When Mu Ling ran back to the inn with Xiao Hei, it was already late afternoon, with the sun setting in the west. His heart was unsettled, but his stomach groaned. Mu Ling hadn't eaten yet.
After securing Xiao Hei back at the stable, Mu Ling remained on the ground floor of the inn and ordered a table of delicious food and wine to comfort himself. With one leg up on the chair, a bottle of wine in one hand, and chicken drumsticks in another, his mouth covered in oil, Mu Ling appeared more like a cross between a scholar and a ruffian. No one dared to sit at the table next to his. Qin Wangtian had gone out and returned. What he saw was Mu Ling eating and drinking on the ground floor.
Shaking his head, Qin Wangtian pretended not to know him and turned towards the stairs, but his presence was noticed by Mu Ling. While shoving the chicken thigh into his mouth, he called out, "Oh...have you eaten?"
Qin Wangtian pretended not to hear him and went straight upstairs, returned to their room, and closed the door.
Mu Ling pouted because he wanted to invite Qin Wangtian to eat with him. After a lot of battles today, Mu Ling was finally full. He wiped his oily hands with a kerchief, took a toothpick for picking his teeth, and went to the second floor. By the way, he also brought along a bottle of good wine and a roasted chicken, as an evening snack.
Pushing the door open, Mu Ling saw Qin Wangtian wiping his saber. The blade appeared old -- black body, beautiful shape -- and possessed a powerful aura. However, the weapon was not comparable to Situ's Hei Jinhou.
Mu Ling strolled to the bedside, placed the roast chicken and wine on the side table, and went to sleep.
Qin Wangtian looked at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
Mu Ling blinked. "Taking a nap."
Qin Wangtian couldn't help rolling his eyes. "You slept until noon in the morning, and you’re going to sleep after your meal. Are you really a pig?"
Mu Ling gripped the quilt with his legs and rolled and wrapped himself in the quilt, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Drop dead."
"Ha..." Qin Wangtian gasped reactively, with the tip of the blade, he cracked the tile's floor.
Mu Ling rolled again and vaguely said, "Every year is safe."
Qin Wangtian was completely speechless.
However, Mu Ling was awakened after barely an hour of rest by Yue Qiuling’s return. She said that she had gone back to Yuejia Zhai the past few days, but their elder brother refused to interfere with the affairs of the Villa, hence why she had arrived alone. Yue Qiuling could only ask Qin Wangtian and Mu Ling to accompany her.
Qin Wangtian contemplated before saying, "You should go back first. We will join the attendees for the ceremony later. Moreover, if you want to examine the body, we can’t do it formally, better to approach this quietly."
Mu Ling saw that Qin Wangtian’s response was reasonable and immediately nodded, adding, "It makes sense."
"The thing is..." Yue Qiuling seemed a little embarrassed and said, "I have sent someone to inform the second brother just now, saying that I am here, and about the situation with the bandits on the road, but fortunately we were saved by the two of you."
"Huh?" Mu Ling was surprised. "Miss Yue, you are too honest."
Yue Qiuling also felt that she had spoken too early, so she said, "My brother also said, he wants to pick me up in person, and thank you. What should I do?"
"What?!" Mu Ling turned over and sat up. "That’s easy to solve!" After saying that, he jumped out of bed and started to pack up. “Run away quickly!"
Qin Wangtian grabbed him. "Why are you panicking?!"
Mu Ling glared back. "What I fear most is etiquette socializing. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm going back to Heiyun Fortress!"
Qin Wangtian tried to stop Mu Ling from struggling and escaping. "You can’t leave!"
"Why not?!” Mu Ling rushed towards the door. "I'm leaving!"
"If you dare leave, I'll tell the world you haven't cured my injury after ten years of treatment. You are a quack!" Qin Wangtian pulled his last move.
His words were like a painful stab, which made Mu Ling struggle internally. Suddenly he saw Yue Qiuling kneel down before him. She pleaded, "Mister Mu, I beg you, come back to Yuejia Zhai with me and check my father’s body…” She kowtowed to Mu Ling while bursting into tears.
Mu Ling was in further agony. What he was afraid of the most was girls crying. At that moment, there was a noise from downstairs, and he heard the voice of the waiter on the second floor. "Oh...2nd Young Master Yue, what brought you here?"
Yue Qiuling became anxious, as Qin Wangtian pointed at Mu Ling. "You are a quack."
Mu Ling angrily threw down the bag of clothes. He roared, "I won’t go, I won’t go, damn it! What is there to fear?"
Qin Wangtian grabbed him before he finished talking. Grasping Mu Ling to prevent him from escaping, Qin Wangtian turned his face to Yue Qiuling and said, "Go and hold your brother, tell him that your benefactor is changing clothes and will come downstairs soon. Don't say anything else!"
