Chapter 18 - The Red Lantern Manor (Part 3)

Dressed in male garb and wearing a veiled bamboo hat, Meng Yu stood hidden in a small valley, as she watched a fancy horse carriage came to a stop in front of a small painting store. She had been keeping watch of this store for a few days, but she did not see anything suspicious at all. However, it seemed like her wait was fruitful this time.

The carriage driver unmounted and went to knock on the door for a few times, but there was no response at all. It was the same case with Meng Yu when she returned to this small painting store two days ago. The storekeeper probably knew that she would come back, and purposely close the store to evade her. Seemed like he had done his preparation in advance since there was no sight of him during these few days.

The driver became impatient after a while, so he took out an exquisite gold whistle from his pocket. The whistle was carved with a unique motif with a small red tassel was tied to it. When the driver blew lightly into it, the whistle made a peculiar high pitch sound that was similar to a swallow's cry.

After a few seconds, the once tightly shut door was pushed open, and a familiar young man quickly strode out of the store. The corner of Meng Yu's lips lifted upon seeing her target. Looks like her painstaking wait for these few days was not in vain, as Liu Fu this cunning rat had finally came out of his hiding.

Meng Yu could not hear their conversation clearly from her end, but she could see that Liu Fu was becoming extremely unsettled after a few words with the driver. After a while, he quickly nodded, and climbed into the horse carriage. Meng Yu also quickly mounted her horse and followed the carriage secretly as it made its way out of the city.

After travelling for half a day, a distinguished manor finally came into view from a distance away. Seeing the manor, Meng Yu sped up and took over the carriage. The carriage driver became alert of her presence, but before he could do anything, something small flew at him and hit him hard on the neck. The impact knocked him out and he immediately fell off the carriage with a thud. The horses were startled and began running amok, pulling the carriage behind it along in its wild escape. Liu Fu, who was sitting inside yelped in fright as he was thrown around unceremoniously in the small wooden box.

Meng Yu urged her horse forward so that it was running side by side with the upset horses. With a practiced movement, she flipped gracefully from her own ride onto the carriage and settled herself onto the driver's seat. Bracing herself, she grasped onto the horse rein and pulled hard. The carriage jerked to a halt as the horses reared its front leg in frustration. Meng Yu leaned forward to keep her balance while releasing the pressure on the rein simultaneously.

There was a loud crashing bang, and all kinds of profanities could be heard from inside of the carriage. The curtain flipped open, and the angry Liu Fu was greeted by a sneering Meng Yu.

"Caught you."

A silver light flashed, and before Liu Fu could even blink, there was a silver dagger pointing at his neck. He froze on the spot, and his beetroot face immediately turned as white as a sheet of paper.

"I hope you do enjoy the ride just now." Meng Yu said humourlessly, as she crouched down leisurely in front of him.

"You, you... why are you here?" Liu Fu stuttered frightfully.

"Hmm? You think you can hide from me?"

"You crazy-!" Liu Fu wanted to curse at her indignantly, but the remaining words was stuck in his throat when Meng Yu's expression turned frighteningly cold, and the dagger inched closer.

Gulping, Liu Fu's angry expression vanished without a trace, and was immediately replaced by a friendly smile.

"Aiya, what a coincidence, young lady! The weather is so good today. Are you here to take a breath of fresh air too?" Grinning from ear to ear, he tried to wheedle his way out.

A disparaging smile emerged on Meng Yu's face as she looked at the two-faced man in front of her. A sinister light glinted in her pair of deep black eyes, causing Liu Fu's heart to skip a beat.

"You only have two choices now. Either take me to the auction, or... "

Meng Yu raised her slender finger and drew an invisible line in front of her neck. Liu Fu trembled slightly as he could feel his entire back drenched in cold sweat.

"My good lady, you have no idea what kind of place the Red Lantern Manor is! If I bring you there, the big boss will definitely not let me go!"

