"Who are you here to see today?" Li Mei politely asked as she ushered Lin Xiaowei into the brothel.
"My uncle told me to come fetch someone." Lin Xiaowei answered.
"Who might that be?" Li Mei asked with a confused expression, but Lin Xiaowei saw through her act, and smiled.
"The person I'm looking for was supposed to be training at the Shao sect, but he humiliated his master, and got sent away."
"I'm sure, this is where he is hiding." As he spoke, he caught sight of two maidens carrying a tray of crabs up the stairs, causing him to smirk knowingly, "Ha! Would you look at that? He even has the guts to order seafoods after causing so much trouble."
Li Mei laughed softly, finally giving up the pretense, "Okay, fine. He is in the room upstairs where the crabs are being taken to. Don't tell him I told you."
"Thanks." Lin Xiowei smiled back, and head up the stairs.
Opening the door to the room, he was greeted by a glorious and mouthwatering sight. The person he was looking for, was in the room, seated on the floor while reading a book, and in front of him was a table filled with so many delicacies—mostly seafoods.
Lin Xiaowei could only fold his arms as he stared at his friend in disbelief. "Ah-Chen. You are officially the most shameless person I know." He said, sighing as he sat at the opposite side of the table. "Thanks to you, my uncle had to travel all the way to the Shao sect to plead with the Shao sect leader on your behalf. Meanwhile, you are here, enjoying this damn crab."
"I haven't started eating yet." Jiang Yichen said, a smile gracing his face, "You have the habit of always coming at the right time, when I need you. It's annoying having to break the crab shells before I get to enjoy the meat. So since you are here, break the shells with your spell."
"That's all you have to say, after what you d gone? Maybe I should just break you, instead of the crab." Lin Xiaowei joked.
"If that cranky old man had been kind enough to teach me a single spell, I would not have left the Shao sect that way." Jiang Yichen said in his defense.
Lin Xiaowei shrugged, "Maybe because he knows that no matter how many times he teaches you, you just wouldn't be able to do it. Have you forgotten your spiritual core got sealed by your own father?"
"Isn't it his duty as a master to help his student?He should have helped me unseal it." Jiang Yichen argued.
Lin Xiaowei chuckled at his friend's reasoning. "No one in Huayang has the balls to go against your father like that. They know he must have had his reasons for doing so."
Jiang Yichen rolled his eyes, waving his hand as he said, "That's bullshit. There are some that live fearlessly, and do things without fearing the consequences. For example… the infamous Shadow Assassin, Mingyu." A smile filled with adoration appeared on his face when he said the last line.
Lin Xiaowei:….
"You are joking, right?" Lin Xiaowei said, forcing himself to laugh like he had just heard the funniest joke of the century.
Jiang Yichen ignored Lin Xiaowei's question, and continued to speak highly of the assassin, like he was his idol. "I heard he was so skilled that if he had gone head-to-head with your uncle, he would have won hands down."
Lin Xiaowei coughed, feeling embarrassed on his uncle's behalf. "That doesn't matter anyway. He's already dead."
Jiang Yichen scoffed in mockery of Lin Xiaowei. "I heard he was found lifeless, but the symbol of the blue dragon appeared on his forehead, so he might still be alive. No, I'm sure he's still alive."
"Hey!" Lin Xiaowei yelled, leaning over the table to cover Jiang Yichen's mouth with his palm, before looking wearily towards the door.
"If anyone hears you speak so highly of an assassin, they might think you are in cohorts with him. Keep your voice down!" He whisper-shouted.
Jiang Yichen simply swatted Lin Xiaowei's hand from his face, and pointed to the crabs. "Stop lecturing me and just pick out the meat already. Put your powers to good use."
"Do it yourself, you lazybones!" Lin Xiaowei spat back.
….
"My gosh, you look so much better now that that you have washed up and changed your clothes." Li Mei said, as she eyed Mingyu who had been washed up, and was changed into a fresh black robe.
