Chapter 192: Friends
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei was still thinking about what this piece of information could be used for when Xu Yanwei spoke again. "Don't only be thinking about your own master. You should take care of my little brother from time to time as well."
Xu Yanwei had long lost interest in Shangguan Fei. The only man that truly mattered to her now was her brother.
"I'm alright, I don't need looking after," interrupted Xu Xiaoyi. He was peach red.
"He has also fallen under the spell of a man," said Xu Yanwei disapprovingly. When she spoke of the Ninth Young Master's fetish earlier, she did not seem to care as much as she did now.
Xu Xiaoyi was of small built and did have some qualities of a male prostitute. As Gu Shenwei had personally seen many of such men in South City, he did not really mind if the boy had indeed become one. "Have you presented him to the Ninth Young Master yet?" he asked Xu Yanwei.
"What do you treat us as?" She replied vehemently, smacking the railing hard as she spoke.
Before Gu Shenwei could reply, Xu Xiaoyi hurriedly explained, "She doesn't mean that I've intimate relations with another man. Instead, I've found a friend."
As he spoke of making a new friend, he straightened his back and spoke in a very formal tone. This made Gu Shenwei believe that Xu Xiaoyi was indeed not intimate with this 'new friend' of his. "Isn't that good, with a friend to support you, you don't need my backing anymore."
Now, both sister and brother wanted to speak. Xu Yanwei was faster than her brother. "But his friend is weird. Just the night before, he came running here in the middle of the night, saying that he had to kill Xiaoyi. He looked as if he was about to do it, but he ended up just talking about it and ran off by himself in the end. From what I saw, he's not normal, and Xiaoyi would be better off staying away from him."
Gu Shenwei's first thought was, "It cannot be so coincidental" , but in the next moment, he remembered that Xu Xiaoyi had been summoned to have his fortune told when they went to Joy Pavilion together several months ago. He knew then that this could not be a coincidence. "What did the boy look like?" he asked.
"Um, he looked like—" Xu Xiaoyi was interrupted by his sister before he could find proper adjectives to describe his friend. "He looked like a girl, and the first time I saw him, I thought that Xiaoyi had finally became a man."
"His name is Chu Nanping, and he's from Joy Pavilion," added Gu Shenwei.
"Eeh, how did you know? Could he have informed others when he told me to keep it a secret?" exclaimed Xu Xiaoyi in a tone of surprise.
Xu Yanwei started laughing so hard that she was doubling over. "So, it's a boy from Hope Alley. No wonder. Treat him well, my brother. Sigh, at the rate this is going, we prostitutes are going to lose our jobs."
Of all three present, only Gu Shenwei did not find it funny. The siblings were taken aback by his stern expression. "That boy is no ordinary person," he said.
"Oh yes, his kung fu is very good. He's a particular way... of speaking as well. He's different from anyone I've ever met," replied Xu Xiaoyi happily, not knowing that he was in danger.
"He's Immortal Peng's servant."
Xu Xiaoyi became blank for a while. He had been to the third storey of Joy Pavilion, but he had never seen the faces of Immortal Peng and his servant before, as they were behind the screen. He had thought that his friend was a son of a smith from Hope Alley all along.
"He wasn't joking about killing you either."
Xu Xiaoyi laughed. "You must be joking..." But after realising that Brother Huan never joked, he continued, "Are you for real?"
"He wants to kill you to complete his mastery of a certain kung fu technique."
"Kill me to master his technique? I'm no stronger than a rat, what technique does he hope to master by killing me?"
"It's only natural that his learning method is not normal, as he's a disciple of an 'immortal'."
The Xu siblings believed him now as they realised what he said was entirely possible, their mouths agape from their shock. Xu Yanwei could not think of any solution, and let off a sound of indignation before turning to her room. Soon, she came running back out of it and pointed at the killer as she spoke, "The two of us have done so much for you. You have to protect us."
Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, "I'm a killer, not a bodyguard."
