Glimpse into a Hundred Faces (9)
"Want to hire me?" Yun Yanqiu raised an eyebrow, glancing at the coins in his hand. Apart from being made of gold, those two coins were no different from ordinary coins. "Do you think this little bit of money can get me to do anything?"
“This is no ordinary coin!” Qi Rongting argued. “It’s a token of our family’s trust. Whoever holds this coin will be considered an honored guest of the Qi family and recorded in our register. In the future, as long as the Qi family still exists, you can take it to the Qi family to exchange for assistance once, no matter what kind of help you need!”
"Really? So generous?" Zhao Huai-ren became interested and leaned closer to examine it carefully. "Aren't you afraid we'll take this thing and then use it against you?"
"No way!" Qi Rongting's gaze was firm. "My two brothers have been incredibly kind to me. If they wanted to harm me, they would have done it long ago. Why would they tell me these things?"
He was afraid the two of them didn't know how valuable this thing was, so he added, "The Qi family has only given away five gold coins in the past thousand years. We have fulfilled the requests of those distinguished guests. This is really useful!"
Having said that, Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Huai'ren stopped refusing. Yun Yanqiu carefully put away the money and then turned to instruct Qi Rongting to return to the fan. Qi Rongting protested again: "I finally got out, why do you want me to go back?"
“There were only four of us when we came, including the driver, and the only driver who knew the way didn’t recognize you. Now one of us is dead, and another one suddenly appears. What do you think he’ll think when he wakes up?” Yun Yanqiu glanced at him sideways. “I don’t think your explanation will convince him. Or are you planning to give him another coin?”
"..." Qi Rongting remained silent, mainly because he only brought two of these precious items and didn't give any more.
He hesitated for a long time between going back inside the fan and staying outside, still a little reluctant to give up his hard-won freedom. He was truly tired of being inside the fan; it wasn't a big place, there wasn't even a living creature, and he was constantly staring at his own reflection in the water—it was driving him crazy!
"Hey, a living thing?" Qi Rongting suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and his gaze inadvertently fell on the chubby little bird on Yun Yanqiu's shoulder.
"What are you looking at?" Yun Yanqiu raised her hand to block Ye Yingying's body and glared coldly at Qi Rongting.
"Well, I can go back, but could you let this little bird come in and keep me company?" Qi Rongting asked with a cheeky smile.
“No way.” Yun Yanqiu refused without hesitation. “This is mine.”
"I...I can give you some more treasures!"
"No matter how many treasures you have, it's impossible. Give up."
Seeing Yun Yanqiu's determination, Qi Rongting slumped his shoulders in frustration: "But it's so boring inside the fan! I really don't want to be all alone in there!"
Qi Rongting was indeed an immature young master, and he started to take advantage of others as soon as he was out of danger. But when it came to Yingying, how could Yun Yanqiu back down an inch? No matter how much Qi Rongting begged, Yun Yanqiu simply wouldn't agree.
Finally, Zhao Huai-ren couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to mediate, saying, "How about this, let's say that Xiao Qi was passing by when he saw the woman directing wolves to hurt people, so he stepped in to save us."
Yun Yanqiu immediately questioned, "Does he look like someone who can save us?"
"This..." Zhao Huai-ren looked at the fair-skinned Qi Rong-ting with difficulty, trying to find even the slightest possibility in him. But after looking him over and over, he really couldn't find a single one.
Now it was Qi Rongting's turn to protest: "I'm not, but I can pretend! I know this well! You can see for yourselves!"
He coughed twice, then suddenly lowered his head, closed his eyes, and began to gather his emotions. The others were taken aback by his sudden change and all fell silent, waiting to see what tricks he would pull.
The night's chilly wind gently brushed his face, ruffling a few strands of his long hair. Qi Rongting slowly opened his eyes in the coolness, his expression calm and undisturbed. His lips were slightly downturned; the playful innocence of moments before was gone, replaced by a dignified air of worldly wisdom.
"Wow..." Zhao Huai Ren was so shocked by the speed at which his expression changed that his jaw dropped slightly. He couldn't help but lean forward, trying to find a flaw in his face.
Qi Rongting's disguise was perfect. Every move he made was calm and composed. Even the way he opened and closed his folding fan was elegant and sharp. He was just like a young master from a noble family.
"How is it? Is everything alright now?" Qi Rongting asked, his voice less inflected than before, almost like a completely different person.
"That's amazing, absolutely amazing!" Zhao Huai-ren shook his head repeatedly, clicking his tongue in amazement. "Your skills are incredible! You can change your expression faster than flipping through a book!"
Qi Rongting remained calm and composed, gently shaking his folding fan and glancing sideways at Yun Yanqiu: "What do you think?"
Yun Yanqiu frowned, his expression complicated. He hadn't expected Qi Rongting to have this ability. This wasn't an act at all; he was a completely different person, his aura had changed!
But this is for the best; it fits their fabricated identities. Yun Yanqiu agreed to their suggestion. Then, upon realizing that she would finally no longer have to stay inside that tattered fan, Qi Rongting immediately broke free of her composure, cheering and jumping for joy like a frolicking rabbit.
"Alright, get some rest." Yun Yanqiu urged like a patriarch, "If you mess things up tomorrow, don't expect me to clean up your mess."
