Butler Bang arrived at the restaurant after arranging the accommodations for the group, and noticing the strange quietness as well as people looking at the entrance from the distance with frightened or cautious expressions hurried in to see Wu Long and Ye Ling explain some more about Corrupt Path techniques to the others.

“Young Master’s meal seems to have been disturbed by some pesky people, this old man apologizes for not being by your side to save you some trouble”

He wryly smiled and came closer as Wu Long turned with a shrug.

“No need to worry, it wasn’t that much trouble anyway, and you were doing errands on my behalf which was why you were not here, so there is no need to apologize either”

Butler Bang nodded slightly more relieved. After the group peacefully finished their meal without minding the three figures completely covered in talismans, Old Yen arrived as well.

“It seems you have been busy Boss”

He scratched the back of his head and Wu Long calmed him down with the same words as he soothed the old butler earlier.

Wu Long then stood up to leave the restaurant.

“The food here is great. Take your time to have a meal before taking the eunuch and the two blockheads”

Wu Long said while placing a pouch of coins on the counter on his way out, a sum way more than his tab was, even if the two who arrived later were included.

In truth, he did not need to explicitly tell them that the three were to be brought along since both of them were smart enough to figure out that if he did not need the three he would have just killed them on the spot instead of capturing them alive. But by stating it this way he made sure they did not hurry and took time to enjoy their food.

“Eunuch? There is an eunuch among them?”

Old Yen widened his eyes at the three figures.

“Hehe, my proud work”

Wu Mengqi giggled and both Old Yen and Butler Bang slightly shuddered as they looked back at the one who was slightly separated from the others, identifying him as the ‘eunuch’ since the ‘two blockheads’ were lumped together in Wu Long’s words.

‘I knew that I must never cross any of Boss’s ladies, but it seems I need to keep extra care to not piss off Miss Wu’

Old Yen thought with a shiver.

‘Young Lady is as merciless as always’

Old Bang, on the other hand thought with some familiarity as he shook his head with a rueful smile.

Wu Long and the company arrived in a rather small inn with a tiny inner courtyard that only had one tree and a small lovely gazebo in the center.

“This inn is quite different from your previous choice”

Gong Liwei looked around as they crossed the gates of the inn, since the last inn she saw Wu Long choose was a large establishment with a vast inner courtyard that had gardens and ponds.

“Haha, this is a specific choice” 𝙡𝙞𝓫𝙧𝒆𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Wu Long said with a smile since it was precisely the reason Butler Bang took time to search for an inn.

“Welcome to the Lovers’ Abode, the inn has been recently fully booked… ah I see you must be Mister Wu”

A young attendant greeted them with a smile as Gong Liwei froze at the name as Wu Long showed a small wooden tablet he received from Butler Bang. The elder Gong sister then quickly looked around and realized by the decorations that this was an inn usually booked by newlyweds or lovers on vacation.

“This is…”

“Don’t worry, you will have normal rooms, this inn just has a room arrangement I want”

Wu Long chuckled at the slightly flustered Gong Liwei as Gong Cui curiously looked around.

“We will stay here for a few days, so take your time and relax. Feel free to ask Butler Bang if you need something”

He then said as they looked at him with slightly surprised eyes since it sounded like they will not see him in the entire period of their stay here.

Some time later Butler Bang and Old Yen arrived with the ‘luggage’ they carried to the shed for carriages and horses under the widened eyes of the attendants. “Um…”

As the manager of the inn wanted to speak up Old Yen took her to the side, taking out a pouch with gold coins in it.

—

Wu Long came out of the shed closer to the evening, with Butler Bang following closely behind him while Old Yen went out to dispose of the ‘luggage’ that now could be placed in the spatial rings.

“Will we attack this Blood Demon Cult in the coming days?”

Butler Bang asked since they would need to change their route if so.

“No, I will return to the Gugong Kingdom in the future it seems. So this matter can wait”

“Return?”

“They said they were waiting for the Violet Retribution Hydrangeas to bloom, and after some more persuasion remembered they were in the bud state for five years, so the earliest they will bloom would be next year”

Wu Long shrugged his shoulders, since he could not possibly kill off the caretakers of the precious medicine that was going to be generously donated to him before they could ripen. He would then need to take up caring for them until they bloomed himself and his time could be spent far more enjoyably than doing something others can do for him.

“Would there be no risk of them blooming and being harvested before we arrive again?”

Butler Bang ponderingly asked, he did not know this specific type of medicinal plant, but most of such natural treasures had only a close estimate for the time of their ripening that could be off by a margin of whole months depending on the type and circumstances.

“Usually yes, but with the saturation of Spiritual Qi and the absence of the River Qilin Stone Yin Water which cannot be found without a River Qilin Stone I am worried that my estimate is too early instead”

Wu Long touched his chin in thought as he was trying to calculate the possibility of the flowers blooming ahead of his estimate, ultimately arriving at the more likely scenario that they would bloom later than he stated.

They approached the staircase that led to the second floor and Butler Bang stayed behind with the words “Enjoy your time and leave everything to this butler, Young Master” as Wu Long nodded and went further up.

The second floor had a small lounge that connected several rooms. Usually, since the couples that stayed in the inn were separate it was an open area but Butler Bang arranged for no one accessing the lounge, making the entire area private, with the only exit from there being one door to the stairs that led down to the inner courtyard.

Wu Long went up and saw Wu Mengqi sitting on the sofa in the lounge.

“You should have waited inside, though it is partially my fault for telling you to wait and arriving later, it took a bit more time than I expected”

He said, and she smiled shaking her head.

“No worries, what was it that you wanted to talk about”

“I wanted to throw out the pants you are wearing today, so as a compensation I will take them off of you personally”

Wu Long smiled and after Wu Mengqi widened her eyes, she started laughing as she followed him into his room, a pleased glint clearly visible in her eyes.