Hidden Danger (1)

“Cui Wang, just now… were you angry?”
Cui Wang listened to her coquettish voice and closed his eyes slightly.

A boundless fog began to fill his vision again. In the fog, a delicate hibiscus, a fragrant jade body, a look with the turn of the head, a low cry, intertwined into a dense net, trying to capture him.

Holding the voice transmission jade talisman, Cui Wang walked to the window. Beneath him was the platform of Wuwang peak, which was ten thousand feet high. This was Guixu Sect’s highest and most dangerous place. Adjacent to the bottomless cliff, one could see the cold wind sweeping in the crevices between the cliffs with one’s naked eye.

“No,” he said.

Over there, the voice was already talking about Shu Yuan with deep emotion. Yet, Cui Wang was spacing out amidst the chatter.

“…Cui Wang, Cui Wang? Are you listening?” asked Zheng Wan.

“Yes.”

“About Shuy Yuan…”

“You make the call.”
He paused, then added, “Have Ah Wan go to Xuan Yi Pavilion to say something.”

“Ah Wan?”
Zheng Wan was surprised and wondered what that wooden puppet could do.

“Everyone in Fengwu City knows him.”

“Oh.” Zheng Wan instantly understood. Just like the eagle’s claws of the imperial court, this Ah Wan was Li Wei Zhenjun’s favourite, and it was something known to everyone in Fengwu City.

“Can Ah Wan really do it?”

“It’s better than you.”

“…Hey,” Zheng Wan was suddenly displeased. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

At this moment, a female voice suddenly came from Cui Wang’s side, drawing close from a distance, calling, “Li Wei”, “Li Wei”. Zhen Wan listened and asked, “Is that Ming Yu Zhenjun?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you say that your sect was busy and didn’t have time to entertain her as a guest?”

“Mhm.”

“What ‘mhm’? So, you two… were actually together every day at Guixu Sect?”
Zheng Wan could die of anger.

It wasn’t that she cared so much about Cui Wang, but that she’s been overbearing since she was a child— once something was in her circle, no one could even take a bite of it. Also, she was always the one to not want others, and would never allow others to not want her.

Cui Wang had just been so intimate with her; even though they didn’t go all the way, they weren’t far from it— but the moment he went back, he was accompanying someone else, and that person had to be Ming Yu, the one she hated the most.

“Not every day.”

So, that meant they were indeed together, huh?

Ming Yu’s voice became clearer and clearer, “Li Wei, your master gave me a sleeve arrow…”

“Cui Wang, you jerk,” cursed Zheng Wan hatefully. After which, she squeezed the voice transmission jade talisman and broke off the connection. Still uneasy, she stuffed it into the interdimensional pouch, ignoring the gossipy eyes of the stall owners on her left and right, then walked straight to Shu Yuan’s stall.

Shu Yuan and his brother looked up at her blankly.

Zheng Wan said, “Get up. Let’s go to Xuan Yi Pavilion.”

“To Xuan Yi Pavilion?”

“Mhm. We’re going to make things clear with that old procuress.”
As the stall owners buzzed amongst themselves, Zheng Wan said impatiently, “Are you coming or not?”

“Yes, yes.”
Shu Yuan hurriedly packed up his stall, tugged his little brother, and followed behind the female cultivator in goose-yellow robes. The three got into a slugworm carriage and arrived at Xuan Yi Pavilion in a short while.

During the daytime, places like the Xuan Yi Pavilion that were involved in the flesh trade had their doors shut.

Even the entire street seemed to have gone into a deep slumber.

“Go knock on the door.”

Shu Yuan glanced at Zheng Wan and really went to knock on the door obediently.

Duk duk duk duk—
The sound travelled a long way in the empty and silent street.

“Who is it?”
The door opened with a squeak. The hustler with the red mole on his forehead who she saw that day opened the door with a yawn, then waved his hand impatiently when he saw Shu Yuan. “Go, go. It’s not that we can’t take you in, but that you’ve offended Li Wei Zhenjun, so we can’t afford to take you in.”

By this time, Zheng Wan had already hidden far away. She took Ah Wan out of the storage pouch. “Ah Wan, go and deliver a message for me.”

The moment Ah Wan came out, it let out an “ahhrr”.
“Zheng Zhenren, it’s dark inside.”

Zheng Wan stood on tiptoe and stroked its head soothingly. “Do you see that man with a little red mole on his forehead?”

“Yes.” Ah Wan nodded obediently.

“Go and tell him that Shu Yuan has not offended Li Wei Zhenjun, and that Xuan Yi Pavilion doesn’t need to feel bad.”