Chapter 137

Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Entering

In front of the four wandering heroes, Shopkeeper Qiao performed an instant change of expression.

Zhang Bao’er’s ears were still in his mother’s hand, but she already had a face full of smiles and said, “I was wondering if you two wouldn’t come downstairs, whether I should bring breakfast to your room. But I didn’t expect that both of you gentlemen had already gone out!” These words were undoubtedly directed at Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan, before she turned to the Jun brothers, “And you two?”

Bai Zhengliu smiled: “They are close friends of Yinghan and me. We had originally planned to go out for a walk, but unexpectedly ran into them on the way! So we decided to come back to eat and have some drinks, and chat along the way.”

Compared to what they had told Shopkeeper Qiao yesterday, this version was far more truthful. Apart from “coming back to eat and chat,” almost everything aligned with reality.

The only difference was that after a whole night of tension, all the wandering heroes now just wanted to rest properly and had no desire for further excitement.

Shopkeeper Qiao naturally did not know the details. Seeing this, she only realized that business would come again, so she finally showed great kindness, letting her son’s ears go and smiling: “Good! I’ll tell Old Zhang to prepare meat and wine for the heroes.”

Bai and Mei did not refuse. After all, they were genuinely hungry; the meat would certainly be eaten. As for the wine, at worst, they could pour it into their water bags and take it along.

They said, “Please prepare a separate room for these two little brothers and send the meat and wine to our room.”

Shopkeeper Qiao smiled: “Alright.”

The group then went upstairs.

To ensure Bai Zhengliu’s previous words were fulfilled, the Jun brothers also entered their room.

Jun Tao walked last. As he stepped over the threshold, about to close the door, a small short leg stepped in.

Jun Tao looked down and met the gaze of the leg’s owner.

One big, one small, staring at each other in silence. Until Bai Zhengliu broke the silence, surprised: “Bao’er, why did you follow us up?”

Indeed, it was none other than Zhang Bao’er, the little boy who had just been scolded by his mother, now running in happily.

Hearing Bai Zhengliu’s voice, his eyes lit up instantly, and he ran “pitter-patter” to the swordsman, asking: “Brother! I heard from my mother that you went to buy incense yesterday. Did you find anyone from Yuxiang Workshop?”

Bai and Mei were slightly stunned; the Jun brothers just looked confused, not understanding what the child was talking about.

Seeing no one answer him, Zhang Bao’er grew a bit anxious. He reached out to tug Bai Zhengliu’s sleeve: “It’s what I said yesterday! You should look properly in the Yuxiang Workshop, they will come out!”

Bai Zhengliu’s eyes blinked slowly, then he crouched down again to meet the child’s gaze.

He said, “But Bao’er, your mother told us that those selling incense at Yuxiang Workshop now are all people pretending to be from Yuxiang Workshop to make money. We went to check too, and really didn’t find the people you mentioned.”

At this point, the Jun brothers finally realized something and held their breath together.The four adults’ eyes all landed at once on the only child in the room.

The child, not yet sensitive to adult gazes, didn’t realize at that moment that he had become the center of the entire room. He pouted, looking a bit unhappy: “But I really met him before! Not those tricksters, it was really an uncle from Yuxiang Workshop! I saw him back when there were competitions!”

“Thump!” “Thump!”

Bai Zhengliu’s heart raced violently!

His voice softened even more: “Then Bao’er, teach brother how to meet that ‘uncle.’ Maybe we were looking in the wrong way, that’s why we haven’t seen him.”

“Just go buy incense,” the child said blankly.

Seeing that the adults still didn’t understand, Zhang Bao’er sighed, putting on an air of maturity, and began to explain the process in detail.

“Before, Mother gave me three copper coins, and I kept them safe.”

As he spoke, the child carefully took out the coins from the red silk pouch hanging around his neck, showing them to the wandering heroes.

“That day, Father took me to buy things next to Yuxiang Workshop. While he was bargaining with the shopkeeper, I suddenly wanted to buy incense. So I took out my coins and said in my heart, ‘I want to buy incense, I want to buy incense’… and then, that uncle came out!”

The four adults: “……” Wait, between “thinking in your heart” and “he came out,” isn’t there something missing?

They exchanged questioning looks, but Zhang Bao’er remained completely oblivious, continuing to chatter.

“He asked me what incense I wanted. I said Mother likes osmanthus incense the most. He smiled and said I came at just the right time—he was making some osmanthus incense. I asked how much it cost, and he said just one copper coin. I said, isn’t that too cheap? Mother and Father didn’t buy incense so cheaply before. He thought a moment, said it was a bit cheap, so I should give him something in return.”

The wandering heroes held their breath and asked, “Something in return?”

The child frowned: “I don’t know! He just said that, and then disappeared. I think he just wanted to give me incense, but Mother didn’t believe it and told me not to pick up random things.”

Another statement, jumping forward in time rather suddenly. The four wandering heroes listened, and suddenly realized something.

They exchanged glances. Indeed, when they entered earlier, Shopkeeper Qiao had mentioned that Bao’er had lost a coin.

