Chapter 124

Yan Ji had stepped out only moments before Chen Shu, burdened with his own thoughts, so naturally, he hadn’t gotten far. Chen Shu left the room and caught up to him in an instant.

Upon seeing her, Yan Ji’s eyes instinctively sought someone behind her. Glancing back twice, he only stopped when Chen Shu, face stern, demanded, “What?”

Embarrassed, he asked haltingly, “N-no reason… Why are you alone? Where’s that Yun… Yun Shen?”

“And you dare ask!” Chen Shu sighed, finally feeling some relief after escaping the stifling room’s air, only for Yan Ji’s question to bring back those suffocating, frozen feelings between her and Yun Shen, tightening her chest. Naturally irritated, she saw true concern in Yan Ji’s eyes and knew he meant well, leaving her no outlet for her anger. She stomped forward a few paces before whirling back, indignation coloring her tone, “When did you know about this?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Sooner?” Yan Ji likely found this amusing. He shook his head lazily. “I tried to speak just now. Wonder who it was that frowned darkly and told me to discuss ‘proper business’ first…?”

“—Probably me,” Chen Shu admitted, momentarily subdued. But a moment’s reflection fired her up again. With renewed righteous conviction, she added, “…But you never said it was this matter! This matter… to me, is the most important business!”

“Eh?” Yan Ji was thoroughly baffled. He scurried closer, tilting his face inquisitively. “How is this the most important business?… Did something really happen between you two? Did he wrong you… no? Wait, he can’t… it’s more likely you’d wrong him…”

“What nonsense are you spouting now?! It’s related to this case!” Chen Shu declared, propping herself into an indisputable posture. She stared at Yan Ji and nodded meaningfully, waiting until his curiosity was truly piqued before dropping the news,

“Yun Shen is that magic sword I’ve been searching for! So what the thief stole… it’s a fake sword!”

“—What?”

—

The old Martial World Alliance outpost in Diancang Pass had also been submerged during the great flood. However, as the Sword Discussion Tournament was being held then, all the Alliance’s key figures were present, speeding up the reconstruction. Consequently, this functional compound designated solely for Martial World Alliance affairs now stood as the most impeccably restored dwelling in all of Diancang Pass.

While neighboring houses were still laying bricks and molding tiles, the Martial World Alliance compound had already begun sporting the decorations and signage befitting the coming New Year festival.

Indeed, winter had arrived. In little over a month, the New Year would dawn.

Any prior worries about finding the way vanished the instant Chen Shu and Yan Ji entered the relevant streets. The freshly rebuilt small courtyard compound stood out unmistakably amidst the row. Prominently displayed on the compound wall hung a tavern-sign-sized plaque, bearing the bold characters: “Martial World Alliance.”

The compound bustled with life, unlike the surrounding quiet, half-renovated lanes. The sounds of constant footsteps, animated conversations, and even the heavy thuds of objects being set down or lifted floated clearly over the wall.

Chen Shu and Yan Ji exchanged a glance and, without a word, both slowed their pace. One leapt, bounding onto the courtyard wall. The other, more impressively, scrambled up the half-broken tree stump and swung through an arc with a single leap, landing in the blink of an eye on a newly built pavilion within the distant compound, ducking behind its eaves.

In fact, after this fluid, effortless motion, Chen Shu even peeked over the top of the roof’s ridge, waving at Yan Ji.

Yan Ji had nowhere near that level of skill to follow from the stump. He was instantly torn between irritation and amusement, almost jumping up to shout a retort.

Just then, however, the footsteps of people moving items in the small courtyard echoed clearly from the corner. Yan Ji hurriedly gave up their playful squabble, ducking his head down to conceal half his figure beneath the shelter of a side door’s eave.

Unexpectedly, as several Martial Alliance Bailiffs drew nearer, they set down their burdens and simply stopped, lingering. Yan Ji kept his head down, not daring to peek for quite some time. Waiting and waiting, he heard the continuous, indistinct murmur of conversation nearby. Impatience finally won out, and just as he steeled himself to raise his head for a look—

Thwack! Someone slapped his back.

Yan Ji whirled around. There stood Chen Shu, who only moments before had been across the small compound, now somehow right behind him! She was clinging to the top of the low wall, gazing at him with unmasked excitement.

Startled and more than a little peeved, Yan Ji lost his grip. He slipped and nearly tumbled off the wall, creating quite a racket.

Chen Shu, quick as ever, reached out again, steadying him, saying:

“What are you still doing here? Didn’t you hear what those two were discussing?”

Hearing this, Yan Ji couldn’t even spare a thought to check if anyone inside the courtyard had noticed them. He hastily asked, “How could I possibly have heard their conversation?”

“Oh, right,” Chen Shu said. “You haven’t mastered skills properly yet, can only lurk outside the compound.”

Yan Ji choked out an indignant sound, ready to blow his top, but then Chen Shu grinned too. She scrambled over to his spot on the wall, gestured for him to look into the courtyard, and whispered low, “See what they’ve got in their hands—“

“Haven’t seen it before,” Yan Ji replied while squinting.

“Me neither. But they said that’s the treasure Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance brought back from Ping Chao Kou – said it was an imperial reward for capturing Fangcheng.”

“This? … Wait,” Yan Ji snapped back quickly, “I heard Alliance Leader Xu didn’t get all that much in rewards.”

