On the eve of the treasure hunt
Han Jiang continued eating the pastry in her hand: "You can just not tell anyone."
Han Jiang walked forward on her own, while Cang Jingqi watched her back with a hint of amusement, then strode to walk alongside her.
Tired from walking around, the two found a teahouse to listen to a traditional opera.
A man and a woman sang about love, hate, anger, and infatuation.
Han Jiang couldn't stand this kind of opera. She gently swirled her teacup, her eyes vacant as she watched the tea leaves drift in and out of the cup.
The teahouse was mostly frequented by leisurely patrons, and Han Jiang, dressed in red, stood out conspicuously.
Several gazes swept over Han Jiang, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Let's go back and wait for Sister Wen." Han Jiang put down her teacup.
"Won't you listen a little longer? I think this play is very interesting."
What's interesting about it?
"Here comes the interesting part."
As they were talking, several burly men walked in, cursing and swearing, and went from table to table looking for someone.
"Damn it! They have money to go to the theater, but no money to pay off their debts!"
A man dressed in brown clothes was punched several meters away by a burly man.
He stood up, wiped his mouth, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, and yelled, "I won't pay it back! That's not money I owe!"
"Damn it! The money your dad owes is the money you owe! Beat him up!"
The group quickly grappled, and the seemingly frail man managed to fight back against several opponents.
Someone stepped in to break up the fight and pulled several people out of the teahouse.
"So? Was the show good?" Cang Jing asked.
"It's not interesting. What's so interesting about hitting someone?" Han Jiang pouted.
The fight stopped at the entrance of the teahouse, probably because there were too many people on the street and they felt ashamed. Many onlookers were pointing and whispering. The weak-looking boy covered his head and secretly slipped away into the crowd.
"You enjoy watching the excitement so much?" Han Jiang asked, noticing Cang Jingqi's keen interest.
“Isn’t this interesting?” Cang Jing retorted.
Han Jiang asked in confusion, "What's so interesting about it?"
How can it be meaningful for a pitiful person who is burdened with debt by his father and then beaten?
“That man stole the money meant for his mother’s coffin to gamble, so his father borrowed money to bury his mother, and later his father also died.”
Not a pitiful person, but a bad person. The arrival of winter changes the impression in one's mind.
“His father was beaten to death for harassing respectable women,” Cang Jingqi added.
Both father and son are bad people.
"Why do you like gossiping so much?" Han Jiang complained.
Cang Jingqi: "What do you mean by 'eating melons'?"
"I just love gossip and asking about all sorts of random things."
Cang Jingqi lowered his head and kept shaking the cup, the tea in the cup being shaken back up every time it was about to spill.
"Just bored." That was Cang Jingqi's final answer.
"Let's go! Didn't you complain that the show was bad?" Cang Jingqi stood up.
Follow the cold weather obediently.
"Han Tian is suspicious of your identity," Cang Jingqi deliberately told Han Jiang. The previous scene was indeed boring, so he wanted to see something more interesting.
Han Jiang yanked Cang Jingqi's sleeve and pulled him to a corner.
In recent days, Yinzhou City has been filled with disciples of the Immortal Sect. They may not recognize Han Jiang, but they have all heard of Han Tian.
Cang Jingqi shook off Han Jiang and said reproachfully, "Han Xiaoman, be mindful of your behavior. Pulling and tugging in broad daylight, I'm an innocent person!"
"Who was pulling or tugging at you!" Han Jiang said with a look of disgust. "Let's get down to business! Why does Master suspect me?"
This is definitely more interesting than a play. Cang Jing smiled and said, "If you beg me, I'll tell you."
Han Jiang raises the middle finger: You really deserve a beating!
"It doesn't matter if you like me."
"Who likes you!"
"Didn't you say that this gesture means 'like'?" Cang Jingqi knew, of course, that Han Jiang was lying to him. Judging from the expression on the man's face, it was definitely not a friendly gesture, and it might even have been insulting.
He said that purely to tease Han Jiang.
Han Jiang realized that this person was deliberately trying to annoy her, and she was thinking about how to come up with a big surprise.
