Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Xue Heting was a man of his word. Sure enough, the next day, he brought over his thank-you gift: a plain, unadorned stack of silver banknotes that made Qiao Ying’s heart bloom with joy.

She had to admit, Shen Qingyu’s complete lack of hypocritical social niceties and his habit of asking for a thank-you gift outright really did lead to greater rewards sometimes.

Shen Qingyu accepted the stack of banknotes without even saying thank you, as if it were only right for him to take the money.

Qiao Ying weighed her own money pouch in her hand, then looked at the banknotes in Shen Qingyu’s grasp. Her envy was obvious. She scooted closer, tugged at the corner of Shen Qingyu’s sleeve, and whispered, “Shen Qingyu.”

Shen Qingyu lowered his face slightly and asked with a smile, “What is it?”

“Your eyes aren’t convenient, you know.”

Shen Qingyu nodded. “They aren’t.”

“Then if you dropped your money, it’d be hard for you to notice, right?”

Shen Qingyu thought for a moment. “Right, I suppose.”

Qiao Ying kindly offered a suggestion. “Then why don’t you let me keep the money safe for you? When you need to spend it, you can just take it from me. How does that sound? Don’t worry, I’m definitely not trying to pocket your money. It’s just that we’ve known each other for so long, and you’ve saved me so many times, so I want to do something to repay you too.”

Shen Qingyu did not answer right away. He seemed to still be pondering it.

Qiao Ying tilted her face up and stared at him, even blinking at him. Although he couldn’t see it, her face was the picture of pure innocence.

Perhaps moved by her sincerity, Shen Qingyu smiled. “All right.”

Qiao Ying took the banknotes from his hand, and a blissful smile immediately spread across her face.

So much money! How long would she have to work to earn this much?

Xue Heting was still there. He looked at Shen Qingyu, who was smiling, then at Qiao Ying, who was hurriedly stuffing the banknotes into her money pouch. For a moment, he found the way these two got along even harder to understand.

Ming Caihua could see a little of what was going on, but he said nothing.

After weighing his words again and again, Xue Heting finally spoke. “Young Master Shen’s abilities are far beyond those of ordinary men. There are still yaoguai causing trouble in the city, so I would like to ask Young Master Shen for your assistance in searching the city for any hidden Yaoguai, so that the people of Fangcun City may live in peace once more. Of course, if Young Master Shen is willing to lend your aid, I will certainly offer another thank-you gift.”

Shen Qingyu said, “Such a trifling effort is hardly worth mentioning, but if you insist on such generosity, I will not refuse.”

Qiao Ying lifted her head, feeling as if those words sounded somewhat familiar.

Xue Heting was overjoyed. “That would be excellent.”

Qiao Ying cut in, “How does Young Master Xue know there are still Yaoguai causing trouble in the city?”

Ming Caihua said lazily from the side, “The Qingshuang Sword in his hand can sense Yaoguai. Before, we thought the Water Yaoguai was what made the Qingshuang Sword react, but after the Water Yaoguai died, the Qingshuang Sword still kept stirring restlessly. So he figured there must still be Yaoguai in the city.”

Qiao Ying asked again, “Then does Young Master Xue have anyone in mind?”

Xue Heting replied, “Without evidence, I dare not make reckless conclusions.”

Qiao Ying looked at Shen Qingyu again. “How do you plan to help Young Master Xue?”

Xue Heting also looked at Shen Qingyu, waiting for his answer.

Shen Qingyu smiled. “Make a trip to Phoenix Town. If you’re careful enough, you’ll naturally find useful clues.”

Qiao Ying said, “Wait, doesn’t that town have Yaoguai?”

Shen Qingyu’s tone was indifferent. “That will depend on whether he has the courage.”

Xue Heting’s brows furrowed slightly. Then he cupped his fist and said, “Thank you for the guidance.”

Ming Caihua followed Xue Heting out of the dilapidated courtyard, muttering, “I’ve heard of Phoenix Town. The townspeople made a living forging sharp blades used to kill Yaoguai. For some unknown reason, the whole place was slaughtered forty years ago. They say it’s haunted now. Xue Heting, are you really going?”

Xue Heting said, “Since there are clues there, I can’t miss them.”

“You trust that Shen guy’s words that much?” Ming Caihua had no desire to follow Xue Heting to his death, so he hurriedly said, “You’re blind, so you can’t see it, but my eyes are sharp and my mind is clear. Qiao Ying is obviously under someone’s control too, which is why she can’t leave that Shen guy. That Shen fellow is a smiling tiger. You can’t guess what he’s thinking at all. People like that are the scariest. If she could run, she would’ve run long ago. Have you forgotten how miserably those Water Yaoguai died? Shen Qingyu has a heavy killing intent. Maybe one day he’ll start cutting people down as Yaoguai. There’s something wrong with him!”
Xue Heting said, “I only remember one fact.”

“What?”

“That night, when Fangcun City was plunged into crisis and everyone’s lives hung by a thread, he did not take advantage of our misfortune.”

“Maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t want to. Maybe he simply had reservations…”

“Since he still had reservations, he can’t be considered utterly vicious.”

Ming Caihua was left speechless.

On a late-autumn afternoon, the sunlight was just right, warm and pleasantly comfortable.

When Qiao Ying had been cleaning the courtyard the day before yesterday, she had found a reclining chair and casually set it beneath a tree. Now, that chair had become Shen Qingyu’s favorite spot. Whenever he had nothing to do-or even when he did-he would lie there.

Especially when the sun was good, he would lounge lazily in the reclining chair, utterly at ease. His blue robe hung loose over his shoulders, the collar slightly open to reveal half of his pale, slender neck. His white hair spilled over the back of the chair like a waterfall, a few strands caught by the wind and plastered against his cheek. With the white silk blindfold covering his eyes, he looked even more carelessly languid.

Listening to the wind mingle with birdsong, a faint, almost imperceptible smile at the corner of his lips, he looked very much like a fox that had basked long enough in the afternoon sun and was now radiating pure comfort.

Except this afternoon, there was a little more chirping than usual.

“There are Yaoguai in Phoenix Town. I almost died there.”

“Now that I think about it, everything in that town was wrong. Maybe every single person I saw there was some demon or ghost!”

“We escaped from Phoenix Town before, so why did you make Young Master Xue-”

Qiao Ying’s face was pinched by a pale hand. The grip was not heavy, but it caught her jaw just right, trapping the rest of her accusation in her throat. All she could do was crouch beside him and make muffled little “mmph mmph” sounds.

“We didn’t escape. I took you and fought our way out. Still, you’re a little smarter than I expected.” The Youth in Blue turned his face toward her, the corners of his lips lifting. “Only realizing now that there were no living people in that town means your stupidity is not entirely beyond saving.”

Qiao Ying tried to push his hand away, but failed. She could only speak in a muffled voice, struggling to mumble, “So they really were all Yaoguai and ghosts!”

“Whether they were vengeful ghosts born from wrongful deaths or Evil Yaoguai that killed people, they were all trapped by a streak of sword qi. Since they could not escape, they could not come out and harm anyone.”

Finding the feel rather nice, he shifted the hand pinching her face and squeezed the flesh on her cheeks into different shapes.

Qiao Ying held back the urge to kick him. Then inspiration struck, and she remembered what he had said. “You said that the sword qi in the Water Yaoguai Lair that day was exactly the same as the sword qi left on the Boundary Stele of Phoenix Town. The two are connected, aren’t they?”

Shen Qingyu released her face. He lay steadily in the chair, enjoying the dappled spots of light falling over him. Even his voice carried a lazy, husky edge. “Not too stupid, I suppose.”

Qiao Ying was rarely this curious. “What exactly did you figure out? Tell me.”

Shen Qingyu said nothing.

“Shen Qingyu.”

“Shen Qingyu.”

“Don’t go to sleep.”

“I’m being your listener and giving you somewhere to vent your urge to share. Isn’t that nice?”

“Shen Qingyu…” Qiao Ying put both hands on the reclining chair, grabbed the corner of his sleeve, and tugged. “Just tell me. In Phoenix Town and in the Water Yaoguai Lair, who exactly was the person who left behind that sword qi? Could they be connected to those bones? Is this person good or bad? There has to be some huge secret behind all of this, right? Shen Qingyu…”

She leaned by his ear and chattered nonstop, babbling on and on without pause.

The young man raised a hand and laid it over his brow and eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

“Qiao Ying, you really are noisy.” He turned his face again to “look” at her. “You make me want to pull out your tongue.”

Qiao Ying should have been afraid, but for some reason, the threat had the opposite effect. “If you pull out my tongue, then I won’t be able to taste-test dishes anymore. If you’re willing to eat even worse food from now on, then go ahead and pull out my tongue.”

Shen Qingyu: “…”