The Japanese Consulate has a teahouse on the outskirts of the city, which is used to receive distinguished guests, so it is usually empty all year round.
At this moment, in the private room on the top floor of the teahouse, two bodies are stacked on the tatami, sweating profusely.
One is like tilling the field, the other is like weaving. The tiller is old and ugly, but the weaver is beautiful.
As soon as the low roar came out, everything became quiet, and the old man put on his clothes, opened the door, and left.
The woman on the tatami lay for a long time before slowly sitting up, pushing open the window to let the smell out, and then, without putting on any clothes, she lit a cigarette and started smoking.
After a while, the door opened again, and a young man stood at the door.
The woman only had her back to him, staring out the window, with no sadness or joy on her face: “Kenji, go back and tell the General that if he wants to take the Southeast War Zone, he must first attack Hezhou. If he wants to use the weapons of research, I have already got a strategy for using them.”
Kenji stood outside the door for a while, then walked in, picked up the clothes on the ground, and put them on her.
Then he hugged her tightly from behind.
“Keiko! I’ll take you away! I don’t care even if the General blames me! I don’t want to see you sacrifice yourself for the mission… Keiko, as long as you nod, I will do my best to take you away!”
Kuromiya Keiko let him hold her, even though she was naked, she had no shame at all. She looked out the window and could see the eaves of the Faxi Temple on the distant mountain.
That’s why she chose the teahouse as the location.
She held that person in her heart, yet her body was engaged in the filthiest acts—acts that felt like a form of desecration. Still, she couldn’t help it. It was only by thinking of that person while forcing herself through these degrading actions that she managed not to gag.
Cigarette ash fell on the tatami, and Kuromiya Keiko’s eyes moved, and she pushed Kenji’s hands away: “I won’t leave.”
Kenji’s hands suddenly lost strength: “Because… of him? Because of a monk who can’t be with you?”
She closed her eyes slightly.
Kenji spun her around and gripped her shoulders tightly. “Keiko! This isn’t worth it! You like him, but all you do is watch the temple from a distance. He doesn’t even know how you feel. It’s better to let go of a love that will never be returned!”
“Give up…” Kuromiya Keiko murmured, then smiled bitterly, “What you’re saying is asking me to break my bones and peel my skin. Do you think I can do it?”
“Then you must have him—no matter what it takes! You should understand, Hezhou will eventually fall under the control of the Japanese Empire. When that day comes, do you really think a monk can still survive?”
The cigarette in her hand was suddenly extinguished, and Kuromiya Keiko slowly turned her face and looked at Kenji with a bit of cruelty.
“He will never be in any trouble, and I will never let him be in any trouble either.”
Kenji slammed his fist down on the tatami. “He treats you the same as he treats everyone else. Do you know that?”
“No, it’s different.” Kuromiya Keiko curled up, her bare body trembling slightly as she smiled. “All living things are just that—living things. But I am myself. Even if he sees me just a little differently from the rest, that alone is enough for me.”
“So are you going to keep doing this?”
“I’m afraid of scaring him. He already smiles at me… Soon, very soon, he will feel that I’m different.”
It was useless to continue talking, so Kenji bit his tongue and walked out angrily.
There was fire in his eyes, and he wanted to vent something. When he stepped out of the teahouse, he looked towards the mountain, feeling a little angry.
Everything here is in chaos—so why is it that some people can retreat into the mountains and forests, living easily and peacefully, untouched by the world’s troubles? If life is unbearable for some, then shouldn’t it be just as miserable for everyone?
Kenji walked away with a gloomy face.
At the center of this small storm, Chang Ling, who knew nothing about this, was tidying up his meditation room.
When he was cleaning under the bed, he found a handkerchief. When he was tidying up the bookcase, he saw a red lip print on the corner of a book. When he was tidying up the tea table, he found a forgotten red coral bracelet.
Chang Ling was momentarily stunned. When had his room suddenly become filled with so many women’s belongings?
They all seemed to belong to the same person.
She said her name was Wenhui. This was when she woke up from drunkenness and smiled sweetly while holding her chin.
