Chapter Thirty-Seven: Behind the Door Stood Lin Ya

The four of them sat around a table, while the Monkey and Hou Baiyu stood on the other side of the room, eyeing each other suspiciously.

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Hou Baiyu claimed that the Monkey had mistaken a thief for his leader and even handed him the key, so he was certainly a spy for the Evil Crow. The Monkey, in turn, said that Hou Baiyu had the heart of a traitor and a criminal record besides, and therefore ought to be killed before he caused any further trouble.

Su Mu carefully poured tea for everyone from the side. The moment they had met, Su Su had given him a fierce glare. Su Mu knew he was in the wrong. He had promised not to steal again, yet he had broken his oath. Though there had been an understandable reason, wrong was still wrong—or perhaps it could be explained as simply being improper. Beyond that, there was no other explanation.

Su Mu considered himself fearless, but he was terrified whenever Su Su grew angry, frowned, or looked unhappy.

Steam curled lazily from the tea, and its delicate fragrance slowly spread through the room until the entire hall was filled with its aroma. Su Su, seated opposite Wu Yue, had changed out of her beggar’s clothes and put on an ordinary outfit. The fabric was merely plain hemp, and the tailoring was nothing remarkable, yet on the fourteen-year-old girl it somehow seemed extraordinary. Anyone could now see that this girl called Su Su was far from ordinary.

After filling the four cups, Su Mu glanced cautiously at Su Su and said, “Su Su, I’ll prepare the meal today.”

He spoke with great care, making his tone as humble as possible. He was genuinely afraid that Su Su would frown and loudly insist on doing it herself. He did not want her to lose face. After all, it was difficult for anyone else to agree with the things Su Su cooked.

Fortunately, Su Su said nothing. She merely snorted, and Su Mu felt as though he had just been pardoned.

“Thank you both for coming today, little friends. I’m rather poor, so this is all I can offer you.”

Su Su laughed generously, without the slightest trace of embarrassment.

Zhao Qingzhi rolled her eyes. “Who are you calling a little friend?”

Yu Fu, for the first time, joined Zhao Qingzhi in standing her ground. “You’re the little friend here. Do you even know how old I am?”

Su Su raised both brows, a strange smile appearing on her face. “Comparing ages? Do you know how old I am? Want to take a guess?”

“Thirteen.”

Yu Fu suddenly remembered that she herself was an exception and hesitantly added two years. “Fifteen at most.”

But seeing Su Su’s exaggerated expression, he added another year. “Sixteen. Surely you can’t be any older than that!”

Su Su let out an exaggerated sigh. “You’re off by a mile, child. Your intuition is no good. If we’re speaking of my true age, I’m several hundred years old.”

Yu Fu and Zhao Qingzhi both clicked their tongues in disbelief.

Su Su did not bother to explain further. Instead, she suddenly became serious. “My name is Su Su.”

Wu Yue nodded. “My name is Wu Yue.”

Although they already knew each other’s names, they introduced themselves all over again. Su Su lifted her cup and slowly took a sip before putting on an expression of helpless resignation.

“Believe me or not, I really did find that key. As for giving it to the Monkey, I only wanted to trick him on a whim. It was simply a coincidence that everything turned out this way.”

Wu Yue gave a soft acknowledgment. “I understand.”

At this point, whether Wu Yue believed her or not no longer made any difference. There was no point in pursuing the matter, for it would accomplish nothing.

“So what do you plan to do? Lin Ya won’t be easy to deal with,” Su Su asked.

“We’ll let nature take its course.”

Wu Yue gave a sardonic smile. There was no better plan. Su Su nodded, unsurprised by his answer.

Hou Baiyu suddenly leaned close to Wu Yue’s face and suggested, “In that case, why don’t we lie low for now? Once your cultivation reaches perfection, you can deal with him then.”

The Monkey had been looking utterly distraught. What kind of medicine could a great demon possibly give him? To be fair, Boss Dao—or rather, Lin Ya—had treated him quite well. But when the Monkey considered Lin Ya’s identity, then listened to Hou Baiyu endlessly recounting his past deeds in vivid detail, he could not help shivering with dread.

Now that he heard Hou Baiyu’s suggestion, his soul nearly fled his body. If all of you leave, what am I supposed to do?

He hurriedly turned toward Wu Yue, his face full of anxiety.

Wu Yue shook his head. Naturally, that was impossible.

“Lin Ya must die. I won’t rest easy as long as he lives. Besides, I don’t believe he’ll emerge completely unharmed. If he’s seriously injured, that will be my best opportunity to kill him.”

Wu Yue did not add that if Lin Ya somehow failed to suffer such grave injuries, the outcome could be guessed easily enough.

Hou Baiyu opened his mouth to say something, but Wu Yue suddenly smiled.

“You’re going too.”

Wu Yue seemed to have thought of something. Then he added, “In a moment, I’ll give you a poison pill as well. If you betray us in the middle of the fight, then…”

He left the sentence unfinished, but everyone understood what he meant.

Su Su smiled too. “Everyone has to go. We can’t waste a single fighter.”

The courtyard was situated in an extremely remote part of the city.

Wu Yue, Yu Fu, the Monkey, and Hou Baiyu stood before its gate. The Monkey suddenly felt his heart pounding, along with a vague sense of unease.

The pounding was understandable. After all, they were about to face Lin Ya—the man who should never have existed in the Monkey’s world, yet had somehow become his enemy. How could he not be frightened? How could he not panic?

But that thread of unease was strange. Could he be feeling guilty?

The Monkey shook his head vigorously, trying to fling the thought from his mind.

Hou Baiyu did not look any better. Whenever he thought of the grain of rice Wu Yue had casually made him swallow, his body began to feel uncomfortable. No matter how he looked at it, it had been nothing more than a grain of rice. Wu Yue had never said it was poison. Yet the more Hou Baiyu thought about it, the more certain he became that it was.

Especially when he remembered the way the Monkey had looked at him.

What kind of look was that?

A look of shared misfortune.

Yu Fu, by comparison, seemed perfectly normal. His small face was tense, but he was far less nervous than the Monkey and Hou Baiyu.

“Little brother, are you really not afraid? Why don’t you persuade our Brother Wu?” Hou Baiyu swallowed and continued, unwilling to give up.

“What’s there to be afraid of? My master says I’ll live to at least a hundred. I’m still a long way from that age.”

Yu Fu wore an utterly unconcerned expression.

Hou Baiyu could only give a dry chuckle. He desperately wanted to say: You’re an absolute fool, so innocent it hurts. My master once told me that I was born with tremendous luck. How come I’ve never seen any of it? When I gamble, I still lose. When I fight, I still get beaten. Even my bad luck never seems to end.

Wu Yue appeared the calmest of them all, but his heart was naturally far from tranquil.

He was the first to step into the courtyard.

Silence reigned within. On the eastern side stood a single room, its door tightly shut. The other three followed close behind.

The four of them stopped before the door.

Lin Ya was inside.

Lin Ya of the Evil Crow.

A great master of the demonic path, famous throughout the entire Qin Kingdom, the whole Great You Alliance, and even the surrounding regions.

What could he be doing at this moment?

The Monkey wondered whether Lin Ya was hiding inside, exposing only two red eyes—or perhaps writing and drawing strange symbols in the air.