Xiao Han

It was said that not long after Hua Rongyue arrived at the Baicao Hall, she had already heard about Wan Fulián’s childhood friend.

Two months had passed in the blink of an eye, yet it was only today that Hua Rongyue saw this person for the first time at the Baicao Hall.

A rather peculiar individual.

“Hey, are you the new student Doctor Qi recruited?” The person in front of her impatiently knocked on the table in front of Hua Rongyue, his tone equally irritable.

Hua Rongyue sized him up. This guy was actually quite handsome, but his features carried a hint of fierceness, and his gaze was far from friendly. Watching the man incessantly knocking on the table, a playful glint appeared in her eyes.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this guy was probably trying to provoke her— an instinctive behavior of male creatures during courtship, where they threaten and challenge other males they perceive as rivals.

It was a rather novel experience.

As a woman, she was being threatened by a man, and in a manner typical of male rivalry.

…Actually, over the past two months, every time Hua Rongyue asked Wan Fulián about this childhood friend, both Wan Fulián and Doctor Qi would go out of their way to change the subject.

She should have sensed that something was off back then. If there wasn’t “something wrong” with this childhood friend, why would Doctor Qi and Wan Fulián avoid mentioning him?

Hua Rongyue leaned on the counter, recording the condition of the patient who had just visited— a daily assignment given to her by Doctor Qi. Hua Rongyue didn’t particularly want to tell Doctor Qi that she wasn’t interested in deeply studying medicine, as most of her energy was devoted to martial arts. Nonetheless, she still approached the tasks left by Doctor Qi with seriousness.

This was also her way of showing she didn’t want to engage with the guy across from her— keeping her head down and writing. What could he do about it?

Childish.

Hua Rongyue tore off a piece of paper, wrapped a few pills in it, and set it aside, all the while listening to the conversation between Wan Fulián and her childhood friend.

“Fulián,” the childhood friend’s voice was particularly loud, “my father found me a treasure blade, said to be brought back from the Western Regions. It’s round, curved, and very delicate, with a big cat’s eye stone embedded in it. As soon as I saw it, I thought you’d like it, so I got it for you. Do you want it?”

“Why didn’t you ask me before coming over?” Wan Fulián’s tone carried a hint of irritation. “Didn’t we agree not to come to the clinic casually?”

“This guy’s name is Xiao Han, the young master of the Pingxi Escort Agency. He’s actually a pretty good person… but when it comes to matters involving Xiao Lian, he tends to lose his senses,” Doctor Qi whispered to Hua Rongyue, somewhat embarrassed.

“He heard there was a new male apprentice at the clinic and kept insisting on coming over. Xiao Lian was worried he’d cause trouble and tried to stop him, but today, for some reason, he managed to sneak in…”

Ah, so that’s how it is.

“Don’t take him too seriously. His family is wealthy and influential; he’s just a typical spoiled young master,” Doctor Qi added.

That much was clear.

Hua Rongyue continued wrapping the medicine packets, calmly and resolutely jotting down notes amidst the room’s thick atmosphere of jealousy. She relied on her advantage as a woman and her pride in her mental maturity to remain immune to the repeated waves of jealousy.

“This blade comes with a matching set of techniques. If you want to learn, I can teach you,” Xiao Han had already moved from talking about the blade to demonstrating it. “Look, the first move goes like this— the blade swings from here…”

While writing, Hua Rongyue inadvertently glanced up and caught sight of Xiao Han’s blade movements. His techniques were somewhat interesting. As a scion of an escort agency, Xiao Han’s foundation was solid, and his striking appearance and short, fitted outfit added to his charm. The golden gleam of the curved blade from the Western Regions made him look valiant and dashing, with a touch of wolf-like defiance.

His fundamentals were indeed strong, but to put it bluntly… how could a spoiled young master compare to killers who live by the edge of the blade?

Hua Rongyue only took a brief glance before lowering her head again. Although her own skills fluctuated, she had spent half a year at Tianyi Tower. Even if she hadn’t personally wielded the blade, she had seen plenty of action. This level of skill didn’t impress her.

“Last month, I went to the southern border with one of my uncles and came back unscathed. Do you know what kind of place the southern border is? It’s not somewhere any random kid who calls himself a martial artist can just waltz in and out of…”

“Xiao Han!” Wan Fulián shouted, her tone revealing genuine anger.

Hua Rongyue thought to herself that Xiao Han and Wan Fulián… didn’t seem like they were cut from the same cloth. First, there was the matter of family background. Although she had only been here for two months, she had a vague sense that Wan Fulián had likely endured a tough life. Then there was their personalities— Wan Fulián was far more likable than her childhood friend.

To be honest, over half the reason Hua Rongyue stayed in this place was because of Wan Fulián. Speaking of which, it reminded her of her initial plan to escape.

— Back when she was preparing to flee Tianyi Tower, Hua Rongyue had devised numerous escape routes based on “plotlines,” including hiding in the capital, joining a prestigious martial sect, or retreating to a remote mountain forest…

Eventually, she realized that all these options came with their own hardships. Living in the capital meant facing terrifying housing prices, joining a prestigious sect meant constantly walking on eggshells, and hiding in the wilderness meant figuring out how to survive and entertain herself.

After spending a day and night pondering the major decisions of her future life, Hua Rongyue felt her brain was about to explode. Amidst the chaos, she suddenly recalled a small, insignificant childhood dream— when she grew up, she wanted to live in an unnamed town in Jiangnan, where things were cheap, work wasn’t too busy, and the salary didn’t need to be high. She’d keep a cat and grow lots of flowers and plants.

