Ren Xiaosu had already returned to the town outside of Stronghold 61. When he first got to the Central Plains, he started off from here. He even bought a house and planted some Potato Shooters in the yard.
As soon as he went into the house, he saw the corpses of several people lying on the ground just as he had anticipated. They were all killed by the Potato Shooters when they leaped into his yard while he was away.
Ren Xiaosu sighed. Now that this place had become the haunted house of the town, it would probably be a little difficult to sell it away.
After cleaning up the house, he headed straight to the tavern.
When he arrived there, the storyteller was telling a new story again. Ren Xiaosu pricked his ears up to listen and was surprised to hear it was about Xu Zhi’s rescue in the wilderness.
The storyteller said, “My dear listeners, you might not know that the world’s been getting stranger lately. That mysterious young man in the wilderness is traveling the lands and upholding justice with his maid in tow…”
After entering the tavern, Ren Xiaosu was smiling as he ordered a bowl of lamb stew from the waiter. Xiaolu was sitting in a chair next to the storyteller, but it seemed like she did not notice Ren Xiaosu at all.
Ren Xiaosu was puzzled. Had they forgotten about him after he had been away for just a few days? Even the waiter was acting like he had never seen Ren Xiaosu before.
Just as he was about to take his usual seat by the window, he realized a woman wearing a black cap was already sitting there.
He had encountered this woman before and nearly even mistook her for Yang Xiaojin!
The woman was still dressed in a trim combat uniform and a pair of combat boots. As these were steel-toe combat boots, normal women would not want to wear them.
Ren Xiaosu did not say anything and just chose another table to sit down at. He realized the reason why Xiaolu, the storyteller, and the waiter were pretending not to know him might have something to do with this woman’s presence.
Was she a supernatural being? Ren Xiaosu was not very sure, but he could confirm that she was sure to be someone with a powerful background.
But why would a woman like her appear here in town?
As usual, Ren Xiaosu carefully tore the bread into tiny pieces for half an hour as he listened to the storyteller praising him through his storytelling.
Throughout, the woman wearing the black cap remained silent and did not look up at Ren Xiaosu once. She only cared about drinking but did not seem to get drunk no matter how much she drank.
Ren Xiaosu left after eating his lamb stew. It wasn’t until evening that he heard a knocking on his door.
He walked up to the door but did not face it directly. Instead, he hid behind the brick wall next to it and asked, “Who’s there?”
“Me.”
It was Xiaolu’s voice.
Ren Xiaosu opened the door slightly and Xiaolu agilely squeezed in through the opening. “Did you see that woman wearing the cap?”
Ren Xiaosu nodded.
“Ever since she came here, my grandpa specifically ordered me and the waiter to pretend not to know you if we see you again.” Xiaolu said, “She’d been here once before and even paid a visit to my grandpa’s house. However, I don’t know what they talked about as Grandpa told me to go and buy a bottle of soy sauce for him.”
Xiaolu finished her sentence in a single breath as though she were afraid Ren Xiaosu would misunderstand her. After all, she had pretended not to know Ren Xiaosu during the day.
Ren Xiaosu nodded and said with a smile, “I thought that y’all had forgotten me. But who on earth is that woman? She actually made your grandpa that wary?”
“Well, I’m not too sure. I only know that she’s a very powerful superhuman.” Xiaolu said, “Have you been on a mission recently? Why’d you go away for half a month?”
“Mhm, the location of the mission was a little bit far,” Ren Xiaosu replied.
“Was it a mission concerning the Zhou Consortium?” Xiaolu asked.
Ren Xiaosu just smiled and did not answer her question.
However, Xiaolu asked again, “Do you know how to use a sniper rifle? Are you that person with the maid?”
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Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “What sniper rifle?”
He realized Xiaolu and the storyteller had already guessed the person was him. However, they were not too sure because the operation was extremely secretive this time.
Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “Do I look like someone with a maid?”
“That’s true; you’re still by yourself.” Xiaolu nodded, feeling reassured. “Then will you still come by the tavern tomorrow?”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “With that woman around, I shouldn’t be appearing at the tavern so often while her identity is still unknown. I’ll be leaving tomorrow.
“Where are you going?” Xiaolu fluttered her lashes.
“I’ll be going to the black market at Luoyang City.” Ren Xiaosu did not hide it from her.
“Will you still come back?”
“Yes.” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “I still have a house here. If that woman leaves, throw a bunch of weeds into my yard, and I’ll get the message.”
“Alright then, I’ll head back home now. You’d better be careful.” Xiaolu sounded sad. In fact, she would have liked to have gone with Ren Xiaosu to see the world, but she knew her grandpa would get very angry if she did.
After saying that, Xiaolu squeezed through the opening in the door again and disappeared off into the darkness. Only Xiaolu’s scent still lingered in the house. Before coming over, she apparently applied some perfume on herself. It smelled pretty good and was not one of the inferior perfumes sold in town.
Xiaolu returned home looking down. The storyteller snapped at her, “Where have you been?”
“I… I went out to gather more stories,” Xiaolu replied.
“You were totally unsettled the moment he came back to town. Did you go and look for him?” The storyteller pulled a long face. “I’ve told you so many times that this sort of person is very dangerous, and it’s even more dangerous for you to hang around him.”
“Grandpa,” Xiaolu said pitifully, “I want to go out and see the world.”
“I think you just want to be his maid!”
“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Xiaolu said stubbornly.
The storyteller was stunned for a moment. He said with a sigh, “You’re still young, but he’s someone who has walked into that power vortex. I won’t allow you to be with him.”
“But I’m also very strong,” Xiaolu said, unconvinced.
“You should listen to more stories first to understand just how dangerous this wild world is,” the storyteller said earnestly.
“But why?”
“Because what’s most dangerous about the world aren’t the firearms or superpowers out there, but the people. You have to learn what the true nature of this wild world is,” the storyteller said with a smile.
“OK, so how long do I have to listen to these stories?” Xiaolu sat at the table and placed her chin on her hand as she stared blankly into space.
“Another year. Another year and I’ll let you venture out,” the storyteller said.
Then the storyteller heard Xiaolu folding some paper next to him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m folding paper cranes,” Xiaolu said with a smile.
The storyteller felt a tinge of despair in his heart. What the hell!
Before Ren Xiaosu returned to the town at Stronghold 61, the storyteller had been hoping the cap-wearing woman would quickly leave. With someone like her coming to listen to his stories every day, he was under too much stress!
It was not that he was afraid the woman would pose a threat to him. After all, there was no conflict of interest between the two of them. However, that woman knew too much, so he could no longer make up the stories as he liked anymore.
And now, he hated Ren Xiaosu more than that woman.
The storyteller really hoped Ren Xiaosu would leave as soon as possible and not to return to Stronghold 61 again to harm his granddaughter.