Chapter 311

When the guesthouse keeper Xiong Nuan hurried over, Qi Bai had already shown Shu around the three-room types.

Hei Yao’s guesthouse rooms were as simple and straightforward as their names.

The communal hall was just one giant heated brick bed (kang), large enough for thirty people, with a cooking stove outside the room. Firewood had to be prepared by the tenants.

The standard room was a small private unit: a kang that could sleep two or three, plus a basic set of table, chairs, and cabinets.

The deluxe rooms—only two of them—truly lived up to the name, set up as two-room suites.

They were twice the size of standard rooms, had their own kitchens, refined furnishings, decorated screens, even private latrines. Guests could even bathe by calling attendants to bring hot water and a wooden tub inside.

Of course, the prices differed drastically: a standard room cost five times the communal hall, while the deluxe suites were nearly twenty times more.

From the moment Shu entered the deluxe room, sinking into the fur-covered recliner, he was dazzled—barely able to move. His eyes could hardly take it all in.

He had thought the house he stayed in on his last visit to Hei Yao was good enough. But compared to this guestroom, that place was utterly shabby.

The ceramic ornaments, carpets, and furniture—all beautifully arranged—half of them he couldn’t even name. Outside Hei Yao, many beastmen might live their whole lives never seeing such things, let alone affording them.

Seeing Shu too stunned to speak, Hu Xiao lifted his chin smugly.

And truthfully, even for Hei Yao locals this was rare. Most had never seen such an elegant house. When Hu Xiao himself first saw the deluxe room Qi Bai had designed, he felt ashamed of how barren his own spacious house looked.

Hei Yao folk valued function, not decoration. Their pottery was for use, not display. They wouldn’t stick branches in vases or carve patterns into boards to make screens.

One could only say—despite the harsh limits of this world—Qi Bai’s designs had transformed the rooms. If not equal to a grand hotel, they were at least as tasteful and comfortable as a high-class inn. In a beastman world of raw, utilitarian architecture, such things were unimaginable.

Qi Bai’s thinking was simple: if guests were paying, they should feel they got their money’s worth.

Clearly, his goal had been met. Shu’s mind had only one thought: Worth it. So worth it.

When Xiong Nuan entered, Qi Bai introduced him: “This is Xiong Nuan, the keeper of the guesthouse. He’ll handle everything during your stay. Just tell him what type of room you want.”

Xiong Nuan nodded to Shu. “Young City Lord.”

He had come straight from the hospital, still stained with blood from tending the wounded. Yet his bearing was calm and respectful, not servile—something that even surprised Qi Bai.

Xiong Nuan had never been as outgoing as Lu Ming, nor good with people. When Qi Bai first asked him to run the guesthouse, he had been nervous. But after the great battle, receiving the first batch of guests in such tense times, he had grown in confidence—like a different man.

Shu didn’t know him and only asked curiously: “Bao Bai said everyone must stay in the guesthouse. But what if someone has no goods to pay?”

Xiong Nuan smiled faintly. “Hei Yao City is not a place anyone can enter at will. If they can’t pay, they must leave before the city gates close each day.”

Hei Yao’s guesthouse was more than lodging. Built on the outer edge of Trade Street, it was also a hub for registering and regulating outsiders.

Of course, Shu couldn’t risk taking his people out again just to save food. Even if he wanted to leave, Qi Bai wouldn’t permit it. So, Shu obediently rented rooms.

Only he stayed in the deluxe suite. The others were placed in the communal hall. On Xiong Nuan’s suggestion, Shu also rented a warehouse for their wagons.

Hei Yao warehouses came in two kinds: plain storage and storage with guards. Xiong Nuan was too busy now to push the latter, so he didn’t mention it.

Their wagons rolled through a side gate into the backyard warehouse. The building even had a small kang for three or four people, so they could guard their goods overnight.

Once everything was arranged, Qi Bai instructed Xiong Nuan: “Most of the army is away. For the next few days, don’t worry about anything else. Just watch them closely. Don’t let them stir up trouble in the city.”

He turned to Xiong Zhong. “Do you have enough men?”

Nominally a guesthouse worker, Xiong Zhong was in fact its security chief, with a squad of horned beastmen under him. They did menial chores, but if trouble broke out, they could keep order until city guards arrived.

Xiong Zhong replied: “Most of our horned beastmen are injured, but we can still muster enough for guard duty.”

Xiong Nuan added: “Rest assured, Great Priest. If we lack men, I’ll inform you at once.”

Qi Bai patted his shoulder. “Then I leave it to you.”

Healing the wounded, counting the fallen, clearing the battlefield, handling the beast tide—Qi Bai scarcely had a moment to breathe. Two days passed in a blur, yet still no word from the expedition.

Tu Ya and Wei circled the hospital before finding Qi Bai dozing against a wall in an office.

In just a couple days, he had dark circles under his eyes, his face gaunt—Tu Ya’s heart ached at the sight.

As she hesitated, Qi Bai stirred awake with a nod.

“Tu Ya, Wei,” he forced himself alert, “you need me?”

Tu Ya sighed inwardly, then handed him a ledger. “Here are the warehouse medicine stocks, and usage these days. Most are fine, but Xuequ grass—we may soon run out.”

Qi Bai understood why Wei had come too.

Xuequ grass had always been scarce. In the first days after battle, it was consumed rapidly, as it was the key ingredient in the Giant Wind tribe’s healing medicine. At the current rate, stocks wouldn’t last three days.

Unlike other plants, Xuequ grass—crystal-like, mysterious—couldn’t be cultivated. No one knew how it grew. They could only gather it from snowy mountains.

Qi Bai looked out at the snow. It was already April. In past years, by this time the snows had melted, fields ready for spring planting. Yet this year, snow still lay thick. That gave him a sliver of hope.

He calculated swiftly and told Wei: “I’ll give you one hundred people and enough supplies. How fast can you return?”

Wei answered firmly: “Ten days. I’ll return in ten days.”

Ten days for a round trip between Hei Yao and the snow mountains—nearly impossible. But Wei’s face was resolute.

“Good.” Qi Bai nodded. “Set out at once.”

Neither mentioned the failure of three months ago, when Wei had led a search after the first snow, only to find nothing but rock and ice.

This time, success was uncertain. But they could not give up. Even a sliver of hope must be pursued.

When Wei left, Tu Ya urged softly: “Please rest. You’ve gone days without sleep.”

But before Qi Bai could answer, a knock came at the door. He smiled faintly. “It’s fine. Go on, don’t worry about me.”

Tu Ya knew—until Lang Ze returned, Qi Bai’s duties would never cease.

Thinking of her own mate, Ma Shu, who was also with Lang Ze, Tu Ya’s heart clenched with worry.

Where were they now? Why hadn’t they come back?

She didn’t know a messenger had already been sent, still half a day from the city.

Meanwhile, Lang Ze’s force had halted south of the city.

His plan was to pursue fleeing enemies and destroy their rear camps. He had expected to return in two days.

But plans rarely keep pace with change.

After crossing the mountains beyond the Dividing Plains, both Lu Yan’s squad and Lang Ji’s squad ran into ambushes.

“City Lord, we brought him.”

An elder beastman, body brittle as dried vines, staggered before them.

If the wolf tribe squad earlier had merely oppressed him with their presence, this immense army now filled him with terror.

He could feel the killing aura even at a distance, the stench of blood so thick it was almost solid.

The horned beast warriors’ darkened hides weren’t fur at all, but caked, dried blood. The old beastman shivered.

No… they hadn’t just slain beasts. His blood ran cold. They must have slaughtered beastmen.