"I"m sorry. I can"t tell you more about him. I already said that I will only answer one question." The old man said regretfully. Not only that, he didn"t want to divulge that man"s ident.i.ty to these youngsters because he didn"t know their ident.i.ties. He just randomly met him and he already gave them an important piece of news just like that.
Xiao Fang felt a bit disappointed and only muttered, "Oh..."
The others nodded in understanding. They knew if they pushed him to answer their questions, then the old man would certainly feel suspicious. They didn"t have much to talk about after that and decided to go back to their inn. They promised the old man that they would meet up with him the next day after finis.h.i.+ng the task at hand.
The old man nodded and said that he was going to wait for them at the teahouse all day. They could come in whenever they wanted.
The ones who did the job would be the men while the women stayed at the inn and acted like usual. Yao Ling insisted that they should take Xiu because her heart still felt that something would happen, so they should be more cautious. The men had no choice but agreed with her, but in exchange two of Xiao Fang"s guards should stay and guard the two women. They would not take no for an answer.
The women wanted to reject but Yao Ying said, "If no one guards both of you, we can"t do the mission peacefully. We will be worried about you." The women had no choice but to agree with the arrangement.
Lin Jian felt fortunate that Yao Ling didn"t give Yao Ying his night medicine for the past two days due to their tiring journey and probably Yao Ling was also too busy to remember. When he counted the days, tonight was supposed to be the day the medicine was taking the full effect. The old matriarch indeed cleverly calculated the time of that medicine would take effect after they arrived at Lin Zhou and they would certainly stay in a comfortable inn.
He also realized that if yesterday Yao Ling gave Yao Ying that medicine, Xiao Fang would probably know what kind of medicine it was. If she alerted Yao Ling about what it was for, then he was pretty sure that Yao Ling would stop giving Yao Ying that medicine. Now... now... where was the fun if that indeed happened? Lin Jian thought to himself while grinning mischievously inwardly.
When tonight"s mission was finished, he would remind Yao Ling about that so-called medicine. Even though she forgot for two days, the effect was still there. That was the power of this medicine. If the target didn"t drink it every day, it didn"t matter. As long as the dosage added up, it would make him become a beast!
It would be fun if Yao Ying was indeed under the medicine"s spells. He would listen to their exchange in front of their room... That would be fun! He would be able to tease Yao Ying for the rest of his life with this knowledge. He just couldn"t wait when that time arrived!
They prepared themselves in their own respective room and the men changed into black masked outfits so they could blend into the night and minimize their presence while doing their job. They also wanted to cover up their own ident.i.ties.
"Ying... you should be careful. Remember that my gut feeling is always right. You must always open your eyes and ears carefully," Yao Ling said in a worried voice. Then she pulled out something from her sleeve and tied it to Yao Ying"s left hand.
It was a simple red string that looked quite st.u.r.dy. "What is this?" Yao Ying asked in confusion.
"Before going on this journey, I went to our family"s temple and asked for a safety bracelet. I"m afraid that something dangerous would happen so I prepared this beforehand. No matter what... don"t ever remove it okay?" Yao Ling begged.
Yao Ying was touched by her thoughtfulness and nodded happily. "En..." He answered softly while looking at the red string bracelet carefully, admiring it.
Yao Ling blushed. "Why are you looking such a simple bracelet happily?" Even though Yao Ying didn"t show it to his face, but she was able to see the twinkle in his eyes and his curling up lips.
"This is a gift from my beloved wife! Of course, I"m so happy. Even though it looks so plain, but the meaning is very deep. How could I not cherish it?" Yao Ying said in a loving tone while patting Yao Ling"s head dotingly.
When Yao Ling was going to reply to him, their door was knocked from the outside. They heard Lin Jian"s voice floating into their room, "Yao Ying... are you ready? It"s time for us to go..."
"Wait a minute... I"m going to be there soon," Yao Ying said in a loud voice.
Lin Jian knew that the lovers wanted to say something to each other, so he let them be. "I will wait for you downstairs." After saying that, Lin Jian left them alone and waited patiently downstairs. The inn was already deserted, everyone went back to their room to rest -- even the innkeeper. That"s why Lin Jian wasn"t worried that someone was going to see him in the darkness.
Yao Ying turned to Yao Ling and kissed her lips softly. They devoured each other"s mouth thoroughly just to quench their thirst. They kissed like it was the last time they were going to kiss each other. Full of pa.s.sion. Full of heat. But they knew that sooner or later they had to let go.
Yao Ling felt afraid when Yao Ying stopped kissing her because it meant that it was time for them to go. She wanted so badly to stop him, but she knew that she could never stop a man from doing his job and ambition. She almost gripped his sleeve to hold him back, but she stopped herself just in time. She gripped her own sleeve and gave him her best smile when Yao Ying turned to look at her for the last time.
Yao Ling waved her hand and said goodbye to Yao Ying. "Be careful!"
"En... I will see you soon. Don"t worry about me!" Yao Ying nodded and in a flash, he was gone.
Yao Ling didn"t know how long she stayed on the same spot, just looking at the direction where Yao Ying left. She sighed and turned back. Closing her eyes, she calmed herself down. She believed in her husband. She knew that she couldn"t let herself become this weak. What happened each time Yao Ying had to go for a mission?
She was supposed to support him! She wasn"t going to become a wife that held her own husband back. She believed in him!
While Yao Ling was contemplating what she should do to calm herself down, the men departed from the inn in a flash. With Xiu and the rest of the guards, there were ten people in their team. The guards" qing gong was quite good and they were able to catch up with the trio.
They already asked one of the guards to check out the location beforehand and it wasn"t that far from their inn. They only needed around one incense stick of time if they used their qing gong to go there.
They arrived in front of an old abandoned house. The condition was quite bad. Although the house was quite big, it was sealed by the government. It seemed like it used to be an official"s house... They could see dust everywhere and there was no trace that people were living there.
The trio furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. Was Hei Yue really stay here? He was supposed to be the leader of the other organization, right? Did he choose this place as to not make it obvious that he followed the old man?
Yao Ying tried to remember the other organization"s name... Lin Jian had told him before, but he forgot. He whispered to Lin Jian, "What"s Hei Yue"s organization name?"
"A Thousand Swords," Lin Jian answered.
"Oh yes... Do they really stay here?" Yao Ying asked.
"The guard already checked it out so it should be true..." Lin Jian was in disbelief himself. He had heard that the leader of this organization loved to live in a luxurious place, so what"s with the sudden change of preferences?
Yao Ying said, "Let"s check it out then..."
Yao Ying and Lin Jian closed their eyes, trying to feel how many people inside the abandoned house from their qi. They could feel that it was indeed there were five people inside the abandoned house and they were scattered all over the house.
However, they found out that it was a bit different from the old man said.
They indeed could feel that four of them had a powerful qi and their level was a tad bit higher than them. However, one of them... the man"s qi was very low. The man"s position was in the middle of the house, so they made a guess that he was the leader and the other was protecting that man.
They felt something wasn"t right. Was it really the leader of A Thousand Swords, Hei Yue who was supposed to have a high martial arts skills? Or this man was actually a decoy?
Yao Ying and Lin Jian looked at each other, suddenly feeling unsure.