The Life of a Necromancer as a Swashbuckler

Chapter 13: The Strange Encounter at Suiyang

Time flew by, and after more than ten days of recuperation, Nameless’s injuries finally began to heal. This was a testament to his astonishing natural healing ability—a recovery so swift that it left both Xiaoyaozi and his senior disciple Yun Tian deeply astonished. Once his injuries were healed, Nameless was supposed to begin studying the Xiaoyao martial arts. However, since he had already promised to escort Shi Jingyu, and though Xiaoyaozi was very concerned, he did not want to go back on his word. The day finally arrived,Xiaoyaozi and Gu Yuntian brought Nameless and Shi Jingyu back to Zheng Family Village. As they were about to leave, Xiaoyaozi was still very uneasy, so he gave Nameless and Shi Jingyu three Mingyu Pellets each, and also gave Nameless a Xiaoyao Token. He told them that if they ever faced real danger, they should produce the token; the opponents would show respect for Xiaoyao Valley and spare them for the time being. After their master and senior brother had given them a thorough set of instructions, the two finally left, though with heavy hearts. Watching her senior brother and master finally leave, Nameless felt both happy and a little sad. She was happy that the “third wheel” had finally gone—she’d been suffocating with them around—but she was also a bit sad because, after spending these past few days with them, she’d actually grown quite fond of her senior brother and master. “Miss Shi, oh right, I haven’t asked yet.” Only after his master and senior brother had walked far enough away did Nameless remember to turn his attention back to Shi Jingyu. “Where is the Iron Palm Gang?” At that moment, Shi Jingyu felt both excited and a little worried. She was excited because she could finally go home—and with someone to keep her company, which naturally stirred some girlish thoughts in her. Her worry was simply that the guy accompanying her wasn’t some kind of beast. But even if he were, she, Shi Jingyu, wasn’t afraid. From their time together over the past few days, she’d figured out that Nameless knew absolutely nothing about martial arts—in fact, he couldn’t beat her in a fight. If it came down to “protection,” it wasn’t clear who would be protecting whom. Truth be told, she was just bored on the way home and wanted someone to keep her company. “You don’t know where the Iron Palm Gang is?” When Shi Jingyu heard Nameless ask this question, she nearly fainted from exasperation—how was she supposed to deliver anything if she didn’t even know where it was? “The Iron Palm Gang is located within Zhili Prefecture, on Iron Palm Mountain, just a ten-day journey or so from Xiaoyao Valley.” So that’s why—no wonder Master allowed me to make the delivery even before I’d learned martial arts. It’s because it’s not far. Nameless finally understood everything. Since the journey wasn’t long and they had plenty of time, the two decided to travel by day and rest at night, sticking mostly to the well-traveled official roads. They also planned to stop and see the various prefectures and counties along the way—partly for safety reasons. It was the third month of spring—a time when the grass was growing lush and the orioles were singing, making the scenery picturesque. The two chatted and laughed as they rode side by side, finding themselves quite in tune with one another. Their journey went smoothly, and that day they arrived at Suiyang County, which was only a three-day ride from Tiezhang Peak in Zhili Prefecture. By the time they reached Suiyang County, it was already late in the day, and both were quite exhausted. However, as soon as they arrived, they sensed something was amiss: even though it was only early evening, every household had already shut its doors, and there were very few people on the streets. Nameless and Shi Jingyu sensed something was amiss and hurried to find an inn for the night. Suiyang County wasn’t large; a main road ran straight through it from east to west. On the east side of the road stood an inn, and the two decided to stay there. The inn looked rustic and somewhat modest; with so few travelers on the road, business seemed rather slow. The innkeeper, seeing customers arrive, hurried to greet them. “Welcome, gentlemen. Please come in.” As he welcomed them, the innkeeper sized up the guests. He saw that Nameless looked unremarkable, but the moment he laid eyes on Shi Jingyu, his face twitched involuntarily. “You two are from out of town, aren’t you? And who is this young lady?” the innkeeper suddenly asked with feigned concern. “Do we have to provide our personal details just to stay at an inn?” Nameless began to step into his role as a bodyguard, asking in a gruff voice. The innkeeper didn’t take offense. “It seems you two really aren’t aware of the situation. Please come in, please come in,” he said, hurriedly ushering them inside and closing the door behind them. “Please have a seat,” the innkeeper said as he showed them to their seats, his tone urgent. “It’s a good thing you two came here in time. If you’d been even a little later, we wouldn’t have dared to take you in.” Isn’t running an inn supposed to be about