Chapter 44

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The man in the secret room, whom she had gone to great lengths to track down, was not Yuan? The white hair, the saggy skin, the dizzy swollen eyes, the withered but flexible hands… this was clearly the old Dragon Slayer who was a womanizer and a drunkard, who loved to go around the brothels at his old age, he was Doctor Shen Tu!

Doctor Shen Tu was also looking at her in shock, his old eyes widened like two copper bells, as if he couldn’t believe that such a secret place could be broken into, his face suddenly flushed white in disbelief.

Both of them were astonished to see each other. Zhu Yan could not believe her eyes, and only after a while she managed to mumble out a question: “How did you… get here? Where is Yuan? Where did Yuan go!”

“Why can’t I be here?” Doctor Shen Tu first collected himself and examined her from top to bottom for a moment, then suddenly his face changed, “I recognize you! Aren’t you that pig… pig something Princess? What are you doing here?”

“…” Zhu Yan was instantly baffled by the question, unable to speak sarcastically, and could only use a rhetorical question to get around the issue, “Why are you here again? If you can come, why can’t I?”

“Me? Of course, I’m here to meet a beautiful woman! Could it be that you are here for the same reason?” Doctor Shen Tu surveyed her embarrassed expression and slapped his thigh, showing a look of understanding and laughed, “Haha… No way? I know those Kongsang noblewomen in their forties and fifties who are as ferocious as tigers, they like to come here for some hard fun, I didn’t expect that you, Princess, at your young age, would also… haha!”

“Bah!” She blushed a little for a moment and spluttered, “What nonsense are you saying!”

“No problem, this is a semi-open secret in both the Imperial Capital and Yecheng, what’s the big deal?” Doctor Shen Tu actually looked like he was quoting himself as a confidant as he walked towards her and said with a smile, “Those handsome male sharks kept in the Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion weren’t all meant to be reserved for gentlemen with good manners.”

“Shut up!” Zhu Yan’s face flamed red and all she wanted to do was sew this old pervert’s mouth shut. Not wanting to pay him any more attention, she turned her head and looked around the room, but didn’t see anyone else and couldn’t help but be a little baffled – what was going on? Obviously, Yuan reached here and entered this room! How come no one else was there?

She circled her fingers and was just about to use her fixation spell again when she was pulled back.

“Hey, since you are here, Princess, why don’t you help me pay for the place?” Doctor Shen Tu salivated and pulled her sleeve, grinning, “Didn’t you promise at the Red King’s Palace that you would cover all my expenses at the brothel for the entire month to come? You should not fail to keep your word!”

“…” Zhu Yan touched her pocket then recalled that she had just given all the golden baht to the turtle slave, so now she had no money left with her. She could only shake off his hand, “I’ll give it to you later!”

“Hey, that won’t do! Just give me some small amount!” Doctor Shen Tu still pestered her, surprisingly began to boldly tug at her sleeves with his hands, changing his face to that of a scoundrel.

“You can have it next time!” Zhu Yan got irritated, “Quickly, let go!”

However, the lustful scoundrel refused to let the golden mistress go just like that. In the middle of the tangle, Zhu Yan suddenly felt a slight pain in her leg, just like a sudden bite from a mosquito. What was going on? She was taken aback and looked down to see a cold flash of light in Master Shen Tu’s hand – it was a long needle which he instantly concealed.

How… what happened? She was stunned for a moment; Doctor Shen Tu looked at her, the playful expression inside his cloudy old eyes was gone, suddenly revealing a hint of cold light, and sighed: “Little Princess of the Red King Mansion, you really shouldn’t have barged in here.”

At that moment, Zhu Yan knew something was wrong and took a fierce step back, flipping her wrist, the Jade Bone instantly transformed into a sharp sword!

“What were you trying to do?” She snapped, slashing her sword at him, “How dare you backstab me! You old pervert, I’ll kill you!”

