Chronicles of Daoist Fan - Chapter 98

”Why did you bring me to Qin Mao’s place if you were going betray him and his group?” I asked, sitting on a chair inside Eastern Tang Restaurant. Bina was sitting next to me, having her share of noodles.

She said, covering her face with a feather fan, ”Do you want to hear it here, now?”

It had been two days since we ran away from Azure Wind Stupa. We had exited just outside the city that day. The tunnel was a secret escape route dug by someone to run away from this city.

Criminals, especially from the Blood Fang group, were searching for us all over Xuahour. I had informed Feng Yi to remain alert and tell Chunu and Ling’er about them.

The mafia wouldn’t target them but it was always better to be cautious against criminals. They weren’t bound by some rules or morals and may try to kill them.

Bina and I remained in hiding, wearing masks and not talking to anyone except the trusted individuals in this city.

I wasn’t wary of the criminals themselves but their boss and the Wang family behind him. We weren’t so strong to fight against practitioners a whole stage over us.

Finishing my share of noodle soup, I put my bowl down and said, “Yes.”

Bina stopped eating and carefully chose her next words. ”I became Qin Mao’s lackey after Blood Fang defeated my brother’s gang, Black Dragon. If I didn’t work for Qin Mao, he threatened to kill my sister as well. We were-”

Bina suddenly stood up and wore her mask as a waiter came. She gave him three coins, each worth a hundred gold kins and didn’t ask for change. We silently left the restaurant and she only talked after exiting the main door.

”So I was saying, we were three orphaned siblings. No parents to teach us, we became criminals since childhood. Our elder brother formed the Black Dragon group when he turned twenty and sheltered us. My little sister Lina was weak by birth. In the eventual fight against Blood Fang, she couldn’t escape from their clutches.

”I love my little sister, she is the only one left. I had no choice but to obey him. If I didn’t bring you there that day, he really would have killed her.”

A long spring breeze passed by the road we were walking on. There weren’t many pedestrians in this street. We walked on the left side, wearing matching dark robes. Anyone who saw us became wary but we only minded ourselves.

I kicked a pebble while thinking and asked, ”So Lina must be still under the stupa, where Qin Mao has kept her captive, right?”

We turned to another road path that was connected with the southern district. Bina looked at me, her voice a little different this time. ”Lina escaped that day. We are going to meet her.”

”Wait-”

I suddenly understood everything. Bina chose to save me because she was against Qin Mao from the start but there was another reason as well.

To direct that mafia boss’s attention to us!

He and almost all of his lackeys were chasing us so Lina had the opportunity to escape. There was more than this and Bina told me of their plan. Lina was shackled but she managed to break it after months of careful planning. Bina had stolen the keys to it and waited for that day.

While we were escaping through that confusing maze, Bina’s sister was running through the straight route, the main tunnels where there were no lackeys. So it was to make a safe route for her sister.

I stroked my chin. That was clever.

”I didn’t inform Qin Mao when I talked to someone in the lobby outside the black market,” Bina said. I remembered that.

”So it was to tell your sister to get ready.” Bina nodded, hearing me.

I could imagine Qin Mao’s furious face. He, a Meridian Opening practitioner, had been outwitted in his own area, inside his own den.

”All of this was Lina’s idea. She may be weak physically but she is the smartest person I have seen in my life.”

Hmmm. Now that was interesting. I straightened my body and walked a little faster. This sword was giving me back pains. However, the pressure on my internal organs was making them more tough. I just had to adapt to this weight on my body.

Still, I would need to unequip it in times of emergency. Just like that day. I still couldn’t believe that we escaped from Meridian Opening practitioners alive and uninjured.

If we had been a little slower or if Bina didn’t already know where to run, we would have surely been caught. Such a case was rare but not impossible.

”She’s there,” Bina voiced.

I was also looking ahead and noticed the girl wearing yellow clothes, a short smock that reached her waist and a long skirt that hid her knees. Her lower legs were shown, white, smooth and slender.

Wearing casual slippers instead of shoes, she was leaning on the wall of an estate that divided the southern district from the eastern. She was as tall as Bina. We went closer to her. Seeing us, the girl stopped leaning.

”Bina!”

She ran towards her sister and hugged her. Lina had long brown hairs and hazel eyes. Her symmetrical face had a beauty highlighted by her long eyebrows, a straight nose similar to mine, and a perfect V-shaped chin.

I had no doubt that Lina was the most beautiful girl I had seen since I came to this world. She could match my sister in regards to that. Intelligent and beautiful, she was the perfect material for jealousy of women who still had their youth.

However, the heavens didn’t discriminate. She was still in 7th rank of Body Tempering. It seemed she wasn’t blessed with cultivation talent. That beauty would fade away eventually if she didn’t manage to reach the higher stages.

After a long minute of showing sisterly love and hugging each other, they turned towards me. Lina’s curious gaze immediately caught my suspicious clothing and she became wary, asking, ”Who… is this, Bina?”

”Right, I forgot to tell you. He is Zui Fan, an… acquaintance.” Bina had trouble explaining how we were related. She paused for a moment and shook her head fiercely, imagining something that she wanted to deny… like our kiss in that carven.

”He is, no, he was an informer for them before we ran away.” Bina then glared at her sister and scolded her for not wearing a mask. What if someone from the Blood Fang group saw her?

”Hello there.” I reached my hands out, giving her a standard American greeting. It felt weird saying ‘hello’ in this world’s language.

Lina didn’t know that I was only asking for a shake of hand. She turned towards her sister who was silent. Eventually, Lina guessed what to do. She looked at me and said, ”H-hello.”

She slowly stretched her right hand towards me and I caught it, firmly squeezing her palm, and giving a bold handshake.

”Nice to meet you.” Then I released her hand which she confusedly brought to her chest, making a fist and keeping it pressed on her round bosom. She replied with, ”Yes, nice to meet you as well,” and glanced at her sister to find an escape from her awkwardness.

However, Bina had a habit of remaining mute most of the time. Lina puffed her cheeks and put a few strands of hair behind her ears. Arranging her bangs, she said, ”We should go to uncle Loan’s place. Brother owned that house.”

”Mn.”

They both started moving but I didn’t follow. Bina stopped and turned her head. The eyes above her mask remained waiting.

”I have a few things to settle at the First Sky Martial House.” I went beside Bina and whispered, ”Meet me at this place tomorrow morning.”

Bina nodded. I was no longer a member of the Blood Fang mafia but knowing a Viscera Purifying practitioner such as me was good for them. We both were hiding from the criminals, so we could help look out for each other.

There was another reason why I wanted to keep in touch with Bina and her intelligent sister.

As we separated, I had lots of thoughts running inside my brain. The most prominent of those thoughts was about exterminating the Blood Fang group. They had played enough games with me.

I remained passive because I knew I couldn’t win against them. I was in constant monitoring but now I had escaped from Qin Mao himself. No one from that mafia group knew where we went.

I was still in the city but this was a big place with lots of people. Even with thier underground reaches, it was hard to find one man among millions. I was cautious and venomous, knowing how they worked.

I could make a plan to kill them off one by one but more would join. So I had to kill Qin Mao himself.

‘A year and half. That should be enough to reach the peak of Meridian Opening…’ A fierce glint appeared on my brown irises.

I wasn’t in a hurry. I could remain lowkey if the situation demanded. Until I became strong enough to crush those people, I would be patient.

I would rather make relationships with people of high status. There were numerous opportunities for that. Sheng Yin was the first and I could seek help from her family. However, she wasn’t the only one. How many other young misses could I capture?

It was time to start phase three.