456 Chapter 456 - Climbing the Wall (1/2)
Both parties met right outside the gates of the courtyard. Three Sighs of Flowing Maple recognized Yan Xiaozhu at the same time that she did. One of them was part of the Ten Great Adepts of his class, while the other was one of the Seven Bottlenecks; they were famed individuals but not exactly friends. They only happened to be fellow acquaintances.
At the moment, they exchanged the briefest of nods with each other, but Yan Xiaozhu enthusiastically addressed Drifting with a crisp, ”Big Brother Drifting!” Drifting merely smiled at her and then noted Gu Fei's presence. ”Why are you here?”
”Ha ha. Just walking around,” Gu Fei said. With that, he greeted the two partners of his, Left Hand of Love and Right Hand of Cool, that were never too far away from Drifting, ”Hey Left Hand, Right Hand.” He did not directly call them, for even to this day, he was still unsure if he could identify them individually.
”And this person is…” Three Sighs of Flowing Maple was curious toward the identity of Gu Fei.
Thus, Drifting introduced Gu Fei; his name was quite possibly the most renowned and was an existence even greater than the legendary Five Unyielding Experts. Three Sighs of Flowing Maple quickly began apologizing profusely and showered him with praises and admiration the moment he heard this.
Gu Fei was quick to modestly accept his kind words, not daring to show a lack of etiquette. Once that was over, Three Sighs of Flowing Maple asked, ”Did the two of you come all this way to attend to some matters? Do mention it if there's anything you need!” He expressed this out of good will, for he was clear what sort of treatment they would receive from his guild the moment they entered this area. However, Gu Fei was well aware that what he was intending to do might very likely cause serious trouble to them. Considering that their guild quest was given to them by Giordano, and he was here to assassinate that same NPC, would that not mean his success would result in their progress bar to take a 100% reduction? This was why the more courteous Three Sighs of Flowing Maple acted toward him, the more embarrassed he felt. In the end, he decided that it was best for him to avoid forming any sort of relationship with the man.
Just as he was about to casually say a few words and take his leave, Yan Xiaozhu's enthusiasm got the better of her. Thinking that this was a good chance for Gu Fei to directly ask the guild leader for a favor, she blurted out, ”Wonderful! Guild Leader Flowing Maple—AH! AIYEE!”
Yan Xiaozhu had barely gotten half of her words out when she yelped, for Gu Fei, who was suddenly beside her, surreptitiously gave her a pinch. He was worried that he might not have enough Strength to get her attention, so he even found an acupuncture point with that pinch. He did not hold back any of his Strength as he thought of how weak his Mage body was. Yan Xiaozhu had not been struck and slashed by monsters much ever since she began playing Parallel World, so she had never experienced such an intense pain before and instantly cried out loud in agony. Turning her head to question Gu Fei, she saw him give her a look as the man quickly sent a private message to her at the same time: ”Don't say a word.”
She was no fool. She could tell that he had other plans once she read the message. Fortunately, that pinch of Gu Fei did not deal any actual damage to her, so Yan Xiaozhu was not resentful about it, especially since the pain had quickly faded away, so she immediately kept her mouth shut. Nonetheless, everyone heard her shout, and Three Sighs of Flowing Maple regarded her questioningly. ”What?”
Gu Fei also acted his part and stared at her with a curious expression. Yan Xiaozhu giggled a bit before saying, ”Ha ha. It's nothing. I just suddenly realized that Guild Leader Flowing Maple looks really dashing today. We're leaving!” She dragged Gu Fei and fled, afraid that she would be unable to answer any further questions if Three Sighs of Flowing Maple pressed her further.
Three Sighs of Flowing Maple felt that he had been splashed by a bucket of cold water after that exchange. Drifting, who was standing next to him, chuckled at this. ”He he! Young lasses are always so strange.”
”Hmm, you're right!” This guild leader quickly recovered his senses and put on a look of maturity.
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Gu Fei and Yan Xiaozhu fled until they entered the fog, only heaving a sigh of relief once they saw nobody following them. At this, she promptly turned to Gu Fei and complained, ”You almost killed me back there!”
”He he. Thank you for your hard work,” Gu Fei merely said.
”Tell me why you didn't let me raise the matter to Three Sighs, then. And it's such a good chance, too. Could it be that you have a hidden agenda in mind?” she emphasized the words 'hidden agenda'. She had evidently made up her mind about the issue already.
”None of your business. Go on; look for your sister and play!” Gu Fei did not answer her question.
”Hey, hey, you can't do that! How can you have the nerve to just toss me aside after you've used me?” she demanded.
This lass sure loves to string her words so recklessly... Saying something like 'used me' makes it sound so distasteful, Gu Fei thought about this as he said, ”I mainly want to consult you about that matter we've discussed before. I am extremely grateful for your help, and now that our consultation is over, what's gonna happen next... I'll take care of things myself.”
Yan Xiaozhu could tell that Gu Fei had no intention of going further into detail, as he was most likely unwilling to divulge anything to her, but she was still rather curious toward this matter, so she could only remark accordingly, ”Then, I'll wait till you're done before you tell me all about it.”
”Fine with me.” Gu Fei nodded.
The two said their goodbyes at this point. Gu Fei made note of his position and direction before heading off to that tavern. Sure enough, Young Master Han was still there. Gu Fei immediately called out as he made his way to the man, ”That spyglass you've got with you, hand it over to me for a bit.”
”Does your quest have the prospect of attaining a solution?” Young Master Han finally called it a 'quest'; After all, Gu Fei's definition of a quest was clearly not confined to those only appearing on their quest logs.
”I'm gonna check things out before deciding,” Gu Fei answered even as he took the spyglass from Young Master Han.
Leaving the tavern, Gu Fei once more made his way back over to the Government City Hall's courtyard. He took a quick look around him after rounding a corner and, locating a desolated spot, pivoted as he called out, ”Come on out. I know you're here.”
No response.
Gu Fei grabbed a meat carving knife and flung it in a certain direction. ”Stop hiding.”
The figure of a Thief appeared upon dodging that knife; Yan Xiaozhu asked in her astonishment, ”How did you know?”
Gu Fei did not give her a response. In fact, he already knew that she had faked her departure from the very start and very quickly went to follow him. He merely thought that, given how curious she was, it was better for him to keep watch over her by allowing her to tag along instead of letting her run amok on her own, which might bring him unnecessary trouble. This was why he was not really bothered by her trailing him thusly.
”Are you gonna do something?” She had been following him all this while and simply could not make sense of what he was doing. She could not see anything special about the spot he had chosen to stop, so she took a step closer to look. She saw him take out a large coil of rope from his dimensional pocket and begin to carefully straighten it out. The end of the rope had a cross claw hook attached to it, and he continued to measure out the rope even as he gazed up the high wall before him.
”Whoa… You can't possibly be thinking of climbing your way up there, are you?” Yan Xiaozhu was surprised.
”That is indeed my intention,” Gu Fei affirmed.
”It's really high up.” Yan Xiaozhu raised her head to have a look as well and gauged that the wall was well over ten meters tall.
”Yeah, I'm seeing if my rope is long enough,” he agreed.