"Don't mess around." Chu Huai Xu refused outright.
A smile appeared on his face again, but that meaningful look in his eyes made it seem as though he was looking at a little idiot once more.
This made Han Shuangjiang somewhat irritated.
Chu Huai Xu looked at her. He didn't take the wine jar she held high; instead, he gazed into her beautiful eyes and said:
"Do you know what will happen if you go home while I deliver the wine? You might encounter danger."
Han Shuangjiang frowned and stared straight into his eyes as well. She didn't back down in the slightest, and the iceberg-like girl replied:
"Of course I know!"
We've already talked this openly. I'm not actually stupid, so don't look at me like that!
It was precisely because she knew there was danger that she had chosen to go home herself and have him seek reinforcements.
Seeing her stubborn expression, Chu Huai Xu's smile grew even wider.
"Then do you think the dangers a man encounters and the dangers a woman encounters can be the same?"
As he spoke, he looked her up and down.
Under his gaze, Han Shuangjiang's delicate body tensed slightly for a moment, and she immediately understood what he meant.
She hadn't expected Chu Huai Xu to have considered matters so thoroughly—even this point had been taken into account.
"But..." She still wanted to say something.
No matter what, the matter had ultimately started because of her.
"Enough with the 'but.' Do as I say!" His attitude was extremely forceful, even somewhat fierce.
The cold-faced girl couldn't help pursing her lips. In the end, she could only submit, turning around and leaving with a trace of irritation.
"Ha! Little housekeeper, do you think you can run the household now?" Chu Huai Xu watched her retreating figure heading east and thought to himself.
He felt no pressure or nervousness at all. Carrying a pile of ingredients, he continued home while whistling.
In his view, making some indirect contact with Niu Yuanshan was harmless.
But at this stage, it was still best to minimize direct contact.
Besides, as fellow members of the organization, taking the initiative to visit someone and ask for their help would make him look cheap.
"Besides, if I remember correctly, the players dug up before that this organization has all kinds of strange rules."
"They've all been brainwashed. Every one of them acts as if they're ready to sacrifice their lives for righteousness."
By conventional logic, even if undercover agents couldn't cover for each other, they at least shouldn't cause trouble for one another.
Chu Huai Xu guessed that not visiting Niu Yuanshan personally might fit the organization's way of doing things better.
A jar of wine from the Moon Kingdom would be enough.
Given the current trade situation between the two countries, this wouldn't exactly become a flaw.
It was like how, on Earth, you couldn't accuse me of being a walking five-hundred-thousand just because I used an iPhone, right?
That would be ridiculous.
Of course, there was another, more important point.
Chu Huai Xu was waiting for something.
After returning home, he placed all the ingredients outside the door of Han Shuangjiang's Bamboo House.
"She said she'd do the cooking herself, so of course I have to put them here. Anyway, I'm not cooking this meal!"
"Mm! And I'm not washing the bowls either!" he secretly resolved.
Just after he finished, the System prompt sound rang in his ears.
"It's here!" Chu Huai Xu rejoiced inwardly. He had no Experience Points left to use.
Ding! You have triggered the Passive mission—Liu Chengqi's Revenge! Mission difficulty level: Class A!
Meanwhile, Han Shuangjiang had also arrived outside Niu Yuanshan's Small Courtyard.
As one of the Nine Stewards of Outer Sect, his Small Courtyard looked more grand and impressive than the Bamboo House.
How should one put it? It was quite elegant.
Traditional Chinese aesthetics were very extravagant, and this Small Courtyard had probably cost a fortune to build.
When she reached the courtyard, Han Shuangjiang suddenly thought of something: "What if Steward Niu isn't home? What should I do then?"
As part of the Outer Sect's management, Niu Yuanshan naturally had matters to handle.
If he wasn't home, he was most likely at the Steward Hall.
The Registered Disciple handbook contained a map. Han Shuangjiang knew where the Steward Hall was, and it wasn't particularly far from here.
But no matter how one looked at it, getting there would still take time.
She was beginning to regret it. She felt that buying the ingredients earlier had taken too long, and she was somewhat puzzled. "Why did he seem so unhurried the whole way?"
Little did she know that Chu Huai Xu had been waiting for the mission to trigger.
The girl carried the wine jar and raised her hand to knock on the courtyard gate.
Before they parted, Chu Huai Xu had given her a few instructions, and she had been rehearsing what to say along the way.
The courtyard gate soon opened. It was a servant from inside.
"May I ask who you are?" the servant asked.
"My name is Han Shuangjiang. I'm here to visit Steward Niu," she replied.
As soon as she finished speaking, a gentle voice came from inside the courtyard: "Shuangjiang? Come in."
Han Shuangjiang immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she and Niu Yuanshan had met only once, she had a very good impression of this middle-aged man. He looked like an upright, kind elder, matching her image of the management of a prestigious and orthodox sect like the Dao Sect.
The undercover agent Old Niu was tending to flowers and plants in his Small Courtyard at that moment.
It was a Dragon Blood Grass, the main ingredient used to make the Blood-Stopping Pill.
The Blood-Stopping Pill was not particularly valuable; it was merely a low-grade Spirit Pill.
He kept it here not because he intended to make pills, but simply because he thought the Dragon Blood Grass looked beautiful. Its shape was unique, and its color was especially vibrant—red as blood!
When Niu Yuanshan saw Han Shuangjiang approaching, his gaze settled on the jar of Erlang Wine she was carrying.
He smiled slightly at her and nodded in greeting, then turned his back to her and continued tending to the Dragon Blood Grass. Yet, in the shadows, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly!
"Erlang Wine?" Niu Yuanshan narrowed his eyes.
He had always acted cautiously in the Dao Sect. He possessed an extremely high level of awareness and professionalism as a spy, making him a textbook example of a highly sensitive person.
There was no way he could fail to notice a jar of wine produced in the Moon Kingdom.
After his expression returned to normal, Niu Yuanshan put down his shears and turned to Han Shuangjiang. "You've already come. Why bring a jar of wine as well?"
"Erlang Wine? Isn't this wine produced in the Moon Kingdom?" he asked.
Han Shuangjiang placed the wine jar on the stone table beside them and said, "Reporting to you, Steward, Chu Huai Xu asked me to bring it. He said it would be too discourteous to visit for the first time empty-handed."
When Niu Yuanshan heard that name, all his doubts vanished.
He even felt somewhat gratified.
Was this merely a jar of wine?
This was the unspoken understanding between two people from the Moon Kingdom!
"What a good child. You're very thoughtful." He smiled and praised the person who wasn't present.
He had already suspected that this newcomer might know his identity.
Now, it was basically a matter of laying the cards on the table.
Niu Yuanshan sat down on the stone bench first, then gestured for Han Shuangjiang to sit across from him.
"By the way, why did you come alone?" Steward Niu naturally followed her words and began steering the conversation toward the organization's new member.
Han Shuangjiang kept Chu Huai Xu's instructions firmly in mind. No matter how anxious she was, she couldn't directly reveal the purpose of her visit.
But she wasn't stupid. It was just that Chu Huai Xu liked looking at her as if she were an idiot.
At that moment, she had a thought. She remembered that when Chu Huai Xu fought Liu Chengqi, he had taken half a palm strike from him.
Thus, Han Shuangjiang immediately found the best opening:
"Steward Niu, he suffered a minor injury."
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