31 The Tavern

Diary 11

It has been five days since Van Kiep left. So far, I haven't heard any news about the war between Lai and Hoa. From that, I can only guess that she hasn't met my 'brother' yet. I hope that she is doing fine and is taking care of herself. I am worrying that Van Kiep may skip meals or have little sleep in order to move faster. Even if she uses [Teleport], I doubt that she has the amount of power as Long Dao to travel far. I don't even know why I am like this. Van Kiep and I have only been together for a few days, and yet I am anxious as though she is my family. I just hope that when I come back to Lai, she is already there before me.

As for Phai, throughout the journey to get to V city, Long Dao and I were keeping our eyes on her at all times because she was hiding something. I said this because if we tie the pieces together: she was kept safe by eight horsemen and then was caught by five very skilled men in black; that made me and Long Dao think her being simply a prostitute does not add up. That was why we were always cautious with Phai. Who knows what kind of power is behind her?

Now, let's get back to the story:

It took us two full days for Phai, Long Dao, and I to reach V city. Once we were there, the sun was already beginning to rest. We wanted to go inside fast before the soldiers closed the gate, but we were stopped at the entrance.

"Stop right there. Show me your city pass," the guard said.

Long Dao and I looked at each other anxiously. We didn't have that pass.

"Oh! Do you still remember me?" Phai came to the rescue. Now she was a confident girl. I shook my head and gave up on my character analysis of her.

"Huh? Ah! Aren't you Phai from the tavern?" the guard became friendly in front of her. "What are you doing out here late?" he asked.

"I was just going to pick some flowers in the woods but got lost. These two here helped me find the way out," Phai smiled at him.

The guard's face suddenly got serious again, "I know what you mean, but I can't let them pass without a city pass."

I looked at Long Dao to see if she could do anything, but she just shook her head. With a long sigh, I walked up and whispered to Phai, "It is fine, you should go in now. It is getting dark really quickly."

Hearing that, Phai turned her head and smiled at me, "You two have helped me. If I can not handle this small problem, then I am not Phai." After that, she came up to the guard and whispered something to his ears.

"Activate Wisdom of the Senses," I said quietly.

[Wisdom of the Senses activated. Countdown starting]

Now I could hear their conversation. "If you don't let them through. I will tell your wife that you were at OUR tavern," she whispered.

I got goosebumps hearing that. "And now she is a freaking psycho. How many personalities can a person have?" I thought.

The guard's face turned white. I bet he was about to pee his pants. "Don… Don't," he whispered back.

Phai looked satisfied with his words, so she put a distance again and pretended to talk normally. "Can you let them pass please?" She tried to act all cute. That made both the guard and I had another goosebump. Long Dao didn't know anything that just happened. She only saw my body shaking for no reason.

"O… Okay," the soldier could barely speak. I just shook my head, feeling bad for him.

"Thank you!" Phai pretended to be happy hearing that. "Let's go then!" she turned to me and Long Dao.

"Yeah…" I smiled weakly and we successfully got into V city without a fight. When we passed the guard, Phai turned back to the guard and waved, "Next time you came to OUR tavern, we will give you a discount!"

"I would definitely move to another COUNTRY if I know a person like her living even in the same city as mine!" I was shivering endlessly, don't know if it was because of the cold night or from Phai.

After the guard incident, we walked Phai back to her tavern. The owner was super happy to see Phai back, and they were thanking Long Dao and me endlessly. We were about to say goodbye but Phai said, "Why don't you both stay here? The boss won't charge you money because she is happy right now."

"Uhm…" I turned to Long Dao to get her approval, and she nodded.

"That would be great!" I smiled.

Phai got happy with my response. Now she is just a happy normal girl, showing no sign of shyness like before. "Then I will walk you to your room," she smiled so innocently.

When we got to our room, "Hey uh… Phai," I called.

"Yes?" she turned to me.

"Why is there one room!?" I asked.

"Aren't you guys a couple?" she raised her eyebrows and looked at us with such innocence.

"Even so, we haven't married yet!" my face was red when saying that. I agree that I and Long Dao were a couple without even asking her.

"Oh, we get a couple staying in the same room like this all the time. As long as you are fine with it," Phai said.

"Long Dao?" I turned to her. She hasn't said a word since we came here.

"I'm fine with it," Long Dao replied calmly.