"Oh...Good." Yue Qiuling hurried out.
Without saying a word, Qin Wangtian dragged Mu Ling to the bed. At first, Mu Ling didn't know what was going on, but he was pushed onto the bed. Qin Wangtian had already begun to undress him.
"..." Mu Ling was stunned for a second, holding onto his clothes, he cried, "What are you doing?"
Qin Wangtian glared at him, "Don't move!"
"How could I not move?" Mu Ling rolled his eyes. "You, don't mess around." He held his clothes together, pretending to be ashamed. "I'm not that kind of casual person."
For a minute, Qin Wangtian barely reacted, then soon realized what he meant. He pinched Mu Ling's neck viciously. "Mother of mine, looking at you, I might as well look at a tree. Go change your clothes!"
"Why do you want me to change clothes?" Mu Ling was still puzzled.
"You are all oily. What part of you looks like a human?" Qin Wangtian scowled at him. "Later, pretend to be a Scholar, and I am your book boy."
"Aya!" Mu Ling scowled. "What book boy would look like you? Do you think others are idiots?"
Qin Wangtian was taken aback. "What can I be then? In short, I have to do my best not to have him notice me!”
Mu Ling rubbed his neck and looked at him a bit more. "Let's do this...you can be my bodyguard."
Qin Wangtian frowned. "Bodyguard?"
Mu Ling nodded. "Let’s say...Well, I'm in the medicine business, and you are my retainer and protector. Isn’t that alright?"
Qin Wangtian thought for a moment and felt that his idea seemed pretty good.
Mu Ling got up and rummaged through the cabinets to find a decent outfit as he was instructed, "I heard that Yuejia Village is quite capable. See if you can lie to them to find medicine for me. Then my time would not be wasted."
Once he finished, Mu Ling climbed onto the bed, closed the curtain, and poked out his head with a warning, "Don't peek!"
Qin Wangtian was tongue-tied, he turned around to pack up, and wrapped his saber in a piece of black silk, and slung it behind his back. He walked to the water basin and examined his image, thinking...Fortunately, I was so burned by the fire that it completely changed my appearance.
At some point, Mu Ling also got out of the bed wearing a clean new outfit, a blue gauze coat outside the white gown, and holding an ivory folding fan in his hand. His hair was combed too, white and clean, and a belt with gold thread and some jade inlay was around his waist, his appearance was luxurious.
Mu Ling opened the fan with a sense of accomplishment. Fanning himself, he asked, "See? Looks great right?"
Qin Wangtian didn't have time to talk nonsense with him, he packed his bags and said to Mu Ling, "All you have to do is to draw all the attention of Yue Zaiting. I have to find something at Yuejia Zhai. You, don't interfere with me."
With a rare expression on his face, Mu Ling replied, "I'm still looking for my medicine..." As he spoke, he grabbed Qin Wangtian and added, "Promise, once I cure your face, you will stop calling me a quack!"
Qin Wantian looked at him for a moment and nodded, “FINE! However, not only must the scar be gone, it will also stop hurting."
“Deal.” Mu Ling glanced at him, shook the fan and walked in front, wandered out the door, and headed to the top of the stairs. Suddenly he stopped, turned around, and said to Qin Wangtian, "By the way, I forgot to tell you. When I was by the river this afternoon at the embankment, I met Yue Zaiting."
Qin Wangtian was shocked, but before he could reply, he heard Mu Ling declare with a triumphant tone, "Also, you will call me Young Master from now on!" When he finished speaking, they headed down the stairs.
In the lobby of the restaurant, Yue Zaiting and Yue Qiuling were drinking tea. Seeing them coming down from upstairs, they raised their heads and looked at Mu Ling.
Mu Ling calmly descended the stairs, caught the suspicion that flashed in Yue Zaiting’s eyes, and his mind clearly understood...This Yue Zaiting was far from simple. He already suspected that the coincidence from before may be a ploy. God willing, there is nothing to say. It seems that this kid will definitely be guarded against me, which is beneficial to play the cover for Qin Wangtian.
"Oh well..." Mu Ling sighed with a little regret. God wouldn't let him be idle.
When the two of them reached the ground floor, Yue Qiuling quickly stood up and hurried towards them, shouting, "En Gong!"
Mu Ling waved. “What benefactor? That’s too generous."
Yue Zaiting was puzzled, but he stepped forward with a smile on his face. "So you are the benefactor who saved the life of my sister, you have my gratitude."
"Oh." Mu Ling gestured, stepping into his new position and emerging as a rich man. "Wet gold, dry gold, isn’t it still gold?”
