Chapter 321: A Little Fright

Pan Yun jumped off the roof and walked straight toward a room.

Qu Le stared blankly, looked left and right, and only then realized this was an inn.

Without knowing it, they had ended up on the roof of an inn.

Pan Yun pushed the door open and went straight in. Seeing Miao Zhen also flew down from the roof with lightfoot skill, followed inside carrying the cat, and slammed the door shut with a bang, no longer paying him any attention.

Inside the room, Wang Cong let out a breath of relief, pulled the quilt up to his chin, closed his eyes, and went back to sleep.

The moment he closed his eyes, however, he heard light footsteps heading toward his door.

Wang Cong had no choice but to open his eyes, muttering to himself—when will this ever end? He still had to go to the money shop tomorrow to exchange for silver. Could he get any sleep tonight?

The footsteps stopped before his door. He felt his door being pushed once, but it didn't open. The person at the door paused, then turned and left. Shortly after, the sound of a door being gently pushed came from the next room, followed by the soft sound of footsteps walking in…

Wang Cong: …

In his life he had seen plenty—had seen "chivalrous heroes" rob the rich to aid the poor, and rob the rich to aid themselves—but he had never seen a "chivalrous hero" sneak into an inn to stay the night.

Wang Cong squeezed his eyes shut, turned over, pulled up the quilt, and went back to sleep.

Can't even afford an inn, yet he wants to pay ten thousand taels of gold to join Mount Sanqing?

Dream on.

The next day, Wang Cong opened his door. The moment he stepped over the threshold, he heard the door of the next room open as well.

He couldn't help but turn his head to look.

A young man dressed entirely in black shirt and black trousers opened his door at the same time and stepped out.

The moment they saw each other, both paused and looked at one another.

Qu Le found this person very annoying, always looking at him with a half-smile.

So he glared fiercely at the other, walked out of his room, slammed the door shut with a bang, and swaggered off outside.

A waiter carrying a large teapot passed by, saw him, and froze for a moment, but the other was so brazen that he didn't react right away.

Only after the person had passed him did the waiter come to his senses and hurriedly called out, "Wait—when did you check in, sir?"

Qu Le acted as if he hadn't heard and quickened his pace.

Wang Cong stood at his doorway with arms folded, and hearing this said blandly, "Don't bother asking. He snuck in last night—a thief. Didn't pay, didn't book a room!"

The waiter's eyes went wide, and he hurried after him, but Qu Le had vanished in a flash.

The waiter ran back and asked anxiously, "Sir, that thief didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Not really," Wang Cong said. "It's just that my door was pushed a few times last night, gave me a fright. I thought it was some drunk who'd gotten the wrong room."

The waiter apologized profusely and, on behalf of the inn, offered him a free breakfast.

After a moment of silence, Wang Cong said, "Actually, there are three of us. My two companions were startled too."

Just then, Pan Yun's door opened, and she and Seeing Miao Zhen walked out with dark circles under their eyes, looking listless.

The waiter believed it at a glance.

Two little girls, having their door pushed by a thief at night—of course they'd be scared.

They must not have slept well last night, judging by those dark circles.

The waiter hurriedly apologized to Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen, then said, "To show our apology, our humble inn will provide the three of you with breakfast on the house…"

Pan Yun listened in a daze. Once the waiter left, she turned to look at Wang Cong standing nearby. "Why is the innkeeper apologizing?"

Wang Cong: "Last night a thief snuck into a room at the inn, right next to ours. He was discovered by the waiter this morning. The innkeeper thinks we were frightened, so the breakfast is an apology."

Pan Yun patted her chest and said, "I really was startled."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Little Xiao Shishu, this Qu Le really is no good—and broke too. He can't even scrape together money for an inn, so how could he come up with ten thousand taels of gold?"

Pan Yun's face darkened. "Even if he could produce it, Mount Sanqing wouldn't take him. With talent that bad, taking him as a disciple would be smashing our own signboard."

Seeing Miao Zhen was silent for a moment. "Didn't Little Xiao Shishu say his bone structure was excellent?"

Pan Yun's expression turned solemn. "Talent and bone structure are two different things. He's suited for martial arts; as for comprehending the Dao, forget it."

He can't draw in spiritual energy, so he can only enter the Dao through martial arts and brute-force training.

Someone like that is one in ten thousand. Pan Yun didn't think Qu Le was that kind of genius, so that was that—this money was never meant for her to earn.

Wang Cong: "That fellow in black is called Qu Le? The name sounds familiar. What's his connection to the Yangwu Qu family?"

Pan Yun thought for a moment, then said, "His uncle is the Wu Lin Alliance Leader."

"Oh, then it must be the Yangwu Qu family," Wang Cong said calmly. "His family is rich—super rich."

Pan Yun's heart stirred again for a moment, then she shook her head. "Forget it. Cultivation is for longevity. If I took him into Mount Sanqing, my senior martial brother would lose years off his life, and I would be killed on the spot by Fourth Senior Sister."

Wang Cong couldn't help but laugh. "Is his talent really that bad?"

"Last night we sat on your roof teaching a lesson for an hour. Did you not hear, or did you forget?"

