The next morning.
Wu Zhen reorganized her backpack, adding gifts she might give to Jiang Zhenxue along the way.
She couldn't help it. The NPC was too good at acting cute; she simply couldn't resist.
Wu Zhen originally thought she had grown accustomed to Jiang Zhenxue's face, but it turned out he had just been holding back all this time. The result of him not holding back was that as soon as her door opened last night, the player was so mesmerized that her head spun. She rummaged through her backpack and finally handed him a pear blossom—the (least valuable) item she had.
"I was supposed to have a gift for you today too. But I don't really have anything left to give you..."
The moment her words fell, the imperceptible sticky feeling in the surrounding air vanished without a trace. The player didn't notice it; she was just speaking sincerely and in genuine distress.
The young man blinked.
He took Wu Zhen's hand and placed a jade bracelet into her palm.
"It's a return gift."
He said with a smile.
In the end, as if feeling that wasn't enough, he held Wu Zhen's hand and carefully slid the jade bracelet onto her wrist, putting it on for her.
Wu Zhen didn't expect to receive a return gift from an NPC and looked at it curiously. The jade bracelet was moist and clear, with a hint of ethereal azure. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary item. She had already started calculating how much the bracelet was worth.
Jiang Zhenxue smiled pleasantly, "You can't sell it."
Wu Zhen: "..."
Were NPCs nowadays so intelligent that they could predict what she was thinking?!
Jiang Zhenxue still hadn't let go of her hand. He tilted his head, looking at the only ornament on her pale, delicate wrist, and his smile widened a fraction.
"You can't take it off, either." The pad of his thumb, carrying a trace of coolness, pressed against the back of her hand. "...Wu Zhen."
Wu Zhen had casually agreed at the time.
Time returned to the present.
Wu Zhen looked at the jade bracelet on her wrist, deep in thought.
Because she found that it really couldn't be taken off.
It was clearly a suitable size with a little extra room, which should have made it easy to put on and take off, yet it felt as if it had grown onto her hand.
If she couldn't see it with her own eyes, she wouldn't even feel that she was wearing anything on her wrist.
Coupled with the fact that he had inexplicably called her name last night, Wu Zhen suspected that Jiang Zhenxue had used some kind of spell to firmly bind the jade bracelet to her.
Unfortunately, nothing more was displayed in the [Event] tab, and the jade bracelet didn't have any item description. It seemed to be just an ordinary bracelet.
Unable to figure it out for the time being, she didn't dwell on it too much. After all, it wasn't like she would only ever have this one body.
After a mortal's hundred years, when she died, this bracelet would probably fall off naturally.
Wu Zhen gathered her thoughts, opened the door, and happened to run into Jiang Zhenxue as she walked out of the courtyard.
His gaze fell on her wrist, and he seemed to be in a good mood.
Actually, the player originally wanted him to stay behind and take care of the herb garden.
But she always suspected that he might secretly follow her—probably just an intuition.
She just felt that he was much clingier than when she had first picked him up.... Was it an illusion?
It felt like she had forgotten something.
While the player was thinking, outside the bamboo forest, Deng Caiying had already prepared three fast horses. Seeing the two of them emerge from the bamboo forest, he greeted them energetically, not even bothering to ask why they didn't have a single bundle of luggage on them.
It was just before dawn, and the air carried the unique chill of the early morning. Wu Zhen looked at the tall Dark Cloud Stepping on Snow and felt a liking for it, but there was a very serious problem.
Wu Zhen: "But I don't know how to ride a horse."
Deng Caiying: "...?!"
Deng Caiying was shocked. Only then did he realize that given Wu Zhen's age, she was actually far from the time when she should be roaming the martial arts world. It was understandable that she didn't know how to ride a horse. Feeling suddenly ashamed, he said, "I'm sorry, I... Sigh, I forgot to ask you, Young Hero Wu."
Just as he was about to ask if they should rent a carriage, he saw Wu Zhen vault onto the horse. Her sleeves fluttered, as light and weightless as a falling leaf.
[Equestrianism: lv.1]
"It's actually pretty simple," the black-haired young girl said breezily.
"..."
Deng Caiying shut his mouth.
He rode his horse slowly, leading the way in front.
Wu Zhen's Equestrianism level rose rapidly. Soon, she was able to control her mount with ease.
Deng Caiying took the official road. The path was relatively smooth, and there wouldn't be too many bandits. Occasionally, they could see traveling merchants and armed escort agencies transporting goods along the way. Since spring had already arrived, a gentle breeze brushed against their faces on the road, and the grass slowly revealed a hint of green. Looking into the distance, one could still faintly see the unmelted snow on the mountains. It was a beautiful scenery.
Thus, Wu Zhen was in a good mood the entire way.
The journey that day was very peaceful. By evening, they passed through a town, stopped, and found an inn to rest.
Deng Caiying still had some spare money on him. He asked for three premium guest rooms, and then whispered to his two companions, "...We haven't been rushing our journey, nor have we concealed our tracks. There might just be assassins coming tonight."
Wu Zhen: "That's great."
Deng Caiying shut his mouth.
Looking again at the black-haired young man—who had been forced by Wu Zhen to wear a veiled hat and forbidden to speak because he had attracted too much trouble along the way—Deng Caiying felt an unprecedentedly subtle mood.
Having roamed the martial arts world for so many years, this kind of bizarre traveling experience was a first for him.
...No, wait. Whether his traveling companion was actually a human or not was still up for debate.
The three premium rooms were connected, with Wu Zhen's room right in the middle. Having traveled for a whole day, her fatigue value wasn't very healthy, and she had nothing else she wanted to do. So, after washing up simply, she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep, waiting for the next day to arrive.
