Eternal Night - Chapter 101
"Great hero, you are so righteous and chivalrous! You saved Little Pockmarked Boy and even gave him silver. Little Pockmarked Boy... has no home and wishes to follow you on your chivalrous journey. Please take him in." Yongye blurted out these words without thinking, determined to follow Feng Yangxi no matter what.
Since she had nowhere to go anyway, and Youli Valley already knew her identity, even if she returned to the Duan Prince's Mansion, Youli Valley would still come looking for her. She might as well go with Feng Yangxi. He was highly skilled in martial arts, and the people from Youli Valley wouldn't fare well if they came looking for her. Besides, Yongye thought that Feng Yangxi's return to An Kingdom from Chen Kingdom was most likely to seek revenge on Xinghun; it was safest to be in the darkest place.
Yongye's eyes were blurred with tears, and he cried with snot and tears streaming down his face.
Feng Yangxi looked at her, seemingly unable to handle her tears, and spread his hands awkwardly, saying, "I am a wanderer of the martial world, I roam the world without a home, you will suffer if you follow me."
"Don't worry! Little Pockmarked comes from a poor family and is used to working as a servant. Great hero, the horse is still here, I'll lead it for you!" Yongye jumped in front of the horse, grabbed the reins, and looked back at Feng Yangxi ingratiatingly.
“This horse belongs to someone else, so it should be returned.” Feng Yangxi smiled at her, still looking disheveled in his black clothes, his eyes gleaming with a sense of justice.
Send it back? Back to Jihua Fang? Yongye immediately frowned: "I dare not go back."
Feng Yangxi strode up to her and said seriously, "It's okay to make mistakes, as long as you correct them. Return the horse, and I'll take you as my servant. Let's go."
Yongye suddenly regretted following him. After hearing Feng Yangxi's words, she wanted to roll her eyes.
"By the way, my name is Feng Yangxi! What's your name?"
"Just call me Little Pockmarked. My parents have called me Little Pockmarked since I was born. I don't have any other name."
"How old are you, Little Pockmarked Boy?"
"eighteen."
“Following me is not a solution. In the future, you will need to settle down, get married, and have children, unlike me who wanders the world.”
Yongye sighed and shook his head: "Who would want to marry an ugly and poor pockmarked man? Master Feng, you don't need to worry about me."
Feng Yangxi stopped and looked at Yongye seriously, asking, "What do you think of my appearance?"
Yongye scrutinized him closely. He didn't have Li Tianrui's strikingly handsome features, nor Li Tianyou's refined appearance, nor Yuepo's handsome face. His large beard, covering half his face, gave him an unsettlingly unkempt look; only his sharp, alluring eyes beneath his thick eyebrows stood out. To call him handsome was an understatement; he was more accurately described as disheveled and unkempt.
Feng Yangxi sighed and said seriously, "You don't need to feel inferior. Actually, you're just a little dark-skinned and have a lot of pockmarks on your face. As long as you have a kind heart, good girls will fight to marry you. Maybe even a daughter of a prestigious family will take a liking to you. The other day, Li the Cripple who nails horseshoes at the alley entrance married an eighteen-year-old girl."
Yongye thought of the old cripple behind the flower shop who repaired horseshoes, with a few yellow teeth missing and a lisp. Had he married an eighteen-year-old girl? Yongye suddenly felt an urge to vomit up the rabbit meat.
She nodded vigorously, looking at Feng Yangxi gratefully and saying, "It is truly Little Ma Zi's blessing to be able to follow Master Feng. Little Ma Zi understands now. Although Master Feng's face is a bit dirty and his beard is a bit unkempt, he has a kind heart. Even Young Master Mo Yu is not as handsome as Master Feng."
Feng Yangxi coughed awkwardly twice. What kind of analogy was this? Comparing him to the top courtesan of the Peony Courtyard, the Jade Prince? He turned his face away and said, "We've arrived at the Flower Collection Shop. Go return the horse!"
"I'm scared, Little Pockmarked never wants to go to that kind of place again!"
"It's alright, I'm here, nothing will happen. You're returning the horse honorably, what are you afraid of?"
Yongye chuckled twice, a question nagging at her. Why did she feel like Feng Yangxi was playing a trick on her? She slowly led her horse into the flower market.
She was still wearing the clothes of a servant from the Peony Courtyard. The people in the flower market looked at her like she was crazy. They all knew about the servant's madness and horse-stealing incident last night, and couldn't help but sigh, "He ran away and came back? He'll be skinned alive, if not dead."
She walked to the peony courtyard, but no one paid her any attention. Yongye turned around, and Feng Yangxi stood not far away, encouraging her with his eyes. She sighed and shouted, "Whose horse is this?! Come and take it back! Little Pockmarked Boy drank too much last night and was too embarrassed to ride it away, so he's come to return it today!"
