I Think I Kinda Like You

The real Xin Yongwang was stuffed under the bed inside that very odd residence which did not allow anyone to go in and out. That odd residence that supposedly belonged to the head of the halls within the Night Sanctum.

Even though she had been mentally prepared, Song Caitang was still shocked when she saw that familiar face under the bed.

Her shock was for only one reason – the man standing in front of her looked exactly like the man he was disguised as. His stature, his eyes, his features, and even the angle at which his lips curled. Everything was identical!

Was he using some ancient technique to disguise himself? Like the sort she used to see only in TV dramas? The kind where you really couldn’t tell the difference at all?

Song Caitang calmed herself down and ignored his question about Xin Yongwang. Instead, she raised a request, “You’ve come a long way, and your behavior right now is not gentlemanly at all, so why don’t you let go of Miss Ye first?”

The man smiled brightly. “Sure.”

His smile was no longer like Xin Yongwang’s, and his actions were no longer as earnest as the head of the Night Sanctum halls. He put away the dagger he was fiddling with and that was his definition of letting go of Ye Nan.

Which was… really ridiculous.

Given that Ye Nan had been temporarily paralyzed, putting the dagger away was of no help at all. What she needed was to regain her freedom of movement.

The man pretended he didn’t know that was what Song Caitang was referring to and even added a helpful reminder, “By the way, you don’t have a lot of time, Miss Song.”

Song Caitang smiled even more brightly than him. “I thought you already understood the sort of skills I had when we were on the ship together.”

The man looked even more interested in what she had to say now. “So, you already smelled a rat back then?”

“Not at all,” Song Caitang smiled faintly, “I’m not familiar with any of you, so I wouldn’t know if there’s something amiss. But you knew from our time on the ship as well as in the Sanctum that I’m a very observant person. Yet, you did not hide your tracks and continued acting according to plan. Didn’t you know this day would come sooner or later?”

The man kept his eye on her and did not say anything out loud, but his expression said everything.

He regretted it.

Regardless of the reason or the factors he had previously considered, he had made the wrong decision.

“Anyone who looks down on a woman will have to pay the price for it.”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. She raised her voice and spoke confidently, “You’ve disguised yourself as Xin Yongwang very well. His ambition, his loyalty, the attention he pays to every detail within the Sanctum, the effort he puts into his job. You’ve even done your best to replicate the feelings he has for Miss Ye.”

As she said these things, flashbacks of what happened appeared in her mind.

Each time this fake Xin Yongwang had appeared, everything he had said, including the way he harassed Ye Nan, seemed perfectly reasonable and was no different from how he normally behaved.

That was why nobody within the Sanctum noticed anything wrong with this man.

“You must have followed and observed Xin Yongwang for a long time, since you’ve managed to disguise yourself so well… but why are you trying to infiltrate this place? There’s something you want from here? You chose to pretend to be Xin Yongwang not just because he’s of a similar size to you, I’m sure. His status here is probably of benefit to you. What you’re looking for, what you want, is probably something that’s quite highly classified within the sect, am I right?”

Ye Nan’s gaze flickered slightly as Song Caitang spoke.

She was paralyzed, so she couldn’t move and could speak, but her mind could still work.

When Xin Yongwang suddenly struck her acupoints and paralyzed her, she knew immediately that this man could not be Xin Yongwang.

This man had come all the way here and infiltrated the sect to obtain something very important to the sect…

What could this man be looking for? What could make him put in this much effort?

The man’s eyes shifted slightly such that he was glaring at her from the corner of his eye. His stare and the aggressiveness of his tone made him rather sinister, “You saw everything, didn’t you?”

These words were a little strange. He sounded confident, yet also sounded like he was trying to sound her out…

Song Caitang paused.

She had seen his little scuffle with Hua Rong that night, and he had probably noticed her as well.

“Hua Rong is no ordinary man. He’s not just some random merchant. His father works for the salt distribution commissioner and many of his family members are officials too. You wanted shipping approval for salt shipments from him.” Song Caitang stared back at the man and spoke in a slow but resolute manner. “Unfortunately, Hua Rong is sensitive to such things and he’s not stupid. He knows you’re just making use of Ye Nan’s name to get what you want, so he didn’t agree to it.”

The man’s lips curled upward slightly.