Just then, the waiter from the teahouse noticed the two of them standing in the corner and came over to ask if they needed any service.
"Have you two had a fight? It's normal for couples to quarrel! Perhaps a cup of tea and a chat at our teahouse will help you reconcile!"
The waiter had no idea who the Demon Prince or the disciples of the Four Continents Sect were; he only knew that there was a business opportunity in front of him.
“We don’t…” Cang Jingqi was about to refuse.
Han Jiang suddenly exclaimed, "This is no good! He's only been in Yinzhou for a few days, and he's already found another Daoist partner behind my back! He said he loved me and would be with me for life, but what happened? You men are all the same!"
After delivering her prepared speech, Han Jiang didn't even catch her breath. As she spoke, she pulled out a handkerchief to cover her face and wept. To avoid the embarrassment of explaining herself, she pushed Cang Jingqi away while crying and ran out of the teahouse.
He immediately turned a corner after leaving the house, circled around several alleys, and went straight to the examination hall to wait for Wenxu, regardless of whether Cang Jingqi followed or not.
As for Han Tian's suspicions, Han Jiang had no way to deal with them and could only wait for Wen Xu to come out and ask him about the original owner of the body.
She kept trying to recall, but she just couldn't remember.
Han Jiang considered asking Cang Jingqi, but judging from the man's attitude, he figured even if he knew, he wouldn't tell.
At that moment, Cang Jingqi had just walked out of the teahouse amidst the discussions of the crowd.
He couldn't get a word in edgewise. After Han Jiang escaped from the teahouse, he was left standing there, enduring the pointing fingers and whispers of others.
The waiter threw out an angry look: "Even cultivators can be unfaithful!"
Cang Jingqi was both annoyed and amused.
This is the first time someone who has always been a spectator has had their performance watched by others.
"I'll tell Hantian later," Cang Jingqi decided.
He could guess where Han Jiang was right away, so his route of action shouldn't be too obvious.
Around noon, the first part of the Three Gates Treasure Hunt competition ended, and Han Jiang stood outside the competition venue.
"I've been looking until my eyes are sore," Cang Jingqi said abruptly.
Han Jiang was startled by the sudden voice behind her: "You walk so quietly!"
"Perhaps it's because I'm not human." That wasn't entirely wrong, after all, he was a demon. "What, is my wife still angry with me? I promise I won't find another Daoist partner..."
Han Jiang quickly covered Cang Jingqi's mouth, for the people around them were all from the Four Continents Sect!
"What nonsense are you spouting!" The people in the teahouse might not recognize Han Jiang, but everyone here knows him!
Cang Jingqi is shameless, but she still has a sense of shame!
"Didn't you say that?" Cang Jingqi put on an innocent smile.
He really shot himself in the foot! Han Jiang is now filled with regret. He originally wanted to disgust him, but in the end, he disgusted himself instead.
Han Jiang caught a glimpse of Wen Xu out of the corner of her eye, then abandoned Cang Jing and snapped, "Don't talk nonsense! I'm going to find Sister Wen!"
How heartless. Cang Jingqi stood there watching Han Jiang run off to someone else.
Hanjiang approached Wenxu, just about to ask what they wanted for lunch.
Wen Xu kept his head down the whole time and didn't say a word.
I wanted to ask about the cold weather, but Wenxu didn't reply at all.
Han Jiang went to see Wen Wan, but Wen Wan only said that she was in a bad mood.
Upon further inquiry, Wen Xu admitted to giving up the afternoon's arena match.
By abstaining from the competition at the last minute and breaking their promise, the Four Continents Sect will certainly be looked down upon by the other two immortal sects.
Although Chicheng was angry, he cared about his disciple and couldn't bring himself to scold him. He personally went to explain to the Pavilion Master of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion and the Pavilion Master of Maple Fire Reflecting Frost Tower, and put on a smiling face many times.
Hanqi said that it seemed Wenxu hadn't done well on the written test.
I left some food for Wenxu at dinner time during the Cold Dew season. I reheated it around the right time and planned to give it to Wenxu.
