***
Bai Yunsheng was a man with no filter, and not particularly well-liked.
Sure enough, after he hit the nail on the head, Wenren Ying’s expression immediately turned cold. Those eyes of his, usually deep and gentle, grew as sharp as a drawn blade.
When that razor-sharp gaze swept over Bai Yunsheng, he felt as though he had been sliced into ten, a hundred pieces…
His scalp prickled, and he couldn’t help reflecting on himself. Had Wu Guanyue been too busy to torment him lately, causing him to get a little carried away?
Think back, Bai Yunsheng, to the first time you met this pair of lunatics!
Bai Yunsheng: “……”
He felt like he was about to break out in a cold sweat.
…Say something to salvage the situation.
Bai Yunsheng: “A fair maiden is fit for a gentleman to—”
Before he could finish, Wenren Ying cut him off coldly. “Who are you calling a dead girl?”
Bai Yunsheng: “……”
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Bai Yunsheng was utterly defeated!
This crazy pair really were made for each other! Even when it came to missing the point, they were astonishingly well matched!
Bai Yunsheng was silent for a moment. Deciding he shouldn’t stoop to their level, he said expressionlessly, “The dead girl was referring to myself. Happy now?”
Wenren Ying gave him an exceedingly frosty look.
Wenren Ying had never had a good opinion of Bai Yunsheng. He simply couldn’t stand the man. Even though Bai Yunsheng was also one of their master’s disciples, Wenren Ying had no desire whatsoever to acknowledge him as a fellow disciple.
Little Yue, however, got along fairly well with him.
…Probably because that pushover was so easy to bully.
As long as she was happy…
Wenren Ying said bluntly, “What are you doing here?”
Bai Yunsheng no longer dared to act flippantly and answered honestly, “Little Shopkeeper Wu asked me to pass a message on to you.”
“What message?”
Bai Yunsheng: “She won’t be coming over for a while. The inn has guests.”
Wenren Ying: “……”
Wenren Ying’s brows drew together. After a brief silence, he couldn’t help asking, “What kind of guests?”
It wasn’t as though the inn had never had guests before… But if Wu Guanyue was supposed to come see him, she would come see him. She ran the inn in a thoroughly casual manner. Whenever she felt like going fishing, she would simply close the doors and leave to go fishing. She had never let the inn tie her down before.
Why was it suddenly holding her back now?
—It wasn’t that he insisted she come see him. It was just that something about this was suspicious. Something was clearly going on around Little Yue. How could he possibly ignore it?
Bai Yunsheng said expressionlessly, “A tragic young man and a notorious heartbreaker, apparently.”
Wenren Ying: “…What did you just call him?”
Bai Yunsheng knew nothing more than that himself. “I’m not sure either. But Little Shopkeeper Wu went fishing at Suwen Pool with him today, so she won’t be coming over. Brother Wenren, make yourself at home. Make yourself at home.”
Wenren Ying: “……”
Wenren Ying: “…………”
Wenren Ying fell silent.
His face was completely devoid of expression… which, for him, was extremely unusual. He was normally cheerful and fond of smiling, but that was precisely why it was so frightening when his expression darkened.
After a long while, he suddenly rose without a word, grabbed his saber, put on his bamboo hat, and headed outside.
He was supposedly seriously wounded and recuperating, yet the motion with which he sprang to his feet was astonishingly nimble, and he strode away at a brisk pace. He wasn’t even bothering to pretend anymore.
Bai Yunsheng secretly found it amusing… It looked like there would be quite a show today.
Only after Wenren Ying had gone some distance away did Bai Yunsheng snap open his folding fan with a whoosh. He leisurely fanned himself a few times… then hurried after him toward Suwen Pool.
Meanwhile, at Suwen Pool…
The Marvelous Gentleman was putting fish on Wu Guanyue’s hook.
That’s right—putting fish on it.
Ordinarily, two people going fishing together ought to have been a lovely experience. Fishing was an activity that required sitting in one place for a long time without moving much. With two people together, they could naturally chat, and with the time spent walking there as well, wouldn’t they become familiar with each other before long?
Who could have guessed that, just outside the inn, the cat perched on Wu Guanyue’s head would suddenly leap down and go “splort,” flattening itself across the ground like a dark, shaggy rug? The young woman then suddenly flipped over and stepped onto the shaggy rug, and then… then she flew off!
She was moving like a bolt of lightning!
The Marvelous Gentleman: “……”
The shock he felt was impossible to put into words. Most shocking of all, the cat ran so fast that he couldn’t even catch up to it…
Their pleasant walk-and-chat was dead on arrival.
At long last, they reached Suwen Pool. Wu Guanyue had already found a quiet, picturesque spot to fish. When she saw him arrive, she immediately waved cheerfully.
“Marvelous Gentleman, over here, over here!”
The Marvelous Gentleman went over and sat down beside her, then took out his own fishing rod and prepared to fish.
He was just about to strike up a conversation with her when something dark and indistinct suddenly went zipping through the water below.
A demon?!
The Marvelous Gentleman instantly became fully alert.
Then he saw that the dark, indistinct creature was putting fish on Wu Guanyue’s hook… Once it had finished, Wu Guanyue loudly praised it.