“But you didn’t work very hard to achieve that aim and it seemed more like something you hoped to achieve since you were already here. It would be best if you could make it happen, but it was no loss to you even if it didn’t. You came all the way here and disguised yourself to this extent for a more special reason…”

“You lost something very important, all the clues led you here and then stopped, so you had to find out what happened. Either that, or… you wanted something very badly and that thing happens to be here, but it’s hard to get your hands on?”

Song Caitang casually raised two possibilities and the man’s expression shifted a little when she came to the second one.

So… that was the case? The latter?

The man’s expression changed very quickly. He blinked a few times and looked at her with even greater interest.

He seemed very curious as he leaned forward a little and his eyes flickered slightly, “How did you deduce that? I have to say that I’ve done a very good job of acting as Xin Yongwang and I’ve even replicated his feelings for a woman.”

“His capabilities, his loyalty, his ambition, his ability to manage people – you’ve acted those aspects well. But there’s one problem. The aura you exude resembles more of one who’s in a high position, one who makes decisions and not one who just executes those decisions. You have that sort of air around you…”

The man raised an eyebrow with a flirtatious look in his eye. “Someone in a high position, you say? Like an aristocrat? It seems like you’re very impressed by me, Miss Song.”

“I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me. I generally dislike the upper class,” Song Caitang stared steely at him. “Many of them have an awful temperament and the special sort of education they receive from a young age nurture certain habits that I simply cannot stand.”

The man did not expect that response.

Song Caitang went on, “Understanding how to make others listen to you, understanding how to run daily operations in a place like this, knowing how to handle people and even the ability to understand how romantic relationships work is something that’s not easy. Most people wouldn’t be able to handle all this without special training. I’m guessing that you’ve grown up in a very special environment and you’re no ordinary person. But your habits have revealed some things that are different from most people, even though you’ve purposely covered it up in your speech and actions. I hope you don’t take offense, but I believe you’re not a local?”

Besides that, there were other details she had noticed.

For example, Ye Nan had mentioned before that Xin Yongwang was a little petty and calculative, but did not like others knowing about it, which made him a somewhat depressive man who didn’t have a lot of confidence. He was a narrow minded man who put on a strong front despite feeling empty inside.

The elder sect leader had only one daughter and he had to find her a good assistant. This assistant had to be capable but also lack a certain level of drive. That way, he would allow Ye Nan to make all major decisions.

The real Xin Yongwang was definitely a man like that. Not this one, though.

These had merely been her conjectures and she had no hard evidence, but after she secretly entered Xin Yongwang’s residence and found the actual Xin Yongwang under his own bed, these were no longer just educated guesses.

There was no need to explain all this to him. Saying such things would sound like a compliment to him, which might boost his confidence instead, so Song Caitang didn’t bother talking about it.

But regardless of whether she said anything or not, or how much she said, the way she stood here calmly with an intelligent look in her eyes and explained the truth logically and succinctly was already exciting enough. It was enough to impress anyone.

The man narrowed his eyes. “Since you sound so confident, I suppose you’ve already found out where Xin Yongwang is.”

Song Caitang did not flinch. “Yes, I have.”

The man suddenly pressed a hand against his forehead and started laughing.

“Oh dearie me… you’re so clever, I think I kinda like you…” The man dragged his words out slightly and his voice actually sounded a little gentle when accompanied by the warm and light afternoon breeze. “Miss Song, how about you leave with me?”

He seemed very sincere about it. “You’re a real gem, yet you’re stuck in this messy place with no rules whatsoever and tasked to solve a messy, trivial case. I think that’s such a waste of your talent. Leave with me and I promise you will have ample room to showcase your talents without having to hold back. You can have as much fun as you like. What do you think?”

Before Song Caitang could answer him, the man noticed that Ye Nan was glaring at him.

He paused, then burst out laughing. “Why, am I wrong to say those things? The Night Sanctum is a mess, don’t you agree? Your relationships with one another are a mess, everything that happened is a mess. It’s such a mess, I feel like puking. Everyone says that martial artists know exactly who their benefactors are and who their enemies are and treat them accordingly. So, why can’t you guys be more decisive?”

“Everyone in the sect says that Liao Xingjian is the one who let you down and that he shouldn’t have brought Xi Rui back to cause all this chaos. But what about you? Didn’t you let him down too? Four years ago, he betrayed you. But what did you do then? If not for me, I’m very certain that Xin Yongwang would have manipulated you into doing what you didn’t want to by now!”

