Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 561 The Finger of Spiritual Rhinoceros

The woman in red, who was coming downstairs, raised her hand and replied, "I know."

Shi Chun chuckled to himself, realizing that this woman was anything but modest.

But then again, I didn't see anything decent about this woman. What decent woman would sit behind the counter of a bookstore reeking of alcohol? No wonder her uncle wanted her to come and read more books to cultivate her character.

He then went down to the third floor. Just as the woman in red left, Dong Liangyu, who was holding the lantern, climbed up from downstairs. He was already coughing repeatedly after climbing just one flight of stairs.

Seeing that Shi Chun had returned to her original appearance, Dong Liangyu was somewhat surprised, but more worried. She stepped forward and asked, "Does she know who you are?"

Shi Chun nodded slightly. "She said she's not interested in getting involved in these things, so she shouldn't cause any trouble for the time being. By the way, did the eldest young lady and the third young lady discuss anything at the dinner table?"

Dong Liangyu was stunned, puzzled, wondering what the other person meant by asking this.

Shi Chun explained, "What she just said was just a casual remark; she didn't explain it clearly and asked me to ask you."

Dong Liangyu asked, puzzled, "Why are you talking about this?"

Shi Chun: "I also want to know what she meant by saying half of it and not finishing it. Second Miss, is there anything wrong with saying this?"

Dong Liangyu thought for a moment, then slowly revealed, "My eldest sister has proposed to become the disciple of Situ Gu, the number one weapon refiner in the cultivation world..."

Before the other person could finish speaking, Shi Chun exclaimed "Ah!" in pure surprise, her eyes wide with confusion.

Dong Liangyu continued, "Third Sister expressed her desire to become Li Hongjiu's apprentice."

Upon hearing this, Shi Chun reacted with utter astonishment, his jaw dropping. "Who?"

Dong Liangyu added: "Li Hongjiu, a disciple of the Yanbao Sect."

"..." Shi Chun was taken aback, his face gradually showing suspicion, and then asked, "What do you mean? Why do the eldest young lady and the third young lady want to become their disciples?"

Dong Liangyu: "It's their own choice."

Shi Chun was still puzzled, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why choose the weapon-refining sect out of two women? Is it related to Ruojun?"

Dong Liangyu: "No, Sister Jun also felt that it was inappropriate for the two women to join the weapon-refining sect, and she advised them against it. It's not unrelated, but it's also somewhat related. When Sister Jun first came to the academy, she probably saw that our family wasn't well-off, so she said she would contact her cousin and use his connections to try and get us some famous teachers, and let us decide which teacher we wanted to study under."

I know why my eldest sister and third sister chose two different weapon-refining sects. It's probably related to the Extreme Fire Sect's recent intervention. If the fourth-ranked sect in the weapon-refining world can exert such power here, one can only imagine the influence of sects ranked higher. They must want to protect the family business that has been passed down for generations.

Shi Chun was still puzzled. "If that's the case, I can understand why the eldest young lady chose Situ Gu, but it's obviously unreasonable for the third young lady to choose that bastard Li Hongjiu. Wouldn't it be better to choose the number one ranked Lian Tian Sect? Choosing the number three ranked sect would be one thing, but to choose a disciple as her master? Just choose any elder as her master, and her reputation in the outside world would be greater than Li Hongjiu's."

“Third Sister has her own ideas…” Dong Liangyu immediately recounted the reasons Dong Liangying had given at the dinner table, and then offered her own understanding, “Third Sister is not yet twenty years old. Although she knows her aptitude for cultivation is poor, she is unwilling to accept it. She still has the will and energy to try. Eldest Sister, on the other hand, has already accepted her fate. She is only looking for a powerful backer by finding the strongest sect and the most powerful master craftsman in the weapon-refining world. As for whether she can achieve anything significant, she probably doesn’t even have any hope of it. Who would dare to mess with the family of Situ Gu’s disciple?”

