Chapter 30#

Full of Interest#

The night was filled with lights, and the evening breeze fluttered his sleeves. This person’s realm seemed extremely high; even with the eyesight from Xiao Man’s previous life, he still couldn’t see through it.

Could it be above the Taixuan realm, the Taiqing Saint realm?

Xiao Man felt a chill in his heart. He didn’t take the mask from the man’s hand, nor did he speak, but stepped back slightly.

This drew a low chuckle.

“You saw me take this mask off the wall with your own eyes; I haven’t had a chance to do anything to it,” the man in black said, his tone quite easygoing.

“I don’t know you,” Xiao Man said. After speaking, he glanced at Shi Tang, intending to take her and leave.

Just then, Shi Tang finished paying and turned around holding seven or eight masks. Seeing the deer-horn mask in the black-clad man’s hand, her eyes filled with joy, and she immediately turned to ask:

“Boss, are there any more masks like this?”

The vendor glanced over and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, miss, only one of those masks was ever made.”

“Ah, is that so…” Shi Tang was very disappointed.

Looking back at the man in black, who was still holding the mask out to Xiao Man, Shi Tang couldn’t help but be suspicious: “Do you know each other?”

“No,” Xiao Man shook his head.

Shi Tang gave an “Oh”: “Then let’s go.”

But she looked back every three steps, her reluctance and lingering attachment fully on display.

Seeing this, Xiao Man asked her, “Do you really want that mask?”

“I’ve never seen a mask like this. I don’t think A’qing and Cuiyu have seen one either, so I thought about bringing it back for them to see.” Shi Tang lowered her eyes, sounding a bit embarrassed.

During this time, Xiao Man had heard many things from Shi Tang. She had lived on Tiger Drum Mountain since childhood and wasn’t allowed to leave, so she could only play on the mountain. A’qing and Cuiyu were her serving maids, grown up together since childhood and as close as sisters. Most of her knowledge of the outside world came from what those two little sisters told her.

Shi Tang had snuck out this time and would likely be scolded by her parents when she returned home, perhaps even being confined for a period of time. Thinking of this, Xiao Man felt sympathy and walked toward the man in black.

The man was still standing there, a smile in his eyes, as if he had long expected Xiao Man to return.

“Thank you,” Xiao Man said softly as he took the deer-horn mask from him, then took out some coins and placed them in the man’s palm.

The man in black didn’t stop Xiao Man’s actions.

As for Shi Tang, seeing that Xiao Man had bought the deer-horn mask, she couldn’t help but cheer.

Xiao Man gave her the deer-horn mask and helped her carry a few items, joining the crowd to find Qu Hanxing and the others.

The night market was noisy, but the wind was somewhat cold and sharp. The mask shop welcomed another group of customers. A person with white hair and eyebrows frosted with white stepped to the side of the black-clad swordsman, handed him a bowl of fermented rice balls with a high pile of shaved ice, and called out softly:

“A’juan.”

“You’re back,” Shen Juan took the bowl and smiled with his eyes curved.

The two didn’t seem to make any movement, but suddenly the evening wind shifted, and the two figures, one black and one white, vanished from the street.

Looking up again, they were standing on a nearby roof.

Shen Juan sat cross-legged and began to eat the fermented rice balls in the bowl.

“Why give that to him?” Shen Jiankong asked.

“Didn’t you hear just now? I said he and the mask suit each other very well,” Shen Juan said with a chuckle, slowly finishing a spoonful of shaved ice and lifting his eyelids.

His gaze fell on the long street under the lights. After a moment, he said with a sigh, “That little girl from Tiger Drum Mountain has grown so much now.”

Shen Jiankong lowered his eyes, his face expressionless. “But she doesn’t have much time left.”

“According to my estimation, it would take another two hours to finish walking this street. By then the inn will be closed, and it’ll take some effort to get in. How about we stop here and come back tomorrow?”

In the bustling crowd, Qu Hanxing saw that Shi Tang had bought another pile of things and couldn’t help but feel a headache. After a moment’s thought, he looked far down the long street and gave a plausible reason to persuade Shi Tang to stop.

Mo Juntian felt that what Qu Hanxing said was very reasonable and nodded in agreement: “We’ve bought enough; let’s stop here for now.” If they kept wandering like this, he would be buried by the crowd and the things Shi Tang bought.

Xiao Man and Wei Chuyun didn’t speak. Shi Tang looked at each of their faces, then turned to glance at the endless street and the sky. Realizing they had only wandered a short distance in nearly half an hour, she agreed: “Alright.”

Qu and Mo were as if granted a general amnesty, and carefully high-fived where Shi Tang couldn’t see.

They came to a somewhat quiet and open place, and Wei Chuyun summoned the Cloud Boat. The group returned to the inn.

Xiao Man and Mo Juntian changed into women’s clothing and asked Shi Tang to restyle their hair.

The inn was brightly lit; almost all the rooms had their lights on. After Xiao Man and the others had left, performance troupes from other places had moved in one after another. Even now, several pieces of luggage were parked in the courtyard, and many people were busy going in and out.

They weren’t staying alone; people in the rooms were talking about things from all over, their voices mixing together and making it quite noisy. Only the room at the end of the west wing was dark and quiet.

Xiao Man flicked his fingers to light the lamp, and Shi Tang put away her screen; the room was finally not so crowded.

