Chapter 4-3

As Bai Shixuan stroked his saber with a smile on his lips, Huang Zaizhen felt as though she had been struck on the back of the head. How could a man’s smile be so beautiful? At first, it had simply been curiosity. When he first opened the inn door and walked inside, it felt as though the entire inn suddenly brightened. His face was striking enough, but his black hair tinged with brown and his eyes carrying a bluish hue created an extraordinarily mysterious impression. He carried a saber, but he did not seem to have learned martial arts. Even so, intriguing was intriguing. That was why she had ordered the middle-aged man sitting in front of her to keep watch on him. She had deliberately waited along the road he would take, then approached him while pretending their meeting was a coincidence. She had no other motive. Her maiden heart had simply been stirred by his handsome face.

However, Bai Shixuan was far too brusque. She did not know whether he was naturally like that or simply reserved around strangers, but his answers were short and he had no manners. Yet when she saw him sitting before her, enjoying the breeze with a smile on his face, her heart began pounding.

“What is it?”

“Nothing!”

Bai Shixuan, who had been smiling as he stroked his saber, raised his head and asked Huang Zaizhen why she was staring blankly at him. Startled, she hurriedly shook her head. Worried that her face might have turned red, Huang Zaizhen quickly touched her cheeks once Bai Shixuan lowered his head again. They felt slightly hot, but she thought Bai Shixuan probably had not noticed.

“Where are you headed, Brother Bai?”

“Flower Fragrance Pavilion.”

Bai Shixuan answered Huang Zaizhen’s question briefly. Huang Zaizhen’s expression immediately stiffened.

“Flower Fragrance Pavilion? You mean the pleasure house? Brother Bai, it seems you really are a man after all.”

“Why are you getting irritated?”

“Brother Bai must be imagining things!”

When Bai Shixuan asked back with a puzzled expression, Huang Zaizhen shrieked at him. She soon realized what she had done, sighed, and lowered her head. A pleasure house? Could a man like Bai Shixuan truly frequent such places? What would it feel like to gaze at that handsome face while being held in his arms? At first glance, his clothes made him look exactly like a slender scholar, but beneath them was a firm, muscular body. Huang Zaizhen could tell. Would it feel good to be embraced against that solid chest? As Huang Zaizhen imagined herself undressed and held in Bai Shixuan’s arms, she suddenly began shaking her head furiously.

‘Get a hold of yourself, girl! What disgraceful behavior is this? Having such shameless fantasies just because his face is handsome…….’

He was clearly a man who barely knew martial arts. She had always gone around declaring, “I’ll marry a man stronger than Father.” So what in the world was this ridiculous situation?

“We’ve entered Shaanxi.”

The middle-aged man’s voice reached Huang Zaizhen’s ears while she was cooling her head and lost in thought. Huang Zaizhen nodded and looked at Bai Shixuan. The sun was setting, and the sky was slowly being dyed orange-red. The scenery suited Bai Shixuan so well that she unconsciously stared at him in a daze. Huang Zaizhen remained lost in the sight of him until Bai Shixuan lifted his head and looked at her, at which point she hurriedly changed her expression and spoke.

“How about resting in that village tonight?”

“No. I’m continuing on.”

Huang Zaizhen pointed toward a village visible in the distance, but Bai Shixuan shook his head. He then stood and jumped down from the slowly moving cart.

“Huh? Brother Bai!”

“Thank you for the ride. If we meet again, I’ll repay the favor.”

Huang Zaizhen called after him, but Bai Shixuan ignored her and spoke instead to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man gave an awkward smile and nodded.

‘The Young Master is going to be angry again.’

If Bai Shixuan left like this, all of Huang Zaizhen’s anger would surely be directed at him. But he had no justification for stopping Bai Shixuan from leaving.

‘Now that I’m in Shaanxi, I can move quickly again.’
The sun was setting, but if he traveled using the Heavenly Demon’s Sovereign Steps, he could reach the village where the Flower Fragrance Pavilion was located before the day ended. With that thought, Bai Shixuan began walking.

-I’m following him.

-Young Master!

“Then I should be going as well. Thank you!”

Huang Zaizhen spoke to the middle-aged man before jumping straight off the cart and using her Lightness Skill. Bai Shixuan was moving faster than she had expected, so she needed to use her Lightness Skill to catch him. The middle-aged man watched Huang Zaizhen’s retreating figure for a moment before sighing.

‘Haah. Surely the Young Master hasn’t fallen for that man?’

He was a dangerous man. He did not appear to have learned martial arts, but the gaze he had directed toward the middle-aged man had been deeply chilling. If Bai Shixuan truly had learned martial arts, then he was undoubtedly a master far beyond either him or Huang Zaizhen. As the middle-aged man watched the two disappear while thinking this, his body moved.

-Whoosh

He leaped into the air and spun several times. As he did, his clothes began to change. He transformed into someone wearing a blood-red cloak and a mask of the same color. The middle-aged man—or rather, the masked man—swiftly cut down the donkey that had been standing still and waiting, then began moving.

“Huff, huff. Why are you going so fast?”

“I’m going slowly.”

Bai Shixuan truly was walking slowly. Yet strangely, Huang Zaizhen could not keep up with his pace. Of course, she could catch up if she used her Lightness Skill, but since he did not appear to be using one himself, using hers somehow felt like it would wound her pride. So she continued following him without using it. But Bai Shixuan’s pace was simply too fast. Huang Zaizhen could only repeat the same pattern—walk for a while, fall behind, run to catch up with Bai Shixuan, then walk again until she fell behind and had to run once more.

“Slow down a little…….”

Bai Shixuan looked back at Huang Zaizhen, who was panting behind him, and sighed. Could she really be exhausted from this much? He was using Internal Energy, but he had still been walking at a speed Huang Zaizhen should have been able to follow. Since it seemed she would not even be able to pursue him if he used the Heavenly Demon’s Sovereign Steps, he was beginning to find her increasingly pathetic.

“Why don’t you use Internal Energy?”

“But Brother Bai, you aren’t……”

“I am.”

At Bai Shixuan’s words, Huang Zaizhen stared at him in surprise.

“Brother Bai, you have Internal Energy too?”

“I never said I hadn’t learned it.”

Only then did Huang Zaizhen remember that she had asked whether Bai Shixuan practiced External Martial Arts, and he had merely nodded. Naturally, he could have trained in External Martial Arts as well. Yet because she could sense only as much Internal Energy from him as she would from an ordinary person, she had simply assumed he had never cultivated any. It had been an incredibly foolish conclusion.

“Whew. Understood.”

Huang Zaizhen wiped the sweat from her forehead and nodded. Bai Shixuan turned away again and resumed moving. This time, he was even faster than before. Huang Zaizhen hurriedly used her Lightness Skill and began chasing after him.

‘Just who in the world is that man?’