"Don't worry, bro. If we're caught, all three of us will be suspected. We'll share the good times and the bad!"
"..." Qi Rongting was good with words, making Yun Yanqiu wish she could stuff him back into the fan.
After a while of commotion, Qi Rongting finally calmed down. Unlike Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Huai'ren, he fell into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes. Only Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Huai'ren remained by the campfire to keep watch, vigilant against any potential dangers.
Ye Yingying shook her feathers, nestled against Yun Yanqiu's shoulder, and quietly watched the flickering flames. The day's events had left her somewhat dazed. The young Yun Yanqiu was completely different from the taciturn man she knew. He couldn't hide his emotions when he was nervous, and he was full of surprise when he encountered new things. This version of him was vibrant and lively, like an unpolished gem.
However, like Yun Yanqiu, whom Ye Yingying knew well, he now also lends a helping hand to those in distress and steps forward in times of crisis. Thinking of this, Ye Yingying suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. She had thought his past might have some flaws, but now it seemed that he was even purer and more beautiful than she had imagined.
She quietly looked up, gazing at Yun Yanqiu's profile illuminated by the firelight. The soft glow of the flames warmed his sharp features, and the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his current pleasure.
Seemingly sensing the gaze of the little bird on her shoulder, Yun Yanqiu suddenly turned her head, smiled slightly at Ye Yingying, and then patted her little head comfortingly: "Go to sleep if you're sleepy, you've worked hard too."
His deep voice was like a soothing balm, and Ye Yingying gradually felt drowsy, slowly drifting off to sleep by the warm campfire.
Zhao Huai-ren observed their interaction and found it very strange no matter how he looked at it: "Does it understand what you're saying?"
“Of course.” Yun Yanqiu carefully pulled Ye Yingying into his palm and then tucked her into his collar. “We’re together every day, so she understands everything I say.”
"Are blue-and-white finch really that intelligent? I always thought those birds were silly..."
"Don't let Yingying hear you say that, or she'll peck you."
"Oh, it even has a name?" Zhao Huai-ren said, intrigued. "This Yingying, it sounds like she's female?"
"..." Yun Yanqiu was speechless, and looked up at Zhao Huai Ren with a look of disdain.
"Oh, I won't ask anymore, I won't ask anymore." Zhao Huai-ren waved his hand and quickly shut up.
After a moment of silence, Yun Yanqiu suddenly spoke up: "The news you mentioned earlier about the death of the youngest son of the Yun family's winery, has it spread widely?"
"That... for it to reach the ears of someone as unrelated as me, it must have spread quite far..." Zhao Huai-ren said cautiously. He glanced at Yun Yanqiu and, seeing that the other's expression was calm, asked, "That youngest son, is that you?"
Yun Yanqiu gazed at the campfire, nodded silently, his expression somewhat solemn.
"Hey, that's probably just rumors they spread. You're perfectly fine, aren't you?" Zhao Huai-ren comforted him. "Brother, don't overthink it. Maybe you've been cultivating outside all these years and haven't gone back, so people around you think you're dead."
After saying that, seeing that Yun Yanqiu had no reaction, he continued, "Seeking immortality and asking questions means you're in a different world from ordinary people. It's normal that they don't understand. Even if outsiders don't know, your family will! Why don't you take this opportunity to go back and see them, and explain things to them?"
Yun Yanqiu blinked, her expression softening slightly: "I'm going back to visit my family."
"That's great!" Zhao Huai-ren raised his eyebrows happily. "It'll allow you to have a proper get-together with your family and let everyone around you know you're still alive, so they won't gossip about you."
"That's right." Yun Yanqiu finally smiled and looked up at Zhao Huai Ren. "After you started cultivating immortality, did you go back to see your family?"
Zhao Huai-ren was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then said frankly, "I am an orphan, I have no relatives."
This answer caught Yun Yanqiu off guard. He opened his mouth in astonishment, but his throat seemed to be blocked, and he couldn't speak for a long time.
"I grew up eating food from many different families since I can remember, sometimes not even knowing where my next meal would come from. Later, I met a cultivator who told me that cultivating immortality could allow one to abstain from grains and not starve to death, which made me incredibly envious." Zhao Huai-ren rested his chin on his hand, looking at the campfire as he recalled, "Then I followed him and learned the art of guiding qi into the body for a while, and to my surprise, I actually succeeded! So I followed him all over the country and became a wandering cultivator."
Then he changed the subject: "But that guy tricked me! He only said that fasting meant not having to eat, but he didn't say that you had to reach the Core Formation stage to completely fast. For a while, I had to eat tree bark every day in the mountains!"
This encounter was both tragic and amusing. Yun Yanqiu blinked and asked softly, "Then why did you come to Beizhou alone?"
Zhao Huai-ren suddenly froze, his expression darkening in the firelight: "Because he was later killed by a demonic cultivator. I saw with my own eyes the demonic cultivator cut open his stomach and take his inner core..."
The campfire crackled, but couldn't dispel the suddenly heavy atmosphere. Yun Yanqiu's fingertips trembled slightly, and he didn't know what to say... If Ye Yingying were awake and able to speak, she would definitely tease Yun Yanqiu: You're really good at chatting.
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