The disturbance the previous night had thrown the entire inn into chaos, but in the end, resolving it proved remarkably simple.
After all, Sun Yixie had money.
For a rural village inn like that one, let alone paying for a damaged patch of roof, Sun Yixie would not have blinked at buying out the entire establishment. Once the innkeeper saw the money was more than sufficient, he naturally held his tongue.
Unfortunately, the "female ghost" who had ambushed Sun and Huang had slipped away after all.
Though Huang Donglai and Sun Yixie had deduced that she was almost certainly the "faceless woman" behind that business back in Luzhou, failing to finish her off left them uneasy.
With the enemy in the shadows and themselves in the open, they would have to exercise double the caution on the road ahead to prevent another ambush.
Of course, the appearance of such an enemy was not entirely a bad thing.
The jianghu was simply that kind of place: even when doing good deeds, you still ended up offending someone. Perform a minor good deed, and you offended ruthless scoundrels; perform a major good deed, and you offended sanctimonious hypocrites.
The human heart was prone to grudge-bearing, envy, greed, and selfishness. Power, lust, fame, and fortune gave rise to endless grievances and vendettas.
Getting used to living with enemies early on was a good thing. It was far better than walking down the road off guard and taking a blade in the back.
***
That day, the two continued on their way. After riding another ten-odd li, they entered a wooded path around the hour of the Monkey.
According to the directions they had asked for earlier, following this road to its end would bring them to a place called Liu Family Village.
Yet after riding through the woods for a full two hours, they still had not emerged, leaving Huang Donglai wondering whether Brother Sun had led them astray once again.
Right at that moment, the road ahead suddenly opened up. Where the trees grew sparse, a solitary tavern came into view.
As the saying went:
*Faint mist cloaks a lonely dwelling;
A tavern banner flutters in the breeze.*
Having ridden for most of the day, with empty bellies and parched throats, not to mention mounts that were growing fatigued, they found it the perfect place to rest a while and ask for directions.
Before long, they hitched their horses and stepped inside.
The tavern was not large. Outside the counter stood three or four sets of tables and chairs, and beside the counter hung a simple cloth curtain screening the doorway to the back kitchen.
Behind the counter sat a woman whose dress clearly marked her as the proprietress.
In her early thirties, she possessed a fair share of charm, though the powder and rouge on her face were applied a bit heavily.
Seeing Sun and Huang enter, she glanced up and immediately broke into a beaming smile. Rising to lean against the counter, she deliberately angled herself so that her voluptuous curves caught their eyes before speaking in a honeyed tone: "Oh my, and here I was wondering why my heart was pounding so fast today—turns out honored guests have graced my door!" As she spoke, she patted her chest with an exaggeratedly dainty, powder-white hand. "Young masters, what fragrant breeze blew you two to my humble shop?"
Before this proprietress, styled very much like a brothel madam, had even finished speaking, Sun Yixie's small eyes had already swept over her several times, traveling from head to bust—anything lower was blocked from view by the counter—and back from bust to head.
Having completed his inspection, Sun Yixie was already sneering inwardly, but his face broke into a thoroughly lecherous grin. Putting on the look of a fish already hooked, he replied, "Heh… just passing through. Came in looking for a bowl of wine."
Seeing his reaction, the proprietress burst into a giggle, though at what was anyone's guess. She waved a hand invitingly. "Please, young masters, come right in. Have a seat anywhere." With that, she turned toward the back kitchen and raised her voice: "Husband! We have 'honored guests'! Come out and attend to them!"
When she said "honored guests," she placed a clear emphasis on the words, as though delivering a subtle signal.
Naturally, every bit of this fell upon Sun and Huang's ears and settled into their minds.
Before taking their seats, the two exchanged a glance. Without needing a single word, both knew at once: this was without a doubt a damn black inn.
Once Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai had settled in, a burly man emerged from the back kitchen. By modern standards, he stood well over a hundred and eighty-five centimeters—a height rarely seen in those times. As for his looks, he was neither handsome nor particularly ugly, though his face bore a distinct edge of ruthless malice.
The proprietress having addressed him as "husband" made his relation to her clear, but he was no proprietor. He was merely the cook and the waiter.
