Liu Zhuang Xian

Even the innkeeper shook his head and said, “This Ren Erniang is really… That young master is good-looking, but he probably isn’t old enough to marry yet, is he?”

Lu Xiaochan had good hearing. Upon hearing this, he almost burst out laughing.

But he also noticed that Shu Wuxi across from him hadn’t said a word, not even an “mm-hmm”.

Lu Xiaochan became a bit uneasy.

He sniffed hard, and fortunately could still smell Shu Wuxi’s scent.

But he was still not at ease, and immediately stretched out his arm and started feeling around.

He felt Shu Wuxi’s bowl and chopsticks, then leaned half his body across the table, about to touch Shu Wuxi’s chest, when the other slightly leaned back, just avoiding his touch.

Not being able to feel him, Lu Xiaochan started to panic.

“Shu Wuxi! Shu Wuxi?”

“Mm.”

This response was a bit lower than usual.

Lu Xiaochan stopped at this and sat back down.

“I thought… thought you found me annoying and had snuck away…”

Lu Xiaochan let out a sigh.

“I won’t leave you.”

“You always want me to keep talking non-stop, but then you don’t say anything. If you disappear, I wouldn’t even know. I’d end up looking like a fool, thinking I was talking to you when you were long gone.”

For some reason, Lu Xiaochan felt that Shu Wuxi across from him was looking at him.

“Shu Wuxi? Are you unhappy? Or did I make you angry?”

“I want to pluck out Ren Erniang’s eyes.”

Lu Xiaochan’s heart skipped a beat. Why did Shu Wuxi want to pluck out someone’s eyes again?

“Her eyes are full of filthy and lustful thoughts.”

Shu Wuxi held his teacup, lowered his head slightly, and took a sip of tea.

Calm and composed, his words were gentle. There was no hint of killing intent in his voice, but it was precisely this calmness that made it extremely cold.

Lu Xiaochan was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

He picked up a bamboo twig from the table, pointed it forward, and tapped Shu Wuxi’s shoulder.

“All people have desires. Some people have more of one kind of desire, some have more of another. This Ren Erniang enjoys bedroom pleasures, it’s only natural.”

Lu Xiaochan always tried to provoke Shu Wuxi into talking. He poked him again with the bamboo twig, leaned his head closer, and stared at him with his big eyes, as if he could see the other’s appearance if he looked hard enough.

“Have you ever enjoyed bedroom pleasures?”

Shu Wuxi brushed aside Lu Xiaochan’s bamboo twig. His fingers lightly pressed on the other end of the twig, and a burst of energy flowed through it towards Lu Xiaochan. Lu Xiaochan let go, and the twig suddenly sprang up, flicking Lu Xiaochan’s chin upwards.

“What do you think?”

Lu Xiaochan’s heart trembled, and he almost knocked over the tea in front of him.

The waiter brought up two jars of “Drunken Life Dream Death” wine, and whispered to Lu Xiaochan, “Lu Xiaochan, you’d better be careful tonight! The way Ren Erniang is looking at you, it’s like she wants to eat you up!”

“How scary!”

Lu Xiaochan laughed and deliberately whistled twice at Shu Wuxi.

“Shu Wuxi, why don’t you come sit next to me? You can help shield me from that demoness’s lustful thoughts.”

Shu Wuxi raised his hand, picked up the teapot, and poured tea for Lu Xiaochan. He lightly tapped his finger on the table, as if saying “Be good and drink your tea.”

Lu Xiaochan persisted, deliberately putting on a pitiful expression. “Father, your child is being eyed by a demoness. Won’t you save me?”

“You seem to be enjoying it quite a bit.”

The bamboo twig poked Lu Xiaochan’s nose tip.

Lu Xiaochan tilted his head, looking towards Ren Erniang’s direction, but before his face could fully turn, the bamboo twig pressed against his cheek, forcing it back to face Shu Wuxi’s direction.

Lu Xiaochan laughed, squinting his eyes as he smiled.

“Brother Wuxi, I don’t want to be eaten by the demoness. Come sit beside me! I promise I won’t touch you, I’ll be good!”

Lu Xiaochan’s hearing was very sharp. When he called out “Brother Wuxi”, the sound of Shu Wuxi putting down his teacup was different from before.

Even if it was just a tiny difference, different was different.

“Brother Wuxi,” Lu Xiaochan deliberately called out again.

“Drink your wine.”

“Brother Wuxi.” Lu Xiaochan felt like he had found Shu Wuxi’s weak spot.

Just then, a commotion came from outside the tavern, along with screams, followed by the sound of panicked footsteps.

The guests in the tavern all stood up to look outside.

On the main street, a burly figure was staggering forward.

The vendors who were packing up their stalls and the passersby on the street all turned to look.

The last rays of the setting sun had completely sunk, and the moon was obscured by patches of clouds, alternating between bright and dim.

The street scene outside the tavern seemed strangely cold and eerie.

As the figure came closer to the tavern, the guests by the window finally recognized him as Wang Dayong, the butcher.

Wang Dayong was carrying a pig-slaughtering knife, his mouth full of white foam, his eyes dull and muddy as he walked.

