Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 220: The Oiran of the Capital
664 AD.

This was the fifteenth year of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty's reign. Because he suspected that a unicorn sign had appeared in the world, he changed the era name to Linde.

The divine capital, Luoyang City.

Inside the Swallow Tower.

A girl in palace dress sits in a pavilion beside a lotus pond. In front of her are various musical instruments, study treasures, books and scrolls.

She played the piano for a while, strummed the pipa for a while, and blew the bamboo flute a few times. Suddenly, spring raindrops fell with a clicking sound.

The sound of rain soon drowned out the music, so she stopped pointing and looked out at the pond.

The lotus flowers happened to be in bloom at that time, and the rain fell on the flowers, creating a unique beauty. She did not feel that the rain disturbed her enjoyment of playing music.

The girl was displaced since childhood, sold at a low price, and fell into misfortune in the world, but she did not become sentimental or pity her life because of this. Instead, she developed a positive attitude and was always optimistic in the face of things.

The girl was gazing at the lotus flowers intently when she suddenly saw a huge rock appear out of nowhere and fall from a height of several feet.

She couldn't help but widen her eyes, as if she had seen something magical, and her face was full of disbelief.

She looked again and found a figure sticking to the boulder.

The figure subconsciously bent down and supported the bottom of the stone with both hands, as if he wanted to lift the boulder and prevent it from falling. However, he was suspended in mid-air and his strength was limited. Even though he caused the boulder to stay in the air for a moment, he still failed to stop it from falling.

With a "plop" sound, the boulder and the figure fell into the pond together.

However, after being temporarily supported by the figure, the girl was able to see the shape of the boulder clearly, which looked like a huge dragon head.

The girl muttered to herself, "I heard from my wife that last year someone found a mythical beast, the Qilin, in Jiangzhou, Hedong. Someone else also saw a Qilin's toes in the Chang'an Palace. It's said to be a good omen!"

Although the girl was raised in Swallow Tower since she was young, the old lady treated her very well. She provided her with fine clothes and delicious food, taught her court etiquette, and cultivated her singing, dancing, and poetry.

She didn't strictly restrict her freedom. She was afraid that she would get bored staying in the Swallow Tower, so as long as she wanted to go shopping or have fun, she would allow her and go out with her.

In recent months, the most talked about thing among the people in the capital of gods is the auspicious sign of the Qilin. The news is so miraculous that it has even reached the ears of the gods.

The girl thought again: "When His Majesty and the Queen of Heaven learned of the auspicious sign, they were very pleased and pardoned many prisoners' sentences. But what exactly does the Qilin look like? No living creature has ever appeared, so whether the mythical beast is real or not is naturally impossible to prove."

Originally, the girl didn't believe in the auspicious sign of the Qilin, but when she saw the huge rock and the human figure falling from the sky, her heart couldn't help but pounding, and she actually began to believe it.

She took a few steps forward, wanting to walk to the edge of the pond and take a closer look at the situation inside. Suddenly, she heard a "splash" and the figure had emerged from the pond.

She immediately stopped in the pavilion and dared not go any closer.

Because the water in the pond was over ten feet deep, it completely submerged the boulder. The figure stood on the boulder with his upper body just exposed.

The figure was naturally not someone else, but Huang Sixi who broke through the wall and entered Di Renjie's world.

Huang Sixi stood quietly in the pond and looked around. He found that there were tall walls on both sides of him. In front of him was a long and narrow corridor leading to rows of attics. As the rain fell, the buildings became hazy.

He turned back again and saw a pavilion sitting beside the pond.

Looking inside the pavilion, a slender girl in a goose yellow skirt was staring at him curiously with eyes wide open.

He swam for a while and came to the edge of the pond. He was not in a hurry to get into the pond. He still soaked his body in the water and looked up at the girl.

He found that the girl's face was very familiar, and thought, isn't that the most beautiful girl in Shendu, Yin Ruiji?

The place where he landed was quite a coincidence.

"Girl, I didn't scare you, did I?"

The girl replied in a crisp voice: "When you fell from the sky just now, I was scared, but when you started to speak human language, I was not so scared anymore!"

Her voice was delicate, coquettish and extremely soft.

Huang Sixi wondered what it meant to "speak human language". It sounded weird.

Huang Sixi was eager to find out about Di Renjie's life in Jianghu, so he asked her, "I'm glad I didn't scare you. Where is this place?"

Her expression turned serious: "This is... this is the mortal world!"

Huang Sixi was stunned and suddenly understood why the girl spoke strangely. She probably thought he was a monster that fell from the sky.

Huang Sixi did not point it out, and followed her words: "I know this is the mortal world, but I am asking you, what realm is this in the mortal world? What should I call you, young lady?"

The girl immediately smiled and replied, "This is the Yanzi Tower on the south bank of the Luo River in the Divine Capital City! My surname is Yin, and you named me Ruiji!"

She looked at Huang Sixi boldly without any hesitation and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what is your name?"

Huang Sixi also told her his name, but said nothing more. With a "whoosh!" he jumped out of the pool and onto the top of the pavilion.

