Chapter 1 The Snowy Forest

Snow covered the path and many other traces, but this did not prevent Feng Bujue from groping forward in the forest.

In the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he found an inn, relying on his mysterious sense of direction.

Of course, "inn" was already a thing of the past, because at this moment, this house, which was not large to begin with, had become a scorched ruin.

The strong, lingering smell of burning was undoubtedly one of the reasons why Feng Bujue was able to find this place.

"This should have been an inn," Feng Bujue concluded, standing on the hillside and glancing at it casually.

"How do you know?" Ruoyu wasn't questioning Brother Jue's conclusion, but needed more details to understand his reasoning process.

"Look at the foundation..." Brother Jue replied, "For a lone house built in the forest, it seems too big; for a temple, its structure is wrong; so the most likely thing is an inn."

"Will an inn built in this kind of place have customers?" Ruoyu asked again.

"You don't know this..." Feng Bujue continued, "Although this place isn't an official road, judging from the surrounding terrain and the appearance of the forest...at this moment, there is actually a road under the snow beneath our feet. A small road is still a road; a road means people are walking; and those travelers will naturally need a place to rest."

"But not many people will take this road," Ruoyu added.

"Heh...looking at the size of this inn, it couldn't accommodate many people anyway," Feng Bujue smiled and stepped down from the small hillside.

Ruoyu followed his steps closely, keeping up with his train of thought.

"It looks like this fire hasn't been out for long," Ruoyu said as they approached the ruins.

"Yeah, these ashes still have residual heat, probably...from last night or this morning," Feng Bujue replied, already taking out [Bell's Everyday Knife] and entering the ruins, beginning to poke at the various remains on the ground.

Ruoyu knew what he was doing, and was happy to let him handle the work, so the two of them immediately fell into a silence that seemed a bit abrupt to onlookers.

But this silence, in their eyes, was a tacit understanding that needed no words.

"Huff...that's about it," Feng Bujue walked out of the scorched earth about ten minutes later and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Did you figure anything out?" Ruoyu asked, looking at him with expectant eyes.

"First, murder, then arson; there were a total of nine dead, at least three of whom knew martial arts, and all nine died at the hands of a martial arts master," Feng Bujue said, pausing for a few seconds before adding, "The number of murderers is unknown, but...this person, or these people...must be experienced, efficient, and extremely efficient criminals."

After hearing this, Ruoyu pondered for a few seconds, then said, "In a wuxia (martial arts) setting, encountering experienced killers doesn't seem that strange."

"But the fact that this crime scene is not far from our teleportation point indicates that there must be something fishy going on," Feng Bujue muttered, "It's likely to be..."

[Side Quest Triggered]

Before he could finish speaking, the system voice rang in both of their ears.

"You see..." Brother Jue spread his hands and said to Ruoyu.

They opened the game menu almost simultaneously and saw the new task in the taskbar—[Investigate the Cause of the Mi Si Inn Murders].

"Perfect, this is your forte," Ruoyu said in a relaxed tone after looking at the task.

"Even if it's my forte, the only information I can summarize at this stage...is what I just said," Feng Bujue said with a helpless look.

"Yeah, I understand," Ruoyu said, "Even with the forensic technology of our time, it's difficult to find evidence in a fire scene that's 'burned until there's nothing left to burn'. It's already not easy that you can see this much information."

"Eh?" Feng Bujue smiled slyly when he heard this, "What wind blew you here today? Not only are you not arguing with me, but you're also being so understanding? Are you planning to ask me for New Year's money?"

"According to my estimation, the value of the New Year's money and various holiday gifts I've received since I was a child should already be higher than the total amount of all the legal assets you've ever handled in your life, do you really want to continue talking about this topic with me?" Ruoyu retorted without changing her expression.

"That's right~" The next second, Feng Bujue nodded with great satisfaction.

Clearly, he didn't care about the content of her retort; he just wanted an attitude that made him feel more comfortable.

To put it more bluntly, this is called being cheeky...

But then again, isn't "flirting" mostly start from a man’s annoying behavior?

Just like manzai (a Japanese stand-up comedy style, similar to Chinese crosstalk, but slightly different), there must be one person playing the fool so that the other can make witty retorts.

No matter how foolish the person playing the fool acts, they are not truly foolish; no matter how harsh the person making the retorts speaks, there is no malice.

This game of one willing to hit and one willing to be hit is an indispensable part of our human social behavior.

