Chapter 13: “I Suspect Our Boss Likes Women!”

The atmosphere in the room was unusually silent.

Ah Ling thought to herself: This person must be playing dumb.

But she didn’t understand why the Boss had suddenly changed her attitude. Last night, she had personally captured this little thief and brought her up the mountain, and today she was treating her with such courtesy.

She scrutinized Yan Zhao carefully but saw nothing special beyond the grime and cunning.

Feng Jin paused briefly, shook her head with a soft laugh, and changed her approach: “I am very curious about the reason you came up the mountain, Miss. Might I ask you to share it?”

Yan Zhao picked up her bowl of fish soup, now simmered to a milky white, took a large gulp, and licked her lips. “I heard you people often go down the mountain to scour for grain, so your storehouse must have lots of food. I came up to take a look.”

Feng Jin looked thoughtful, but Ah Ling slammed the table in fury, cursing, “Nonsense! We never go down the mountain to rob! The grain in the storehouse is all grown by everyone ourselves, clearing land on the Back Mountain! Those two pieces of meat you stole were wild boar hunted personally by the Boss!”

“Ah Ling!” Feng Jin sharply reprimanded her. “Calm down! If you continue this rudeness, you can leave!”

Ah Ling was indignant and retorted, “But she…”

“Silence!” Feng Jin’s voice was cold.

Scolded for no reason of her own because of Yan Zhao, Ah Ling bit her lip, her eyes reddening. Sulking, she turned her head away.

Seeing her upset, Feng Jin sighed helplessly and softened her tone. “I arranged this banquet today to resolve the issue. Since there’s a misunderstanding, we should naturally clarify the cause.”

Ah Ling was still fuming, presenting the back of her head to her.

Feng Jin stopped trying to persuade her and turned to Yan Zhao. “I still don’t know how to address you, Miss?”

Yan Zhao had tried pouring herself a cup of wine, took a sip, and was now sticking out her tongue from the spiciness.

Hearing the question, she replied, “My name is Yan Zhao.”

“Yan Zhao.” Feng Jin murmured the name once and nodded. “Miss Yan, although Ah Ling was a bit impulsive, every word she spoke is the truth.”

“Our stronghold has never plundered the villages below. We only help the common people guard their poultry and livestock during seasons when fierce beasts run rampant in the mountains, and we collect some compensation based on our labor.”

Yan Zhao didn’t care in the slightest about these matters. She took another half-sip of wine, discerning its mellow flavor, and asked casually, “Then is there a person in your stronghold named Black Sky Tyrant?”

“Black Sky Tyrant?”

Feng Jin raised an eyebrow, as if understanding something.

Ah Ling’s expression instantly changed dramatically, her face darkening. With a snap, she broke the chopsticks in her hand.

Yan Zhao heard the noise, her ears twitching. She glanced at Ah Ling, puzzled.

Feng Jin rubbed her thumb along the rim of her cup. After a brief moment of thought, she answered, “There was indeed a person named Black Sky Tyrant in the stronghold before.”

This person’s status was not ordinary; he was the previous Stronghold Leader, a genuine bandit through and through. He was treacherous, cunning, cruel, and bloodthirsty.

Black Sky Tyrant had somehow stumbled upon an opportunity and cultivated a wicked art. After establishing himself as the king of the mountain, he gathered a motley crew of various heretics under his command and frequently harassed the villagers below.

But two years ago, when Feng Jin returned from traveling abroad, she passed by this mountain and saw Black Sky Tyrant bullying men and women. She casually killed him to rid the people of this evil.

However, the mortals enslaved by Black Sky Tyrant had no kin and nowhere to go. They all knelt and begged Feng Jin to take them in.

Feng Jin simply decided to stay in the stronghold. From then on, the stronghold’s rules were completely changed.

Over these past two years, with frequent wars in the mortal realm, the stronghold had gradually taken in groups of displaced people who fled into the mountains, eventually reaching its current scale.

Yan Zhao, utterly indifferent to worldly affairs, focused only on eating. The little fox, at some point, poked its head out, resting its chin lazily on the table as it listened to Feng Jin recount the stronghold’s origins.

