“Come, come, Master, try the tofu I made, and this plate of stir-fried cabbage—it’s delicious too!”
Night had already fallen, and Zhao Yi’an, who had finished working for the horse gang, walked into the small courtyard carrying two dishes of food.
He warmly poured tea for Liu Yao, who was sitting by the stone table, and kept mumbling.
Liu Yao, on the other hand, propped up her small face, her gaze unfocused as she traced the rim of the cup.
Across from her, Zhao Yi’an was completely unaware of the girl’s distraction.
“Master!”
“Hey hey hey! What’s wrong?”
Startled back to her senses by Zhao Yi’an’s shout, Liu Yao shook her head and looked at her apprentice with a dazed expression.
“What’s wrong? I should be asking you that.” After setting down the dishes, Zhao Yi’an wiped his hands on the apron tied around his waist, then took the kettle and poured himself a cup of tea, frowning in confusion.
“Oh, this… it’s nothing…” Liu Yao said vaguely.
She pursed her lips, looked away, and tried to act indifferent. But her wandering eyes betrayed her inner turmoil.
‘Awkward… so awkward!’
‘Geez! Why is this so awkward?!’
The girl shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to smooth down the goosebumps rising on her skin. This sudden strange scene left Zhao Yi’an, who had just sat down, completely bewildered.
‘Why don’t I have any sense of boundaries?!’
‘Stop, stop! Stay calm… I can’t let my emotions get the better of me…’
‘Yi’an probably won’t care about such a small thing, definitely!’
Liu Yao glanced at Zhao Yi’an, who was watching her with great interest, and said in a reproachful tone:
“What? Haven’t you seen your master’s face, the envy of gods?”
To ease her own awkwardness, she chose the tactic of changing the subject.
“Hmm…” The girl’s words stunned Zhao Yi’an for a moment, then he picked up some food from the plate and chewed. “No, it’s just that you looked really funny just now, like you were guilty about something.”
“Like what… oh! Like a dog that’s caused trouble!”
The young man slapped his forehead and blurted out the analogy that came to mind.
“You’re the dog! Your whole family are dogs!” Liu Yao shot him a glaring look, then also picked up some food and started eating. “And you, falling flat on your face—how dare you talk about me?”
“So you saw that, huh?” Zhao Yi’an wasn’t bothered; he was already used to it. His tone was calm.
While munching on the snacks, Liu Yao observed his reaction.
‘Hmm… should be fine.’
‘Good thing this guy’s nerves are thick—I managed to change the subject and fool him easily…’
‘…Ah! This isn’t bad at all!’
As she thought, the girl’s eyes suddenly lit up, and her attention drifted away from Zhao Yi’an.
She kept picking up food.
Seeing this, Zhao Yi’an curved his lips and continued drinking his tea.
‘Heh, now Master won’t be so absent-minded, right?’
After spending this time together, Zhao Yi’an could roughly guess why the girl had reacted that way earlier. So he simply accepted the topic she had thrown out, helping his master’s little brain shift focus.
“But…” the young man murmured as he watched Liu Yao.
‘Why can’t she fix this boundary issue of hers?’
Zhao Yi’an shook his head and sighed inwardly, already starting to worry about the future.
“By the way…” He tapped the table to get the other person’s attention. “Master, why did you suddenly come to find me?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to continue investigating? Why did you come back?”
Hearing the question, Liu Yao paused in her eating.
After swallowing what was in her mouth, she coughed a few times with her fist over her mouth, and her voice stumbled as if she hadn’t thought of what to say.
“Ahem… how should I put it?”
“Let me ask you—I heard some people are coming to your town soon, right?”
The girl lowered her voice, her hand near her mouth.
“Hmm…”
Liu Yao suddenly brought this up, and Zhao Yi’an was a bit taken aback.
He tilted his head, thought for a moment, and replied:
“Yeah, there are. But how did you know, Master?”
“Don’t worry about that, just keep talking!”
“Oh.”
Seeing his master so insistent, and trusting her, Zhao Yi’an decided to tell her.
“Master, remember how I told you our gang leader recently took on a big job? It was actually recommended by an old acquaintance of his.”
Zhao Yi’an took a sip of tea and chose his words carefully.
“That old acquaintance is also a rich man. Since we had done a good job for him before, he recommended our horse gang to the government office there.”
“As it happens, a high-ranking official from that office needed to come to our small town for something, and at the same time, a batch of prisoners destined for exile was passing through here.”
“So they just hired us to escort them.”
“But unfortunately, we were told that the prison in Xiang’an Town was already full. Still, to build a relationship with the government office, we decided to take on this hot potato and keep those prisoners here for a few days.”
“That’s what Big Brother Ma told me.”
After saying this, Zhao Yi’an felt thirsty and drank more tea.
“I see…” Liu Yao muttered, rubbing her chin after hearing it all.
‘So what Yang Lou said might actually be somewhat true?’
Zhao Yi’an’s honest account indirectly confirmed Yang Lou’s words. At this point, Liu Yao began to believe half of what Yang Lou had said.
‘So among these prisoners, there really might be some innocent people caught up in this…’
‘Sigh…’ The girl sighed inwardly. ‘Exile… that’s really sad…’
“Master, why are you sad? They’re prisoners—exile is probably a light punishment, right?” The young man was puzzled.
Liu Yao let out a sarcastic laugh, unsure what to say to her foolishly adorable apprentice.
‘Better not tell this kid about it…’
“Enough, enough! Let’s talk about something else?” Liu Yao blinked playfully.
Seeing that the girl was deliberately changing the subject, Zhao Yi’an stopped pressing.
But what he said next made Liu Yao freeze, who was just getting into eating and drinking.
“Master, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you promise to teach me martial arts?”
Hearing this, the girl’s hand holding the chopsticks stiffened.
“Ahem… well, Yi’an…”
“It’s not that I don’t want to teach you. I actually wanted to teach you step by step, systematically, you know?”
“I don’t know.”
Facing his master’s obvious evasion, even the easygoing Zhao Yi’an began to get a little angry.
Stared down by her apprentice, Liu Yao’s eyes started to wander again, cold sweat dripping.
‘How could I have forgotten about this?!’
‘Wait! Liu Yao, think of an excuse quickly!’
“Ahem! I, your master—look! A flying sword!”
Distracted, Zhao Yi’an instinctively turned his head in the direction she pointed.
There was no flying sword, not even a bird.
When he turned back, the stone table across from him was empty. The stool was still swaying gently, and the chopsticks rested on the bowl.
Only the night wind blew in through the courtyard gate.
“…?”
The small courtyard, which had been lively moments before, was now left with only a bewildered Zhao Yi’an.
The night breeze ruffled his hair, leaving him alone in disarray.