It seemed they would need to ask the one who disciplined him. The thought was settled in their minds, yet their faces remained smiling. Bai Zhengliu asked Bao’er again: “Bao’er, do you remember what that uncle looked like? And what place did he get in the incense-making competition?”

For the first question, Zhang Bao’er answered immediately: “He wore a groom’s outfit! I don’t know which sister he was going to marry.”

The second question made him hesitate for a long time. Finally, covering his face, he admitted shyly: “I fell asleep that day, didn’t see the end.”

Bai Zhengliu listened and slowly exhaled.Although the child didn’t provide much information, what he did say was already far beyond Bai Zhengliu’s expectations.

After all, there were no coroner-like experts here as in the Song family case. Even if Zhang Bao’er could truly depict the face of the “Yuxiang Workshop uncle,” none of them could turn a child’s words into a picture. Whether they listened or not made little difference.

It was the words “marriage” that caused Bai Zhengliu to pause and think.

Could it be that the Yuxiang Workshop fire wasn’t just about jealousy over competition rankings, but also involved some emotional entanglements?

—Impossible to figure out, impossible to see through.

The young man sighed inwardly, but his face remained smiling: “I see! Thank you, Bao’er, you’ve helped us a lot.”

Zhang Bao’er felt shy from such formal thanks. He wanted to run out, but before running, he remembered to shout to the wandering heroes: “Brother, remember, say you want to buy incense! Buy incense from Yuxiang Workshop, then the uncle will come out! —Ouch!”

The running little boy bumped into his mother carrying the tray of food and wine upstairs.

Everyone in the room only heard Shopkeeper Qiao exclaim in surprise. Instinctively, they expected the sound of bowls and plates breaking on the floor. But surprisingly, there was none. Shopkeeper Qiao steadily brought the tray into the room, and only a bead of sweat on her cheek revealed her true state.

Silently gritting her teeth, she twisted her son’s ear seven or eight more times in her mind, yet her face remained smiling: “Please enjoy, guests! Call me if you need anything.” For now, she went off to scold the child.

Thinking about the scene of her son obediently admitting fault, Shopkeeper Qiao finally relaxed a little. At that moment, she heard the wandering heroes call out to her: “Shopkeeper, wait a moment, we want to ask you something.”

Shopkeeper Qiao immediately brightened: “Guests! What is it? Take your time.”

Bai Zhengliu said, “Earlier Bao’er told us he brought back a box of osmanthus incense.”

Shopkeeper Qiao froze slightly, her smile fading, and sighed: “Why does he tell you everything? I remember that incense—I don’t even know where he picked it up. If you say it smells good, yes, the osmanthus fragrance is nice. If you say it doesn’t, well… sigh, who knows what else was mixed in there? Besides the osmanthus scent, there was a strange smell, so strong it made your nose sting! Even the original scent was covered up!

“You tell me, isn’t this kid particularly troublesome?”

Bai Zhengliu: “……” Even though he had never raised a child, he knew he couldn’t answer “yes” now. Shopkeeper Qiao’s proud expression yesterday, for Bao’er being able to make incense at such a young age, was still vivid in his mind. Saying it like this now seemed more like an invitation for praise.

The swordsman said dryly: “Not at all, Shopkeeper Qiao is just being modest.” He looked sideways for help.

Mei Yinghan couldn’t help but chuckle and picked up the thread. In just a few words, Shopkeeper Qiao’s face lit up, and she was already ready to give them a discount.

After breakfast, they slept most of the day. At dusk, they left the inn again, heading to the old site of Yuxiang Workshop.

This time, they strictly followed Zhang Bao’er’s instructions. Coming straight to the point, they produced silver and shouted across the open ground: “Is anyone here? Are there people from Yuxiang Workshop? We are merchants, here to buy incense from Yuxiang Workshop!

“Your incense—your incense—”

Jun Tao had the loudest voice, and now his words carried clearest across the night air.Accompanying them was only the “whooshing” sound of the night wind. Beyond that, there was no other movement.

Everyone exchanged glances again.

Bai Zhengliu thought for a moment and suggested: “Why don’t we try saying it differently?”

Jun Tao scratched his head. “How differently?”

Bai Zhengliu hesitated: “Are there people from Yuxiang Workshop here? We want to buy incense.”

After he spoke,

the surrounding wind fell completely silent.

Bai Zhengliu: “……”

Mei Yinghan and the Jun brothers: “……”

The swordsman sighed: “Forget it. It’s our own fault. Believing a child… so what?”

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly noticed the other three looking at him strangely.

Bai Zhengliu’s eyelids twitched as he spun around. In that movement, the surrounding night seemed to recede like a tide. The empty grassy area before them suddenly rose into tall buildings and winding corridors. Countless men and women walked between the corridors, and fragrant incense floated through the air.

Bai Zhengliu was completely stunned.

Not just him— the other wandering heroes also stood speechless. Even with mental preparation, it was still hard to believe the transformation before their eyes.

Until a young man passed by, noticed their dazed expressions, and patted Jun Tao on the shoulder.

“What are you still standing there for?!” the young man shouted. “The first round of the incense-making competition is about to start—hurry up!”

Author’s note:

Here it comes!