Her voice was loud enough for everyone in Jihuafang to hear. But after standing there for a while, no one came out to claim it. Yongye strode to the entrance of the Peony Courtyard, put the reins in the hand of the gatekeeper, and said loudly, "Anyone who has lost a horse, come and claim it! Little Pockmarked has been very rude."
After saying that, he strode away.
He had only taken a few steps when he heard a furious roar behind him: "You little pockmarked brat! Your indenture is still in my hands, where do you think you're going? Come back here!"
A contract of servitude? When did she ever sign a contract of servitude? Yongye turned around in surprise, and saw the madam of the Peony Courtyard standing at the door with her hands on her hips, glaring at her.
"Mom, I don't want this month's wages. I don't think I signed a contract to sell myself into servitude, did I?"
"What is this? It's written in black and white, and even has a fingerprint on it! An Guolu wrote it clearly and plainly. I spent two taels of silver to buy you, and you dare to run away? Catch me back!" The madam's voice was ten times louder than Yongye's. With a wave of her fat hand, five or six guards rushed out of the Peony Courtyard and surrounded Yongye.
Yongye thought to herself that Youligu's bad idea was terrible but effective, and now was not the time to reason. She couldn't show off her martial arts in front of Feng Yangxi, so she could only shout at the top of her lungs, "Great Hero Feng, help me! I didn't sign a contract of servitude! They're kidnapping me! Help!"
"Little Pockmarked Boy, I'm here!"
Yongye was grabbed by the arms by two guards and desperately turned his head to look. "Hero Feng, save me!"
"Oh my! Isn't this the famous Swordsman Feng? Look, it's written clearly in black and white. Little Pockmarked Man voluntarily sells himself to my Peony Courtyard for two taels of silver. Swordsman Feng, you must uphold justice!" The madam presented the contract of sale to Feng Yangxi.
He glanced at you, sighed, and said, "Little Pockmarked Boy, since you've signed a contract of servitude, how dare I take you away? I don't have any money to redeem you!"
"Master Feng, even if you have the money, you should ask this old woman if she's willing! This is a contract with no future for you!"
Yongye watched their back-and-forth banter, her heart sinking. Had Feng Yangxi recognized her? She had always feigned illness in front of him, most afraid that he would find out she was the assassin Xinghun. Remembering the stab wound she'd inflicted on him in Chen, she dared not use her martial arts skills in front of Feng Yangxi. He recognized her; she had no choice but to find a way to escape. Yongye wasn't afraid of the two guards holding her; she was thinking about how to escape from Feng Yangxi. Or perhaps, once inside the Peony Courtyard, with Feng Yangxi gone, things would be easier.
Feng Yangxi slowly walked to her side and sighed, "You took someone else's money and sold yourself. How can you go back on your word and break your promise? I even wanted to help you be a good person."
Yongye rolled his eyes and said with a mournful face, "I'm sorry, Master Feng, although Little Pockmarked is a bit ugly, he really doesn't want to stay in the Peony Courtyard, so I lied to you."
Feng Yangxi shook his head, his face full of sadness: "I sincerely wanted to help you, and you actually deceived me!"
Yongye lowered her head, her face filled with shame, hoping Feng Yangxi would leave quickly, the farther the better. She was increasingly convinced that Feng Yangxi was the kind of hypocrite who spouted benevolence and morality but harbored evil intentions. Unexpectedly, Feng Yangxi's tone shifted abruptly: "I hate nothing more than those who deceive me and frame me for injustice!" She heard a sudden gust of wind, and before she could shake off the guard's hand, Feng Yangxi's palm struck Yongye heavily on the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious.
Feng Yangxi coldly snorted at her, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to the madam: "Never let this kind of person out to harm others again! I'll take my leave!"
The madam was overjoyed, repeatedly thanking Feng Yangxi. She gave him a wink, and several guards quickly grabbed Yongye and dragged her into the Peony Courtyard. The madam watched Feng Yangxi leave before lifting her skirt and hurriedly entering the courtyard.
A moment later, a white dove flew out of the Peony Courtyard.
Feng Yangxi stared at the pigeon, shrugged, and muttered, "Little Pockmarked Boy, selling you to the Peony Courtyard might not be such a bad thing after all."
Following the white dove, Feng Yangxi headed north. He was determined to find out Youli Valley's hideout in Anguo. Peony Courtyard was in the open, so Youli Valley must have another secret base in Anguo. He heard that Young Master Moyu was ill and not receiving guests. Feng Yangxi thought that Moyu must have left Peony Courtyard. The guards who rushed out of Peony Courtyard today were just ordinary strong men, so Peony Courtyard was obviously just for show.
Since Little Pockmarked Girl was important, she wouldn't be in danger for the time being. Feng Yangxi squinted and followed Bai Ge, deciding to turn back and rescue her. He didn't know that at the same time Bai Ge released her, three carriages left through the back gate of Peony Courtyard.
The white dove finally flew into a teahouse and landed in the hand of a fat man.