At this point, a hint of sadness appeared on her face.

Hearing this, Shi Chun's vigilance eased slightly. So that's how it is. So this was already going on before he arrived.

But his wariness hadn't completely dissipated. Why did that woman ask him to help her with this?
He happens to know Situ Gu and Li Hongjiu. Isn't that a bit too much of a coincidence? It's hard for him not to suspect that the woman knows his true identity.

Thinking of this, he probed further, "So, which master did you and the Fourth Young Master choose?"

If the two men chose a master who was not compatible with her, and the woman in red only associated herself with the two compatible men, then she definitely knew her true identity.

Dong Liangyu shook his head slightly, "I didn't choose. You know my body, I can be arranged however I want. It seems that the fourth brother has taken a fancy to the Sword Saint Fuque."

Shi Chun was taken aback. "That scholar in the blue robe downstairs?"

"Mm." Dong Liangyu nodded slightly.

Shi Chun was speechless. It seemed that this wasn't a deliberate arrangement by the woman in red, but rather a coincidence.

However, it is an undeniable fact that he happens to have a relationship with Situ Gu and Li Hongjiu, and given that he was assigned to handle this matter, he cannot completely dispel his suspicions.

After exchanging pleasantries with Dong Liangyu and confirming that the woman in red was a relative of the Empress's confidante, and after asking about the Bai family's rice shop, he sent her away.

He wasn't like Wu Jinliang, who would fall for any beauty. He had no interest in Dong Liangyu, or rather, he had no interest in the three sisters.

He has someone he likes, and the women he can flirt with are either useful or, like the woman in red, obviously not a respectable woman. He doesn't want to get involved with decent women like the three sisters, no matter how beautiful they are. If it weren't for the circumstances, he wouldn't have given the eldest young lady that hairpin.

After thinking it over for a while on the third floor, I finally decided not to care whether the other party knew my true identity.

At this point, it's no longer important whether the other party knows or not; being used by them may not be a bad thing.

As long as there is an exchange of benefits, what does it matter if the other party takes advantage of you? How can you make a friend if you can't tolerate any wrongdoing and are unwilling to suffer losses?
After making his decision, he immediately took out the mother-child talisman and was about to send a message to the woman in red.

Just as she was about to cast the spell, she lowered her hand, put away the mother-child talisman, and quietly went downstairs... Inside the room, the woman in red was lying on her side on the couch, propping her head up with one hand and fiddling with the other half of the mother-child talisman with great interest. The playful smile on her lips was hard to shake off. It had been so many years since anyone had directly shoved contact information into her hand.

She was waiting for Shi Chun's reply; otherwise, she wouldn't be in this room now, she would have already left.

Suddenly, the playful smile on her lips vanished, and she, lying sprawled out, looked up at the door.

With a click, the bolt popped open by itself, and then the door was gently pushed open. Shi Chun poked his head in, glanced at her, and then quickly slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

He was very familiar with the library, and with the added advantage of his right eye, finding the woman in red's room was a piece of cake.

A hint of hostility flashed in the woman's eyes as she raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

Shi Chun quickly surveyed the room and muttered, "Dong Wen is really unfair. When I was working odd jobs at the library, he only let me set up two tables in the lobby to make do."

He walked over to the couch and sat down beside the woman in red, who was lying across from him.

The woman in red finally spoke, "You've read quite a few books in the library, haven't you? Where's your basic morality? Do you think you can just barge into a woman's room like that?"

Shi Chun almost burst out laughing. He didn't even look at his own character, and he actually pretended to be serious. So he also became serious and said in a serious tone, "Don't overthink it. I'm here to talk to you about serious matters. I already know about what you mentioned from the Second Miss, and I'm here to give you an answer."

The woman in red waved the mother-and-child talisman in her hand and asked, "You went to all this trouble to come here yourself, is this a fake?"