“Have any of you… seen that bitch…”

He stammered clumsily, as if he had something in his mouth.

Although he kept muttering, he showed no reaction to anything around him, like a marionette.

As night fell, even the stars were obscured by clouds, leaving only the faint lights from the houses along the street.

The blade of Wang Dayong’s pig-slaughtering knife gleamed coldly, with a hint of evil, as if blood was seeping from its edge.

This was a small town with few inhabitants, and Wang Dayong’s strange behavior made people uneasy. The vendors and passersby left faster than usual, and the whole street suddenly seemed to belong to Wang Dayong alone.

“Has anyone seen… that bitch…”

The voice seemed to be squeezed out of Wang Dayong’s throat.

When Ren Erniang saw Wang Dayong’s figure, she turned deathly pale, as if she had seen a ghost. Her bowl and chopsticks fell to the ground.

“This is impossible… how can this be…”

Lu Xiaochan also stuck his head out, not to see, but to listen.

“What’s happening? Is Butcher Wang Dayong coming to teach Ren Erniang a lesson?”

Lu Xiaochan had been looking forward to this scene for a long time.

The other guests were in a panic. The innkeeper reacted quickly, immediately arranging for everyone to close all the doors and windows of the tavern.

“Hurry, hurry! You can see Wang Dayong has gone mad!”

“Look at him, he seems to have lost his mind! What if he starts swinging that knife around wildly?”

“Close the windows! Close them!”

The waiter ran to Lu Xiaochan’s side, about to push the peeking Lu Xiaochan back, when he was swatted by the bamboo twig in Shu Wuxi’s hand.

Before he could touch Lu Xiaochan, he fell to the ground.

“Xiaochan.”

“Hm?” Lu Xiaochan turned his head as soon as he heard Shu Wuxi’s voice.

With a “clap” sound, Shu Wuxi just lightly hooked his finger, and the window closed.

In an instant, the tavern was in chaos. Everyone lost their appetite for drinking and chatting, and were all discussing Wang Dayong wandering outside.

“What happened to Wang Dayong? Why do they say he’s gone mad?”

“It’s none of our business,” Shu Wuxi said.

Lu Xiaochan pouted, thinking to himself that for someone who could talk about plucking out people’s eyes as casually as dusting off dirt, what could possibly concern Shu Wuxi?

“He beat me up before…” Lu Xiaochan unconsciously rubbed his arm.

“I know. I had thought about crushing him to pieces.”

Lu Xiaochan paused. “W-why?”

“Because he hurt you. So I wanted to make him suffer a thousand, ten thousand times more than you did.”

Shu Wuxi’s voice was very calm, making Lu Xiaochan feel like an indulgent parent’s child – even if the child fell on their own, it was the ground’s fault for hurting the child.

“But I have you. No matter what injury, you would heal me, and then I wouldn’t hurt anymore. You don’t need to crush him to pieces.”

It wasn’t that Lu Xiaochan was kind-hearted. When he was beaten by Wang Dayong, he had also thought that the guy would get his comeuppance.

But if there really was retribution, he didn’t want it to be by Shu Wuxi’s hand.

“Why?” Shu Wuxi asked.

“In my heart, you’re pure and untainted. Wang Dayong isn’t even worth a speck of dust, so he’s not worthy,” Lu Xiaochan said very seriously.

“Mm,” Shu Wuxi’s response carried a hint of cool gentleness, “The corrupt will be tormented by evil spirits. Even after death, their souls will be burned by the karmic fires of evil spirits until they are completely destroyed.”

“What evil spirits?” Lu Xiaochan tilted his head.

Shu Wuxi didn’t answer him, but asked instead. “Are you still eating?”

“Of course! My chicken noodles haven’t arrived yet!”

The originally lively Lushu Town suddenly became terrifyingly quiet on the streets.

Every household had closed their doors and windows, and even extinguished their lights.

The waiter peeked through the door crack and saw Wang Dayong coming towards their tavern entrance. He looked at the innkeeper.

Wang Dayong’s aura was ominous, as if he had gathered a whole mass of killing intent, ready to swing his butcher’s knife and turn this town into a river of blood at any moment.

The innkeeper had already hidden under the table, only raising one hand out. “Quick! Quick! Put out all the lights! Hurry!”

Almost at the same moment, the guests simultaneously extinguished the candles.

The entire tavern fell into darkness.

Lu Xiaochan could hear clearly the sounds of rapid breathing, trembling hands gripping table edges, and teeth chattering.

Wang Dayong was still shouting in a muddy voice. “Ren Erniang…Ren Erniang…”

The sound of two pig-slaughtering knives scraping against each other seemed to cut through the ink-like darkness of the night.

Not far away, Ren Erniang was curled up under a table, holding her head and muttering repeatedly. “Impossible…this is impossible!”

“What’s ‘impossible’?” Lu Xiaochan asked, tilting his head.

The entire tavern was deathly quiet, everyone fearing for their lives, not even daring to breathe too loudly. When Lu Xiaochan spoke up, the whole tavern heard him.