Shen Tang watched the young man expressionlessly.
[By the usual logic, someone who looks like he'll kick the bucket in the next second will mostly have a longer standby time than a strong and healthy fellow. After all, calamities leave a legacy for a thousand years. Damn it, I forgot this guy could read minds... Big brother, you can hear even that?]
The young man coughed several times. "...Little gentleman, you're quite humorous."
Shen Tang: "..."
The shopkeeper, who had entered mute mode: "..."
First, he stole a glance at Shen Tang's deep-set, wild-looking profile, which was unmistakably that of a woman. Once he confirmed he hadn't misjudged her gender, he secretly grumbled about whether the young man's eyesight was a little poor—
How could he even mistake a man for a woman?
The young man's brows twitched slightly, but he did not explain.
The rent boy followed him out from behind the screen. His eyelids drooped as he glanced at Shen Tang and the shopkeeper, then gave a meaningful look to the attendant serving them. The attendant understood at once and handed the shopkeeper a heavy money pouch filled with silver.
"Please count it."
The shopkeeper had been in business for many years and had handled countless sums of money. The moment he weighed the pouch in his hand, he knew whether it was off by even the tiniest fraction. The amount inside was correct. He opened the pouch and counted it again, then said with a beaming smile, "No problem, no problem."
The rent boy said, "Since that's settled, we're even."
According to the usual procedure, the next step should have been to "see the guests out."
The shopkeeper was an astute man as well. He picked up the money pouch and prepared to leave with Shen Tang. Only, whether by coincidence or not, a third unfamiliar cough came from behind the screen, followed by a muffled groan of pain, as though someone had clenched their teeth and swallowed it down. Then some heavy object rolled off the bed.
Shen Tang stopped halfway through getting up.
Ah, this—
That voice just now had clearly been male?
And his physical condition didn't seem very good?
She had habitually assumed that everyone who came to an entertainment quarter for pleasure was the active party. But judging from the sounds just now, the one lying on the bed despite being unwell was the real customer? It reminded her of a proverb: "A toad mounts a frog—ugly looks, extravagant games."
She also vaguely caught the scent of blood and the bitter smell unique to medicinal herbs. She couldn't help casting an admiring look at the unfathomable rent boy.
Hearing the commotion, the rent boy's expression was no longer cold. He practically strode around the screen, and Shen Tang only caught sight of a corner of his robe.
Faintly, she heard the rent boy say, "Yun Chi..."
Shen Tang: "..."
Yun Chi?
Which Yun, which Chi, and what was his surname?
She seemed to have heard that name somewhere before...
Just as Shen Tang thought this, she suddenly recalled something. The expressions of her features gradually stiffened and twisted. Her eyes wandered upward, her gaze slowly rising until it met the young man's eyes, which were fixed on her.
From the meaningful look in the young man's eyes, she knew she had been overheard again. Couldn't GM do something about these cheating bastards with their hacks?
Shen Tang retreated half a step and placed her right hand behind her back. If the young man made any suspicious move, she would immediately manifest the Kind Mother Sword and teach this filial son how to conduct himself. At their distance, she was confident she could kill him with one strike. After all, not every Literary Heart strategist was as shameless as Qi Yuanliang.
The young man asked with a smile that was not quite a smile, "Why are you so nervous, little gentleman?"
Shen Tang said, "Why do you think? Don't you know perfectly well?"
Under the shopkeeper's puzzled gaze, the young man asked Shen Tang without the slightest hesitation, "Little gentleman, do you know little gentleman Yun Chi?"
Shen Tang countered, "His surname is Gong?"
The young man nodded. "Yes."
Shen Tang: "..."
It was actually Gong Cheng—Gong Yun Chi!
Why was he at the Moonlit Pavilion???
For a moment, Shen Tang didn't know where to begin complaining. The Gong Clan had been sent into exile. According to the official punishment, the men had been sent to the border to serve as conscripted laborers, while the women had been sent to Xiaocheng's entertainment quarter. She replayed that passage in her mind and confirmed that she hadn't remembered it wrong.
