Zhou Xin (4)

That night, Kou thought about his interactions with Zhou Xin and had a fleeting thought.

Am I really that horrible of a person?

He wasn't offended with the way Zhou Xin had perceived him. Kou was used to being called an indecent person. If anything, it was by default that people would perceive him as a horrible person.

I know I'm not a good person, but…

He never experienced being referred to as one by a young girl. And they say children tend to be honest.

Kou wasn't exactly the type to linger on what a gullible kid would say. Perhaps it was because it came from the blank-looking face of a not-so-gullible, cunning girl that he did a double take.

But he shrugged off the thoughts just as quickly.

He admitted that he gave her the wrong impression. Moreover, the girl was just a brat. Kou didn't expect her to have good judgment on someone else's character.

Which was why Kou was taken aback by the presence of Zhou Xin on his front door the very next day.

She was sitting in a proper position on her knees politely. 

As he was shocked, he blurted without thinking, "Brat! What do you want?"

Only to be replied with an unexpected phrase coming out of her mouth.

"...I'm sorry."

With the way she was sitting and her slightly furrowing eyebrows, Zhou Xin sounded so genuine that it made Kou uncomfortable and reflexively closed the door.

What has gotten into her?

Did I do something again?

A few seconds later, he opened the door again, but Zhou Xin had left the hallway.

He didn't know that Zhou Xin had woken up a few hours earlier.

She was quite the opposite of his carefree personality, so her thoughts got the better of her last night.

Zhou Xin contemplated her guilt as she was the one who knocked on his door late at night. She realized that he wasn't at fault for opening the door without looking presentable, and that she was the one overreacting.

After packing up the few items of his belongings, Kou tidied the guest room he stayed in as if he was never there in the first place. He entrusted the jasmine everlasting flower he had to Madam Su and prepared to leave the Jade House.

Knocking on Zhou Xin's door, he gave a notice.

"We're leaving for a few days. I'll head off first. Meet me at the border of Chunfeng."

With that, Kou left the Jade House through the backdoor, which stands out way less than the main entrance and is the same one he used when he entered. 

To keep a low profile, he always came unannounced and left without notice. Not even the courtesans or Madam Su knows of his whereabouts and when he'll visit. So, it wasn't a surprise when residents of the Jade House couldn't find this particular guest that crashed last night.

In contrast, Zhou Xin said her farewells to Madam Su and the rest of the residents. She had good manners, especially to these people that had taken care of her.

Zhou Xin left the Jade House through the front door and leisurely started walking to the border of Chunfeng Alley. There, he found Kou sitting on the ground, separating some paper talismans.

He handed her a thin pile of paper talismans which Zhou Xin accepted reluctantly.

"I… don't know how to use these."

"You'll learn them along the way."

He replied nonchalantly and fished out something from his sleeve.

It was a necklace with a small stone pendant with carvings on it that Zhou Xin couldn't understand yet. Kou handed it over to her as well.

"Keep this on you and don't lose it."

Kou stood up and started to walk as Zhou Xin wore the necklace without saying anything.

Tailing Kou from behind, Zhou Xin held the stone pendant with her fingers, observing the carvings. Although she didn't know the exact meaning, she has seen similar patterns before and managed to know that it is a protective charm. There were extra strokes around the pattern that she didn't know the use for.

Zhou Xin had hoped that she would gain knowledge about talismans and charms during their journey. Alas, her hopes get buried an inch deeper everytime Kou opens his mouth. Instead of magic, Zhou Xin was drowned in petty thieving tricks—which she mostly already knows—and Kou's weird experiences.

Despite her young age, Zhou Xin had traveled alongside many people. And yet, this companion is the most talkative one without any useful weight to his words.

As Zhou Xin is a naturally timid girl, it took her some time to finally take initiative and ask.

They had settled at a local inn for the night, which, to her surprise, Kou paid properly for the room. Apparently, this thief often steals for mischief rather than greed, and mostly stole trinkets of little to no worth. He then would spend the rest of the night crafting charms of improving whatever tools he stole.

He was usually the one babbling, so when he got tired and stopped for a few seconds, Zhou Xin seized the opportunity and pointed at a small bronze bell.

"Is it land magic?" she guessed.

The bell had been carved by Kou with a pattern that Zhou Xin recognized on other charms. She recalled that the particular shape can be activated by drawing magic from land spirits.

Kou was carving another identical bell, and he answered without looking away from his work.

"Oh, you know this one? Yes, it is one of the basic charms using land magic. If you ever went to a shoreline, you'd see bells like this hung around the fences."

As she lived in a small village near the center of the Peninsula, she had only gone to the sea very few times. Each time, she never paid attention to the fences and never knew about the bells. Zhou Xin continued to listen attentively.

"It's to ward off evil. Back then, I didn't know what it was for. I just thought they looked nice. So, one time my friends and I competed to collect bells by a lake. Of course by collecting, we were stealing them. The guarding mage at the dock was so confused. It was a custom there in the Central Plains to have these bells around any kind of water bodies. Right, I haven't told you! I once lived in the plains when I was younger-"

Zhou Xin realized that Kou had gone off on a tangent and she didn't have the heart to cut him off. As she suffered listening to Kou's yapping, she silently watched and memorized how he carved each stroke on the bells. 

Like that, she understood that the 'guidance' she will receive from Kou is just her learning on her own by watching what he does as he goes.

On their journey, they were stopped a few times by mages, whether alone or in groups. Zhou Xin was alarmed when they were first ambushed, but in reality she had nothing to worry about.

Every time they were attacked, Kou finished the matter within minutes, and Zhou Xin barely had to do anything. Most of the time, Kou didn't even have to unsheath his sword.

