"Scram. I'm going to bed. "
Wen Ran chased him to his guest room, closed the door shut, and had her first good night of sleep after several days' worth of traveling.
The next morning, Ye Sui's led them to the sword furnace and they met with the Hidden Abyss Valley's master swordsmith.
Master Lu was an energetic middle-aged man who had a strong physique. Anyone who saw his arms could feel the explosive power contained within.
He was rumored to spend most of his time in the sword furnace, and his only interest was in forging swords. He had even mentored many excellent swordsmiths in the Hidden Abyss Valley, and he was also a very easy person to talk to.
Master Lu clicked his tongue in wonder as he examined the two broken swords. "These two are high-grade swords. The force that broke them must have been extraordinary."
Wen Ran looked at Shen Wu.
"They were broken when we encountered a thousand-year-old snake demon." Shen Wu said indifferently.
Master Lu took a few more glances at Shen Wu and Wen Ran before his gaze finally landed on Shen Wu. "You have extraordinary strength. You managed to stay alive and suffered only a broken sword when facing the thousand-year-old snake demon. That is a victory in itself."
"Are you able to repair the two swords?" Ye Sui asked.
"It's not impossible, but these are two extraordinary swords. We would require high-quality black iron as supplementary materials."
Ye Sui frowned. "Black Iron is very rare. It would take some time to find it."
Master Lu laughed. "There is no need to go far. If I remember correctly, Qiu Shui was given a piece of high-quality black iron by her father when she reached a marriageable age."
Ye Sui's frown deepened.
Even Wen Ran could guess that it would be an uphill task to get something from Qiu Shui.
However, Ye Sui smoothened his frown and said politely to Shen Wu and Wen Ran, "I'll find the black iron as soon as possible. You may stay a few more days in the hidden abyss Valley."
Wen Ran and Shen Wu bowed. "Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Ye."
Ye Sui left first, while Wen Ran and Shen Wu were requested by Master Lu to stay and recount the situation when they dealt with the snake demon.
Shen Wu explained the situation but kept some details from Master Lu, who did not ask any further since he was unaware that the details were kept from him. According to Shen Wu, he and Wen Ran were the lucky ones who had escaped.
"What luck you both have. I'll try my best to mend your swords," Master Lu assured after he saw them out of the sword furnace.
"Thank you," Shen Wu replied.
Master Lu admired the young and promising Shen Wu and could not help but envy Wen Xun for having such a good disciple. Master Lu saw that Wen Ran was staring ahead, so he turned and looked over.
Under the maple tree was a young man with red lips and white teeth. He was holding Ye Sui's hand and acting childishly.
"Qiu Shan is different from Qiu Shui. Qiu Shui butts heads with Mr. Ye, but Qiu Shan is very clingy with him and they're on very good terms with each other," Master Lu said.
Wen Ran glanced a few more times at the lively young man and felt an inexplicable sense of unease in his heart.
"Ranran."
Wen Ran retracted her gaze after hearing her name being called. When she looked up, her hand had been stuffed with a steamed bun.
"Eat up. You don't usually eat a lot for breakfast, and we wouldn't want you going hungry," Shen Wu said considerately.
Master Lu's admiration for Shen Wu grew even more and he could not help but lament how good it was to be young. It even reminded him of his past when I fought with my senior and junior brothers over the dudou [1] of those brothel ladies.
After having a good chuckle, Master Lu returned to the sword furnace because he felt that he should not be disturbing the young man and woman.
Wen Ran studied the steamed bun in his hand and recalled that it was probably the steamed bun he bought from the old man. It remained fresh even after a day because anything that was placed in the storage space would remain in the exact same condition that they were first stored there. However, only inanimate things could be stored in it.
His generosity in giving her a normal meal prompted Wen Ran to suspect that he was up to no good. "Why should you worry about whether or not I go hungry?"
"Isn't it normal to be concerned about my fiancée?"
Wen Ran's eyes were filled with doubt.
Shen Wu sighed faintly. "You shouldn't always think of me as a bad person, Ranran. If I really wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have saved you in the cave in the forbidden area."
It was true that he saved her, but in the process, he had toyed with her little heart until it was beating wildly.
Qiu Shan was hopping and skipping as he followed Ye Sui over at the tree. Ye Sui smiled and brushed away the fallen leaves on Qiu Shan's head, which led Qiu Shan to smile even more. Seeing their interaction from behind made it clear enough that they had a good relationship with each other.
"That's strange..." Wen Ran muttered.
Her line of sight was suddenly blocked by a figure. "What's strange?" Shen Wu asked curiously.
"Qiu Shan." Wen Ran peeked out to take another look but was blocked by him again.
"Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to that sissy, Ranran?" Shen Wu asked, puzzled.
"What are you talking about? I've only met Qiu Shan twice, and I haven't even spoken a single word to him. How do you expect me to take a fancy to him?"
There was a hint of mischief in his tone. "You think he's a sissy too."
If she did not think that, she would not have known that he was talking about Qiu Shan the moment he mentioned the word 'sissy'
Wen Ran stiffened for a moment. "I didn't say that..." she mumbled as she took a bite out of her bun. Talk about other people behind their backs was something she did not like doing.
All of a sudden, her face scrunched up because she tasted a familiar sour taste.
Wen Ran immediately opened the steamed bun in her hand and saw the small red fruit wrapped inside. She stretched out her hand with the steamed bun and asked, "What's this, Shen Wu?"
"A stuffed steamed bun."
When he saw the increasing anger on Wen Ran's face, he felt that he had not answered her question correctly. His gaze landed on her hand and he added, "And your little chubby hand."
By the time that little chubby hand was about to punch him, he had already run far away.
"Stop right there!"
He was never going to stop, of course.
Wen Ran chased him for more than an hour that day, but she was still far from being able to touch the corner of his clothes!
For the next few days, Ye Sui, who previously said that he was going to look for black iron, had not come back with any news. It was obvious then that Qiu Shui did not want to help. After all, it was hers, and no one could force her to give it up if she did not want to.
Wen Ran, on the other hand, could not just sit there doing nothing because the issue was directly connected to her. To that end, she deliberately dragged Shen Wu one morning as he was sleeping in and went to the courtyard where the eldest miss of the Hidden Abyss Valley lived. She very politely told a young maidservant that she wanted to pay a visit to the eldest miss.
"She's refusing to see people." The young maidservant returned almost immediately.
Wen Ran and Shen Wu returned empty-handed, but as they walked, Wen Ran stroked her chin and said, "It doesn't make sense ..."
"What doesn't make sense?" Shen Wu asked curiously.
In the plot, the Hidden Abyss Valley's eldest miss was also one of the supporting actresses that was infatuated with the male lead. In fact, she was supposed to have yearned for him through name alone even though they had not met yet.
However, the male lead liked Qin Susu, so Qin Susu naturally became her target. As unruly as she was, she was not an evil person, which culminated in her having a much better ending than Wen Ran's.
TN:
[1] The dudou (肚兜) is sort of like the Chinese version of a camisole.