Chapter 22: Gathering Immortals Tower, Dressed as a Woman

Chapter 22: Gathering Immortals Tower, Dressed as a Woman

Although the two still followed the original plan and headed toward the medical clinic, their demeanor had already grown far more solemn than when they first entered the city.

Even without Guardian Ye's reminder, Ning Xishi could now sense those lingering, probing glances.

It was as if the Ming family had eyes planted on every corner of the street.

Fortunately, both he and Aunt Ye had applied disguises—even if people noticed they were strangers, it should be difficult to guess their true identities.

Ning Xishi reassured her: "We still have several groups entering the city together. Even if the Ming family is prepared, they'll need time to identify everyone. We still have a chance."

Guardian Ye nodded, feeling like the child she'd watched grow up had suddenly come of age.

She said, "You must be extremely careful, Gang Leader. Although the Ming family holds a major secret, they wouldn't dare expose it unless backed into a corner. You shouldn't act rashly either. If negotiations truly fail, we retreat—as long as we live, there's still a chance."

"I understand." Ning Xishi murmured.

As they talked, the two stepped into the medical clinic. The physician hurried over to check their pulses, then had an apprentice lead them to the back room to rest until they'd taken their medicine.

Ning Xishi knew that the Beggar Gang had many safe houses scattered across various locations, but Ningzhou was the one place they couldn't get a foothold in—no base there, and he wasn't sure how messages would be relayed.

Just as he was wondering about this, an elderly woman nearby coughed as she rose, patting her chest. Almost instantly, a crumpled paper ball was flicked toward him.

Ning Xishi was speechless.

He unfolded the paper, on which three lines were scrawled in messy handwriting—

"Today is the first of the month; this afternoon the Ming family will host a high-ranking court official at Gathering Immortals Tower."

"It seems to be an official sent by the court to wipe out bandits—identity unknown."

"Old Man Ming places great importance on this, and security is extremely tight. The other party is well-versed in the Beggar Gang's methods, so we couldn't find out anything more."

Hosting a high-ranking court official this afternoon?

Ning Xishi glanced outside at the sky—it was nearly noon, so the banquet would likely begin soon.

The Ming family and a court dignitary joining forces made Ning Xishi's face darken.

That old man Ming knew all his secrets, and now he was colluding with a court official...

No, he had to meet Old Man Ming as soon as possible. If his identity were revealed to more people, the entire Minister's residence would be put in danger.

Guardian Ye had also caught a glimpse of the note. She coughed heavily twice, her voice rough and feeble: "Son, go find your second uncle and get some money—otherwise I can't... I can't pay the medical fees."

The apprentice tending the medicine nearby overheard and immediately walked over, asking, "Have you paid for the consultation?"

Guardian Ye quickly said, "I'll have my son go get it."

The apprentice's expression turned nasty: "I thought with your bundle, you had money inside. If it's just rags and clothes, then go out and find some! I've already got the medicine boiling in the pot—if you don't pay, your mother won't get her dose!"

Guardian Ye gave Ning Xishi a shove, and he stumbled out the clinic door.

Though it was midday, Ningzhou had been plagued by intermittent rain lately, and a layer of dark clouds hung low overhead, dimming the light.

Ning Xishi only remembered the last words Aunt Ye had whispered in his ear: "Gathering Immortals Tower is the tallest restaurant in the southwest corner of the city."

Then he turned and headed east.

Not long after Ning Xishi headed east, two heads peeked out from behind the clinic wall. The pair exchanged glances, shook their heads simultaneously, and then made their way toward Gathering Immortals Tower in the southwest.

The feeling of being watched finally disappeared. Finding a deserted back alley, he stripped off his travel-worn outer garment and turned it inside out, putting it back on—now it was the coarse cloth clothing commonly worn by Ningzhou locals, sold at the Ming family's cloth shop.

Those watchers earlier had probably been tracking him by out-of-town clothing styles.

After changing, he also tied all his hair up on top of his head, securing it with a simple hemp rope—he now looked like an ordinary Ningzhou man.

Thankfully, the Beggar Gang had plenty of people; whenever they needed to act, their intel was always spot-on.

That was how Ning Xishi had gained his understanding of Ningzhou's customs. Combined with the thorough plans he'd made over the past few days and his efforts to memorize the city's street layout, moving alone now didn't feel too difficult.

Ning Xishi pushed open a half-shut wooden gate, grabbed a food basket, and headed toward Gathering Immortals Tower.

There were many people on the streets dressed just like him, and he quickly blended into the crowd, blending right in.

However, near Gathering Immortals Tower, the Ming family had set up tight security. There was a large cleared area in the middle—even if Ning Xishi turned into a bird, he couldn't fly across it.

He had anticipated this as well, since Old Man Ming loved only two places—the opera house and Gathering Immortals Tower.

At the opera house, watching a show required a crowd to be lively, so blending in wouldn't be a problem;

But Gathering Immortals Tower was all about quiet, elegant dining. If the Ming family insisted on a private booking, he'd have to think of some other special way to sneak in.

Ning Xishi circled around to the alley behind Gathering Immortals Tower. Few people walked this route, so it'd be easier to throw down if needed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A guard spotted Ning Xishi approaching and immediately drew his sword, walking over to question him.

Ning Xishi stumbled back, looking scared, raising the food basket high, and said, "My wife sent me to bring lunch to my mother..."

