"You…"
Ye Lei found himself at lost for words. He looked at Xiao Ren who looked at the two siblings calmly then to his sister who still lowered her eyes. Sighing, he raised his hand and patted his sister's head.
"Silly girl," Ye Lei said in exasperation. He looked at his sister lovingly yet a wry smile hung on the corner of his lips. "If you really want to get out, then we're going out. However, I'll need to buy you a veil to cover your face."
Ye Ning beamed, but her expression turned into confusion when she heard what her brother said. "But Brother, I'm not a noble. Why should I need a veil?"
"Of course that's because you're too beautiful!"
"Brother!"
Jun secretly rolled his eyes. It seemed that being too beautiful could be a problem too. He looked at Xiao Ren. "Mister Xiao, if there's nothing else, this servant will return back first."
Xiao Ren narrowed his eyes at the obviously polite language Jun used. He took out a bronze knife and placed it on Jun's hand while pointing to the writing tools with his other hand.
That gesture was already more than enough to tell Jun that Xiao Ren wanted to pay for the bamboo strips and also ink. However, bamboo was practically everywhere as the place was still covered in dense forest. Just one bronze knife was already more than enough for them to buy so many bamboo strips.
It would be a different story if the bamboo strips were to be joined together with strings, though.
There were not many people who would buy bamboo strips either because the number of people who could write and read were extremely limited. Because of that, the price of these were usually pretty cheap so that more people could buy.
"This is too much... I…" Jun's words stopped when he saw Xiao Ren pushed his hand. He smiled helplessly. "In that case, thank you Mister Xiao. I'll be taking my leave."
Ye Lei had stopped arguing with his sister and looked at Jun's departing back. He tilted his head. "Is it just my imagination that Jun is getting even more polite and respectful to you, Xiao Ren?"
Xiao Ren only shrugged. Obviously, he didn't know why Jun's attitude took another turn to be even more respectful. Little did he know that his writing had already told a lot about his position in the military.
"Brother, do you want to eat first?" Ye Ning asked, still pouting with her brother's decision back then.
Ye Lei nodded. "Yes. I'll help cooking."
"Alright."
The two siblings were already tired, so they head back to their room to rest right after they had finished their dinner. On the other hand, Xiao Ren was patiently waiting for everyone to sleep. He still had another matter to do.
'I'll borrow this.'
Physician Hong had prepared some clothing for them because they didn't bring change. Xiao Ren picked a black robe and then took a cloth to cover his mouth. This way, he looked more like an assassin.
Afterwards, Xiao Ren walked to the back courtyard and leapt up. As he landed on the wall, Xiao Ren scanned his surroundings and immediately jumped into the alley while assessing his body. There was no longer any pain from the battel with General Wang.
He should be able to finish this task tonight.
Swish!
Covertly running in the dark alley, Xiao Ren bypassed the area and looked around. He could hear people talking while he looked around. Since he couldn't speak, he could only rely on his senses and also observation's ability.
'Commander Bei come here under the order of General Wang, so he should be at the prestigious guest's area.'
There were some houses that the governor had prepared for honored guests. When Xiao Ren visited some other cities in the past, he was also placed in one of them because of his rank. However, he couldn't be totally sure about which one Commander Bei would be located in.
In addition, the location was usually tightly guarded, so Xiao Ren stopped when he got close because he could see a lot of people roaming around. He might be not a bad martial artist, but it didn't mean that he was an assassin who could perfectly blend in the darkness while hiding his presence.
It was impossible.
'If it's not at home, Commander Bei should be at the brothel.'
Recalling his old comrade's habit, Xiao Ren shook his head and rushed to the red district. Walking through the back area, he furrowed his brows when the thick smell of makeup entered his nose. This place was one of the place that he hated with passion because the smell was unbearable.
Even if his men were trying to pull him into the red district, he would end up beating them up one by one.
"Wahahaha!"
The familiar laugh entered Xiao Ren's ear. He looked at the building before him then to the second floor. With a leap, he had reached the balcony and pushed the window open. Even though the unbearable smell attacked his face, Xiao Ren kept his calm.
"Commander Bei, please behave yourself."
"Yes, yes...Ah!"
There were several women's voice, so Xiao Ren could guess what Commander Bei was doing. Internally, he could only shake his head because he knew that in the past, Commander Bei was already reprimanded for his misbehavior yet because of his background, not many people could do anything.
The sound from inside continued and Xiao Ren stayed away a bit while waiting. He would just wait for the right time as he didn't wish to harm the innocent either. It shouldn't be possible for Commander Bei to stay inside the room until morning because he would surely be severely reprimanded.
At that time, he might even lose his position because he didn't rest properly.
'I should wait.'