Seeing this, Yin Ruiji looked up at the top of the pavilion with an even more surprised look on her face. She thought that Huang Langjun jumped three feet high, and he was much more powerful than the rangers in the Divine Capital City.

Yin Ruiji was already in awe of Huang Sixi's background, so she kept silent and waited for Huang Sixi to leave the pavilion.

Unexpectedly, after standing for a while, Huang Sixi found that the roof of the pavilion was not high enough and he could not see the entire Swallow Tower, so he jumped off the pavilion and walked quickly on the waves of the pond.

When Huang Sixi reached the pavilion outside the pond, he used his gecko wall-climbing skills to climb to the roof. Only then could he have a panoramic view of the entire Swallow Tower and even see the street market outside the building.

The neighborhood where Yanzilou is located was a place where high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty came to relax and have fun. It was located in the most prosperous area of the capital city.

It would be very difficult for Huang Sixi to transport the dragon vein out of Swallow Tower.

Because there are dense crowds outside the Swallow Tower during the day, and there are guards patrolling at night, as long as the dragon vein appears on the street, it will definitely be discovered by outsiders.

If the dragon vein was an ordinary stone, it would not matter if it was discovered. However, the dragon vein was carved into the shape of a dragon, which is a taboo. If the government finds out, it will probably be confiscated directly.

After Huang Sixi had inquired about the terrain of Yanzilou, he thought: "For the time being, we can only sink the dragon vein into the pond. When we find a suitable place to store it and the right opportunity to transport it, we can come and collect the dragon vein."

Thinking of this, Huang Sixi jumped off the roof.

He first fell into the pond and took out many items he carried with him from the bottom of the pond.

When he left The Legend of the Condor Heroes, he packed all his treasures including the Dragon Subduing Sword, the Black Iron Heavy Sword, the Holy Fire Token into the Qiankun Yiqi Bag for easy carrying.

He tied the bag to the dragon vein again, and then activated the wall-breaking power of the Ziwei soft sword. After he broke through the wall and entered Di Renjie's Jianghu, the Qiankun Yiqi bag and the Ziwei soft sword fell to the bottom of the pool along with the dragon vein.

'Clang! 'Sound.

Huang Sixi took out the treasures from the bottom of the pool and placed them on the floor of the pavilion.

He untied the bag and took out a few gold ingots. He walked to Yin Ruiji and said, "Miss Ruiji, I fell into your pond because I had no choice. If there were other possibilities, I really don't want to disturb your peace!"

Yin Ruiji chuckled: "No, I'm not disturbing you, Mr. Huang. I feel that you are in front of Nunu, which is a good omen. Maybe you will have good luck in the future. I am actually very excited."

Huang Sixi handed over the gold ingot upon hearing this: "You saw the stone just now. It weighs a thousand pounds. I can't take it away, so I can only store it in the pond temporarily. This gold is for the storage fee. Miss Ruiji, please accept it and help me keep the secret!"

Yin Ruiji put her hands behind her back and said frankly, "Mr. Huang, although I am a young woman, I also understand the principle of being public-spirited and righteous. Since Mr. Huang trusts me and has entrusted me with his trust, I will never tell anyone about what happened today! Mr. Huang, please take back the money. Yanzi Tower is not my family's property, and I am not qualified to charge a storage fee!"

She is willing to keep a secret, but she won't accept money for it.

Huang Sixi saw that she sternly refused the gold ingot, so he didn't force her.

Suddenly, he turned around and found that the pavilion was full of musical instruments, so he asked her, "Do you like to play music?"

She replied, "I have been learning since I was young. My aunt taught me to be proficient in all kinds of musical instruments. I seem to have a talent for playing music. No matter what instrument I learn, I can learn it as soon as I learn it."

Huang Sixi reached into his bag, took out a jade flute, and handed it to her again: "Then I'll give you a musical flute! This is not for storage fees. I'm new to the capital and have no relatives. I heard that there is a great monk named Sanzang in the capital. He is kind and willing to take me in. I'm going to rush over, but I don't know where Sanzang is practicing. Miss Ruiji, do you know where Sanzang's temple is? Can you give me directions?"

After Huang Sixi finishes asking for directions, he will leave Yanzi Tower immediately.

Just now Yin Ruiji said that Swallow Tower was not her family's property and she was living under someone else's roof. If the owner of Swallow Tower caught her having a secret meeting with a man, he would definitely make things difficult for her.

Huang Sixi had just arrived in Shendu and had no household registration status. He planned to visit Master Sanzang first. Given Master Sanzang's reputation in the Tang Dynasty, if he could give Huang Sixi a business card, then Huang Sixi would definitely be able to settle down easily in Shendu.

After Huang Sixi settles down, he will come back to deal with the dragon vein issue.

When Yin Ruiji heard him mention 'Master Sanzang', she immediately nodded to him: "Master Sanzang is a holy monk. The people of Shendu love to go to his temple to burn incense and worship Buddha and ask for his blessing. Auntie has taken me there several times! Mr. Huang, wait a moment, I will draw you a map to Sanzang Temple!"