“Why bother someone who’s in a bad mood? She’ll come down to eat if she’s hungry,” Cang Jingqi said.
Han Jiang said seriously, "That's different. She has no parents here, it's very pitiful. Do you have a silence note?"
She used to hide in her room and cry when she didn't do well on a test, and her parents would time it perfectly, bringing her food when she was exhausted from crying. Wen Xu has no parents here, and like Han Jiang, if it weren't for each other, she would be all alone in this strange world.
Han Jiang knocked on Wen Xu's door, but no one answered. She pushed the door open, placed the food on the table, turned around, closed the door, and placed a silencing talisman on it to prevent any sounds from escaping. If the eavesdropper's magic power was higher than the talisman's, they would be able to hear it.
It was given by Cang Jingqi; there probably aren't many people whose magical power surpasses his.
How weak can a friend of Han Tian be?
Wen Xu was huddled under the covers, curled up into a small ball, twitching and looking rather comical.
Han Jiang nudged the person under the covers twice and said, "Sister Wen, why don't you get up and eat first?"
"Not good..." The voice was hoarse.
"Sister Wen? Just eat a little bit. You'll have the energy to cry when you're full." Han Jiang coaxed her softly. Wen Xu slowly poked her head out from under the covers: her eyes were swollen from crying, and she was sniffling.
As the cold descends, the bowl is handed over to Wenxu.
Wen Xu only ate a few bites: "I can't eat anymore."
Han Jiang didn't try to persuade her to eat anymore. She took the bowl and put it aside. "Sister Wen, can you tell me what's wrong?"
Wen Xu didn't speak, and Han Jiang sat patiently beside her.
"I bombed the test again." After a long pause, she finally spoke. "Two tests, the first was about poetry, the second was about algorithms, basically Chinese and math... And then, there were so many questions I couldn't answer, and the ones I could answer, I realized I got wrong..."
"It's okay. If you don't know it, no one else will either. What you wrote isn't necessarily wrong. Besides, you're from another time, so it's normal that you don't know it."
“That’s not normal! How could I not know it! I should know it all! You don’t understand, I should know it all! I, I’ve read the original novel!” Wen Xu paused when he mentioned the original novel.
Han Jiang patted Wen Xu's back reassuringly: "Does reading the original work make it clear? Then let me ask you, when Sun Wukong went to the Dragon King of the East Sea to borrow a weapon, how many weapons did he try before the Golden Cudgel?"
Wen Xu was stunned, then shook his head.
"See? Who said you could learn it just by reading a book?"
"So how many pieces are there?" Wen Xu suddenly asked persistently.
"I don't know either, otherwise why would I ask you?"
Wen Xu stopped crying and responded with a blank stare. People really do laugh when they're utterly speechless.
Looking into Han Jiang's bright eyes, a wave of sorrow washed over her.
"Hanjiang, I'm a bad person..." Wen Xu blurted out abruptly.
Hanjiang: "?"
"I came to you right away, and you didn't suspect anything? Why do you trust me? What if I'm lying to you? What if I'm a bad person?" Wen Xu's tone became very urgent.
"He doesn't look like it," Han Jiang grinned at Wen Xu.
"You're so carefree!"
"Okay, okay, I was wrong! Don't be angry, Sister Wen. Next time I time travel, I'll be extra vigilant!" Han Jiang swore with three fingers together, "I swear! Wait, wait a minute, Sister Wen, weren't you just sad? Why are you suddenly scolding me?"
Wenxu avoided Hanjiang's gaze.
Han Jiang hugged Wen Xu tightly: "Sister Wen, don't say you're bad. People should avoid self-fulfilling prophecies! You are a very, very good person! No matter how you do on the exam, you are still Wen Xu! No matter what the result of this stupid competition is, you are still Sister Wen! Besides, this is in a book, everything is fake, just treat it as a dream."
Wen Xu hugged Han Jiang back: "You're a really, really good person too..."
Yes, just treat it as a dream, and you'll wake up once you complete the mission.
But, with the arrival of winter, I won't take you home.
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