Chapter Thirty One.

Duan Xinyue and Lei Qiang walk around absent mindedly and when they reach the fifth meandering is when they realize where exactly they are. Unlike the rest of the city , this place is rather quiet. It seems like a deserted place. The one and only restaurant there is open. Duan Xinyue suggests they take a look inside and maybe have some late night dinner there. As they walk in there are only two guests so they settle at a table next to the window. Duan Xinyue keeps looking around till he notices a certain symbol carved on the table.

"This is the Lone Wolf Lu Ping's signature symbol. The three wandering heros must have come here."

"You seem to be quite familiar with them."

"Of course. That Lady Bei has a crush on me,"Duan Xinyue whispers and smiles afterwards.

"How can you joke about such things?"

"It's not a joke it's true."

"Isn't she married to Hero Chen?"

"Just because she's married it doesn't mean she can't like other people. The three were once disciples of the same sect. Lu Ping was in love with her but she was in love with Hero Chen and he loved her back. Lu Ping ended up experiencing unrequited love and was unable to confess and he wasn't also able to let her go so he decided to tag along like a third wheel and pretending to be asexual in the process."

Two female figures talking upstairs attract their attention.

"Isn't that Miss Yun?"

"Yes. And the other one is the young lady I was gambling with the other day."

"What could be their relationship? And it seems the young lady is a noble and Miss Yun is her subordinate."

"There are too many mysterious people in Long Gong County."

"You being one of them."

"Me? How am I mysterious?"

"I don't believe in coincidences associated with you. You must have approached me with a motive but I can't figure out what it is. At first I thought someone had sent you to kill me or something but then I don't remember having enemies."

"In this world talented people have the highest number of enemies. You might be someone's enemy because you're better than them in something."

"That makes sense."

Duan Xinyue and Lei Qiang try to hide their faces as Miss Yun and the other lady walk downstairs and leave.

"Would you have slept with her if she won the bet?"

"Of course. I'm the number one Long Gong courtesan why would I refuse such an offer?" Duan Xinyue replies confidently.

"You said you sleep with both men and women. Do you charge them all the same?"

"I don't charge depending on gender I charge depending on the amount of time I have to use my energy."

Lei Qiang cringes at the thought of counting how many people Duan Xinyue has slept with.

"But Lei-xiong you don't seem to believe my words."

"I believe you're as chaste as you came out of your mother's womb."

"Why do you believe so?"

Lei Qiang leans closer to Duan Xinyue before replying,"Because I know you too well. You portray a different version of you to people to hide your true self,"Lei Qiang smiles proudly .

Duan Xinyue chuckles in embarrassment,"Lei-xiong I didn't expect you to see through me."

"The moment I decided to pay attention to you I decided to know who you truly are not what you portray."

A few years ago when the county government was appointing new talents to work at various ministries, Duan Xinyue's name was in the list of those potential candidates. Since he didn't want to associate himself with government affairs he started a rumour that he's a prostitute so the government would remove his name from the list. He also asked the showgirls to help him spread the rumours.

"Why didn't you want to work at the ministries?"

"I didn't want to spend my whole life scheming on others so I can retain my position."

"I was appointed that time too but I was too busy with sect affairs so I denied the offer politely."

The waiter brings them food and they have a heart to heart talk for the first time while eating. They end up losing track of time and spend the night at the inn. The following day they walk back to Qingfeng Pavilion. Hong Yi is there waiting for Lei Qiang. Immediately Lei Qiang arrives he boards the carriage and goes back to Ziran Sect. Duan Xinyue enters Qingfeng Pavilion and finds the girls waiting for him. They seem worried because he had left without a word.

"Young Master we thought we had lost you,"the girls cling onto him.

"Hey girls can I have a minute with our Young Master?"

Qin Lanhua and Duan Xinyue head upstairs.

"I looked into what you told me. I found out there were two new bands during the festival. One is Pigeons,a group of eleven girls from the Southern region of our county and the other one is Two By Two,a group of singers whose members are all couples and they travel throughout various counties performing."

"So you think the Pigeons look suspicious?"

"I'm not sure."

"What about the one in charge of setting up the podium?"

"It was just bunch of random carpenters hired by the Ministry of Rites. No one knows their identity because they are not famous. Maybe the podium collapsed because the carpenters don't have real skill."

"This is the most special festival in our county so the Ministry of Rites wouldn't dare make a mistake like that. They must be part of the plan."

"You're actually observant about everything."

"Just lie low for a while I'll tell you when we'll make our next move."

Duan Xinyue starts taking off his robes while Qin Lanhua is still there.

"What are you doing? Can't you see me here?"

"Of course I'm seeing you."

"Where did you run off to with Mister Lei? Did you guys...?"Qin Lanhua smiles mischievously hinting something.

"What did you expect us to do?"

"Didn't you always say you will lose your virginity to him?"

Duan Xinyue suddenly remembers Lei Qiang mentioning he knows Duan Xinyue is chaste.

"Speaking of that,were you the one who told him about me being chaste?"

"Of course not. He has never said more than one sentence to me."

"Who could have told him? Could it be Su Jiali?" Duan hesitates for a while to think about it.