TDSDE 22

22. Tell me.

Bai Yuanxiu hadn’t expected Zhou Xiaoxiao to say something like that.

A trick.

Bai Yuanxiu knew that although Xiao Qing often poked fun at him or stirred up trouble, he never spoke without reason.

He waited a while, and when he saw the person standing in the shadows remain silent, he sighed heavily in his heart.

So stubborn.

Glancing at the sky that was beginning to lighten, Bai Yuanxiu figured this wasn’t something that could be explained quickly. So he looked at the clearly dejected young man in front of him and asked, “Kid, hungry?”

Zhou Xiaoxiao instantly looked up and nodded earnestly. “Hungry.”

It wasn’t until they sat down at a breakfast stall that Bai Yuanxiu realized what kind of “hungry” this was.

Staring at the stack of empty bowls almost taller than himself, Bai Yuanxiu couldn’t help asking the boy who was still stuffing food into his mouth, “How long have you been starving?”

Zhou Xiaoxiao, mouth full, mumbled two syllables and then held up five fingers.

Bai Yuanxiu had no choice. After warning the boy not to wander off, he made his way to the eastern market of Wu’ai Town and found an old man kneading dough.

He waited for the old man to finish making two piping hot sugar-filled pastries, then listened closely to the surrounding sounds with his eyes closed. Slipping into a nearby alley, he leapt onto a rooftop when no one was looking.

He placed the paper-wrapped pastries on a flatter part of the roof ridge and then jumped down and strolled back toward the breakfast stall. As he neared it, he quietly glanced up—and as expected, caught a glimpse of a white figure flashing by.

When he sat back down on the low stool, Zhou Xiaoxiao looked up, mouth still shiny with oil, and asked, “Hero Bai, why are you so happy?”

Bai Yuanxiu glanced at him and grinned brightly. “Fed a cat.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao blinked in confusion, not quite understanding why feeding a cat would make someone so happy. But hearing Bai Yuanxiu say that still made him quietly admire what a kind-hearted hero he was.

Zhou Xiaoxiao had a serious appetite. By the time they left the stall, the vendor—who’d been kneading dough and slicing meat non-stop—finally got to rest. He collapsed into a chair like a half-dried salted fish.

Bai Yuanxiu dragged Zhou Xiaoxiao into a teahouse that had just opened and requested the innermost private booth.

This time, Zhou Xiaoxiao didn’t need prompting. He took the initiative and continued the story from where they had left off in the woods.

Back then, he had used the Vermilion Bird Hall Master, Su Wusi, as bait. When he caught Xiao Qing, he had only wanted to immediately send him off to reunite with his master. But unexpectedly, Xiao Qing burst into laughter upon seeing him.

Zhou Xiaoxiao knew the potency of his poison, so he wasn’t worried about Xiao Qing escaping. He simply wanted to see what nonsense a man about to die would spout.

But Xiao Qing said to him: “You’re so stupid, being fooled for so many years.”

Xiao Qing told Zhou Xiaoxiao that his so-called master had lied to him—that he was never a survivor of the Zhai family massacre.

Zhou Xiaoxiao, of course, didn’t believe him. But Xiao Qing added: Zhou Xiaoxiao had lived with his master for so many years, yet didn’t even know about the secret passage under that house—how pitifully naïve.

So Zhou Xiaoxiao decided to spare Xiao Qing’s life for the moment and bring him back to Anyang Mountain.

He thought Xiao Qing was just talking nonsense. After all, he had lived in that house for eight years and knew every nook and cranny, even which weeds grew in which corner. How could there be some hidden passage he never noticed?

But when he actually saw the pitch-black tunnel leading underground, Zhou Xiaoxiao froze.

He went down and found over a dozen solid, unbreakable prison cells—damp, cold. The chill from that place still seemed to linger in his bones.

After that, he locked Xiao Qing and that woman from the Demonic Sect in separate cells, hoping to force the truth out of Xiao Qing. But Xiao Qing said nothing the entire time.

Until one day, while cleaning his master’s room, Zhou Xiaoxiao accidentally broke a celadon ornament.

It was an oddly shaped piece. He’d always thought it looked strange, but his master had just smiled and patted his head, saying, “You’ll understand when you grow up.”

But among the shards, Zhou Xiaoxiao found sections of bone—pale and polished—clearly parts of a human leg.

Zhou Xiaoxiao stormed into the dungeon and held the bones up to Xiao Qing, demanding answers. But Xiao Qing only stared at him with those eternally calm eyes.

“You’ve seen it with your own eyes now and still can’t believe it. Would my words even matter to you?”

Xiao Qing only told him one thing: “You were never the survivor of the Zhai family massacre. That so-called master of yours just treated you like a plaything. And when you’re no longer useful, those bones will be your fate.”

So Zhou Xiaoxiao fled. He originally just wanted to ask an old informant about what happened sixteen years ago. But when he returned, the courtyard deep within Anyang Mountain had already been destroyed.

Xiao Qing and the woman were gone. But Zhou Xiaoxiao no longer had the heart to chase after him.

He traveled south, asked around, and spent every coin he had. Eventually, he managed to dig up one lead—a tale from years ago.

