Each has his own Pet Peeve

On the streets north of Tian Ruo City, because the army was active in South City today, the northern district, the most prosperous area in Tian Ruo City, was as busy and bustling as usual.

Wang Xiaoer was sitting in the luxury guest room of Hundred Flavors Residence, feasting merrily and utterly uninhibited.

Although he was spending someone else's money, Blood Wolf still felt a twitch in the corner of his mouth as he watched.

Damn it, this wasn't like drinking bird's nest as water! He was using bird's nest as mouthwash!

Abalone?

He was eating abalone as buns!

Even the dumbest person would have come to their senses by now. Blood Wolf had naturally realized that this Wang Xiaoer was less of a "nephew" and more of a "hostage."

"Uncle, sit and eat with me!" Wang Xiaoer said merrily as he tore off a leg of snow goose delivered from Nanyang for the consumption of nobles like King. He extended an invitation to Blood Wolf without the slightest hint of fear towards this notorious ruthless killer.

Blood Wolf had never seen such an oblivious hostage before. Can't you see I kill without batting an eye? Show some tension, dammit.

Blood Wolf impatiently replied, "The master said earlier that I shouldn't have too much contact with... you."

He changed his words slightly as he recalled Lu Gaosheng's instructions.

"Oh," Wang Xiaoer responded plainly and continued eating.

Damn it!

Outwardly, Wang Xiaoer was calm, but he had already cursed furiously to himself several times!

Earlier, he had seemed to be wolfing down his food, but in fact, he had secretly poisoned this snow goose, using its pungent aroma to disguise the toxins he had stealthily applied. Although it was a slow-acting poison, once the incubation period ended, even a master at the Earth level would be affected.

Moreover, ever since they came from South City, Wang Xiaoer had tried this several times. No matter how genuine his "naive exuberance" seemed, Blood Wolf would not come into close contact with him.

If Wang Xiaoer made any move to leave Blood Wolf's vicinity, the silver wolf blade would immediately be drawn, held casually in Blood Wolf's hand as a clear warning.

The meaning was obvious. Try to escape, and you die.

Thinking of all this, Wang Xiaoer's pretense of gluttony gradually slowed.

"After you finish eating, go bathe. New clothes have been prepared," said Wang Xiaoer, looking utterly honest.

"Us poor folk aren't used to bathing. Uncle, let's just bathe tomorrow," he replied.

Blood Wolf smiled slightly. "You can choose to bathe yourself, or...I can help you bathe."

Wang Xiaoer said awkwardly, "It's not appropriate for a man to bathe another man, uncle."

Blood Wolf laughed coldly. You little brat haven't even grown all your body hair. What kind of man are you? He impatiently said, "There's a brothel nearby. Why not find a nice girl to help you bathe?"

Of course, Blood Wolf had no intention of allowing this.

But Wang Xiaoer thought: Wow, hostage-taking comes with benefits like this?

No, no. Wang Xiaoer shook his head furiously to himself. As a man of undying passion, how could I betray little Jade?

Wang Xiaoer then asked, "What about these clothes of mine?"

"Throw them away. The master has prepared high-quality embroidered robes for you."

"But my mother made these clothes with her own hands."

"Then I can keep them safe for you."

"Oh, then just throw them away."

After this lame attempt at stalling failed, Wang Xiaoer understood one thing - the frankincense powder he had sprinkled on himself for his master to track him, along with the hidden pouches in his clothes containing poisons and projectiles, were probably doomed.

Although this guy had formidable martial arts, the brainless Blood Wolf clearly lacked the prudence to be wary even of a child. After all, he was just following the manipulations of Lu Gaosheng in the background.

Master, you've met your match. If it comes down to it, just do as I said in my letter and don't worry about me.

...

...

Afterward, Wang Xiaoer was bathing.

Blood Wolf boredly rifled through Wang Xiaoer's plain clothes, originally thinking the master was being overly cautious. But then he discovered the hidden pouches with poisons and weapons.

The projectiles were fine; those could be dodged. But the poisons were another story - one scratch drawing blood from Zhang San's products and your throat will swell shut.

After all, Blood Wolf was a veteran of the jianghu. After carefully examining them, he recognized some of the poisons and recalled Wang Xiaoer's "naive exuberance" along the way. Blood Wolf thought furiously to himself:

"Damn it! The master was right to be cautious. This brat and his master aren't just petty crooks. One careless moment and I might really be killed by this kid!"

Even if not killed, if poisoned and caught off guard by Wang Xiaoer, losing face was a strong possibility.

...

...

In the city, at Lu Mansion.

The flower garden was brightly lit. Lu Gaosheng's residence still had its usual refined, literary feel.

But unlike normal, the courtyard had no one walking about. Even Li Xing and Kill Wolf could only stand guard far away at the entrance.

Inside the room, Zhang San and Lu Gaosheng were chatting merrily.

Of course, both were actually trying to extract information from the other, like Zhang San's primary concern - the "manor" Lu Gaosheng had mentioned.

And Lu Gaosheng was interested in Zhang San's true identity and whether any jianghu forces were behind him. After all, it was highly irregular for someone to reach Zhang San's level without the assistance of an established martial sect.

But after chatting all night about everything under the sun - current politics, jianghu gossip - they both gave up on coaxing out intel.

Lu Gaosheng silently berated himself for stupidity, while Zhang San thought perhaps he was too anxious because of Wang Xiaoer's capture.

They both realized:

Playing word games with someone like this is utterly useless.

Late into the night.

The two men bid each other good night with a "friendly" handshake, having supposedly reached a cooperative agreement. Then they retired separately.

Zhang San chose to sleep on the higher beams, which allowed him to observe the brightly lit outer garden through the skylights and stop Lu Gaosheng if he tried to flee. This position also enabled him to instantly apprehend Lu Gaosheng.

Then Zhang San opened the letter Wang Xiaoer had secretly stuck to him earlier.

It said:

Master, the involved see less clearly than bystanders. After listening for so long, I understand very clearly - this man is a madman, just as you said!

He's gambling, betting his life against yours.

This is a madman's gamble. His chips are 30,000 taels of silver, three top-notch experts, an army of thousands, your secret of killing Hei Shanke, and even his own life. What he wants is to use your martial arts to kill someone for him.

Our chips are just the two of us, master and disciple. What we want is to leave safely.

The stakes are unequal. Losing is certain.

We've lost.

But fortunately, it's only me who will lose this time. Don't worry too much about me, master.

I tricked you into buying this shop. If you hadn't bought it, none of this would have happened.

Fault upon fault, it's Xiao Er's fault.

I'm sorry, master.

And I know you'll definitely try to save me.

But master, you must remember one thing. This Lu Gaosheng somehow knows so much. You must kill him. If you help him kill someone and he still wants to use me to control you, don't worry about me if that time comes.

You must kill him. This man is too dangerous.

Besides, you know Xiao Er is smart. I might even escape myself, so don't fret over me.

That was the end of the letter.

I'm not as perceptive as little Xiao Er after all.

I really was too involved to see clearly.

But this Wang Xiaoer, he's clever but also truly an idiot!

"If I could ignore you, that Lu Gaosheng would already be dead," Zhang San murmured.