CH 66

The horse-drawn carriage exited from the town’s south entrance and onto the wide and level public road.

It wasn’t until dusk that they entered another township. The thriving environment of the Central Plains gradually became more apparent around them.

Mei Shisan brought Gu Feidi and Su Yang to the inn and drove the carriage away. He located the market and sold the carriage, led the horse back to the inn and obtained a guest room for himself.

It wasn’t convenient for Su Yang to go downstairs and eat. Gu Feidi instructed Mei Shisan to constantly take note of any movement from the next room and he went to the lobby to inquire on the news.

The rumour that the Devil Sect’s Young Saint accompanied by two flower aides were travelling within the Central Plains in disguises was still spreading. Eventually, word appeared that instigated the Central Plains martial artists to catch the Devil Sect demons and interrogate them on the whereabouts of Young Pavilion Master Gu.

A round-faced warrior sitting opposite Gu Feidi gave a snort and said to Gu Feidi: “We don’t know where these rumours come from; they think of something and there it is!”

He lowered his voice and said in a serious tone: “That Devil Sect’s Su Yang just captured Young Hero Gu into the Devil Sect. At this moment, all he can think of is how to tame Young Hero Gu’s body, where would he have time to run about the Central Plains!”

Gu Feidi: ……

Before Gu Feidi could speak, a huge bearded martial artist at the side smacked the table and pointed at the round-faced youth, “Hey! You fella, dare question Wujiangmen’s news that was difficult to obtain! Is it possible that you’re a spy the Devil Sect has planted in the Central Plains?!”

As soon as this was said, everyone in the hall began casting doubtful looks at the round-faced youth.

The youth’s face immediately turned bright red and said indignantly: “How can you simply slander people!”

The people around said: “Then do you have a wooden token to prove your identity? If you can show us, then we’ll believe you!”

The round-faced young martial artist hemmed and hawed for a moment, then retrieved a wooden token from within the folds of his lapels and flung it onto the table.

“I am a member of Qinglian Sect’s Left Upper Hall; not a Devil Sect spy. Can you see it now?” He straightened his neck. “Qinglian Sect’s Left Upper Hall elder the master of Wujiangmen are old acquaintances. All the martial arts circles know this!”

As soon as the Qinglian Sect’s token was revealed, a voice full of disdain and contempt called out:

“Isn’t Qinglian Sect on friendly terms with the Devil Sect?”

“Hai, you’re the ignorant one. The Qinglian Sect aren’t as friendly with the Devil Sect as they appear to be, but they keep currying favour and have self-proclaimed as being on talking terms the Devil Sect, that’s all. They can’t rise above Tengyun Pavilion and Qianfeng Villa. I heard that the daughter from the Huo family married into the Qianfeng Villa, so they have formed an alliance with the Huo family. The Master Xu of the Wujiangmen does indeed know Qinglian Sect’s Left Upper Hall elder. As for what their actual relationship is, that’s hard to say…”

“Yes, in fact Qinglian Sect is actually not close to any sect. They’re merely fence-sitters, but now they think very highly of themselves.”

“You’re all unaware. Word is that the second son of Qinglian Sect had been hanging around Tengyun Pavilion’s youngest female disciple of late. It seems like he wants to emulate the Huo family and join their families in marriage but he should take a look in the mirror. Where’s the possibility that Tengyun Pavilion would even consider Qinglian Sect?”

Gu Feidi eyed the round-faced boy before him in surprise for a moment before asking, “Qinglian Sect is in the northeast, what are you doing in the south?”

The round-faced youth didn’t expect Gu Feidi to acknowledge him. Seeing that there was no disdain in Gu Feidi’s eyes, he immediately became somewhat happier and said quickly: “My father… ak, the elder asked me to find my brother near Tengyun Pavilion… ak, to find our second young master and help him pursue… ak, help him run some errands.”

Gu Feidi raised his eyebrows.

Seeing this look, the round-faced youth knew that his cover had been blown and didn’t know where to hide: “My name is Fan Qi. My dad asked me to come find Er Ge* to help him pursue Tengyun Pavilion‘s xiao shimei.”

(*TN : er = 2nd, ge = elder brother)

Gu Feidi couldn’t help letting out a laugh.

The bearded martial artist who had just questioned Fan Qi immediately narrowed his eyes to look at Gu Feidi and snorted: “This fella here is suspicious too. You can chat so cheerfully with the Qinglian Sect and even order two sets of the same dishes. Who else can you be hiding in the room?”

Gu Feidi frowned upon hearing this, “What business is it of yours?”

The big bearded man said: “The Devil Sect Monster brought two flower aides to our Central Plains to cause trouble. If you’re hiding someone in your room, we must check it out. Who knows if it might be that Young Saint gracing us with his presence?”

