Eight o'clock at night.
North of town.
Chen Guan had spent two hours winding through the streets and alleys before making his way from his home near the town center to the outskirts near the mountains.
The town's public order was excellent.
At this moment, the nightlife was just beginning.
At a glance,
Chen Guan saw traveling merchants and street vendors weaving through the crowds, while the shops on both sides of the street blazed with light.
"Fortune Gambling House! Come in and try your luck! Turn your fortune around!"
"Oh, my lord~ care to come play~? The young ladies are all fresh and pretty~"
Amid the calls rising and falling one after another, many people on the street were out to have fun and seek pleasure.
Chen Guan felt that the place was truly lively. It had been years since he'd seen so many people.
"I've been practicing every day for the past few years. I'm almost a hermit by now."
Chen Guan had suddenly found himself surrounded by so many people. Then he noticed a madam up ahead staring at him, and for a moment he felt a little out of his element.
But if it had been his past-life self, he would have boldly asked first, "Is this place respectable or not?"
If it was respectable,
then he'd be respectable too, and wouldn't go in.
As he mulled it over, Chen Guan glanced at a large restaurant up ahead.
It stood beside a small bridge and was more than five stories tall.
It completely dwarfed every other building along the street, and looked imposing beyond compare.
It also drew the biggest crowds.
"The owner knows a thing or two."
Chen Guan took a few glances. With only a little over a hundred copper coins in his pocket, he had no inclination to linger, so he quickly crossed the street and headed onto the small bridge.
Meanwhile,
inside a private room at the restaurant,
the owner was a middle-aged man with a fair face, though his left cheek was somewhat sunken.
He was Bandit Brother.
Now,
he stood by the window, looking out at the small bridge beneath the night sky. His gaze swept over Chen Guan without lingering.
"Interesting. Very interesting.
"I came here to dig a tunnel and search for treasure.
"But somehow, I ended up as a restaurant owner?"
Bandit Brother sighed for a few moments, thinking that life was full of twists and turns, and that it was truly uncanny.
After all, just seven years ago, he'd been an ordinary shop assistant.
And to ensure his tunnel-digging plan went smoothly,
he'd worked diligently to build a good relationship with the previous owner.
But as time went on, the previous owner, who had no children of his own, adopted him as his godson six years ago.
Not long after that, the former owner fell ill and passed away, leaving behind a will that gave him the inn.
And so Bandit Brother became the owner.
What's more, this grand restaurant made more money than a hundred taels ever could.
"Truly...
"Fate plays cruel tricks!"
Bandit Brother shook his head. When he heard a knock at the door, he turned from the window and looked toward the two guests entering the room.
"Haha, Military Officer Li, Civil Clerk Qin! It's been a while!"
With a hearty smile, he gestured toward the table laden with dishes beside them.
"Please, my two brothers!"
He wasn't going to dig for treasure anymore.
He'd grown fond of this life, where he didn't have to keep hiding and running.
Whoosh—
Before long, the wind picked up.
Chen Guan crossed the small bridge and reached another street that was a little quieter.
Most of the businesses there were jewelry shops, teahouses, salt shops, cloth shops, and the like.
Chen Guan had planned to walk straight through.
But as he passed a fairly lively teahouse,
he paused.
"Today, we'll tell the tale of the pact between Constable Yan and Great Bear Immortal!"
"Excellent!"
"Please begin, sir!"
"My brother and I came here just to hear this story!"
The clear voice of the storyteller rang out from inside the teahouse, along with the cheers of the patrons.
Although Constable Yan and the others hadn't said where the Black Bear Spirit was, such an uncanny tale had inevitably spread.
This storyteller, for example, had turned "Great Bear Immortal and the Hero" into a supernatural tale.
It had become one of the more popular stories in Little Liuzi Town over the past year.
"Now, Great Bear Immortal saw the White-Browed Tiger Demon..."
