Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Jun Zishu felt that she had already gotten ahold of Shen Zheyan’s weakness. Shen Zheyan couldn’t withstand the power of her coquettish eyes, and her heart would almost always soften whenever she looked at them. Shen Zheyan also couldn’t bear to see her cry. So long as she cried, Shen Zheyan would instantly compromise.
Shen Zheyan carried Jun Zishu all the way back to the inn. After arriving at the inn’s entrance, Jun Zishu got off Shen Zheyan’s back and held the latter’s arm as they made their way inside.
“There’s a smell on you.”
Shen Zheyan took a whiff of Jun Zishu’s body and frowned unhappily.
“I’ll go wash up immediately,” Jun Zishu said. Then, she hummed a happy tune as she went to look for an inn attendant.
Originally, Jun Zishu had planned to stain herself with the brothel’s smell before returning to the inn to anger Shen Zheyan. However, she did not expect Shen Zheyan to head to the brothel. Now that Shen Zheyan’s anger had only subsided recently and the atmosphere between them was relatively good, Jun Zishu decided to be obedient and not provoke Shen Zheyan any further.
Meanwhile, Shen Zheyan also had the attendant prepare some hot water for her. Although her visit to the brothel was brief, some of the brothel’s nauseatingly fragrant scent had still attached itself to her.
After the two washed up, they returned to their rooms and prepared for bed.
Similar to before, Jun Zishu earnestly set up the bed for both herself and Shen Zheyan. Although she had cunningly tricked Shen Zheyan into sleeping under the same blanket with her yesterday, she still needed to keep up her act.
“No need for two blankets. We can just sleep together.”
When Shen Zheyan recalled the trouble she had to go through to cover Jun Zishu with a blanket yesterday, she immediately stopped Jun Zishu’s actions. She no longer felt awkward about sleeping together with Jun Zishu now, in any case. So, they might as well share the same blanket.
“Sorry for having a bad sleeping habit,” Jun Zishu said, putting on an embarrassed look. After tucking herself under the same blanket as Shen Zheyan, though, the corners of her lips curved up slightly.
In reality, Jun Zishu had a very disciplined sleeping habit in her original world. She was the type of person who slept and woke up in exactly the same posture. Apart from the area she slept on, the other areas of her bed wouldn’t have a single wrinkle.
However, she was completely capable of altering her sleeping habits for the sake of her character setting. She was just that dedicated of a person.
…
After a dreamless night, Jun Zishu woke up the next morning to the news of the city gates being reopened. According to what she heard, the magistrate had recovered the item he had lost.
“It seems the law enforcement here is much better than I thought,” Wei Zinan exclaimed in surprise. He wasn’t aware of what had transpired yesterday. Originally, he thought that the item stolen from the magistrate would vanish forever. After all, the thief he saw yesterday was incredibly skilled, so it should be difficult for the local law enforcement to do anything about the stolen item.
Meanwhile, Jun Zishu secretly snickered when she heard Wei Zinan’s words. However, she did not bother enlightening Wei Zinan. Shen Zheyan also kept her silence on yesterday’s matter.
According to Little Fairy, Ying Rushi was still alive and well. He wasn’t missing any arms or legs.
Even though the city gates were opened again, the crowd of travelers gathered in the city had yet to leave. After yesterday’s interruption, Young Miss Bai’s marriage competition had to be halted temporarily, so everyone was still waiting for the competition to resume.
Young Miss Bai should also still be unconscious right now. The drug Jun Zishu administered yesterday should keep her asleep for two days.
Jun Zishu couldn’t help but wonder what kind of expression Bai Wanjia would make once the girl realized that the stolen item had been recovered. Although Jun Zishu was indeed related to the theft, her involvement wasn’t officially recorded on paper, and few people actually knew about it.
In the afternoon, Ying Rushi came to meet with Jun Zishu and say goodbye.
“Yo. It seems like you’re still fine,” Jun Zishu said as she casually took a sip of tea and looked at the uninvited guest in her room.