Friends who can fearlessly call each other idiots to their faces but don't take it to heart are true brothers; men and women who are accustomed to each other's shortcomings and use them as fodder for daily banter but still stick together are true love.

Whether this is pathetic or ridiculous, the depth of the bond between people is reflected in the degree of comfort they feel when being cheeky in front of each other.

You will only show your truest self in front of those closest to you, because you know their tolerance for you, which makes you feel safe, and when you feel safe, you feel comfortable and can speak and do whatever you want.

Everyone will meet a few people in their life in front of whom they never worry about losing face.

Whether it's a meeting of minds or birds of a feather flocking together, if you can't find such people in your life, then your life is probably too lonely and too much of a failure.

And Wang Qiong was such a person.

He didn't lack friends; there were too many people who wanted to be his friend.

He didn't lack lovers either; if he wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult for him to be a "new groom every night."

But he still felt lonely.

Because in this world, he could no longer find anyone he could completely let down his guard and trust absolutely.

When a person can only feel at ease when they are alone, then no matter how many people surround them, they are lonely.

"Manor Lord, a guest is requesting an audience."

Cheng Wei's report from outside the door awakened Wang Qiong from his nap.

"Haa..." Wang Qiong, who was reclining on a soft couch, shook his head and yawned, "What kind of people are coming?"

Wang Qiong didn't go to school when he was young, and although he learned to read and do accounts when he grew up, he couldn't change his way of speaking, so he would never say things like "Who is coming?"

"Reporting to the Manor Lord, it's a man and a woman. The man calls himself 'Zhang San' and says he's here to 'deliver the goods'," Cheng Wei replied.

Cheng Wei should be considered one of the more trustworthy people among those whom Wang Qiong didn't trust; he and his younger brother, Cheng Yong, had been Wang Qiong's personal guards for ten years.

Although they were called "guards," Cheng Wei had been more like a butler in recent years, because Wang Qiong had many experts under his command, so Cheng Wei rarely had the opportunity to use his martial arts skills.

"Oh..." Wang Qiong pondered for a few seconds, "Let them wait a bit, I'll be right there."

"Yes," Cheng Wei acknowledged, and the sound of his quick footsteps moving away came from outside the door.

Before long, Wang Qiong was dressed and ready, and he left the room and came to the courtyard outside.

The owner of this large courtyard was originally the richest man in Linlu Town, and his residence was also the largest mansion in the town.

But now, he was no longer in this town.

Because on the day Wang Qiong came to Linlu Town, he bought this mansion and three or four surrounding houses to serve as residences for himself and his followers.

And his "buying method" was roughly..."I'll give you half a day to pack your things and move out. Whatever you can't take or don't have time to pack, I'll buy it all together."

After stating his request, he would let the other party "name a price," and then he would actually pay the price that the other party "casually" named...

This was Wang Qiong's way of doing things, this was how he spent money.

The most terrifying thing was that his ability to earn money was even better than his ability to spend it...

"You two, sorry to keep you waiting." Wang Qiong crossed the courtyard and entered a hall in the front yard. As he strode through the door, he greeted the two "guests."

Although Wang Qiong didn't care much about etiquette, his guests were quite particular.

"Greetings, Boss Wang." The male guest immediately stood up, cupped his fist in the other hand, and respectfully greeted him.

Wang Qiong sized him up from head to toe—this was a slender man with delicate features, appearing to be around thirty years old; even in this cold weather, he was wearing a neat green robe and had a sword at his waist, clearly someone who practiced martial arts.

At the same time, the other party was also observing Wang Qiong—Boss Wang was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, and looked to be in his early forties, not bad-looking; he was wearing a fur coat and cotton pants, and a fur hat, not at all like someone from the martial world, more like a shopkeeper.

"Have we...met before?" Wang Qiong asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

The man who called himself Zhang San didn't answer the question, but looked at Cheng Wei standing to the side, then gave Wang Qiong an inquiring look.

"Oh..." Wang Qiong understood what he meant, "It's okay, let him listen, go ahead."

Wang Qiong didn't like to beat around the bush, and he would use the simplest and most direct way to say most things.

"Alright..." Zhang San hesitated for a few seconds, then replied, "Then I'll remind Boss Wang...the last time we met, my identity was still 'Zhu Cheng'."

"What?" Wang Qiong took two steps back and glanced at him again, "You're saying you're Zhu Cheng?" His expression already showed that he didn't believe it, "The second-ranked of the Yuling Four Absolutes, Zhu Cheng?"

"That's right," Zhang San gave a definite answer.

