As soon as the words fell, a gruff scolding came from afar: "Xiaoman! I was wondering why you were dawdling just emptying a chamber pot, and here you are eavesdropping on Xiangyun playing the zither again?"
A man who looked like a manager walked over briskly, his voice full of mockery: "Are you still dreaming about saving up to redeem her? Wake up! Even though Xiangyun is willing to go with you, Madam Liu will never let her go. Xiangyun's zither playing is the living signboard of this pavilion; without her, the guests who love to listen to music would drop by thirty percent!"
"Xiangyun is only a musician, not a courtesan," Xiaoman clenched his fingers, a trace of urgency in his voice. "On what grounds does Madam Liu refuse to let her go..."
"You should be glad she has this skill! Otherwise, Madam Liu would have pushed her out to receive guests long ago. Of the women who mingle in this kind of place, how many can escape unscathed? That time a few months ago, she was lucky that a courtesan took the disaster for her..."
Halfway through his sentence, the manager suddenly stopped speaking, realizing he had said the wrong thing, and his expression changed slightly.
That was a human life, and Madam Liu had warned them long ago never to mention it again.
"What?" Xiaoman asked subconsciously.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" the manager interrupted sternly, waving his hand. "Hurry up and get back to work!"
"I will definitely take Xiangyun away from here," Xiaoman suddenly said in a low voice.
This amused the manager, who teased, "Sure, unless you can produce ten thousand taels of gold, maybe Madam Liu will be willing to let her go."
"I will," Xiaoman gripped the handle of the chamber pot tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white. "Even if it costs me my life."
He seemed completely oblivious to the sarcasm in the other man's words, his unfocused eyes filled with stubborn determination.
Xiangyun was the person who had pulled him out of the mud; she was his benefactor and the only light in his dark world.
He no longer had a home, and Xiangyun was the only refuge he wanted to protect in this life.
If he could obtain that Ice Bow and Dark Arrow, let alone ten thousand taels of gold, an even higher price would be willingly offered by someone. He definitely had to give it a try.
After the manager left, Xiaoman apologized again in Chai Xiaomi's direction before leaving.
He walked very slowly, taking cautious steps, seemingly only able to barely distinguish between light and dark, but unable to see specific shapes and outlines.
Chai Xiaomi glanced downstairs again; it turned out that the little girl playing the zither was named Xiangyun, and she was this young man's sweetheart.
Listening to the manager's meaning, Xiangyun was willing to go with Xiaoman, but Madam Liu was unwilling to let her go, unless there was ten thousand taels of gold.
She subconsciously touched the Qiankun bag at her waist, which contained a money pouch. There was a gold ingot in the money pouch, but that was far from ten thousand taels of gold. Suddenly, the yellowed shop deed given by Zhu Yu flashed through her mind.
No, no, that was the property Zhu Yu had worked hard to earn. Leaving only this one out of so many shops meant she definitely cherished it very much. Even though she had transferred it to her, she absolutely could not dispose of it casually.
While thinking, she looked up and caught a glimpse of two sneaky figures, one large and one small, hiding behind a half-person-high porcelain ornament near the third pillar ahead.
Their peeking appearance was exactly the same as her demeanor when she was peeking outside the bow and arrow shop just now.
"What are you two doing hiding here?"
Song Yueyao also came up at this time, her gaze falling on the person and the cat.
Jiang Zhiyu and Ji Bai then moved out from behind the porcelain.
When they got closer, the two saw clearly that Xiaomi's eye sockets were severely red and swollen, and her eyelids were slightly puffy, looking exactly like two water-soaked peach pits, clearly having cried hard.
"Oh my, my, girl, what's wrong with you? Who bullied you?" Baibai Cat quickly covered its mouth with its two front paws and exclaimed in a low voice, afraid that someone would see a cat talking.
"Xiaomi, what happened?" Jiang Zhiyu could no longer care to pay attention to the young man's back, only staring intently at her red eye sockets, his expression full of anxiety and even a bit of panic.
Could it be that she met those two barbarians again?
"It's nothing," Chai Xiaomi lowered her eyes, her voice a bit listless. "I just got some sand in my eyes from the wind."
After speaking, she subconsciously glanced behind her.
Wu Li had approached a bit closer at some point. At this moment, he was leaning against the railing, his gaze directed at the stage in the center of the bottom floor's water pavilion, but his eyes were a bit wandering and absent-minded.
This leisurely posture leaning against the railing caused several courtesans passing by on the opposite lower corridor to frequently glance sideways at him.
