Contrary to anyone’s expectations, it seemed that the old shopkeeper of Dong Lin City, Wang Qinian, was not present for small talk.
As the waiter’s lips persistently twitched upon the chilling silence emanating from the private room of the teahouse to encapsulate the hallway, the old man made his move.
A light cough, and a tap onto the wooden door with his aged palm.
The old man ignored the frightful expression plastered on the waiter’s countenance, striding into the elegant room with an amiable smile. Seating himself on the across from An Fei, Wang Qinian closed his eyes to inhale a deep breath of air.
“Lingxue, are you not going to ask why your Master is here?”
The elderly shopkeeper chuckled as he carefully examined the silent An Fei, his eyes probing beyond the veiled hat concealing her countenance and expressions.
Nonetheless, the old man could easily detect the unwelcoming aura rippling from the young girl’s body, prompting his smile to widen by a considerable margin.
After the span of a cup of tea’s time had passed, the delicate lips parted behind the white veiled hat, a faint voice ringing forth.
“This junior was wondering, when did the Esteemed Senior become my Master?”
“Oh, so Lingxue had been wondering about that?” Wang Qinian lightly brushed against the table with his finger.
“As this old one has said before, the moment you stepped through those doors and into my restaurant, Lingxue, you had become my, Wang Qinian’s, disciple!”
“And this junior has stated before that my family would not permit it so.”
The young girl’s reply was equally cold as was Wang Qinian’s jovial emotion, causing an unusual atmosphere to take place in the private room.
As An Fei sat in silence, the old shopkeeper reached out with his right hand to pick up the still-steaming teapot, bringing it close to his nose.
“Ah… the smell of spoiled tea?”
Wang Qinian chuckled as he poured himself a cup of the spoiled longjing tea, his wrinkled countenance not abating in its joyful expression. Then, before the young girl’s bemusement, the old man raised the cup to his lips, downing the soured tea in a single, long draft.
Plink!
The porcelain cup was solidly yet lightly placed onto the wooden table, the fragile object releasing a clarion cry of satisfaction.
“For spoiled tea, it is best to drink in a single, sustained draft.”
Wang Qinian mused with a light twitch of his lips.
The elderly shopkeeper closed his eyes and folded his palms before his chest on top of the table, his countenance gradually relinquishing its smile to reveal an impassive expression.
“Lingxue, your Master has just a single question to ask of you.”
“…a question?” An Fei furrowed her brows as the seeds of confusion took root in her heart.
“What kind of question does the Esteemed Senior have for this junior?”
The young girl’s fingers unconsciously trailed over the sheathed taijijian’s handle, her sense of wariness and danger arising to their peaks. Similarly, the pair of scarlet irises narrowed, an imperceptible thread of light passing through.
Although the elderly shopkeeper appeared fragile and refined as though he were nothing but a retired scholar, An Fei was clearly aware of the powerful might concealed within the thin limbs.
“Ah…”
The elderly man pouted his lips at the obvious refusal behind the young girl’s words.
Pinching the edge of the porcelain cup and twirling it in an eloquent spiral over the wooden table, the old shopkeeper’s eyelids cracked open by a small increment.
“Lingxue, that sword of your is rather interesting… just where did you obtain such a weapon?”
Taijijian?
The young girl paused as her small mouth lightly hung open in surprise. Her senses dulled for a brief moment, before An Fei’s cranky mind flitted onto a rather striking thought.
How did this Wang Qinian know about the peculiarity of the taijijian sheathed on her waist?
Other than the exquisite build that was hardly eyecatching compared to the swords that the other members of Dong Lin City flaunted around, there was hardly any ties that the old man could catch upon… unless?
Something to do with the five – no, six – assassins and their assassination attempt on her directly following the gathering of young cultivators at the elderly shopkeeper’s restaurant? Indeed, there were a series of loud noises at the end of the incident, but…
But how did he even know!?
The young girl’s mind drove herself in endless circles as she ruminated over the cryptic sentence flung from the elderly man’s mouth. Nonetheless, what eventually departed from her lips was a light and detached voice, devoid of much emotional inflection.
