The shopkeeper flicked the beads on his abacus, sending out a crisp clatter.
He looked up, glanced at them, and snorted. “We don’t give out free meals. Shoo, shoo! Don’t get in the way.”
“We’re not here for a free meal,” Xu Songhe said quickly, her eyes scanning their surroundings.
She leaned over the counter, half-kneeling so only her blinking eyes were visible. “Are you looking for help? We can do any kind of work.”
The shopkeeper ignored her, turning his head to bark at the servers in the kitchen, “We have guests! Hurry up and get to work!”
“Yes, sir!” they replied in unison.
One by one, they lifted the curtains and hurried out, passing the two young people as if they weren’t even there.
One of the servers bumped into Xu Songhe’s shoulder. She instinctively grabbed the sleeve of the boy beside her to steady herself.
For a moment, her face fell, but she quickly forced a smile. “It’s okay. Let’s go. If this place won’t have us, we’ll try another. There’s bound to be somewhere that will.”
By saying “us,” she had already mentally grouped Qi Wuyang with herself.
“…” Qi Wuyang didn’t reply. He merely narrowed his eyes and brushed her hand off his sleeve.
“Wait—”
A voice called out from behind them. Xu Songhe turned to see the shopkeeper waddling toward them, his potbelly jutting out. His small eyes were squeezed into mere slits by the fat on his face.
Xu Songhe stopped in her tracks and smiled. “Shopkeeper, have you changed your mind? Are you going to keep us after all?”
“Indeed. There’s a tricky job that needs your help,” the shopkeeper said, wiggling five short, stubby fingers. “You’ll be well-paid once it’s done.”
“Really?” Xu Songhe’s face lit up, but she didn’t forget to clarify the terms. “Since it’s a tricky job… we agreed. You’ll pay us enough silver to live on for at least seven days, and you’ll provide a full meal.”
“No problem.”
Seeing his ready agreement, she asked, “Tell us, what’s the job?”
The slits on the shopkeeper’s face narrowed even further as he pointed upstairs. “A difficult guest arrived today. Go and attend to him properly, and I’ll pay you the silver immediately.”
Xu Songhe followed the shopkeeper’s gesture and saw a shadow flickering behind a door on the second floor. That must be the guest they were supposed to attend to.
In novels, taverns were mostly filled with NPCs. What kind of “difficult” customer could they possibly face? Unconcerned, she began walking up the stairs, glancing at the man beside her.
Recalling the incident outside the city gates, she felt it was necessary to set some ground rules.
“Husband,” she said, “I know your magic is so powerful you can kill people without anyone even noticing. But when we go in there, you absolutely cannot lay a finger on the guest, alright?”
“Why?”
It was his first time ever being told not to kill someone and needing to provide a reason for it.
Knowing this formidable man wasn’t like normal people and wouldn’t respond to logic, Xu Songhe patted his sleeve and smiled. “Think about it—the shopkeeper told us to serve this guest well. If we offend him, how will we get our money?”
Qi Wuyang tilted his head, his long hair falling to partially hide his eyes.
Just then, an impatient tsk-tsk echoed from the room. “How do you run a place like this? Daring to keep me waiting—are you trying to get this shop shut down?”
The moment Xu Songhe pushed open the door, a cloying, sweet scent of wine wafted over her. She frowned and followed the fragrance to its source.
A young man in a green robe, his hair adorned with a golden ornament, reclined lazily on a bed. Beside him, several maids in plain clothes stood with their heads bowed.
One of them fanned him as she said, “Young Master, please don’t be angry. You said the light is too bright, so I’ll go close the window—”
Before she could finish, a bead suddenly flew out, striking her hand just as she reached for the window. The maid winced and pulled her hand back with a soft groan, then stood rooted to the spot, staring helplessly at the man on the bed.
“You’re so stupid!” the young man snapped, sitting up and pointing at them. “If you close the window, it’ll be too dark to see anything! How is that any different from lying in a coffin?”
Xu Songhe finally got a good look at him. He seemed to be around her own age, but he carried himself with an insufferable air of superiority.
“But…” The maid picked up a candle from the table, her hand trembling as she tried to light it. “Young Master, please don’t be angry. If I light the candle, it won’t be dark.”
“No, no! Get it away from me!”
The young man covered his nose in disgust and swiped the candle off the table. “If you light a fire here, how will you take responsibility if the smoke chokes me?”
Everyone fell silent, and no one dared to pick up the fallen candle.
*How strong can the smell of a single candle be?* Xu Songhe thought. She bent down to retrieve it from where it had rolled near her feet, then glanced curiously at the young man on the bed.
A soft grumble suddenly reached her ears: “That young master is such a bully. Does he never light candles at home?”
Xu Songhe looked up and saw a girl pouting, her face a picture of discontent.
“What are you whispering about?” the young master snapped. “Do you know who I am? How dare you show me such disrespect. Are you trying to—”
“You’ve already said that exact line twice since I walked through the door,” Xu Songhe interrupted, placing the candle back on the table. She met his gaze, which was a mix of surprise and anger—he seemed shocked that anyone in this room would dare to speak to him like that.
