All About Acting

Among the martial experts Yang Xiao had seen, Song Que and that black-robed elder both had an inch of white radiance above their heads.

Only the Peace Sect's holy maiden, Fairy Bai, had three inches of white radiance above her head!

Yet in the hall below the loft, Xiao Zhao, who was only an ordinary maid, also had three inches of white radiance above her head?

Yang Xiao's scalp went numb. He was just about to leave when a warning suddenly rose in his heart.

At the critical moment, Yang Xiao forced himself to stay calm. He kept staring down at the area below the loft, feigning deep thought.

"This kid doesn't seem to be—looking at me?"

Downstairs, Xiao Zhao stared fixedly at Yang Xiao. Seeing his open, unguarded gaze, she froze for a moment, then her eyes quickly fell on the wall behind her.

Vermilion Bird Tower was the number one tower under heaven, yet its main hall was not dazzling with gold and jade. Instead, it was hung with all manner of calligraphy and paintings by famous figures, antique in flavor, elegant and restrained.

Only then did Xiao Zhao discover that a Painting of the Luo Goddess hung behind her.

In the scroll, the goddess in white stepped upon the Luo River, dancing into the wind.

"This is simply outrageous. So this doorman is infatuated with the beauty in the painting, yet ignores a real beauty like me?"

Xiao Zhao was furious inside, and her gaze grew colder and colder.

Yang Xiao looked at his nose, his nose at his heart, still "dazedly" staring at the Painting of the Luo Goddess, pretending not to see Xiao Zhao's displeasure.

"Forget it. He is only a block of elmwood who understands nothing of romance. Since you weren't harboring crooked thoughts about me, I'll spare your life!"

After staring at Yang Xiao for a long while longer and confirming that he was not putting on an act, Xiao Zhao's expression finally eased slightly. In a voice only she herself could hear, she murmured softly.

Yang Xiao remained standing there motionless for a while longer before finally returning to the gatehouse "as if nothing had happened." Once he shut the door, his back was already soaked through with cold sweat.

"If I hadn't been quick-witted enough, I'm afraid I would've died tonight without even knowing why."

Whew!

A long while later, Yang Xiao, having recovered, got up and picked up the swill bucket. He arrived at the private room next door, only to find that he could not push the door open.

"Who's there!"

A slightly nervous voice came from inside the private room.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhao, it's me."

Yang Xiao hurriedly spoke.

Creak—

The door slowly opened.

Zhao Hu poked his head out and nervously swept a glance around. After confirming there was no one there, he grabbed Yang Xiao and pulled him into the private room, then swiftly dropped the bar across the door.

Only then did Yang Xiao see that the wine table was a complete mess.

Zhang Long was sitting in the seat where Wang Yulang, the young master in brocade, had originally sat. He was lowering his head and gnawing on a roasted lamb leg, his mouth covered in grease.

Seeing Yang Xiao's stunned expression, Zhang Long felt disdain in his heart, but on the surface he smiled and said, "Little Yang, we're all brothers here. From now on, after honored guests leave, we brothers will enjoy ourselves first, then call the menials in to clean up."

"Brother Zhang, this... how can this be allowed?" Yang Xiao "turned pale with shock," his eyes full of panic. "According to the rules of our Vermilion Bird Tower, leftovers and scraps all have to be dumped as swill. If we secretly eat them, and Uncle Liu finds out..."

"So what if he finds out?" Zhao Hu sneered. "Uncle Liu was once just an ordinary waiter too. If he hadn't eaten the wine and food left behind by honored guests and secretly trained bitterly for years, how could he have succeeded in his first blood exchange, and also..."

Cough!

Zhang Long gave a dry cough, warning in his eyes.

Zhao Hu seemed to remember something, and his expression changed slightly at once. He quickly shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

"Little Yang, eating leftovers is an unspoken rule of Vermilion Bird Tower. Never mind ordinary waiters like us—even among the iron-token waiters, plenty eat leftovers. It's nothing rare."

"Think about us lot at the bottom. We serve honored guests every day. If we don't fish up a little benefit, how could we possibly get by on that meager monthly pay alone?"

Zhang Long rose and poured a cup of wine, smiling as he said, "Come, Little Yang. Drink this cup, and from now on, we'll be good brothers in the same boat."

Yang Xiao pretended to hesitate and struggle for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth, stepped forward, picked up the cup, and took a mouthful through clenched teeth.

