Chapter 61 Cat Looking for Clues
He quickly observed the inspection situation at the city gate. The guards were relatively lenient on caravans carrying a large number of goods, mainly checking customs documents and the payment of spirit stones.
For pedestrians who are alone or look suspicious, the questioning is much more thorough, and they may even be asked to remove their hats and face scarves for inspection.
Taking Mo Li along, the goal is too big and the risk is too high.
Bai Qingchen made a quick decision. He took out a heavy little purse and stuffed it into Mo Li's hand, whispering quick instructions.
"Mo Li, take this money and follow the people in front of you to line up and go in."
"Once you're in the city, don't wander around. Just wait for me at the first tea stall on the street to the right of the city gate. I'll be there shortly."
Mo Li looked at the purse in his hand, then at the city gate guard, his face filled with uneasiness: "Brother Qingchen, then you..."
"Don't worry, I have a way to get in."
Bai Qingchen said in a calm tone, without any doubt, "Do as I say, wait for me at the tea stall, go quickly."
Mo Li bit his lip, as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw Bai Qingchen's determined eyes, he finally nodded.
"Okay, Brother Qingchen, be careful, I'll wait for you!"
He gripped his purse tightly, took a deep breath, lowered his head, and quickly caught up with the end of the team in front that was being inspected.
Bai Qingchen watched as Mo Li was successfully questioned by the guards, paid the spirit stones to enter the city, and disappeared into the city gate. He then breathed a sigh of relief and quietly retreated into the shadow of the dense bushes on the side of the road.
After making sure that no one was paying attention, Bai Qingchen activated the special half-demon bloodline power in his body.
After a weak fluctuation of spiritual power, his figure quickly shrank and deformed, and his clothes disappeared. In his place, a snow-white cat appeared.
The little white cat moved lightly and swiftly, sneaking silently along the shadows of the bushes, targeting a large caravan that was waiting in line to enter the city.
This caravan was pulling more than a dozen large carts, with numerous guards and servants, and the noise of people and horses was quite noisy and chaotic.
Bai Qingchen transformed into a white cat, nimbly avoiding the crowd's feet and quietly slipping into the shadow at the bottom of a large cart piled with cloth and covered with oilcloth, hiding himself perfectly.
The caravan slowly advanced, finally arriving at the city gate. The guard leader glanced at the customs documents, then roughly counted the number of people and goods. He waved his hand and said, "Pay the city entry tax: twenty low-grade spirit stones."
The caravan manager counted out the spirit stones swiftly and handed them over. The guard took the spirit stones, counted them, and waved his hand to let them go after confirming they were correct.
During the entire process, no guard noticed that when the huge caravan of carriages and horses moved, an extremely faint breath appeared in the shadow at the bottom of the cart piled with cloth.
The caravan entered the city smoothly, and the wheels made a rumbling sound as they rolled over the bluestone road.
Bai Qingchen waited patiently for the caravan to turn into a relatively quiet street before he quietly slipped out from under the car and quickly ran into the depths of an empty alley nearby.
A moment later, a man wearing a bamboo hat and ordinary white clothes walked out of the alley. It was Bai Qingchen who had regained his human form.
He lowered the brim of his hat and walked quickly towards the city gate. Soon, in the corner of the inconspicuous street tea stall where they had agreed to meet, he saw Mo Li holding a coarse pottery bowl and looking around nervously.
As soon as Mo Li saw him, he immediately put down the bowl, his eyes lit up, and he trotted towards him, his voice full of relief.
"Brother Qingchen."
Bai Qingchen nodded: "Well, I got in smoothly. This is not the place to talk. Follow me."
He took Mo Li and walked through the streets and alleys, trying to avoid the main roads with heavy traffic.
Muling City is several times larger than Luofeng City. It is the largest city in Muling territory. The buildings are more densely populated, and the streets are crisscrossed.
Relying on his intuition about the city's layout and careful observation, Bai Qingchen finally found a small inn that was relatively remote, looked a bit old but was still clean.
This inn is hidden deep in a narrow alley. It doesn't have a big entrance and not many people come in and out.
Bai Qingchen asked for a room at the innermost part. After entering the room, he carefully checked the doors and windows, and set up a simple sound insulation and early warning array.
After doing all this, he said to Mo Li who had been following him, "Mo Li, just stay here and don't go anywhere. I'll have someone bring in food. Don't go out alone."
"If I don't come back within three days, you take the money and leave here, and go to Luofeng City to wait for me."
This time, Mo Li did not act like a spoiled child or make excuses to follow him like he did before. He looked at Bai Qingchen's serious and solemn face and knew that Bai Qingchen had something important to tell him.
He nodded and said seriously, "I understand, Brother Qingchen, don't worry, I will wait for you to come back."
Bai Qingchen felt a little relieved when he saw his serious look. He checked the protection of the room again, and left some emergency pills and talismans for Mo Li, instructing him on how to use them.
"Wait until I come back."
Bai Qingchen said the last sentence, put on his hat, and left the inn quietly.
If Bai Qingchen turned back to the inn at this moment, he would find that Mo Li, who was supposed to be waiting for him in the room, had left the inn just after he left, and the two of them left in opposite directions.
Rejoining the crowd in Muling City, Bai Qingchen's mind was highly focused. He needed to find Liu Wan's whereabouts as soon as possible.
According to the information obtained, Zhao Feng is a branch of the Zhao family, and Zuifenglou is the property of the Zhao family.
The most likely place where Liu Wan was imprisoned was either a secret place inside Zuifeng Tower or Zhao Feng’s private residence in the city.
Zuifenglou is a famous den of venality in Muling City. It combines a restaurant, an inn, a gambling house and even some gray businesses. It has a deep background and is home to a mixed crowd of good and bad people.
Since the Zhao family has issued a wanted order, Zuifenglou, as the Zhao family's territory, must be heavily guarded at this moment, like a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, and it would be extremely difficult to sneak in.
Bai Qingchen did not rush to Zuifenglou. Instead, he chose to wander around several relatively busy streets near Zuifenglou, keeping his ears open and paying attention to the chatter of pedestrians and vendors around him, trying to capture some useful information from them.
He walked into a small shop, pretending to select something, and casually asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, I heard Zuifenglou is quite busy lately?"
The shopkeeper was a lean, middle-aged man. He glanced at Bai Qingchen and, noticing his ordinary attire, lowered his voice and said, "Sir, you're from out of town, right? Zuifenglou is always bustling."
"But there seems to be something going on recently. I heard that there's a new girl in the building who's a great singer. But she's very stubborn and refuses to receive customers, making a lot of noise. She's been locked up."
"Alas, how dare we ordinary people ask too much about the affairs of these great people?"
He shook his head, looking very secretive.
Bai Qingchen's heart moved. The girl singing the song had a stubborn temper? This was most likely Liu Wan. It seemed that she was indeed in Zuifeng Tower.
"Locked up? Do you know where in the building he is being held?" Bai Qingchen asked calmly.
The shopkeeper quickly waved his hand, "How could I know? The Zuifeng Tower is heavily guarded, and they are all cultivators of the Zhao family. No outsiders are allowed in! Sir, you should just buy something. There's no point in asking about this."
Bai Qingchen knew that he would not get anything out of the shop no matter how much he asked, so he bought some things as a cover and left the shop.
It seems that if we want to rescue Liu Wan, we must find a way to sneak into the heavily guarded Zuifeng Building and find the specific location where she is being held.
He lowered his hat and his figure disappeared in the evening twilight of Muling City.
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