Simply Trading

Of course, he had his suspicions. But he wasn"t the sort who would speak up without good cause. So he simply adjusted his clothes and gave a signal to her to be ready, as he went up to answer the door.

The moment that he opened the same, there as a flash of a figure, clad entirely in dark clothes like Xu Yanzhi, who pushed her way into the room in front of him. He didn"t even have the chance to make a sound, before she was already behind him, and pushing the door closed once again.

"Elder Ling?"

The one who had just entered the room peeled herself away from Qin Feng"s side the moment that she had ensured that the door was secure. And slowly peeled away the strip of gauze that had been covering the lower half of her face.

Which was really worthless as a mask, in Qin Feng"s opinion. How many people had her sort of physique? And how many would be familiar with the Snow Swallow Palace"s Lightness-of-Body movement technique? Wasn"t she simply telling everyone that she was there for a visit? And just after Xu Yanzhi had showed up at that?

What exactly was she up to?

But the Elder"s first words, which so happened to be directed at him, made everything clearer:

"Why are you asking about Xuan Mei? Who are you to her?"

Qin Feng was more than a little irritated at her questioning. And the fact that she didn"t even bother to do the polite thing, and get Xu Yanzhi to introduce her first. That was the sort of courtesy that one expected from someone of a higher standing, wasn"t it? Why was she behaving as if she was some sort of ruffian?

Xu Yanzhi, on the other hand, understood the moment that she caught the expression that flashed across Qin Feng"s face, and gave out a giggle. "Brother Qin Feng, may I have the honor of presenting my Elder Ling Liyin? She is from the Snow Swallow Palace, like I am. Only I don"t belong to any Hall within the same. She happens to be Junior Sister Xuan Mei"s personal teacher."

Qin Feng"s raising of his hands seemed forced, and his bow of greeting was no more than a nod. Which was enough to convey his mood. "A pleasure," he muttered simply, then put his hands down. And made no indication that he was going to reply to her questions at all.

Which was enough to make the older woman"s eyebrows knit together in anger. But Xu Yanzhi stepped between the two of them, before she could start shouting at him, like he thought she would. That would have been enough of an excuse for him to raise h.e.l.l, and throw both the women out of his room.

"I think that Elder Ling has a very good reason for asking those questions, Brother Qin Feng. You see, Xuan Mei is not only her disciple, she is also a relative of hers. Hence the urgency in her questioning. I trust you will forgive her for her impolite method of entry earlier," the younger of the two said in an even voice.

For a moment, Qin Feng was tempted to throw both of them out all the same. So what if Xuan Mei was a relative? That girl had caused him enough problems when he was back in the Heaven Sword School! And the only reason he was asking about her was so that he could set up his revenge on Xu Yanzhi!

Then he paused, and reconsidered. Wouldn"t it be easier for that, now that Elder Ling was playing a hand? All he had to do was to bring up the arrangement that had been arranged between him and Xuan Mei, back at the Heaven Sword School, and ...

"In that case, all is forgiven. Xuan Mei was once engaged to be my wife, so I should courteous to her relatives," he answered then, with a distinctly more respectful bow.

"Xuan Mei was betrothed to you?!"

"Oh? I see that her father had not mentioned that, when she arrived at Snow Swallow Palace? Indeed, Elder Xuan had been the one to broker the marriage between us, since he said he was impressed with what I had done. But she was the one who broke it off, without a word of explanation, and ran off to Snow Swallow Palace instead.

"Hence I was asking her Senior Sister Xu here, if she had any word of Xuan Mei."

The older woman scowled then, and lowered her eyes away from Qin Feng, as though she was remembering something. Which gave Xu Yanzhi the opportunity to ask more of the situation:

"Was it one of those bitter partings then? Did she throw back your pledge at you, as she left you standing in a glade or something like that? From what I know of her, she isn"t the sort that would humiliate you, so it was probably done quietly, wasn"t it? Am I right? Tell me I am right!"

"Yanzhi!"

Qin Feng laughed to see how Xu Yanzhi"s questions had fl.u.s.tered even the Elder. And shook his head at the younger woman. "No, no. None of any of that. She pa.s.sed the message to a mutual friend, who told me. And there were never any pledge items between us. Unless you count the simple training sword that her father pa.s.sed to me.

"But I think that was in line with the Heaven Sword School"s rules, and not a personal gift. It was just an ordinary training sword."
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"Have you inspected it carefully? To make sure that there are no secret messages?"

The man laughed again, and wagged a finger at Xu Yanzhi. Who he thought had clearly been reading too many of those romance novels that were said to be extremely popular in those martial arts Schools and Sects that were predominantly female. If he was any good at writing, he would have made a fortune selling his stories to them!

"You are thinking too much. Does it look like I am in a deep depression, because she broke my heart? Is that what you are thinking?"

Xu Yanzhi sniffed back. "If that is not the case, why are you asking about her?"

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