Chapter 290 You guys continue to chat
Zuo Chen hummed a little tune, put his hands behind his back, shook his head, and walked down the street with a swagger.

Caiyi followed Zuo Chen to the street shop, shopping everywhere, and soon she had a handful of delicious food.

There were only two of them traveling today. The two little kids were kept back by Zuo Chen to attend classes, and Mr. Donkey was holding his breath and planning to transform again. Li Ji went to court today and was probably confronting the group of civil and military officials in the court.

In the morning, Zuo Chen also asked Li Ji if he needed his company. Li Ji laughed and waved his hand to refuse:
“Master, you knocked out those termites in the library yesterday, and now they are frightening the civil and military officials to death. I went to court today to see their ugly appearance. Even if I lend them my courage, they dare not say anything nonsense to me.”

Li Ji obviously didn’t care at all. All the civil and military officials in the court were no match for him. Years of comfortable life had already drained away the blood of these officials. To Li Ji, their taste was not as spicier than girl’s red wine. They could be regarded as nothing more than a pot of muddy wine.

At this point, Zuo Chen began to study the “map” given to him by Yan Wangsheng, planning to have a good tour of Kyoto City today.

This map shows many places where the gentry might hold meetings, all of which are high-quality houses hidden in the middle of alleys. Yan Wangsheng had only heard of the names of many of these places, and could only vaguely draw a large area for their specific locations, and was unsure.

But Zuo Chen didn’t care about it.

After killing so many insects yesterday, Zuo Chen was in a good mood and did not plan to kill anyone today.

Really just wandering around.

It has been a while since the beginning of spring and the weather has gradually warmed up. New fruits can be seen on the stalls. No sugar has been accumulated in the fruits yet. They taste slightly sour when bitten, but Caiyi still enjoys eating them.

He bought a few more skewers of grilled chicken and shared them with Zuo Chen. The two of them ate while walking.

The grilled chicken skewers in Kyoto are very sweet. After the flour dough becomes thin and thick, add a little salt and some steamed bread koji, seal it in a jar for three months, and then filter it twice to get the reddish and black sauce, which is sweet and tastes great when spread on the skewers.

Even someone like Zuo Chen who likes salty food when eating barbecue doesn’t find it unpalatable when chewing the barbecued meat.

Caiyi ate the skewer in just a few bites, and licked the bamboo skewer with relish. She threw it into the grass beside the road, letting it return to nature. She asked Zuo Chen in confusion:
“Master, I still don’t quite understand what effect your wandering around the capital will have on those noble families?”

From Caiyi’s point of view, Zuo Chen was clearly just an old man taking a walk and there was no threat at all. How could he force the nobles to do something stupid?

Zuo Chen thought for two seconds about how to explain to Caiyi:

“Cai Yi, if there is a kind of firecracker in the world that can blow up an entire city after being lit, what would you think of it?”

“How should I see it? Of course, the farther away the better, in case the firecrackers suddenly explode and blow me into the sky…”

Caiyi muttered to herself, but suddenly an idea came to her mind and she realized what Zuo Chen meant.

If we say that there are no firecrackers in this world, wouldn’t it be as if they are far away in the sky and as close as we can get?
Seeing Caiyi’s reaction, Zuo Chen also smiled:
“Naturally, these families in Kyoto want to avoid me, but their foundation is here. If I really run away, their family property will become someone else’s.

“In order to maintain their position, this group of people naturally cannot sit idle. If I go east, they will see east, and if I go west, they will see west. If I have nothing to do and fish by the lake for a day, they will have to send people who are good at fishing to follow me by the lake and accompany me fishing.

“They even had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out whether I was catching a precious fairy fish or if there was some secret hidden in the fish’s belly.”

Caiyi said “Oh” and new knowledge entered her little head.

While chatting and buying some street snacks, Zuo Chen suddenly seemed to realize something and tilted his head slightly.

He half-closed his eyes, as if he saw something interesting.

“Taoist priest?”

Caiyi looked behind her in confusion following Zuo Chen’s gaze, but only saw a busy crowd.

“Taoist priest?”

“Someone is watching us.”

Zuo Chen used the magic of hiding the house in his hands, and the two of them were immediately hidden.

Then Zuo Chen pulled Caiyi directly into the crowd.

After walking among the crowd for a while, Caiyi noticed a sneaky man with his neck hunched not far away.

He wore a round-lidded hat and a black jacket. He had no hair and a large black mole on his temple with a few black hairs growing out.

His left shoulder was drooping a little, and his clothes were greasy, as if he had been carrying something for years, which had worn down the fabric.

“Is this a tortoise?” Caiyi took a quick look and judged the man’s occupation from his figure and aura. “Why is he staring at us?”