Once he finished speaking, he turned to urge the other martial artists in the hall: “My fellow martial artists, don’t you think this is reasonable? We’re staying in one large room together* and we know each other at a glance. You’re staying in the upper rooms, how can you prove that the three of you aren’t working together ? Why don’t I go check it out to be sure!”

(*TN : usually ancient inns had communal bedding in a large room on the ground floor and private rooms on the upper floor to accommodate different paying guests)

Gu Feidi narrowed his eyes, looked around him and gave a sneer: “If the Devil Sect’s Su Yang was really here, how do you expect him to spare your lives if you speak like that?”

When everyone heard this, they looked at each other blankly and seemed to think there was some truth to this.

Who had expected that the big bearded man would interject again: “The Devil Sect demon spawn came to my Central Plains under cover. It must be due to some purpose that he cannot reveal his whereabouts and naturally would not dare take the initiative to cause any trouble. Besides, we have dozens of martial artists here. He only has a measly three people, so what can he do to us all?”

Seeing that his reasoning didn’t hold water, Gu Feidi snorted, “My lady wife is in the room, how can I allow her to be seen by you lowlifes?”

The big bearded man bared his teeth: “So I should believe you when you say it’s your wife? How do I know that it’s not the Devil Sect’s Su Yang in your room?”

A group of busybodies were quickly instigated by this troublemaker martial artist and made a loud fuss about wanting to check Gu Feidi’s and Fan Qi’s rooms.

Fan Qi had come alone and naturally had nothing to fear about his room being checked. Seeing Gu Feidi’s firm refusal, he couldn’t help whispering, “Bro, you… truly have some secret in your room?”

Gu Feidi gave a cold snort and was about to go upstairs with the untouched food.

Suddenly, he was grabbed by a pair of hands.

The bearded martial artist grinned: “Bro is being even more suspicious. I think it’s better that we accompany you upstairs to deliver the food and take a closer look at whether the one in the room is actually your wife or some evil monster!”

Having been pushed to the limits of his patience, Gu Feidi used his internal-strength-filled palm to force the big man backwards.

He ‘hmphed’ and said, “I have never been met with such a rude demand—”

Just then, there was the sound of a door from the upstairs corridor, followed immediately by the sound of two ‘dong, dong’ finger knocks at the door.

Everyone looked up, their mouths instantly gaped open and they were stunned on the spot.

Gu Feidi turned his head to look at Su Yang and saw that he was leaning delicately against the corridor pillar, standing unsteadily and he almost couldn’t control himself from bursting into laughter.

Fortunately, his self-control ability was strong, so he swallowed and ran upstairs holding the food tray while saying: “Dearest, why did you come out? Quickly, go back inside—”

Seeing Gu Feidi had gotten out of a difficult situation, Su Yang nodded most shyly, leaned within Gu Feidi’s embrace and walked hurriedly back into the room.

The hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Just then, Fan Qi whistled and released a sigh, “If my future wife has such looks, I wouldn’t want anyone to see her! Don’t speak of bringing her out to stay at this type of lousy inn, even keeping her in a house of gold is not fitting enough for her!”

The other martial artists around didn’t care whether he was from the Qinglian Sect or not. They immediately nodded in agreement and began to sigh in admiration of the graceful, elegant beauty that they had a glimpse of just now.

The huge, bearded martial artist narrowed his eyes at Gu Feidi and Su Yang’s room door, lecherously smacked his lips once, raised his eyebrows and exchanged glances with the person at the same table.

“Why did you go out?” Gu Feidi placed the food on the table inside the room, “Didn’t we say you shouldn’t show yourself as much as possible?”

Su Yang curled his lips, lowered his voice and said, “It was so loud that I could hear it in the room. If I didn’t go out to take a look, I’m afraid you would have gotten into a fight with them. Anyway, I’d put on my disguise and let them have a distant glimpse from the corridor, it’s better than letting them get a closer look.”

Gu Feidi couldn’t help stretching out his hand and tapping the tip of Su Yang’s nose, “Alright, let’s eat.”

Su Yang was dumbfounded.

He touched his nose and stammered: “You, you just… what did you do aaa?”

Gu Feidi put a pair of chopsticks into Su Yang’s hand and smiled: “Let’s eat, dearest.”

Su Yang: ……

Why did he feel that Gu Feidi was slowly but surely asking to be smacked?

The sky was getting dark, the martial artists that had gathered in the hall began to return to their rooms in twos and threes to rest. There were only a couple of people remaining that wanted some wine and light dishes to continue chatting and bragging at their tables.

The big bearded martial artist who tried to instigate everyone to check Gu Feidi’s room earlier also stayed behind. He glanced at the door of Gu Feidi and Su Yang’s room every now and then. Finally, just after the sky had gone completely dark, Gu Feidi came out of the room, looking as if he was going to the toilet.

When he had walked some distance away, Big Beardy winked at his companion. His companion followed Gu Feidi and walked into the backyard, while the Big Beardy hastened up to the second floor of the inn.