"If I don't tell, and you don't tell, who would have known?" A slightly mischievous grin revealed on her rosy red lips, as she played with the dagger in her hand.

Liu Fu took a few deep breaths to calm himself and contemplated hard. His eyes never left the dagger that was barely an inch away from his fragile neck.

Coughing lightly twice, he solemnly replied, "Fine... I will help you to get inside, but once we are in the Red Lantern Manor, we will go our separate way. I don't care what you plan to do there, but if you get caught, you must not involve me."

"Deal." Meng Yu answered coldly as she retrieved her dagger.

"You will pretend to be my driver. There is a golden whistle with the driver. Go and get it, and..." There was a slight pause in Liu Fu's voice, as if he was hesitating for a moment, but he quickly pulled himself together before continuing, "The driver must not be allowed to live."

Meng Yu's brows raised slightly in surprise. To someone like her who had been through countless battlefield, she was numb to killing, but this man in front of her was obviously just a commoner. He probably had not killed an animal before. In fact, she found him quite intelligent but was extremely cowardly. It was truly out of her expectation for someone like him to have the audacity to suggest something like this.

However, she also understood his reasoning for it. If the driver was left alive, then after Liu Fu sneaked her into the manor as his driver, he would definitely be in trouble. Without the real driver's existence, if anyone questioned him in the future, he could maintain his innocence by insisting that he did not know the driver was not someone from the Red Lantern Manor. After all, the driver was sent by the manor, and he himself did not know the driver too.

In order to survive in this cruel world, one must learn to be as vicious as it.

A familiar faraway voice rang in her mind as she remembered the person who had once told her these words. It was probably the truest advice she had ever gotten, and it was embedded in her mind and heart for many, many years.

Perhaps she had underestimated this scholarly young man.

The sky had just darkened when they arrived at the Red Lantern Manor. Slowing down the carriage, Liu Fu poked his head out from behind the curtains, and whispered some words to Meng Yu who was driving at the front.

Very soon, they stopped at the main gate for inspection. The carriage they rode was from the Red Lantern Manor, so the guard recognized it but upon seeing the unfamiliar driver, the guard refused to let them pass. Feeling suspicious, the guard came forward and asked Meng Yu, "I have never seen you before. What is your name?"

Meng Yu did not reply as she produced the golden whistle from her pocket. Seeing the whistle, she noticed the changes in the guards' expression, and without further delay, they immediately opened the gate and let them enter.

Such a useful thing, Meng Yu thought to herself.

"What is this golden whistle?" Meng Yu asked as she steered the carriage towards a yard parked with many fancy and exquisite carriages.

"This is the Red Lantern Manor unique whistle that is made from real gold. This whistle represents the owner of the Red Lantern, Xia Hei. Anyone who works for the Red Lantern Manor would recognize it." Liu Fu explained in a low voice.

Xia Hei, the man who held tremendous power in the black-market. Meng Yu had heard of the Red Lantern Manor before, but she did not pay much attention to it since she had never needed to deal with the black-market before.

She vaguely remembered hearing the story of this person, Xia Hei. Rumours had it that Xia Hei originally came from a noble tribe clan of the far east land, but due to certain circumstances, his entire clan was branded traitor and massacred. He was the sole survivor, but that was because he was the one who betrayed his own clan. In return, he was demoted to a lowly slave, and suffered numerous tortures and humiliation. It can be said that he was a man who had successfully climbed out of the pit of hell, as he built the Red Lantern Manor single handed from nothing and became the most influential man in the shadow world. This man was known for his peculiar personality and unorthodox method of running the black-market businesses.

"Now that we are here, you should give me the golden whistle."

"Hmm, I don't think so."

Meng Yu shook her head, as she shoved the whistle into her pocket. Without waiting for Liu Fu's reply, she jumped down from the carriage, and left on her own.

"You must remember your promise!" Liu Fu hissed furiously as he watched her figure quickly disappeared in the dark night.