“Y-Y-You! You heartless monster!” Ying Rushi cursed as he limped into the room, his gait not very smooth.
Ying Rushi felt so aggrieved that he could die right now. Not only did he lose his precious jade, but he had even received a long scolding from the masked man for stealing the jade, saying that the magistrate didn’t snatch the jade and that it was something the original owner had given to the magistrate. Feeling unreconciled, Ying Rushi naturally retaliated on the spot and countered the masked man by insisting that the magistrate was a corrupt official abusing his authority. Meanwhile, upset by his words, the masked man threatened to hand him over to the magistrate.
There was no way Ying Rushi would let himself be taken to the magistrate, so he naturally started a fight with the masked man. Needless to say, the fight ended with Ying Rushi receiving a one-sided beating.
At that time, Ying Rushi was left with only one other option, and that was to cry like a baby and plead the masked man for mercy. However, in the process of doing so, he had accidentally pulled off the masked man’s mask. Then, what happened next was an absolute nightmare for Ying Rushi—the now-unmasked man had said that he needed to take responsibility for it since he had seen his face.
Thus, Ying Rushi, dressed as a woman, ended up getting xxx by the masked man the entire night. Fortunately, when he woke up in the morning, the masked man was nowhere to be seen, so he quickly fled and visited Jun Zishu to complain about her betrayal last night as well as bid her goodbye while he was at it.
“You need to learn how to be considerate of others as well. I had no choice but to abandon you last night. Not to mention, aren’t you perfectly fine right now?”
Jun Zishu didn’t ask what Ying Rushi had experienced last night. She didn’t really care, either. It was fine so long as Ying Rushi was alive and in one piece.
“You have no idea what kind of price I paid,” Ying Rushi grumbled. Though, he also knew that he was largely to blame for what he experienced last night. If he hadn’t pleaded like a baby and accidentally hit that man’s mask yesterday, the situation might not have developed in that direction.
That masked man was simply an inhumane beast!
Though, it did feel a little good near the end…
“How big of a price did you pay?” Jun Zishu asked, growing a little curious.
“I don’t want to say it! You have no idea how annoying that bastard is! Not only did he return my jade to that corrupt official, but he even preached to me that stealing is bad! He’s preaching such nonsense to me! A thief! Isn’t this ludicrous?” Ying Rushi said, rolling his eyes. He was known as the best thief in the world of martial artists. Preaching nonsense like that to him was no different than talking to a wall.
Jun Zishu did not voice her opinion on this matter. The reason why Ying Rushi was a thief was that a thief had brought him up. The idea of stealing from the rich and helping the poor had long since been ingrained in Ying Rushi’s mind.
As for whether Ying Rushi was good or evil, Jun Zishu couldn’t say for certain. After all, one normally wouldn’t think that a good person would become a thief. Although Ying Rushi operated like a martial world Robin Hood, it still didn’t change the fact that he was a thief. However, Ying Rushi couldn’t be considered an evil person, either. After all, he had never killed or injured anyone before. He was too weak for that.
“You were too cruel and merciless last night,” Ying Rushi complained again.
“You have the nerve to say that to me? What happened yesterday was an unexpected disaster for me, okay? I didn’t tell you to steal from the magistrate, and neither did I tell you to shove the stolen item to me. Did you know that someone saw what you did yesterday? After you left, that person instantly accused me. There is also last night’s incident. I want nothing more than to smash your head in right now,” Jun Zishu said, gnashing her teeth. The smile on her face had also vanished when she recalled impromptu changes she had to make to her plans last night.
“Mhm… When you put it that way…”
“If you want to escape, get lost immediately. If you want to play lovers with that man, then stay.”
“Who wants to play lovers with him?!”
“Why are you still babbling nonsense here, then? Do you think you won’t get caught?”
“Goodbye, goodbye.”
After Ying Rushi left and no other sound came from the room, Shen Zheyan opened the door and walked in.
“Have you been waiting outside the door this entire time?”
“I only waited for a while. How did you get acquainted with him?”
