Meister der Mehrdeutigkeit

Kapitel 94

"Wow, if God really had eyes, he would have struck me dead with lightning long ago. Why would I need to swear a solemn oath?" Qi Xiu scoffed. "Hero, will you help me this time? Okay?"

"Okay!" Xiaoxiao stood up from the bed, raised her arms, and shouted.

"Xiaoxiao, you are such a good child!" Qi Xiu praised.

Xiao Xiao laughed happily, her bright eyes looking at Huai Ren. "Xiao Xiao is a good child!"

Seeing this, Huai Ren had no choice but to sit back down at the table and pick up his pen.

“Hero, you’re not drawing it right,” Qi Xiu said, leaning closer.

“Exactly the same, what’s wrong?” Huai Ren frowned, dissatisfied.

"No emotion whatsoever!" Qi Xiu said seriously. "You can't underestimate erotic art! Every stroke must have emotion! It must make people blush, their hearts race, and their noses bleed. There's an art to it! Otherwise, who would buy it?!"

"..." Huai Ren held the pen, looked at her, and remained silent.

“Come on, let me demonstrate!” Qi Xiu grabbed the brush and began to draw. “This woman, you should draw her like this, softer…”

She was too close; her hair fell onto his shoulder and lightly brushed his cheek. The intimate closeness made him momentarily lost in thought.

He took the pen from her hand with one hand and pushed her aside with the other, saying, "When you ask someone to do something, don't point fingers. Get out of the way."

Qi Xiu was about to retort when she saw his serious expression, as if he were embarrassed. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Then I won't bother you anymore. Thanks!" she said, turning and leaving.

Huai Ren glanced at the erotic pictures on the table, about to sigh, when he saw Xiao Xiao leaning over the table, holding the pictures up and studying them intently. So he sighed heavily and poked her head with the end of his pen, "You don't learn the good stuff, you only learn the bad!"

Xiao Xiao just smiled foolishly and didn't say anything.

...

About an hour later, he put down his pen, rubbed his shoulders, looked at the stack of paintings on the table, and smiled with satisfaction.

Xiao Xiao had already fallen asleep on the table, but her little hands were still tightly clutching a book of erotic pictures.

He smiled helplessly, got up, picked her up, and placed her on the bed. He wanted to pull out the erotic picture book, but she was holding it too tightly. Afraid that pulling the book out forcefully would wake her, he had no choice but to let her be. He covered her with the blanket, sat back down at the table, and picked up his pen to write.

Just then, a faint sound alerted him. He put down his pen, walked to the window, opened it a crack, and looked out.

A silver figure flashed past and disappeared out of the cave.

He frowned, thought it over and over, then pushed open the door and followed them out.

...

...I'm indicating that doing bad things should be done at night = =+...

Walking west from Xiufeng Village for about half an hour, you'll reach the town. In the dead of night, all is quiet, and the town is serene.

Under the moonlight, someone was hurrying across the rooftops. The person was dressed in silver, wearing a feather mask, clearly not of respectable appearance. Judging from their figure, it was a woman. Her movements were light and graceful, as if she were riding the wind.

In a short while, she landed in the courtyard of a house. This was the residence of the Zhang family, a local gentry. The Zhang family was the head of the gentry and very wealthy, and they had guards patrolling the area at night. She carefully avoided the guards and arrived at the front of a house.

The room was heavily locked, clearly indicating it was no ordinary place. She took out her tools from her bosom, and in a few swift movements, unlocked the door and slipped inside.

The room was indeed filled with all sorts of treasures. Calligraphy, paintings, antiques, gold and silver jewelry—a dazzling array that left one in awe.

She looked around, then took a square piece of cloth from her bosom. She wasn't picky; she picked up a few things, put them in the cloth, and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, shouts came from the doorway.

"You audacious thief! Where do you think you're going to run to today!"

Dozens of guards surrounded the house and shouted loudly.

She leisurely slung her treasures over her shoulder and walked to the door.

When everyone saw her come out, they all gritted their teeth and were filled with resentment.

