Chapter 25: Seeking the Earth Tiger

"Are you reliable? Don't let us get kicked out once we enter the Mo Jin Society."

"Hmph! This young lady is a famous Mo Jin practitioner within the Mo Jin Society!"

"Borrowing a few people from them won't be a problem."

Jin Zhou City was no longer the quiet place it had been at night. The midday sun shone upon the intricate jade relief carvings decorating the buildings of Jin Zhou. The empty streets of the night were now teeming with life, bustling with commoners and merchants. All sorts of hawking calls reached Dai Longmei's ears, and various figures flashed before his eyes.

However, his gaze remained fixed on a beggar sitting in a corner of the street. The beggar wore tattered clothes and had a begging bowl in front of him, indistinguishable from any other beggar in Tian Yu City.

"Just keep an eye on him!"

"Soon, someone will come by his stall who can help us find the location of the Mo Jin Society."

Dai Longmei took a sip of the plain water in his bowl and glanced at Lily, who was wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Aren't you a gold-level Mo Jin practitioner?"

"How come you don't even know where the Mo Jin Society headquarters is?"

"You should have heard of it back when you were a ranger."

Dai Longmei clicked his tongue and scratched his head. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"That Mo Jin Society has always been wary of independent Mo Jin practitioners outside their ranks."

"Although independent practitioners often need the money and manpower of the Mo Jin Society when they go underground, and many teams nominally affiliate with them, independent practitioners generally aren't qualified to enter their headquarters."

"Even if you do get in, they'll blindfold you and bring you there; there's no way to find the path in on your own."

Lily explained in a soft, delicate voice while vigilantly watching the people passing through the busy street.

"Right, right, right! So this 'gold-level Mo Jin practitioner' is just a freelancer after all."

"Looking at the attitude you had before, I thought you were the goddaughter of the guild leader."

"A 'gold-level' practitioner, haha!"

Ever since he reunited with Lily, Dai Longmei had not missed a single opportunity to ridicule her. For some reason, whenever he heard Lily's voice, he felt the urge to tease the girl.

"You! I said 'gold-level Mo Jin practitioner' as a metaphor, do you understand? A metaphor!"

"Besides, even among freelancers, I am still a gold-level practitioner!"

"This lady has salvaged more war chariots from underground than you've had hot meals!"

"The war chariots displayed in the homes of scholars and officials in the capital were all salvaged from the depths by me!"

"Alright, alright, heh... bragging won't kill you..."

"You!"

"Fifth Master, Miss Lily." Long Zhu picked up his bowl and finished the last of the dry-mixed noodles. "There are some strange people at the tea stall across the way."

Dai Longmei and Lily noticed the tea stall opposite them.

"It's that group of guys in black cloaks again!"

"The Drunken Fox Army..."

They saw a dozen masked men with fox ears atop their heads sitting at the tea stall. Although they were masked, Dai Longmei and Lily recognized them at a glance as the Drunken Fox soldiers who had snuck into Jin Zhou the night before. The Drunken Fox soldiers were also staring at the beggar.

"They aren't here with good intentions."

"You're the one who..."

"Tsk, now we're all 'here' for something."

"Someone's coming."

A passerby, seeing the beggar looking pitiful, stopped, intending to toss a few copper coins into his bowl. However, a pair of malicious hands slipped into his pocket and deftly extracted his coin purse. The pickpocket brushed past the passerby and quietly drifted away.

"A thief?"

They saw the beggar exchange a look with the pickpocket, then kowtow repeatedly to thank the passerby for drawing attention. The pickpocket, meanwhile, turned and melted into the bustling crowd.

"Follow that pickpocket! He's our guide to the headquarters!"

Lily was so anxious her ears twitched.

"Alright, Bamboo, keep an eye on that group!"

"Got it."

Dai Longmei immediately gave chase. It was midday, and the streets were packed with all sorts of people, a mix of the elite and the dregs. Tracking a plain-clothed pickpocket was no easy feat, but for Dai Longmei, who had served for many years as a scout in the northern grasslands, it was not difficult. The pickpocket didn't move very fast, but the bulging coin purse changed hands among several people along the way.

"You Mo Jin people are quite cautious."

"They aren't real Mo Jin practitioners, just local petty thieves."

Although she was in the business of scavenging from the dead, Lily looked down on pickpockets even more.

"However, the beggars, thieves, and loan sharks in this city all fall under the jurisdiction of the Mo Jin Society."

"By collecting tribute from these people, the guild leader makes a lot of money. Plus, they have a clear grasp of intelligence across the entire Great Tian Yu City, even in the local fortresses."

"Does this Mo Jin Society know that those star-people, the Freylas, have already entered?"

As Dai Longmei chatted with Lily, he kept his eyes locked on the pickpockets swapping the coin purse.

"I don't know..."

Lily, who had been talking non-stop, went quiet. The White Lion Cavalry’s concealment methods were quite formidable; they had been hunting Lily for over a decade without being discovered by the Tian Yu imperial court or the Three Kingdoms' lords. They had even made connections with certain imperial factions. Combined with their powerful Void Qi, even the Mo Jin Society likely couldn't track their movements.

