavern.
At last, the farce came to an end, and the tavern was left in total disarray.
Martie was breathing heavily. After taking a long while to steady herself, she collapsed to the floor like a deflated ball.
Tonight was probably the craziest thing she had ever done in her life.
But she was truly furious at how disgusting those people had been.
Jiang Lin had been surprised by her actions just now as well. He sighed, walked over to her side, and sat down too.
The two of them sat there on the tavern floor, neither speaking for a while.
Looking at the wrecked tavern around them, Jiang Lin was the one who finally broke the silence.
“I’m sorry, Miss Martie. I’ve caused you trouble again. I’ll leave tonight.”
“Leave? I’m going with you. I’m leaving this place too!” Martie let out a snort, as though her anger still had not faded.
“The people here aren’t worth staying for!”
“Have you thought it through?” Jiang Lin nodded.
“I have. I’m going to pack right now.” Martie nodded as well and rose to straighten her dress.
Jiang Lin stood up too and looked at the girl before him.
Martie was looking at him as well. Their eyes met, and slowly, both of them smiled.
“That was a very reckless thing to do, Miss Martie. You’ve made me see you in a new light.”
“My heart is still pounding.”
“That’s normal. My heart was the same the first time I killed someone.”
“That’s normal... Wait, no, killed someone? You’ve killed people before?”
“They were people who deserved to die.”
“All right then. Let’s hurry and pack. Before those people change their minds, we’re leaving tonight!”
“Miss Martie, go pack first. I still have something to take care of.”
As he spoke, Jiang Lin headed toward the back courtyard. Beside the woodshed near the stable, he pulled out a somewhat rusty woodcutter’s knife and touched the blade with his finger to test how sharp it was.
The knife was not very sharp, but there was no time left to grind it.
After wrapping up the woodcutter’s knife, Jiang Lin took the small knife he had pulled from beneath the bar and tucked it into his clothes as well. In such haste, there was not much more he could prepare.
Jiang Lin had to seize this chance. He absolutely had to obtain the “spirit stone” on that mage’s staff.
Even if he did not make a move now, there was no way to be sure that man would not come back again in the middle of the night.
And there was that knight as well. Jiang Lin did not believe they would simply let him go.
A grudge had already been formed. If he did not deal with this trouble, that would not be his way.
As long as he obtained the mage’s staff, every problem could be resolved.
Martie would no longer have to worry about them coming back to cause trouble.
But if the mage stayed with the others the whole time, Jiang Lin would not have an opportunity to act.
“I have to find a chance when he’s alone.”
“As long as I can deal with that mage, I can take care of the others too.”
Thinking this, Jiang Lin looked up at the night sky. The vast, clear moon was gradually being swallowed by dark clouds.
The night grew even darker.
“A dark night and a strong wind. Heaven is on my side.”
Jiang Lin put away the woodcutter’s knife, returned to the tavern, glanced at Martie, who was busy packing, and then went upstairs.
His clothes had always been stored beneath the bed in the storeroom.
After changing back into the clothes he had once worn, Jiang Lin came back downstairs dressed all in black.
Martie was nowhere to be seen inside the tavern now.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Lin slipped out through the back courtyard.