Chapter 57
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Chapter 57 Eaten by you?
A fabulous crimson quilt draped over the two men reclining in the coffin. Wen Fengjin embraced the sleeping person with one hand while holding an ordinary white business card with the other.
The white business card had no name or phone number, only a line of address.
Two little silver characters were stamped on the reverse of the business card: 'Eliminate Evil.'
The white piece of paper was slowly spun around in the cool white slender fingers, soaring up and down like a white butterfly before coming to a gentle stop between the finger seams.
The long and narrow eyes were deep and dark, brimming with unknown things. The chaotic rolling in those eyes came to a halt when his line of sight dropped on the person resting on his shoulder.
Wang Xiaomie had been tormented so badly that he'd dozed off in the nest of quilts. His skin was still flushed, and he had two or three strands of black hair on his fair cheekbones and chin. The quilt had slipped off his shoulders as a result of Wen Fengjin's motions in the nest, exposing the slight depression on his collarbone.
Wen Fengjin touched his shoulder and discovered it was quite cold, so he pulled up the quilt and covered it, as if forgetting that the other party no longer required such care.
Then he kissed his brow.
Wen Fengjin had already guessed the feather pattern that appeared on Wang Xiaomie's body, as well as the repercussions caused by this feather pattern.
His sacrificial practice was impeccable, and he wouldn't allow Wang Xiaomie to have any flaws or damage.
Similarly, Wen Fengjin was not as serene and indifferent as he appeared.
Shixiong[2] belonged to him.
Every single inch of him.
Even if the thing parasitized in his shixiong’s body was a pattern, it was a mark and a provocation in Wen Fengjin's eyes! The body and soul he cherished with utmost care had been defiled by the mark of others.
It was just like leaving a stinking fingerprint on the most perfect work (of art) of a master painter’s life. He couldn't tolerate it!
The feather pattern was bright and gorgeous, but Wen Fengjin felt he’d smelled something nauseating and wanted to puke.
Wang Xiaomie was still sound asleep. Wen Fengjin pushed his palm against his left shoulder, and his countenance shifted from soft to icy, gradually becoming twisted and crazy.
After discarding the gentle face, the soul within glared at that patch of skin with venomous paranoia, yearning to rip it off!
Scarlet filled the dark pupils that occupied most of the eye sockets.
"I shouldn't have let him die so easily."
Wen Fengjin caressed the top of Wang Xiaomie's head with his face...
"My mistake... Do you blame me for not protecting you well, shixiong?"
With his eyes half closed, Wen Fengjin talked to himself. He wasn't looking anywhere in particular, but the frigid air surrounding him had become suffocating. At this point, Wang Xiaomie in his arms sensed danger and panicked, fidgeting with a murmur.
"Xiao Wenzi..."
"It's so cold..."
He whispered a few words in his sleep, but he seemed to have broken some fantasy, and Wen Fengjin's paranoia and insanity vanished like smoke in thin air...
In the dim space, Wen Fengjin was still smiling affectionately at Wang Xiaomie when he opened his blurry eyes a chink.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"Seems like it..."
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"Mn. Ha~~~"
Wang Xiaomie yawned and arched back into Wen Fengjin's arms.
The mild body temperature was full of security while skin-to-skin.
Wang Xiaomie drowsily closed his eyes again.
When Wen Fengjin looked down and saw his peaceful sleeping smile gradually fade away, the person whose expression was obscured by the darkness remained quiet for a while before adjusting his posture and closing his eyes.
The white business card was placed on the pillow beside him.
… … …
Wen Fengjin took out that business card the next day.
"Let's go to this location."
"What's this?" Wang Xiaomie accepted the business card and flipped it over with interest. "A business card? But why isn't there a name and a phone number? And it's quite familiar."
"Isn't this the business card left behind by that man last time?" questioned Bai Yu, stretching out his head to look at it.
"Which one?"
"The one wearing the mandarin jacket[1] and carrying Sailor Moon!"
"........."
"Why the hell are we looking for him?" Wang Xiaomie asked, stunned. That boss was out of this world!
"He knows how to remove the feather pattern on your body." Wen Fengjin looked at Wang Xiaomie, who asked with wide eyes, "Really?"
Wasn’t that feather pattern a side effect of the elixir?