“This matter is indeed suspicious,” Feng Jin said gently. “Including Miss Yan, several groups of cultivators have come to this mountain over the past few days. Initially, I thought Miss Yan’s purpose was the same as theirs. Now, it seems it was truly a misunderstanding.”

Hearing Feng Jin explain the whole story, Ah Ling also recalled the reasons she had come to the mountain back then. A sense of emotion welled up within her, and she wasn’t as angry as before.

Seeing Yan Zhao looking dazed and completely indifferent, Ah Ling couldn’t help but remind her, “Our Boss is talking to you! Are you even listening?”

Yan Zhao had no reaction to her words.

With a clatter, the wine cup fell. Yan Zhao’s head drooped down, nearly squashing the fox underneath.

The little fox slipped out from her embrace. Turning its head, it saw Yan Zhao’s cheeks flushed red; she was sprawled on the table, fast asleep.

She had never drunk wine before. Tasting it for the first time, she had greedily had a few extra cups and, in just a few short moments, was dead to the world.

Ah Ling was so angry she clenched her fists. “What’s wrong with this person?!”

The Boss had said she was rude, but Yan Zhao was utterly boorish!

“It’s fine.” Feng Jin raised a hand to stop Ah Ling. “Let her sleep.”

Her gaze swept over the white fox. She suddenly stood, walked over to Yan Zhao’s table, and personally bent down to pick Yan Zhao up.

Despite eating so much, Yan Zhao was thin and bony, light as nothing in her arms.

Ah Ling was shocked. “Boss!”

The little fox was also quite surprised. Its white eyelashes, as beautiful as its fur, fluttered twice. It stood and followed Feng Jin out.

Feng Jin carried Yan Zhao past everyone’s eyes. Several people training in the courtyard turned their heads, and upon seeing this scene, their jaws dropped in shock.

Just last night, when the Head Chief had captured Yan Zhao, she had been dragging her by the collar. Today, not only had she hosted a lavish meal, but she was personally carrying Yan Zhao back to her room.

Once Feng Jin was far away, the stronghold members snapped out of it and instantly erupted into commotion, privately guessing what on earth could have happened last night.

Why had their Head Chief’s attitude towards Yan Zhao changed so drastically?

Feng Jin carried Yan Zhao back to the previous courtyard, laid her down on the bed, and then said to Ah Ling, “Go to my room and find another mattress. It’s been cold on the mountain lately; cover Miss Yan with something thicker.”

Ah Ling couldn’t believe it. She looked at Feng Jin, then at Yan Zhao, who was sleeping soundly, and suddenly felt an unbearable bitterness in her heart.

She fell silent, lowered her head, and left without a word.

After Ah Ling left the small courtyard, Feng Jin turned to look for the Spirit Fox at her side.

The little fox had shed its earlier laziness and was now crouching on a small round stool beside the bed.

Simply sitting there, its posture was dignified, its expression calm and reserved, its aura exuding a subtle elegance.

“Senior Sister,” Feng Jin spoke, disregarding Ren Qingyue’s warning from the night before and still addressing her as Senior Sister. “The people who guided you up the mountain are highly suspicious. They clearly have ulterior motives.”

Ren Qingyue naturally saw this clearly as well.

She thought of a person.

From that person’s mouth, perhaps some clues could be extracted.

The little fox nimbly jumped off the low stool, came to the door, its tail swaying gently left and right, and raised its chin towards Feng Jin.

Feng Jin immediately understood its meaning and followed it out of the room.

Several men were huddled together, whispering. Regarding the reason for Feng Jin’s changed attitude towards Yan Zhao, they had already competitively guessed seven or eight different versions.

Ah Ling came out holding a mattress and happened to hear one of them say, “Hey, I think I get it now!”

Someone beside him asked, “What do you get?”

“That!” The man gestured with his chin toward the guest room where Yan Zhao was staying. “Before, wasn’t there a scholar who was smitten with our Boss? He was chased down the mountain by the Boss that very day. Our Boss is a heroine among women, with a spirit that swallows mountains and rivers. What man could possibly catch her eye? Could it be…”

He was halfway through when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Feng Jin emerging from the courtyard. He was instantly choked by his own saliva and faked a cough, falling silent.

