Ch.36 The Lunatic of The Lonewolf, ‘Gui’

{A week later}

The moon was already illuminating brightly in the night sky when Luo Yue finally left the room she had been drinking in with Wu Zhe Yan.

She did not wish to admit but it seemed like she had found the perfect drinking partner. A partner that might not be a better drinker than her, yet, if she were to be more honest with herself, was a more knowledgeable one. Albeit, a slightly deranged one.

A week had already passed and yet, she still had not stepped a single foot out of ‘The Drunken Haven’. While she still found Wu Zhe Yan impossible to get along with, at least, he was more tolerable now.

“Hey, kitty!” The window that she had just walked past made a loud creaking noise as it was suddenly pushed open. With that signature smirk hanging on his face, the General who was lazily leaning back out of the window called out to her.

Alright, perhaps not. She would like to take back her words. He was still as insufferable as ever.

“What do you want, crazy dog?” At least now, after a week of drinking together, she was starting to acknowledge his presence.

“There’s a festival tomorrow night. It's our city's annual event. Do you want to go?”

“No.” She did not like overcrowded places.

“A drinking festival,” he re-emphasised.

“Inform me when it’s time to leave.”

He snickered at her instant change of mind as he closed the window behind him. “Sure.”

As Luo Yue’s footsteps slowly disappeared into the night, Wu Zhe Yan’s smile slowly faded as his expression turned into one of unreadable coldness. He swirled his cup absentmindedly, the icy aloofness in his eyes reflecting in his wine.

‘What a pity,’ he thought.

They could have been friends, but it seemed like the Emperor wished to tighten a noose around her neck. And unfortunately, he would have to be the one tying that knot.

There was only one word to describe their relationship.

Ill-fated.

He downed that cup and poured himself another. There was this dull uneasiness in his heart. Not enough to cause much trouble, but just enough to make him feel a mild discomfort.

What a pity indeed.

A knock sounded on the door. “Lord, it’s me.”

“Come in.”

Qi slid the door open and gave a respectful salute before reporting to his lord, “as per your orders, I have investigated Miss She Li’s background.”

Wu Zhe Yan took another sip from his cup. “What have you found?”

“Lord, as you’ve thought, it’s a fake name. The name, ‘She Li’, does not exist in any of the record books in the Capital.”

“What about the assassin who shot at her carriage? Has he been caught?”

“Unfortunately, the guards that were sent after him did not manage to wound him at all.” Seeing the dangerous scowl on Wu Zhe Yan’s face, Qi hurriedly continued, “however, we think we may have found the identity of the assassin.”

Qi placed a few steel traps on the table before his lord. Wu Zhe Yan reached out a hand and held up one of them, surprised by the mechanism that he had never seen before. He turned it over in his hands carefully, amused by the simple yet merciless design. They were all in an unusual shape, small and seemingly harmless but a single mistake and anyone could easily lose a limb. And the dried blood on them told Wu Zhe Yan that some soldiers had already fell victim to them.

“Lord, have you heard of the Lonewolf?” Qi questioned.

“The God of War’s personal troop?” Wu Zhe Yan glanced up, wondering why such a name was appearing in their conversation right now.

“Yes, and among them, there was one low-profile person who was surprisingly respected by the Lonewolf members. He was said to be their genius blacksmith, the one in charge of all their weapons and the one they called an eccentric. He went by the name of ‘Gui’ and had been missing since the disappearance of The God of War. At that time, many believed that he had died along with his master. However, we have reasons to believe that he is still alive and has reappeared. was the assassin.”

Wu Zhe Yan straightened up instantly. This was not a small piece of news. In fact, it could very well sway the entire country. “You think that he is our assassin. What’s the proof?”

“We know that 'Gui' is one of the greatest masters of weapon-making and like every master, every genius is always accompanied by a streak of pride. He is no exception; he always leaves a mark somewhere on his creations. Lord, if you take out the small rod acting as the lock of the trap here and shine a light at the empty hole, you’ll be able to see that he has somehow managed to carve his trademark inside.”

Wu Zhe Yan held one of the traps near the candlelight and indeed, as Qi had said, a small marking of a howling wolf could be seen magnificently carved into the side of the hollow hole. He leaned back onto his chair as he mused, “if the Lonewolf were really trying to assassin the little lynx, he wouldn’t have made such a half-baked effort. It was not an assassin attempt.”