Wen Feng kept mum. Wang Xiaomie silently held the business card for a while before patting Bai Yu on the shoulder.
"Da Bai, we're going out. Do you want to come along with us?"
"Of course," Bai Yu said. "I'll change my clothes right away."
"Okay."
Wang Xiaomie returned the business card to Wen Fengjin and, like Bai Yu, went back to his room to change into his outerwear. The three men called for a car from the villa.
The destination address, however, was along a succession of old-fashioned small commercial streets. The driver informed them that there were various stalls inside, and that there were so many pedestrians that cars could not enter.
So they had to get out of the car and ask the owners of several small stores along the way, and then follow the direction indicated by the owners, slowly seeking for the address.
It had been three hours by the time they arrived at the address on the business card.
The majority of the wholesale shops in the rows had prominent signs in colors such as red and blue, but only one establishment had no signboard and simply hung a small black flag on the door.
And, despite being a sliding glass door, it was covered with a thick black film similar to that found on car windows.
You couldn't tell what was going on inside from the outside.
The swarm of people arriving and departing was noisy and congested, since they had all driven their cars to the wholesale grocery stores. This modest shop, with no one stopping by, was just as conspicuous as Wen Fengjin among the crowd.
Passers-by surreptitiously assessed the three of them, with the majority of their attention focused on Wen Fengjin and Wang Xiaomie.
"Is this the location?" Wang Xiaomie was uncertain.
Bai Yu scratched his head: "I’m not sure but I think this style of doing business without a name on the business card is quite similar to running a small store without a brand. Maybe they’re just regular grocery sellers?"
The two debated whether they should go in and inquire. Who knew that when Wang Xiaomie raised his head, Wen Fengjin had already opened the door and walked in.
Wang Xiaomie grabbed Bai Yu quickly and followed him closely.
The small black flag at the door fluttered gently as the three of them entered, displaying thin scrawled inscriptions...
After going through the sliding door, they discovered a drawing room that took up the full space of the property, complete with an antique wooden counter, a couple of sofas, and a small coffee table.
Wang Xiaomie was surprised to see on the coffee table a tea set that his grandmother used at the time, the kind with a red design on a white backdrop and the word "Exultation" embossed in Chinese characters!
Mandarin jacket, braid, Sailor Moon, and this retro decor...
Wang Xiaomie felt as if his aesthetics had been shattered.
He turned his head to gaze at Bai Yu and noticed that their expressions were identical.
Because light couldn't enter through the black-film-covered door, a chandelier was suspended from the ceiling.
The warm yellow light gave the entire antiquated and retro drawing room a time filter lens, giving the impression that entering through that door was like passing through a century.
There were numerous small photo frames hung throughout the drawing room, and Wen Fengjin, who entered first, stood in front of the wall opposite the door.
Wen Fengjin was glancing at the photo frames on the wall, expressionless, and frowned suspiciously when Wang Xiaomie approached him fast.
"Why are you acting so strange today? What are you looking at?"
He raised his head and followed Wen Fengjin's point of view when he finished speaking. Wang Xiaomie's eyes widened as he noticed the individuals in the picture frame on the wall.
"What's the matter with you two? Why are both of you frozen?" Bai Yu smiled and patted Wang Xiaomie's shoulder, gazing at the photo they were staring at. "Isn't it just a photo? What's the problem?"
"......"
"Zhenbei, Yan Chun?!" Wang Xiaomie said in disbelief.
Surprisingly, the photo on the wall was a group shot, and the third person posing for a photo with Zhenbei and Yan Chun was the man they had seen the other day!
That man knew Yan Chun and Zhenbei!
"Gentlemen guests appear to enjoy my photographs." Suddenly, a cheerful male voice could be heard.
Wang Xiaomie's hair nearly exploded, and Bai Yu leaped in fear.
Wen Fengjin took a few steps aside to hide Wang Xiaomie behind him, his long and narrow eyes riveted on the man who appeared beside the counter.
"You did it on purpose."
"What are you talking about? I don't quite understand."
The man tilted his head, and the neat and tidy braid with less black and more white on the back of his head, combined with the light blue mandarin jacket, harmonized him with the surrounding retro setting.
A kind teacher, for example, or the eldest young master of a scholarly family in the 1960s and 1970s.
Wen Fengjin narrowed his eyes and unleashed an earth-shattering burst of power!