In this tavern, the real authority belonged to the proprietress. In both martial arts and cunning, her husband was no match for her. The only reason the two made a pair was that the man was obedient. If she told him to go east, he went east; if she told him to go west, he went west; if she told him to kill, he killed; and if she told him to butcher and sell human flesh, he sold human flesh.
"Young masters, would you care for something with a kick, or something milder?" Before the guests' seats had even warmed, the proprietress was swaying her hips and sauntering over to pull up a stool at their table.
Meanwhile, her cook husband wiped down the table and poured tea as if nothing were amiss, clearly long accustomed to his wife's coquettish antics.
"Heheheh…" Sun Yixie played along, offering a remarkably wretched grin. "Naturally, the more kick it has, the better."
"Uh… same for me," Huang Donglai added casually. Sun Yixie was throwing himself so completely into the role that Huang felt he could never reach that level of shameless method acting, so he settled for playing it half-heartedly.
"Wonderful! You two are truly bold and forthright." Hearing this, the proprietress immediately shot her husband a meaningful look. "Husband, bring these two young masters a pot of our house-brewed Leopard Gall, and fry up two dishes to go with the wine."
"Right away," the cook muttered with a nod, turning back toward the kitchen.
In truth, whether it was called Leopard Gall or Bear Gall made no difference. Whatever food and drink the cook brought out, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai knew the truth in their hearts: it was spiked.
Moments later, the cook brought the wine out first.
Counting the time… dosing the jug and stirring it in would indeed take a few minutes.
With no other customers in the tavern, the proprietress poured wine for Sun and Huang as though it were the most natural thing in the world, intending to toast them.
Sun Yixie saw it with absolute clarity: after filling the cups, she subtly dipped her little finger into her own wine. She was undoubtedly concealing something beneath her fingernail to neutralize the poison in her cup.
Sun and Huang had no such trick, and they were certainly not about to swallow wine they knew was tainted. Just as Sun Yixie raised his cup toward his lips, he abruptly stopped, furrowed his brow slightly, and hissed, "Ah—would you look at my memory! The moment I walked in, I meant to relieve myself, but completely forgot once I sat down. Now that there's a drink in front of me, I remember. Haha… proprietress, wait just a moment. I'll be right back, and then we'll share this toast!"
Without giving her a chance to hold him back, he stood up and strode toward the door.
Swallowing her irritation, the proprietress gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, forced a tight smile, and called out after his retreating figure, "Hurry back then, young master! Oh, and the privy is just behind the woods outside to the left!"
Seeing that Brother Sun had already pulled a urine escape, Huang Donglai knew he had to slip away too. He rose immediately to follow.
"Eh? Where might this young master be going?" the proprietress asked hastily upon seeing him get up as well.
"My stomach hurts—even more urgent than his." Huang Donglai cast dignity to the winds; if Brother Sun fled on an urge to pee, he would flee on an urge to shit, an excuse far harder to refuse.
Once both men had stepped outside, the proprietress hurried a few paces to the doorway, confirming that they were indeed heading toward the privy and that their horses were still hitched. Only then did she put her mind at ease. Sitting back down at the table, she spat, "Tch—a pair of greenhorns, full of useless trouble."
Just then, her cook husband parted the curtain and poked his head out from the kitchen. "How is it? Did they take the bait?"
"Went to the privy," she replied sourly.
"They didn't run, did they?" The cook was blunt and hopelessly poor at reading the room.
"If they ran, would I still be sitting here?" The proprietress glared back at him. Realizing there was no point wasting anger on him, she quickly composed herself and added, "Rest easy. I checked. They haven't run…" Here, she broke into a cold chuckle. "Heh, those two fledglings have already been bewitched out of their senses by me. They'll be right back. Just get ready to bleed them and carve up the meat."
"Right, good," the cook agreed, retreating into the kitchen to sharpen his cleaver.
After a moment of silence, the proprietress sat alone, a look of greedy anticipation blooming across her face as she murmured under her breath, "Ah, rarely do two such fat sheep wander in. Fine clothes, fine horses… their packs must be loaded with gold and silver…" As she spoke, she took a sip of the neutralized wine and licked her full red lips. "Hmph… crossing paths with me, 'Red Chopstick Tip' Zhu Xiaowan, consider it your rotten luck."
Chapter 27