There were four treasures of the study in the pavilion. Considering that it was raining and the paper would easily get wet, Yin Ruiji took out a white silk handkerchief from her bosom and drew on it.

She was an excellent painter and quickly sketched out the outline of the capital.

The route she marked was also very clear. It started from the street outside the Swallow Tower, crossed the Luo River first, and went out of the city from the north gate of Shendu. There was a Mang Mountain in the north of the city, where Master Sanzang practiced.

Huang Sixi saw that she had drawn the route very accurately but had not marked the distance, so he asked her, "How far is Shendu from Mangshan?"

Yin Ruiji looked outside the pavilion and said, "Oh, that's a bit far, about twenty miles away. I'm afraid it will take an hour to get there! In the past, when my aunt and I went to burn incense, we always took a horse-drawn carriage. Now it's raining, and the carriage is going on a muddy road, so it may be even slower!"

She knew that Huang Sixi had gold and could hire a carriage, but it was difficult to ride a horse in the rain.

"It doesn't matter!"

Huang Sixi didn't care. He picked up the Qiankun Yiqi Bag and prepared to leave Yanzi Tower.

Yin Ruiji took a look at the jade flute and saw that it was made of translucent jasper, so it should not be an ordinary item. She didn't want it, but before she could say anything to refuse, Huang Sixi's figure flashed and flew high into the sky, jumping onto the pavilion.

She hurriedly chased out of the pavilion, only to see Huang Sixi as light as a swallow, running on the corridors beside the pond and on the roofs of the buildings. After a few jumps, his figure disappeared without a trace.

She thought Huang Sixi had already gone far away, but then she heard Huang Sixi's voice suddenly come into her ears.

The sound of rain was very loud at this moment, but it did not affect the sound of this voice echoing in my ears at all: "Someone is coming from outside the pond. I will go first! I hope Miss Ruiji will keep her promise and not tell outsiders about the stone!"

Yin Ruiji was very surprised and thought to herself, "This Mr. Huang has already left without a trace, how did the voice get through? He repeatedly told me that the stone must be extremely important to him, and I must not break my promise."

As she was thinking about it, she saw an old lady walking towards the pavilion with an umbrella.

She was even more surprised. How did Huang Sixi find out the whereabouts of the old lady through the attic wall?
The old lady was a plump middle-aged woman who loved Yin Ruiji very much. When they met, she showed concern for him first: "My dear Ruier, it's raining, why don't you go back to your room? If you get sick from the rain, I will be so heartbroken."

She saw Yin Ruiji holding a jade flute in her hand, with the flute glowing faintly. She suddenly stepped forward, grabbed it, and began to appreciate it with red eyes.

"Baoyu, a rare jade!"

She had lived in the capital for many years, often visiting the residences of high-ranking officials and nobles, and had seen many precious treasures and beautiful jades, but none of them could compare to the jade flute in her hand.

After evaluating the value of the jade flute, she stretched out her arms and hugged Yin Ruiji in her arms, as if she was hugging a cash cow, and praised her with satisfaction: "My Ruier is a beauty of the country. From the first time I saw you, I believed that you could bring glory and wealth to our family. Look, you haven't even been selected as the oiran, but you're already making money for our family!"

She held Yin Ruiji's pretty face and asked, "Tell me quickly, who gave you this beautiful jade? This jade is priceless and really worthy of you!"

Yin Ruiji denied: "Nunu lives in the building every day and never sees outsiders. Who would give me something?"

The old lady asked in surprise: "Strange, strange, where did this jade come from?"

Yin Ruiji smiled and said, "Nunu said it fell from the sky, do you believe it, madam?"

The old lady patted the back of Yin Ruiji's hand and said, "Whatever Rui'er says, I believe it!"

She did not ask further questions, but she was determined to keep a close eye on Yin Ruiji and not let her stay alone for too long.

She had spent too much effort and invested too much money in cultivating Yin Ruiji. The capital of gods would soon hold an oiran convention, and she was convinced that Yin Ruiji would win the title, and then would be the time to reap the rewards.

Before that, she must not let anything happen to Yin Ruiji. If Yin Ruiji was kidnapped at this time, she would lose a lot of money.

At this time, Huang Sixi had already crossed the Luo River and rushed to the north gate of Shendu.

After he left the north gate, he looked up at the sky, but could no longer see the Divine Eagle. He sighed inwardly, "After this farewell, I don't know when I can see Brother Eagle again!"

Huang Sixi felt extremely uncomfortable with the sudden loss of the Divine Condor, but he could only get used to it slowly.

He identified the direction of Mangshan, used his lightness skills, and ran away.

After a while, he arrived at the foot of Mang Mountain.

Because it was a rainy day, he did not meet any pilgrims until he reached the Sanzang Temple on the top of the mountain.

He thought that Master Sanzang must be free today, but the question was how to send a visiting card to make Master Sanzang willing to see him? Gold, silver and jewelry were of no use.

(End of this chapter)