Bai Yu, who was standing next to him, felt as though he had been bludgeoned and suffered a concussion. His chest felt stuffy and achy, his head was dizzy, and he opened his mouth to hurl.
Wang Xiaomie drew Bai Yu quickly to his side, reasoning that it was far preferable to hide behind Wen Fengjin.
Even Bai Yu, who was a little closer, was uneasy, so there was no need to mention the man directly in front of Wen Fengjin. He was still smiling as he retreated a few steps back, his slender eyes fixed on Wen Fengjin.
"Why are the guests so angry? You and the person behind you are not human, but neither are you rigid. A small business like this, operating on a shoestring, cannot afford to offend the two of you. If you have any dissatisfaction, please do not hesitate to bring it up."
"Playing dumb?" Wen Fengjin scoffed, his expression ice-cold. "If you know Yan Chun, you know who the feather pattern belongs to. Don't tell me you don't know what happened to Yan Chun now that the feather pattern is on my shixiong's body."
The feather pattern is Yan Chun’s?!
Wang Xiaomie curled his fists behind Wen Fengjin, but before the shock wore off, the man across them began speaking...
"Oh! So you're upset because of my previous clients. I don't know those two very well," the beaming man in the mandarin jacket said, cupping his hands together, and then putting his hands inside his sleeves, and looking at the group picture on the wall. "Merely business, that's all."
"I'll take a picture with the client I'm working with and hang it on the wall. Every photo on the wall is of a customer who has done business with me."
"I'm also acquainted with the feather pattern. It is indeed something from my previous customer, whose name is Yan Chun... But that was a long, long time ago."
After he finished speaking, the man gave a humble salute with his hands in his sleeves and a sincere smile.
Wen Fengjin gave a half-smile but said nothing. The intense pressure from the magic, however, was also erased.
Wang Xiaomie sneaked a glimpse from behind Wen Fengjin, astonished to find the man so calm and composed in the face of Wen Fengjin's pressure, but when he looked closer, he could clearly see the beads of sweat on the man's temples.
This guy was unable to overcome Wen Fengjin's incredible power, yet fought valiantly.
Wang Xiaomie was a little impressed.
That man also noticed Wang Xiaomie, who had stealthily cropped up, and his smile deepened.
"However..." He stated, "The feather pattern is a small plaything that you raise in your heart. It has many effects and will die if it is removed from the host. Very few people can successfully remove it, let alone transplant it. Now it can actually emerge so completely on your back..."
"So I can guess Yan Chun's fate."
The man seemed to be asking Wen Fengjin, but his gaze was fixed on Wang Xiaomie.
He stretched his intonation, and his slender eyes bent.
"Dear~ guest, was Yan Chun eaten by you?"
Footnotes:
[1] In Chapter 53: Sailor Moon, I simply used 'jacket' for 'magua' and referred to its Wikipedia page. To distinguish it from modern jackets, I'll translate 'magua' as 'mandarin jacket' from now on.
[2] senior male fellow student or apprentice.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 57 Eaten by you?
A fabulous crimson quilt draped over the two men reclining in the coffin. Wen Fengjin embraced the sleeping person with one hand while holding an ordinary white business card with the other.
The white business card had no name or phone number, only a line of address.
Two little silver characters were stamped on the reverse of the business card: 'Eliminate Evil.'
The white piece of paper was slowly spun around in the cool white slender fingers, soaring up and down like a white butterfly before coming to a gentle stop between the finger seams.
The long and narrow eyes were deep and dark, brimming with unknown things. The chaotic rolling in those eyes came to a halt when his line of sight dropped on the person resting on his shoulder.
Wang Xiaomie had been tormented so badly that he'd dozed off in the nest of quilts. His skin was still flushed, and he had two or three strands of black hair on his fair cheekbones and chin. The quilt had slipped off his shoulders as a result of Wen Fengjin's motions in the nest, exposing the slight depression on his collarbone.
Wen Fengjin touched his shoulder and discovered it was quite cold, so he pulled up the quilt and covered it, as if forgetting that the other party no longer required such care.
Then he kissed his brow.
Wen Fengjin had already guessed the feather pattern that appeared on Wang Xiaomie's body, as well as the repercussions caused by this feather pattern.
His sacrificial practice was impeccable, and he wouldn't allow Wang Xiaomie to have any flaws or damage.