“What a good cat! What a wonderful cat! The best cat in the world!”
The indistinct creature poked its head out of the water and happily meowed, occasionally letting out one or two suspicious barks.
It was… it was the cat that Wu Guanyue sometimes wore on her head and sometimes stepped on.
The Marvelous Gentleman: “……”
This cat… was surprisingly capable.
The corner of the Marvelous Gentleman’s mouth twitched. For the sake of his soul flame, he could only force himself to perk up and loudly echo her praise.
“What a good cat! What a wonderful cat! The best cat in the world!”
Wu Guanyue was delighted to hear this. Her eyes glittered as she said, “Right? Right? Wuyun is so capable! All the butter pastries at our inn are churned by Wuyun with its tail!”
The Marvelous Gentleman: “……”
So that was why there was so much fur in the food!
This girl… was she really normal?
By this point, the Marvelous Gentleman had completely lost the strength to speak. Mostly because he was afraid that, the moment he opened his mouth, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from criticizing Wu Guanyue.
But the ordeal wasn’t over yet.
Perhaps the versatile black cat named Wuyun had been given too many jobs and simply couldn’t bear the burden any longer. After hanging only a few fish, it was already panting heavily, its ears drooping in exhaustion.
Naturally, Wu Guanyue couldn’t let it continue to overexert itself. Wuyun made its way back to shore, panting every few steps, then lay on the grass to rest, looking like a sleek, glossy sea cucumber.
And then… then Wu Guanyue didn’t catch another fish.
“……”
This girl was terrible at fishing! Had she always relied on Wuyun to hang fish on her hook, so she had never actually learned any fishing techniques?!
She really had.
Though, to be fair, Suwen Pool was a higher-level fishing spot, so the fish there were naturally more difficult to catch.
Wu Guanyue’s fishing level was especially low. She could manage at Chisong Forest, a beginner fishing spot, but she simply wasn’t up to the higher-level locations.
And besides… Wu Guanyue had very little patience when fishing…
It was easy enough to understand. She had grown accustomed to taking shortcuts, and now that she had suddenly lost the aid of outside forces, her attitude had already been spoiled by them.
Wu Guanyue: “…………”
Wu Guanyue: “………………”
Wu Guanyue’s expression gradually turned serious, and the atmosphere around her grew increasingly oppressive…
Miaolangjun: “…………”
At a time like this, he really couldn’t find an opportunity to speak. When an angler couldn’t catch a single fish while you were pulling them out one after another, no matter how many pleasant things you said, they would only think you were rubbing it in.
And when it came to cheering up a young lady, the best method was…
Miaolangjun let out a long sigh. Then, with a sudden flip in midair, he dove into the water like a fish!
A fat crucian carp suddenly leaped out of the water. Miaolangjun reached out and caught the live fish, then reached out again and hung it on Wu Guanyue’s hook—
That ought to do it… A sudden change occurred!!!
A strange lightning qi suddenly surged through the fishing rod in Wu Guanyue’s hands. Blue-violet arcs of electricity burst forth in an instant, then spread across the surface of the water—spreading, spreading, and spreading again—like a deadly fishing net that covered half the pond!
…The fish Miaolangjun had hung on the hook happened to be the tenth fish of the day, triggering the [Lightning Force] effect of the [Woodpecker Fishing Rod].
Wu Guanyue had been unhappy because she was only one fish away from being able to start electrofishing, yet the fish had stubbornly refused to bite…
But Miaolangjun didn’t know…
He… didn’t… know…
That he was still standing in the water at that very moment!!!
[Miaolangjun HP -80!]
…After finally recovering, Miaolangjun stood in the shallows, gasping heavily and still shaken.
And Wu Guanyue?
“Ah!” Wu Guanyue cried happily. “What a haul!”
…While Miaolangjun had been shocked until his eyes rolled back, the fish swimming beneath the surface had also been electrocuted, flipping belly-up and floating to the surface one after another.
“Miaolangjun, help me gather them up!”
Wu Guanyue said this as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
…She didn’t seem to feel even the slightest bit guilty!
Miaolangjun’s expression was on the verge of falling apart… He had a temper too. If anyone else had treated him this way, he would have long since lost control and attacked them!
Stay calm, stay calm. Patience was the key to preserving the greater plan. Patience was the key to preserving the greater plan!
Miaolangjun drew one deep breath after another and began helping Wu Guanyue scoop the fish out of the water…
After he had finally finished, he thought: Now she should thank me, right?
Sure enough, Wu Guanyue’s expression softened—but not because of him. It was because of…
One particularly fresh and plump crucian carp!
“Brother Ying is injured. This is the best thing for him to eat!”
…Was Wenren Ying the only thing in the world you cared about?!!!
Miaolangjun was so furious he nearly vomited blood!
But that still wasn’t the end of it.
Just as he climbed ashore, soaked from head to toe and covered in grime, a blade suddenly appeared at his throat.
The edge of the blade was cold, its chill biting into his bones.
“What are you?”
Wenren Ying stepped in front of Wu Guanyue and asked coldly.
Here it comes. I may have to take a day off in a couple of days—I’m going to Hangzhou to attend the Jinjiang Authors’ Conference.
