-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread –
Because he was worried the bandits might have scouts traveling ahead, Liang Yan stuck to side paths throughout the journey and avoided the main road. Even when he truly couldn’t run any farther, he only dared rest beside a tree for a few breaths before immediately continuing on.
By the time he reached the entrance of the inn, however, he discovered that seven swift horses were already standing there.
“This is bad. I didn’t expect them to ride so fast. They’re actually already here. In the end, I still arrived one step too late.”
Inside the teahouse.
“Boss, we’ve searched the surrounding area thoroughly. There isn’t a single person around, but there’s an old monk in the teahouse’s back room.”
Chen Lin frowned. “An old monk? Come take a look with me.”
Everyone followed him inside. When they reached the room’s door, Chen Lin silently sensed it for a moment. Only after confirming that there wasn’t even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power within the old monk’s body did he relax and signal Cheng Lao’er with his eyes.
Cheng Lao’er understood. A ferocious look appeared on his face, and he was just about to enter the room and end the old monk’s life.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted from outside the teahouse:
“Old charlatan, your luck has arrived! My young miss believed the fortune lot you read for her yesterday without the slightest doubt, so she specifically ordered me to come back and find you. She wants to ask you for another one.”
As soon as the words fell, the front door opened with a bang. A child of around ten entered. He was tall and thin, dressed in coarse gray clothes, with a bundle clutched in his hands.
“Don’t worry. We won’t have you perform the divination for nothing. I brought…” Before he could finish speaking, he seemed to notice everyone in the hall and immediately fell silent, instinctively hiding the bundle behind his back.
Everyone in the hall looked at one another and smiled. It seemed this brat had brought silver to ask for a fortune lot.
Cheng Lao’er coughed and smiled amiably. “Little brother, did you come to have someone draw a fortune lot for you?”
The child’s face showed panic. He then seemed to muster up his courage and said, “Who are you people? My master is a high official of the imperial court, and my young miss is a golden branch and jade leaf. I came here to ask for a fortune lot under my young miss’s orders. If I can’t return within a short while, she’ll certainly investigate.”
Cheng Lao’er found this amusing, but then thought of something and asked in a gentle voice, “You just said you came under your young miss’s orders?”
Hearing him ask that, the child seemed to gain courage. He put his hands on his hips and said loudly, “That’s only natural! What grace and bearing my young miss possesses! On ordinary days, several young masters from royal clans specially come to our home to get close to her. As for those high officials and eminent nobles and the sons of wealthy families, they’ve even trampled our threshold to pieces. Hmph! There’s no telling how many people want to curry favor with us!”
It would’ve been better had he not said it. The moment he did, an even more lustful light appeared in Cheng Lao’er’s eyes. He then leaned close to Chen Lin’s ear and whispered a few words. Chen Lin also smiled and nodded his approval.
Having obtained his consent, Cheng Lao’er said, “Little brother, the seven of us are all traveling merchants. Our meeting here today can also be counted as fate. After hearing your words just now, we, too, greatly admire your young miss. We’ll have to trouble little brother to introduce us.”
After hearing this, the child hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands. “No, no! My young miss specially returned to her hometown this time to make offerings to her ancestors, and she said she wouldn’t see anyone. If I take you there, I’ll definitely have my legs broken. Besides, your identities are unclear. Who can say…”
He was about to say more when he suddenly heard a bang. Shi Laosan had already slammed his palm onto the wooden table beside him. The table instantly split into four and cracked into five, scattering across the floor.
“Brat, I advise you to understand the situation. Think about it. Is your head harder, or is this wooden table harder?”
The child was already staring wide-eyed with his mouth agape. He muttered, “You… you…”
Seeing this, Cheng Lao’er coughed. “Little brother, we’re merely a group of traveling merchants, but each of us has a different temper. Although I’m willing to reason with little brother, I’m afraid this group of friends of mine doesn’t have that patience. I advise little brother to cooperate obediently. Otherwise, hehe…” The threat beneath his words was already obvious.
The child’s courage drained away. He immediately became like an eggplant struck by frost and looked at them timidly.
Seeing that he had already been frightened senseless, Cheng Lao’er spoke gently again. “Don’t worry. We seven brothers are extremely fond of making friends. Today, we only wish to glimpse your young miss’s elegance and make a friend. We have no other intentions.”