After the Zhai family case was officially closed, they couldn’t just leave such a large house soaked in blood. The entire Zhai estate had been thoroughly cleaned and renovated. During that time, one craftsman found a longevity lock* made of gold and silver.

TN: Traditional Chinese talisman, usually made of silver or other metals, shaped like a lock. It’s often given to children by elders as a charm for protection, health, and long life.

It had clearly been hidden there by someone, which is why it hadn’t been confiscated. The lock had inscriptions—likely the wearer’s birth date and hour—but the craftsman was illiterate and couldn’t read it.

All the craftsmen working on the repairs had been hired by the authorities. Afraid of being caught if he took something, the man hid it again, planning to retrieve it once everything settled down.

But when he returned quietly to the newly repaired Zhai residence, he saw a vengeful spirit. A thunderclap struck at that very moment—scaring him to death.

The craftsman died, and no one ever found out where exactly he had hidden the lock or what it was hidden in.

After finding out about it, Zhou Xiaoxiao hurried to Nanyang, hoping to find that lock. But he had no money and couldn’t afford to rent the estate like Bai Yuanxiu did and search slowly—so he could only sneak in under the cover of night.

Zhou Xiaoxiao wasn’t suited for martial arts, and his skills weren’t great either. One night, he made too much noise and was discovered.

That night, his clothes got torn by branches, he tripped and messed up his hair, and his face was filthy. His nose was bleeding uncontrollably, blood all over his face. The night watchman who found him thought he was a ghost.

Seeing the man scream and flee in terror without daring to take a second look, Zhou Xiaoxiao suddenly felt that pretending to be a ghost might actually be a pretty good idea.

It actually worked. For a while, no one noticed that someone had been sneaking into the estate every night, rummaging through the place.

That is, until Bai Yuanxiu arrived.

The first night, Zhou Xiaoxiao watched from afar. When he saw Bai Yuanxiu acting just as scared of ghosts as anyone else, he relaxed and was ready to reuse the same trick—only to discover that Bai Yuanxiu wasn’t alone in the house.

And so, that night’s “ghost” ended up getting caught.

It had been too dark for Zhou Xiaoxiao to clearly see who caught him. All he’d noticed was that one person was dressed in black, and the other in white.

Now that he was recounting it, Zhou Xiaoxiao looked puzzled. “Who wears white at night when they’re lying in wait to ambush someone? Trying to make a dramatic entrance like in those stage tricks?”

Bai Yuanxiu fought to keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, coughed lightly, and forced the smile down.

“Forget about the color of the clothes,” he said, turning to Zhou Xiaoxiao. “So you still haven’t found the longevity lock, and you haven’t figured out who you really are?”

Zhou Xiaoxiao nodded miserably. “Yeah. If nothing else works, maybe I should just join the Demonic Sect. I’ll probably run into that guy eventually if I do.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Where could it possibly be hidden? Don’t tell me someone already took it a long time ago…”

A thought flashed through Bai Yuanxiu’s mind. He consoled Zhou Xiaoxiao, “Let me give it a try. You—”

He was about to say “stay in the Zhai estate in the meantime,” but then remembered that place had basically been torn apart last night by him and Xiao Qing.

So instead, he took out a silver ingot and handed it to the boy in front of him. “Go find an inn, take a bath, change clothes, get some rest. I’ll come find you when I’ve got news.”

Seeing the boy still about to say something, he deliberately put on a stern face. “I’m warning you—don’t follow me. If something really happens, I won’t be able to look after you.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao muttered, “Got it.”

He glanced at Bai Yuanxiu, then asked cautiously, “Hero Bai… you and Xiao Qing… are you really the kind of couple people are talking about?”

Bai Yuanxiu had no idea what rumors the kid was referring to. After pressing a bit, he found out that back when he was known as the “Hero Bai,” he was often seen with a white-robed young man. That story had spread far and wide.

Even a famous storybook writer, “Yazé,” had published tales about him and Xiao Qing—very popular ones, apparently.

Zhou Xiaoxiao counted them off on his fingers: “The best-selling one is Snowy Passion Collection, then there’s Mistaken Love. I saw a girl cry while reading Mistaken Love at the storybook stall!”

Bai Yuanxiu: …

Just what the hell did that Yazé write?

This jianghu gets more absurd by the day.

Faced with Zhou Xiaoxiao’s puppy-like eyes, Bai Yuanxiu could only shake his head and sit upright, solemnly replying, “Yes. We’re that kind of couple.”

Before Zhou Xiaoxiao could open his mouth, Bai Yuanxiu cut him off, “I know what I’m doing when it comes to Xiao Qing. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao’s eyes sparkled, and with a cheeky grin, he snatched up the silver ingot and bounded out the door.

As Bai Yuanxiu watched the boy skip off, muttering something about “flatbread and sliced meat soup,” he finally set down some coins on the table and walked out of the private room.

But instead of heading downstairs, he walked a few steps in another direction and pushed open the door to another room.

“All right, I’ve heard everything he knows. As for the rest—can you tell me now?”

He walked to the window and, just like he used to long ago, affectionately pinched the cheek of the person standing there.

“Ah Qing, tell me?”