"Silver Owl!" Zhang, the local gentry, stepped out from the crowd and shouted, "You shameless scoundrel, you have committed numerous evils. Today I will arrest you and take you to the authorities! I will rid the people of this scourge!"

She stood there leisurely, unconcerned.

"How dare you! You even announce it beforehand, as if you want everyone to know you're the one who's up to no good!" the old gentry roared. "Such blatant disregard for the law and utter arrogance! Whoever catches him will be richly rewarded!"

After he finished speaking, the guards around him surged forward with great momentum.

The woman called "Silver Owl" drew her soft sword from her waist and leaped into battle.

She moved with incredible agility, and despite the ruthless attacks of the guards, they couldn't even touch her clothes. Although she carried a soft sword, she didn't use it for killing; she simply moved among the crowd as if it were a game.

Suddenly, one of the guards rushed forward and threw a packet of powder into her eyes.

She hadn't expected this turn of events. Before she could dodge, the powder touched her eyes, causing a burning pain. Her vision went black, and she immediately lost her composure.

"Quick! Seize her!" Zhang, the local gentry, shouted upon seeing this.

She could only hear the whistling of blades around her, and fear gripped her heart.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed in, and the screams of the guards rang in my ears.

Just as she was feeling surprised, someone picked her up around the waist and leaped onto the roof.

Gradually, the shouts and yells of the guards faded away and could no longer be heard.

"You're quite familiar with Dao Zhi, aren't you?" A leisurely voice rang out above her, startling her. Although she couldn't see, she recognized the voice immediately.

"You, you, you are..." she stammered, unable to express herself clearly.

Huai Ren raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Since you're going to steal things to sell for money, why did you make me draw so many erotic pictures? Are you deliberately getting revenge on me?"

"I, I, I..." she couldn't speak.

He smiled and shook his head. "Alright, I'll take you back."

"Wait..." she tugged at his sleeve, "Take me somewhere first..."

Where to?

She paused, somewhat unsure of herself, and answered softly, "To sell stolen goods..."

...

Extra: Happy Spring is Coming [Part 2]

In the south of the town, there is a wine shop.

The wine shop sells the most ordinary wines. If there's anything special about it, it's that the entire place, inside and out, is filled with women.

Before entering the liquor store, Huai Ren only thought it was a place to sell stolen goods disguised as a liquor store. But afterwards, he realized that this small liquor store was a place with a lot of secrets.

The storefront of the wine shop was only a little over ten feet wide; inside was the wine cellar. After entering the cellar, the girl who had led the way pushed open a hidden door and smiled, gesturing for them to go in.

Upon seeing the scene behind the door, Huai Ren was astonished.

It was a courtyard about three zhang square, with a small pond dug in the middle, planted with lotus flowers and koi carp. Palace lanterns hung all around the courtyard, making it as bright as day.

A voluptuous woman in her early thirties swayed gracefully towards them and said, "Oh, Xiuxiu, what shameful things have you been up to in the middle of the night?"

Qi Xiu's eyes were still burning and she couldn't open them, so she just gave a few perfunctory replies.

The woman noticed her eyes, frowned, and stepped forward.

"It's just ordinary stone powder, nothing to worry about," Huai Ren said.

After hearing this, the woman glanced at Huai Ren, then had the girl beside her help Qi Xiu to lie down on the couch, and then brought clean water to clean her eyes.

After cleaning up, the woman picked up the "stolen goods" and said, "The brothel owner has gone to the main headquarters, so let's leave these things here for now. Xiaoyue just came back and said that the town is making a fuss about catching a big thief, so you should hide here for now and leave at dawn." After saying that, she led the girl beside her out.

Once the others left, only Qi Xiu and Huai Ren remained in the courtyard. An unnatural silence lingered between the two.

"Uh..." Qi Xiu began, then hesitated. After thinking it over, she said, "You absolutely cannot tell Aheng about what happened today."

Huai Ren stood up, walked to the edge of the pond, and looked at the koi carp in it. "Your martial arts skills are not weak, why don't you teach him?"