The child seemed to have been persuaded and said weakly, “Since that’s the case, I’ll introduce you gentlemen. I’ve already been out for quite some time. Perhaps you heroes could lend me a horse to use.”
Cheng Lao’er nodded. “That’s only as it should be.” He then gave two nearby bandits a look. Understanding, the two silently moved closer to the child and subtly boxed him in between them, clearly to prevent him from escaping.
But none of them noticed the trace of a bitter smile that appeared on the child’s face the instant he turned toward the door.
This child was naturally Liang Yan.
Earlier, he had heard the men’s conversation in the forest and inferred that they must be lustful fellows. In his desperation, he’d come up with this move of creating something from nothing, fabricating a beautiful young miss to lure them away. But he wasn’t a household servant from some wealthy family at all, so where was he supposed to find them a young miss with a thousand charms and a hundred graces?
Liang Yan smiled bitterly inwardly. He feared that when they discovered something was wrong, he would be the first person they killed to vent their anger. He could only hope to lead them far away and allow the old monk to seize the chance to escape.
He then sighed inwardly, “Old monk, oh, old monk, I hope you’re clever enough to seize the chance to slip away later. You saved one life of mine, and I’ll return one life to you. Then neither of us will owe the other anything. Hmph! Although I, Liang Yan, don’t have much ability, I’m not someone who forgets favors and abandons righteousness!”
In the teahouse’s back room, the old monk sat cross-legged in meditation. Everything outside the door entered his spiritual sense without the slightest omission. He’d sensed the group of bandits long ago. They were all mortal martial artists, and their leader was merely a junior at the first level of Qi Refining, so he hadn’t taken them to heart.
However, when he discovered that Liang Yan had returned after leaving and was peeking around outside the shop like a furtive little ghost, he couldn’t help feeling that something was strange. He wanted to know what the little child had come back to do.
By this point, how could he possibly not understand Liang Yan’s purpose? He couldn’t help laughing soundlessly.
“This brat is a small person with a big ghost. He truly is a troublesome character. Mm, although his temperament is rather extreme, he can still be considered someone who clearly distinguishes favors from grudges and places great weight on feelings and righteousness. If he’s given a little guidance, it may not be impossible to lead him onto the proper path in the future…” Without realizing it, the old monk had already begun to regard Liang Yan as half a disciple of his.
As he pondered, the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand flew out, and he prepared to act.
Suddenly, his right ear twitched. With a turn of his hand, he drew the prayer beads back.
“It seems this teahouse is about to become lively. Hehe, let’s quietly watch how things change for now.”
At this time, Liang Yan and the others had already walked outside the teahouse and were preparing to set out when the sound of hoofbeats came from the official road. Chen Lin and the others stopped after seeing the approaching rider clearly.
The horse arrived before them. A middle-aged man in black swung down from the saddle, knelt on one knee, and said:
“Reporting to the Gang Leader, for some unknown reason, the targets and their people have quickened their journey and are traveling beneath the stars through the night. They’re now only ten li away and will arrive before long.”
“What?” Chen Lin glared furiously. “Didn’t the mounted scout say two days ago that even at the fastest, they wouldn’t arrive until the day after tomorrow?!”
The middle-aged man in black hurriedly said, “This subordinate doesn’t know either. They suddenly quickened their pace and don’t even rest at night, only sleeping during the latter half of the night. They’ve been hurrying onward beneath the stars like this. This subordinate didn’t dare delay for even a moment, yet only managed to get slightly ahead of them.”
Chen Lin’s expression eased slightly. He slowly said, “Since they’re in such a hurry to be reincarnated, we can’t lose our propriety either. Brothers, proceed according to plan.”
Cheng Lao’er moved closer and asked in a low voice, “Then what do we do with this brat and the old monk? How about we chop them down and bury them in the rear courtyard?”
“It’s too late to kill them now. There’s an extremely formidable expert among the other party’s people. Experts who have reached her realm are exceptionally sensitive to the smell of blood. If she discovers the hidden trick, I’m afraid it will be unfavorable to our plan.”
“Then what do we do?”
Chen Lin pondered for a moment. “That old monk hasn’t moved from beginning to end. Who knows whether he’s blind or deaf? He’s not enough to be a concern. As for this brat… aren’t we still missing a tea boy? Hehe. When the time comes, we’ll have this brat pose as a tea boy and serve the tea. People’s wariness toward children is the lowest. Don’t you agree?”