making money? Why wouldn’t he dare take them in? Was the place full? That didn’t seem likely, and Nameless was filled with suspicion. “Innkeeper, on our way here we saw very few people on the streets, and every shop was shuttered. You also look quite nervous—has something happened around here?” Shi Jingyu, ever the observant one, asked. “I hope I don’t scare you, sir, but there’s been a ‘flower thief’ on the loose around here lately,” the innkeeper said with a look of regret. Huh? Upon hearing this, both Nameless and Shi Jingyu felt a jolt of shock. Shi Jingyu felt a wave of disgust at the mention of a “flower thief,” while Nameless was left with a question: What exactly is a “flower thief”? Do people actually steal flowers? “What’s a ‘flower thief’?” Nameless was just about to ask when he felt a sharp stomp on his foot—it hurt so much! It turned out Shi Jingyu had kicked him hard. After spending these past few days together, Shi Jingyu had gradually realized that Nameless wasn’t dull or foolish, but he seemed to lack a lot of common knowledge about this world. He often asked questions that were both laughable and exasperating. It was as if he hadn’t belonged to this world before; when asked why, he’d say he’d lost his memory. Yet in certain areas, he seemed to grasp things intuitively—which was quite strange. Seeing Shi Jingyu’s expression, Nameless thought, “Forget it, I won’t ask. It’s definitely not good news.” “How could a flower thief appear? Have you reported it to the authorities?” Shi Jingyu couldn’t just ignore the matter. “We did, but it didn’t do any good. Now the whole county is in a panic—people are too afraid to go out at night, so every household keeps their doors shut. Just now, when I saw the two of you coming—especially this young lady, who’s as beautiful as a flower,” the innkeeper said, glancing at Shi Jingyu, “I hurried to let you both in. If it had been just a little later, I’m afraid you might have caught the thief’s eye.” “What do you mean by ‘flower thief’?” Nameless couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer and asked while Shi Jingyu wasn’t looking. “You mean the sequence of events, right?” the innkeeper misunderstood; he thought Nameless was asking about the cause of the incident. “It started five days ago, when people began disappearing one after another from our county—all young, beautiful young women. Sometimes, they’d vanish in a single night. So people started spreading rumors that a ‘flower thief’ had come to the county. The authorities were notified, and word is that the Zhui Feng Society—one of the Four Divine Detectives—is coming personally, but they haven’t arrived yet. So for now, everyone just has to look out for their own families and hope to get through this period safely.” “So that’s how it is,” Nameless said, his face lighting up with realization. “Never mind. I don’t know martial arts anyway. Since the Four Divine Detectives are on their way, it probably won’t be our place to meddle. It’s best to leave this trouble-ridden place as soon as possible.” After witnessing the battle between the Thirteen Swallows of Yanbei and the Poison Sovereign, Nameless had become a bit timid. Shi Jingyu felt the same way. “All right, then we’ll be extra careful. Thank you for the warning, innkeeper. We’ll turn in early and stay indoors. Please prepare two premium rooms,” Nameless instructed. “Two premium rooms? Aren’t the two of you staying together?” The innkeeper’s mind wandered. “Stay together? Why would we?” Nameless’s mind started racing, and he couldn’t help but ask. Although the two had been chatting and laughing happily along the way, Nameless hadn’t dared to cross any boundaries—mainly because Shi Jingyu had been firm in his stance, and Nameless knew he wasn’t a match for Shi Jingyu anyway. This time, Shi Jingyu didn’t object. “Got it,” the innkeeper replied, then went downstairs to make the arrangements. Seeing the waiter leave, Nameless turned to Shi Jingyu. “Miss Shi, if you feel unsafe at night, you can come find me anytime,” Nameless said, putting on a thick skin. For some reason, every time he saw Shi Jingyu, he couldn’t help but lose his composure—it was strange. “Sure thing. Well then, sir, you’d better be ready tonight,” Shi Jingyu replied, having grown accustomed to Nameless’s roguish demeanor. She went along with it, her big, sparkling eyes glinting mischievously at him—clearly, she wasn’t being serious. Before long, their rooms were arranged. They were located at the far east end of the inn’s second floor, with Nameless and Shi Jingyu’s rooms right across from each other. The window in Nameless’s room faced the main road—the view was quite nice—while the window in Shi Jingyu’s room faced the inn itself, making it safer. After dinner, the two chatted for a while longer before retiring to their respective rooms to sleep. Having only just recovered, Nameless was indeed exhausted; he lay down on the bed, his mind foggy, and fell asleep immediately. It was already pitch dark, and Nameless didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when he heard a knock at the door. A sweet, high-pitched female voice called out, “Young Master, Young Master, are you awake?”