Chapter 4-5

After leaving the Branch Chief’s office, Bai Shixuan began walking slowly. Huang Zaizhen also came up beside him and matched his pace.

“Brother Bai, that woman named Choryeong…….”

“She was a woman who looked after me for a while. Why are you so curious? Didn’t you come to Shaanxi because you had business here? Why do you keep following me around?”

Bai Shixuan answered Huang Zaizhen, then turned to look at her as he spoke. When Bai Shixuan suddenly fired those questions at her, Huang Zaizhen took a step backward. She had followed Bai Shixuan simply because she had become curious about him. But when Bai Shixuan actually asked her, “Why aren’t you leaving?” she found herself with nothing to say. She had only thought about chasing after Bai Shixuan and had never considered what excuse she would give him afterward.

‘Haah. I really am an idiot.’

Still, it was not as though she had come to Shaanxi for no reason at all. She definitely had business here. The problem was that if she told Bai Shixuan what that business was, he would obviously suggest they part ways right then and there, so she had to figure out some way to continue traveling with him.

‘His martial arts seem better than I expected too……. Wouldn’t it be fine to bring him along?’

She did not know whether only his Lightness Skill was exceptional, or whether his Lightness Skill was simply one of many things he excelled at, but that skill alone was first-rate. Following him had been quite difficult. If she brought him along, he might prove extremely useful. If he accomplished something noteworthy and earned her father’s recognition, perhaps marriage might even become possible.

‘Oh, honestly…….’

Embarrassed that she had even entertained such thoughts, Huang Zaizhen brought both hands to her flushed face and tried to cool herself down. Bai Shixuan, however, paid no attention to her and instead began looking around the gambling house. He wondered whether there might be someone he knew. Most of the male workers from the Flower Fragrance Pavilion had come here from time to time. There were large gambling tables, but there were also smaller ones where people could drink and enjoy themselves casually. Thinking there might be a chance of finding someone familiar, Bai Shixuan looked around the gambling house, but no one caught his eye.

“Um, Brother Bai.”

“What is it?”

“Is there perhaps anything I can help you with?”

At Huang Zaizhen’s sudden question, Bai Shixuan, who had just stepped outside the gambling house, stopped and turned to look at her. Meeting his emotionless gaze somehow made her heart drop. Just as Huang Zaizhen was about to clutch at her pounding chest, Bai Shixuan opened his mouth.

“Is your information network better than the Hao Sect’s?”

“That……”

Huang Zaizhen could not bring herself to answer yes. The Hao Sect and the Beggars’ Gang were the organizations with the largest information networks in the Central Plains. Even the organization she belonged to naturally obtained a great deal of information from the Hao Sect. Of course, they gathered information independently as well, but much of what they knew still came through the Hao Sect.

“Hey, move, move!”

While Huang Zaizhen hesitated, unable to answer Bai Shixuan’s question, someone shoved Bai Shixuan aside and pushed past. Since the two of them had been standing in front of the gambling house entrance while talking, the man had simply tried to force his way between them. He seemed extremely drunk and could barely keep himself upright.

“What the—!”

When the man shoved Bai Shixuan and squeezed between them, Huang Zaizhen moved as though she were about to strike him. Whether it was because he had interrupted their conversation or because he had pushed Bai Shixuan, she did not know herself. But when Bai Shixuan caught the stumbling man and supported him, Huang Zaizhen quietly lowered the hand she had begun to raise.

“Are you all right?”

“Ugh, what the hell are you?”

After helping the man keep from falling, Bai Shixuan asked the question. The man raised his head and looked up at him. The moment Bai Shixuan met the man’s eyes, his body visibly jolted.

“Brother Hong?”

“Ugh. You know me?”

When the man—Zhang Hong—asked him that, Bai Shixuan sighed and pressed one of Zhang Hong’s acupoints. He then began slowly infusing a small amount of True Qi into him.

“Ugh.”

Although it was only a small amount, Internal Energy entered his body and began purging the alcohol from his system, causing Zhang Hong to grimace in pain. Soon, Zhang Hong clutched his head and looked up at Bai Shixuan.

“Who are you?”

“It’s me, Shixuan.”

“Shixuan? You? Ah, has it already been four years? You’ve grown into a proper man now.”

When Bai Shixuan gave his name, Zhang Hong stared intently at him before smacking his right fist into his left palm. At Zhang Hong’s words, Bai Shixuan smiled and nodded.

“It looks like you’ve been steeped in alcohol for quite a long time. You don’t look well at all.”

Zhang Hong’s face had become terribly gaunt, as though announcing just how thoroughly he had spent those years soaked in drink. Bai Shixuan had at least used his Internal Energy to purge some of the accumulated effects of alcohol from Zhang Hong’s body, but his complexion still looked poor.

“Hmm, buy me a meal. I’m hungry.”

Zhang Hong looked Bai Shixuan up and down as he spoke. Bai Shixuan chuckled and nodded.

“What are you going to do?”

“Ah, I’ll come too.”

When Bai Shixuan asked Huang Zaizhen, who had been standing there blankly, she hurriedly came back to her senses and answered. Zhang Hong, who was walking beside Bai Shixuan, glanced back at her as she followed behind them and spoke.

“Why’s that woman talking in such an obnoxious way?”

“Who knows.”

Hearing Zhang Hong and Bai Shixuan’s exchange, Huang Zaizhen flinched behind them. Zhang Hong had realized at a glance that she was disguised as a man. And judging from Bai Shixuan’s reaction, it seemed he had already known she was a woman as well.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Look, miss. I’ve been around countless women for more than twenty years. You think I can’t tell a man from a woman?”

Zhang Hong spoke while looking at Huang Zaizhen, who was so flustered that she had even begun stammering. Her face immediately turned red. Bai Shixuan left the mortified, crimson-faced Huang Zaizhen where she was and headed toward an inn with Zhang Hong.

‘That bastard. So he knew all along?’

Watching Bai Shixuan and Zhang Hong disappear into the inn, Huang Zaizhen seethed with indignation. She had never expected him to blindside her like this. In truth, she herself had never revealed that she was a woman, so Bai Shixuan had simply refrained from pointing it out. Even so, for some reason, Huang Zaizhen felt as though Bai Shixuan had toyed with her.

-No. 4!

-Yes, Young Lady.

-Bring me my clothes. I’m going to show them exactly what they’re dealing with!

At Huang Zaizhen’s Sound Transmission, No. 4 sighed. Ever since childhood, she had taken exceptional pride in her beauty. Now that she had been slighted, she was undoubtedly planning to dress herself up as beautifully as possible and leave the two men speechless.

-Hurry!

-Understood!

Still sighing, No. 4 answered Huang Zaizhen’s urging and moved off.