Cheng Lao’er’s eyes lit up. He raised his thumb. “A marvelous plan!”
Chen Lin smiled faintly and secretly circulated his spiritual power. He raised his hand and pointed. A small blue knife shot out and embedded itself an inch in front of Liang Yan’s feet, blasting apart the stones on the ground.
“Little child, I won’t hide it from you anymore. These grandfathers of yours are going to do something big. In a moment, I’ll have you dress as a tea boy and do as we say. If you handle the matter beautifully, we’ll let you leave. If you ruin it, I’ll act in an instant and cut you down. Those stones on the ground will be your fate!”
After saying this, Chen Lin stared at Liang Yan with his face full of murderous menace. Liang Yan’s face was pale, and his entire body trembled. On the surface, he couldn’t stop nodding and answering yes, but inwardly he thought, “From what I heard them say in the forest earlier, there’s an expert among the group they’re ambushing, one who makes even this purple-clothed man quite wary. They’ve set up an ambush here, clearly because they don’t want to fight them head-on. If I wait until they’ve dealt with their targets, my end will undoubtedly be death. The only plan now is to find a way to notify the people who are coming and break their scheme. Only when the two sides fight each other will I have a single thread of hope for survival.”
“But this purple-clothed man is watching my every move. If I make any unusual movement, I’ll certainly be the first person he cuts down. Wouldn’t I die unjustly?” Even with Liang Yan’s usual intelligence and quick wits, producing a hundred clever schemes, he couldn’t think of a plan that was safe in every respect.
While he was thinking, the others had already changed into their disguises. Cheng Lao’er posed as the shopkeeper, one bandit as the waiter, and Shi Laosan and the remaining bandits as customers who had come to drink tea. Chen Lin hid inside a room in the rear courtyard. Shi Laosan also handed Liang Yan a tea boy’s outfit. Liang Yan accepted it and secretly sighed, “Now I can only watch for the opportunity and act.”
Once everyone had finished disguising themselves, they each took their positions. Liang Yan took a broom and swept the front courtyard. After quite a while, a chaotic burst of hoofbeats suddenly came from beyond the courtyard.
Immediately afterward, someone strode quickly into the courtyard. Liang Yan looked up and saw that the newcomer was actually a woman. She was tall and slender, dressed in fiery-red martial attire with a black sash tied around her waist. A sheathed long saber rested on her back, and her hair was bound high.
This woman seemed especially fond of red. Even around her ankle, she wore a red silk ribbon.
As soon as the woman entered the courtyard gate, her gaze shot around in every direction. When she saw Liang Yan looking at her, she stared directly back without avoiding his gaze in the slightest, sizing him up from head to toe. Frightened, Liang Yan hurriedly lowered his head, afraid that he might anger the purple-clothed man hidden in the shadows and have him send a blade his way.
The red-clothed woman looked Liang Yan over twice, then paid him no further attention and walked directly into the teahouse.
“Shopkeeper, we’re reserving all the guest rooms here today.” As she spoke, the red-clothed woman took out an ingot of silver and tossed it onto the table.
Cheng Lao’er showed a troubled expression and said softly, “That isn’t very convenient, miss. You see, those at that table are also people of the martial world. They arrived first and are drinking tea here. We’re only running a small business and can’t afford to offend them.”
The woman cast them a glance. “It doesn’t matter. They can drink tea here. As long as they don’t provoke us, there’ll be no problem. I only want to reserve the rooms in the rear courtyard. No one else is allowed to spend the night here tonight.”
Cheng Lao’er’s expression shifted. Only then did he take the silver with a broad grin and call to the waiter.
“Come, clear a table for the guests and wipe it down properly!”
The red-clothed woman gave a few more instructions, and Cheng Lao’er nodded repeatedly. Only then did she reveal a satisfied look, raise a hand to her mouth, and whistle.
Only then did the people outside slowly enter. Some ten guards clustered around a beautiful middle-aged woman, who was holding a little girl’s hand. The little girl wore an emerald-green padded jacket. Her brows and eyes were like a painting, and her hair was tied back into two small bunches. Her entire person was quiet and still. Alongside her gentleness and grace, her eyes also revealed an air of heroism. She truly was a beauty in the making.