Clinging to this sudden recollection of a vague memory, Hua Rongyue wandered aimlessly down the road. Passing by an ordinary little clinic, she was suddenly drawn by the enticing aroma wafting out from inside.

At the time, there was a red paper posted at the entrance advertising for apprentices. Hua Rongyue read it and, in a daze, stepped inside… The moment she entered, she saw a large tabby cat lounging on the table, basking in the sun.

Having endured the elements for a long time and probably suffering from low blood sugar, a random thought popped into her muddled mind:

— I’d be willing to stay here for the rest of my life.

…Later, she learned that the enticing aroma was from Wan Fulián cooking lunch. In other words, the “mysterious assassin who had just taken down the leader of the largest killer organization in the martial world” was actually lured in by a meal.

In a certain sense, could Wan Fulián’s cooking be considered a powerful bug in the martial world?

…

“What’s the matter, kid? I’m talking to you. Are you not convinced?” Xiao Han had somehow appeared beside Hua Rongyue, and it was only then that she realized she had been standing upright for who knows how long. She must have been so engrossed in her thoughts that she unconsciously stood stiff and straight.

Standing tall made her look spirited, and looking spirited made her appear defiant.

Uh… it wasn’t defiance; she was just pondering whether this childish guy was worthy of the cooking prodigy Wan Fulián.

Hua Rongyue truly had no intention of provoking him, but that didn’t matter. At this point, no matter what she did, Xiao Han would likely pick a fight. He hadn’t come with good intentions in the first place.

Xiao Han stood in front of the counter, his eyes fixed on Hua Rongyue, his entire body tense. This was clearly a prelude to action. After all, he came from a martial family, and the typical way martial artists resolved disputes was to fight first.

“Just go back already!” Wan Fulián stepped forward to pull Xiao Han, but how could she move him? He remained firmly planted where he stood.

Doctor Qi was visibly flustered at this moment, trying to help block Xiao Han while frantically signaling to Hua Rongyue, “Hurry up and leave!”

Hua Rongyue had mentioned before that she had roamed the martial world in the past, but it was obvious that no one in the shop believed her. Today, as usual, she was dressed meticulously, wearing a long robe with a white base and blue patterns that reached below her knees, washed until it gleamed. Her hair was smooth and draped over her shoulders, tied into a simple bun with a plain silver hairpin inserted.

Xiao Han's expression was somewhat twisted. Even though Doctor Qi and Wan Fulian were holding him back, his anger showed no signs of subsiding. Hua Rongyue thought to herself, this kid really has a fiery temper— barging into his girlfriend's workplace for no apparent reason, threatening her coworkers, and even making intimidating moves.

Truly, only a wealthy family could raise someone with such a spoiled temperament, fearless and reckless. This kid must be accustomed to throwing his weight around.

Storming into his girlfriend's workplace, losing his temper at a stranger, and showing off— it might just be a game for him to demonstrate his power and family background to his girlfriend.

However, this kid's emotional intelligence was truly lacking; he hadn't even noticed that Wan Fulian's expression had shifted from anger to something tinged with disappointment.

All this chaos, caused by a ridiculous bout of jealousy, had turned the place upside down. Moreover, Wan Fulian clearly wasn't the type of girl who liked violence— she might even detest it. Hua Rongyue silently drew a cross in her mind for Xiao Han.

Standing behind the counter, Hua Rongyue faced Xiao Han without showing overt anger or disdain. Instead, she felt... Sympathy for this hot-headed straight man.

Out of sympathy, or perhaps a sense of pity, she didn't want Xiao Han to be dumped by Wan Fulian in a way that felt too inexplicable. So, she followed Doctor Qi and Wan Fulian's lead and said—

"Calm down. Making such a scene isn’t good." As soon as the words left her mouth, the room fell into a deathly silence. It was the kind of silence that felt as if all the air had been sucked out.

Initially, Hua Rongyue didn't realize anything was amiss, but the eerie atmosphere made her uneasy. She frantically wondered if she had said something wrong.

After a few seconds, she suddenly realized that the tone of her earlier words might have been inappropriate—

She shouldn't have spoken to Xiao Han in that manner.

After all, her current identity wasn't that of a soft-spoken girl trying to mediate and defuse the situation, but rather one of the men involved in the conflict.

This gender switch was really hard to adapt to in the moment. As a result, what was supposed to be a statement aimed at making Xiao Han realize his girlfriend was already feeling embarrassed instantly turned into a provocative remark.

This sentence, harmless if spoken in her previous persona, now seemed like an instigation coming from her current identity. The moment she spoke, the atmosphere in the room was completely suffocated.

Whether they were trying to mediate, intervene, or fight, everyone suddenly fell silent. Xiao Han froze for a few seconds, then suddenly sneered coldly at Hua Rongyue.

His face twisted as he said, "You’re quite interesting."

Hua Rongyue's sense of crisis exploded instantly. She didn’t even have time to react; her body moved instinctively, her muscles activating on their own.

— In the next second, the counter Hua Rongyue had been standing behind abruptly collapsed.

A dull crash, accompanied by flying wood splinters and dust, instantly became the dominant scene in Baicao Hall.

Amid Wan Fulian's sharp scream and the blurred vision caused by the chaos, Hua Rongyue felt the world spinning. By the time she regained her senses, she was already hanging upside down from the beam of the ceiling.

A muffled sound echoed through Baicao Hall, and a few sharp-eared people outside immediately turned their attention toward the commotion inside.

Hanging upside down, cold sweat began to drip from Hua Rongyue’s forehead.

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