Episode 163

After Song Caitang and Guan Wan boarded the boat, the ship set sail.

The ship was very stable, but it still took the passengers a little time to sway with the boat before they could walk about steadily.

The sails flapped in the wind and the waves parted quietly as the ship moved away from the dock.

Song Caitang held onto Guan Wan and frowned slightly.

But Guan Wan didn’t notice her expression. She did notice that neither of their maids had come to receive them, so she asked, “Where’s Xiaolan and Qingqiao?”

The one who answered them was a man wearing the uniform of the Guan’s trade caravan. “The two ladies are packing things in the storeroom. They said there are a lot of things and they need to organize them properly, so they told the younger maids to be on standby in your rooms and to take any instructions from both of you.”

They were away from home, so they didn’t have as much access to servants or space, so this was something that often happened and it wasn’t the first time this had happened either. Guan Wan dismissed the man with a wave, then pulled Song Caitang back to their cabin.

The room was just as warmly and elegantly decorated as they had left it. The bedsheets were white, there were fresh flowers on the table. Even the tea set was simple yet exquisite. It was made from porcelain, a design that nobody ever got tired of. And when they looked out, they could still see the now familiar waters.

It was the same thing they had seen for several days now, but it was still refreshing and wasn’t boring or strange.

The strange part was the two unfamiliar maids sitting in the room.

Guan Wan couldn’t sit still, so she told Song Caitang, “I’m going out to take a look,” and ran off.

She had already disappeared out of sight before she could finish her sentence.

Song Caitang glanced past the bed and the table to look at the two maids who obediently kept to their corner and didn’t even dare to look up. She closed her eyes slightly. “Tea.”

One of the maids immediately bowed and turned to prepare tea.

A moment later, a warm cup of tea was ready and placed on the table.

Song Caitang picked up the cup and took a sip.

The tea was good tea. The smell was kept in by the cup’s lid, it wasn’t astringent, the taste lingered for a long time and the after taste was sweet and refreshing.

The person who made the tea was good at it. The heat and water temperature had been expertly controlled, and they had paid close attention to many details. That’s how they were able to make such an excellent tasting cup of tea.

After the maid put the tea down, she bowed and retreated to her corner by the wall again. She didn’t make a single sound throughout. Not even the sound of footsteps.

They were respectful, well-mannered, quiet, did not cause any disturbance and treated her like VIP…

Song Caitang lowered her gaze slightly. She retrieved the little bamboo flute she kept in her pocket and touched it gently.

Guan Wan came back soon after. Her eyes were round and her cheeks were puffed out. She looked a little unhappy.

Song Caitang asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The ultra skinny young man with bright eyes is gone…” Guan Wan looked at the waters outside the window and frowned. She was rather worried. “Could he have boarded the wrong boat? He’s so quiet and so skinny, so if he got on the wrong boat, it’d be so sad…”

Song Caitang patted her head. “Maybe he’s gotten off the boat? We were docked at a city earlier, not just a random port.”

“Oh… that’s true… he might have gotten off there.” Guan Wan was no longer worried, but she was still unhappy. “He disembarked without telling me? I’ve fed him all that food for nothing!”

She even started counting off her fingers, “I made him at least eight meals, and I never repeated any of the dishes! What an ungrateful guy! Humph!! How annoying!!”

Song Caitang poured her cousin a cup of tea to calm her down. “Alright, alright, don’t think about him anymore. Anything else? Did you notice anything new?”

“I did! There’s another trade caravan travelling with us, there’s this kid who’s learning how to gamble like the adults, and there was a husband and wife who were arguing…”

Guan Wan immediately forgot all about that super skinny young man and started gesticulating wildly like she always did as she described everything she saw to Song Caitang, her eyes bright with excitement.

Before long, it was time for dinner.

They had spent the entire afternoon shopping and were a little tired, so Song Caitang kept Guan Wan by her side and did not let her cook dinner. The maids waiting on them noticed and bowed before saying, “Housekeeping bought some fresh mutton in the afternoon, and it’s the specialty of the city. They said that they’ll be roasting an entire lamb for dinner. Would you be interested in having that?”

In most cases, Guan Wan was the one with an opinion on food. But this time, before she could even respond, Song Caitang took her arm and got up. “Bring us to dinner.”

Guan Wan misunderstood her gesture and thought that Song Caitang liked mutton so much, she agreed to eat some without hesitation…

She told herself that she had to make the tastiest mutton in the future for her cousin to eat!

The ship had a dining hall, and while it wasn’t very big, it had sufficient tables and chairs for everyone, was clean enough, and you could even order food and drinks.

They came early, so there was only one other table that was occupied. Guan Wan did not feel uncomfortable and ordered some side dishes along with the roast lamb.

When the lamb arrived, Guan Wan picked up the carving knife herself to slice some pieces for herself and Song Caitang. “Wow, it smells pretty good. Eat some, Cousin!”

Song Caitang glanced quickly at the people seated at the table, then stopped Guan Wan from serving her. “I’ll help myself.”