“Could he have been trying to make contact with Miss She Li instead?”

Wu Zhe Yan found Qi’s words to be very plausible but why? Why would the notorious Lonewolf send someone to contact her the moment they arrived at the Capital? What exactly was the little lynx’s relationship with the Lonewolf, the Court, the Emperor and-… and… The Gifted Scholar Xu Shi Jing?

The Gifted Scholar Xu Shi Jing…

Wu Zhe Yan felt like he was missing something here. An important connection.

If there was one thing that could link the Gifted Scholar and the Lonewolf… it would be… the God of War.

‘That’s it! Why didn’t I think of that?’ Wu Zhe Yan suddenly felt something click inside his mind. The puzzle was starting to come into place. Her analytical skills, her martial arts, her weird choice of weapon, her unique character, her acquaintance with Xu Shi Jing, and even the Emperor’s wariness towards her… Everything was starting to make sense now. It was an absurd guess, but his gut feeling was telling him that he had hit the nail on the head this time.

The little lynx’s real identity was actually…!

~~

Luo Yue made her way to the west wing of Wu Zhe Yan’s residence, to the guest room where she had been staying in for the past few days.

As she was walking back, a shadow suddenly appeared beside her.

“Master, you have been drinking too much lately.” Shen Tian Ping might speak without a hint of emotion, but there was clearly a small disapproving knot between his brows.

“Xiao Liu has been hounding me about the same thing since the early morning, are you here to take over his shift?”

In reply to that scathing remark, Shen Tian Ping was like a rock which had borne through countless changes in seasons; unstirred and already immuned. “I am afraid that the General might have a hidden motive in keeping you here.”

“He does,” Luo Yue’s affirmation came without a hint of uncertainty. “There is no such thing as a free meal in the world.”

“Since you already know, is it not wiser to leave this place instantly?” Shen Tian Ping glanced at the Lady whose orders he had never questioned. “Or could it be that you have a plan?”

Luo Yue responded in all seriousness, “I plan to drink to my heart’s content.”

Shen Tian Ping followed behind with a silent sigh. Well, he could understand that it was certainly more interesting than returning to the mountains.

Luo Yue suddenly halted right outside her room. She frowned, senses heightening as she felt something off, “someone was here.”

Shen Tian Ping instantly drew his sword and stood in front of her. “I will enter first. Please stay close to me.”

He entered the room but even after a round of careful scrutinization, they did not find anyone. Instead, they found a most bewildering sight.

Someone had left a letter on her table. And as though worried that she would miss it, had purposely decorated it with a bunch of black dahlias, making sure that the black flowers were placed in a perfect heart and even going so far as to shut all her windows to prevent the wind from blowing in.

Luo Yue gave a very very deep sigh because one look around her room told her that her intruder had even cleaned up her room for her. Her blanket had been folded without a single crease, the books scattered on her table now stacked on the bookshelf in descending size order, and the four wooden stools realigned in perfect symmetry around the table.

To be able to intrude the manor of not just anyone but the Leader of the Emperor’s personal troop, the Mad Dog Wu Zhe Yan, was definitely not a small feat. To be able to sneak in and even take the time to decorate the letter and rearrange her room, it seemed like this person had not been slacking off on his training during her seclusion after all.

There was only one person with such a perfectionist disease that she knew of.

As she thought, the mark of a howling wolf was painted on the middle of the envelope.

A wolf was the signature marking of the Lonewolf but a howling one could only belong to one person.

She walked nearer and could smell a whiff of wine. Did that lunatic dip the letter in wine just to allure her?

She ignored the black dahlias and reached for the envelope. In one sharp pull, she tore it open and took out the five sheets of paper.

Luo Yue felt a great need to sigh again. Well, at least the content of the letter this time had been reduced by half.

She was greeted by columns of perfect calligraphy. Words that were the exact same size and all equally spaced as though the writer had measured each length and breadth of his every character.

She felt a great need to let out another sigh.

Her eyes ran over the first line.

[The brothers are greatly appalled by your actions.]

This dramatic-…!