Chapter 1466 – Ulterior Motives

“So how about it, brother? Let me buy you dinner?”

Qikun's att.i.tude was quite respectful, and he wasn't acting the way young masters from big hidden houses would act. This was quite natural a thing, however, since anyone who came here in the first place had to be from houses or groups with more or less the same power than his own- their own personal strength was Mystic or above, as well, so there was no way Qikun would act like a big shot here. His respectful tone when calling Lin Yi brother and putting himself below him also gave Lin Yi have a better impression of him.

Lin Yi liked that, though- he looked up to this guy a little bit more. It seemed like he should be a big shot back in his hidden house.

“Haha, of course, no problem.” Lin Yi said casually with a nod. He had a smile on his mouth, but he didn't seem too pa.s.sionate. “As for buying me dinner, it's fine, really…”

Lin Yi's att.i.tude was within expectations, too- they had just met, so it'd be weird if anyone was too pa.s.sionate all of a sudden. This was a normal thing coming from a partic.i.p.ant of the Ice Palace test- who would care for that small pocket change?

“Then, we'll just eat a bit!” Qikun moved two steps faster and caught up to Lin Yi, while Qijiu followed beside Qikun with half a step slower, indicating their hierarchy.

Lin Yi walked down with the Zhao's, and the owner of the inn didn't seem surprised. Before the tests began, all the disciples wanted alliances and friends.h.i.+ps for a better chance at pa.s.sing the test- it was a normal thing to do if you weren't stupid.

The Ice Palace wouldn't disallow something like this from happening- this was a natural thing to happen, and didn't break the rules.

“Brother, do we walk there or go by car?” Qikun said as he looked at Lin Yi. They had checked all the restaurants and shopped before coming to the inn, and already knew where they could go- but acting as if it was his first time; letting Lin Yi show them around was the goal here. He had to pretend.

“Let's drive.” Lin Yi naturally wouldn't just throw Xiaoxiao in the inn alone like that- no matter what, he had to bring Xiaoxiao along.

“Brother, maybe we can sit in my car? We're just three people, after all.” Qikun said, trying to get closer to him.

“It's fine; I'm not used to it.” Lin Yi smiled normally but made the decision sound final.

“Haha, sure, you go ahead, and we'll follow you then.” Qikun shrugged casually.

Lin Yi got in the car and drove in front, while the two followed him out of the inn.

“What do you think?” Qikun said to Qijiu in the car.

Naturally, they were talking about Lin Yi.

“I can't tell,” Qijiu said. “Anyone who can get in the test must be a big deal, and no one will be genuine with people they've just met for a few minutes.”

“Yes, that's also why his att.i.tude towards us isn't too hot. There's this proud feeling about him, though he is alone, and we're two people, so it's normal to be careful.” Qikun nodded. “If he intentionally wants to get close to us, we'd actually have to be careful on our parts.”

“You're right,” Qijiu said. “Today's just an emotional investment anyway- even if we can't be friends, we can know each other's faces, and it'll be easier to talk to each other in the future.”

Lin Yi didn't go far- after exiting the tavern, he looked around for a restaurant and parked there.

The two Zhao's got out of their car after parking beside him as well.

It had the layout of a market restaurant, and while there were houses, they didn't let any air through. It was a blizzard out there, after all.

There weren't any people there, except for the manager and lazy staff watching the furnace.

Naturally, this level of cold was nothing to Lin Yi, Qikun, or Qijiu- the three were Mystics and had resistance to the cold. Lin Yi even intentionally tried to check their strength- they were farther away earlier, and he couldn't do it before.

Now that they were close, he could feel that Qikun was Mystic mid-phase peak, same as him, while Qijiu was a bit stronger- Mystic late phase. This Qijiu was evidently a follower type, and while he was stronger, Qikun was the leader.

“h.e.l.lo, is this place open? I'd like three lamb legs, a plate of beef skewers, and three beers!” QIkun was the one buying, after all, so he made the order first. This was a barbeque shop, and there were no menus here- everything was written on the blackboard.

The shop only had that many things to order- there were two types of beer, spirits, and milk beer- Qikun ordered the spirits since pract.i.tioners usually liked stronger alcohol.

Lin Yi had no preference for alcohol; he drank it if it was there and didn't if it weren't.

The owner quickly told the staff to get things ready upon seeing the customers, not thinking much of the big amount they were ordering.

Lin Yi was surprised- seemed like the people of the Ice Palace were all used to pract.i.tioners!

The food came here really soon, with the lamb legs and beef skewers pre-smoked. They had to turn them around in the furnace first.

“Brother, since this is our first meeting, let me introduce myself!” Qikun took his beer pot and raised it. “I am Zhao Qikun; this is my follower Zhao Qijiu- we're from Donghai's hidden house Zhao!”

There were three pots, and one for each, so there was no need to pour for each other. Just drinking from the pot had a strong Chinese atmosphere, after all.

“A pleasure!” Lin Yi didn't go further with that since it'd look ungenuine. He also raised his pot. “I am Ling Yi- It's difficult for me to mention my mentor's name. Please understand!”

“Ha, no worries, no worries!” Qikun waved his hand casually with a smile. “It's fine if it's a difficult position you're in- no big deal! You must be from a sect, I a.s.sume, Brother Ling? You guys do have more rules than us houses!”