Chapter 3666: Sword Fighting Across the Realm (5)
Chapter 3666: Sword Fighting Across the Realm (5)
Ning Shu set off from Wanjian Manor, riding her horse away with a clip,clop, completely ignoring Qin Nianzhi.
She casually picked a direction and left. She planned to head to a more bustling city. It was an all-expenses-paid trip, and she would be a fool not to take advantage of it.
As for Qin Nianzhi, Ning Shu figured she would definitely venture out into the martial world too. Otherwise, how would she ever meet Situ Xun?
Ning Shu felt that Situ Xun was utterly toxic. He seemed to have come specifically for Qin Nianzhi. The moment he arrived, he bumped into her, got chummy with her, and then wanted to become sworn brothers.
Ning Shu even suspected that this guy had his eyes on the entrustor's betrothed from the very beginning. After all, Qin Nianzhi was listed on the martial world’s beauty ranking. The sons and daughters of the martial world didn't care much for petty formalities, and the portraits of these beauties were openly drawn on paper and circulated.
It was entirely possible for him to have taken a fancy to Qin Nianzhi.
On her all-expenses-paid journey, Ning Shu decided to make a name for herself while searching for this plane’s world origin. Whenever she stepped in to fight against an injustice, she would give the victims some silver and tell them to leave the area to start a new life elsewhere.
Those who could forcefully abduct civilian women were either powerful or wealthy. She could fight for justice in the moment, but once she left, those victims would still suffer. They might even suffer worse fates when the villains settled the score with the very people they had bullied.
Did simply beating up a few local ruffians and scoundrels truly count as acting chivalrously and upholding justice?
Then, Ning Shu shamelessly crowned herself with the title of the Jade-Faced Swordsman. To the martial world, she was known as the Jade-Faced Swordsman.
I'm sorry, I just happen to be this good-looking.
If she encountered sick people who needed medical treatment, Ning Shu would lend a hand. Curing someone without provoking any additional trouble was exactly the kind of intervention she was willing to make.
At the very least, she would give them a little money for herbs. Sometimes, Ning Shu could cure certain illnesses with just her silver needles.
Ning Shu ate wherever she went. Ancient cuisine was absolutely fantastic, and she fully intended to enjoy herself while she could.
However, Ning Shu hadn't found the world origin. A water-attribute world origin… Just when would she be able to find it?
These things were truly difficult to locate.
She had money, but this was something that money simply couldn't buy.
Searching for it was enough to make one's heart turn to dead ashes.
"Waiter, serve up your best dishes."
While sitting inside a restaurant, Ning Shu heard a familiar voice.
Ning Shu: →_→
She had clearly avoided the route dictated by the storyline and chosen the opposite direction, so why did they still run into each other?
Ning Shu felt utterly speechless when she saw Qin Nianzhi dressed in blue men's clothing. Anyone could tell at a glance that she was a girl. Standing next to Qin Nianzhi was a man.
This man looked somewhat bewitching, like a female fox, but one could instantly tell he was male.
If the entrustor walked the path of an upright gentleman and a gentle sweetheart, then Situ Xun clearly walked the path of the demonic cult. He was more enchanting than a woman, yet he brimmed with masculinity. A male fox spirit would probably look just like him.
This type of person was definitely more popular than an honest and obedient good boy like the entrustor.
Women loved bad boys.
They might claim they want a gentle boyfriend who doted on them and tolerated them, but when they met a bad boy like this, their hearts just wouldn’t be able to stop racing.
Ning Shu opened her folding fan and used it to hide her face. Situ Xun scanned the entire restaurant with his narrowed phoenix eyes and spotted Ning Shu sitting by the window.
"There are seats over there. Let's go share a table with that brother over there, Boss." Situ Xun called out the word ‘Boss’ with a melodic lilt. The sound rolled around in his mouth before slipping from his red lips with a captivating final note, enough to make anyone's heart flutter.
"Alright." Qin Nianzhi walked over to Ning Shu's side, cupped her hands in a salute, and said, "Young Master, may we share your table?"
