The small town Rhea Yang mentioned was only a few dozen li from Tang Sect. It didn’t take long for the two of them to arrive. There were no guards at the gates, and not many people were entering, but Evan Chu quickly noticed that a lot of young men had shown up in this town.
It was obvious these people were here for Lily Tang’s attack-power marriage trial. Just the sight of them made Evan feel a surge of disgust—how dare they try to snatch his woman? He almost wanted to kill them all on the spot.
Soon, the two arrived in front of a prominent inn. Evan looked up at the sign—Tang Inn. It was almost certainly run by people connected to Tang Sect, or maybe even a direct Tang Sect business.
As soon as Evan and Rhea walked in, a waiter hurried over and greeted them enthusiastically: "Are you here to eat or to stay? If you want food, we can serve you right away. Our inn’s dishes and wine are famous all around, guaranteed to satisfy. But if you need a room, that might be a problem—we’re basically full right now."
"There should be at least one or two rooms left, right? Or do you think we can’t afford it?" Evan said, his tone a bit domineering.
The waiter glanced at Evan and replied, "There are two rooms left, but they’ve already been reserved. We’re in business—we can’t just break our word. I hope you understand!"
The waiter’s tone was neither servile nor overbearing, clearly the type who judged people by appearance. Rhea was about to speak, but Evan stopped her. "How much for the rooms? I’ll pay double."
"It’s not about money, it’s about reputation. Please don’t make things difficult for me. If you want to eat, our inn welcomes you. But if you need a room, you’ll have to look elsewhere," the waiter said.
Evan caught the greedy look in the waiter’s eyes, then took out a top-grade Starstone from his storage ring and said, "This should be enough for the room, right? I don’t have the patience to argue. I want a room—if I don’t get it, your inn won’t stay open."
The waiter’s eyes lit up at the sight of the Starstone, but the greed quickly vanished. Evan saw it all clearly, and it made him realize there was more to this waiter than met the eye.
"Even if you brought out ten times as many Starstones, there’s nothing I can do. Like I said—if you want food, we welcome you. If you want a room, try somewhere else."
Rhea finally couldn’t hold back any longer. "Kid, I was giving you face, but now you think you can run the place? I’ll tear down your inn right now, believe it or not!"
"I don’t believe it. In the Heavenly Dragon Empire, there aren’t many who dare act wild in Tang Sect’s territory. You’d better leave—if you keep causing trouble, you might not be able to walk out later," the waiter declared, refusing to back down.
Evan laughed. "Who knew a mere inn waiter could be even more domineering than the guests? I’m not leaving today—I want to see what you Tang Sect people can do to us."
By now, a crowd had gathered. Many people pointed at Evan’s appearance and muttered unpleasant things, but he didn’t care. He was bored anyway—might as well stir up some trouble for fun.
"Rhea, let’s play along and see just how arrogant Tang Sect really is. As long as you’re happy, I can wipe out this inn anytime," Evan whispered to her.
"You don’t need to do anything—leave it to me. Watch how I handle them," Rhea said, her eyes flashing with a wicked grin.
Evan knew this girl’s poison skills were terrifying. "Whatever you want. As long as you’re happy!"
They found an empty table and sat down. Rhea said, "Bring us your best dishes—make it quick. I don’t want to wait."
But the waiter just laughed. "Our best dishes have already been reserved. You’ll have to pick something else. We still have plenty of good food—like shredded potatoes, shredded radish, mapo tofu, fish-fragrant eggplant..."
"Aren’t those all vegetarian dishes? We want meat. Are you doing this on purpose to make things hard for us?" Rhea demanded.
"You should be glad there’s anything to eat at all. Plenty of people wish they could eat here but can’t," the waiter replied.
That was it—Rhea snapped. A longsword appeared in her hand as she glared at the waiter. "Believe it or not, I’ll destroy this inn right now!"
But the waiter just smiled, unfazed. "Go ahead and try. I’ve never seen anyone cause trouble in Tang Inn before."
As soon as he finished speaking, four middle-aged men appeared, clearly enforcers. They turned to the waiter and said, "Boss, is someone making trouble?"
Evan and Rhea were both a little surprised. They hadn’t expected the waiter to be a “pig disguised as a tiger”—someone strong pretending to be weak, actually running the place himself. It was pretty strange.
"Someone wants to smash up my Tang Inn—what do you think we should do about it?" the innkeeper said with a wicked grin.
Evan glanced at the four men—they were only around fourth or fifth layer of the Earth Martial Realm. Rhea could handle them alone, but he didn’t want his woman to fight. So he said, "Let me deal with them. Since they’re so rude, they must be ready to die."
With that, he moved. Four flames appeared in his hand and shot toward the four enforcers. Screams like slaughtered pigs rang out as they were instantly engulfed in fire. In just a few breaths, they were reduced to black ash.
The innkeeper was shocked. He hadn’t expected this ugly youth to wield such terrifying fire. Now he realized he’d provoked someone he couldn’t afford to mess with. If that fire hit him, he’d end up the same way.
The innkeeper felt a wave of fear, but still said, "You’ve got guts, killing Tang Sect people. Just wait—you’ll be hunted across the world!"
Evan sneered. "I’ll be right here waiting. By the way, get our room ready—otherwise, you might be the next to die. Don’t think I’m joking. And hurry up with the food, or Tang Inn won’t need to exist anymore."
Sweat poured down the innkeeper’s forehead, dripping onto the floor. He shot Evan a hard look and said, "You’re ruthless. Just you wait!" Then he turned and left.
Not long after, another waiter appeared, carrying several unknown dishes. He said politely to Evan and Rhea, "Please enjoy, honored guests. Sorry for our poor service earlier—please forgive us. Your upstairs room is ready; I’ll escort you after you finish eating."
Evan waved his hand and said, "Got it. This Starstone is your reward. If I need anything, I’ll call you."
Everyone around stared at Evan and Rhea in shock. No one expected someone to cause trouble at Tang Sect’s own inn—clearly, things were about to get interesting. The crowd wore expressions of eager anticipation.