While drying the pillow, Chang Ling noticed a strand of black hair caught on it. He gently removed it and stared at it as it lay in his palm.
“Shifu!” The young monk ran in from outside with a smile.
Chang Ling was startled and subconsciously stuffed the strand of hair into his sleeve, then turned around: “You’re always in such a rush. Did you even finish your homework today?”
“En!” The young monk threw himself into Chang Ling’s arms and rubbed against him. “Shifu, what were you thinking about just now when you were standing here?”
“Nothing.” Chang Ling rubbed his bald head. “Recently… that female donor has stopped coming.”
The young monk pulled his head out and asked with a little guilt, “The one in black clothes, the pretty one?”
Chang Ling pinched his face: “En, maybe she doesn’t need to get drunk anymore… that’s good.”
The young monk breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t dare to say that he had driven the female donor away with the couplet because he listened to what donor Xu said.
There are so many faithful men and women coming and going, but this is the first time that his master has remembered her. But the female donor was really pretty, even the young monk was happy to see her, not to mention his master.
He giggled like a little mouse and acted coquettishly in Chang Ling’s arms.
————
Although Xu Hang was resting today and not going to see the patient, he still got up early and went to the mountains to collect herbs. When he came back, Chan Yi whispered something to him while helping him change his clothes.
“This morning, some people were asking around with Mr. Shen’s photo. When they came to us, I sent them away, but I still felt like someone was watching us from outside.”
Xu Hang could easily guess it was someone from the Zhang family. They were quite capable to have tracked down his location—but unfortunately, they were too late. The person was already gone.
Chan Yi asked again, “Does Head of the Household have any instructions?”
“You are getting smarter and smarter now. You figured it out before I even opened my mouth.” Xu Hang looked at Chan Yi with some approval.
Chan Yi pouted and said, “Amitabha, even if I were a carp in front of the Buddha, I would also be able to recite the sutras after listening to them many times. Head of the Household’s words make me sound like a fool.”
“Alright, you just have the worst temper. You don’t have to deliver medicine these days so as to avoid being targeted. The prescription I asked you to deliver last time is enough for Teacher Shen to use for the time being, so let Xiao Yan do the trouble.”
“Eh? Don’t we need to ask someone to remind that Ghost Master to keep an eye on Mr. Shen?”
Xu Hang smiled, “I just praised you for being smart, why are you being stupid again?”
Chan Yi blinked and thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, “Oh—if we don’t deliver the medicine, and we don’t tell them that they need to stop taking the medicine at this time, then isn’t that the same as telling them that someone is eyeing us and asking them to be careful? Aiya! That’s why the Young Master asked me to send him the prescription a few days ago ah!”
Xu Hang nodded slightly.
Xu Hang was confident that Xiao Yan would pick up on the hint and recognize the subtle difference, but Shen Jingmo likely wouldn’t grasp it. That’s why it was better not to trouble him with it.
It is only a matter of time before the Zhang family discovers Shen Jingmo. He cannot keep Shen Jingmo in Jinyan Tang, lest he become a target of the Zhang family and expose himself, which would be detrimental to his future actions.
Chan Yi muttered again, “I thought that Ghost Master was a bad guy, but I didn’t expect him to be so good! But that Zhang family… ai, you can’t judge a person by their appearance. Mr. Shen is just like you. Even though he suffered in the past, good days are ahead!”
“Maybe.”
After changing his clothes, Xu Hang picked up the scissors and prepared to trim the potted flowers on the windowsill.
The alluring yet insipid rose, the defiant lucky bamboo, and the burdensome small-leaf red sandalwood.
Where should he start?
Chan Yi looked left and right, feeling troubled: “Head of the Household, these pots are all very eye-catching, which one do you want to fix first?”
Xu Hang’s scissors moved back and forth on the flower’s stems and leaves, like a Western doctor preparing for an autopsy. Only after he had a plan in mind did he cut with a click.
“The simplest ones are the easiest to handle,” He said with a shrewd look in his eyes. “Let’s start with the flower that looks so beautiful.”