"Ugh..."

Very soon, Yang Xiao clutched his throat and crouched to one side, dry-heaving, feigning the discomfort of drinking for the first time.

"Brother Zhang, this kid's just a blockhead, dumb as a goose. Why should we brothers share our wine and meat with him?"

Zhao Hu lowered his voice, his face filled with resentment.

"This kid is a doorman, after all. He spends every day with us from morning to night. In the end, we won't be able to hide this from him. Rather than cover it up, we might as well give him a little benefit and pull him onto the boat."

Zhang Long stared at Yang Xiao's back in the corner, his eyes filled with cruelty. "Six days from now will be Vermilion Bird Tower's once-a-year grandmaster discourse. When the time comes, our holy sect..."

As if worried that walls had ears, Zhang Long did not finish. He lowered his head and continued drinking.

But what Zhang Long did not know was that Yang Xiao, who was pretending to dry-heave, had a vicious glint flash and vanish in his eyes.

Holy sect?

It was actually the Peace Sect again!

Only then did Yang Xiao realize that without knowing it, he had been swept into a heaven-shaking conspiracy.

"No wonder Song Que hated me so much, even felt murderous toward me. So it turned out that in the Ding 527 private room, aside from me, the newcomer, all the other waiters were Peace Sect disciples."

"But why, when Fairy Bai was here yesterday, did Song Que deliberately hide this? And today, instead of searching for the sacred object, he came running to meet the Marquis of Champions' son. What exactly was Song Que trying to do?"

Yang Xiao's mind spun rapidly, and suddenly an inconceivable thought popped up. Could Song Que be planning to play the traitor and secretly throw in his lot with the imperial court?

Thinking again of the maid Xiao Zhao, who kept her depths well hidden, Yang Xiao suddenly realized that Vermilion Bird Tower, which seemed as solid as a fortress of gold, was actually riddled with crises everywhere!

No, no!

"The Sixth Princess wielded power across the realm and was Emperor Ming's most trusted elder sister. Vermilion Bird Tower was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons gathered, with experts concealed everywhere..."

Combining it with the history books he had read in his previous life, Yang Xiao keenly realized that this matter was probably not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

But what did that have to do with me!

I was just an ordinary, unremarkable waiter. At worst, six days from now, I would pretend to be sick and come back to work after the crisis was over!

As for Zhang Long and Zhao Hu?

After Yang Xiao got up, he took a careful look and found that no aura appeared above either man's head. At most, they knew a little fist-and-foot kung fu, only slightly stronger than ordinary civilians.

That made things simple.

With Yang Xiao's current hidden strength, he might not be able to deal with a martial expert who had undergone one blood exchange, but could he really not handle two small fry?

"It seemed my choice to practice martial arts was right. Without martial skills to rely on, once crisis descended, how could I keep myself untainted when the lotus roots broke and the mud splattered?"

Yang Xiao soon got up and continued drinking with Zhang Long.

The two of them said they were inviting Yang Xiao to eat with them.

In reality, however, the good wine and meat had already been divided up by the two of them in advance, and they only tossed Yang Xiao some bones and scraps.

Yang Xiao pretended not to know. Instead, he put on an overwhelmed, grateful-to-the-point-of-tears manner, which made Zhang Long feel extremely pleased.

Before long, Zhang Long, full of wine and food, left the private room in complete satisfaction amid Yang Xiao's flattery.

"Brother Zhao, just leave cleaning up the mess to me. You and Brother Zhang can go enjoy yourselves on the top floor. If any new guests arrive, this little brother will come notify you in advance."

With a fawning smile, Yang Xiao saw Zhao Hu out of the private room.

"This kid's at least tactful. More sensible than the last doorman. I'll spare your dog life for now. When six days have passed..."

Zhao Hu muttered under his breath, then quickly caught up with Zhang Long, and the two soon left.

"Six days from now, if the two of you know what's good for you, then fine. If you don't, don't blame me for being impolite!"

A trace of coldness flashed through Yang Xiao's eyes. He turned and closed the private room door, his gaze falling once again on the wine table.

Though there were leftovers everywhere and not much wine or meat remained.

Yang Xiao did not mind in the slightest. He sat cross-legged and slowly closed his eyes.

Who knew how much time passed...

A vague, blurry phantom of a youth actually walked slowly out from Yang Xiao's dantian and appeared inside the private room...