Suspicions

Chapter 22: Suspicions

After the maid brought her breakfast, Feng Ming Xiu sat at the table in the living room. Just as Feng Ming Xiu was about to start eating, she heard a knocking on her door. Feng Ming Xiu sighed and got up and went to the door.

Feng Ming Xiu opened the door and saw Hou Jin with a bamboo basket in his hand. Hou Jin looked at Feng Ming Xiu and said: "May I have the pleasure of dining with you, Miss Long?"

"I've said to many persons that I prefer being called by 'Doctor Long Bai' and not 'Miss Long Bai'." Feng Ming Xiu went back to the table. "Come in and close the door."

"Okay, Doctor Long Bai." Hou Jin nodded and came into the room and closed the door behind him.

Hou Jin sat at the table and placed the basket on the table. Feng Ming Xiu opened her steamer as well.

Feng Ming Xiu and Hou Jin took their chopsticks and started eating. Their breakfasts were the same. It consisted of steamed buns and rice noodles and a teapot filled with tea. Hou Jin didn't bring the teapot with him so he drank tea for Feng Ming Xiu's.

The two ate their breakfast quietly, with no one saying a word to each other. After Hou Jin ate, he packed up his stuff and stood up. "It was a pleasure eating with you, Doctor Long Bai." Hou Jin bowed. He reached the door and was about to open the door when Feng Ming Xiu placed her hand on his hand which was on the door handle.

"Turn around." Feng Ming Xiu said behind him.

Hou Jin turned around and faced Feng Ming Xiu. "You seem to be the same height as your disciple." Hou Jin said.

"So you're saying that you suspect us to be the same person?"

"Yes." Hou Jin admitted.

"Well, we're about the same height so I'm not surprised that you suspect us because of this."

"How old are you?" Hou Jin asked Feng Ming Xiu.

"I am 22 years old. How about you?"

"17."

Feng Ming Xiu looked at him in genuine surprise. "For a kid, you're good at disguising your voice as a 30-year-old."

'I'm surprised that he can disguise his voice so well.'

"So, Doctor Long Bai are you from the Arcane continent right?" Zhou Ling Shan tried to ask the question he asked the last time they met, once again.

"Hmm..." Feng Ming Xiu looked at Hou Jin coldly.

"You know, child, I'm being chased, and I suspect that my enemy knows my real identity, and they sent you to spy on me since they can't kill me." Feng Ming Xiu leaned in and touched Hou Jin's mask.

"Doctor Long Bai, do you like young boys like me?"

"Hahaha! Boy, you're funny." Feng Ming Xiu laughed and whispered in his ear: "You're a child, so you don't know, but one of the weapons women use to get information from men is seducing them."

"To be honest, I knew that although you wore these clothes that made you seem like a 30-something-year-old, you were less than 30. Last night when you intruded into my room, I touched you, and I examined your bone age in that short time and saw that your bone age was only 17."

"What?" Zhou Ling Shan was shocked. 'Even on the Arcane continent, there weren't many who could check another person's bone age. Persons who could do this were all well-known figures. If she's telling the truth, she has to be powerful because you need to be in heaven realm or higher to be able to check a person's bone age. But not many people were able to do it because of its difficulty. And, if you're able to check a person's bone age, but you're weaker than the person in terms of cultivation, the person would know that you're observing their body and can stop you immediately.'

"Doctor Long Bai, can I spar with you?" Zhou Ling Xiu asked.

"No." Feng Ming Xiu immediately rejected his request.

"Why not?"

"It's not what you think boy. I have more than one enemy, and they know that I'm good at alchemy and poison, and they know that I escaped to this continent. I already know that they're suspicious of this 'Doctor Long Bai' and they've been spying on me all this time. As soon as my aura slips out, they would have confirmed their suspicion, and they would set up some kind of trap to kill me."

"But your cultivation and aura are different things. Can't you just suppress your aura?"

"No." Feng Ming Xiu shook her head. "I can suppress my aura to some degree, but when I'm really angry it just slips out. When I'm cultivating, or I use my spiritual power, it immediately comes out. My enemies know this, so I can't take the risk."

'That's just nonsense.' Feng Ming Xiu's heart was racing. 'If I spar with him and use my spiritual power, he'll immediately know I'm lying.'

'I know that I can just not cure him because he's not related to me in any way, but I really want to test out the method to cure the cold poison. Master already got all the herbs needed. Why not use the opportunity to cure him and get money as well?'

"Oh. Okay." Zhou Ling Shan nodded.

"Sigh- I'm not afraid of trouble, but I would really like to be at peace." Feng Ming Xiu sighed once again and moved away from Hou Jin.

"Aren't you scared?" Zhou Ling Shan asked. "What if I am really someone sent by your enemy and I reveal all of what you said to me to them?"

"If you're just a random person they picked up, knowing them, they would kill you right after getting the information and set up some trap for me. Even if you tell them what I said, I'm not afraid of trouble, so I won't care if they come after me."

"How long did you take to come to this city?"

"I took twenty-three days." Feng Ming Xiu said.

"Okay. Then I'll take my leave." Zhou Ling Shan cupped his fist and left.

"Oh, you can leave whenever you want." Feng Ming Xiu shouted to Hou Jin.

Hou Jin looked back and nodded, then continued walking.

Feng Ming Xiu closed the door and took off her veil. 'How stressful.'

Feng Ming Xiu sat at the edge of the bed. 'I can't even check a person's bone age.'