"Gathering Immortals Tower is booked out today. No matter what your mother's doing in there, you're not getting in. Scram, get out." With that, he gestured with his blade, shooing Ning Xishi away.

The man's sword swing was careless and cocky, and Ning Xishi retreated slowly, as if his foot caught on something—and the food basket was sliced clean in two by the blade.

The guard was about to let out a mocking laugh—

The next instant, a cloud of flour mixed with saltpeter powder burst out of the shattered basket. The two guards, caught off guard, were blinded instantly. Ning Xishi had been waiting for exactly this moment. He lunged forward swiftly and chopped both of them hard on the back of the neck!

The next moment, the two guards crumpled to the ground. Ning Xishi took the thinner one's clothes, changed into them, grabbed the man's blade, and strode straight toward Gathering Immortals Tower.

It wouldn't be long before someone noticed those two were missing from their post—he needed to get inside quickly and change clothes again.

Above all, he had to at least learn the identity of that court official, then figure out how to negotiate with Old Man Ming.

If the old man remained stubborn, he'd have to find some weakness to threaten him with.

As for killing him to silence him forever—Ning Xishi hadn't considered that yet. After all, he carried memories from a past life, raised with socialist values; he still valued human life deeply.

Ning Xishi got lucky. After entering Gathering Immortals Tower, he ran into a servant girl coming out to wash vegetables.

Seeing him, she was clearly startled and said hastily, "Sir, I'm a kitchen maid, out to wash vegetables. The banquet will start soon."

Following her pointing direction, Ning Xishi indeed saw several servants in similar attire coming and going.

So he nodded, stepped aside, and let her pass.

The maid had just walked past Ning Xishi when she too fell victim to his ambush.

By the time Ning Xishi dragged her into the storage room and emerged again, his clothes had become a pale purple skirt.

But he simply couldn't manage his hair, so he left it hanging loose down his back, pinning the girl's beads and ornaments into it, which made him look decent enough.

Ning Xishi was tall, and the skirt was actually quite a bit too short, but fortunately it was a chest-high ruqun, so he tied the sash around his waist, which looked passable enough.

He walked out from there, ditching the hard work of washing vegetables, grabbed a tray of dishes, and followed behind the serving maids, with his head bowed, as he went upstairs.

Young Master Ning outwardly appeared decisive and composed, but inwardly he was scared to death, terrified of getting caught.

Fortunately, the servants and maids of Juxian Tower were so busy attending to the distinguished guests of the Ming family that they barely had a free moment, which allowed him to sneak through without being noticed.

Following the maids to the entrance of the private dining room, Ning Xishi noticed that guards were posted almost every three steps, with at least a hundred on the entire third floor.

It was lucky he hadn't come up wearing the outer guard's uniform, or he would have been killed on the spot.

Ning Xishi thought to himself, this Ming family really did run Ningzhou like their own kingdom.

But even with such tight security, Ning Xishi still managed to slip through.

Just as they got to the top of the stairs, two guards rushed up and reported in low voices to the leader standing guard at the door with an imposing presence: "Our outer brothers have been hit in three places—one on the east side, one on the west, and one on the southwest."

"Can't you hold the line?" the leader demanded, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.

The man giving the report immediately knelt trembling and said in a low voice, "The east and west sides held, but on the southwest, we only had two brothers there. It looks like they were jumped. We found the two brothers, and one of them had his uniform stripped off. It seems someone grabbed our uniform and snuck in."

The leader sneered, his beefy face shaking with rage: "What use are you? Go back and each of you will have an arm chopped off."

The man giving the report trembled even more like a quail, begging for mercy on the tip of his tongue, when the sound of a sword cutting through the air reached his ears, scaring him half to death. He quickly responded, "Yes, as you command."

"Then why aren't you looking for the one who slipped in?" the leader demanded coldly.

"We searched, searched everywhere, but didn't find him," the man said, his forehead pressed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Ning Xishi had never witnessed such casual threats of chopping off arms. The tray in front of him wobbled, making a slight clatter, and he quickly turned his face away in fright.

The leader immediately glanced over at their group of maids. His gaze lingered on Ning Xishi for an extra moment, and seeing that his fear seemed genuine, he finally looked away and said, "If you can't find someone wearing our uniform, then look for someone who's changed into the clothes of Juxian Tower's servants, won't you?"

"Yes, I'll go continue the search."

"Search? Just have the manager of Juxian Tower call everyone out, have them report their names one by one, pick out anyone you don't recognize, and kill them all on the spot."

"Yes."

This time, Ning Xishi was truly terrified. He was already calculating the odds of dodging a blade and escaping from Juxian Tower when he heard the leader bark at them: "Didn't you hear the bell ringing inside? Why aren't you serving the dishes?"

Ning Xishi trembled with fear. As he passed the burly leader, his head was nearly bowed to the floor.

The man's scrutiny of him lasted an unusually long time, and Ning Xishi held his breath for what felt like an eternity before finally managing to slip in with the other maids.

Ning Xishi let out a sigh of relief; the atmosphere inside the private room was much softer.

They filed in one by one, first placing the dishes on the serving table in the antechamber, then letting the maids attending the inner room present them one by one.

However, the serving table and the inner room were actually connected, separated only by a beaded curtain.

Ning Xishi clearly saw the person sitting in the grand chair behind the beaded curtain—someone he never expected: Xie Jingxing.

He also heard Ming Hanche address him: "Strategist Qiu, I've heard so much about you."

Ning Xishi: "?"