The world of martial artists was filled with good people and bad people. If Shen Zheyan were to be honest, she didn’t have a good impression of thieves. However, she didn’t have any particularly bad impressions about thieves, either. In the case of Ying Rushi, she admired his qinggong and nothing more.
“We met long ago. Our professions are somewhat related, after all. He’s a thief, while I’m a flower thief,” Jun Zishu lied without batting an eye. However, she didn’t bother elaborating any further to avoid exposing herself. If she got caught lying so soon after yesterday’s incident, she would end up in an even more miserable state.
“……” Shen Zheyan was rendered speechless by Jun Zishu’s words.
“Well, it’s true that our professions are similar. It’s just that he steals items while I steal people, cough, cough, cough,” Jun Zishu said. Then, when she noticed Shen Zheyan’s gaze suddenly turning sharp, she hurriedly shook her head and said, “Forget what I just said. I never have and never will steal people.”
…
After staying in Weishui City for a few more days, Jun Zishu, Shen Zheyan, and Wei Zinan decided to leave. Although the Bai family had decided to rehost its marriage competition in a few days, none of them were interested in participating. So, after discussing among themselves, they decided to set off for Hangzhou City.
The river flowing down south was covered in a light mist. While taking in a mouthful of mist and enjoying the beautiful scenery, Jun Zishu said, “It feels quite nice to live here.”
“Do you like this place?”
“I just think that this place is beautiful. Also, the weather here is good for the skin,” Jun Zishu said as she rubbed her cheeks. Unlike the moist air in Weishui City, the air over at the Demon Cult’s main headquarters was dry most of the year.
“Why don’t you settle down here in the future, then?”
“Hm? Settle down? You and me? I haven’t thought that far yet,” Jun Zishu said, feeling a little surprised as she tilted her head to look at Shen Zheyan.
“It doesn’t have to be with me. Didn’t you say that you like this place? In that case, you can live here,” Shen Zheyan quickly corrected herself, realizing that she had been a little impulsive just now. She hadn’t thought it through when she made her suggestion about settling down in Weishui City.
The world of martial artists was a big place, and the two of them were still young. Not to mention, once they reached the end of their journey, there was bound to be a day when they parted ways.
As the saying went, all good things came to an end.
However, Shen Zheyan also couldn’t help but find herself behaving a little strangely. When she thought about parting ways with Wei Zinan, she felt that she could do so at any time and without lingering feelings. Yet, when she thought about parting ways with Jun Zishu, feelings of anxiety and reluctance welled up within her.
It was as if her feelings were telling her that they could keep on traveling and wandering about together. Then, once they grew tired, they could settle down at a picturesque place and live a leisurely life together.
“Liking a place doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever,” Jun Zishu said, shrugging. Then, she gently stroked her long hair and let it fall on her back.
Jun Zishu’s words entered Shen Zheyan’s and Wei Zinan’s ears. However, the two of them showed different reactions.
Shen Zheyan was stunned when she heard Jun Zishu’s words, failing to understand why her childhood friend would say such words. Based on her understanding of Jun Zishu’s personality, she thought that the girl was the type to use whatever means possible to stay close to what she liked. Yet, what Jun Zishu just said contradicted Shen Zheyan’s assumptions.
As for Wei Zinan, he revealed a bitter smile when he heard Jun Zishu’s words. Then, he covered his face with his folding fan and fell into thought.
Wei Zinan felt that Jun Zishu’s words made a lot of sense. Even if he liked someone, he didn’t have to stay by this person’s side. Not to mention, the person he liked only treated him as a friend that she could part ways with at any time.
“It is enough to visit some places once in a lifetime. Although I like this place, I don’t plan to live here,” Jun Zishu said, chuckling carefreely.
Shen Zheyan felt that her understanding of Jun Zishu had been refreshed, and she couldn’t help but view her little friend in a new light.
Shen Zheyan had always thought that Jun Zishu was a cheerful and clingy girl who loved to act spoiled. However, after listening to Jun Zishu’s carefree words, Shen Zheyan felt an indescribable sense of panic.