In truth, as long as both parties are older, the age gap doesn’t actually seem that significant.
At the very least, with an eight-year difference, seventy and seventy-eight doesn’t look nearly as shocking as twelve and twenty.
After all, if a seventy-year-old were with a seventy-eight-year-old, Lian Li wouldn’t see any problem with it.
But if a twelve-year-old were with a twenty-year-old, that would be a massive problem—to the point where Lian Li would call the police if he heard about it.
Aside from the connection through Li Hansong, there was also the fact that Yun Huizhou had stayed here for two years in the past. He was quite famous, and many people in the Lei Family Army recognized him.
After entering the city, the three of them first found an inn to get some proper rest.
After all that busy work, even the South Island Master felt a bit of fatigue.
It went without saying for Lian Li and Yun Huizhou; the two of them ducked into their room and flopped onto the bed. Drowsiness hit them instantly, leaving them without even the desire to speak.
Yun Huizhou was alright, but as soon as Lian Li’s head hit the pillow, his eyes began to blink rhythmically. With each blink, they grew narrower until they finally closed completely.
By the time Lian Li woke up, Yun Huizhou was no longer lying beside him.
After washing up and having some food, he found that Yun Huizhou had still not returned.
He walked out of the room to the South Island Master’s door and gave it a light knock.
The South Island Master’s voice came from inside: “The door isn’t locked. Come in.”
Lian Li pushed the door open and found that the South Island Master was also eating.
At this moment, all the coverings on his face were gone. Having been a disciple for two years, Lian Li finally saw what the South Island Master looked like for the first time.
How should he put it? Seeing the South Island Master’s appearance, he finally understood a bit why the man didn’t like showing his face.
Social anxiety might be one reason, but another was likely that the South Island Master had a particularly innocent “baby face” that looked incredibly young.
Unlike Lian Li, whose innocence and naivety were only in his eyes, the South Island Master’s entire face was exceptionally innocent and naive.
He looked like the type who could be lured away with a single stick of candied haws.
Thinking that the South Island Master of Zuimeng Island actually had such a face… to be honest, it was far too unexpected and a bit hard to keep a straight face.
Yet, paradoxically, his voice was on the raspy side—the kind of raspiness that made one’s ears feel tingly and itchy.
It was a complete mismatch for his face.
Whether one saw his face first or heard his voice first, it was honestly difficult for anyone to keep a perfectly neutral expression when the other trait revealed itself.
At the very least, there would always be some micro-expressions.
However, the South Island Master’s martial arts were so high and his eyesight so keen that those subtle changes in expression were hard to hide from him.
Coupled with his social anxiety, over time, he became unwilling to show his face and disliked speaking.
He had transformed into the South Island Master with the eccentric personality he had today.
In fact, over all these years, the South Island Master had grown accustomed to others being surprised by the mismatch between his face, his voice, and his martial prowess; he no longer cared.
After all, he was a man in his several-tens of years; his mindset was bound to have shifted, otherwise, he could never have become a Transcendent Master.
But having dressed that way for so many years, he was used to it and had no desire to change.
Furthermore, for him, not speaking and not showing his face was quite nice. He was comfortable, and he felt there was no need to change.
Most importantly, no one on the entirety of Zuimeng Island had ever urged him to take those things off.
Just as everyone didn’t understand why Xi Yu liked to wear women’s clothing, they never urged Xi Yu not to wear it.
The others didn’t understand, but they never tried to persuade him otherwise.
To use Lian Li’s words, everyone on Zuimeng Island held an attitude of “disapproval but respect” toward him.
Since the group of people most important to him didn’t see any problem, he didn’t care at all about the opinions of others—as long as they didn’t jump in his face about it.
Lian Li’s first reaction was actually the same as most people’s; when he saw the South Island Master’s face, his expression turned surprised for a fleeting moment.
However, he very candidly closed the door, walked over to sit opposite the South Island Master, stared at his face for a while, and then pivoted to another topic.
“Master, I didn’t see Yun Huizhou when I woke up. Do you know where he went?”
The two of them locked eyes, and Lian Li successfully received the South Island Master’s meaning.
[Yun Huizhou went to the General’s Mansion. He’ll be back later.]
Lian Li sat up a bit straighter and continued asking, “Does he have business at the General’s Mansion?”
[To inform them about Monk Suixin. If the people of the Demonic Cult are interested in the news Monk Suixin shared, they will definitely enter the border pass.]
Lian Li nodded, then remembered what happened back in Shanyun Town. He hurriedly said, “But back in Southern Xinjiang, Transcendent Masters from the Demonic Cult had already entered, and the people who came to pick up Monk Suixin before were also from the Demonic Cult.”
[That is normal. After all, the Lei Family Army primarily defends against foreign tribes; it’s impossible for them to monitor the Demonic Cult’s movements at every moment. People will always slip in. Yun Huizhou only went over to give them a warning to be careful of the Demonic Cult taking the opportunity to cause chaos and harm the citizens of the border city. He doesn’t expect them to intercept every single member of the Demonic Cult.]
Lian Li sighed softly, knowing that matters of the martial world were for martial artists to solve.
The army guarding the border couldn’t possibly run over to meddle in the affairs of martial artists fighting over treasures; they had more important things to do.
Yun Huizhou didn’t return until evening.
When he came back, Lian Li even smelled the scent of alcohol on him.
“You’ve been drinking?” Lian Li leaned in close to sniff him.
To be honest, to Lian Li, the smell of alcohol was just the smell of alcohol; he couldn’t distinguish the fragrance of the brew or what constituted a good wine at all.
Furthermore, although he could drink now, he still wasn’t used to it and never even felt that wine tasted good.
Yun Huizhou leaned back slightly, putting a bit of distance between himself and Lian Li, then said, “Yes, it’s inevitable to drink a bit when eating over here. I’m going to take a bath.”
Lian Li: “I’ll go call for hot water.”
Yun Huizhou washed everything, including his hair. The New Year had only just passed, and being at the border, it was freezing cold.
No matter how much Yun Huizhou relied on his high martial arts and strong physique, he still had to honestly use his internal energy to dry his hair before coming out.
Because the matter of tracking Monk Suixin had temporarily come to a close, and he hadn’t heard of any great villains running amok in the border city, Lian Li actually found himself with some free time.
In fact, it was quite normal that no great villains came here. To put it bluntly, this place was essentially within the sphere of influence of the Lei family.
If any of those villains came here to commit crimes, General Lei would absolutely take charge.
Between disorganized martial artists and a well-trained army…
Lian Li felt that if they came here, they would only die faster.
