Chapter 31 A Twist and Turn, a Sudden Accident
Huo Qin had just returned to the inn when he learned that Zhou Ziheng and Xi Bingyi had decided to stay in Tanglin for a while.
One person said, "The love-hate relationship between Yizhique and Yu Wangshu is not to be missed."
One person said, "You should also experience the local customs and culture of Tanglin."
Huo Qin: "..."
In his ears, these words became:
Zhou Ziheng: "There are interesting anecdotes and stories to read."
Xi Bingyi: "I'm afraid to go home, so I'll postpone it for now."
If he hadn't just received some news about his father, he would have definitely thrown both of them out.
Yizhique followed behind Huo Qin and mentioned that he had put "Yizhichun" in the drink.
He took out the antidote from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Ziheng and Xi Bingyi, earning a surprised look from Xi Bingyi.
"Are all the poisons from your Western Regions made of some kind of thing?"
Yizhi Que said honestly, "That's not the case. It's just that both poisons were invented by the same person."
Zhou Ziheng's gaze inevitably fell on the bamboo hat that covered his face.
But he did not ask rashly.
Although Yizhique followed behind Huo Qin as if he had been "recruited," he had not forgotten how ruthless Huo Qin was, killing the waiter at the slightest disagreement.
—No one has been serving guests at this inn so far, and the innkeeper has not appeared. Zhou Ziheng even suspects that the innkeeper may have been killed by a sparrow.
Zhou Ziheng was unaware that Huo Qin had played the flute for Yu Wangshu all night long before bringing back a sparrow to detoxify him.
Huo Qin intended to keep this matter to himself and not tell anyone, but the straightforward child, Yizhique, blurted out: "Huo Qin has already blown it..."
Before he could finish speaking, Huo Qin quickly covered his mouth and, facing Zhou Ziheng's suspicious gaze, explained with a smile, "I was exposed to the cold wind all night."
He didn't give the sparrow a chance to speak, and continued, "Outside the city, in the mass grave, there is a tomb of Wang Shu."
Xi Bingyi blinked, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Wasn't Yu Wangshu from Chang'an? How come he's buried here? And in a mass grave?"
Yizhique pulled Huo Qin's hand down and explained, holding her breath, "Wang Shu's remains are not there. Her true final resting place is in Chang'an."
“But her family wouldn’t let me go to pay my respects, and they wouldn’t even let me enter Chang’an…”
"So I found a place and erected a wooden plaque to commemorate it."
Huo Qin, who played his flute all night over the empty grave: "..."
Zhou Ziheng glanced at Huo Qin, who was gritting his teeth, then at Yizhique, and asked, "So, it's true that Yu Wangshu returned home after being poisoned?"
Now it was the sparrow's turn to fall silent.
He had already promised Huo Qin that he would tell a story to the three heroes, so he remained silent for a while.
“I am ‘Maso’ from the Western Regions. In your Central Plains terms, I would be called a traitor.”
"My master is Yizhi, and I am merely a drug user under her command, my life's purpose being to test the most potent poisons in the world for her."
...
"Sparrow, you've ingested at least eighty or a hundred different kinds of poison. Even you, can't possibly tell which one is the most poisonous?"
A fingernail adorned with crimson nail polish pinched the sparrow's chin, its expression somewhat sinister.
The sparrow honestly replied, "Master, I think they're all quite poisonous."
Yizhi snorted coldly and turned his head to the side.
"This is boring." She got up and left. "Why isn't there a poison that can hurt me like this..."
...
"Stop." Xi Bingyi gestured for a pause. "What was the meaning of that last sentence?"
Zhou Ziheng scoffed, "Isn't that simple? Yizhi must have been heartbroken by some man. She thought she was being poisoned, which is why she's so heartbroken. That's why she's so determined to invent the exact same poison, isn't that right?"
Upon hearing Zhou Ziheng's words, Huo Qin and Xi Bingyi both showed expressions of disgust.
One Sparrow nodded: "Yes, One Sparrow has been searching for such a poison."
...
But clearly, the poison in people's hearts is a hundred times more potent than that in the Western Regions.
No matter how painful the wound, time heals all wounds. The damage a branch suffers will only resurface in the dead of night when it dreams of others.
Her wound scabbed over, and the sparrow lost its purpose.
Or rather, Yizhi personifies her pain as a sparrow; every time she sees his face, she is reminded of her painful and foolish relationship.
As long as the sparrow appears before your eyes, the wound on the branch will never heal.
She transferred the "poison".
She must get rid of the sparrow in order to completely "detoxify".
...
"Wait a minute." Xi Bingyi made a pause gesture again. "This is just like burying your head in the sand, isn't it!"
"You weren't the one who hurt her feelings, so why should she hate you for it?"
The three heroes of the martial arts world all had four words written on their foreheads without prior agreement: "utterly inexplicable!"
Yizhique didn't know how to explain, so she simply skipped over how she and Yizhi got along: "Anyway, she wanted to kill me, but I didn't want to die, so I escaped from the Western Regions."
"But before she left, she poisoned me with a poison that could never be cured."