Yue Zaiting was now confused further by Mu Ling. This person was just by the river bank not long ago, idle and lazy, although he was a little crazy, but interesting nonetheless. Now he held the proper posture of a wealthy master. This person is ever-changing. He really doesn't know if this man is always like this or if he was deceiving him on purpose. It's just...Yue Zaiting felt silly, even though he pretended to be annoyed, he still thought this person was unexpectedly cute.
"Haha...how should I address you?" Yue Zaiting sat across from Mu Ling and asked with a smile.
"Oh...it's easy to say, Lin Baisui." Mu Ling seemed to like that name very much and said it smoothly.
"Lin Baisui..." Yue Zaiting thought quickly, but didn't think of any known figure in the Jianghu world with this name. Besides, what he cared most about was that he couldn't tell whether this person knew martial arts. Mu Ling always appeared like a weak scholar, but his living habits were lazy, and he occasionally went crazy. So most people thought he didn’t possess martial arts skills. But Yue Zaiting knew, when a person was harder to read, they were actually most terrifying. Either he was completely unskilled, or a highly powerful person.
Qin Wangtian stood with his head hanging down behind Mu Ling. Since going downstairs with Mu Ling, Yue Zaiting put all his focus on anything but Mu Ling’s person, except for the first glance at him. Qin Wangtian understood the purpose of Mu Ling's words to him just before, and also understood the reason why Mu Ling had to pretend to be like this. The second master of Heiyun Bao, of course, was not a fuel-inefficient lamp. He did so first, on the one hand, trying to discern Yue Zaiting's true nature; on the other hand, he took advantage of Yue Zaiting's suspicious characteristics to completely attract his attention.
Yue Zaiting was in no hurry. He sat and chatted with Mu Ling and asked, "Mister Lin, do you know medical skills?"
Mu Ling patted his chest proudly. "Of course, I am no ordinary man. If I said I want a person to live, even Yan Wangye can't take away that person." He said, leaning over and whispering to Yue Zaiting, "You know of Mu Ling, the great doctor in Sichuan, don’t you?"
"I am aware." Yue Zaiting nodded repeatedly. "Mister Mu's name is thunder to the ears."
"Ah yes..." Mu Ling curled his lips. "I am his eldest brother."
"Ahem..." Yue Zaiting was baffled. "But...you two have different surnames."
Mu Ling pouted his lips. "Of course, he has a different surname. He has one Mu and I have two Mu, so am I his eldest brother, hahaha..."
Qin Wangtian couldn't help but shake his head silently. Mu Ling was too clever, only meeting Yue Zaiting once, he understood his character clearly. When dealing with someone like Yue Zaiting, one can't pretend to be clever or stupid, but still, have to be smart and stupid at the same time. And it's better to be a little crazy, so that he would be completely bewildered.
Looking back at Yue Zaiting again, although his mouth was still talking and laughing, his eyes were perplexed and his brows slightly frowned, he seemed to be really confused.
Mu Ling wanted to laugh when he looked at Yue Zaiting, thinking to himself, you tender child. Not just you, even Situ can’t handle me, let alone a Yuejia Zhai.
Mu Ling rested his feet on a chair, losing his image as he drank the tea. Thinking, anyway, no matter what, I am destined to only live to ninety-nine. If he ran halfway, wouldn't he still lose money? Just go to Yuejia Zhai and see if they have any benefits. If nothing is significant, he could spend all their wealth. Otherwise, it will be condescending towards the thousands of people of Luoxia City.
"By the way, Mister Lin, are you here at Luoxia City for fun?" Yue Zaiting continued to ask. "Why don't you let me show you our hospitality.”
"Oh?" Mu Ling excitedly said, "Myself, I mainly came to collect some valuable medicinal materials, so I’m not in a hurry. I’ve heard that Yuejia Zhai is beautiful, so I’m lucky enough to visit."
Yue Zaiting nodded repeatedly. "Mister Lin saved my sister, Yuejia Zhai is indebted to you. It just so happens that my inauguration ceremony will be in a few days, and there will be heroes from all over the world attending. You should stay in our Villa for a while."
"That's fantastic!" Mu Ling smiled and nodded. "I respectfully take your offer, does that include all the meals and lodging?"
Qin Wangtian was helpless. Mu Ling, while using another’s name, had no shame. Anyway, it was not him who should be embarrassed. Yue Zaiting also thought it was amusing. This man was really unrefined. Still, he nodded. "Of course, everything will be covered by Yuejia Zhai for Mister Lin's meals and lodging in Luoxia City!"
Mu Ling smiled happily, inwardly. This is what you agree to, I will eat abalone and shark fin every day.
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