“He should be a spy from some noble family. Let’s follow him and take a look.”

Zuo Chen moved like a shadow and in the blink of an eye he was behind the man.

Under the blessing of the hidden house magic, the old man felt a warm breeze blowing from behind him. He turned his head subconsciously and his eyes swept across Zuo Chen, but he did not react at all. He just hurriedly made a few turns in the crowd and arrived at the entrance of the brothel. Zuo Chen took a few more glances at the brothel.

There is a magical power in the building, which is the technique of folding the house and hiding it, making a secret meeting room on the first floor.

This design is interesting. You can learn it and make a portable Taoist temple so that you don’t have to sleep outdoors anymore.

Entering the brothel with Caiyi, Zuo Chen watched as the pimp called the madam over and whispered:

“When I went out to buy food for those masters just now, I saw a Taoist priest on the street. I thought he might be the one the masters were talking about, so I came back early.”

“Taoist priest? Hiss, Taoist priests are really scary at this critical moment.” The madam also took a breath of cold air and said in front of Zuo Chen: “I will go and inform the adults in the hidden house. You stay in the store first.”

After saying this, he hurried towards the back of the compound.

Zuo Chen followed directly and soon arrived at the room where the secret technique was attached.

As the madam entered the room, Zuo Chen continued to feel the changes in the magic in the house while waiting, recording them in his mind, which he also found amazing.

This technique has many similarities with the technique of storing objects that Zuo Chen had learned before. It does not require deep skills, but it is extremely exquisite.

After just taking a look at it for two times, Zuo Chen actually felt that his understanding of the art of “The Universe in the Sleeve” had deepened.

Caiyi was originally curious about where this room would take them, but suddenly she had some strange feelings in her heart. She turned her head to look at Zuo Chen in confusion and found that the other person had a familiar smile on his face.

This smile…

Caiyi is very familiar.

Zuo Chen would always smile like this every time he developed some wonderful magic. He also smiled like this after he got the white jade seal.

It’s just like a child holding a brand new rattle during the Chinese New Year, and can’t wait to shake it to hear the clear and crisp sound the drum makes.

What has the Taoist priest figured out?

Caiyi became curious.

Soon the two followed the madam into the hidden house, and they happened to catch the end of the quarrel between Master Zhou and the eldest son of the Lu family.

The madam heard the fierce quarrel inside and did not dare to go in rashly. She did not enter the courtyard until the quarrel was over.

“Gentlemen, it seems that there is a Taoist priest wandering outside!”

The young masters who had just finished quarreling all turned pale with fear after hearing these words. Some of them stood up immediately, rolled up their sleeves and tried to run out, while others held their heads in their hands and looked towards the door in horror, fearing that a Taoist priest would jump out from there and kill them all with a bolt of lightning.

Zuo Chen stood behind this group of young men with a smile on his face, watching their performance.

In the end, it was Young Master Zhou who slammed the table and stopped the increasingly chaotic meeting:

“Calm down! Look at you guys! How disrespectful! Just a Taoist priest wandering around the street scared you to death!”

After hearing his words, these young masters finally calmed down.

Young Master Zhou glanced coldly at the young masters and Zuo Chen Caiyi behind them, and snorted:
“There are so many Taoists in the world. The one walking on the street outside may not be the Taoist priest of the book building. Even if he is really that Taoist priest, how could he know that we are gathered in Changxian Building? This is the top hidden house in Kyoto, and it belongs to the top magical power in the Ten Thousand Magics List! Even that Taoist priest may not be able to see through it easily.”

The madam also stood beside Zuo Chen and Cai Yi, supporting Master Zhou:

“Yes, I just want to remind you guys to be careful when you leave our hidden house, and don’t run into the Taoist priest head-on. As for the Taoist priest, please rest assured, this house was left by the capital, and there are many Taoist magics in it that are definitely impossible to detect.”

“Hmm? Was this left behind by the capital?” Zuo Chen suddenly asked.

“Yes.” The madam was not surprised by Zuo Chen’s sudden appearance beside her, as if he had always been standing here. “There were not many businesses on this street. Later, the capital bought a house here and carved various spells in it. He invited relatives and friends to drink here and talk about world affairs. Gradually, it was built into the immortal’s hidden residence. Later, after the capital died, we bought it and opened a brothel outside. Isn’t it for the purpose of making the best use of it?”

“Is that so?” Zuo Chen looked around with emotion. The appearance of this place was indeed quite consistent with the courtyard he saw in his memory.

And at this moment, everyone in the yard finally realized that there were two people standing next to them.

Almost everyone turned their eyes to Zuo Chen and Cai Yi.

Zuo Chen turned around and smiled faintly:
“Don’t worry about me. Just continue your conversation.”

(End of this chapter)