When Doctor Shen Tu realized that she had pulled a sword out of nowhere, he couldn’t help but blurt out an “ahh”, obviously not expecting that a refined and elegant young lady would have the ability to kill people like this.

“Stop!” In that very moment, a wall suddenly and silently moved away. A man stepped out from a hidden chamber within the inner wall and stopped her with a stern voice, “Ah-Yan, stop!”

The man was draped in a long coat, water still dripping from his long aqua-blue hair, not looking very well; he was covering his right rib and his movements appeared to be somewhat constrained – although he was looking visibly sickly and weak, his features were handsome, soft and composed, like a quiet moon in the night sky.

In that moment, Zhu Yan froze, and only after a long time she finally exclaimed uncontrollably with joy, “Yuan? So, you are really here!”

Doctor Shen Tu, however, turned pale and fumbled at the same time, “You… Why did you come out? I just gave you medicine, now you must lie down and rest!”

“Yuan!” Zhu Yan no longer cared about anything and rushed over, “I finally found you!”

This time he didn’t dodge and let her hug him, a bitter smile surfacing at the corners of his lips.

“Yuan!” Zhu Yan finally grasped him, her entire body trembling with excitement. Yes, that was Yuan! It was the Yuan she had been longing for and searching for! After more than two years, she had finally found him again!

He also looked at her with a somewhat emotional expression and sighed, “It’s been a long time since I saw you, you’ve grown up a lot.”

His tone was slightly cold, with a hint of sadness and a trace of joy, a little different from the ever-so-gentle voice in her memory.

“You… Why are you here?” Zhu Yan looked at him in ecstasy and suddenly wondered about this matter… How could Yuan be in this place and how could he be with someone like Doctor Shen Tu?

This is the secret place of the teahouse, is it possible that he is here… she was thinking fast, and her heart plunged straight down, like falling into an ice pit.

The corners of Yuan’s mouth twitched, pausing for a moment before merely saying, “It’s a long story.”

Seeing such a reluctant expression on his face, Zhu Yan’s heart sank even lower and she couldn’t help but ask, “Could it be that… you have also been sold here, just like those sharks upstairs?”

“…” he looked at her and frowned slightly, “What did you say?”

“Ugh, don’t be afraid… it’s okay.” Her heart was in turmoil, but she held her nerves, refusing to show panic, and said with emotion, “Don’t worry, I have money! I will redeem you!”

“What?” Yuan was stunned for a moment, still not back to his senses.

“Hey, I mean, it can’t be that you’re more expensive than a flower girl, are you? Why else would you live in such a sophisticated and secretive place?”

Zhu Yan talked, trying to lighten the topic as much as possible, yet her body suddenly wobbled, a weird purple color surfaced in her pupils, and she couldn’t help but mumble, “Strange, why is my head… suddenly so dizzy?”

Before the words could leave her mouth, she instantly went unconscious with nothing more than blackness before her eyes.

With a swift movement, Yuan caught her in his arms, sighed, and turned his head to Doctor Shen Tu, “Why don’t you quickly remove the poison from her body?”

The old man coughed, somewhat reluctantly, and muttered, “This woman is the Princess of the Red King’s Palace! A noble lady of the Kongsang people! What if she gives away our secrets…”

“She won’t.” Yuan’s eyes were faint, but he couldn’t refute him, “Detoxify the poison now!”

Doctor Shen Tu appeared to be quite intimidated by him, and after skewing his lips, he pulled out a square box from his bosom with a sour grimace, and opened it to a turquoise ointment that emitted a strangely refreshing medicinal fragrance. He dug a little bit from it with a silver spoon that looked like an ear picker, and put it on the fire to heat up.

“This is an expensive medicine,” murmured the old man as he roasted it, “the aromatic incense inside it alone costs…”

“You won’t get less money.” Yuan frowned, “Wake her up now!”

Doctor Shen Tu heated up the ointment and put a drop of something into it, only to hear a “huffing” sound, a strange smoke rose into the air and rushed straight into Zhu Yan’s nose.