The storyteller enunciated clearly.
To make the story more exciting, he also described the White-Browed Tiger as a tiger demon.
As for Chen Guan, he portrayed him as a great demon with several hundred years of cultivation!
"If this keeps up, I'll be an immortal before long."
Chen Guan rarely stopped at the doorway, but he lingered there, listening to a passage with some fondness.
"Just then, the evil tiger demon lunged. Great Bear Immortal stood firm and, with a mighty breath and a shout, slew the White Tiger..."
The storyteller held an iron folding fan and described Chen Guan's heroic deeds that day in somewhat exaggerated fashion.
But one had to admit,
as the storyteller opened and closed his Iron Fan, its rhythmic clatter sounded like spells and weapons clashing in battle.
On top of that, his vocal skills were superb. At times his voice rumbled low and heavy; at others it rang out crisp and bright, as if he could imitate the cries of various animals.
He truly brought the story to life.
"Bravo!"
"He saved lives and slew a starving tiger! Great Bear Immortal is indeed a wondrous demon!"
The patrons inside the teahouse cracked melon seeds and shelled peanuts. Whenever they reached an exciting part, they couldn't help clapping and cheering, as if they were right there in the midst of it.
It was Chen Guan's first time hearing a storyteller in person. Finding it quite entertaining, he couldn't help applauding at the doorway too.
"Gentlemen, would you like to come in for some tea? Rest your feet?"
At the same time, once the story ended, a teahouse attendant came to the doorway. With a broad smile, he invited Chen Guan and the few passersby there to come inside.
"Sure..." One of the passersby had a thin skin and felt awkward about listening for free, so he went in.
"Next time, next time..." The other passersby simply took off.
"I'll pass on the tea." Chen Guan had heard the storyteller tell his story so well, so he took out a dozen or so copper coins and placed them in the hand of the attendant, who had instinctively held it out with an eager smile.
"Here."
Chen Guan lifted his chin and nodded toward the storyteller onstage, who was drinking tea and resting.
"Give that to the gentleman. Just a small token."
"Certainly, young master!" The attendant bobbed his head, then asked tentatively, "Would you like me to pass along a message?"
"No need." Chen Guan shook his head and was about to leave, but then he saw the storyteller's gaze turn toward him.
Meeting his eyes, Chen Guan smiled faintly and nodded.
The storyteller saw the young boy standing there with a smile, greeting him. His relaxed expression turned serious, and he rose slightly from his chair before smiling and returning the nod.
Tap, tap—
Chen Guan left.
The attendant walked with him for a few steps, then turned back into the teahouse and went to the storyteller. He dropped fifteen copper coins into the money tray.
"The young master has given you fifteen copper coins!"
The attendant called out, stirring the other patrons' enthusiasm for tipping as well.
"So that young master gave me fifteen copper coins..." Only then did the storyteller realize that the boy who had just nodded to him had left him a tip.
Had he known, he wouldn't have returned the greeting with just a slight nod.
Out of courtesy and respect, he should at least have stood and clasped his hands.
Still, he could make it up to him the next time they met.
After all, Chen Guan had a rather unusual appearance.
A child's face, a teenager's build, and round ears that were somewhat too large—he looked strange all over.
A face like that was easy to remember.
Thinking of Chen Guan's appearance, the storyteller clicked his tongue in wonder and felt a little regretful.
"That young master has an unusual face. He must be an extraordinary man, no ordinary person!
"Too bad... I didn't make his acquaintance at first sight.
"If I go after him now to introduce myself, it'll seem deliberate, not like a chance encounter.
"Too low, too low."
The storyteller shook his head sagely. A moment later, he snapped open his folding fan with a clatter, stood up, and looked at the patrons, who had suddenly fallen quiet.
"Honored guests, let's begin our second tale.
"Constable Yan and the wandering hero Lai Mountain Rock encounter Great Bear Immortal while he's acting as a hero..."
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