Qi Xiu sighed, "If he learns martial arts, he'll definitely seek revenge. At that point, he won't have enough lives to live on..."

Huai Ren watched the koi swimming gracefully in the pond and said, "I heard him say that he was looking for his father's killer. But you sound like you know who the enemy is."

After a long silence, Qi Xiu finally spoke, "If you were me, you definitely wouldn't tell him either."

Huai Ren didn't take it seriously and said, "Are you trying to tell me that your enemy is the imperial court?"

Qi Xiu smiled, "That's not it..." She sighed softly, a hint of coldness creeping into her usually bright tone, "Han Qing, the Ghost Master, have you ever heard of that name?"

He was startled and turned to look at her.

Her eyesight hadn't fully recovered, so she couldn't see his expression. Seeing him suddenly turn around, she laughed and said, "Looks like you've heard about it, and you're scared, aren't you! Hehe..."

He felt a chill in his heart. He tried hard to recall, but he could not remember what he had done.

"He was once a military advisor under Marshal Yue Fei, renowned for his literary and military talents. But, you probably didn't know, he once fought against nine different martial arts sects..."

At this moment, he could only remain silent.

"...Hundreds of years ago, the Qi family forged nine weapons, collectively known as the 'Nine Emperors' Divine Weapons.' 'He who possesses the Nine Emperors' Weapons possesses the world,' and everyone in the martial world desired these nine divine weapons. My elder brother, though a bandit, also wanted to see these world-renowned artifacts. Five years ago, he discovered that the Huo family of Lingnan possessed one of the 'Nine Emperors' Divine Weapons,' so he infiltrated the Huo family, intending to steal it. Unexpectedly, the Ghost Master also came for the artifacts, and in one night, he wiped out the entire Huo family. Before the head of the Huo family died..." He entrusted the artifact to a servant. Unfortunately, that servant was my brother in disguise. He thought he'd gotten a good deal, but instead, he incurred a deadly wrath…” Qi Xiu said, then sighed with a smile, “He was quite capable, managing to return to Xiufeng Village with severe injuries, but he only uttered the four words ‘Ghost Master Han Qing’ to me… Revenge was a minor matter, but after my brother left, Xiufeng Village fell apart, and later, it was pursued by the government, with all the men conscripted into the army…”

A chill ran through his veins, making his fingers icy cold.

"Ha, how about it? Isn't it pathetic?" Qi Xiu laughed. "To be honest, if I turned this into a story and sang it on the street, I might make a fortune, hehe!"

"You..." His voice was slightly hoarse, "You really don't want revenge?"

Qi Xiu rubbed his eyes, stood up, and exaggeratedly said, "Ghost Master Han Qing! I heard that he is eight feet tall, with arms three feet long, a face as black as ink, eyes like copper bells, a voice like a booming bell, invulnerable to swords and spears, able to punch tigers in the South Mountain and kick dragons in the East Sea, able to summon wind and rain, and is omnipotent... If I go to seek revenge, wouldn't I be courting death?"

He froze, somewhat unable to process what was happening.

"What if you had the chance to kill him?" he asked after a moment.

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Hero, I'm not good at thinking 'what if'..." Qi Xiu said with exaggerated grief and indignation, "Actually, sometimes when I think about it, the Ghost Master has killed so many people, he probably can't even remember who's who. When I take revenge, I'll probably have to tell him this whole story... Sigh, that's what you call tragic!"

Qi Xiu walked to his side by the dim light, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "That's why I say, it's the people who suffer the most! 'Revenge' is useless; it doesn't bring in money or fill your stomach. People should just live their lives down-to-earth!"

The silence made Qi Xiu feel a little awkward. She withdrew her hand, her vision still blurry and she couldn't see clearly.

"I've never told anyone about this..." Her voice was slightly low, but she used a bright tone to mask her emotions. "Hehe, just listen and don't remember it too well."

He couldn't help but smile wryly and nodded.

"Oh, right..." she began, sincerely, "Thank you for saving me! We'll sell the stuff and have a 37-day meal!"

He didn't answer, but gently took her hand. "It's almost dawn... I'll take you home."