"Hmph..." At this moment, Cheng Wei, who was standing to the side, snorted coldly, "Absurd, if you're going to impersonate someone, you should at least find out about their height and appearance, right? Zhu Cheng's build is worth two of you."

"Is Zhu Cheng's voice like this?"

These words were spoken by "Zhang San", but the voice he used to say these words was completely different from his previous voice, but exactly the same as Zhu Cheng's voice from back then.

"You..." Seeing this, Cheng Wei was also speechless for a moment.

Wang Qiong's reaction was faster than his: "So...you used to be Zhu Cheng, but now you're Zhang San?"

Zhang San replied: "I was never Zhu Cheng...the real Zhu Cheng was replaced by me long before the Yuling Four Absolutes met you."

Wang Qiong said: "Oh...so you've always been Zhang San, just pretended to be Zhu Cheng for a while?"

Zhang San said: "I'm not Zhang San either."

Wang Qiong said: "Then who exactly are you?"

Zhang San laughed: "Who I am doesn't matter. I can be Zhu Cheng, I can be Zhang San, and if necessary, I can be Wang Qiong. I can even be Wang Qiong for the rest of my life."

This sentence was dangerous.

As dangerous as the person who said it.

"Hm?" Before his voice had faded, Cheng Wei's gaze and murderous intent were already approaching Zhang San like blades.

"Hahaha..." Zhang San laughed loudly, "Just kidding...just kidding, Brave Warrior Cheng, don't take it seriously."

Whether Zhang San was really joking and whether Cheng Wei had taken it seriously was obvious.

But this topic didn't continue, because Wang Qiong had already started talking about something else as if nothing had happened: "Alright, alright, you can be whoever you want. You don't have to tell me what happened between you and the Yuling Four Absolutes. The grievances of you martial artists have nothing to do with me. I only care if the deal can be made, and who I make it with...is the same to me."

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze to the woman who had been sitting beside him without saying a word.

This woman was wearing thick cotton clothes and a red cloak on top. She wore a bamboo hat on her head, and a thick layer of black veil completely covered her face under the brim.

Wrapped up like this, there were few things that could be used to determine her gender; but there were still some...such as the style of her clothes, her posture when walking, and...the only thing on her that wasn't covered, her pair of white jade-like slender hands.

They were indeed a very beautiful pair of hands, so flawless that they seemed unreal.

The owner of these hands had clearly never done any rough work, nor had they practiced martial arts...even if they had, it definitely wasn't hand-to-hand combat.

Wang Qiong had seen many women, and many pairs of women's hands, so at this moment, he didn't need to look at the woman's face to know that she must be a stunning beauty.

"This is..." After a moment, Wang Qiong spoke again. He originally wanted to say "This is the goods, right?" but after a little consideration, he changed the second half of the sentence to "...the person I'm looking for?"

"Yes." Zhang San's answer was neither fast nor slow, and his tone sounded confident.

"She...is she alright?" Wang Qiong's next question seemed a bit ambiguous.

But Zhang San knew very well what he was asking: "She is fine."

A second later, as if afraid that Wang Qiong wouldn't understand, Zhang San added another half sentence: "As good as new."

Wang Qiong didn't respond, but turned his head and said, "Cheng Wei."

"Here," Cheng Wei responded.

"Call two maids and a midwife..." Wang Qiong hadn't finished speaking when.

Zhang San interrupted him: "Hold on."

"What's wrong?" Wang Qiong asked.

"Before inspecting the goods, shouldn't we talk about the price again?" A look of greed flashed in Zhang San's eyes.

"How much more do you want?" Wang Qiong was truly a direct person.

He bypassed the obvious nonsense and the description of how many difficulties and risks Zhang San had experienced in this operation, and directly addressed the other party's purpose, asking the most central question.

"Double," Zhang San was also a formidable character. He didn't panic at all in front of Wang Qiong's question, and said in a deep voice his obviously excessive asking price.

"Okay," Wang Qiong replied without hesitation, "Inspect the goods first. If there's no problem with the goods, you take the money and leave."

After saying this, Wang Qiong turned around and left.

He didn't give any further instructions. He knew that Cheng Wei would take care of the rest.

Wang Qiong's appearance when he turned around was very ordinary, and his way of walking was also very ordinary.

There was absolutely no aura of dominance about him.

But after he turned around, "Zhang San's" gaze as he watched his back already carried respect.

"Zhang respectfully sees Boss Wang off." As he walked out of the room, Zhang San made an even deeper bow than when he came, and said these words with a tone of admiration.