Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Because of this, the Xie Manor had to compensate others more than once. The annual compensation recorded in their ledgers could amount to a staggering figure.

However, given Ning Shuo’s temperament, buying back a slave his own family had sold for a mere penny was, in its own way, another form of breaking the rules.

Currently, there was a possibility that Ning Shuo was one of these two men, though the existence of a third person couldn’t be ruled out.

Xie Ning and the unknown Field Master were evenly matched. Suddenly, the Field Master spoke up: “Since we can’t determine a winner, why don’t we let this little friend, who went to such great lengths to defeat the Hungry Wolf, make the choice?”

Ning Wang struggled to decide which part to be more annoyed by: “little friend” or “went to such great lengths.”

He took a deep breath and looked at the Field Master. “I’ll stay at the Beast Arena.”

If nothing else, this talent for stomping all over his pet peeves was something only Ning Shuo could master. No one else would dare claim the top spot.

Even if he had lost his memory.

Xie Ning didn’t seem to have any objections. A sound came from the second floor, and Xie Ning departed.

Ning Wang was about to follow behind the Field Master when the man suddenly said, “You walk in front. Go to my room first.”

“I don’t know where your room is,” Ning Wang replied.

The Field Master’s tone was indifferent. “I’ll tell you which way to go.”

So Ning Wang kept walking forward. Only when they reached a fork in the path did he hear the man behind him say, “Right,” or “Left,” or “If I don’t say anything, keep going straight. How can you be so stupid?”

Ning Wang shot back, “You seem to be enjoying this quite a bit.”

The Field Master choked on his words, said nothing, and maintained his unhurried pace.

It wasn’t until they stood before the door that Ning Wang spoke without turning around. “The key.”

The Field Master hissed. “Why does it look like you’re the master here?”

A hand, sickly pale, reached out from behind him. As the key slid into the lock, something cold pressed against Ning Wang’s neck. “Now then, my little master, don’t move.”

“This Finger Blade of mine kills quite quickly.”

The Field Master tried to force him inside, but Ning Wang wouldn’t budge a single step.

Frustrated, the Field Master asked, “Why aren’t you moving?”

Ning Wang feigned confusion. “Didn’t the Field Master say not to move?”

Field Master: “…”

The Field Master pushed him inside, and Ning Wang asked nonchalantly, “What is the Field Master’s name?”

“We Prisoner Slaves are of such lowly status that we’ve never even heard the Field Master’s name.”

“Why isn’t the Field Master speaking? Are you naturally disinclined to talk?”

The Field Master reached his limit. He pinned the man’s hands behind his back and bound them, then pinched Ning Wang’s chin, his eyes filled with scrutiny. “How is it that I didn’t know this batch of slaves produced someone like you, who knows martial arts?”

Ning Wang showed no awareness of being tied up; his smile was reckless and bold. “I’m naturally gifted. A quick learner.”

The Field Master’s expression remained cold. “You certainly are silver-tongued.”

The icy Finger Blade brushed against Ning Wang’s face, which was stained with blood and dust. “I don’t know why you held back halfway through the fight, but since you’re so ‘naturally gifted,’ why does your Martial Arts Style look so similar to mine?”

The smile in Ning Wang’s eyes deepened. “Because I came here specifically to find you, Ning Shuo.”

…

Ning Wang was quite bewildered.

After he called out the name “Ning Shuo,” the Field Master first frowned, then had a moment of realization. “So that’s how it is.”

He released Ning Wang and had a tub of hot water brought in, tossing Ning Wang into it. “You’re quite the Devoted Lover, aren’t you?”

So… it wasn’t him?

Ning Wang thought to himself that if he could fail to recognize his own self, he might as well not live this life at all.

He went to check the task details and only then noticed the word “choice” in the description.

Could it be that choosing which person to follow between Xie Ning and the Field Master didn’t count as the “choice”?

Ning Wang silently swept the courtyard. A voice drifted over from nearby. “You didn’t sweep it clean. Don’t just focus on that one patch.”

Ever since the Field Master concluded that Ning Wang had simply mistaken him for someone else, he had become much more relaxed-

Like right now.

When Ning Wang looked over, the Field Master was performing a Xizi Holding Heart gesture. He was being so perfunctory that while he claimed to be dizzy, his hand was clutching his heart instead of his head. “Oh, my head… why do I feel so faint whenever I see an unclean spot in the courtyard…”
Ning Wang shot him a look, and the Field Master immediately snapped back to normal.