Wang Cong cleared his throat lightly. "Little Xiao Shishu, you know I could hear it too, right? Disturbing someone's sweet dreams…"

Pan Yun shot him a sideways glare. Wang Cong immediately dropped it and said, "You must be hungry too. Go wash up first; it's almost time for breakfast."

The inn's free breakfast was delicious. The three ate until their bellies were round, then walked out of the inn together.

Wang Cong said, "I'm going to exchange for silver." He led over the rented ox cart. Seeing Miao Zhen went inside with him—actually to take out the sacks of copper coins he had left with her.

Wang Cong hoisted the sacks onto the ox cart and led the cart straight off to the money shop.

A few thugs who had been watching the inn exchanged glances and couldn't help muttering curses under their breath. "This is damned strange. I searched the rooms of him and those two girls—there's not even a single cloth bundle inside. Just where does all this copper coin come from every day?"

"Follow him and see how much he exchanges this time."

"We can't beat him either. The night before last we tried to waylay him and three of us got hurt—those guys are still laid up and can't move."

Pan Yun stood at the inn's entrance watching Wang Cong walk away, and sighed. "If that's not bandits, what is? Too bad Constable Zhou just won't admit it. He says even if we catch them, it's still a case between victim and bandit—we won't get the reward, and might end up locked up for questioning."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Little Xiao Shishu, are we really just going to let them go? Truly not going to deal with them?"

Pan Yun waved her hand. "We'll make our move when we're leaving Fucheng. That way we won't have to cooperate with the government office, and Constable Zhou won't have a reason to throw us in."

"Let's go. We're going to investigate Hua Buliu."

Pan Yun planned to find the two surviving victims; their homes were not in Fucheng, but in a county town and a village not far from Fucheng.

!. Read

Since they were closer to the village, she decided to go there first.

As soon as they left the city gate, Pan Yun placed Pan Xiaohei on her shoulder, grabbed Seeing Miao Zhen, and sped forward using lightness skill to take a shortcut to the village.

After running for a short while, Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen stopped in the forest and turned back.

Qu Le, who had been stealthily following them, couldn't stop in time; with a swift rustle, he flew over their heads from the tree branches, then crashed down with a clatter, breaking branches.

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen both stepped back one pace; he thudded onto the ground right before their feet.

Both looked down at him.

Qu Le reached up, plucked leaves from his head, propped himself up on his arms, raised his face to them, and spat out a mouthful of mud: "You knew I was following you all along?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Your tracking skills are terrible—how could you not know we knew?"

Pan Yun, annoyed by his delay, said: "We already broke off talks last night. Mount Sanqing refused to take you as a disciple. Why are you still here?"

Qu Le: "Ten thousand taels of gold..."

Pan Yun snapped back, "Do you have it?"

"If I produce it, will you promise to get Master Xuanmiao to accept me as a disciple?"

"No," Pan Yun said. "Your talent is too poor. If you could produce ten thousand taels of gold, I could at most guarantee you'll be taken in by my second senior brother—he's rank six."

Seeing Miao Zhen immediately swallowed her words; if he was rank six, it wasn't entirely unacceptable, so she fell silent.

Qu Le looked dazed. "Is my talent really that bad?"

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen both nodded—it was that bad.

Qu Le was deeply shaken and said nothing for a while.

Pan Yun urged him to leave: "Go back and think seriously. Becoming a disciple can't be rushed."

"Don't follow us anymore. We have things to do."

Qu Le: "I know—you posted the bounty on Hua Buliu. You're going to find Hua Buliu, right? I'll come with you."

Pan Yun frowned. "Why aren't you looking for Chang Mingwei? Why are you following us?"

Qu Le grumbled, "I only read the case file for fifteen minutes—how could I remember all that? I have zero leads. I planned to sneak back to the magistrate's office tonight. Today, I'll just come with you to find Hua Buliu."

I'll learn how to track suspects along the way.

Pan Yun said: "No need to go back to the magistrate's office. Since you want half the bounty reward, I'll tell you everything in Chang Mingwei's case file. Go find him today."

Qu Le froze: "You remembered it all? When did you read the Juan Sect file?"

Pan Yun: "While you were flipping through it. I read ten lines at a glance and never forget."

Qu Le was struck again.

The three set off toward the village; as Pan Yun recounted the case file details, by the time they reached the village entrance, she had recited Chang Mingwei's entire file.

She waved her hand, voice hoarse: "Go now. Don't delay our work."

Qu Le wanted to follow them even more: "Let me come with you..."

Pan Yun refused: "Don't follow us!"

Seeing Qu Le still wouldn't leave, Pan Yun frowned: "If you dare sneak in and ruin my work, I'll beat you to death."

After walking a ways, Pan Yun turned back and saw he was no longer following; only then did she grunt in satisfaction and enter the village holding Seeing Miao Zhen's hand.

It was a small village. The victim, Zhou Wan Niang, was twenty-one this year; she already had a child, three years old. The incident happened this spring.

She wasn't especially beautiful, but carried a natural air of vigor. Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen wandered half the village before spotting her by the river.

She was washing clothes with a group of women. As Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen approached, they heard someone beside her urging her: "Don't listen to your eldest brother—do you really think your life will improve if they take you back and remarry you?"

(End of Chapter)