Xu Xiaoyi was already scared speechless. His sister quickly changed tack and started giggling demurely. "Mr. Huan, there's negligible difference between a killer and a bodyguard. Don't they both use machetes? Even though Xiaoyi can be hard to control, he's still at least a little useful. Isn't it better to have him continue bringing you information?"
"I said that I'm a killer, but I didn't say I wouldn't protect him."
Xu Yanwei reverted back to her original self. She was frowning and stamping her feet in protest as she replied, "Making a fool of us."
"If I kill Chu Nanping, in turn, he cannot kill Xiaoyi."
Such was his plan, and it was simple and direct. Even though Chu Nanping was a child, Gu Shenwei knew that he would become a thorn in his side sooner or later. It was best to get rid of him at an early stage.
"It doesn't have to result in you killing him," rebutted Xu Xiaoyi bravely.
"It's either him or you."
Xu Xiaoyi cast his head down dejectedly. He had never got to make friends with anyone, and even Brother Huan was just a better master to him; Chu Nanping was different. He could still remember how bashful Chu Nanping had been the first time he tried to make conversation. However, when the boy spoke, he was blunt, and it made him seem as if he lacked social interaction.
After their first encounter, Chu Nanping came frequently to look for him to play together. Xu Xiaoyi was the elder by a few years, but as their height was the same, and they both looked immature, they seemed to be of the same age to bystanders.
Xu Xiaoyi knew the South City like the back of his hand, and was the chief instigator for their adventures. As Chu Nanping was not wise in the ways of the city, everything was new to him. He never rejected any of Xu Xiaoyi's ideas, which included stealing from the tavern, fighting with unruly children and eavesdropping on the sounds of pleasure from the roof of the brothel.
The past two months spent with Chu Nanping had been the best time of Xu Xiaoyi's life.
While he was still basking in his wonderful memories, Gu Shenwei was already thinking of how he would go about killing Chu Nanping. "Don't accept any customer these two days, and stay indoors as well," he ordered the siblings.
"Don't accept any business? I've just managed to hook a rich regular with much effort, and he's coming back tonight."
"Let your brother die then."
She stamped her feet indignantly again, and agreed after pondering for a while. "Alright, I shall listen to you. Sigh, he would have brought me a few hundred taels of silver. I'm sure now he'll be spending it on some other woman."
As she returned to her room, she realized she was at a loss. She did not know what to do for the next two days. Her routine would be disrupted if she was not going to receive any customer.
Toward evening, several dishes were delivered to Xu Yanwei's brothel, as the Xu siblings had planned to receive a guest tonight and ordered a meal from chefs in Pleasure Alley. Xu Xiaoyi did not reject the food. Instead, he ate them together with his Brother Huan.
Night time was the peak period for brothels in Pleasure Alley. Upon hearing someone knocking on the door, Gu Shenwei immediately hid beside the door, saber in hand. Xu Xiaoyi opened the door slightly and repeatedly apologised to the customer outside. The customer was extremely unhappy at being turned away. "Is she looking down on me? What sort of illness does she have that she can't even meet me? I want to see for myself. I think it's more likely that she's serving some other rich customer."
"No, no, you should know, Sir, it's the usual sickness. I don't wish for you to waste your silver as well, Sir."
It took much effort to convince the customer to leave. Xu Xiaoyi let out a large sigh of relief.
"So, the regular your sister mentioned just now is Guan Houlin?" Gu Shenwei asked as he returned to the table.
Xu Xiaoyi rubbed his ear, trying to re-collect his memories. His sister received a regular once every few days, and they came and went quickly. He could never remember all of them.
"That's him indeed." Xu Yanwei had re-appeared above the stairs and seemed to have made up her mind not to walk down to her brother and Gu Shenwei. She was chewing on melon seeds and had placed their husks carefully on the railing in a row. "All slaves covet the women their masters have slept with before. Especially the slaves with a little money."
"When he comes back again—"
"We've offended him. Now he may or may not be coming back to me again."
"He will. When he comes back, ask him who... the Ninth Young Master favors now."
"Ha, ha, so is the 'person he favors' a new term for a male prostitute? Fine, I'll ask him for you."
