Chapter 70: Chapter 70: To Eliminate Future Troubles
Steward Liu sighed and then comforted, "Chu Fukke truly has a compassionate nature, and if Shi Fukui’s spirit is in heaven, he will surely bless you."
"Come, quickly put on the clothes, it’s cold on the lake at night, do not catch a cold." After speaking, Steward Liu took off the fur coat he was wearing and draped it over Yang Xiao’s shoulders.
Following suit, another elderly man who seemed to hold a position of status in the household also took off his overcoat and draped it over Kuang Hongyi’s shoulders.
Besides that, a servant-like person was holding a large tray, upon which was another fur coat, and naturally, this one ended up in Su Tingting’s hands.
Seeing this scene, Yang Xiao understood; Steward Liu had not anticipated the return of three people at all, the Feng Family had prepared only one coat against the cold for Shi Dali, which was the one on the servant’s tray. The coats that Steward Liu and the other elderly man had taken off were purely makeshift solutions.
After exchanging a few courtesies, Su Tingting excused herself with a complaint of dizziness, and the three of them went back to their rooms to rest. Soon after sitting down, a servant came to deliver medicine, bringing some simple food and hot tea as well.
"Mr. Chu, let me change your dressing." Su Tingting opened the hastily bandaged wound on Yang Xiao’s left hand, disinfected it with alcohol, applied some medicinal herbs, and then re-bandaged it with clean cloth brought by the servant.
Kuang Hongyi patiently waited until Su Tingting had finished bandaging Yang Xiao, then deliberately coughed a few times and shook his injured hand, but Su Tingting paid him no attention, caught up in telling Yang Xiao about the things she had experienced on the boat, becoming more and more agitated as she spoke.
Eventually, Yang Xiao noticed and stared in feigned surprise at Kuang Hongyi’s hand, raising his voice, "Kuang, how did you get such a serious injury on your hand?"
"Ahem, it’s nothing, a minor... just a minor injury," Kuang Hongyi said nonchalantly, shaking his hand dismissively.
"Mr. Chu, listen to me first, where did I leave off, right, that paper man... that paper man was the most peculiar, the sword on his back..."
Kuang Hongyi: "...Alright, alright, I should not have been in this room, I should be at the bottom of the lake."
In the end, it was Yang Xiao who initiated, and Su Tingting finally paid attention to Kuang Hongyi’s injured hand. She babbled on to Yang Xiao while distractedly tending to Kuang Hongyi’s wound.
The final application of medicine and bandaging were obviously not done with much care; Yang Xiao’s left hand wound had been tied into a pretty bow, while when Kuang Hongyi lifted his own left hand, it looked simply like a rice dumpling.
After talking at length, Su Tingting finally calmed down and began to worry about their current situation, "Although we have dealt with Shi Dali, the Feng Family and Shi Dali were in cahoots, could they... could they seek revenge on us?"
Kuang Hongyi snorted, "No, Shi Dali was merely a pawn in their hands. In other words, whether Shi Dali survived or we did is all the same to the Feng Family. You need to ponder what it is that the Feng Family truly desires."
"They... they only want the Young Lady to survive!" Su Tingting caught on at once.
"Right, so tonight, their objective is achieved. Shi Dali died in place of the Young Lady, preserving the last of the Feng Family bloodline. Why would he seek revenge against us?" Kuang Hongyi, looking very composed, took a sip of hot tea. Having dealt with Shi Dali, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Kuang Hongyi was in a good mood and was happy to give Su Tingting a few pointers, "We’ve mostly finished investigating the matter, and first thing tomorrow morning, we’re going to rush to the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda, take Ms. Chun’s belongings to her daughter, and I think our task will be over, and we can go home."
"But before that, we absolutely mustn’t reveal a shred of information to the Feng Family, including Ms. Chun’s real identity. They are better off confused anyway, since none of them are any good."
"Both the Feng Family and the White Family Troupe are no good; it’s all karma," Kuang Hongyi added after a moment’s thought.
"Kuang is right, before this we must not let the Feng Family catch on to any flaws. To put it bluntly, the reason we’re still alive is that we are still of use to Master Feng; he intends to use us against the so-called ’Blessing Guest.’ Once they are certain the crisis is over, they will definitely do everything they can to eliminate the three of us, to kill us and silence us forever," Yang Xiao knew all too well the Feng Family’s tactics; they were the sort who devoured people without spitting out the bones.
Since they had pretty much picked up all the clues they could, there was no point in talking any further, so the trio took the time to rest. That night, Yang Xiao slept particularly well.
Early the next morning, the three of them used the excuse of looking for clues to leave the mansion, took a coach out of the city, and headed directly for the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda.
But this time was different from before; it wasn’t just their single coach. The Feng Family had arranged for another coach to follow them, ostensibly because there were many vagrants nearby, to protect their safety.
On the other coach were the burly martial masters from the mansion. Including the coachman, there were four people, and as the coach moved forward, there was a clinking sound from inside the carriage, clearly indicating they carried weapons.
During a break for a brief relief, Yang Xiao leisurely approached the second coach and struck up a conversation with the lead martial master, who bent over with a smile plastered across his face, exceedingly gracious in his manner, repeatedly addressing him as "Blessing Guest" and showing immense respect.
The more he acted like this, the more uneasy Yang Xiao felt, and couldn’t help but to test him with his words, "By the way, Zhao, look at us Blessing Guests who came to deal with this matter, it’s been quite the hardship. There were seven of us at the beginning, and now there are only three left. This can’t just be let go."
The martial master who claimed to be surnamed Zhao accompanied his words with a grinning face, "That’s because you, Blessing Guest, are blessed with great fortune. As far as I know, my master is very satisfied. Once this matter is finished, he plans to thank you properly with a banquet at the most famous Kui Xing Lou in the city."
"Ha, you’re going to dismiss us with just a meal?" Yang Xiao looked dissatisfied, "Why do we risk our necks in this line of work? It’s for silver, isn’t it? Let me tell you, the initial price we agreed on doesn’t cut it anymore. Now, at the very least, it has to be doubled, otherwise we might as well turn around and head back home right now!"
"Agreed! Double it is, then. We’ll follow whatever you say, as long as you three Blessing Guests get the job done," Master Zhao still wore that same smiling face, his attitude becoming even more respectful.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help but let slip a smug grin as if his plan had succeeded, and he jovially returned to his seat. But once back in the coach, his expression turned ice-cold in an instant; it was very clear now that Master Feng was planning on making his move against them.
The silver promised to the Blessing Guests was no small sum; how could a martial master dare to casually agree to such a large expense on behalf of his master? The only reason Yang Xiao could think of was this: no matter the amount, they hadn’t planned on paying them anyway. As soon as the matter was resolved on the front end, those martial masters would slaughter the three of them on the back end. With them dead, naturally, no silver would need to be paid.
Kuang Hongyi and Su Tingting naturally understood the seriousness of the situation; they expected the Feng Family to make a move against them, but they hadn’t anticipated it would be so sudden.
Less than another half incense stick’s time passed before the coach slowly came to a halt, followed promptly by the coachman’s call, "We have arrived, Blessing Guests!"
