Hong Jiu looked at the two men in their highly compromising position, a flicker of playful amusement flashing in her eyes. She flicked her cigarette, letting the white ash drift down beneath her fair wrist until nothing was left. Taking one last drag, she dropped the cigarette butt at her feet and snuffed it out with her red-soled high heels.
“Next time you two decide to make such a racket, remember to use a special room. The soundproofing is much better there—it won't disturb my beauty sleep.” Hong Jiu exhaled a cloud of smoke, through which Yao Wu could only catch a glimpse of her slightly upturned red lips.
Lu Yan scrambled to his feet, quickly breaking out of their awkward position. Yao Wu, however, seemed to find lying down rather comfortable and simply stayed where he was. Not that he was completely flat on the floor—several vines sprouted from his back, weaving themselves into a flimsy-looking lounge chair. He rocked back and forth on it, completely oblivious to the veins throbbing on Hong Jiu's forehead and her tensed muscles, still courting death by trying to play the hype man.
“What special room? That place is basically a dungeon. Did you have too much fun playing in there yourself last time? You pervert...”
Before Yao Wu could finish his sentence, Hong Jiu shoved his head straight into the wall, leaving him to utter muffled, broken whimpers. Hong Jiu turned a fake, chilling smile toward Lu Yan. “Would you like to try too?”
Lu Yan tremblingly picked up the teacup from the table, nearly spilling it, and took a sip. He didn't mind that Yao Wu had already drunk from it. Honestly, who would care about water that had been infused with a top-grade elixir? Even if the guy had cultivated into a human form, he was still highly nourishing.
Crisp footsteps echoed from the doorway. The moment Du Qi stepped inside, he was greeted by this striking scene. He shook his head helplessly at the sight of the body embedded in the wooden wall.
“Remember to patch that up.”
With his head still stuck in the wall, Yao Wu could only mumble incoherently, “Du Chi, how did ju get back?”
“I couldn't actually leave you to work four days straight by yourself. Don't you have a kid at home? Go back and spend some time with them in a bit,” Du Qi said with a gentle smile. But as his gaze swept over Lu Yan, who was sipping his tea in terror, Hong Jiu, who was busy demolishing the room, and... Yao Wu, who looked like a very practical and convenient tool, his smile began to falter.
Du Qi gently pinched the bridge of his nose, temporarily setting aside the mess. After all, having four of them gathered in one place was a rare occurrence for the Abandoned Guest Hall. Looking at the three of them, he had no idea who to ask first about what had happened. Ultimately, his gaze settled on Lu Yan. At least Lu Yan was slightly more reliable than those two absolute menaces.
“Eleven, is there a reason you came by tonight? You cleared out all our commissions last time, and we haven't gathered any new ones yet.”
Lu Yan had breathed a massive sigh of relief the moment Du Qi arrived. With Du Qi around, he at least wouldn't be sealed into a divine statue by that crazy woman Hong Jiu... wait, no, sealed into the wall. But when faced with Du Qi's question, he found himself at a loss for words. Was he supposed to just swagger up to Du Qi and say, “I'm flat broke, so I'm here for free lodging and free meals. Problem?” Sure, even if he said it like that, Du Qi would probably still accept him, give him a room, and keep him well-fed, but his favorability points would definitely plummet! Besides, Lu Yan simply didn't have the sheer audacity to say something like that to Du Qi. (Though if he were talking to Yao Wu, it would have felt perfectly natural, and he probably would have been even more arrogant.) He was just not that thick-skinned.
He had no choice but to make up a lie, claiming he had some business to attend to in Black Mountain Fort and needed to crash at the Abandoned Guest Hall for a couple of days, apologizing for the trouble... Even Lu Yan didn't believe his own words. It was such a flimsy, transparent excuse that anyone could see through it instantly. He felt he might as well have just been arrogant; at least that would have been genuine.
“Oh, business. There are plenty of empty rooms next to Hong Jiu's quarters. Go ahead and pick one later,” Du Qi said with a nod, his voice as gentle as ever. “Stay as long as you like.” He didn't ask what business Lu Yan had, nor how long he planned to stay. There were plenty of rooms anyway, so why not? It was nice to have some lively company.
He actually fucking bought it! Lu Yan was utterly flabbergasted. Though, come to think of it, he didn't actually have a mother in this life. The old man had never shown any interest in finding him a master's wife. Oh well, no matter. Lu Yan went back to happily sipping his tea.
Yao Wu, on the other hand, was not having such a good time. He wriggled his body like a strand of seaweed, trying to transition from a wall relief to a freestanding sculpture, but his efforts were entirely in vain. Every time he managed to wiggle out a fraction of an inch, Hong Jiu would shove him right back in, to the point where the entire wall looked like it was about to collapse.
When Lu Yan expressionlessly spat out a third wood splinter that had splashed into his teacup, Du Qi finally snapped. Dropping his usual gentle demeanor, his voice carried a heavy, weary anger, sounding exactly like an exhausted parent disciplining rowdy children. “Do you two absolutely have to demolish this place?!”
At his outburst, Hong Jiu pouted. She delivered a home-run kick straight to Yao Wu's backside, let out a massive yawn, and turned to Du Qi with a deeply aggrieved, coquettish look.
“Seventh Brother~, it's not like I started it. These two were making a racket downstairs and wouldn't let me sleep. When I finally got up and tried to have a smoke to wake myself up, this idiot yelled so loud he made me drop my cigarette. It burned me so badly, it hurts~”
As she spoke, she pulled down her collar to reveal a faint red mark. Are you sure you didn't just rub that yourself? Du Qi's mouth twitched. Looking at the slightly flushed skin just above her collarbone, it didn't look like a burn at all. He glanced over at Yao Wu, who was still wedged in the wall, and his mouth twitched again. Seriously, who was the real victim here?
Seeing that Du Qi remained completely unmoved even though she had pulled her collar down practically all the way, Hong Jiu stamped her foot. “Hmph, throwing coy glances at a blind man!” She turned on her heel and swept out of the room.
Lu Yan felt completely caught in the crossfire. Hey, have some respect for the disabled, will you? You don't treat me like a blind man, and you don't even treat me like a human. He could tell just by listening—Du Qi was just a massive straight man. What the hell did that have to do with being blind?
Yao Wu finally managed to wrench his head out of the wall. The very first thing he said was, “Seventh Brother~ mine is all red here too~”
“Go die!” Hong Jiu roared from just outside the door. She lunged back in like a bolt of lightning, executing a Seismic Toss followed by a Noxian Guillotine chokehold and an armbar to finish the match. Yao Wu frantically tapped the floor in a desperate surrender.
Lu Yan listened to the table being flattened as if struck by a runaway dump truck, felt the warm, wet tea soaking his lap, and heard the clatter of shattered porcelain all over the floor. His mind went completely blank.
As the only person in the room who had escaped physical harm, Du Qi looked at the office—which had once possessed a refined, scholarly atmosphere—now looking less like it was undergoing renovations and more like a demolition site. He gently pressed his hand to his forehead.
“What a tragedy.”
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