Chapter 860: A Servant Boy
The servant boy was fully expecting to die today, and yet… the fates had something else in his favor.
“W-what… lord?” The servant boy couldn’t even figure out what words to use and simply kept on staring.
On the other hand, the tea house owner looked at the tentacle piercing his chest and felt the pain.
~COUGH~ COUGH~
Large mouthfuls of blood were spat out and even included fragments of his organs.
“How… What?” unfortunately before the tea house owner could figure out anything more, life escaped his body and his eyes turned blank.
He had died.
~slick~
The tentacle moved a little, creating slippery sounds from the blood. It lifted the corpse of the tea house owner up before flicking it to the side, sending it flying into the wall.
~THUD~
The body of the tea house owner slammed into the wall of the alley, leaving a trail of blood on it as it slid down back onto the ground.
~EEEK!~
The servant boy almost let out a scream, but forcefully shut his mouth with his hands.
While he was merely a servant in a tea house, he wasn’t naïve. He knew what situations like this entail and also that he was possibly in great danger.
‘Is this the work of a cultivator?’ was the first thing the servant boy thought.
He weakly lifted his eyes and peeked at the tentacle that was still moving around in the air. It was about the thickness of a cucumber and was very long. The servant boy couldn’t even see its other end or where it was attached to since it disappeared into the dark depths of the alley.
These alleys were covered on the top, not allowing any light to enter. This was intentionally done since goods were often brought in through these alleys and even left here for days until it was time to move them into the shops.
It could also be said that the alleys worked as both a storage area as well as a pathway. Though one end of the alley was closed off where the servant boy was sitting.
The servant boy sat there in fear for five minutes, not knowing whether he should move or not. His heart screamed at him to run, but his brain told him that if he did so, he might meet the same fate as the tea house owner.
The thought about someone rescuing or saving him from the abusive tea house owner never came to his mind. It was something utterly ridiculous and no one would do that in a place such as Tieba city.
And if someone did try to help others, it was definitely due to some agenda.
Seeing the tea house owner die in front of him stated it clearly to the servant boy that whoever or whatever did it had no qualms about killing. While killing was common in Tieba city, that was mostly for the weaker ones and those without influence.
The tea house owner was certainly not one of them. He was actually rather powerful and was supported by several powers in the city. If not for that, there was no way he would be able to run a business with such ease even if he had a cultivation base at the Core condensation realm.
Those that could kill people this strong and influential could only be those that were even more strong and influential.
‘Did the Tea House owner offend someone he shouldn’t have?’ the servant boy wondered.
That seemed to be the only possible reason for his demise, according to the servant boy’s judgment.
The servant boy racked his head for anything he might have heard in the past. Even if five minutes had passed, there was no saying if the danger had passed or not.
His street smarts showed their effects and tried to preserve his life.
‘I need to know what the other party’s objective might be if I’ve to come out of this alive.’ The servant boy thought.
Since fate had decided to let him live, he no longer had the thoughts of submitting to his death like he had just a few minutes ago.
And soon enough, a memory appeared in the servant boy’s mind.
‘The Pink Lotus Theater!’ the servant boy recalled something he had heard a couple months ago.
It was something he had heard in the passing when he was cleaning cups in the tea house. A couple of waiters were gossiping about how they had seen the tea house owner having a loud argument with the owner of the Pink Lotus Theater.
The Pink Lotus Theater was one of the entertainment houses of Tieba city and was popular. They provided various forms of entertainment such as plays, poetry, dances and a lot more.
Of course, women were their main attraction and the courtesans that worked there were said to be among the best in this part of the city.
It was safe to say, the Pink Lotus Theater was influential due to how many people visited it for their various ‘needs’ and how its owner could gather his network.
An argument between two influential ‘lords’ of popular establishments was bound to be messy and had finally turned deadly.
‘That’s it! The owner of the Pink Lotus Theater might have sent someone to kill the owner.’ The servant boy thought.
But then in the next moment, his face fell as another realization presented to himself.
‘Why would the killer attack now?’ The servant boy questioned before coming upon the answer shortly. “If the killer chose this time to attack the tea house owner and left me alive, then… he’s intending to use me as a scapegoat!’ he concluded.
The servant boy’s heart shuddered, and his body trembled. He knew that even if it was impossible for him to kill the tea house owner with his strength, there was no way for him to resist the charges.
He would be made the scapegoat by other powers that would want to take advantage of the situation and fish in trouble waters.
He had seen this happen many times in the past and it was nothing new for Tieba city.
~gulp~
The servant boy swallowed down his saliva as though his next actions.
‘I can’t stay here! I need to leave the city right away!’ The boy decided.
By now, he was sure that the killer had left, possibly letting the natural course of actions run.
The servant boy’s eyes darted to the back entrance of the tea house as well as the back entrances of several other shops that were along the line.
Ensuring that no one was there, he stopped up shakily.
~huu~
“Can’t wait any long, someone might come out here soon. The workers of the nearby shops come to throw out trash around this time too.” The servant boy muttered to himself before looking at a trash can.
It was filled with different kinds of waste and smelled foul.
“Ugh!” The servant boy felt his body ache from the previous impact as he struggled to pick up the trash can.
He gritted his teeth and poured the contents of the trash can over the dead body of the Tea House owner. Even if it was not perfect, he would be fine with any amount of time it bought him.
‘This should cover the scent of blood and the body for a bit.’ The servant boy thought as he looked around again like a startled deer.
~gulp~
His throat moved once more as he started to run.
The sound of steps in the empty alleyway was apparent, but wasn’t too out of place either. No one would pay attention to it that easily and it played in the servant boy’s favor.
He was running towards the dark reaches of the alley, as that was the only exit out of here that didn’t go through the shops. He might have considered slipping through them, but with the blood splattered on him, there was no way it would not be suspicious.
But just as he entered the dark part of the alleyway, he felt a chill on his back.
~gasp~
The servant boy froze in his place as he saw something moving in the dark. It was hard to see, but his eyes that had now acclimatized to the darkness, could barely make it out.
‘That… that person hasn’t left?’ The Servant boy thought, feeling scared that he was going to get caught.
~rustle~
Then, as if his thoughts were read, the sound of movement was felt from the darkness. The servant boy closed his eyes in fear, not wanting to see anything. His timidness resurfaced and made him weak.
…
But the fate that he was expecting never happened.
Instead… a voice was heard.
“Hey kid, come closer.” A strange voice spoke.
The servant boy didn’t respond though, not even registering what the voice was saying.
“Do you not hear me?” The voice spoke gain.
This time though, the servant boy mustered some courage and opened his eyes just a little bit.
‘Nothing happened?’ the boy was confused.
“Hey! You! Boy!” The voice said, a bit impatiently this time.
“Y-you… You’re speaking to me?” The servant boy asked anxiously.
“Who else do you think?” the voice replied.
“W-what do you want?” The servant boy asked.
“Come closer. I won’t bite.” The voice stated.
The servant boy wanted to say no, but felt like if he did that the outcome might not be good. Thus, he went ahead and came upon a sewer grate.
The servant boy peeked into the grate and saw something that made him shiver.
“Hey kid, want some powers?” A strange being spoke. Its teeth sharp like spikes and two yellow eyes that glowed in the darkness.