“This taijijian… is nothing special; something I picked up from an alleyway a few days ago. Does the Esteemed Senior know anything about its origins?”
The question was rather obvious in its attempt to probe the listener’s intentions, but Wang Qinian did not seem to mind.
Even more so, the old shopkeeper simply gulped down another mouthful of soured tea, before opening his mouth to speak.
“Yes, ah… your Master does know quite a bit about that sword. Its previous owner, as well as its… maker.”
The young girl nearly toppled from her chair from the completely unexpected remark, not knowing whether she should cry or burst into laughter.
An Fei steeled her lips as she glanced upon the utterly reminiscent and melancholic countenance of Wang Qinian, uncertain as to how to reply to such a statement.
He knew the previous owner of the sword, as well as its maker?
Wasn’t that the same thing as telling her that he was aware of everything!?
Was this old man taking her around like a child, fumbling around with cryptic wordplay!?
“…then this junior wishes to be enlightened about what the Esteemed Senior has to say.”
An Fei’s throat spasmed as she squeezed out the words from her mouth, her countenance distorted into an unsightly grimace behind the white veil of the hat.
To distract herself from spitting out any unnecessary statements, the young girl stared intently towards the pot of longjing tea, hoping to reverse its soured state by her gaze alone.
“Hm… so Lingxue is curious?” Wang Qinian dragged out an ‘oh’ of surprise.
“However… this is not the right time for Lingxue to know, ah…”
…then why did you even say it!?
Breathe!
Deep breath in!
Deep breath out!
An Fei restrained herself from a rather embarrassing outburst as the verbal bombshell dropped and splintered over her head, raining chaos from above.
However much she attempted to exercise self-control over her emotions, the young girl was acutely aware that her body had slightly deflated from the abrupt withdrawal wielded by the elderly shopkeeper.
When she glanced towards the old man, she swore that she saw a playful smirk glare back towards her!
“…then when will the Esteemed Senior enlighten this junior?”
“When Lingxue formally accepts your Master as your Master!”
Wang Qinian indeed did not plan to show mercy; the old man pressed onto his advantage as much as possible, his words raining hammers onto the young girl’s self-esteem and control.
“Come, come, we even have a pot of tea here, and there isn’t anyone to watch! Therefore, Lingxue doesn’t have to feel shy like last time!”
The words boxed onto An Fei’s ears with the force of a battering ram, prompting her rebuttal to short-circuit and vanish into mere wisps of smoke.
The young girl clasped her cupped hands around her ears, but the shopkeeper still was not finished.
“If Lingxue doesn’t like soured tea, then that’s fine! Waiter! Come, get us a new bowl of longjing tea, freshly made with clear steam!”
Pu!
The young girl gave in and allowed her body to pitch forwards and sprawl onto the wooden table, the top of her head releasing wafts of steam from exasperation.
Not even daring to glance in Wang Qinian’s general direction, An Fei directed her glare towards the wooden door, a frosty intent gathering in her eyes.
When the waiter dutifully executed his imparted task and entered the private room with a fresh teapot of longjing tea on a smooth tray, he encountered a delicate young woman covered in a veiled hat and a purple hanfu sprawled over onto the table with a desolate aura seeping from her body.
Though her countenance was neatly concealed by the veil, it wasn’t hard to imagine the terror-stricken expression underneath.
Seated across from her was an elderly man who was stroking his beard with his hand, an amused expression decorating his wizened countenance. As he entered, the waiter noticed the elderly shopkeeper responding with a polite nod.
Eh… the beauty seemed to be glaring at him with her hands resting against the sharp blade at her waist?
The waiter gulped as he recalled an important task that was privately imparted upon his small shoulders by the owner of the teahouse.
With cold sweat pouring down from his forehead, the pitiful man fled from the room with a short bow.
Wang Qinian prodded the fresh teapot of longjing tea towards the young girl’s defeated appearance, a cheerful countenance erasing the vicissitudes of time.
“Lingxue, Lingxue, have you ever heard of the Hundred Clan Coalition?”
