Heaven's Silence

Chapter 67 – Honey

As the conversation continued, those around who had held prejudices against Wen Chaoshen quieted down, their gazes turning skeptical yet curious.

They all knew who had approached the Seven Kill Hall to cause trouble for Cheng Feng.

For most people in Kuhai County, this person was not to be offended.

Not only was his family wealthy and influential, but he also had an elder in Guanghan City working as a civil official, familiar with Ke Yun, the city commander. Even Liu Jinshi usually treated them with respect, not daring to flaunt his authority as a magistrate.

After hesitating for a moment, Seventh Master turned around, took a couple of steps, and spoke with his back to Wen Chaoshen:

"The person who hired the Seven Kill Hall is named Qiu Ziheng. His second uncle, Qiu Yuefang, is a civil official in Guanghan City, responsible for coordinating many affairs in the city. He has been in this position for over twenty years without any mistakes and has a good relationship with the city commander, Ke Yun. If you want to deal with Qiu Ziheng, I advise you to think twice. If something goes wrong, a magistrate from Kuhai County may not be willing to offend such a person for your sake. Be careful not to make enemies instead of friends."

He wasn't genuinely concerned about Wen Chaoshen but judged from his demeanor and speech that he might indeed have a way to help the Seven Kill Hall establish business relations with the new magistrate.

Such a person was indeed important to the Seven Kill Hall at present.

Therefore, he advised Wen Chaoshen to downplay the matter.

Wen Chaoshen listened, a slight smile on his lips, and cupped his hands toward Seventh Master, saying:

"I understand."

"Thank you, Seventh Master, for the information. Dealing with Qiu Ziheng won't take much of my time, at most three to five days. In the meantime... I hope you can show some leniency towards Brother Cheng Feng."

Seventh Master remained silent for a while, then finally waved his hand lightly.

"Bai Lang, see the guest out."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lang turned and said to Wen Chaoshen:

"Little brother, let's go—"

Wen Chaoshen smiled, not lingering in the Seven Kill Hall, and left the inner hall with Bai Lang. Once outside by a river, Bai Lang suddenly stopped Wen Chaoshen and returned the two strings of coins Wen Chaoshen had given him earlier.

Wen Chaoshen's eyes flickered:

"What does this mean, Brother Bai Lang?"

Bai Lang raised his hand, signaling him to stop:

"Don't."

"I dare not take your money, nor dare to call you brother, lest you cause big trouble in the future, and it burns me."

With that, he sneered at Wen Chaoshen and turned back.

Wen Chaoshen said nothing more, pocketed the money, and went to the place he had agreed to meet A Shui, but she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and called out a few times, but there was no response.

Feeling uneasy, Wen Chaoshen waited for half an hour, then picked up a piece of deadwood and wrote "Go Home" on the ground before leaving.

He knew A Shui must have encountered someone or something outside.

But since she left no message, he could only return first.

Even if A Shui was in big trouble, he couldn't help. If even A Shui couldn't handle it, he would be of no use.

Back at Lü Zhiming's courtyard, he continued chopping wood, though somewhat absent-minded.

After lunch, Wen Chaoshen washed the dishes and returned to Fan Youwei's yard next door, replacing the porridge in Lord Dog's bowl. After finishing these tasks, the courtyard door finally opened, and Wen Chaoshen looked up to see A Shui limping in.

"Where did you go this morning?"

A Shui glanced at him and said indifferently:

"Looking for a fight."

Wen Chaoshen was stunned, then quickly reacted:

"Was it people from Wangchuan?"

A Shui nodded.

"They lured me to a secluded place in the county city but chickened out and didn't make a move. I searched the area but found no one, so I came back."

Listening to A Shui's description, Wen Chaoshen frowned, feeling something was off.

"Lured you there, but no one showed up?"

A Shui pulled out a bun from somewhere, took a bite, and sat in the courtyard, saying to Wen Chaoshen:

"Next time you go to the Ren Family Bun Shop, remember to pay extra for a basket of tofu buns."

Wen Chaoshen, deep in thought, responded with a puzzled "Ah":

"Why?"

A Shui swallowed a bite of the bun and said:

"Because I didn't pay for the tofu buns earlier; I used your name."

Wen Chaoshen: "..."

He said speechlessly:

"You could have just walked a bit more; there’s food here too."

A Shui looked up at him, seriously saying:

"But the tofu buns are really delicious."

Wen Chaoshen placed a pot of boiled water from the morning on the table in front of A Shui. She frowned at the pot of cold water but quickly relaxed, saying to Wen Chaoshen:

"Wen Chaoshen, you seem to owe me two pots of wine."

Wen Chaoshen laughed at her words:

"I owe you two pots of wine again?"

A Shui took a bite of the bun and brought up the morning's events.

"You see, if you had taken me to Seventh Master today, he would have surely given me a horse and two pots of wine, at least as good as last time, or I wouldn't be satisfied."

"But you didn't take me, so now I haven't had horse meat or wine."

"I won't trouble you for the horse; selling you wouldn't cover it."

"But wine isn't expensive; make up for those two pots, and next time something happens, I'll have your back."

Wen Chaoshen felt a headache and didn't want to argue with this female bandit over wine. He fiddled with the two strings of coins Bai Lang had returned and asked A Shui:

"Still the peach blossom brew?"

A Shui thought for a moment, stood up, and stuffed the last half of the bun into her mouth, crumpling the oiled paper into a small ball.

"I'll go with you; I think I smelled other kinds of wine last time we passed by."

"I've had enough peach blossom brew; I want to try something different."

Wen Chaoshen said helplessly:

"You have a lot of fuss over a drink."

A Shui raised an eyebrow:

"You don't understand wine at all."

She said this as she followed Wen Chaoshen out of the courtyard. As she stepped on the half-buried bluestone slab, A Shui suddenly stopped, her eyes narrowing.

She lifted her right foot, removed her right shoe embroidered with patterns, looked at the mud and sand stuck to the sole, sniffed it, and her expression turned subtle.

Wen Chaoshen noticed the absence of footsteps behind him, turned to look at A Shui, and asked:

"What's wrong now?"

A Shui shook the shoe, slipped it back on, and hooked the back with her finger, putting it on properly.

"Nothing, just some sand."

She said this, walked past Wen Chaoshen, and out of the courtyard. As Wen Chaoshen followed her, he asked:

"Something's off with you. Did you discover something?"

After hesitating for a moment, A Shui said:

"This morning, wasn't I lured away?"

"At the time, I thought the people from Wangchuan wanted to lure me to a secluded place to ambush me, but later I didn't see anyone. Just now, when I stepped on the bluestone slab, I felt something off underfoot and found a lot of mud and sand stuck to my shoe sole."

"Outside, it's all dirt roads, with plenty of gravel and sand, so I didn't pay attention before."

Wen Chaoshen's eyes flickered, sensing danger:

A quick look at "pawread.com" will leave you more fulfilled.

"So, what's on your shoe sole?"

A Shui:

"Honey."

...