Chapter 398 - A Suspicious Man (1/2)

Spring arrived in Yunnan in March, with the unique brooms blooming everywhere. Chen Chen and Ah Zi spent a night in the capital city and then came to the ancient city.

“The artisan I found on the Internet lives here!” Chen Chen pointed at a piece of tie-dyed fabric and asked, “does it look good?”

Ah Zi withdrew her eyes from a nearby store that specialized in the hand-made lanterns to Chen Chen. “Yeah. We can buy ourselves as a scarf.”

The two women wandered around the whole morning and they turned into the beautiful girls of the Bai nationality, wearing the skinny skirts and waistbands which were all folk costumes, as well as the traditional hat.

“Right here!” After having dinner, Chen Chen wandered through the small alley and finally, they found the exact position of the store they searched online. However, the door was locked. Ah Zi looked in from the window and said, “It seems no one is in.”

Chen Chen looked around and asked, “What shall we do?”

“Ask around.” Ah Zi then came to the store which sold wood carvings across the street, only informed that the store owner went back to his hometown a week before for something had befallen him.

“Do you know where his hometown is?”

“In Laiza.”

Then they found a hotel which was located in a quaint courtyard, with the milky way hanging above and fireflies flying around.

Chen Chen sighed with emotions lying on the bamboo chair. “When we get old, we shall buy a wooden house here, getting up with the sunrise and getting rest with the sunset, bidding our farewells to the whole wide world slowly.”

“Well. You are still too young to say farewells!” Ah Zi caught a firefly and put it in a glass bottle. “I had looked it up on the Internet that an ancient road which is still under developing is near the small town called Laiza. We may have a look at it.”

“Well…” Chen Chen’s voice came unclear. Ah Zi then turned around, only to find that she would fall asleep.

The next morning, Chen Chen woke up to find she and Ah Zi had slept in the courtyard, with a woolen blanket covering their body.

“You even fetch a blanket when you woke up in the midnight. It’s nice!” Ah Zi praised her. “Or we would catch a cold.”

“You didn’t do it?” Chen Chen mumbled while with mouthwash welling up her mouth. “I slept too well to be woken up.”

Ah Zi looked at her and asked, “Then who did it?”

“Probably the shop owner of the hotel.” Chen Chen said after a thought. “The old couple looks so nice!”

“Yeah!”

After having breakfast, the two took a bus to Laiza. It was already dark when they had arrived there. Ah Zi rubbed her waist. When they reached the inn they had booked on the Internet in advance, she went straight to bed.

Chen Chen insisted on taking a shower and then fell in the bed. In a daze, she felt someone had pushed her. However, just as when she wanted to open her eyes, but she was too sleepy so she kept sleeping. The next morning, she woke up to find the towel to dry her hair was on the floor.

“Luckily, it fell on the floor or the hair won’t be dried up.”

This town bordered on the frontier of Huaxia and Burma and the village they were heading for was on the ancient road. But the only way to get in was by horse.

A local villager was hired as a guide, and it took them an afternoon to find the village named Daye where they could only find one inn. When Chen Chen and Ah Zi saw the owner of the inn, they were both stunned.

“Wow, the owner was so beautiful!” Chen Chen whispered, “but she looked unlike a girl of the minority nationality.”

Ah Zi nodded and said, “I never expect I would meet a beauty here.”

“The two of you girls come here for fun?” The owner of the inn gave each of them a bowl of milky tea.

She was already pretty enough, but a smile made her even stunning. She was wearing a colorful gown, and when she was walking, the gown flowing, which made her a fairy from the celestial world.

“You look so beautiful!” Chen Chen could not help but say to her, “Are you of Han nationality?”

The woman chuckled and said, “Thank you. I’m of Han nationality. I’m overshadowed by you pretty young girls!”

“So you are a young girl too!” Ah Zi looked at her and asked, “you must be of our age.”

“I’m over thirteen. How can I count as a young girl!” The owner looked so delighted and she then served them a dish of dairy products. “Come on, take a bite. Home-made.”

Chen Chen looked at her in surprise and she said, “Your appearance is so deceptive for you just look of our age. Why do you come here?”

When the woman was trying to say something, a man came in from the door, thin and tall. His triangle eyes flashed upon every one of them, which made them very comfortable.

“Ah Yue, we got guests today!” the man said, sounding as if he was familiar with the woman. He walked by her side and leaned his face towards her.

“Lao San, it’s so late. What are you up to?” The woman took a few steps back and asked, frowning.

The man called Lao San smiled obscenely and said, “Today, I met Brother Pao. He said he was too busy to visit you these days. He fears you would worry about him, so he sends me to tell you this.”

“I see,” the owner said and pushed him to the door. “Today, I have guests. You must leave.”

Lao San left hesitantly, and he even turned around to smile at Chen Chen and Ah Zi, which made the two tremble.

“Let’s take a rest!” Ah Zi pulled Chen Chen and said. Chen Chen nodded her head. At this moment, the owner had locked up the gate. Hearing they were about to go to bed, she handed them a bronze kettle and said, “There is hot water and there is hot spring at the back of your room. You can take a bath.”

After taking a bath in the hot spring, they took a good sleep. The second morning, the owner prepared breakfast for them. Yet, out of expectation, as they were about to finish the breakfast, two men came in.

“Landlady, we want to check in!”