No matter how small Guan Wan’s knife was, it was still a knife that belonged in a kitchen. But not Song Caitang’s. She shook her sleeve and a tiny, intricate knife with a handle much longer than its blade slid right out. A scalpel.

When it came to cooking, Guan Wan was the expert. But when it came to carving meat off bones, Song Caitang was equally skilled in that.

Guan Wan watched as Song Caitang removed the tendons and bones as if she had done it a million times, sliced off a perfectly sized piece from the ribs, and put it inside her mouth…

Her eyes nearly fell right out of their sockets.

If she remembered correctly, the knife in her cousin’s hand was… the one she used to cut dead bodies open!

Goodness! Why was she using the same knife for food?!

The younger girl wasn’t the only one who was shocked. The other table was stunned by what they were seeing.

It was simply because Song Caitang’s knife looked nothing like a knife to them. It gleamed brightly and looked very sharp. It didn’t look like a knife meant for one to eat with at all.

But Song Caitang wasn’t bothered at all and was even enjoying her food.

Her eyebrow relaxed slightly, pleased by the effect she was having on the people in the dining hall. She even spun it in between her fingers to show how accustomed she was to the knife.

It was true that this scalpel was meant for cutting into dead bodies, but this one hadn’t been used before. She had specially prepared a new set of knives for this trip and she had just opened this one.

And she wasn’t that callous about her knife usage either. At the very least, she knew that knives meant for raw meat should be separate from those for cooked meat.

“You seem very accustomed to using a knife, miss.”

A guest at the other table suddenly tried to strike up a conversation.

There were a total of three people at this other table. Two were adult men, and the last one was a young man. One of the older men was in white. He had a quiet demeanor, pretty features and extremely fair skin. The other man was in green. He was tall, broad, had a square face and thick brows, and there was also a gleam in his eyes.

The young man was skinny with round eyes, and looked like he hadn’t reached his final height yet. He looked rather cute.

The one who had spoken was the one in green.

Song Caitang smiled. “Not as accustomed as you are, sir.”

He furrowed his thick brows. “Oh?”

“You have calluses on the area between your thumb and index finger, and you’re hiding a knife in the soles of your boots. You constantly hide a finger in your sleeve even when you eat, and your strong waist keeps your sitting posture very straight. You’re clearly a very well informed martial artist, so if we’re going to talk about knives and the like… I would imagine you must be more familiar with them.”

His face tensed a little, then relaxed. “My name is Xin Yongwang. And you are…”

Song Caitang smiled faintly. “Miss Song.”

“Ah, so you’re Miss Song,” Xin Yongwang placed a palm over his other fist politely to greet her. “Pleased to meet you.”

Song Caitang raised her cup to return the gesture.

Xin Yongwang went on, “How do you find tonight’s dinner, Miss Song? Is it to your liking?”

“Does it matter if it’s to my liking or not?”

Song Caitang raised her eyelid slightly. There was a tinge of sarcasm in her voice, as if she was a picky young woman.

There was a glint in Xin Yongwang’s eyes as he responded in a similar tone, “You’re a VIP guest on this ship. Of course your preferences matter the most.”

“Is that so?”

Song Caitang took her time to slice the meat with her scalpel. She stopped talking to him and continued eating with an aloof expression on her face.

Meanwhile, the man in white put some vegetables in the young man’s bowl.

It was a gesture that was both very normal and a show of love for the other person, but the young man shuddered and seemed to reject the older man’s kindness. “It… it really wasn’t me… I wasn’t the one who did it…”

“I didn’t say it was you either. Now, be good, not everyone is as gentle and polite as I am.”

The man in white smiled faintly, then turned from the young man to Xin Yongwang.

Xin Yongwang seemed to hate the way the man in white stared at him and hissed, “Zhuang Qingyu!”

The man in white, or Zhuang Qingyu, calmly put his chopsticks down. He lowered his gaze and said quietly, “Do you need anything, Hall Master Xin?”

Xin Yongwang rubbed his temples.

“We are not on the same side. I know you take issue with me and I can understand, but I don’t think it’s good for you to be like this.”

Zhuang Qingyu was silent for a while, then he suddenly raised his head and glared fiercely at Xin Yongwang. “Since you know it’s not good, why did you do something like that?”

“Zhuang! Qing! Yu! I repeat, I did NOT do it!”

Xin Yongwang slammed the table with his palm.

In just seconds, the people at this table looked like they were about to start a fight. The table slam and the intense glaring was not just violent, but frightening to watch.

Guan Wan put her chopsticks down immediately and grabbed hold of Song Caitang’s arm.

Song Caitang patted her head. “It’s alright, don’t be afraid, Wanwan. They’re just martial artists.”

But Guan Wan was still very scared. She bit her lips and her eyes were wide.

Song Caitang said, “Why don’t you go out for a while and take a look? Maybe the super skinny guy has come back?”

Guan Wan stared at Song Caitang with even wider eyes.

