Yun Huizhou nodded, holding the booklet up between the two of them, and said, “We are going to Linjiu City now.”
“Linjiu City?” Lian Li asked, puzzled. He remembered that Young Master Wang was from Linjiu City. Was Yun Huizhou so unable to let go of that ridiculous story that he wanted to go back and beat the man up again?
That seemed unlikely; Yun Huizhou wasn’t that kind of person.
Thus, he asked cautiously, “Why the sudden desire to go there?”
He was afraid that Yun Huizhou wasn’t going there to find trouble for Young Master Wang, but rather making a sudden decision under the influence of the plot. After all, his previous plan to go catch horses was specifically to lead Yun Huizhou far away.
Now that Yun Huizhou had suddenly changed their destination, it was impossible for Lian Li not to worry.
“Ultimately, this whole mess was caused by the Beauty Ranking, which has drawn too much attention to you.” Yun Huizhou rolled up the Beauty Ranking booklet and tapped it against his palm, saying, “The person who compiles the Beauty Ranking is in Linjiu City, and the person who writes the descriptions is also in Linjiu City.”
“So you’re…” Lian Li looked at Yun Huizhou, seemingly guessing what the man intended to do.
“We’re going to find them and have them raise your rank,” Yun Huizhou stated. “They wrote such nonsense, yet they still ranked you last. We of Drunken Dream Island won’t suffer such a slight.”
Lian Li couldn’t quite follow his logic. He had thought Yun Huizhou wanted to find someone to remove him from the Beauty Ranking entirely.
He hadn’t expected that what Yun Huizhou actually cared about was the fact that his rank wasn’t high enough.
“Aren’t we going to have my name removed?” Lian Li asked.
Yun Huizhou replied, “Why remove it? It wasn’t easy to get on a ranking. Are we supposed to request a removal just because of a dumbass like Young Master Wang? This isn’t your problem; it’s that dumbass’s problem. You don’t need to do that.”
“Besides, even if you request removal this time, as your reputation grows in the future, you’ll end up back on the list sooner or later.”
“Oh, I see.” Hearing him say this, Lian Li felt quite happy in his heart.
It was all that dumbass’s fault, not his.
Immediately after, he thought of something else. Since they were going to Linjiu City to find the compilers, why only change the rank? Wasn’t the slanderous writing more serious?
Weren’t all these troubles caused by the nonsense writing? It had nothing to do with the rank!
Lian Li immediately added, “And the nonsense writing! That’s the main point. It’s pure rumor-mongering!”
“Yes, and the matter of the nonsense writing.” After Yun Huizhou finished speaking with a face full of righteousness, he muttered in a low voice, “It’s all because this person’s nonsense writing caused these issues, making me think of all sorts of messy things these past few days…”
“What did you say?” Lian Li, who was extremely thirsty after reading that entire long article and was currently gulping down water, failed to hear what Yun Huizhou said.
“Nothing,” Yun Huizhou said.
Knowing that Yun Huizhou had decided to go to Linjiu City because he wanted to change his ranking, Lian Li felt a bit more at ease.
He was originally a character who shouldn’t have appeared in this novel, so the decisions he made should fall outside the plot.
Seeing that Yun Huizhou was talking a bit more now and seemed to have returned to normal, Lian Li relaxed a little.
It seemed that now that there was something to be done, he wasn’t going to continue being moody.
To be safe, Lian Li decided to set off as soon as possible, absolutely refusing to give Yun Huizhou any idle time to get moody again.
Yun Huizhou had no objections to his decision, and the two agreed to set out for Linjiu City the next day.
Linjiu City was some distance from Yucheng, but this quarter’s Beauty Ranking had only been out for a few days. There were still over two months until the next ranking, so they weren’t in a great rush.
The two put their bundles together to tidy them up and discovered that their small jars of salt and other seasonings were nearly empty.
Lian Li held up an empty small bottle and said to Yun Huizhou, “How about you go out and buy some?”
Yun Huizhou instinctively wanted to grab Lian Li and pull him along.
But just as his hand touched Lian Li’s shoulder, he quickly pulled it away. He said, “Why should I go? Why don’t you go?”
Lian Li brandished the copy of the Jianghu Anecdotes and the Beauty Ranking booklet in his hand, saying, “My popularity is too high lately. When I went out to buy the paper just now, I felt so many people looking at me with strange eyes. I’m so scared.”
Seeing his bizarre way of speaking, Yun Huizhou asked, “What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid of being kidnapped for my beauty.” Lian Li produced a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped away non-existent tears, continuing, “You know, previously Young Master Wang scared me so much that I cried like pear blossoms with rain. What if I run into someone even more wicked this time and they just carry me off?”
“I’m no longer some nameless nobody now; I’m someone on the Beauty Ranking.”
Yun Huizhou was so startled by this sudden affected display that a shiver ran through his body. He turned and walked out of the room. “That’s quite enough from you! I’ll go buy it, alright?”
Seeing Yun Huizhou’s reaction, Lian Li was finally certain that after his guidance, the man had suddenly seen the light and stopped being moody.
After replenishing their supplies, the two left Hecheng the next day.
When they were checking out in the inn’s lobby, Yun Huizhou noticed a trace of scrutiny and reluctance in the shopkeeper’s eyes as he looked at them.
He understood the scrutiny. After all, there was that misleading description on the Beauty Ranking, the incident of teaching Young Master Wang a lesson at Yuelai Restaurant, and that unrecognizable article in the Jianghu Anecdotes.
People who didn’t know the truth would always be curious. Yun Huizhou didn’t want to bother with people who wouldn’t have much overlap with their lives.
However, what was with the reluctance in the shopkeeper’s eyes?
He stared at the shopkeeper for so long that even if the shopkeeper didn’t have the ability to sense others’ gazes, he eventually had to turn his head.
Sure enough, as soon as the shopkeeper turned, he met Yun Huizhou’s gaze.
When Yun Huizhou was expressionless, he gave off an extremely strong sense of pressure. The shopkeeper was stared at until cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Enduring Yun Huizhou’s gaze, he asked, “Great Hero Yun, why are you looking at me like that?”
As soon as the shopkeeper spoke, he drew Lian Li’s attention as well. Lian Li nudged Yun Huizhou with his elbow and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yun Huizhou glanced at Lian Li, then looked back at the shopkeeper and asked bluntly, “The shopkeeper seems very reluctant to see us leave?”
The shopkeeper clearly hadn’t expected Yun Huizhou to say such a thing, and neither had Lian Li.
Both of them looked at Yun Huizhou in surprise.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper had been in business for many years and his ability to adapt was very strong. He quickly suppressed his surprised expression and said with a chuckle, “I am reluctant to see any good guest who stays at our inn leave. Don’t we innkeepers love it most when our rooms are filled year-round with guests like you two?”
Yun Huizhou nodded and said nothing more.
After the shopkeeper briskly settled the bill for them, the two led their horses and departed.