“Ah-choo!” The unconscious girl sneezed violently and woke up with a shudder.

“Yuan!” She jumped up so fast that she almost collided with him, grasping him firmly as if she would never let him go again, “Oh my god… you didn’t leave? That’s great! I was so afraid that I wouldn’t see you again and you would be gone!”

Yuan just smiled a little, didn’t replied anything and stroked her hair.

They hadn’t seen each other for years since they left the Red King’s Mansion in the Celestial Wind City. Unlike for the sharks, time flies fast for humans, and in a few years, she has gone from being a young girl to become a young woman, with many ups and downs in her life – he was told that she had just married not long ago, but was widowed immediately afterwards. However, despite all the troubles, her temperament remained the same as when she was a child, still so clueless and reckless.

“Alright, stop now,” he gently released her hand, “Doctor Shen Tu is still watching.”

“Huh? That old guy?” Zhu Yan instantly changed her face, glaring fiercely at Doctor Shen Tu, then looking back at Yuan, hesitantly saying, “He didn’t bully you, did he? You… you… gosh!” She paused, surveyed his shirtless body, and suddenly her eyes turned red as she blurted out, “It’s all my fault!”

Yuan frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“If it wasn’t because of me, how could you have been driven out of the Red King’s Mansion?” The more she thought about it, the more upset she became, and her voice began to choke, “How could you… have ended up in this situation if you had remained in the Royal Palace properly? Which black-hearted person sold you to this filthy place? I… won’t spare that bastard!”

“Hey, listen, have you guys finished reminiscing in this chamber yet?” After the two of them rambled on for a moment, Doctor Shen Tu, who was on the side, got a little impatient and coughed, tugging at Yuan’s lapel, “I took the risk of coming here today, in order to discuss a serious matter with Lord Zhi–”

Zhu Yan’s heart was in a state of distress, and when she saw that this man had the audacity to interrupt them, she became furious and instantly jumped up, “Get lost, you old pervert! Don’t touch Yuan!”

The Jade Bone whistled out from her fingertips like a bolt of lightning.

“Stop it!” With a lightning-fast snap of his fingers, he deflected the bolt of energy in a split second. The Jade Bone passed right across Doctor Shen Tu’s forehead with a sound of “swipe”, cutting a deep scar, with blood streaming down his face immediately.

Doctor Shen Tu was so frightened that he forgot to even chatter. When Zhu Yan looked at Yuan, who shielded Master Shen Tu, she couldn’t help but be stunned – she didn’t really intend to kill that old pervert, she just wanted to frighten him a little, but she had caused Yuan to make a move to defend him.

“Yuan! You… Your stance, why have you suddenly become so skilled?” She murmured incredulously, looking at him with unfamiliar eyes, “You were actually able to block my Jade Bone? There aren’t many people in Yunhuang who can have such skills!”

Yuan did not reply, but merely coughed slightly, his face growing paler and paler as he reached out to help Master Shen Tu up and remarked, “It is time for you to leave now.”

What? You want to kick me out as soon as we finally meet? And, he actually protected this old pervert like this! Zhu Yan looked at him with a deadly stare, as if this person in front of her was suddenly a stranger, and abruptly shook her head, muttering, “No… something is not right! Since you are so skilled, it is even more unlikely that you were forced to come here to sell your body!”

“Ugh, you little girl, what are you talking about?” Yuan sighed and helped Doctor Shen Tu to go back and sit on a couch to one side of the room, “Who said I was forced to come here to sell my body?”

“What? You weren’t forced?” Zhu Yan was stunned and suddenly jumped up, “Impossible! It’s not possible… Could it be that you volunteered?”

“…” Yuan looked at her bemused, “Who said I am here to sell my body?”

“Aren’t you?” She was furious and grabbed the nearby Doctor Shen Tu to confront him, “It was this old pervert who said it himself!”

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