“Tomorrow, I’ll switch to a different knife. No cooking today.”
Lin Wushui looked at him and said slowly.
“…………”
For the first time in his life, Zhang Xianyu felt what it meant to have a heart flutter like a startled deer.
His heart bounced uncontrollably, drumming in his chest, yet he still forced himself to withdraw his hand and replied lightly with a simple “Hmm.”
“Shall we talk?”
Lin Wushui felt a headache coming just thinking about the fantasies he had been spinning.
This was what they called one misstep leading to a thousand lies to cover up.
He didn’t want to keep deceiving; telling too many lies always led to being exposed eventually.
“All right.”
Zhang Xianyu took a deep breath, struggling to calm his racing heart.
The two of them went out onto the balcony, where a single warm yellow light softly glowed.
The dim environment put them both at ease.
Sitting opposite each other, neither spoke first, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
Lin Wushui lowered his eyes, thinking for a long time before finally breaking the silence.
“I don’t like cross-dressing………..”
Zhang Xianyu hesitated to speak.
Afraid that Zhang Xianyu might say something like, “Don’t be embarrassed, I understand,” he quickly raised his hand to cut him off and continued, “I originally disguised myself as Wu Shui because it’s easier for girls to get close to you.”
“?”
Zhang Xianyu was surprised.
“Get close to me?”
“Mm.”
Lin Wushui raised his deep black eyes to look at him.
“Do you remember the first time we met?”
Zhang Xianyu thought for a moment and nodded.
At that time, he had just arrived in Jiangcheng and was staying temporarily at a hotel.
It happened to be when the Five Spirits were causing trouble—he had seen the two of them once back then.
He hadn’t expected Lin Wushui to remember him from that brief encounter.
“I felt like I’d seen you before. There was some inexplicable attraction toward you,” Lin Wushui said, the words carrying a hint of ambiguity.
His eyes flickered slightly as he continued, “I wanted to understand why, so I disguised myself as Wu Shui to get close to you.”
But cross-dressing was inconvenient.
After Zhang Xianyu started boarding at school, Lin Wushui gave up the Wu Shui identity to keep watching him and instead introduced himself as his “older brother.”
“So that’s how it was………..”
Zhang Xianyu recalled the flood of persuasion he’d faced when he first came in.
His ears gradually flushed red.
Fiddling with his fingers absentmindedly, he asked softly, “Did you find out the reason?”
“Yes.”
That inexplicable fondness—probably love at first sight.
Lin Wushui’s eyes narrowed slightly.
His chest pulsed, wanting to tell him the answer.
Zhang Xianyu lowered his head, missing the glimmer in his eyes.
“Oh.”
Zhang Xianyu responded dryly.
After a moment, he couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”
Lin Wushui smiled meaningfully.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Are you mad at me? For lying to you so long?”
Zhang Xianyu shook his head.
Although Lin Wushui had lied, he meant no harm.
He’d been very caring all this time, so there was no need to ruin their friendship over past misunderstandings.
Lin Wushui’s lips, once a straight line, curved slightly.
He didn’t want to continue the topic.
As long as Zhang Xianyu wasn’t mad at him, that was enough.
“I’ll order some takeout.”
So they went to order food.
After eating, Lin Wushui cleaned up the trash and put it by the door for easy disposal the next day.
Then, as usual, they each returned to their own tasks.
That brief incident hadn’t affected their relationship.
Lin Wushui quietly breathed a sigh of relief in the study, unblocking the poor Xie Dingxin from the blacklist.
[Find me a job, something for two people. Not too troublesome.]
Now that he clearly understood his feelings, Lin Wushui was planning to warm the frog slowly.
Zhang Xianyu was slow to warm up to people, so rushing wouldn’t work; he had to proceed step by step.
This was all hard-earned experience from when he’d disguised himself as Wu Shui.
Zhang Xianyu was soft-hearted and usually responded better to gentle approaches than force.
But he had his own principles; pushing too hard on what he didn’t want was useless.
Lin Wushui planned to start by creating more opportunities for them to spend time together.
[??? What are you up to again?]
Xie Dingxin was a bit flustered.
Suddenly being let off the hook by Lin Wushui, who was usually so unforgiving, was unusual.
He was wary, sensing the calm before a storm.
[You’re not planning to use this mission to kill me and cover your tracks, are you?]
Lin Wushui’s face darkened.
[I’m going with Zhang Xianyu. Five minutes—if I can’t find a suitable mission, you’d better prepare to die for your sins :] ]
[Waaah qaq]
Xie Dingxin was clearly in the wrong and didn’t dare tease him further.
He quickly reviewed recent tasks and sent one over.
[There’s an abandoned village in Xiangjiang City planned to be developed into a tourist spot. But the first team that went in for inspection came out unconscious. The Tourism Bureau issued the mission directly. Besides the reward, there are Contribution Points.]
Lin Wushui clicked to check; it was a three-star mission, not too difficult for him.
And an abandoned village…probably only the two of them there.
The photos showed a decent environment, perfect for a trip to build rapport.
[Let’s take this one.]
Xie Dingxin arranged the contacts, while Lin Wushui got a glass of water and casually walked into Zhang Xianyu’s study.