True enough, the young master raised a hand and pointed at her.
“Judging by your clothes, you must be some wild brats from the countryside. Especially him,” he sneered, gesturing toward the young man. “With a scar that huge on his face, he must have gotten beaten up for some crime.”
Smile and be polite, smile and be polite, Xu Songhe told herself.
Besides, he’s a customer…
She had no intention of arguing, but the last remark got to her. She spun around and grabbed the young man’s sleeve, her brow furrowing in a frown. “Sir, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Besides, my husband is wearing a mask right now. If he were to show his real face, I guarantee all of you would be left staring in awe.”
But please, shut up, she added inwardly. The person you’re inventing a backstory for is in a foul mood. If you piss him off, he might just wave a hand and erase you from existence.
Yet the young man remained silent, his gaze sweeping idly across the room. He seemed completely uninterested in what anyone said or did. Only when the girl spoke those words so naturally did his expression shift slightly. He lowered his gaze, his eyes flickering across her face.
Xu Songhe didn’t notice his subtle reaction. Without waiting for the young master to respond, she turned and stopped a passing waiter, asking him for a copper mirror.
The others who overheard the exchange all wore expressions of astonishment, but no one dared to speak.
The girl who had just been rescued from the argument grabbed Xu Songhe’s hand and whispered, “What are you trying to do? You’ve already offended Young Master Zhuo. Be careful, or he’ll have you punished.”
“Young Master Zhuo?”
“Yes, his name is Zhuo Zixun, the young master of the Flowing Cloud Sect. He’s known for being arrogant and domineering. If you cross him, you’re in for a world of pain.”
Xu Songhe looked puzzled. “The Flowing Cloud Sect? What is that?”
The girl quickly explained, “They’re the sect that rules this city. This place is called Flowing Cloud City, and they’re the ones who named it. No one knows where their main residence is, and no one dares to ask. All we know is that they’re incredibly powerful and wealthy—far too dangerous to offend.”
“It’s a good idea to look in a mirror and see what you truly look like before you die,” Zhuo Zixun sneered, having overheard their conversation. “I won’t be paying for today’s meal. You two can get lost—get out of my sight.”
Just as he finished speaking, two burly waiters carried a copper mirror into the room.
Ignoring his words, Xu Songhe lingered by the window for a moment before smiling and waving to the waiters. “Excuse me, could the two of you move the mirror over here?”
Once everything was set, she crouched down for a moment, then raised her hand to tilt the mirror. A bright, swaying patch of light immediately appeared on the ceiling, dancing gently with the movement of the leaves outside the window.
“Young Master, how’s this?” Xu Songhe clapped her hands and stood up, her figure dappled in shifting light and shadow. “The sunlight won’t shine directly on you, but the room won’t be too dark either. There’s no need for candles.”
The moment she spoke, she caught the whispers from the surrounding crowd.
“You know, it’s so simple! Why didn’t I think of using a mirror?”
“This time, Young Master Zhuo will definitely stop giving us a hard time, right?”
Xu Songhe glanced at them, silently sighing.
I guess you’ve just been oppressed by the boss for too long, she thought. My brain’s so much sharper now that I’m not working.
Zhuo Zixun, however, was already captivated by the dancing light on the ceiling. He knitted his brows slightly and let out a soft, “Huh?” as he unconsciously sat up straighter.
Perhaps remembering the harsh words he’d just thrown around, he cleared his throat and asked, rather awkwardly, “Why is that?”
“You want to know, Young Master?”
Xu Songhe thought for a moment, then pointed to the group behind her, adding mysteriously, “This is a secret. Why don’t you dismiss them first? I’ll tell you alone.”
Zhuo Zixun complied. The moment the maids stepped out the door, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Qi Wuyang followed the crowd out without a word, his gaze coolly sweeping over her. Just as he descended the stairs, he turned and found himself locked in an exchange of glances with someone who had bounded down after him.
“Husband, were you walking slowly on purpose to wait for me?” Xu Songhe skipped down the remaining stairs in just a few leaps. Seeing his expression remained cold and unperturbed by her words, she wasn’t annoyed in the slightest.
Instead, she grinned and tugged at his sleeve. “Come on, let’s go find the shopkeeper and collect our money.”
This time, she let go of his sleeve before he could even push her hand away.
Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sideways. “Is it already dealt with?”
“Mm-hmm,” she hummed happily, absentmindedly patting his shoulder. “Is there anything I can’t do? Husband, you can just come to me if you ever need help again. Your business is my business.”
She tapped her finger on the counter, and the man behind it immediately looked up. “Shopkeeper, we’ve finished the job you assigned. It’s time to settle the payment, isn’t it?”
The shopkeeper’s hands froze on the abacus, his eyes widening. “You? You’re the ones who did it?”
Xu Songhe couldn’t be bothered to answer. Dealing with that Young Master earlier had been truly draining. She simply stood there with her hands clasped behind her back, blinking at him.
To her surprise, the shopkeeper’s face darkened. He slammed the abacus down, sending the beads scattering across the floor. “When did I ever say I would pay you? We don’t welcome beggars in our shop—get out, all of you!”