Chapter 171: A Sword from Taibai (Bonus Chapter)
Chang’an, Taibai Restaurant, Eighteenth Floor.
Liu Sheng returned with Ling Xiaoshu, a faint scent of Wen Weilan’s powder still lingering in her nostrils.
She hadn’t expected their reunion to be so brief, with only a few words exchanged, and she didn’t even know where Wei Lan was.
Although she knew it was Xiao Xiang House, which part?
It seemed the environment Wei Lan was in was extremely dangerous; she even encountered weird objects of disaster level. Who knew what would happen next…
“You should worry about yourself first.”
Reminded by her other selves, Liu Sheng suddenly looked up.
At this moment, she was already standing behind that figure, just one step away.
Her fingertips were about to touch that figure, her fingernail barely grazing the person’s clothes.
“Sister!” Ling Xiaoshu exclaimed.
She quickly lowered her hand and took a step back.
Now, being so close, and with the light from outside the building, she could make out that the person’s attire was very familiar: loose, dark blue brocade clothes covering an exceptionally frail, chicken-like physique.
“Jiang Caibin?”
“It’s him.”
“But why isn’t he moving?”
“Didn’t you smell the blood on him?”
Liu Sheng didn’t dare to touch his body. She walked beside him and peered closer, only to see that his eyes were tightly shut, clearly unconscious. There was a large bloody gash on his lower abdomen, but his entire body was standing rigidly upright.
Liu Sheng wanted to get closer, but suddenly, with a clang, she kicked something at her feet.
Looking down, it was a blood-stained dagger.
“It seems this is what stabbed this unlucky child.”
“Who did it?”
“Although he speaks annoyingly, I really want to stab him.”
“Perhaps it really was us?”
Liu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat.
Seeing Ling Xiaoshu about to squat down and pick up the dagger, she quickly scooped up Ling Xiaoshu and retreated a few steps.
It was better not to approach such a suspicious place.
However, that feeling of being watched returned…
Originally, Liu Sheng thought those gazes were just a shared sensation due to Wen Weilan’s encounter.
But on second thought, of course not, because when she was alone and away from the outside world, they wouldn’t appear. Only when the outside world could reach her would these gazes become pervasive again.
And although the gazes were equally dense, they were different from that weird object, “Don’t let me see you.”
The weird object’s gaze was bloodthirsty, yearning for a fatal strike.
But these gazes were different; they were merely curious, pressuring, and at the same time waiting, seemingly plotting something.
What were they plotting?
Liu Sheng recalled her posture just now and Jiang Caibin’s wound.
It seemed somewhat familiar.
She couldn’t help but think of a certain corpse that had fallen from the sky, spilling her entire bowl of wontons onto the ground.
A cold light flashed in her eyes; she seemed to have guessed it.
Since she already knew, she naturally wouldn’t fall for the trick.
She retreated step by step, trying to escape towards the staircase.
However, these gazes once again surrounded her, and the illusions that disrupted her thoughts reappeared before her eyes.
Confused lines of light were everywhere, Xiao Shu by her side had vanished, and only numerous Jiang Caibin figures stood before her, surrounding her.
If she chose incorrectly, taking one wrong step, she would push Jiang Caibin down the stairs.
Liu Sheng sneered, “Do you think you’re hiding very well?”
The illusion didn’t waver; Liu Sheng seemed to be speaking only to the air.
“You can always spy on me and interfere with my thoughts, but when you really want to push me to do something, you must be near me, right?”
“Because the smell on you is too strong.”
“And I, excuse me, am very sensitive to Guai Qi around me.”
Saying this, Little Tentacle, wrapped under the Lightning Whip, extended in one direction, fiercely grabbing something amidst the light.
Instantly, all the light and shadows compressed into lines, and the illusions split into countless figures, shattered like a mirror, breaking into countless colorful fragments.
The true scene of Taibai Restaurant’s Eighteenth Floor returned.
Little Tentacle retracted, holding a fluffy brown teddy bear. Its eyes were made of buttons, looking rough but somewhat naive, yet the smooth button surfaces reflected an eerie glow in the darkness, as if alive.
Ling Xiaoshu, who reappeared by her side, was very fond of the bear, her eyes sparkling: “Sister, can I…”
Liu Sheng: “We’ll talk about it when we get back. This thing isn’t clean right now.”
With that, she stored the bear in a weird objects containment device. Its essence was very weak, so the containment process was very smooth.
Liu Sheng was still wondering how to deal with Jiang Caibin’s current state when confused footsteps and voices came from the staircase behind her.
There was no other way; fleeing was the best option.
The two of them appearing alone here, one severely injured, and then an investigation into the dispute between Jiang Caibin and Wang Dongdong—given her relationship with Wang Dongdong, she would be unable to defend herself.