Similarly, Wen Fengjin was not as serene and indifferent as he appeared.
Shixiong[2] belonged to him.
Every single inch of him.
Even if the thing parasitized in his shixiong’s body was a pattern, it was a mark and a provocation in Wen Fengjin's eyes! The body and soul he cherished with utmost care had been defiled by the mark of others.
It was just like leaving a stinking fingerprint on the most perfect work (of art) of a master painter’s life. He couldn't tolerate it!
The feather pattern was bright and gorgeous, but Wen Fengjin felt he’d smelled something nauseating and wanted to puke.
Wang Xiaomie was still sound asleep. Wen Fengjin pushed his palm against his left shoulder, and his countenance shifted from soft to icy, gradually becoming twisted and crazy.
After discarding the gentle face, the soul within glared at that patch of skin with venomous paranoia, yearning to rip it off!
Scarlet filled the dark pupils that occupied most of the eye sockets.
"I shouldn't have let him die so easily."
Wen Fengjin caressed the top of Wang Xiaomie's head with his face...
"My mistake... Do you blame me for not protecting you well, shixiong?"
With his eyes half closed, Wen Fengjin talked to himself. He wasn't looking anywhere in particular, but the frigid air surrounding him had become suffocating. At this point, Wang Xiaomie in his arms sensed danger and panicked, fidgeting with a murmur.
"Xiao Wenzi..."
"It's so cold..."
He whispered a few words in his sleep, but he seemed to have broken some fantasy, and Wen Fengjin's paranoia and insanity vanished like smoke in thin air...
In the dim space, Wen Fengjin was still smiling affectionately at Wang Xiaomie when he opened his blurry eyes a chink.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"Seems like it..."
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"Mn. Ha~~~"
Wang Xiaomie yawned and arched back into Wen Fengjin's arms.
The mild body temperature was full of security while skin-to-skin.
Wang Xiaomie drowsily closed his eyes again.
When Wen Fengjin looked down and saw his peaceful sleeping smile gradually fade away, the person whose expression was obscured by the darkness remained quiet for a while before adjusting his posture and closing his eyes.
The white business card was placed on the pillow beside him.
… … …
Wen Fengjin took out that business card the next day.
"Let's go to this location."
"What's this?" Wang Xiaomie accepted the business card and flipped it over with interest. "A business card? But why isn't there a name and a phone number? And it's quite familiar."
"Isn't this the business card left behind by that man last time?" questioned Bai Yu, stretching out his head to look at it.
"Which one?"
"The one wearing the mandarin jacket[1] and carrying Sailor Moon!"
"........."
"Why the hell are we looking for him?" Wang Xiaomie asked, stunned. That boss was out of this world!
"He knows how to remove the feather pattern on your body." Wen Fengjin looked at Wang Xiaomie, who asked with wide eyes, "Really?"
Wasn’t that feather pattern a side effect of the elixir?
Wen Feng kept mum. Wang Xiaomie silently held the business card for a while before patting Bai Yu on the shoulder.
"Da Bai, we're going out. Do you want to come along with us?"
"Of course," Bai Yu said. "I'll change my clothes right away."
"Okay."
Wang Xiaomie returned the business card to Wen Fengjin and, like Bai Yu, went back to his room to change into his outerwear. The three men called for a car from the villa.
The destination address, however, was along a succession of old-fashioned small commercial streets. The driver informed them that there were various stalls inside, and that there were so many pedestrians that cars could not enter.
So they had to get out of the car and ask the owners of several small stores along the way, and then follow the direction indicated by the owners, slowly seeking for the address.
It had been three hours by the time they arrived at the address on the business card.
The majority of the wholesale shops in the rows had prominent signs in colors such as red and blue, but only one establishment had no signboard and simply hung a small black flag on the door.
And, despite being a sliding glass door, it was covered with a thick black film similar to that found on car windows.
You couldn't tell what was going on inside from the outside.
The swarm of people arriving and departing was noisy and congested, since they had all driven their cars to the wholesale grocery stores. This modest shop, with no one stopping by, was just as conspicuous as Wen Fengjin among the crowd.
Passers-by surreptitiously assessed the three of them, with the majority of their attention focused on Wen Fengjin and Wang Xiaomie.
"Is this the location?" Wang Xiaomie was uncertain.