For some reason, after entering and seeing Liang Yan, the little girl stared at him without turning her eyes away, curiosity showing on her face. Her gaze made Liang Yan rather uncomfortable. He scratched his head and secretly thought, “Could there be flowers on my face?”
Only when the red-clothed woman called to her did she reluctantly draw back her gaze.
“Little girl, what are you looking at so intently?”
The little girl’s face reddened. “I wasn’t looking at anything, Aunt Qing. I’m just too tired from traveling without rest. There happens to be a teahouse here, so let’s drink a cup of water and rest for a while.”
The red-clothed woman affectionately stroked the girl’s head. “These past few days truly have been hard on you. The situation changed, and we needed to quicken our journey. Fortunately, Yun City isn’t far now. We’ll rest here for the night.”
After speaking, she led the little girl and the beautiful middle-aged woman to a clean table and sat down, then called to Cheng Lao’er, “Shopkeeper, bring us two pots of cold tea first.”
“Right away!” Cheng Lao’er answered. He handed the two pots of cold tea to Liang Yan while signaling to him with his eyes.
Liang Yan took the teapots, then picked up a set of teacups and silently turned toward their table.
He knew in his heart that something had certainly been done to the tea. They were only waiting for the women to drink it before casting aside the precept against killing and beginning a slaughter.
Liang Yan wanted to warn the red-clothed woman, but he knew that if he made even the slightest unusual movement or opened his mouth to speak, the man in the inner courtyard would instantly cut him down without the slightest hesitation.
One step, two steps, three steps. Finally, Liang Yan silently reached the red-clothed woman’s table. He placed the tray holding the teapots and tea utensils on the table, then turned and left. From beginning to end, he didn’t say a single word.
At the instant Liang Yan turned around, the red-clothed woman seemed slightly startled. She then immediately returned to normal.
The little girl’s face behind the table was rosy. From the moment Liang Yan walked over, she had kept stealing glances at him. By the time he reached the table, her face was already as red as an apple. She lowered her head to look at her feet, not daring to raise it again. Unfortunately, Liang Yan’s mind was pulled taut, and he hadn’t noticed at all.
The beautiful middle-aged woman smiled and stroked the girl’s head. She then picked up a teapot and poured a cup for each of the other two people at the table before pouring one for herself. The little girl was already thirsty and lifted the cup to drink, but the red-clothed woman suddenly reached out to stop her.
“Shopkeeper, please call the waiter over. I have a few things I’d like to ask him.”
Cheng Lao’er saw that the matter was just about to succeed, only to have it suddenly interrupted. For a moment, he was like someone unable to reach the head of a twelve-foot-tall monk. He could only say to the waiter, “Did you hear her? Hurry over and see what our honored guest requires. Serve her properly. If you anger our honored guest, hmph! Just see if I don’t strip off your skin!”
The bandit disguised as the waiter answered and walked over quickly. The red-clothed woman didn’t even turn her head, merely saying flatly, “We’ve always been particular about our meals. When away from home, we must be even more cautious. Why don’t you drink this first sip of tea in my place?”
The bandit hadn’t expected her to make such a demand. For a moment, he was left speechless and had no idea how to answer.
That single instant of hesitation was enough for the red-clothed woman to understand. Her body had not yet turned, but her saber was already out of its sheath. Everyone saw only a ring of silver light flash. The waiter’s head was already flying high through the air, with flowers of blood spraying in every direction.
The red-clothed woman held her saber and shielded the girl and the beautiful middle-aged woman behind her. The surrounding guards also immediately became alert and formed a ring, protecting the two in the center.
“Hmph. Since the waiter knew about it, the shopkeeper can’t escape involvement either, can he?” the red-clothed woman said with a cold snort.
In this exchange, quick as a rabbit rising and a falcon falling, Chen Lin and the others, who had devised the ambush, not only had no chance to act but instead allowed the other side to cut down one of their men first.
For a moment, they were actually stunned. However, these men were wild bandits of the mountains and forests and had seen scenes of great winds and huge waves before. Now that they saw their scheme had been broken, they instead calmed down in an instant.
Cheng Lao’er gave a sinister smile. “Miss, you have good eyes. I wonder when you discovered the flaw.”
The red-clothed woman looked at him coldly, clearly having no intention of answering.
“Clatter!”
It was the sound of a cup being thrown to the floor and shattering. Immediately afterward, Cheng Lao’er shouted darkly:
“Attack!”
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread –