4.2 - Snowy Mountain with a Peach Blossom Tree: Volume I

The past three inns that I had been to were full. My heart started to race as I thought about how I may not be able to find a place to rest for the next three days. Should I be sleeping on the streets in the worst case scenario? I shuddered at the thought of having to sleep in public, on the cold and hard ground. It may be dangerous too. In the second worst case scenario, perhaps I could visit an entertainment house for two nights—I could probably pass off as a customer and I could simply not touch the ladies there...

But now, I was still optimistic. There were numerous other guesthouses that I had not checked yet. There would be at least a single vacant room in this considerably large town.

Without wasting more time, I entered the next inn down the street to escape the crowd. There were a few patrons having their meals on the ground floor of the building. All of them were dressed just like the jianghu characters that I often saw on television. Most of them had their weapons displayed proudly on the tables or beside them. One rule in jianghu was that if I minded my own business, they would mind theirs.

"Boss, any vacant rooms available for two nights?" I asked the innkeeper who was busying himself behind the shop counter.

The late middle-aged man looked up from his bookkeeping and sized me up. Seeing that I posed no threat to his business, he checked his books again. There was no immediate rejection, which meant that there was some hope!

I suppressed my swelling emotions and kept a straight face. Another rule in jianghu was not to reveal too much of oneself to anyone.

The innkeeper stroked his chin and gave a low hum. "There is one available room, but it is one of our more expensive suites... Young man, will you take it?"

Suspicion crawled up my spine. Was this a scam?

I frowned and took out a coin purse from my bag. I was not familiar with ancient currency but I was given these silvers to spend anyway.

"Yes. I'll pay upfront," I said as I generously placed a large silver ingot onto the countertop. For two nights, it should not be as costly a silver ingot. A tael of silver or two should be sufficient.

A glint flashed through the innkeeper's eyes and he nodded profusely. He reached out to take it, but I withheld it.

"My meals will be covered as well," I narrowed my eyes as I tapped the silver. "I don't eat much."

"Of course, most honoured guest," he laughed with glee and took the silver. "Why don't you have a seat and have some food first while we tidy up your room? Our signature dumpling noodles are the best in this town."

I nodded and sat down at a nearby empty table. "I'll have a bowl."

I looked around at my surroundings, trying to be as natural as possible. Some of the other patrons looked in my direction but their curiosity lasted only seconds. Everyone was cautious and alert, but still polite. Even the fiercest looking hero, with his large spear leaning against the wall, was having his noodles peacefully. Perhaps this was the norm in the pugilistic world.

Not long after my bowl of steaming hot noodles arrived, a beautiful and elegant young lady entered the inn. She was wearing a white dress with lotus embroidery and in her right hand was a sheathed sword. Her expression was kind and gentle as she sat down at an empty table. Her maidservant called for a waiter and ordered some food for them. The young lady glanced up in my direction and made eye contact with me. I quickly looked down at my noodles and concentrated on eating them. At the moment, I was dressed as a male. If she caught me staring, she may think that I was flirting with her.

As I munched on the last bits of my meal, shrill sound of dragging of tables and chairs followed by a loud commotion resounded. Startled, I sought out the source of the noise as my hand rested on my bag. I was ready to escape if there was trouble.

A group of ruffians had staggered into the inn and was crowding around the beautiful young lady. To her chagrin, one of the ruffians, who seemed like the boss, had unwelcomely sat down at her table and was teasing her. The group of them laughed at her discomfort.

Subconsciously, I touched my topknot with my hand and wondered if crossdressing was indeed useful.

The young lady stood up and grabbed her sword, prepared to leave. But the head of the ruffians grabbed her arm and refused to let her go despite her putting up a struggle.

"Hey!" A loud male voice came from the other corner of the room. All the spectating patrons turned their heads at the sound of someone intervening. There was a young man, dressed in orange and brown swordsman clothing, who was standing up and pointing at the group of ruffians. His glower was dangerously strong as he appeared to challenge the group of hoodlums who were bullying the two helpless females.

He slammed his sheathed sword onto the sturdy wooden table, causing the head ruffian to freeze in his indecent actions. The ruffian released the young lady and pulled out a large sabre menacingly. He swung it effortlessly in the air, making slashing motions. Instinctively, I shrank back and cowered behind a table.

"Gentlemen do not take advantage of females!" The youth drew out his sword at lightning speed and stepped forward. The sword made a sharp whistle as it cut through the air, warning surrounding onlookers to move out of its way immediately.

The innkeeper suddenly rushed forward anxiously and tried to usher both parties out of the inn. "Please do not fight in here! We're doing a business! You're scaring away my customers!"

While everyone's attention was on the chivalrous youth who was brave enough to challenge a group of ruffians, my gaze fell on the back of another young man, dressed in a white gown with a grey mink cloak draped over his shoulders. Silently, he stood up to follow the group of the inn. Half of his hair was done up, but the other half was loosely flowing down his back. He looked like a handsome scholar, but in his hand was a sheathed sword. He exuded a mysterious yet dangerous aura.

He looked slightly unfamiliar due to his hairstyle and archaic attire, but I could recognise the cold gaze in those familiar eyes anytime and anywhere. A chill ran down my spine. This was too coincidental and frightening.

"Ji Kai," I grabbed my bag and called out after him. "Classmate Ji?"[2]

The youth who looked like a splitting image of Ji Kai ignored me as he focused on the fight that had started out on the streets.

I ran towards him, not wanting to lose him. This was a clue.

"Ji Kai," I lunged forward and clutched onto his arm. "It's me."

The young man narrowed his eyes and stared down at me with unfamiliarity. He shook my hand off and brushed me off gently. I stared after him, my confusion growing. Did he not recognise me? Was it not him?

"Mo-xiong![3] Some help here!" The young man in orange who was currently embroiled in a scuffle called out to the Ji Kai lookalike.

"Young Lady, you must have recognised the wrong person. I'm busy now, please move out of the way."

"Wait! Are you not Ji Kai?" I asked, still clinging onto his long sleeves as he pulled backwards patiently.

"Careful!" he suddenly shouted and pulled me behind him with one arm. One of the ruffians had swung a broadsword in our direction to attack us. The Ji Kai lookalike blocked the attack with his still sheathed sword, and repeatedly fended off blows in a calm yet imposing manner. His attacker swung the weapon aimlessly, easily tiring himself out. In a single swift movement, the Ji Kai lookalike had expertly struck down the ruffian, who rolled on the ground in pain.

I did not think that Ji Kai's martial arts was at such an advanced level.

"The guards are here!" Someone from the onlooking crowd shouted.

The ruffians stopped their attacks on the two young men and fled immediately. The young lady rushed over to the youth in orange and checked for injuries.

"Thank you for saving me," I came up beside the Ji Kai lookalike, a new plan forming in my head. "I must repay you as my benefactor. May I ask for your name, young hero?"

"There is no need to repay me," he said curtly without glancing down, "I was just lending a helping hand."

My insides writhed with suppressed anxiety. Shamelessly, I tightened my grip on his sleeves. "You cannot leave."

"Is this person a friend of yours, Mo-xiong?" The youth in orange strolled up to us, clearing his throat. His questioning gaze raked over me.

"Yes, we're friends," I said quickly before the Ji Kai lookalike could respond. "Are you his friend too?"

"Mo-xiong's friend is also my friend!" he responded cheerfully. "I am Bai Zhen. Nice to meet you."

"Bai Zhen?" I gasped delightedly upon hearing the familiar name. He is Bai Zhen, the male protagonist, from the book? It must be! He involved himself in a scuffle in order to save the female protagonist, Chu Shiyin. That was a fact that just happened before my eyes.

My attention swivelled from Bai Zhen to the other youth. "If he is Bai Zhen, then you must be Mo Yue?"

His lips thinned into a line as his eyes showed a flicker of surprise. "Do you know me?"

"Hold on. You're not acquainted?" asked Bai Zhen, crossing his arms as he frowned at me.

Ignoring him, I continued my interrogation. "That Mo Yue from Jinghe Palace? The young heir whose fighting skills are unrivalled?"

Mo Yue's expression darkened upon hearing my words, but his face still appeared elegant and gentle.