Ning Shu: …
Ning Shu generously snapped her folding fan shut, revealing her face. She swept a glance over the bewitching Situ Xun and softly called out to Qin Nianzhi, "Junior Sister."
"Eldest Senior Brother." Qin Nianzhi was exceptionally pleasantly surprised, but she immediately followed up with, "Eldest Senior Brother, I am Tang Yuan. Are you blind, calling me Junior Sister?"
With her back to Situ Xun, Qin Nianzhi continuously shot pointed looks at Ning Shu. Ning Shu hooked the corners of her lips up into a smile and gently tapped her own head with her fan. "Look at me, I've been exhausted from traveling lately. Tang Yuan, why have you left the sect? Did Master have some instructions for you?"
"Master said I should follow Eldest Senior Brother to explore the martial world together," Qin Nianzhi said with her hands on her hips. Her girlish mannerisms were completely off the charts. If a man were to make this gesture, he would only be cursed out as a complete pervert.
Ning Shu narrowed her eyes and looked at Situ Xun. Situ Xun turned a blind eye to Qin Nianzhi's girlish posture, acting as if he hadn't seen a thing. This meant Situ Xun had known Qin Nianzhi was a woman from the very beginning, but he hadn't exposed her. He kept interacting with her like a brother, hugging her and throwing his arm around her shoulders whenever he pleased.
That was just how brothers were.
"So you are Tang Yuan's senior brother. Pardon my lack of manners. I am Situ Xun." Situ Xun cupped his hands in greeting toward Ning Shu. As their eyes met, it felt as though sparks were crackling in the air.
"Where is Brother Situ from, and how did you meet my junior… brother?" Ning Shu asked with elegant grace while snapping her folding fan open with a swish.
Situ Xun narrowed his eyes. "I was born into an affluent family. The reason I met little brother Tang Yuan is that I came out to explore the martial world."
"Since you come from a wealthy family, your parents actually allowed you to travel so far?" Traveling in ancient times was both highly inconvenient and incredibly dangerous.
While one's parents were alive, one should not travel far. Heaven only knew when someone would return once they left home.
"My parents are open-minded people. Besides, it is good to step out and see the world. Once I return home this time, I will have to inherit the family estate. It will be impossible to come out and experience the world again after that." Situ Xun smiled with an ambiguous expression. "May I sit down to talk?"
"Please have a seat, Brother Situ. I am Chong Xuefeng from Wanjian Manor. Tang Yuan is my junior brother," Ning Shu said.
"Alright, stop exchanging all these pleasantries. I am so hungry. Can we just have the food served first? If you two keep talking like this, you won't be finished by nightfall," Qin Nianzhi interrupted, cutting off the mutual probing between the two men.
Ning Shu smiled faintly and said in a gentle tone, "Then junior… brother, you go ahead and order. You can have whatever you want to eat."
"Okay." Qin Nianzhi didn't hold back with her own senior brother. She ordered whatever was most expensive, and Ning Shu didn't so much as twitch a muscle on her face.
Qin Nianzhi ordered a table full of delicious food, complete with chicken, duck, fish, and meat. In order to pretend to be a man, she deliberately wolfed down her food in huge bites. Ning Shu sipped her wine in absolute silence. Even men didn't necessarily have to eat like that.
In short, it was incredibly comical. Situ Xun watched Qin Nianzhi with an amused look in his eyes. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the corner of Qin Nianzhi's mouth for her. His tender, affectionate demeanor made Qin Nianzhi feel quite panicked. She quickly glanced over at Ning Shu, but Ning Shu was simply taking small sips of her drink.
The alcohol in this ancient era was just like modern beer. It had a very low alcohol content and couldn't get anyone drunk at all.
Seeing that Ning Shu wasn't paying attention, Qin Nianzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed the handkerchief and wiped her mouth in a chaotic mess. "I can wipe it myself. This is how men are supposed to eat. Eating meat in big bites and drinking wine in big gulps."
To go beyond the mark was as bad as falling short. Qin Nianzhi's acting was a little too forceful.