“Indeed, Senior Sister Lin was right; I shouldn’t have gone out before the imperial examination.”
She used Little Tentacle to grip the eaves and, holding Ling Xiaoshu, used Little Tentacle’s strength to fly onto the roof tiles.
Just as she caught her breath, she heard an old, hoarse voice beside her.
“Your agility isn’t bad.”
Liu Sheng’s heart tightened. She remembered she had just used Little Tentacle to get up. Didn’t that person see Little Tentacle’s existence?
“Yugui?” the person asked again.
Liu Sheng didn’t answer, looking in the direction of the voice.
She saw a disheveled, short, fat old man squatting on the roof tiles. His face was covered in a messy, grizzled beard, making his features unclear, only a prominent, reddened, large rosacea nose visible.
On the old man’s back was an iron sword, and in his hand, he held a wine jar, drinking deeply to himself. From time to time, wine spilled from the corners of his mouth, dripping down his beard onto his already greasy coarse cloth clothes, making them appear even wetter.
“It’s fine if you don’t answer, it’s good for a young girl to be cautious.”
He took a sip of wine and then pulled out a packet of oiled paper from his clothes. Opening it, inside was a golden-brown, fragrant roasted chicken.
Liu Sheng smelled the aroma and silently swallowed her saliva.
Seeing this, the old man tore off a chicken leg and offered it to Liu Sheng.
Liu Sheng carefully examined the old man’s hands. Although his appearance was sloppy, his fingernails were clean, and there seemed to be no dirt on his hands, at least on the surface. Only then did she confidently accept the chicken leg.
“Not cautious enough, huh!”
“But, it really smells good…”
The old man tore off another chicken leg and handed it to Ling Xiaoshu, who was drooling.
“Grandpa, can you see me?” Ling Xiaoshu unhesitatingly took the chicken leg, immediately took a bite, and mumbled while chewing.
“How could I not see you? You’re so conspicuous,” the old man said cheerfully.
Then he picked up the rest of the roasted chicken and began to tear and bite into it heartily.
He would eat a few bites and then take a sip of wine, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Liu Sheng was not in such a good mood. Squatting on the eaves, looking at the more complete night view of Chang’an, and listening to the exclamations and discussions from below about Jiang Caibin’s discovery, she bit into the chicken leg with a heavy heart.
After one bite, she couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows.
The chicken skin, brushed with syrup, was roasted crispy, and the chicken meat inside was tender, juicy, and still warm. Clearly, the old man had carefully hidden it close to his body to maintain such a temperature.
“Thinking about it makes me lose my appetite a bit…”
“Good, isn’t it? This is roasted chicken from Yan Shi Ju, the best dish to go with wine!” The old man said proudly, looking at Liu Sheng’s expression, “Want some wine?”
Liu Sheng decisively refused this time.
“What a pity, you don’t know how to enjoy yourself.”
The sounds from below the eaves gradually diminished and faded, and Liu Sheng finally felt relieved.
“That kid is fine; you should worry about yourself,” the old man always seemed to know what Liu Sheng was thinking.
“Grandpa, do you know who is harming Sister?” Ling Xiaoshu asked proactively.
“I don’t know.” The old man leaned back, shaking his head indifferently, “When I got here, that kid was already like that.”
“Grandpa, did you just arrive?”
“Yes, Grandpa has work to do.”
“What work?” Ling Xiaoshu continued to ask with naive curiosity.
But the old man didn’t answer. He looked up at the sky: “It’s almost time.”
He patted his round belly, put the roasted chicken back into the oiled paper, calculated something with his greasy fingers, and then nodded: “Hmm, the location is also about right.”
Liu Sheng watched curiously, wondering what else this sloppy old man did besides eating and drinking.
With a clang, the old man drew the long sword from his back.
The long sword was of mediocre quality, looking like the kind of crude iron sword you could buy three of for one Lingtual at a blacksmith’s shop, typically used by beginners in academies.
The old man casually threw this unremarkable iron sword in one direction.
Liu Sheng was about to say, “Isn’t that littering?” but the iron sword instantly vanished from sight, its destination unknown.
Then the old man clapped his hands: “Done for the day.”
“Goodbye, two young ladies.” A big smile spread beneath his messy beard as he addressed Liu Sheng and Ling Xiaoshu.
Then, he leaped down from the eaves.
With a few leaps, he disappeared into the bustling night market of Chang’an.
Liu Sheng blinked, unsure of what had just happened.
“Sister, a shooting star!” Ling Xiaoshu exclaimed.
Liu Sheng looked up at the sound.
An extremely dazzling shooting star, trailing a long tail of flame, streaked across the sky.
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