The masked man looked at the woman in front of him and gently tapped his mask with his hand. “It seems that this ship, the Golden Wind, is full of hidden talents.”
“It’s all thanks to the poor judgment of the Mu family that we were able to sneak into this section of rooms. If they had discovered earlier that there were distinguished guests from the Shanglin Heavenly Palace on board, how could we, such insignificant people, have a chance here?” The woman bent her waist slightly, her eyes sparkling, full of charm.
“Are you trying to cause me disgust? Murong He, the Buddha of a Thousand Faces.” The man in the mask said slowly.
“You guessed wrong, I’m afraid. I’m not Murong He.” The woman smiled behind her hand.
“Oh? Could it be the Master of a Thousand Faces, He Xue?” The man in the mask said again.
“The Courtyard of Thousand Inventions is well-informed, knowing everything under the heavens, but who I am, you really can’t guess.” The woman made a gesture of “please”. “I’m going back to my room now, sir. Have a good day.”
“Fine.” The man in the mask turned around and strode away.
At that moment, the door swung open, and the person who entered the room changed back into the fat and wealthy man. He smacked his lips, shook his head, and said, “That was indeed disgusting.”
Nangong Xi’er finally breathed a sigh of relief and put down her sword, but she was still puzzled. Who were the people living in the next room, who would dare to oppose Shanglin Heavenly Palace for her sake? And was there anyone else living in that room with the door always shut? If so, who were they?
The Golden Wind, it seems, is much more complicated than she thought.
“Young Master, have you made up your mind?” Yan, the manager, saw that Mu Nianhua had returned from the deck. He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip before asking.
Mu Nianhua sat down opposite him and asked the first question, “If I decide to do it, will you, Manager Yan, knock me unconscious and take me back to the Mu family?”
“Yan would not dare.” The manager Yan shook his head. “Sir is the master, I am the servant. Even if I am utterly unwilling, I must follow your orders.”
“Really?” Mu Nianhua raised an eyebrow.
“Indeed.” The manager Yan poured a cup of tea for Mu Nianhua.
Mu Nianhua took it and finished it in one go, slamming the teacup on the table. “Let’s do it!”
“Won’t you think again, young master?” The manager Yan frowned slightly.
“Yunxia.” Mu Nianhua called out loudly, and a beauty in white came up to him, bringing him a pure gold abacus. Mu Nianhua took the abacus and placed it in front of Yan Zhanggui.
“What are you doing, Young Master?” The manager Yan asked.
Mu Nianhua raised an eyebrow, “Manager Yan, your abacus was broken, wasn’t it? You had a bronze one, I’m offering you a gold one, come on and do some math for me.”
“What accounts do you want to settle, young master?” The manager touched the abacus, which was indeed made of pure gold, with excellent quality and exquisite craftsmanship unlike ordinary goods.
“You have a keen eye, manager Yan. You know very well what accounts I’m talking about. Do the math.” Mu Nianhua poured a cup of tea for manager Yan.
Master Yan sighed softly, took the abacus, and fiddled with the beads on it. “On the Golden Wind, there are three hundred guards besides the sailors. There are nineteen assassins from the Courtyard of Clear Sky. These three hundred men are nothing but one slash per blade in front of them.”
Mu Nianhua took the abacus and clicked it a few times. “What about the nineteen Golden Blades? They are the best followers of my Mu family, hired with a lot of money from the martial world. Can’t they handle it?”
“If money could buy followers who can defeat the disciples of Shanglin Heavenly Palace, then our Mu family would have been the world’s first long ago. The nineteen Golden Blades are only slightly better than ordinary servants, whether they need one blade or two.” Master Yan cleared all the beads that Mu Nianhua had counted.
“And those two…” Mu Nianhua added two beads.
“They are here to prevent such a thing from happening. If we only relied on a few hundred servants and the nineteen Golden Blades, the Golden Wind would have sunk to the bottom of the river long ago. But these two attendants are our final trump cards. If the trump cards are revealed and still useless, then we are doomed.” Master Yan touched the two beads. “If they only had those nineteen killing blades, then it would be easy. But unfortunately, besides those nineteen killing blades, they also brought a tiger with them.”
“A tiger?” Mu Nianhua was stunned.
“Although Wen Ze of the Courtyard of Thousand Inventions didn’t mention this person by name, I believe he’s referring to the vice-chair of the Clear Sky Courtyard, Crouching Tiger. This person is very formidable…” Master Yan whispered.
“How formidable?” Mu Nianhua asked.
Yan lowered his head and pondered for a while, then slammed down the two beads.
“No chance at all?” Mu Nianhua still did not give up.
“No chance at all.” The manager Yan said firmly and concisely.
“And the Spring Snow Room.” Mu Nianhua lifted his head, looked at manager Yan, and lowered his voice to a whisper.
The manager Yan adjusted the beads on the golden abacus.. “Even if you moved the entire wealth of the Mu family to the doorstep of the Spring Snow Room, that person wouldn’t bat an eyelid. I don’t know who the master told you is in that room, but remember, young master, he’s just a boat passenger, nothing more.”
“Good, but we’re not limited to what I just told you.” Mu Nianhua stood up and said, “We also have two students from the Academy, one who looks like a fairy, and one… one…” He thought for a long time, but couldn’t think of how to describe Su Baiyi, who seemed to be useless.
“And one more fellow.” Mu Nianhua shook his head, somewhat helpless, but soon lifted his head again, his tone somewhat proud. “And then there’s me.”
Drenched in sweat, Su Baiyi had a long sword hanging from his waist, a pot of wine in his left hand, and a lunch box in his right hand. He gently kicked the door with his foot and said, “Senior sister, I’m back.”
“Come in.” Nangong Xi’er replied.
Su Baiyi sidled in, bumping the door open with his body, then swung his shoulder to close it behind him. He flung the things in his hands at his senior sister and said, “Senior sister, let’s eat.”
Nangong Xi’er stood up and looked at the wine pot in Su Baiyi’s hand. “Why did you bring the wine?”
“I’m used to it. Every night before, I had to go out and buy food, and I would always bring back a pot of wine. The apricot blossom wine from Apricot Blossom Village was mild and a bit sweet. My master and I could drink a whole pot every night. There’s no apricot blossom wine on this boat, so I found some slightly sweet rice wine. I just tasted it, and it’s not bad. “ Su Baiyi sat down.
“Didn’t you say you were very poor? How come you always buy food, rather than cook it yourself?” Nangong Xi’er opened the lunch box and took out the food inside.
“My master’s cooking skills, I’m afraid you don’t know, senior sister…” Su Baiyi shook his head repeatedly. “That food is not fit for human consumption, you would run away after a sniff.”
“Tell me about your master.” Nangong Xi’er smiled.
Her smile, gentle as a spring breeze, was particularly warm.
Thank you