Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Stalker
"Why does he only appear when I go in and out of the market?" Shen Yuan looked at Shi Jin and thought sourly. ’...should I just kill him when I get the chance?’
But it was just that.
Some intrusive dark thoughts.
Shen Yuan did not have any intentions of acting on them, at least not for now.
He stepped out of the house calmly, without showing any signs of fear or panic. Then he turned his back to Shi Jin and closed the door behind, locking it with some old mechanism. ’That should give him the illusion that I trust him.’
The moment Shen Yuan turned around, he was startled to see Shi Jin standing only an inch away from his face.
His eyes were inspecting Shen Yuan like a law enforcement officer looking for a tell in a criminal.
Shen Yuan could recognize that look even in his sleep. He had seen that look more than once.
"What are you doing?" With a look of disgust on his face, Shen Yuan stepped around the boy. "I hope you don’t swing the other way or the deal’s off."
Shi Jin did not mind Shen Yuan’s antics; instead, they made the devious smile on his face curl up even further.
This time Shen Yuan almost started to sweat. ’Wait... for real? No way, right?’
"Do you recall the last time we talked?" Shi Jin followed him out of the courtyard. His presence alone made several heads turn.
But after a while those gazes disappeared.
Peng Ho’s people coming to trouble Shen Yuan was nothing new.
Just an everyday occurrence.
But they failed to notice the changes in Shen Yuan. The coldness in his eyes. The change in his posture. The way he walked more confidently and sharply.
"I hope you are not slacking around because if you do not make it to the Qi Condensation Realm within two and half months, there will be no tomorrow for you." Shi Jin sneaked an arm around Shen Yuan’s neck without him noticing and chuckled darkly.
It was less of a threat and more of a reality check from him. But Shen Yuan did not need Shi Jin to remind him of the reality.
Even though he would love to do nothing more than snap the sly bastard’s neck right there and then, Shen Yuan let him live. "I don’t see you rushing to fulfill your end of the bargain."
Once they were out of the sight of the public, Shen Yuan swatted Shi Jin’s hand away from his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.
"It’s good that you know what’s at stake. Because you should know that I have nothing left to lose."
The smile from Shi Jin’s face faded a little, but it did not disappear.
"I want a way to get stronger now. I don’t trust you to hand it over once I have done what you want from me."
Hearing Shen Yuan’s condition, Shi Jin narrowed his eyes. ’Would you look at that? The cub is finally showing his fangs. I knew he had the balls when he would always stand up against bullying even after getting beaten down. Looks like the servant life has pushed him over the edge.’
Finally, he was noticing it. The changes in Shen Yuan.
"You are asking for the world without giving anything in return." Shi Jin narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Shen Yuan half expected the man to back off.
In fact, he was being so demanding for two reasons. One, he wanted Shi Jin to back off from him.
The other was that if the boy still insisted on him completing the task, he might gain some free knowledge from him while steering him off in a wrong direction.
"Very well. I will give you what you want." After a long pause, Shi Jin nodded at Shen Yuan before stepping close enough to lean into his ear and whisper. "I will give you a hint of how to get stronger until you are ready to break through the next realm, but you will only get the final clue to the breakthrough once you give me what I want."
Shen Yuan was surprised by the sudden closeness, but he did not back off. As that would be showing a weakness and he was not giving Shi Jin the satisfaction.
Shi Jin chuckled, seeing the freezing look in his eyes. "But don’t you dare betray my confidence, my friend. You might not know, but i will make your life so much worse that what young master Peng is doing to you would seem like child’s play."
There was no dramatic form of power from Shi Jin. He did not have to.
After all, his words combined with the sick, deranged look in his eyes were enough to chill someone’s marrow.
"Stress out your body. Break it down and heal it up." Shi Jin started to reveal the ’secret’ that most servants did not even know about. But what he did not know was that Shen Yuan already knew about the body tempering realm. "Once your body is tired out, use a medicinal bath to heal it and nourish it. It will help you break through the limits of your body."
Shen Yuan nodded along with a serious look on his face while hiding the spark in his eyes. ’Medicinal bath. That’s a great way to get stronger. Now I know what I want from the reward of the second Mission.’
"Now that I have told you everything..." At some point Shi Jin had pulled out a small knife that was barely big enough to fit in his hands and slowly traced Shen Yuan’s arms, drawing blood almost instantly. "It’s time you do your job."
Shen Yuan ’flinched’ upon feeling the pain, which seemed to please Shi Jin, as if he were asking, where did your previous bravado go?
"I talked to a few people I know in the servant quarters, but no one knows anything. I will expand my search further." Shen Yuan was pulling shit out of his ass. He had talked to no one. He just wanted to make Shi Jin think he was in control. ’I will make sure you realize who is in charge one day.’
"You don’t think I can talk to people in the servant district?" Shi Jin let out a scowl before rolling his eyes. "I want you to break into their place and search for clues if they have obtained something good in the past few days."
Shen Yuan’s eyes widened. Breaking into the house of others was a punishable offense. "Before you reject me. Don’t forget what you have already taken from me and what will happen if you don’t follow through."
Before Shen Yuan could say anything else, he turned around and left.
"What an idiot." Once he knew Shi Jin was gone, Shen Yuan scoffed in annoyance. "Does he think he is being sly with his manipulations?"
His eyes peered into the dense forest where Shi Jin had disappeared. ’Before he becomes more of a problem, I have to take care of him.’
Then he turned around and walked towards the market area.