He lowered his head slightly; his nose bridge was high and elegant. Silver ornaments were intertwined in his dark hair, and a few strands of hair fell across his forehead, casually resting on the earrings that shone with fine silver light.
His pure pupils were as clear as gems immersed in water. His eyelashes were long and thick, getting longer towards the ends, outlining a pair of eyes that were both cold and affectionate.
The corners of his eyes were naturally slightly upturned, dragging out a careless charm.
His lip color was a natural light scarlet, as if thinly dyed with a layer of cherry juice.
Just leaning there so casually, it was as if he had the ostentatious style of the brothels!
Chai Xiaomi withdrew her gaze. Because she had cried too hard earlier, her breathing still carried a slight sob.
Song Yueyao stepped forward to block in front of her, quickly explaining: "Just now we went for a walk outside, and I bought a bow. The wind and sand were a bit strong, and Xiaomi got some dust in her eyes. She has already rubbed it out, but her eyes are still red."
Seeing the bow in her hand, Jiang Zhiyu understood in his heart. The New Moon Arrow Competition required groups of two, and he had long guessed that she would definitely choose to participate with Wu Li.
"You haven't answered yet," Song Yueyao steered the conversation back. "What were you doing hiding there so sneakily?"
Jiang Zhiyu then took a step forward, leaned in slightly, and asked Chai Xiaomi in a low voice: "Xiaomi, when you were talking to that man just now, did you notice anything unusual?"
His expression revealed a bit of probing intent: "For example, dark circles under his eyes, weak hands and feet, looking like... he had his life essence sucked dry by a fox spirit?"
"Ah?" Chai Xiaomi was stunned.
She subconsciously thought of the "fox spirit" Jiang Zhiyu mentioned as the courtesans in the pavilion, and immediately retorted: "Don't talk nonsense, Brother Yu. He has a girl he likes. I see he is a man who values love and righteousness, only thinking about saving money to redeem his sweetheart."
"Besides, he doesn't have the symptoms you mentioned. Although his eyes can't see clearly, his gaze is very clean, and his eye sockets aren't dark. He walks slowly because he's afraid of bumping into people, not because his hands and feet are weak."
Jiang Zhiyu frowned in confusion and exchanged a glance with the white cat at his feet.
Ji Bai stroked his whiskers with his paw and said meaningfully: "That shouldn't be. My nose has never made a mistake. The demonic aura on his body is very heavy. Nine times out of ten, he's been entangled by a fox spirit."
Hearing the word "demonic aura," Chai Xiaomi finally realized that the fox spirit they were talking about was a real monster.
She hurriedly pointed towards the corner of the water pavilion stage: "Old Ji, come over and take a look. Could that little girl playing the zither be a fox spirit?"
The white cat leaped lightly and landed on the railing.
Its tail swayed leisurely a couple of times. It looked around and, seeing no one passing by, its two front paws quickly formed a seal in the air. After quietly chanting a spell, it slowly pulled open a thin, transparent mirror that looked like colored glaze.
Looking around to ensure no one was passing by, the cat's paws quickly formed a seal in thin air. Between its two paws, a transparent, glass-like film was slowly drawn open.
The mirror framed the figure playing the zither. The person remained sitting perfectly upright, clear and cool melodies flowing from her fingertips without the slightest anomaly.
"She is human." The white cat released the seal.
Chai Xiaomi's eyes widened. She leaned in and marveled, "That is so amazing, Old Ji! What is this?"
The white cat twitched its whiskers proudly. "It is the True Form Mirror, capable of discerning truth from illusion. If she were a fox spirit, the mirror would have revealed her fluffy true body."
"It is that powerful? Can you teach me?" Chai Xiaomi was envious that everyone around her had special skills to rely on, while she had absolutely zero combat power. If she could learn this, she could at least detect danger in advance and run for her life.
Ji Bai looked at the young girl's sparkling eyes, his whiskers twitching. "This old man has never taken a female disciple before. Do you really want to learn? I am very strict. If you still do not understand after I teach you three times, you will have to hold the horse stance for an hour for every extra time I have to teach you."
Saying that, he jumped down and patted Jiang Zhiyu's boots with his paw. "Ask this boy how long he had to hold the horse stance when he first learned the True Form Mirror."
Feeling publicly embarrassed, Jiang Zhiyu awkwardly scratched his head and gave Xiaomi a sheepish smile. "I held it for a solid six hours."
"I had to teach him six extra times. Added to the first three, it took a total of nine times before he finally got it!" The white cat rubbed its waist, pulled out a fly whisk it had hidden under its armpit using magic, and rested it on its paw. With a serious face, it said, "Little Xiaomi, if you can endure such hardship, then this old man will teach you."