“You thought he had really straightened his thoughts out? You thought he’d changed for the better? Psh, how naïve!”

The man snorted out loud.

Ye Nan’s expression was rather conflicted.

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead. He’s just not living very comfortably. Speaking of which…”

The man’s voice was lazy, revealing his unbothered and confident nature. “I helped you to prevent this disaster, yet you didn’t even thank me for that. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is… our dear Miss Song has been here for so long, yet she hasn’t dashed out of the door for fear of her own safety. It looks like she still has some kindness toward this stranger who kidnapped her and actually wants to save you…”

He glanced at Song Caitang, then looked back at Ye Nan. “But you, a sect leader, have remained so hard-hearted. It’s as if you don’t want to tell her anything at all. Are you sure you don’t want to confide any secrets in her at all?”

Ye Nan closed her eyes slightly, but she had no other reaction.

“She’s been trying her best to investigate this case, but you’ve been hiding something so important from her,” said the man with a disdainful scoff. “What a hypocrite.”

Song Caitang’s brain started working quickly. He seemed to be implying a lot of other things…

The man took his dagger out again so he could play with it. The small but sharp blade was pretty but very dangerous as he spun round his fingers.

As the bright glint of his dagger flashed before his eyes, he relaxed and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Tell her, tell her that Xin Yongwang’s not dead yet.”

That was directed at Song Caitang.

Song Caitang nodded at Ye Nan. “I’ve already checked his vitals and I can confirm that his life is not in danger.”

“I’m so happy to have met Miss Song during my little stint at the Night Sanctum. I should have joined hands with you to take a nice, slow walk in the mountains to enjoy all the amazing things that this world has to offer, but unfortunately, someone who doesn’t know better has decided to interrupt.”

The man had a sinister smile as he stared straight at Song Caitang. “You’re right. I’m not Xin Yongwang. I’m just an unlucky guy who appeared at an unlucky time. This case has nothing to do with me. I have no need, and it’s beneath me to kill someone here. And even if it were necessary and I really killed someone, I’d be happy to admit it. You can’t do anything about it anyway.”

“Miss Song, your friend seems very worried about you. Why don’t we play a little game?”

Song Caitang didn’t understand that part.

Her friend? Who? GUAN WAN?!

She prayed hard that her little cousin had been obedient and remained in her room.

The man leaned forward slightly with a creepy smile on his lips. “Do you think your friend would choose you or choose me?”

Choose her or him? Song Caitang was even more puzzled now.

But she also breathed a sigh of relief at these words. It meant he wasn’t referring to Guan Wan.

He didn’t bother to say anymore and just snapped his fingers, causing a spark to fly out and land in one corner of the room. There was a loud boom as the painting in the corner caught fire. Within seconds, the flames burned brighter and brighter, covering the walls and table. The fire suddenly became really serious.

This man had doused this place in something that was helping to spread the fire!

“Everyone around this place has been sent elsewhere, so nobody will get here in time to save you girls. Of course, Ye Nan won’t be able to run out on her own.” The man smiled nastily at Song Caitang. “Either you run away by yourself right now, or you think of a way to rescue her.”

“But based on my observations, I don’t think you’re strong enough to ensure that both of you will get out of here in one piece, even if you gave it your best shot. It’s a loooong way out from here.”

Ye Nan glared fiercely at him.

The man’s smile only widened. “Don’t blame me for doing this, blame that Liao Xingjian for dying at such a time and ruining my plans. But congratulations, Ye Nan, on finding yourself a silly girl named Miss Song. You’re probably going to live.”

He turned to look at Song Caitang. “I’m sure you’re a good girl who won’t abandon Ye Nan, right?”

“I hope your man won’t abandon you either.”

The man winked cheekily and flashed her a flirtatious smile. “The next time we meet, you’re coming with me!”

With that, the man dashed through the flames and leaped out of the window.

As Song Caitang stood in the middle of the room, she looked in between the flames and out of the window to find that there was another person standing there.

Someone who was tall, broad shouldered and muscular. His dark clothing flapped in the wind, his brows finely trimmed and his eyes as fierce as an eagle’s.

It was Zhao Zhi.