791 Authenticity (1/2)

Han Fen concentrated all her attention on disguising herself, taking off and putting on clothes as if there were nobody else in the room. Humming a weird tone, she didn't seem to hate this imprisoned life at all.

Shangguan Yun was lying in a chair, silently watching Han Fen. There was more than one room in this suite, but he'd rather sit here and watch a crazy woman than stay in a room alone. ”Han Fen, you know what? You look prettier when you're naked.”

”I know. You don't have to see my face when I'm naked.”

Shangguan Yun raised his thumb and replied, ”You can tell what I'm really saying. So smart. But I meant no offence. It's not your face but rather the Dragon King's face that I was talking about. That sullen face isn't worthy of such a perfect body.”

”My face isn't that pretty either. Several men have told me that.”

Shangguan Yun knew that he would probably regret it, but he still asked, ”And you killed all of them, didn't you?”

Han Fen turned her head. Her face looked exactly like the Dragon King's, yet the smile on it seemed as if it'd never appeared on this face before. ”I didn't. I just tossed them into a deep pit in the desert and left them there. Whether they survived or not has nothing to do with me.”

”Doesn't that count as killing them?”

”Of course it doesn't,” Han Fen explained patiently. ”Killing someone requires me to do it myself – stabbing, scratching, forcing them to swallow pills, cutting them open, etc. But tossing them into a pit is different. I told them that they 'either crawled out of this pit or I drag them up seven days later.' You see, they still had a chance to survive. They just failed to clearly seize it.”

Shangguan Yun nodded favorably as he replied, ”Now I know how to keep my hands clean. Er, can I offer a suggestion?”

”You can. But I may not necessarily accept it.”

”Suit yourself. But I think that there're too many differences between your manner and that of the Dragon King. People might see through the act.”

The ”Dragon King” widened her eyes, which was yet another expression that had never appeared on Dragon King's face before. ”Are you saying that I don't resemble the Dragon King? Ha, I'm the best master of disguise in the Waning Moon Hall. Even the Master Commander herself praised me once. And yet you dare say that I don't resemble the Dragon King? I've been observing the Dragon King for quite a long time. All I need to do now is give myself some extra height and then flatten down the chest a little bit.”

Shangguan Yun nodded again as he consoled, ”Now that you've said this, I feel like you resemble the Dragon King much more. You said that you've been observing the Dragon King for quite a long time?”

Han Fen raised her head and started recalling the past. ”The first time I met the Dragon King was in the Hui Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake. Back then, the weather was approximately the same as it is now. And then a winter passed, then a spring, a summer, and then an autumn. You see, I've been observing him for four entire seasons.”

”Yeah, that is quite a long time. Er, after such a long time of observation, what kind of man do you think the Dragon King is?”

Han Fen had finished disguising herself. She was putting away the tools on the table, contemplating Shangguan Yun's question and frowning. ”The Dragon King's a man.”

”Your observation is so deep. Ordinary people would never have noticed that,” Shangguan Yun teased as he turned the talking into his own source of amusement.

”He's also handsome. Much more handsome than you.”

”That's not fair. I'm sure that I'd definitely be much more handsome than the Dragon King if I were a dozen years younger.”

”You want to be younger? Maybe I can help.”

”I heard that the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall are very mysterious, but no thank you. Even if I become more handsome than the Dragon King, I wouldn't have his status. Let's talk more about him. What else have you noticed?”

”He's not happy. He wants to be happy, but he's not. He keeps everything to himself and never shows anything on his face.”

”Ha-ha, I heard that the troops gave a nickname to Dragon King – 'Faceless.' They say that he puts on the same expression every day as if he has no face.”

”Faceless… Has no face… no face. Ha-ha, that's is pretty interesting. But that's not the real Dragon King, it's… The affected Dragon King, just like a disguise. Yes, every day, the Dragon King puts on a disguise.”

”And you've seen the real Dragon King?” Shangguan Yun asked curiously.

”Sure,” Han Fen answered as she pointed at her eyes. ”They see everything.”

”Please, elaborate.”

Han Fen shook her head. ”I don't know how to describe it. And you might not be able to understand even if I do explain.”

”Indeed, I am a little slow. But I've been staying with you for several days, so maybe I got smarter during that time.”

Han Fen had a grave look on her face, which made her resemble the Dragon King much more. She walked closer to Shangguan Yun and inexplicably lowered her voice to say, ”The Dragon King looks like Master Commander, but he'd actually rather be a little girl – smiling whenever he wants, drinking whenever he wants, and being protected by someone wherever he goes.”

”Which little girl… Are you referring to sister Ru?”

”Yep. That little girl's your younger sister? I don't see the resemblance. Anyways, the real Dragon King wants to be a woman, so I'm the one that's most suited to act as him.”

It was not specifically a ”woman” that the Dragon King wanted to be. But Shangguan Yun didn't contradict her. On the contrary, he felt that the words this lunatic Han Fen had spoken did have some truth to them.

”What kind of man do you think I am?”

”You are like Han Xuan.”

”Han Xuan?” Shangguan Yun could faintly recall that this was the name of a maidservant of some lady.

”Yep, my good friend. She loves chatting with me and she's interested in everything, just like you.”

Shangguan Yun gave out a bitter smile upon realizing that he had become one of Han Fen's chatting buddies.

Then someone knocked the door. Shangguan Yun glanced at Han Fen, walked to the door, and opened the hole in the door – food was delivered through this hole every day. Then he stepped aside, wondering whether Han Fen could trick the people outside into believing that she was the Dragon King.

Azheba was standing in the middle while Shangguan Ru and one of Prince Duodun's companions were on the right and left side of Azheba, respectively.

”Azheba requested for a meeting with you. My apologies for the inconvenience, Dragon King,” Azheba said respectfully. Although he served under Prince Duodun, he still held a heartfelt respect towards the Dragon King.

Dragon King's face appeared on the other side of the hole in the door. After contemplating martial arts for many days, the look on his face was colder and more sullen. His eyes swept through the three people's faces, slightly pausing on Shangguan Ru's face, before asking Azheba, ”What's up?”