“Exactly.” Chen Shu nodded with a smile, nudging her chin towards the courtyard. “The Martial World Alliance only handled the organizing and liaison work. How could they get so many rewards? Besides—“

“Besides, Xu Yuan didn’t actually bring back any treasures at all,” Yan Ji finished, his own interest now piqued. He straightened up on the wall, no longer satisfied with peeking at the items they had brought to the corner – he craned to see into the distance, trying to make out the distant figures carrying boxes too indistinct to see clearly.

Seeing this, Chen Shu hastily pulled him back down. “So, these must be the treasures that old man smuggled back. Seems the quantity matches up. Taking advantage of Alliance Leader Xu not being able to return quickly, he stashed them here. As long as he finds a secure, long-term hiding spot before the Alliance Leader gets back to Diancang Pass, it’s foolproof… Too bad I’m here, and I brought all of you along to Diancang Pass. We just don’t know if the mastermind is still within this little Martial World Alliance courtyard or if he’s already left…”

“Even if he left, as long as the treasures are here, he’ll definitely have to come back.” Yan Ji turned, patting Chen Shu, and proposed, “This calls for careful planning. What say we head back to the inn? We can discuss it with Yun Shen, maybe see if we can recall He Yu and the others – it’s only been fifteen minutes since they left.”

As he spoke, he decisively hopped down off the wall. Chen Shu’s mouth opened, likely to protest, but she merely sighed. She cast one last glance at the crates of treasure within the courtyard, then jumped down after Yan Ji without another word.

Observing this, Yan Ji probably mistook her silence for shyness. He patted her shoulder again, walking alongside her as he adopted what he likely thought was a comforting tone: “Ah, no need for coyness! Having someone hold you in their thoughts is clearly a good thing. Back in Qinzhou, I had young maidens interested in me! Whenever I went out, thousands would come out – huge crowds, quite the spectacular scene! —”

Obviously, he hadn’t believed a word of Chen Shu’s earlier comment.

“… It’s not me being coy!” Chen protested. She sighed, a touch of weary maturity in it. Bringing up the topic again filled her with chaotic feelings. Letting Yan Ji keep his arm around her shoulders, she couldn’t be bothered to shake him off and only muttered, “I just mean, when we go back now, we might not find Yun Shen there.”

The hand resting on her shoulder quickly drew back.

“… Did you really upset him?” Yan Ji asked, incredulous.

“Nothing like that,” Chen Shu said defensively, her neck stiff. “I just think he probably needed some peace at the moment. I told him upfront before leaving that he didn’t need to come investigate with us.”

Hearing this, Yan Ji gasped dramatically. “You rejected him?!”

“Don’t put it like that… It’s just that… he and I walk different paths, ultimately. Plus, this case has nothing to do with him anymore. Dragging him in would complicate things…” Chen Shu offered a few more futile defenses. Looking up and seeing Yan Ji’s expression of astonishment remained undiminished, she finally gave in with a hint of resignation. “… Fine! If you insist on phrasing it that way, yes! I rejected him!”

They reached the main street. The inn itself wasn’t far; far off, they could even make out the roof of the inn’s third floor peeking above a row of shops still being repaired. But Yan Ji stopped dead, raising a hand to block Chen Shu, asking:

“Why? This case has nothing to do with me either! Nothing to do with He Yu! Aren’t we all still investigating anyway? Isn’t there a saying… like… ‘Upon encountering injustice on the road, one draws weapons to help others,’ right?”

By the end, he seemed to have convinced even himself, pumping his fist with smug satisfaction to mime drawing a blade.

Alas, Chen Shu knew Yan Ji all too well as one only fond of spectacles. She nearly rolled her eyes, brushing aside his attempts to stop her as she strode toward the inn. She led the way for another block before tossing a remark over her shoulder:

“You lot are different from him! Who could he possibly defeat? Especially against such a formidable talisman cultivator. Besides, he deceived me first.”

“So what if he deceived you?” Yan Ji caught up, retorting righteously. “Who dares claim they’ve never deceived anyone? I, for one, deceive people daily—spouting nothing but nonsense. Yet that doesn’t stop me from being a good man worth befriending. Right?”

Chen Shu shot him a glance, rankled by that last comment, but held her tongue.

Yan Ji seemed to sense it, puffed his chest, and declared, “Regardless of what you think, Brother He deems me a good man. Those adoring young ladies also find me worthy of deep friendship. Agreed? And that fair-faced Yun Shen isn’t bad-looking either. We’ve only got mere decades to live. Seize the moment to revel whenever fate brings someone—”

“That’s your philosophy,” Chen Shu stated bluntly. “Ever since I began cultivation, my master taught me vigilance—even in solitude.”

Yan Ji blinked in surprise, and in that instant of distraction, Chen Shu quickened her pace, leaving him behind. He had to raise his voice: “Oh, you small macaque, so oblivious to romance! Careful you’ll end up your whole life clinging only to that precious sword of yours!”

Of course, Chen Shu heard him. A surge of irritation tightened her jaw, and her glare sliced toward Yan Ji. Ignoring his continued shouts behind her, she abandoned all restraint, almost sprinting back the way they came.

Thus, Yan Ji likely realized his blunder. He quickened his step, hurrying after Chen Shu toward the inn.

Fortunately, they hadn’t been walking long before the inn came into view—

Just then, Chen Shu stopped dead.

Yan Ji halted abruptly behind her, following her gaze to spot a familiar figure.

“A Jie!” Chen Shu exclaimed joyfully. “Weren’t you in the capital… How did you find us?”

“How did I find you…” Shen Jie chuckled teasingly. “There’s only one restored inn in this entire Diancang Pass right now! Where else could I go? I certainly didn’t come seeking you!”