"This poison disfigured my face, but it also kept me at the age of sixteen, so I could never grow old or die."
"I named this poison 'One-Branch Sparrow'."
A sparrow skipped over how Master Qi had saved her, and amidst the expectant gazes of the three, she began to speak of Yu Wangshu.
"Wang Shu was naturally lively and loved adventure. When I first met her, I thought she was the daughter of some chivalrous knight-errant, but I never expected that she came from the Yu family of Chang'an."
Perhaps out of shyness, his tone softened when Yu Wangshu was mentioned, and he stammered as if he were embarrassed.
In the end, Yizhique couldn't bring herself to say it, so she handed Zhou Ziheng a piece of paper, leaving only the words "Go to the Suzhou Restaurant," before hurriedly leaving.
Holding this light, flimsy note in his hand, Zhou Ziheng had no idea what was going on behind this seemingly simple request.
"It feels like I've lost out." He looked at the letter with a serious expression.
"I could tell at a glance that Yizhique and Yu Wangshu were in love with each other, just by looking at their affectionate appearance."
Zhou Ziheng thought to himself, "What love and hate is there here? It's all about affection and love!"
This is not as interesting as the story of his master, Yizhi!
Upon hearing this, Xi Bingyi knew exactly what Zhou Ziheng was thinking.
She advised, "It's just a quick look at the restaurant; it won't take much time."
Huo Qin didn't say anything, so Zhou Ziheng held the letter and looked at it from left to right, and decided to go to the Suzhou Restaurant.
The Gusu Restaurant was located in the east of Tang Lin's city. It didn't take much effort for the three of them to see the restaurant's flag fluttering in the wind.
All that could be seen was a three-story wooden building with flying eaves and brackets, and stone-carved Pixiu perched on the corners of the eaves.
The flagpole was made from a single piece of hemlock wood, about the thickness of a bowl, with a blue wine flag at the top fluttering in the wind.
Despite having such a gentle and graceful name, reminiscent of a water town, what comes to mind is a somber and majestic atmosphere.
Even in the dead of winter, there were many people buying liquor. The aroma of the liquor wafted into Zhou Ziheng's nose, and even without tasting it, he could feel its spiciness.
A waiter greeted them with a smile: "Gentlemen, are you here to buy some wine?"
Zhou Ziheng presented the letter and got straight to the point: "A sparrow called us over, saying it had some good wine and a story to share."
Huo Qin glanced at Zhou Ziheng's flawless smile. After spending so much time with him, he had become immune to his nonsense and misbehavior.
The waiter carefully examined the letter and, confirming it was genuine, bowed and said, "Please, gentlemen, go upstairs and rest for a while. I'll go and call the manager."
As soon as Zhou Ziheng and his two companions sat down in a private room, someone brought out three bowls of fine wine, along with some beef—a truly lavish meal.
Not long after, a chubby middle-aged man knocked on the door and came in.
"Are the three of you friends of Yizhique?" the plump shopkeeper asked with a kind smile.
Zhou Ziheng nodded and took out the flower-patterned stationery again.
Before he could even pull it out, the fat shopkeeper's expression changed drastically, his gentle demeanor turning sinister and fierce as he shouted, "Take these three people down!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a number of men in black, armed with knives, spears, and halberds, emerged from the room and surrounded Zhou Ziheng and his two companions!
The situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and before the group could even react, they were already trapped!
The fat shopkeeper sneered repeatedly: "That little bastard, Yizhique, smashed up three of my branches, and now he still dares to call you over?!"
Zhou Ziheng then realized that the three of them had been completely outmaneuvered by Yizhique!
Looking back now, it wasn't just shy stammering; it was clearly because I had done something terribly wrong and just couldn't bring myself to say it!
Xi Bingyi quickly explained, "No! We're not here to cause trouble!"
The portly shopkeeper looked at Zhou Ziheng with disbelief and said, "He's not here to cause trouble? Then why did he say he'd offer 'good wine and good stories' as a parting gift?"
"I think you're all just like that sparrow, harboring wicked intentions and malicious schemes!!"
Xi Bingyi glared at Zhou Ziheng immediately.
Zhou Ziheng chuckled awkwardly: "This really is a misunderstanding..."
"We just want to hear his story with Yu Wangshu, but he won't tell us..."
Upon hearing the name "Yu Wangshu," the portly shopkeeper's sneer deepened: "Yu Wangshu? That brat Yizhique still has the nerve to mention Yu Wangshu?"
"Back then, he caused someone to be hunted down in the Western Regions and almost lost their life on the way home. How dare he even mention it!"
Zhou Ziheng's eyes lit up immediately.
He doesn't like to hear love stories that are all smooth sailing; he prefers those that are full of twists and turns and love and hate intertwined!
Ignoring the swords and weapons surrounding them, Zhou Ziheng poured a bowl of wine for the portly shopkeeper, offering it as a gesture of goodwill: "Could you tell me in detail?"
The portly shopkeeper, his beard bristling and eyes wide, overturned the wine bowl: "What are you doing! This is my wine!!"
"You want to hear a story, right? You three stay here and work for me for three days, and I'll tell you!"
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