Chapter 1463 — Someone Else Has Arrived
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
The two must be master and servant.
"Young Master Tan, this is the hotel the invitation told everyone to report to. It is called the Ice Mountain Inn!" The young driver pointed at the Ice Mountain Inn's signboard as he spoke to the young passenger.
"Not bad. It seems we have arrived rather early; not many people have come here yet." Young Master Tan glanced at Wei Zhao's Grand Cherokee and the innkeeper's Land Rover beside their car. "Just as well — we can familiarize ourselves with the surroundings. Arriving early has its advantages; we can use the chance to court the other clans and sects, and see whether there is any possibility of cooperation!"
Young Master Tan plainly paid little heed to Wei Zhao's car or the owner's. After the young driver locked the car, the two walked straight into the Ice Mountain Inn's lobby to register their lodging.
"Hello. We are of the Hidden Zhao family of Donghai. This is the invitation we received. Might I ask when the Ice Palace's trial begins?" The young driver went up to the front desk and drew out a letter — precisely the letter bearing the ice flower mark that Zhao Guangyin had once held in his hand.
Large as the hotel was, there was not a single attendant in the lobby; only the owner sat alone behind the bar. Hearing the young driver's words, he said with a blank face, "Everyone who comes here knows about the trial. Otherwise, who would come? Show me your identity cards and register, then take your keys and go back to your rooms and wait."
"This... yes!" Young Master Tan nodded awkwardly. He had not expected this innkeeper to be so utterly sparing of courtesy, yet he did not dare feel the slightest displeasure. This was a place designated by the Ice Palace, so its owner must be one of the Ice Palace's people as well. And when it came to the Ice Palace's people, even an ordinary man was not someone the Hidden Zhao family could afford to offend!
Between hidden clans and ancient sects there was simply no comparing their weight — just as with the relationship between ordinary clans and hidden clans.
"Zhao Qilei, Zhao Qiwu — do you two want one room or two?" the owner asked, having registered the two men's identities.
These two were, of course, Zhao Qilei of the Hidden Zhao family and the outer-surname disciple Zhao Qiwu. Though Zhao Qiwu also bore the surname Zhao, it was a surname the Zhao family had given him after he came to them; the character qi in the middle showed that he was of the same generation as Zhao Qibing, Zhao Qilei, and the rest, while the number nine after it was simply a number. Other outer-surname disciples of the Zhao family were named Zhao Qishi, Zhao Qishiyi, and so on...
Some families deliberately choose a shared character in their names according to generation, while others care nothing for such things and would never name their children that way.
The Yu family and the Hidden Yu family, for instance, mostly chose names at random, never deliberately selecting a character to mark a generation; yet the Song family of Qiu Lingshan and the Chen family of Chen Yuxuan both gave their children a shared character in their names.