“How did you know I was sixteen?” Lian Li asked.
He remembered that he hadn’t mentioned it before.
Yun Huizhou glanced at him and said, “I can read bones.”
Before Lian Li could say anything else, Yun Huizhou spoke again, “Are you done eating? If you’re done, let’s keep moving.”
Yun Huizhou stood up and walked toward his beloved horse.
Because he was bringing Lian Li along, the beloved horse had to carry two people. Yun Huizhou didn’t dare push the horse as hard as he did when he was riding alone, so their speed was much slower.
Consequently, they arrived at Xianglai City several days later than he had originally estimated.
Xianglai City was not close to the place where Lian Li had first transmigrated; it took two days of travel with Yun Huizhou to reach it.
Being called a city, its scale was much larger and far more bustling than the small towns they had passed through before.
Xianglai City sat at the foot of the mountain belonging to a major martial arts sect, the Qinghong Sword Sect.
Originally, it was just a slightly larger town. However, ever since the successive Martial Arts Assemblies began being held here, the town gradually developed and eventually became a city.
The chaos of the Imperial Court had little impact on the order of towns and cities that relied on great sects for survival.
Thus, it appeared quite prosperous.
Lian Li looked around curiously at the sights within Xianglai City as they traveled.
Yun Huizhou led the horse in front, occasionally glancing back at Lian Li to ensure he hadn’t gotten lost.
Although Xianglai City could be considered a safe haven in this world under the management of the Qinghong Sword Sect, it was currently the period of the Martial Arts Assembly. Too many people had flocked here, and where there are crowds, trouble easily follows.
Furthermore, the Jianghu was never short of people with eccentric temperaments. If this sickly boy accidentally ran into someone like that, a casual bump from another person could shatter him like glass.
Lian Li, of course, had no idea that Yun Huizhou was worrying himself sick over him.
However, he knew that until he was settled, he had to cling tightly to Yun Huizhou’s support. Therefore, he followed closely by Yun Huizhou’s side, even reaching out to grab the hem of Yun Huizhou’s robe.
He was like a small child holding onto an adult’s clothes for fear of getting lost.
Yun Huizhou looked down at the hand clutching his clothes but did not brush it away.
The two arrived at the entrance of an inn. After handing the horse over to the attendant, they booked a superior room.
It wasn’t that Yun Huizhou was too stingy to book two rooms, but rather that Xianglai City was incredibly crowded lately. Since they had arrived late, this was the only inn with any vacancies, and it only had one room left.
After putting their belongings in the room, Yun Huizhou said to Lian Li, “Stay in the room for now. I’ll go down and order some food to be brought up.”
Lian Li rubbed his stomach and nodded.
He was penniless and knew no one besides Yun Huizhou. Currently, he was entirely dependent on Yun Huizhou for his livelihood, so naturally, he would do whatever Yun Huizhou said.
Yun Huizhou went downstairs. Just as he was about to find the attendant, he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out.
“Brother Yun!”
He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a swordsman dressed in a cyan robe walking toward him.
“Brother Zhao,” Yun Huizhou called back.
…
Lian Li was tidying the bed when the door was suddenly pushed open.
Yun Huizhou’s voice drifted in: “Lian Li, we’re going out to eat. A big spender is treating us.”
!!!
On the way here, Yun Huizhou hadn’t been stingy with lodging or food.
However, with an extra person and the resulting extra expenses, his funds were inevitably a bit tight. Having a feast of meat and fish was out of the question.
Now that a big spender was suddenly treating them, Lian Li instantly perked up.
He quickly stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked toward Yun Huizhou.
“Coming, coming!” He walked to Yun Huizhou’s side and looked up, his eyes full of anticipation. “Let’s go quickly, let’s not keep the ‘Gold Master’ waiting.”
“Let’s go.” Yun Huizhou didn’t waste words. He closed the guest room door and led Lian Li downstairs.
While heading down, Lian Li continued to ask, “Who’s treating? Is it a charity thing, or a friend? Or is someone repaying a debt?”
Yun Huizhou answered casually, “It’s a friend’s treat. Order whatever you want to eat later. That kid is rich, so order more. Order my portion as well.”
Lian Li asked again, “What do you mean by ‘order your portion as well’? Aren’t you going to order for yourself?”
Yun Huizhou turned to look at him and said, “I have a reputation to maintain.”
Lian Li dithered for a moment before realizing what Yun Huizhou meant.
Although he constantly called him “Great Hero,” calling Yun Huizhou a “Young Hero” was actually more appropriate.
However, since Yun Huizhou had saved Lian Li’s life, it was reasonable for him to call him “Great Hero.”
As a young swordsman, he naturally needed to save face in front of his friends. He couldn’t exactly order food like a starving ghost.
Therefore, after much thought, Yun Huizhou decided to leave the task of ordering to Lian Li.
Lian Li reached out and patted Yun Huizhou’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”
Seeing his serious and confident expression, Yun Huizhou smiled happily.
The two arrived at the largest and most famous restaurant in Xianglai City, went upstairs, and entered a private room.
Inside the room, a cyan-robed swordsman was sitting upright at the table. Seeing them enter, he smiled and poured two cups of fine tea into the other two empty cups, then gestured for them to take a seat.
Yun Huizhou sat directly opposite the cyan-robed swordsman, while Lian Li sat to the side.
The cyan-robed swordsman had a face like carved jade and eyes like bright stars. He looked at Lian Li and said warmly, “This must be Little Brother Lian. I am Zhao Honglan, a disciple of the Qinghong Sword Sect.”
Lian Li wasn’t very good at handling such social situations. After thinking for a moment, he chose to give a shy smile and said, “Just call me Lian Li.”
Sensing his discomfort, Zhao Honglan didn’t continue the conversation and instead called the waiter to order.
However, after the waiter arrived, Lian Li seemed a bit distracted and didn’t speak for a long time. This made Yun Huizhou a bit anxious.
He gave Lian Li a light kick under the table.
Lian Li snapped back to his senses and immediately remembered the task Yun Huizhou had given him. He began to carefully ask the waiter about the restaurant’s dishes.
Lian Li was thin, weak, and looked sickly. Zhao Honglan, who was the Senior Brother of his generation in the Qinghong Sword Sect, saw that Lian Li was about the same age as some of his junior brothers and sisters, so he treated him with a bit more indulgence.
He let Lian Li handle the ordering while he turned to chat with Yun Huizhou.
They talked about matters of martial arts and affairs of the Jianghu.
Lian Li couldn’t quite understand the martial arts talk, and he only listened to the Jianghu affairs as if they were gossip.
Moreover, he had something else on his mind.
Zhao Honglan.
This name sounded a bit familiar.
He wasn’t originally from this world.
In the modern world, he had spent half of his time in the hospital. He didn’t know many people, and none of them were named Zhao Honglan—he didn’t even know anyone with the surname Zhao.
He carefully combed through the original host’s memories again and found that the original host didn’t know anyone named Zhao Honglan either.
Lian Li was very puzzled. Where did this sense of familiarity come from?
