Yang Ge fixed his gaze and saw Fang Ke, in disguise, peering and sneaking looks into the inn from the doorstep.
He then released Zhao Miao and, leaving behind the words "Go play," he turned and strode towards the outside...
"What’s with the shifty eyes, watching what?"
Yang Ge walked out of the inn and looked at Fang Ke, asking.
Fang Ke chuckled softly, "Isn’t it because I’m afraid of bumping into the princess?"
Yang Ge: "Why are you afraid of her, for goodness’ sake? She doesn’t bite..."
Fang Ke didn’t dare to continue on this topic, so he quickly changed the subject, "My lord, the Jianghu Hero Rankings have been updated again. This is the latest list; our department just received it, and I immediately brought it to you."
He took out a piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to Yang Ge.
Yang Ge took the paper and scanned it, then scoffed, "Petty!"
Fang Ke, puzzled, looked at him and asked softly, "What does your lordship mean by that?"
Yang Ge stuffed the paper back into his chest: "Tell the brothers to pay more attention to the waterways and traffic routes in and out of Lu Ting. The Taoist master from the multi-storied pavilions is likely coming to Lai Lu Ting to compete with me."
Fang Ke, both shocked and confused, "How do you know this, my lord?"
Yang Ge gestured towards the paper in Fang Ke’s chest: "Haven’t you ever heard of ’face’ and ’inner meaning’?"
Fang Ke looked down at the paper in his chest: "This is giving you ’face’?"
Yang Ge: "This is their ’face’!"
Fang Ke furrowed his brow: "But to give you ’inner meaning,’ there should be a trade of people, right?"
Yang Ge, turning back towards the inn, said, "That’s why this ’face’ is clearly insufficient..."
After thinking it over, Fang Ke suddenly slapped his forehead, turned, and jogged off in the direction of the Upper Right Department.
No sooner had Fang Ke left, a salted fish burst into the inn’s front hall, hopping and shouting: "Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper, you’ve really made a big show of yourself... Big news, everyone, big news!"
The salted fish inside the front hall, in groups of threes and twos, stopped their banter and gathered around, in unison asking: "What big news? What big show has the Shopkeeper made?"
Even Zhao Miao, who was busy drowning his sorrows in food, wiped away his tears and hopped to join the crowd.
"The Jianghu Heroes List has been updated again; the Four Greats become the Five Peerless, and with the title of ’Lord Zhongshen,’ our Shopkeeper has surpassed Western Demon Fei Yun, Northern Wanderer, Southern Saint Peacock, Eastern Venerated Dharma, as the number one in the world!"
The salted fish in the hall were taken aback and turned in unison to look at Yang Ge leaning against the counter.
Yang Ge, with his arms folded, leaning on the counter, yawning with one hand and rubbing sleep from the corner of his eye with the other, said wearily, "And you believe this kind of flattery? Where are your brains? Did you forget to bring them when you left home?"
The salted fish looked at him in disbelief, utterly unable to connect this greasy, salted fish of a king to the peerless hero who, dressed in white as snow, commanded awe and authority, towering over all from Ling Xiao’s summit.
Yet, this man was the number one in the world!
Could the multi-storied pavilions be joking with a reputation that has lasted for hundreds of years?
Oh, how infuriating!
Infuriating enough to die!
"Round of drinks; Shopkeeper, you must treat us today!"
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"Right, you absolutely must!"
Yang Ge, adroitly stowing away the only bag of sunflower seeds from the counter into a drawer, puffed out his chest and declared loudly, "As if you little shrimps and crabs can rob your lord! The one who can rob me hasn’t been born yet!"
"Shopkeeper, you really deserve to die!"
"Right, Shopkeeper, you truly deserve death!"
"Hope you hit a snag in every horse race!"
"Hope you get unsolicited advice in every game of chess..."
Yang Ge waved his hand grandly: "Bounce back, all of it bounces back!"