*I have to get my body back quickly; I can't let them open the gate again!* Lily thought to herself.

Dai Longmei glanced at the silent Lily, then at the Drunken Fox soldiers trailing them at a distance. "Bamboo, watch those guys closely."

Although he wasn't yet skilled at using Void Qi, Long Zhu tried to focus his energy and replied, "Right, Fifth Master, I'm watching them."

The Drunken Fox soldiers were not following Dai Longmei's group, but rather the same pickpocket they were tracking.

"This group wants to find the headquarters too? It seems they really aren't here with good intentions."

"Mmm... be careful, Mei..." Lily subconsciously wanted to call Dai Longmei "Meizi." After spending so many days together and bickering so much, Lily felt that calling him "Meizi" felt more natural.

"Shh..."

At that moment, the pickpocket walking briskly ahead suddenly turned his head to scan the area behind him. Dai Longmei quickly pressed Lily’s head down and stepped up to a stall selling sour plums.

"Hey, little brother, take a look at our plums, they're the best!"

"Hey, traveler, your fox scarf is quite nice, wow... it looks so real!"

Lily opened her eyes wide, mouth half-open, pretending to be a skinned fox, while Dai Longmei stroked her head, doing his best to hide her face which might give them away.

"Haha, is that so? I got it from a fur trader in Jin Chuan, haha!"

Dai Longmei rubbed Lily's furry head.

"Dai Longmei! Stop petting me!" Lily protested through telepathy, but Dai Longmei's rough, warm hand continued to stroke her.

Although she hadn't fully adjusted to this fox body, the gentle stroking and Dai Longmei's warm body temperature still gave Lily a strange sense of comfort.

"Mei... Meizi... let go..."

The pickpocket was still looking back, and Dai Longmei continued to stroke Lily's head. As he petted her, his hand drifted down to her snowy white fox back.

"Let go... let go... Mei..."

"Shh, that guy is still watching."

Although he said that, Dai Longmei continued to act as if he were admiring the fur, stroking her back as if he were grooming a pet.

"Don't..."

The strange tactile sensation on her body gave Lily a different kind of feeling, as if her original human body were being touched by Dai Longmei as well.

"You... you lecher..."

Several minutes passed, and the pickpocket finally relaxed his vigilance and continued walking forward. Dai Longmei smiled and waved, then hurried off in pursuit.

"Mei... zi, have you stroked enough?" Lily's voice was filled with annoyance.

"What did you call me?" Dai Longmei looked at Lily's slightly unfocused large eyes with a wicked grin.

"I... you..."

"Only people close to me call me Meizi. May I ask what you are to me, young lady?" Dai Longmei grinned again.

"Calling you 'Dai Longmei' is too much of a mouthful! I just want to call you Meizi! Is that not allowed?" Lily's face flushed with a faint blush. She didn't actually dislike this handsome, rugged border general. On the contrary, during their adventure a year ago, she had already wanted to call him "Meizi." A hint of affection seemed to have sprouted.

"Alright, alright. Whatever name my little pet calls her master, the master will answer."

"Why else would I have been grooming your fur just now, haha?"

"Bad person!"

"Bad person!"

"Bad person!"

Dai Longmei's face, suppressed with a wicked smile, made Lily want to hiss, but she was a fox, not a cat... wait, she was a human, she was a human!

After their brief amusement, the pickpocket turned into a small alley. Dai Longmei immediately put away his smile and dashed after him. However, when he reached the alley, the pickpocket was nowhere to be seen.

"All paths in the Jade Realm are brothers," a voice spoke out in the empty alley. "Whether friend or foe, let's put it to the test."

As the voice spoke, Dai Longmei heard the sound of blades being drawn from behind. A dozen Drunken Fox soldiers, holding bronze machetes, blocked the alley.

"Mo Jin practitioners, tigers roaming the Immortal City, can be called Earth Tigers!"

"Warriors, Jade Dragons in the sky, can be called Heavenly Kings!"

The voice continued to recite cryptic words. "Commander Dai, let our brothers in the society see if your 'Jade Dragon' is worthy of being called an Earthly Jade Dragon!"

"Bamboo!" Dai Longmei shouted, and his jade sword flew out, landing firmly in his hand. The Drunken Fox soldiers were shocked; these scouts had never seen a divine object like a storage ring.

"Got it!" Long Zhu also had his jade sword in hand, blocking the exit behind the Drunken Fox soldiers.

"Meizi... there are a lot of them, be careful."

"It's fine, Miss Lily, they don't know how to use that..."

"Void Qi, you idiot!"

"Oh, right!"

"And just call me Lily, 'Miss' is a mouthful."

"Heh heh, alright, alright!"

Dai Longmei confidently watched the flustered Drunken Fox soldiers, jade energy swirling around him.

"You rascals from the south," both jade swords flashed with cold light, "are you ready to present your initiation gift?"