Su Yang was becoming anxious at that moment.

He had used a wrapped cloth as a fake chest and his hair had been carefully braided full of ribbons. He definitely wouldn’t be able to take off his clothes and go to sleep. For the next few days and nights, he could only rely on meditating to recover his energy. But he was actually a lazy person and preferred sleeping to manoeuvring inner strength and meditation, so this was a bit of a conundrum.

The door was pushed open and Su Yang turned around, subconsciously wanting to grumble to Gu Feidi, but suddenly saw a large figure looming over him in the dimness.

“Hehehe, little lady——” Big Beardy called out in a rough voice, “Your man isn’t here, why don’t you come and accompany this ol’ man to have some fun!”

Su Yang: ……

He wanted to wait and see how this one would die.

So Su Yang pretended to be frightened and took a step backwards. In line with the situation, he clenched his fist to block his chest. He blinked pitifully at Big Beardy, looking increasingly delicate in the dim candlelight.

Big Beardy was obviously stimulated by his expression, his eyes widening and his tongue sticking out to lick his lips. He quickly moved around the table and chair to close in.

Su Yang retreated to the corner of the bed without saying a word and half-curled up as if he was scared. He reached out and grabbed the dagger in his pocket.

“You’re a mute? Oh, this is not as much fun…” Big Beardy grinned hideously, “White jade is flawed, no wonder someone as beautiful as you had to marry such a weak chicken…”

With that said, he stretched out his hand to pinch Su Yang’s face.

Just then, there was a violent shout from a young man at the door.

“Hold it!” Fan Qi leapt up and kicked Big Beardy to one side and snorted, “I just knew you didn’t have any good intentions! My discreet observations were not in vain, you indeed conspired against this lady! The likes of you can still proclaim yourselves to be of the Righteous Martial Arts Circles! Huh! I’m going to kick your ass!”

Su Yang, who was just about to strike: ……

Who the hell is this?!

At this time, Mei Shisan had also managed to rush to the door. Seeing that there was already someone in the room standing up for Su Yang, he turned around and headed back to his own room.

Big Beardy was obviously full of resentment for Fan Qi and he snorted: “You again, bastard! You’ve messed it up for me! Let’s see how I’ll crush you—”

Before he had finished speaking, Gu Feidi entered the room from the window carrying an unconscious man which he hurled over and slammed onto Big Beardy. The force he exerted wasn’t light and the two smashed against the wall, making a loud noise that seemed to have caused the entire inn to shake.

Big Beardy immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and remained on the ground for a long while and couldn’t get up.

Gu Feidi narrowed his eyes and looked passively at Fan Qi without saying a word.

Fan Qi’s gaze lingered for a moment on the two bodies collapsed into a heap in the corner, then he cast a look at Gu Feidi, swallowed and said in a trembling voice: “I, I, I, I just came to lend a hand! I, I, I’m leaving now!”

Having said that, he turned his head to leave.

But Gu Feidi called after him: “Don’t be in a hurry to leave, do me another favour.”

Fan Qi shivered: “…aaa?”

Gu Feidi did not answer. He pointed to Big Beardy in the corner, turned and asked Su Yang: “Did he lay a hand on you just now?”

Su Yang blinked and threw a glance at Fan Qi, he didn’t say anything and shook his head.

Gu Feidi snorted: “I wanted to chop off his hand. Since he didn’t touch you, then I’ll leave his body intact.”

Su Yang: ……

Little Gu aaa, your villainous acting is too realistic, right?

Gu Feidi drew out his long sword and walked over to Big Beardy.

Big Beardy coughed for a long time, shoved away his companion who was weighing down on him and said anxiously: “You, you, you can’t kill me! I’m from Tongyun Temple. If you kill me, Tongyun Temple won’t let you off!”

Su Yang raised his eyebrows and said to himself: We haven’t even forced a confession, why did you declare it?

Gu Feidi was unmoved. He stepped forward to touch the tip of the sword against Beardy’s chest and smiled: “Oh, unfortunately, I have a good relationship with Tongyun Temple. How come I don’t recall… that Tongyun Temple has someone like you?”

Big Beardy rolled his eyes and said: “…I, I’m seldom at the Temple…”

Gu Feidi sent the sword forward and said angrily: “Tell the truth!”

Big Beardy was stabbed and started to scream and cry out: “Don’t, don’t, don’t kill me! I’m… I’m actually… I’m Wujiangmen’s spy! I’m sure you wouldn’t want to provoke Wujiangmen, right? Haa? If you don’t believe me, I have Wujiangmen’s wood token, see! See!”

Having spoken, he actually retrieved a wooden token and handed it over for Gu Feidi to look at.

The corners of Gu Feidi’s mouth curled up and he held up a bone whistle in front of the Big Beardy’s eyes.

“Since you’re from Wujiangmen, then why… is your companion carrying Eluo Ghost Tent’s bird-calling bone whistle?”