Rivers of the Night

Chapter 701: A Slap to the Face

Theron moved like a shadow through the streets. If one looked at him now, it would feel as though he was a fleeting shadow, his body splitting into strands of black fog and white breath beneath the cool night air.

But no one did see him.

It was like he didn’t exist at all.

In silence, the Nightingale Ancestor Bird watched Theron from afar, feeling somewhat incredulous. Theron didn’t feel like someone who had been with the Dark Element all their life. His progress in the last few weeks was too much.

Now, he felt like a master of the element, as though it had been ingrained into his very soul.

There had been something contradictory about Theron’s existence that the Ancestor had never been able to reconcile. Theron was such a genius, but why was his Dark Mana Control so lacking? Why did he feel like a newbie every time he activated the energy?

While his Water Mana Resonance was weak compared to the top-level beings, when it came to Water Mana Control... the Ancestor could say with quite some confidence that it had never met a Water Mancer better than Theron.

Given its experience, just this conclusion was shocking beyond reason, and it made one question why his Dark Mana wasn’t at the same level.

Could it be that Theron really hated his Dark Mancer side? But there hadn’t been much of a transition between now and then, so what changed?

No matter how the Nightingale Ancestor Bird looked at things, it almost felt like Theron was someone who had only recently gotten the Dark Element, and now, with his genius...

He was swiftly becoming one of the best of the best.

But that conclusion... it was something that the Nightingale Ancestor Bird couldn’t reconcile with.

...

A looming figure slowly walked into the King Inn, so tall in stature that the door frame’s header almost blocked his path forward. Yet, in an odd sight, the frame itself bent out of the way to accommodate his size as though his aura alone was enough to force reality to conform to his will.

The Merchant King.

The receptionist immediately stood to her full height, her spine having never been straighter.

In the last day, the Merchant King had made no attempt to contact her, so there had never been an opportunity to inform him that they had lost a year of their revenue.

Although, technically speaking, the Merchant King had given her unilateral ability to make decisions of that magnitude, that didn’t mean she was looking forward to breaking the news to him.

The Merchant King swept a gaze over her, calm and indifferent. If the Shonagh Clan was already aware of what happened, how could he not be aware? What he wasn’t aware of just yet was what sort of price she had paid in order for this matter to go away so silently.

Without a word, the receptionist hurried to hand over a jade that had concisely described all such information. At their cultivation levels, communication with the soul was far more efficient than communication with words. What might have taken her hours to describe by word of mouth could be consumed by someone as powerful as the Merchant King in a few seconds through a jade.

Chi.

The jade cracked in the Merchant King’s hand, pinched between his thumb and forefinger.

The revenue was one thing—he could almost not care about that. This wasn’t his only inn, and inns weren’t his only stream of revenue either. This loss could be easily eaten.

This much was obvious considering they had the liquid funds necessary to pay Theron immediately and without delay. The receptionist hadn’t even needed a day or two to come up with the funds.

What touched the Merchant King’s bottom line was the fact that Theron was still here.

What was this if not a slap to his face? A mere Gold Mancer didn’t even fear him enough to scurry away like a rat?

The Merchant King knew exactly why it was the receptionist had allowed this despite the loss of face.

For one, it was a chance to regain their reputation. If Theron chose to stay here, it meant that he didn’t believe the King Inn was involved.

Second, it allowed them to keep tabs on him. So long as he continued to return here, they would have a good gauge of his movements even if they couldn’t perfectly monitor him.

All things considered, she had made the smart choice. It was the reason why the Merchant King trusted her to make such important, sweeping decisions.

But deep inside, the Merchant King could feel that Theron was aware of this as well. That was why he had made the proposal in the first place.

And it was also why he knew that staying here was actually a protective shield for him.

So long as he continued to return, the King Inn’s reputation would slowly be rebuilt, while they wouldn’t dare to touch him.

"Good... good..."

The deep, rumbling voice of the Merchant King shook the air, the lights of the lobby flickering for a moment as though an earthquake was sweeping through.

Considering the King Inn was built of material even sturdier than the pavilion had been... the Merchant King’s power went completely without saying.

He had never been so thoroughly infuriated by a Gold Mancer before.

...

Theron wasn’t aware that the Merchant King had only just found out about the revenue share between them, but even if he had known, it would hardly change much of anything.

He was used to walking a tightrope of life and death, and as the saying went, it was often safer to keep your enemies closer.

His steps came to a pause as he stopped right in front of a building.

’What a coincidence. This explains quite a lot, now doesn’t it?’

Theron had found the assassin’s guild.

Its location?

None other than the very pavilion he had saved Chen in just this morning.