Bluffing

In the dead of night.

On the main street.

Two people.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi stood facing each other, you looking at me, me looking at you.

Li Qi was completely dumbfounded. He had been waiting for Young Master Zhu to introduce them so he could introduce himself, let both sides get acquainted, and then set off together!

But what was with this new boss? He came over, asked a few questions, dumped someone here, and left?!

Wasn't this boss a little too irresponsible...? Or was Li Qi not actually the only candidate for finding Lady Luofu? Was he off busy securing the other backup options?

No, maybe Li Qi himself was the backup.

But Li Qi was not the only one standing there in bewilderment. Shen Shuibi was too.

The Rabbit Demon's head was full of questions. She had even forgotten her earlier wariness and disgust.

Huh? That hateful Great Shaman had just left like that?

He had left her alone with that equally hateful little shaman to look for Lady Luofu?

Would he follow her?

Those Zhu people were all very devious. She had heard that everyone on Wushen Mountain, from top to bottom, was full of strange mystical mumbo-jumbo.

The Zhu people were considered relatively normal; they were generally the ones who dealt with outsiders.

Those diviners were even more crazed. She had heard that they muttered incantations all day, using the Art of Divination to scheme against others and themselves alike. They never spoke plainly, leaving everyone else to guess what they meant.

Aside from those two major groups, all the other kinds of shamans were supposedly even more insane in the legends. They were all like those witches who danced themselves into trances, and some were always talking to thin air—utterly incomprehensible.

Shen Shuibi's mind was filled with doubts.

Still, Li Qi reacted faster. He stepped forward directly. "Miss Shen, do you still remember me? We met earlier today."

"I know! You're that little shaman who came to capture me in secret!" Shen Shuibi said warily.

She looked Li Qi up and down, carefully inspecting every detail about him.

His skin was dark brown, probably from frequent exposure to the sun. It was somewhat rough rather than smooth and delicate. One glance was enough to tell he came from the lower ranks of society; he had likely done nothing but hard labor before.

His clothes... were crude as well. He wore hemp garments, worn ragged everywhere, full of frayed holes. But he probably had no woman to help him, so there was not even a single patch sewn on. No one had mended the holes.

He looked truly pitiful.

As for his face... it was rather handsome, with a heroic air to it. He looked upright and sincere.

Pah! What uprightness did this little shaman have? He was full of tricks and schemes. Judging from what he had said to the Great Shaman, he was definitely the sort of treacherous petty man who plotted all day long.

Li Qi sensed her scrutinizing him.

So he straightened his back and said righteously, "Wasn't our last meeting purely coincidental? Miss Shen, you were trapped by that demon, and we were the ones who rescued you. After meeting you, I even let you go. How can you say I came to capture you? Is it because your status is high that you can slander me whenever you please?"

"But after you came last time, that Great Shaman came and captured me!" Shen Shuibi said, sounding both aggrieved and angry.

"How could a mere foot soldier like me possibly know what the Great Shaman does?" Li Qi said with a bitter smile. "In truth, I'm just as bewildered as you are!"

With that, Li Qi placed himself on the same side as Shen Shuibi.

But before Shen Shuibi could react, he immediately added, "Still, Miss Shen, I don't think this necessarily counts as a bad thing."

"How is it not a bad thing? You clearly have designs on Lady Luofu!" Shen Shuibi snapped angrily.

Have designs on Lady Luofu... Why did that sound so strange? Li Qi could not help grumbling inwardly.

But he knew how to sweet-talk people, so he immediately followed her line of thought. "Lady Luofu has suffered persecution from the Tang Kingdom. I assume Miss Shen knows that as well?"

At the mention of that subject, Shen Shuibi fell silent. Her expression visibly turned gloomy.

This woman... really was single-minded, stubborn as a straight line.

But that was good too. It made her easy to fool.

Li Qi thought this, but his mouth did not stop moving. "We of Wushen Mountain stand on the same side as Lady Luofu. We are all enemies of the Tang Kingdom."

He was already saying "we of Wushen Mountain" without batting an eye. Though Li Qi did not actually know what Wushen Mountain even was, a thigh was a thigh—best to cling to it tightly.

"Since we share a common enemy, surely you know that the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend. Wushen Mountain sought out Lady Luofu purely with the intention of cooperating. To put Lady Luofu at ease, they even sent a lowly foot soldier like me as a messenger. That way, I would pose no threat to her. And since I am a man of the Outer Path, my location cannot be determined through divination. That should put Lady Luofu at ease as well, because it would be impossible to trace Lady Luofu through tracking me."

"With such reassuring measures, does that not prove our sincerity?" Li Qi said earnestly.

Was he truly sincere?

Of course not. It was all nonsense. If Wushen Mountain truly wanted to do something underhanded, Li Qi believed they had ten thousand ways to get around it.

But then...

For someone who was not very sharp, a pile of explanations and reasons, topped off with a sincere tone, made it very easy to win their trust.

Sure enough, Shen Shuibi was moved.

Because Li Qi's words seemed... uh, perhaps, probably, maybe, more or less... to make a little sense?

Seeing Shen Shuibi sink into confusion, Li Qi struck while the iron was hot and took out the willow branch. "Miss Shen, please take a look at this. My status is humble, and I have never come into contact with magical artifacts or anything of the sort. I don't know what Young Master Zhu gave me. Since you come from Lady Luofu's side, I imagine you must know, right?"

Shen Shuibi had been thinking things over. Suddenly interrupted, she instinctively shifted her attention to the willow branch.

Under Li Qi's sincere gaze and earnest plea, Shen Shuibi seemed unable to refuse...

So she answered, "Uh, this should be a willow branch infused with the divine aura of an Earthly Deity. It wards off evil, can bind things, and can even whip ghosts and evil spirits."

"There are records saying... 'On the first day of the first month, place willow branches above the door, and a hundred ghosts will not enter the home.' I heard Your Highness say that Tianzhu has a treasure called the Jade Pure Bottle, with a willow branch planted inside. That's why willow branches are things that ward off evil. Once infused with an Earthly Deity's divine aura, their power is multiplied severalfold. It could probably even beat a person to death. Still, it's only so-so—not even worthy of being displayed in Your Highness's flower vase." At this, Shen Shuibi grew a little proud.

"I see. As expected, Miss Shen is truly well-traveled and knowledgeable." Li Qi genuinely did not know these things, so his praise came from the heart.

"Hehe!" Shen Shuibi had been on the run for far too long. It seemed she had finally received praise from someone, so she puffed out her chest, looking immensely pleased with herself.

"Then let's find a place to rest first. I'd like to hear Miss Shen tell me more and broaden my horizons. And please look after me on the road ahead as well," Li Qi said.

"That goes without saying," Shen Shuibi replied politely.

Yet she had not realized at all.

Earlier, she had refused to travel with Li Qi.