Bai Yu scratched his head: "I’m not sure but I think this style of doing business without a name on the business card is quite similar to running a small store without a brand. Maybe they’re just regular grocery sellers?"
The two debated whether they should go in and inquire. Who knew that when Wang Xiaomie raised his head, Wen Fengjin had already opened the door and walked in.
Wang Xiaomie grabbed Bai Yu quickly and followed him closely.
The small black flag at the door fluttered gently as the three of them entered, displaying thin scrawled inscriptions...
After going through the sliding door, they discovered a drawing room that took up the full space of the property, complete with an antique wooden counter, a couple of sofas, and a small coffee table.
Wang Xiaomie was surprised to see on the coffee table a tea set that his grandmother used at the time, the kind with a red design on a white backdrop and the word "Exultation" embossed in Chinese characters!
Mandarin jacket, braid, Sailor Moon, and this retro decor...
Wang Xiaomie felt as if his aesthetics had been shattered.
He turned his head to gaze at Bai Yu and noticed that their expressions were identical.
Because light couldn't enter through the black-film-covered door, a chandelier was suspended from the ceiling.
The warm yellow light gave the entire antiquated and retro drawing room a time filter lens, giving the impression that entering through that door was like passing through a century.
There were numerous small photo frames hung throughout the drawing room, and Wen Fengjin, who entered first, stood in front of the wall opposite the door.
Wen Fengjin was glancing at the photo frames on the wall, expressionless, and frowned suspiciously when Wang Xiaomie approached him fast.
"Why are you acting so strange today? What are you looking at?"
He raised his head and followed Wen Fengjin's point of view when he finished speaking. Wang Xiaomie's eyes widened as he noticed the individuals in the picture frame on the wall.
"What's the matter with you two? Why are both of you frozen?" Bai Yu smiled and patted Wang Xiaomie's shoulder, gazing at the photo they were staring at. "Isn't it just a photo? What's the problem?"
"......"
"Zhenbei, Yan Chun?!" Wang Xiaomie said in disbelief.
Surprisingly, the photo on the wall was a group shot, and the third person posing for a photo with Zhenbei and Yan Chun was the man they had seen the other day!
That man knew Yan Chun and Zhenbei!
"Gentlemen guests appear to enjoy my photographs." Suddenly, a cheerful male voice could be heard.
Wang Xiaomie's hair nearly exploded, and Bai Yu leaped in fear.
Wen Fengjin took a few steps aside to hide Wang Xiaomie behind him, his long and narrow eyes riveted on the man who appeared beside the counter.
"You did it on purpose."
"What are you talking about? I don't quite understand."
The man tilted his head, and the neat and tidy braid with less black and more white on the back of his head, combined with the light blue mandarin jacket, harmonized him with the surrounding retro setting.
A kind teacher, for example, or the eldest young master of a scholarly family in the 1960s and 1970s.
Wen Fengjin narrowed his eyes and unleashed an earth-shattering burst of power!
Bai Yu, who was standing next to him, felt as though he had been bludgeoned and suffered a concussion. His chest felt stuffy and achy, his head was dizzy, and he opened his mouth to hurl.
Wang Xiaomie drew Bai Yu quickly to his side, reasoning that it was far preferable to hide behind Wen Fengjin.
Even Bai Yu, who was a little closer, was uneasy, so there was no need to mention the man directly in front of Wen Fengjin. He was still smiling as he retreated a few steps back, his slender eyes fixed on Wen Fengjin.
"Why are the guests so angry? You and the person behind you are not human, but neither are you rigid. A small business like this, operating on a shoestring, cannot afford to offend the two of you. If you have any dissatisfaction, please do not hesitate to bring it up."
"Playing dumb?" Wen Fengjin scoffed, his expression ice-cold. "If you know Yan Chun, you know who the feather pattern belongs to. Don't tell me you don't know what happened to Yan Chun now that the feather pattern is on my shixiong's body."
The feather pattern is Yan Chun’s?!
Wang Xiaomie curled his fists behind Wen Fengjin, but before the shock wore off, the man across them began speaking...
"Oh! So you're upset because of my previous clients. I don't know those two very well," the beaming man in the mandarin jacket said, cupping his hands together, and then putting his hands inside his sleeves, and looking at the group picture on the wall. "Merely business, that's all."
