On the road to Lark City, Ethan Chu didn’t say a single word. Ivy Shen kept glancing at him, but he didn’t notice at all—he just rode in silence, not responding to anything anyone said.
Ivy knew Lark City was a place of shame for him—he’d been betrayed by family there, treated in ways no one should ever endure. Who wouldn’t want to forget a place like that?
When she first learned the Martial Conference had been moved to Lark City, she tried to make up an excuse for Ethan to go back and check on Chu Kingdom. After all, a monarch shouldn’t be away for too long.
But stubborn as he was, he absolutely refused her suggestion.
Still, Ivy saw that place was where his deepest scars lay. When he saw the words ‘Lark City’ on that letter, she caught the brief shock on his face—just a few seconds before he hid it, but she noticed, and her heart ached for him.
"Butterfly," Ivy called softly.
"Yo, wifey!" At her call, Butterfly Rogue immediately rode his horse over to her side.
"Make a mask for Ethan," Ivy said seriously, looking right at him.
Butterfly glanced at Ethan, then at Ivy, and nodded quickly. "Don’t worry, wifey, I got this!" He’d been there in Lark City too—even if he’d just watched from a tree snacking on seeds, he’d seen it all. Seeing Ethan so quiet on the road, Butterfly could guess that place was pure heartbreak for him.
"No need!" Ethan suddenly spoke up, lifting his deep, unreadable eyes and frowning slightly. "I’m fine." He managed a smile for Ivy, but to her, that smile only made her heart ache more.
Seeing this, Ivy took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, then none of us will use disguises. What needs to be faced, we’ll face together. But you’ll need to wear these." She raised the eye-masks in her hand—these were given to her by the old innkeeper before he left, supposedly prepared by 'that man.' They weren’t as complicated as full masks, just covering from forehead to nose, simple yet mysterious.
Ivy handed out the masks one by one. Ever since they left the desert, Adrian had quickly contacted Ice Palace people to escort Aiden and Clara back.
So now their team was just ten people, plus Nina Xu and the ever-attached Colin Kerr.
The seven husbands put on matching black masks. Instantly, every one of them looked mysterious and striking—even if the mask only covered from forehead to nose, those charismatic eyes were killer. Ivy was internally blown away: damn, they looked so cool!
"Xin’er, don’t I need one?" Nina asked, confused, seeing even Colin get a mask.
Ivy smiled and pulled out two white veils from her robe, handing one to Nina. "We’re women, veils suit us better." She put hers on with a little smile.
"Look, Lark City’s just ahead!" Butterfly Rogue pointed excitedly.
Everyone looked up. After so many days, the city was just as lively as ever—and now, with the Martial Conference, it was even more bustling. You could hear the shouts and cheers from inside.
Ivy narrowed her eyes at Lark City. In this independent city, the City Mistress was basically the mayor—and here, that was Yvonne Li.
Yvonne Li was an extremely plain-looking, even off-putting woman, so for her to be City Mistress was no small feat. And for her to host the Martial Conference after last time’s disaster? Something had to be up. Last time, the conference was a massive scandal—no one wanted to touch it, but Yvonne was bold enough to take it on. Ivy wondered: what’s the secret behind all this?
Could it be she’s working with the court or Jude Song?
She shook her head, still puzzled, but her gut told her this probably wasn’t about Jude Song. So who’s backing Yvonne Li and making her so bold?
"Xin’er..." Lucian Vane looked at Ivy’s face, concern written all over his own. He couldn’t help but call out softly.
Ivy smiled, shrugged off everyone’s worried looks, and joked, "Sorry, I spaced out for a sec. Wow, just listening to the noise inside, you can tell it’s wild in there. This Martial Conference—I’m gonna have a blast!"
So the group rode forward, but as soon as they reached Lark City’s gate, a bunch of guards stopped them and demanded a password to enter.
Hearing this, Ivy frowned—Yvonne was still using that dumb, vulgar song as the entry code?
"A password? You need a password just to get in?" Liam Willow was baffled, his big eyes blinking in confusion behind his mask.
"Hey, we’re all together, right? Password, huh? Leave it to me!" Butterfly Rogue grinned, then belted out the whole ‘Huluwa’ parody song at full volume. Liam blushed hard, the rest looked mortified, and Ivy’s face was the worst—seriously, Yvonne must be brain-dead to keep this song as the official password!
"Alright, go on in." The guards, amused by Butterfly’s bold singing, waved them through, not caring at all about their masks or veils.
Which only made Ivy more suspicious—why weren’t they checking anyone?
Weird. Way too weird.
The moment everyone entered the city, they froze in shock. Compared to last time, it was a whole different world—so much had changed in just half a year! Inns, taverns, even open spaces had all been expanded, and the place was packed with martial artists. Almost two out of every three people were armed; it looked like a giant hero convention.
"So many people!" Butterfly Rogue exclaimed, amazed by the crowds everywhere.
Ivy turned to Butterfly. "Take the horses to the stables first. We’ll meet up at that big place up ahead—the First Song House." She pointed to a huge tavern.
One nice thing about this city: no matter where you went, there were huge horse-boarding yards. Horses were treated like guests, with different service tiers depending on how much silver you paid. There were attendants to watch and groom the horses, so it was all pretty convenient and considerate.
"Got it!" Butterfly nodded. Liam and Colin followed, leading their horses too.
Meanwhile, Ivy, veiled and fanning herself, led the rest toward the tavern.
"Welcome, honored guests! Here to dine?" A waiter rushed over, smiling brightly.
"Yes, by the way—are there any guest rooms available?" Nina Xu asked.
The waiter scratched his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, but with the Martial Conference tomorrow, all our rooms have been booked for ages." He laughed apologetically. "Honestly, even the smallest, most remote inn in the city is packed right now."
"Huh? How can that be?" Nina frowned, worried. What were they supposed to do now?
"Yeah, guests, you must’ve heard about the last Martial Conference, right? It was messy, but everyone in the martial world still showed up. People want to pick a new alliance leader and get revenge for the dead, so even more folks came this time than at Mount Hua. Not just inns—even regular folks are renting out rooms, but those are full too. Lots of people are sleeping on the streets," the waiter apologized.
Caleb Miles clicked his golden abacus and asked, "Really? Not a single room left anywhere?"
The waiter noticed Caleb’s golden abacus and realized they were big spenders, but he could only shrug. "We’d love to help, but with so many of you, one room just won’t cut it—even if we squeezed one out for you, it wouldn’t be enough."
"So there really isn’t a single room left in the whole city?"
"Nope, all filled up ages ago."
At that, Ivy fanned herself and asked, "What about Yvonne Li’s house?"
The waiter jumped, glancing around nervously, and whispered, "Shh! Don’t call the City Mistress by name! If her male concubines hear, you’ll get whipped for sure."
"Is she really that scary?" Caleb scoffed.
"Her house must have spare rooms, right?" Ivy closed her fan and pressed on.
The waiter nodded quickly. "Of course! She’s the City Mistress—her place is the biggest in town, with tons of courtyards and houses. But she never lets outsiders stay there—not even relatives. With so many of you, no way!"
With a dramatic flick of her fan and a wicked grin, Ivy said, "Oh really? Then I’ll just have to make her break her rule!" With that, she strode out grandly. The City Mistress’s mansion—a secret base like that? She was definitely going to check it out!