On the table against the wall was a food box containing the meal sent by the inn. When they left in the evening, they had been in such a hurry that they forgot to say not to send food.

But that didn’t stop Qu Hanxing from opening the lid to see the dishes inside: four dishes and a soup, two meat and two vegetable, quite hearty.

The pot of tea Mo Juntian had brought up earlier had long since gone cold. Xiao Man replaced it and brewed a new pot, then asked, “Since you’ve found a job in the inn, will you be staying here at night too?”

Qu Hanxing picked up the chopsticks, intending to try the taste of these dishes. Hearing Xiao Man’s words, he stopped his movement, pointed in a direction, and said, “Yes, Brother Wei and I are staying next to Old Qian and the others—just in the backyard. You can hear us if anything happens here.”

He then added, “That room is slightly larger and brighter than this one. If you’re not comfortable living here, you can…”

Before he finished, Wei Chuyun suddenly reached out and made a downward motion, signaling everyone to be silent.

“The people next door seem strange,” Wei Chuyun whispered.

Within just a few sentences, he heard the door next door open several times, and people were constantly going in and out, occasionally mixed with low groans and panting.

Xiao Man also sensed something unusual, lightened his footsteps, walked to the door, and pulled the door open a crack.

The noise outside immediately squeezed in through the crack in the door—heavy and hurried footsteps, and very low cries of “Ouch, ouch” in pain.

When he swept his spiritual sense outside, the only ones with this abnormality were the girls of Wuxiu Hui.

“They’re all going to the latrine!” Qu Hanxing whispered in surprise.

“Could I have been right?” Mo Juntian remembered his earlier words in the restaurant, wishing that the Wuxiu Hui people would all be unaccustomed to the local climate.

“This is strange; let’s go ask.” Xiao Man said in a deep voice, opened the door fully, and walked out quickly.

Sister Qin was in her room, her heart divided in half—one half filled with anger, the other with worry. Having drunk two or three pots of cold tea, she still couldn’t calm down, pacing incessantly, occasionally stopping to glare in a certain direction, her fingertips almost picking a hole in her handkerchief.

“What happened?” Xiao Man walked in and got straight to the point.

Mo Juntian, following behind him, asked, “Are those girls unaccustomed to the local climate?”

“Unaccustomed to the climate?” Hearing those words, Sister Qin gave a cold laugh and then said through gritted teeth, “Yuntai Town and Shenjing are only half a day’s journey apart; how could they be unaccustomed to the climate!”

“Then why is it?” Xiao Man frowned slightly.

Sister Qin said hatefully, “They just fell for someone’s trap!”

“Someone poisoned the food?” A suspicion formed in Xiao Man’s heart.

She gave a “Hmph,” signaling her stance, walked to Xiao Man and Mo Juntian, scrutinized the two, and asked, “Are you two alright?”

“We just came back and haven’t eaten the food here,” Xiao Man said.

“What about Shi’er?”

“Her too.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” The worry on Sister Qin’s face finally lessened a bit. Suddenly remembering something, her face darkened again, and she said seriously, “From tomorrow on, I will personally cook and deliver all the food. You must not eat anything given by outsiders!”

Xiao Man and Mo Juntian naturally nodded.

“Also, this matter must not be publicized. If the higher-ups find out, they might remove us from the festival performance!” Sister Qin added.

At this moment, the woman who followed her returned, closed the door behind her, and said in a low voice:

“I’ve already gotten medicine from a doctor I know and brewed it there before coming back. I just sent it to the girls. Now that the night is dark and the wind is high, should we take this opportunity to retaliate?”

“Retaliate?” Sister Qin ground her teeth. “I’ve dealt with that shrew for how many years? That’s exactly what she’s planning; she’s on guard right now, waiting for us to act so she can make a scene. In the end, we’ll still be the ones to suffer!”

The woman frowned. “Do we just have to endure it then?”

Sister Qin glared in that direction again, her chest heaving violently. After a long time, she answered unwillingly, “Endure it!”

With the matter settled, Xiao Man and Mo Juntian exchanged glances, both understanding the reason.

—The evening food of Wuxiu Hui had been tampered with, which was just a follow-up to the dispute over the road outside the city in the afternoon.

He and Mo Juntian returned to the small room at the end. Wei Chuyun and Qu Hanxing hadn’t left yet, and the latter was especially full of interest after hearing that the food had been poisoned.

“I’ve lived this long and never been poisoned.” Qu Hanxing picked up the chopsticks, crossed his legs, and shook them. “Let me try and see how powerful the poison of these mortals is, and if I’ll also have to go to the latrine trip after trip after eating it.”

“Hey…” Mo Juntian reached out to him.

But he couldn’t stop Qu Hanxing from seeking poison to eat. He quickly went for one of the meat dishes, picked up a slice of meat, and put it in his mouth.

In a moment, a look of surprise appeared on Qu Hanxing’s face: “Hiss—”

“What?” Xiao Man stepped forward and asked with concern.

Qu Hanxing didn’t answer immediately. He closed his mouth, tasted the meat over and over, swallowed it, and said in wonder, “Are people nowadays so generous with their poison? This dish actually has quite a lot of spiritual energy.”

“Huh?”

This was an “Huh” with a rising tone, full of doubt and confusion.

Xiao Man pulled out a new pair of chopsticks, picked up a slice of meat as well, and put it in his mouth.

“How is it?” Qu Hanxing leaned forward and asked with great interest.