"I'll take a picture with the client I'm working with and hang it on the wall. Every photo on the wall is of a customer who has done business with me."
"I'm also acquainted with the feather pattern. It is indeed something from my previous customer, whose name is Yan Chun... But that was a long, long time ago."
After he finished speaking, the man gave a humble salute with his hands in his sleeves and a sincere smile.
Wen Fengjin gave a half-smile but said nothing. The intense pressure from the magic, however, was also erased.
Wang Xiaomie sneaked a glimpse from behind Wen Fengjin, astonished to find the man so calm and composed in the face of Wen Fengjin's pressure, but when he looked closer, he could clearly see the beads of sweat on the man's temples.
This guy was unable to overcome Wen Fengjin's incredible power, yet fought valiantly.
Wang Xiaomie was a little impressed.
That man also noticed Wang Xiaomie, who had stealthily cropped up, and his smile deepened.
"However..." He stated, "The feather pattern is a small plaything that you raise in your heart. It has many effects and will die if it is removed from the host. Very few people can successfully remove it, let alone transplant it. Now it can actually emerge so completely on your back..."
"So I can guess Yan Chun's fate."
The man seemed to be asking Wen Fengjin, but his gaze was fixed on Wang Xiaomie.
He stretched his intonation, and his slender eyes bent.
"Dear~ guest, was Yan Chun eaten by you?"
Footnotes:
[1] In Chapter 53: Sailor Moon, I simply used 'jacket' for 'magua' and referred to its Wikipedia page. To distinguish it from modern jackets, I'll translate 'magua' as 'mandarin jacket' from now on.
[2] senior male fellow student or apprentice.
Chapter 57 Eaten by you?A fabulous crimson quilt draped over the two men reclining in the coffin. Wen Fengjin embraced the sleeping person with one hand while holding an ordinary white business card with the other.The white business card had no name or phone number, only a line of address.Two little silver characters were stamped on the reverse of the business card: 'Eliminate Evil.'The white piece of paper was slowly spun around in the cool white slender fingers, soaring up and down like a white butterfly before coming to a gentle stop between the finger seams.The long and narrow eyes were deep and dark, brimming with unknown things. The chaotic rolling in those eyes came to a halt when his line of sight dropped on the person resting on his shoulder.Wang Xiaomie had been tormented so badly that he'd dozed off in the nest of quilts. His skin was still flushed, and he had two or three strands of black hair on his fair cheekbones and chin. The quilt had slipped off his shoulders as a result of Wen Fengjin's motions in the nest, exposing the slight depression on his collarbone.Wen Fengjin touched his shoulder and discovered it was quite cold, so he pulled up the quilt and covered it, as if forgetting that the other party no longer required such care.Then he kissed his brow.Wen Fengjin had already guessed the feather pattern that appeared on Wang Xiaomie's body, as well as the repercussions caused by this feather pattern.His sacrificial practice was impeccable, and he wouldn't allow Wang Xiaomie to have any flaws or damage.Similarly, Wen Fengjin was not as serene and indifferent as he appeared.Shixiong2 belonged to him.Every single inch of him.Even if the thing parasitized in his shixiong's body was a pattern, it was a mark and a provocation in Wen Fengjin's eyes! The body and soul he cherished with utmost care had been defiled by the mark of others.It was just like leaving a stinking fingerprint on the most perfect work of art of a master painter's life. He couldn't tolerate it!The feather pattern was bright and gorgeous, but Wen Fengjin felt he'd smelled something nauseating and wanted to puke.Wang Xiaomie was still sound asleep. Wen Fengjin pushed his palm against his left shoulder, and his countenance shifted from soft to icy, gradually becoming twisted and crazy.After discarding the gentle face, the soul within glared at that patch of skin with venomous paranoia, yearning to rip it off!Scarlet filled the dark pupils that occupied most of the eye sockets."I shouldn't have let him die so easily."Wen Fengjin caressed the top of Wang Xiaomie's head with his face..."My mistake... Do you blame me for not protecting you well, shixiong?"With his eyes half closed, Wen Fengjin talked to himself. He wasn't looking anywhere in particular, but the frigid air surrounding him had become suffocating. At this point, Wang Xiaomie in his arms sensed danger and panicked, fidgeting with a murmur."Xiao Wenzi...""It's so cold..."He whispered a few words in his sleep, but he seemed to have broken some fantasy, and