"What's wrong?"
Seeing that Fang Shuwen had fallen silent after she finished speaking, Zhou Qingmei couldn't help asking.
Fang Shuwen shook his head slightly:
"Nothing.
"How skilled was that flower thief?"
"...I couldn't see through him."
Zhou Qingmei spoke with some embarrassment:
"We exchanged no more than three or five moves. His internal cultivation should have been no weaker than mine, but he seemed unwilling to fight.
"Once I snatched the person back, he fled without a trace."
"In that case, this matter really is strange in the extreme!"
"What makes you say that?"
Zhou Qingmei only felt that the calamity that had befallen her family might have started because of this matter.
But that was only a suspicion...
She didn't know why Fang Shuwen was so certain it was strange.
Fang Shuwen rolled his eyes at her:
"Eldest Miss Zhou, do you not like looking in the mirror?"
"What do you mean?"
Naturally, Zhou Qingmei did look in the mirror. She was a young woman, after all, and even a heroine of the jianghu cared about her appearance.
Fang Shuwen said with a smile:
"Eldest Miss Zhou, your beauty could topple cities and kingdoms. I'm afraid any man who saw you would be moved, let alone a lecherous thief."
Zhou Qingmei felt her face grow warm. Recalling that Fang Shuwen had been the one to bandage her injuries, she couldn't help asking:
"How much did you see last night?"
"What?"
Fang Shuwen was still thinking about the matter, and her sudden question left him puzzled.
After glancing at her, he finally realized what she meant. Amused by the way her thoughts jumped about, he answered casually:
"I saw everything I should and shouldn't have. With your injuries... I couldn't have bandaged you without looking."
"Then... did you harbor any improper thoughts?"
Zhou Qingmei gritted her teeth.
Fang Shuwen waved a hand:
"Not at all, not at all."
"...I suppose you're a proper gentleman, then."
Zhou Qingmei folded her arms and gave a soft snort.
Fang Shuwen smiled:
"There was blood everywhere. I'm not sick in the head, so why would I have had thoughts like that?
"If you'd been clean, though, it would be hard to say..."
"Shut up!!"
Zhou Qingmei felt he was getting more outrageous with every word, and she already regretted asking that question.
Now she was burning with shame, while this fellow was looking pleased with himself?
What did he have to be pleased about?
Pah!
"It's not as if I wanted to say it... Forget it, let's get back to what we were discussing."
Fang Shuwen's expression changed in an instant:
"Look, a lecherous thief abducts someone because he's aroused by her beauty.
"And yet, when he saw a beauty like you, he ran.
"That would make sense if his martial arts were poor... but you said he was no weakling.
"Since he wasn't weak, even if he was no match for you, he probably wasn't far behind.
"So why wouldn't he stake everything on a fight? Why flee instead?"
Although Zhou Qingmei knew her own looks were extraordinary, she had never considered the matter from that angle.
Now, hearing Fang Shuwen put it that way, she suddenly felt as though clouds had parted to reveal the sun.
"Put that way, this matter really is strange."
Zhou Qingmei thought carefully for a moment before saying:
"He was in such a hurry to get away. Could it be that he was wary of me?
"Or was he wary of the Pearl Pavilion behind me?
"But I didn't tell him my master or where I came from when we fought. How could he have known?"
"Perhaps he recognized the Pearl Pavilion's exclusive techniques, or perhaps he'd seen you somewhere before and knew who you were.
"Or else, he might simply be one of the Pearl Pavilion's own.
"So he was afraid you'd discover his identity, and wanted to kill you to silence you."
Fang Shuwen spoke casually.
"The first two are possible, but the last... that shouldn't be possible."
Zhou Qingmei said:
"The Pearl Pavilion is a renowned and upright sect. How could its people do something so despicable?"
"Then think carefully. Did his build, footwork, or martial arts seem familiar?"
"No."
Zhou Qingmei shook her head decisively.
Fang Shuwen thought for a moment and said:
"Judging by what that black-robed man said last night, this matter isn't over yet.
"I can protect you for a time, but I can't protect you forever.
"If we don't find the root of the problem, I'm afraid you'll never know peace."
Most importantly, if this matter wasn't resolved, his task wouldn't count as complete.
And he wouldn't get the reward.
Fang Shuwen was already starting to regret accepting the task. It was a hot potato, plain and simple.
"My experience of the jianghu really is too shallow."
Fang Shuwen warned himself that the next time he encountered something similar, he would have to think it over carefully. He absolutely couldn't be so rash.
There was a stubborn streak in his nature. If he hadn't accepted it in the first place, that would have been that. But now that he had, he couldn't abandon it halfway: his conscience wouldn't let him, and he truly couldn't bring himself to accept it.
Unless it proved impossible, he had no intention of giving up.
"You're right. As things stand, there are two things we need to do."
Zhou Qingmei said:
"First, I'll write a letter to my sect and ask them to help me investigate and mediate.
"Second... I need to set out for Guangning City.
"If our guess just now was right, we might find something there."
"Go to Guangning City?"
Fang Shuwen pondered briefly:
"I'll go with you."
"You really don't need to get involved."
Zhou Qingmei looked at Fang Shuwen with a complicated expression:
"A household guard's monthly pay isn't that much. Why risk your life with me?"
"Someone entrusted me with a task, so I'm seeing it through."
Fang Shuwen waved a hand:
"All right, I've made up my mind. Say no more."
Zhou Qingmei cupped her fists and bowed solemnly:
"Thank you."
Having agreed on a plan, the two wasted no more time.
They left the Zhou residence, packed their things, and prepared to set out quietly.
Before leaving, Zhou Qingmei wrote a letter and entrusted it to an escort agency for delivery to the Pearl Pavilion.
Fang Shuwen didn't go to the Four Seas Martial Hall to find Zheng Sihai, nor did he inform his senior brother Mo Beidou.
The waters of this matter ran a little deep, and he didn't want to drag the Four Seas Martial Hall into them.
Once everything was resolved, he could return and let them know he was safe.
Fang Shuwen had originally thought the two of them would race all the way there on foot, like other great heroes of the jianghu.
To his surprise, Zhou Qingmei led out two horses from somewhere.
Fang Shuwen looked at the horses with some difficulty. Given his living conditions, he'd never had the chance to ride one, and didn't know how.
Fortunately, riding wasn't all that difficult. Becoming an expert horseman in such a short time would have been asking a bit much, but in his current condition, learning to ride was easy enough.
His initial caution lasted only a short while before he was soon galloping along.
They rode for half a day.
Only when the sun had passed its zenith did they dismount, intending to eat some dry rations.
But when Fang Shuwen turned his head, he saw a corpse propped up in the bushes not far away.