Shen Tang's gaze fell toward the screen, as if she wanted to see through it and make out the indistinct figure beyond. "How could he be here?"
"The road of exile was arduous. Ordinary people could barely endure it, let alone someone whose dantian had been crippled. More than half his life had been worn away, and he was on the verge of reporting to the King of Hell, so I brought him here." As the young man said this, his manner was open and sincere.
"You still haven't answered how you know Gong Yun Chi, little gentleman." Without waiting for Shen Tang to reply, he continued in a joking tone, "If you refuse to answer, then for my sake and the safety of everyone involved, I'm afraid you won't be able to return in one piece."
He had practically said he intended to silence her permanently.
Shen Tang grumbled inwardly: Tsk, who doesn't know that the Gong Clan was exiled? Just because I know this name, does that mean I must know him?
Out loud, she said, "I heard about the Gong Clan's misfortune and only then learned that Gong Yun Chi, whom I'd once met, was among those exiled. Naturally, hearing a familiar name made me want to confirm it."
The young man narrowed his eyes with a smile and asked again, "Really?"
Shen Tang said, "Not a word of it is false."
The young man furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment, apparently unsure whether to believe her.
After all, Shen Tang knew that the young man could pry into people's minds. In such circumstances, who could say her active thoughts weren't deliberately misleading his judgment?
Just as the standoff grew tense, a hoarse boy's voice came from inside the room. "Mr. Gu, someone came?"
The young man smiled and folded his hands into his sleeves.
He said lazily, "They say it's someone who has met you once."
After quite some time, following the rustle of clothing, the rent boy helped a young man out. His upper body was wrapped in snow-white bandages. Calling him a young man was somewhat generous, since he looked two years younger than the rent boy—seventeen or eighteen at most. Perhaps he had suffered too much along the road of exile. The childishness and naivety had been stripped from his features, leaving behind an oppressive melancholy and frailty that clung to him like thick smoke.
Shen Tang: "..."
This was truly going to kill her!
She now completely refused to have any thoughts.
That cheating bastard who had activated an ability to pry into other people's minds was still watching her like a tiger stalking its prey from the side. She didn't want to be silenced.
Gong Cheng also saw Shen Tang's face clearly and froze slightly.
The young man knew from his reaction that Gong Cheng had seen this face before—this little gentleman really hadn't been lying?
"Yun Chi, is she someone you know?"
The rent boy broke the silence.
Gong Cheng shook his head. "Not someone I know, but I believe I've seen her before."
The rent boy grew three parts more alert. His gaze sharpened as he looked at Shen Tang, and it held a Killing Intent that someone in his profession should not have possessed. If it had been an ordinary person, they might have been frightened by that look alone.
He sought confirmation from Gong Cheng. "Could she harm you?"
Gong Cheng thought for a moment, then shook his head again. "She shouldn't."
The rent boy's curiosity was piqued. "This person is..."
Gong Cheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. He raised a hand and patted the back of the rent boy's hand, indicating that he no longer needed support. The rent boy released him, and Gong Cheng leaned against him long enough to stand on his own. Then he bowed toward Shen Tang and said, "I am Gong Yun Chi. I apologize to my wife's brother."
Those words shocked everyone in the room.
The young man: "..."
The rent boy: "..."
But the most shaken of all was Shen Tang herself.
She nearly lost control of her emotions. Forcing herself to speak in a stiff tone that was not quite so sarcastic, she asked him, "What are you apologizing to me for?"
Gong Cheng was a member of the Gong Clan who had been exiled.
Earlier, Tian Shouyi had said that Gong Cheng had been arrested and exiled on the day of his wedding to a woman of the Shen Clan. Gong Cheng had seen the bride, but because Tang Mei possessed a Literary Heart, everyone had assumed she was the bride's brother or sister.
That was why he had called her "wife's brother."
The young man's surname was Gu. For now, he was a chaotic neutral draped in the outer skin of chaotic evil.
The rent boy was in disguise.
For certain purposes, the young man had rescued Gong Cheng and hidden him at the rent boy's entertainment quarter while he recovered.
For the time being, the two of them had no connection to the protagonist's side.
Before you continue