“Since you’ve already identified me as a ‘fine specimen,’ why are you still making me do menial cleaning work?” Ning Wang asked.

The Field Master crossed his arms, leaning lazily against the doorframe. “It’s precisely because you’re a fine specimen that I’m giving you these tasks.”

He looked exactly like someone who had been cast as the villain in a Script. “I’m humiliating you, darling.”

Ning Wang threw the disgust right back at him. “Cleaning your courtyard isn’t a humiliation to me.”

He let those three words roll off his tongue before adding with a malicious glint, “Darling.”

The Field Master felt a wave of revulsion as goosebumps broke out over his skin. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Is this Ning Shuo person very important to you?”

Ning Wang replied casually, “Of course. I’d die without him.”

“That serious? You two are that close?”

“Not really. Just like with you, I got into two fights with him the moment we met.”

“…Two fights?”

Ning Wang nodded. “Nearly got my teeth knocked out.”

The first fight was when they had just met. Perhaps it hadn’t really been a fight so much as Ning Wang being unilaterally suppressed, though that line about “never leaving the palace” had certainly caused Ning Wang some grief later on.

The real fight happened during their first meeting in the Rest Area, where they had a proper brawl indoors.

Ning Wang ground his teeth. “He couldn’t beat me fairly, so he played dirty!”

When he hit the ground back then, Ning Wang had nearly chipped his teeth.

The Field Master looked thoughtful. “Sounds like a smart man, just like me.”

Once the courtyard was swept, the Field Master sent him to fetch water.

In short, after Ning Wang arrived, the Field Master dismissed all the other servants in his courtyard, leaving only Ning Wang.

Ning Wang prepared a meal. The Field Master took a bite and paused.

He looked at Ning Wang and suddenly said, “My name is Ming Zhuang.”

Ning Wang gave a grunt of acknowledgement and continued eating.

Ming Zhuang didn’t get angry. He simply teased, “I’m being a generous master by letting you eat at the same table, yet you’re giving me the cold shoulder?”

Ning Wang countered, “I’m being a generous ‘fine specimen’ by doing all your chores.”

Ming Zhuang chuckled. “What’s your name?”

“Ning Wang.”

Ming Zhuang hesitated. “Then the Ning Shuo you mentioned…?”

Ning Wang initially thought about lying and saying “my brother,” but then his lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Oh, he’s my younger brother.”

“…”

Ming Zhuang’s interest clearly waned. “Oh, your brother.”

Ning Wang secretly savored the joy of being the elder brother for once. “Who did you think he was?”

“Seeing how you acted like you’d die without him, I thought he was your sweetheart.”

Ning Wang glanced at him, his tone unreadable. “If I did have a sweetheart, they would certainly have to be like him.”

Ming Zhuang seemed bored now. “It’s quite a coincidence; your cooking tastes almost exactly like mine.”

After the meal, Ning Wang cleared the table. While he was washing the dishes, he suddenly noticed something wrong with the water in the basin.

Reflections in water usually ripple with the surface, making the image blurry.

However, at this moment, the reflection remained perfectly still, as if completely unaffected by the movement.

Suddenly, the expressionless “Ning Wang” in the water broke into a creepy, distorted smile.

Ning Wang instinctively tried to pull back, only to find his limbs frozen as if bound by invisible shackles.

He forced himself to break through the restraint, knocking the basin to the ground with such force that he reinjured his arm.

With a loud splash and the clatter of breaking porcelain, Ning Wang snapped back to his senses.

The eerie reflection was gone. The heavy, stagnant atmosphere in the room vanished, leaving a mess of broken dishes on the floor.

Ning Wang suddenly felt a gaze on him. He turned to see Ming Zhuang standing in the doorway, silently staring at the wreckage.

And at Ning Wang’s blood-soaked arm.

Ming Zhuang looked at him with a complicated expression. “I only asked you to wash the dishes. I didn’t ask you to self-harm.”

“Those plates are very expensive,” Ming Zhuang said, his heart aching for his wallet. “And even if you wanted to hurt yourself, breaking one would have been enough. Was it really necessary to smash the whole set?”

Ning Wang: “…”