But the person next to him hadn’t yet heard the crucial conclusion and grew impatient. “Could it be what?! Spit it out!”

Feng Jin heard the clamor in the courtyard but didn’t care. She closely followed the little fox’s steps across the courtyard.

Before long, they arrived outside a woodshed.

It was the very one where Yan Zhao had been locked up yesterday. There were still two other people inside, also claiming to be disciples of the Fuyun Sect.

The little fox raised a small paw and pushed open the door.

Lin Chao and his companion had been unconscious for a whole day and had just woken up.

Luo Qi was incessantly cursing Yan Zhao as a traitor, spewing every foul word he could think of.

At that moment, the door suddenly swung open, and a sliver of light shone upon them.

Luo Qi instinctively turned his head.

Seeing clearly who it was, his face instantly turned pale, and he shivered.

The men in the courtyard waited until Feng Jin’s figure had receded into the distance, far enough that they could no longer be heard, before lowering their voices: “I suspect our Boss likes women!”

The few men listening to the gossip widened their eyes, looking at each other.

The scene was quiet for a moment. They exchanged glances, then surprisingly said in unison, “It’s not impossible!”

“But…” someone raised an objection, “That young girl is crude in speech and behavior, and she sneaked into our stronghold to steal things. How could the Boss like her?”

There was also support for the opposing view. The crowd turned to see how the person who had proposed the theory would refute it.

They saw that man curl his lips, looking immensely pleased with himself. “Then you don’t know! I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. That young lady is actually quite good-looking.”

The people around him grew curious. “How good-looking? Better than Ah Ling?”

“What does Ah Ling count for?” The man snorted, offering a profound critique. “So ignorant. I’m absolutely certain that if that young lady changed her clothes and tied up her hair, she would definitely make you see her in a new light.”

Curious as they were, they had no real evidence. They craned their necks, peeking towards the direction of Yan Zhao’s courtyard but could see nothing, so they could only sigh and move on to other topics.

Ah Ling was hiding behind a wall holding a mattress, her teeth having bitten through her lip, tasting a bit of bitterness.

She hadn’t been intentionally eavesdropping. When she passed by, her footsteps had just somehow stopped on their own.

At this moment, her heart felt like it had been soaked in a vat of vinegar, indescribably uncomfortable.

Once the group of men behind the wall had dispersed amidst their clamor, she collected her emotions and carried the bedding to the guest room where Yan Zhao was staying.

Yan Zhao was already deep asleep. Following Feng Jin’s instructions, Ah Ling covered her with the blanket.

As she tucked in the corners, her gaze involuntarily fell upon Yan Zhao’s face.

Yan Zhao’s cheeks were obscured by her messy hair. Her hair grew wild like weeds, never properly trimmed. Whenever it got too long, she would just cut a section off randomly, leaving the ends ragged. Not only did she not tie it up, but her clothes were also loose and sloppy, with no proper appearance whatsoever.

On a strange impulse, Ah Ling reached out and brushed aside Yan Zhao’s hair.

Beneath the tangled mess was a delicate, oval face, with exceptionally refined features. Her thick eyelashes were curled and upturned. Her originally pallid complexion, flushed from the bit of alcohol, showed a faint rosy hue, like the finest mutton-fat jade, warm and smooth.

Her nose bridge was elegant and pert. Her lips were of moderate thickness, beautifully shaped, full, and a light cherry-blossom pink.

Just as others had said, if Yan Zhao tied up her hair and dressed up, she would undoubtedly stun everyone present.

Even though Ah Ling disliked Yan Zhao, upon seeing her face clearly, she couldn’t muster any jealousy or hatred.

She even couldn’t help but think: How did someone so blessed by heaven, someone who should have been adored and cherished by many, end up in such a wretched state?

It was no wonder at all that Feng Jin would feel compassion, cherish Yan Zhao so, and even… be moved at heart.

Ah Ling withdrew her hand and wiped her eyes.

She stood up. Before leaving, she tucked in the corner of the blanket for Yan Zhao one last time.