Wen Fengjin's paranoia and insanity vanished like smoke in thin air...In the dim space, Wen Fengjin was still smiling affectionately at Wang Xiaomie when he opened his blurry eyes a chink."Did you have a nightmare?""Seems like it...""Don't be afraid, I'm here.""Mn. Ha~~~"Wang Xiaomie yawned and arched back into Wen Fengjin's arms.The mild body temperature was full of security while skin-to-skin.Wang Xiaomie drowsily closed his eyes again.When Wen Fengjin looked down and saw his peaceful sleeping smile gradually fade away, the person whose expression was obscured by the darkness remained quiet for a while before adjusting his posture and closing his eyes.The white business card was placed on the pillow beside him. Wen Fengjin took out that business card the next day."Let's go to this location.""What's this?" Wang Xiaomie accepted the business card and flipped it over with interest. "A business card? But why isn't there a name and a phone number? And it's quite familiar.""Isn't this the business card left behind by that man last time?" questioned Bai Yu, stretching out his head to look at it."Which one?""The one wearing the mandarin jacket1and carrying Sailor Moon!"".........""Why the hell are we looking for him?" Wang Xiaomie asked, stunned. That boss was out of this world!"He knows how to remove the feather pattern on your body." Wen Fengjin looked at Wang Xiaomie, who asked with wide eyes, "Really?"Wasn't that feather pattern a side effect of the elixir?Wen Feng kept mum. Wang Xiaomie silently held the business card for a while before patting Bai Yu on the shoulder."Da Bai, we're going out. Do you want to come along with us?""Of course," Bai Yu said. "I'll change my clothes right away.""Okay."Wang Xiaomie returned the business card to Wen Fengjin and, like Bai Yu, went back to his room to change into his outerwear. The three men called for a car from the villa.The destination address, however, was along a succession of old-fashioned small commercial streets. The driver informed them that there were various stalls inside, and that there were so many pedestrians that cars could not enter.So they had to get out of the car and ask the owners of several small stores along the way, and then follow the direction indicated by the owners, slowly seeking for the address.It had been three hours by the time they arrived at the address on the business card.The majority of the wholesale shops in the rows had prominent signs in colors such as red and blue, but only one establishment had no signboard and simply hung a small black flag on the door.And, despite being a sliding glass door, it was covered with a thick black film similar to that found on car windows.You couldn't tell what was going on inside from the outside.The swarm of people arriving and departing was noisy and congested, since they had all driven their cars to the wholesale grocery stores. This modest shop, with no one stopping by, was just as conspicuous as Wen Fengjin among the crowd.Passers-by surreptitiously assessed the three of them, with the majority of their attention focused on Wen Fengjin and Wang Xiaomie."Is this the location?" Wang Xiaomie was uncertain.Bai Yu scratched his head: "I'm not sure but I think this style of doing business without a name on the business card is quite similar to running a small store without a brand. Maybe they're just regular grocery sellers?"The two debated whether they should go in and inquire. Who knew that when Wang Xiaomie raised his head, Wen Fengjin had already opened the door and walked in.Wang Xiaomie grabbed Bai Yu quickly and followed him closely.The small black flag at the door fluttered gently as the three of them entered, displaying thin scrawled inscriptions...After going through the sliding door, they discovered a drawing room that took up the full space of the property, complete with an antique wooden counter, a couple of sofas, and a small coffee table.Wang Xiaomie was surprised to see on the coffee table a tea set that his grandmother used at the time, the kind with a red design on a white backdrop and the word "Exultation" embossed in Chinese characters!Mandarin jacket, braid, Sailor Moon, and this retro decor...Wang Xiaomie felt as if his aesthetics had been shattered.He turned his head to gaze at Bai Yu and noticed that their expressions were identical.Because light couldn't enter through the black-film-covered door, a chandelier was suspended from the ceiling.The warm yellow light gave the entire antiquated and retro drawing room a time filter lens, giving the impression that entering through that door was like passing through a century.There were numerous small photo frames hung throughout the drawing room, and Wen Fengjin, who entered first, stood in front of the wall opposite the door.Wen Fengjin was glancing at the photo frames on the wall, expressionless, and frowned suspiciously when Wang Xiaomie approached him fast."Why are you acting so strange today? What are you looking at?"He raised his head and followed Wen Fengjin's point of view when he finished speaking. Wang Xiaomie's eyes widened as he noticed the individuals in the picture frame on the wall."What's the matter with you two? Why are both of you frozen?" Bai Yu smiled and patted Wang Xiaomie's shoulder, gazing at the photo they were staring at. "Isn't it just a photo? What's the problem?""