Shi Chun slapped his forehead, looking like he'd forgotten, but said something else entirely, "I'm afraid it'll be hard to explain clearly, so it's easier to say it face to face. Let me put it this way, I've thought about it, and for you, I'm willing to give it a try. After all, I like you."

The woman in red really wanted to roll her eyes at him, but she was also full of amusement. She had been bored for a long time, and this was quite interesting. She immediately said, "Since you're so keen, then go ahead and give it a try. I'll be waiting for your good news."

Shi Chun countered, "Then we need to reach an agreement, right? What will happen after it's done?"

The woman in red smiled faintly and said, "You've even started negotiating with me. Since I dared to make promises to those sisters beforehand, do you think it would be difficult for me to do this? Do you think it would be difficult for my cousin to say hello to Luo Yan, the leader of the Lian Tian Sect, or to Qu Wuming, the leader of the Yan Bao Sect?"

Saying that is a bit like bullying someone, making them seem ignorant.

However, Shi Chun was indeed ignorant in this regard. He thought that as a confidant of the Demon Queen, the leaders of those major sects should give him some face. It was just a matter of being a disciple, and if they wanted to do something, it would really be a matter of a word.

Even though he was being treated like a fool, Shi Chun still had something to say: "I can't just work for nothing, can I?"

The woman in red said disdainfully, "Afraid of wasting your time? Is this what you call liking me? That's so hypocritical."

Shi Chun widened his eyes and said, "At least I need to know your attitude, at least I need to know if you're being insincere, right?"

The woman in red said indifferently, "We've only just met, so it's not love at first sight. You could call it insincere, but I do have some good feelings for you. Otherwise, this would have been a simple matter of me making a call, and I wouldn't have bothered with you. Let me put it this way: I don't associate with useless people. Only if you succeed in this matter will you have the right to talk about love with me."

To put it bluntly, she doesn't even want to make a promise. She just wants people to work for free and then not have to pretend after the job is done. If they dare to make a fuss, she can shut them down with a snap of her fingers.

Hearing the other person say that they had a good impression of him, Shi Chun subconsciously puffed out his chest, believing the other person's words to some extent. He was quite confident in his own looks.

Of course, I only believed it three-tenths of the time; I didn't believe it seven-tenths of the time.

It doesn't matter, though. It's a bit of a pity that the other party is so unwilling to budge. If the other party dares to make a promise, he'll put his hand on the other party's thigh, which is only a hand's width away from his own, and he'll have his own way of getting some sweet talk first.

He first laid out the conditions, and if they weren't accepted, that would be a secondary option. He immediately changed the subject and said, "Okay, it's settled then, but I need you to do me a small favor first."

The woman in red calmly said, "Tell me about it first."

Shi Chun: "I heard that Bai Qiru, the owner of Bai's Rice Shop, is still being held by the city guards. Could you ask your cousin to put in a good word for her release?"

Woman in red: "What does this have to do with her?"

Shi Chun calmly replied, "Li Hongjiu likes her."

He didn't care whether the other party knew his true identity or not. If you're going to play like this, I'm not going to be polite either. So what if I made up a story about Huang Yingying being cuckolded? That bitch Li Hongjiu doesn't care about her reputation.

"..." The woman in red was stunned, stared at him blankly for a while, and slowly relented, saying, "Alright, but I have a request."

Shi Chun immediately turned around, half-lying on the couch, his face close to hers, looking all ears, so close they could feel each other's breath, and said with a smile, "Go on."

The woman in red was a little unaccustomed to speaking like that, so she pointed at his forehead again and pushed him away a bit. "I promised the siblings that I wouldn't break up their family, and that the master I found for them would have to come to their door to teach them."

Shi Chun also reached out and tapped her nose. "You're so naughty, always causing me trouble. But what can I do? I like you. Fine, I agree."

The woman in red, her gaze suddenly sharp, fixed her eyes on his departing fingers. She pursed her lips repeatedly, but ultimately remained silent.

(End of this chapter)