At some point, Zhou Xin stopped panicking and instead helped Kou steal the mages off their money and belongings. She would never say it out loud, but she looked forward to the next ambush just to see what new tricks Kou might have.

It appears that the mages were bounty hunters.

Zhou Xin was aware of Kou's status as an outlaw and his reputation as the harmless Lone Pirate. He was an easy target for a lot of unaffiliated mages looking for money. All they had to risk was anything they had on them.

Kou wasn't that big of a trouble magnet to track down which sect each mages come from and loot them dry. He also wouldn't harm anyone despite being attacked. Therefore, anyone who set their eyes on him didn't have anything to fear.

It was amusing to think the kind of life Kou had been living all these years.

But how long had he been living like this?

Was it always this easy?

Was he always this powerful?

Did he struggle when he was first ambushed?

When did he start to get used to it?

There were mountains of questions running through Zhou Xin's head that she didn't dare to ask. Kou must have gone through this a lot to get to where he is now. It must have been hard.

Especially how unfazed he seems each time. The grin on his face never fell.

Kou genuinely had fun whenever a random mage decided to challenge him. His face lit up as if he just bought a new toy.

In reality he was also confused.

Considering his bounty, he wasn't exactly one of the big league outlaws. He felt that suddenly the ambushes were more frequent and annoying.

"It's like I'm suddenly famous now! Why do we keep getting attacked? Hey, A-Xin! Maybe it's because of you! They see an outlaw with a cute little girl and probably think, 'Let's kidnap the girl and sell the thief!' right? Hahahaha! I'm just kidding. Well, it is still weird. Did my bounty go up or something?"

Zhou Xin could only shrug.

Since she had run away when Shin Minji showed up, she did not get to witness the fight of two clan heads and the claim of clan branding on Kou. Madam Su somehow also did not inform her of this.

The duo thief continued to be ignorant of this and resumed their journey.

A few days ago in the Chen residence.

Two clan leaders of the five lands sat face to face in the main hall.

On the table between them, sat two chests. One was made of gold with luxurious designs, the crest of the Chen clan is displayed strikingly on top of it. The other was made out of wood, coated in lacquer with a more elegant and simpler design.

Shin Minji unlocked the wooden chest and presented it to the other clan head.

Chen Rongguang grinned at the sight of its content.

Two tuberose flowers are delicately placed on the silk fabric inside. They looked fresh and untouched. The rich and sweet floral smell of the flowers fills the room.

For mages at the same level as Chen Rongguang and Shin Minji's, it would be easy to confirm that it was a real everlasting flower from its spiritual energy.

"Wonderful! It is as I expected!" Chen Rongguang exclaimed cheerfully.

He then opened the chest made of gold, unveiling two white jasmine flowers.

Although they have the same name and are both white in color, white jasmine is a different flower than the common jasmine.

The common jasmine represents sincerity. It is often used in wedding ceremonies as decorations or the bride's accessories. 

White jasmine is smaller with more rounded petals at the tip. It represents simplicity, often used as a reminder to be humble.

Shin Minji internally scoffs at the irony in which possession this flower fell to. Outwardly, she simply nods to confirm its authenticity.

Closing the chest box, Chen Rongguang began to talk.

"Well then, our trade is complete. We can move on to discuss our alliance. As you know…"

Before he could continue, Shin Minji had held up her right hand. Seeing as Chen Rongguang stopped talking, she took it as permission to interrupt. She spoke with a smile on her face.

"It seems you are misunderstanding something. My business with the Chen Clan is limited to our trade of the everlasting flowers. Nothing more."

Chen Rongguang frowned. He was looking forward to working alongside Shin Minji to Jiwana Isle. She was the best mage to partner up with. The other option would be Evander Everhart, but Chen Rongguang found him difficult to talk to.

"Is that so? I thought your visit to the Peninsula is for the purpose of trading the flowers in our possessions and forming an alliance between the South and the West clans."

"Correct. However, I don't have plans to form an alliance with your clan."

Chen Rongguang was baffled. The Chen Clan is the leading mage clan in the Southern Peninsula. If not them, then who else?

"Then, which clan do you have in mind?"

Shin Minji did not waste her words.

"Tan Clan."

Withholding his confusion, Chen Rongguang first tried to convince her.

"That is a wise choice! The Chen Clan also acknowledges the Tan Clan. In fact, we have a strong partnership, and our collaboration runs deep. You could say it is as if we are one entity. Aligning with our clan would inherently mean forming an alliance with the Tan Clan as well."

Without an immediate response from Shin Minji, Chen Rongguang turned stiff. The mage in front of him stared unwaveringly with an amused smile.

She's enjoying his desperation.

Chen Rongguang urged her.

"Perhaps you will consider…"

Shin Minji leisurely rested her cheek on her hand.

"I admire the strong ties your clan shares with theirs, but I believe the Tan Clan stands on their own as a refined mage household. The qualities and potential they possess is what I seek."

"Ah… is that so?"

Shin Minji stood up.

She took the chest with two white jasmine flowers inside and was about to leave the room.

"That is all, Chen Rongguang. Excuse my leave, and thank you for your hospitality."

"Wait! Can I ask one more thing?"

Shin Minji responded by turning halfway.

"The everlasting flowers. You requested to trade two instead of one. Why?"

Instead of replying, Shin Minji only kept looking at him with the same smile. Although it was a soft smile, when paired with her stern eyes, Chen Rongguang viewed it to be menacing.

Her lack of answer was enough to tell Chen Rongguang that he didn't need to know.

"...Alright."

"Have a good evening, Chen Rongguang."

Shin Minji then walked out of the clan hall and was later seen to have left the residence.