Song Caitang smiled gently at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Guan Wan could sense there was something wrong in the air, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. But her cousin was smart like her older sister, so she knew she could trust what they said.

She hesitated for a moment, then stood up and walked out obediently.

Song Caitang remained seated, but not to eat, of course. She did not try to speak to the guests at the other table and just observed them silently.

She noticed that the pretty man in white, Zhuang Qingyu, wasn’t just quiet and well mannered. He faintly smelled of medicinal herbs too. His good looks weren’t the sunny, pleasant type, but one that carried a tinge of wickedness. That could be seen from the way he silently bullied the young man at the same table.

Xin Yongwang had a sharp gaze, an ambitious air about him, and some arrogance.

Arrogance was seemingly something that accompanied those who didn’t like to be told what to do by figures in authority. Zhao Zhi had this sort of arrogance too. But there was a difference. Zhao Zhi seemed to be born with that arrogance, while Xin Yongwang’s arrogance carried a tinge of insecurity, which forced him to put on a prickly and unapproachable exterior.

The only young man was even easier to understand. His face was fair and his hands were soft, plus his clothing was made from luxurious material. He had clearly grown up in a well-to-do place that doted on him.

Zhuang Qingyu’s taste was pretty good and his dressing was the most pleasant of the three. The youngest one seemed a little confused, however. His clothes and accessories were of the highest quality, but he didn’t know how to match them at all. The combination was a mess and didn’t look tasteful at all.

If his family or someone from the household were here, they wouldn’t have let him leave the room looking like this. So, he was definitely all by himself on this boat.

The three men had different personalities and different identities. They clearly had some disagreement between each other, so even though they sat at the same table, they obviously didn’t like each other and were wary of each other.

And then when she added the fact that they were all stuck on a ship and the unique thing about herself…

Song Caitang frowned slightly. Her gaze deepened as she looked down and touched the short flute in her hand.

As expected, Guan Wan failed to find that ultra skinny man she had seen previously. She came back with pouting lips and a depressed look on her face.

Song Caitang consoled her for a bit, then got up to go back to the cabin with her to rest for the night.

“Hold on, Miss Song.” Xin Yongwang was a large-sized man whose very presence was stress inducing. Even though he was smiling, it still felt uncomfortable to be around him. “I’ve noticed that you’ve got very good taste in food. What would you like to have tomorrow?”

Song Caitang glanced at the spears and other similar weapons in the corner of the room. “I can have anything I want to eat?”

“You are a VIP on this boat, so I’m sure nobody would dare to refuse your request. I’m hoping to use that to my advantage.”

Song Caitang chuckled. “Is that so?”

Xin Yongwang did not say anything.

“I want a pacific barracuda then.”

Song Caitang walked off after saying that and did not stop or look back.

Guan Wan kept a hand over her own mouth and only dared to speak after they had returned to their cabin. “A pacific barracuda?! Oh my goodness! Do you know how expensive they are now? They’re so hard to get now!!”

Song Caitang pinched Guan Wan’s round face gently with a laugh. “Well, since someone insists on getting me what I want, I’m going to ask for something really good.”

Guan Wan didn’t get it. “Someone insists on getting you what you want? Who?”

Song Caitang tucked her into bed. “That’s enough for today. Time to sleep.”

The next morning, a pacific barracuda was ready for them to eat.

Guan Wan just stared at her cousin in absolute shock.

Song Caitang put a piece of fish meat in her bowl. “Why are you just staring at me? Eat up, eat up.”

Only one other table was occupied in the dining hall during breakfast time. And it was the same three people from the night before.

Guan Wan quietly grumbled to Song Caitang, “There are so many passengers onboard, but it’s as if they don’t need to eat or something…”

Song Caitang casually responded to Guan Wan’s comments, but after that, she made sure Guan Wan was always with her and did not allow Guan Wan to go anywhere without her.

Guan Wan was an obedient girl, so since her cousin did not allow her to run about herself, she remained with her cousin at all times.

The three men at the other table were always in the dining hall during meal time. They never skipped any meals and were always seen together. But they clearly didn’t get along and were always arguing.

Even Guan Wan could tell that they weren’t on good terms and whispered to Song Caitang, “Is there something wrong with them… Why do they keep torturing themselves like this?”

One day later, in the evening, the ship docked at a deserted pier. Xin Yongwang came over to invite Song Caitang and Guan Wan to disembark, “We’re here. It’s time to get off the boat.”

Guan Wan instantly grew tense when she saw a large group of men she didn’t recognize and that they were in an unfamiliar place that was clearly not the capital city, and she almost burst into tears.

Song Caitang patted her head gently. “It’s alright, we’ll be fine.”

Guan Wan didn’t say anything and gripped Song Caitang’s sleeve harder.

Song Caitang turned back to look at Xin Yongwang. “Judging from the way you’ve treated us… You need help with a troublesome but important client?”

Xin Yongwang’s pupils constricted. “You knew?”

Song Caitang held the short flute in her hand as her eyes glinted intelligently. She didn’t answer him and asked, “Where’s the dead body?”