“Xie Dingxin asked for my help. There’s trouble in an abandoned village in Xiangjiang City. The pay’s good, plus points. I need a partner. Want to come?”
“Xiangjiang City?”
Zhang Xianyu asked.
“How long will it take?”
“We should be back before school starts. It’s just a three-star mission.”
“I’ll go.”
There was nothing else to do at home before school; might as well earn some extra money.
Lin Wushui nodded slightly, a small smile on his lips.
“Then pack your bags. We leave early tomorrow.”
The next morning, the two dragged their suitcases onto the high-speed train bound for Xiangjiang City.
Not knowing how long the trip would last, Zhang Xianyu brought almost everything he owned, packing his suitcase to the brim.
In contrast, Lin Wushui barely packed anything—just a few changes of clothes.
His luggage was light, as if he were going on a vacation.
On the train, Zhang Xianyu studied the information about the abandoned village intently.
The village was called Bing Si Village, once a small fishing village where generations of villagers lived by fishing.
As Xiangjiang City developed economically, and with no improvement in transportation to Bing Si Village, many villagers left to work elsewhere.
After earning money, they moved their families to the city.
The village gradually became desolate over decades, with only a few elderly who were reluctant to leave and a few lonely houses standing by the sea.
The houses in the village were still reasonably well-preserved but had long been uninhabited.
Wild plants grew everywhere, and many houses were covered with creeping ivy.
The aerial photos, taken in gloomy weather, made the whole place look dark and somber.
“What can you see from this?”
Lin Wushui wasn’t happy seeing Zhang Xianyu glued to the documents right after boarding the train.
He snatched the printed papers from his hand, pulled out his phone, and invited, “Wanna play some games?”
On his phone screen was the King of Glory game.
Before leaving, he had specifically asked Lin Ming about the younger generation’s hobbies.
Lin Ming said it was mostly games, travel, and food.
There was no good food on the train, and the sightseeing would start once they arrived in Xiangjiang City.
So he downloaded the game, planning to invite Zhang Xianyu to play together.
However, Zhang Xianyu flatly refused, “I don’t know how.”
Lin Wushui: For the first time ever, Lin Wushui lost without expression, deeply feeling the unreliability of his assistant.
Pretending to play the game, he sent a message to Xie Dingxin: [What do male college students like nowadays?]
Xie Dingxin quickly replied, [Games, food, and being a couch potato.]
[…]
[He doesn’t play games.]
Xie Dingxin rolled his eyes.
[Are you asking about ordinary male college students or our little fish?]
Lin Wushui was silent for a long time.
[Zhang Xianyu.]
Xie Dingxin sent a sarcastic jpg emoji.
[I guess his favorite thing is making money. He even said he wanted to earn money to fix the Daoist Temple.]
Lin Wushui glanced at Zhang Xianyu thoughtfully.
[Why the sudden question? Planning to corrupt our cute little fish with money?]
[…]
Calmly blocking Xie Dingxin again, Lin Wushui cleared his throat and said casually, “Have you applied to register the Daoist Temple in Tuanjie Village with the Daoist Association?”
He recalled Zhang Xianyu mentioning that the temple hadn’t been registered yet.
“I did.”
Zhang Xianyu looked a bit worried.
“The documents have been submitted, but it’s still under review.”
Lin Wushui knew a bit about the process, having spent some time with Xie Dingxin at Taiqing Temple during childhood.
“The review usually takes about three months. As long as the documents are fine, it’ll pass.”
Zhang Xianyu relaxed a little.
He wanted to fix up the temple someday and find a disciple for their Grandmaster to pass the legacy on properly and manage the temple well.
Lin Wushui put all his skills for business negotiation to use, pulling Zhang Xianyu into conversation by various means.
Talking like this made the five-hour journey fly by.
After they got off the train, they contacted the Tourism Bureau’s reception staff.
The person who came to pick them up was a Mediterranean-looking man in his forties.
He was startled to see how young Lin Wushui and Zhang Xianyu were.
Hastily stepping forward, he shook their hands, exchanged business cards, and then smiled, “I didn’t expect you two Masters to be so young.”
Lin Wushui was in charge of the trip, with Zhang Xianyu assisting, so he said nothing.
Lin Wushui always maintained a calm and aloof demeanor with outsiders.
He nodded slightly, voice steady, “No need for pleasantries. Let’s first check on the unconscious patients.”
The Mediterranean man then drove them to the hospital.
There were eight unconscious patients in total: two staff members from the Tourism Bureau, plus the inspection team and exploration engineers.
They were assigned to four rooms, all lying clearly unconscious.
After inspecting each room with the guide, Lin Wushui and Zhang Xianyu exchanged a glance—it was a loss of soul.
“When and where did they fall unconscious?”
Zhang Xianyu asked.
“Three days ago, inside the abandoned village.”
The guide shuddered slightly as he recalled.
“The eight of them went in for preliminary inspection. Because the road into the village was difficult, to ensure safety, they planned to enter at 10 a.m. and exit by 3 p.m. The driver waited outside. But by 5 p.m., they still hadn’t come out. Worried, the driver called the police. When the police entered, they found them all unconscious inside the village.”
The guide looked troubled.
“The hospital can’t find the cause. Their physical functions are normal, but they just won’t wake up.”