......""Zhenbei, Yan Chun?!" Wang Xiaomie said in disbelief.Surprisingly, the photo on the wall was a group shot, and the third person posing for a photo with Zhenbei and Yan Chun was the man they had seen the other day!That man knew Yan Chun and Zhenbei!"Gentlemen guests appear to enjoy my photographs." Suddenly, a cheerful male voice could be heard.Wang Xiaomie's hair nearly exploded, and Bai Yu leaped in fear.Wen Fengjin took a few steps aside to hide Wang Xiaomie behind him, his long and narrow eyes riveted on the man who appeared beside the counter."You did it on purpose.""What are you talking about? I don't quite understand."The man tilted his head, and the neat and tidy braid with less black and more white on the back of his head, combined with the light blue mandarin jacket, harmonized him with the surrounding retro setting.A kind teacher, for example, or the eldest young master of a scholarly family in the 1960s and 1970s.Wen Fengjin narrowed his eyes and unleashed an earth-shattering burst of power!Bai Yu, who was standing next to him, felt as though he had been bludgeoned and suffered a concussion. His chest felt stuffy and achy, his head was dizzy, and he opened his mouth to hurl.Wang Xiaomie drew Bai Yu quickly to his side, reasoning that it was far preferable to hide behind Wen Fengjin.Even Bai Yu, who was a little closer, was uneasy, so there was no need to mention the man directly in front of Wen Fengjin. He was still smiling as he retreated a few steps back, his slender eyes fixed on Wen Fengjin."Why are the guests so angry? You and the person behind you are not human, but neither are you rigid. A small business like this, operating on a shoestring, cannot afford to offend the two of you. If you have any dissatisfaction, please do not hesitate to bring it up.""Playing dumb?" Wen Fengjin scoffed, his expression ice-cold. "If you know Yan Chun, you know who the feather pattern belongs to. Don't tell me you don't know what happened to Yan Chun now that the feather pattern is on my shixiong's body."The feather pattern is Yan Chun's?!Wang Xiaomie curled his fists behind Wen Fengjin, but before the shock wore off, the man across them began speaking..."Oh! So you're upset because of my previous clients. I don't know those two very well," the beaming man in the mandarin jacket said, cupping his hands together, and then putting his hands inside his sleeves, and looking at the group picture on the wall. "Merely business, that's all.""I'll take a picture with the client I'm working with and hang it on the wall. Every photo on the wall is of a customer who has done business with me.""I'm also acquainted with the feather pattern. It is indeed something from my previous customer, whose nameisYan Chun... But that was a long, long time ago."After he finished speaking, the man gave a humble salute with his hands in his sleeves and a sincere smile.Wen Fengjin gave a half-smile but said nothing. The intense pressure from the magic, however, was also erased.Wang Xiaomie sneaked a glimpse from behind Wen Fengjin, astonished to find the man so calm and composed in the face of Wen Fengjin's pressure, but when he looked closer, he could clearly see the beads of sweat on the man's temples.This guy was unable to overcome Wen Fengjin's incredible power, yet fought valiantly.Wang Xiaomie was a little impressed.That man also noticed Wang Xiaomie, who had stealthily cropped up, and his smile deepened."However..." He stated, "The feather pattern is a small plaything that you raise in your heart. It has many effects and will die if it is removed from the host. Very few people can successfully remove it, let alone transplant it. Now it can actually emerge so completely on your back...""So I can guess Yan Chun's fate."The man seemed to be asking Wen Fengjin, but his gaze was fixed on Wang Xiaomie.He stretched his intonation, and his slender eyes bent."Dear~ guest, was Yan Chun eaten by you?"Footnotes:1In Chapter 53: Sailor Moon, I simply used 'jacket' for 'magua' and referred to its Wikipedia page. To distinguish it from modern jackets, I'll translate 'magua' as 'mandarin jacket' from now on.2senior male fellow student or apprentice.