"Don't let him know why you're asking."
"Tsk, do you believe that I have the ability to make him tell me all his secrets and not remember afterwards?"
Gu Shenwei did not answer. He only wanted results from her, and was not concerned what sort of method she used to get the information he wanted.
As it got later, Xu Yanwei picked up the seed husks and wrapped them in her handkerchief. She muttered to herself as she returned to her room, "How can I fall asleep so early? I have two men with me, but one is useless while I can't use the other. Sigh, what a night..."
Xu Xiaoyi kept himself pre-occupied by tidying up, never stopping once to rest. Gu Shenwei knew that he was afraid and said to him, "Soon, it'll be over. He said that he would kill you within three days, and the latest this would drag on would be till tomorrow."
"Can I try to convince him to stop learning such an unhealthy technique? Who knows whether he would change his mind. He listened to me all this while."
"He could, or maybe he could kill you too. If you should try to reason with him, there's no way I can guarantee your safety."
Xu Xiaoyi sighed as he thought, "There's indeed something wrong with everyone in Hope Alley. The first time I went there, I was worried that anyone there would take a fancy to me. Who knows, someone really did. However, he only wants to kill me, and it's really weird that he has to make friends with me before killing me."
The streets were starting to become less crowded as it reached midnight. Xu Xiaoyi dozed off a number of times as he sat on the stool. Gu Shenwei remained still as he hid in a dark spot at the corner of the walls.
Suddenly, they heard Xu Yanwei screaming.
As Xu Xiaoyi lifted his head, he noticed that Yang Huan was gone from his spot. He forgot about his fear and shouted at the top of his voice, "Run, Litte Chu! There's a killer!"
Gu Shenwei had leapt up to the second storey and dashed into Xu Yanwei's room immediately after he heard her scream.
He saw a black figure standing beside her bed, saber in hand.
Before her scream had stopped, and immediately after Xu Xiaoyi started shouting, Gu Shenwei's sword had already pierced the neck of the assailant.
When the body of the assailant fell to the side of the bed, Xu Yanwei finally controlled herself from screaming. She trembled as she asked, "Didn't he come for Xiaoyi? Why was his target me instead?"
"It's not Chu Nanping."
The assailant was obviously an adult, and not a boy about to enter his teens.
As Gu Shenwei lit the oil lamp for a better look, he noticed Xu Yanwei was nude. "Why are you not dressed?"
She pulled up her sheets to cover herself up, replying, "Of course I'm not dressed, I'm sleeping."
Gu Shenwei brought the lamp closer to the corpse. It was nobody he knew, and seemed to be an ordinary macheteman for hire.
He dragged the body out of her room and tossed it near the entrance of the brothel. He then used his saber to hack at the wound, to disguise the fact that it was made by a sword. He then extinguished the flame of the lamp and returned to wait at the corner of the wall.
"It's not him?" asked a pale Xu Xiaoyi.
"No."
"Hey, hey, i just... I couldn't control myself."
"It's alright. I could've killed him even with your warning."
Gu Shenwei was even more confident in Death Scripture after his adventure in Joy Pavilion. To him, Chu Nanping was just a child and could not even be considered as a kung fu master.
After taking a while to dress, Xu Yanwei also came down the stairs. "What's going on now, who's this man, and why does he want to kill me?"
No one answered her. Gu Shenwei could roughly understand what had just happened but could not come up with a concrete explanation.
Someone was knocking on the door again. It could not be a customer or another assassin. Xu Xiaoyi grew pale again as he remembered that Chu Nanping frequently came looking for him at this hour.
Gu Shenwei rushed to open the door, and it turned out to be Maid Lotus. Xu Xiaoyi could calm down again upon seeing that it was not Chu Nanping. He did not know how much more fright he could take in one night.
"Someone came to kill you," Maid Lotus observed. She had glanced upstairs upon entering the brothel. She was a killer with sharp instincts, and could sense a dead body when she was near one. "It's rumored that you've stolen Immortal Peng's treasure, and now everybody is coming for their share."