"I was wrong when I said your hair was your most beautiful feature. Everything about you is absolutely gorgeous." She continued to gush at him, as they stood in front of standing mirror.
Mingyu whose blindfold was now on his neck, was also secretly admiring his new body. Hmm, not bad. He thought as he observed himself. But my real body is still much hotter.
Yinzhi was tall and had a bit of a slender build. His face was chiseled, with sharp cheekbones and a strong jawline, softened by plush, plum-colored lips that hinted at a subtle sensuality. His bright fiery red hair fell in loose effortless curls around his shoulders, framing his striking features. He had this kind of innocent beauty which was the very opposite of Mingyu's personality.
But there was one thing that caught Mingyu's attention the most— He still had grey colored eyes.
Did Yinzhi also have grey eyes?… or could these eyes actually be mine? Maybe that's why I can see. He wondered, but he could never know, because when he had come in contact with Yinzhi, Yinzhi's eyes had been covered with a blindfold.
"Let me put on some makeup for you. All my customers are going to be dazzled by your beauty." Li Mei said as she ushered Mingyu to sit at a table filled with cosmetics, and jewelries.
"Let's start with your eyes." She excitedly said as she picked up an eyeliner, but Mingyu held her hand before she could pick it up.
"Li Mei-jie [1]. Can–can I please, do it myself?" Mingyu asked politely.
Li Mei was confused by his request. "But you can't even see. How…"
Mingyu sighed dramatically, but pitifully, cutting Li Mei's words off. "I have never done this kind of job before, so I need to prepare myself. I would like to be alone for a little while." He said, looking a bit downcast.
Li Mei's heartstrings couldn't help being pulled, as she felt pity for the poor, but super handsome blind man. But her pity wasn't enough for her to forget the amount of money she had paid to buy him. Yinzhi would have to earn money for her to pay back what she spent on his head.
She held Mingyu's hand in hers, trying to send him comfort. "Sure. Come out whenever you are ready, okay?" She said, and Mingyu nodded.
Li Mei stood up to take her leave, and not even a second later, Mingyu dropped the act of being blind.
"Being blind makes it easier to fool people." He said with a smirk, as his eyes landed on the expensive jewelries on the table, "I'm going to need a lot of money, if I'm going to run away."
He began gathering the jewelries, stuffing them in his robes. "Ah!" He yelled when one of the pointy earrings pinched his belly, beneath his robes. He had to cover his mouth, shocked at how loud he had yelled.
"Yinzhi, are you okay?!" Li Mei's worried voice sounded from outside the room.
"Shit!" Mingyu cursed, as he tried removing the jewelries from his robes.
It was too late though. The doors flung open, and Li Mei entered the room, only to be greeted by the sight of a supposed blind man, bringing out jewelries from his robes.
Mingyu immediately dropped the jewelries, and brought his blind fold up to cover his eyes. "It's nothing to worry about. I just pricked my finger." He said, trying to ease up the atmosphere, by laughing a bit.
Li Mei might not be the smartest person, but at least, she wasn't dumb enough to keep falling for his pretense, even after what she just saw.
Li Mei clapped both sides of her face in shock. "You can actually see?!!!"
She rushed and knelt in front of the table, looking at Mingyu with shock. "You can see?" She asked again.
Mingyu, realizing that he could no longer fool her, put down the blindfold, and swiftly picked up a small vial of powder, throwing the content at Li Mei's face.
Li Mei was caught off guard as the powder exploded into her face, sending her into a fit of coughing, and gagging. The powder invaded her mouth, nostrils, and stung her eyes, momentarily blinding her.
Mingyu, on the other hand, got up and took to his heels, but that was right after grabbing a few jewelries.
—————
A/N: [1] Jiejie is Chinese for "older sister". So referring to Li Mei as Li Mei-Jie, is Mingyu's way of showing respect.