"Walk with me," he said to me with a certain chill to his voice before turning to exchange a few words with Bai Zhen. I noticed a slight change to his tone when he told Bai Zhen that he would meet him the next day at the convention.

I nodded and finally let go of his sleeves. Ji Kai probably wanted to explain everything to me in private. That was why he acted as if he did not know me. Earlier, he had called me "Young Lady"—perhaps he did recognise me after all.

Turning on his heels, Mo Yue started walking off, heading into the crowd on the busy market street. I waved goodbye to Bai Zhen and hurried after Mo Yue.

Could it be that Ji Kai had somehow transmigrated into the book and became Mo Yue? Earlier, we had discussed that there was something wrong with the character of Mo Yue. In that case, is Ji Kai facing some difficulties returning back to reality?

I caught up to Mo Yue and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey," I started, "did you run into some trouble?"

Without answering me, he continued walking down the street before turning right into a narrow, deserted alley. I staggered to a halt as Mo Yue turned around without a warning.

He sighed, a stern expression on his good looking face. "Young Lady, we have not crossed paths before. How do you know my identity?"

"Ji Kai, are you suffering from amnesia or something? How can you not know me?" I swallowed, slightly puzzled at the turn of events. Was there something that went wrong when Ji Kai transmigrated? "How did you end up becoming Mo Yue?"

"You have mistaken me for someone else. You and I have not met before."

I stopped smiling. I had to report this finding back to the Tower. There was indeed something really really wrong. Ji Kai had fallen into the plot gap and ended up filling the lacuna instead. No wonder he could not return.

Time to put the new plan into full action.

"Mo-gege, my name is Xiaoyu. I have long heard of your renowned name and grand, heroic deeds. It is my greatest honour to have had a life-and-death encounter with you today." I clenched my teeth and kept my gaze directed to the ground. "You are someone that I look up to. Please let me repay this favour."

"What is your motive for approaching me?"

My ears perked up at his question. This conversation was going in a good direction. "To be honest, I need your help to locate a person. I am looking for my friend who has gone missing," I replied meekly.

"You need my help? Why should I help you?"

I lifted up head and caught a glint in his eye. "You are the Young Master of Jinghe Palace. But that is not your only identity. You also command a secret intelligence agency under the facade of your organisation. If you help me to locate my friend, I will repay you with my talent."

There was a moment of silence as we held a staring contest. I fought back against his intense gaze, something that I was used to whenever I interacted with Ji Kai.

Mo Yue's unexpected laughter broke the impasse. "You said that you wanted to repay a favour, but you are asking me for another favour instead. What is this talent that you speak of?"

A secretive grin spread across my face as I clasped my hands together. "I can foretell the future and I have information that would be of interest to you."

Mo Yue raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He looked at me and waited.

Was he waiting for me to prove it? I could tell the future only because I have knowledge of the events that would occur in the book. But I could not simply make up random stories.

I glanced at the sword in his hand as I racked my brains for some major detail from the book. Ah, there was something.

"I can tell you what will happen tomorrow, but you can't use the information to engage in vices like gambling!"

Mo Yue frowned disapprovingly when I mentioned gambling but nodded anyway.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Tomorrow, your friend Bai Zhen will come in first in the competition."

He inspected me for a moment, probably wondering if he should believe me. At present, it was hard to tell how proficient Bai Zhen was at sparring as Mo Yue had only seen him in action once, during their first encounter. But tomorrow, Bai Zhen would be competing with the powerful martial artists and disciples of the prominent sects and he would be making his grand debut in jianghu.

"I can only take your word for it," he said after another long pause. "I will decide if I will help you tomorrow."

"It will definitely happen. I will leave you alone if my prediction is wrong. But before that, you have to let me follow you around."

A sigh escaped from his lips, but there was a hint of a restrained smile. "Let's go then."

Seeing that Mo Yue had placed some trust in my words, my heart leapt joyfully.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I need someone to run my errands," Mo Yue answered stiffly.

As I followed him closely out of the small alley and back onto the busy main street, I caught a brief glimpse of a wry smile, which vanished as quickly as it appeared.

***