As for the assassins that might come at night...
Well.
Anyway, she wouldn't be the unlucky one.
.
That night.
Outside the pitch-black Wu family residence, a group of men with black scarves masking their faces passed through the bamboo forest, whose formations had not yet been restored, and quietly vaulted into the dead-silent manor.
The leader's gaze swept across the courtyard. He made a hand signal behind him, and the group scattered in a well-trained manner, quickly beginning their search from different directions.
The men responsible for searching the courtyard spotted the freshly turned soil under the pear tree at first glance.
They exchanged a glance. Seeing that whatever left the trace shouldn't be buried too deep, they immediately started digging downwards.
In just a moment, what was buried beneath the soil was revealed.
It was several fresh human corpses.
It looked like they had been buried here to be used as flower fertilizer.
"..."
The men in black fell silent.
Perhaps refusing to believe it, they dug down a bit further, but there were still only corpses.
At this time, the men in black who had searched elsewhere had mostly returned. This manor was not small and had detailed landscaping, making it very troublesome to search. The reason they were able to return so quickly was simple.
—Inside this residence, whether in the main courtyard or the side wings, there were almost no traces of human life.
It was as if the people living here had emptied out everything that could be moved overnight.
But those three had clearly traveled light. Only Deng Caiying carried some luggage; the other two were empty-handed. They didn't look like they were going on a long journey at all, let alone having emptied out a whole house.
...Had they seen a ghost?
The men in black looked at each other in dismay.
...
Meanwhile, at the inn.
Deng Caiying, who hadn't fallen asleep in the first place, faintly heard the very slight sound of a window being opened.
It was
It came from next door.
The martial world was fraught with peril. Deng Caiying immediately suspected that the intruder might have brought knockout powder or something similar. Since Young Hero Wu had only recently entered the martial world, she might not be on her guard. At this thought, he instantly sat up, intending to rush over to the next room.
The next second.
The wall separating his room from Young Hero Wu's was smashed through with a deafening crash.
The projectile appeared to be a humanoid object. With unyielding momentum, it slammed heavily into the opposite wall with another loud bang, hung in the air for two full seconds, and then plummeted to the floor.
It made a massive thud.
Deng Caiying, who could vaguely make out that it was a masked assassin: "..."
Well then.
He shouldn't have worried about Young Hero Wu. He could save his worries for the day an assassin could take a single hit from Young Hero Wu without dying on the spot.
...As for himself, he had better start worrying about the compensation he would have to pay the innkeeper tomorrow.
The next day.
Wu Zhen woke up feeling incredibly refreshed.
...Wait, why was she lying on the floor?
Before the player even had time to be confused, she spotted a large, vaguely human-shaped hole in the wall ahead, along with a dead body that had been sent flying into the adjacent room.
Wu Zhen: "..."
Uh.
Great. She figured her question had already been clearly answered.
She turned her gaze to the other person in the room.
Jiang Zhenxue was sitting at the table. Who knew how long he had been there, but he was currently watching her with a smile.
Seeing her look over, he explained, "Deng Caiying has already gone downstairs. I stayed here to wait for you to wake up."
Wu Zhen stood up, dusted off her clothes, and walked over to the table. There happened to be two cups of tea that Jiang Zhenxue had just poured, so she picked them both up and downed them.
"..." Jiang Zhenxue's motion of stroking his fan handle seemed to pause slightly.
Wu Zhen didn't notice. She only felt that the tea was exceptionally delicious. Upon swallowing, she even felt a profound sense of mental clarity. She couldn't help but open the teapot to take a look, already pondering how she could get her hands on the recipe.
"Hmm." Noticing her actions, Jiang Zhenxue finally reacted. He raised a hand, resting his knuckles against his lips as if deep in thought. "...Actually, this is a spiritual tea brewed with special tea leaves."
He smiled faintly. "It is a secret family recipe."
Wu Zhen looked at him suspiciously.
Jiang Zhenxue's expression remained unchanged, his eyes looking entirely innocent.
Fine then.
Harboring the thought of "I will definitely have one in my next life," Wu Zhen completely tossed the matter to the back of her mind. She did not think much of the so-called "family inheritance" either, and simply said in a naturally brisk tone, "I see, nothing to be done about that then. Let's head downstairs and get ready to set off."
"..."
The white-clad young man's smile faltered slightly. The curve of his lips flattened out a bit.
He seemed to let out a very soft sigh, but when Wu Zhen turned to look at him, his expression was the same as usual. He merely complied, saying, "Alright."
After that, he consciously put his veiled hat back on.
Wu Zhen looked him up and down. Even with the veiled hat on, this person was still incredibly striking. That otherworldly aura, like a solitary pine standing amidst the snow, simply couldn't be concealed; if anything, it only invited more daydreaming. But there was no helping it. Not wearing it would cause an even bigger stir, and Wu Zhen truly did not want to deal with the hassle of being blocked in the street by random men and women ever again.
She stowed away the corpse in a highly eco-friendly manner and headed downstairs. Deng Caiying had just finished his conversation with the innkeeper. Seeing them come down together, he greeted them from afar.
As Deng Caiying withdrew his gaze, the innkeeper's somewhat flattering sigh drifted into his ears: "Those two friends of yours, young hero, make quite the matching couple."
"..."
Thinking of Wu Zhen's terrifying habit of killing people in her sleep, and Jiang Zhenxue's composed calmness as he waited without batting an eye for her to wake up.
Deng Caiying, who hadn't dared to set foot into her room at all, nodded in deep agreement.
