Gift

"Welcome to West Street Bar, why don't you come over and have a drink?" Wang Ling greeted him with a bright smile.

Cui Len'an, whose body was covered in cold sweat and exhaustion, nodded his head and scanned his surrounding, looking for Old Lao.

That feeling of being watched disappeared after I enter this bar. Could it be Old Lao's aura expelling it?

Wang Ling noticed who he was looking for and gestured him to an empty seat.

"Old Lao told me to come to you, do you know where is his whereabouts?" He sat down on the empty seat and asked Wang Ling with his stormy grey eyes, looking in a hurry.

"He's not here. He's often out and about, I can't say I have the accurate information of his location." Wang Ling took one of the cups and started scrubbing it with a clean towel, he shook his head.

"Do you have his number?" Cui Len'an had to do everything to find him, to expel every kind of oddity.

"He doesn't use any of the modern innovations," Wang Ling replied casually.

He sure sounds like someone who is from another era, exceeding many generations. Even old generations use some kind of technology these days.

Cui Len'an made a guess confidentially.

After scrubbing the cup, he glanced at Cui Len'an with meaningful eyes.

'What do you want to drink?'

"A margarita, please."

Cui Len'an said awkwardly and randomly picked a drink, knowing Wang Ling was scrutinizing him with his eyes.

"A fine choice," Wang Ling replied with a gentle smile and turned his body, to prepare his drink.

'Lies! He thinks you're penurious for ordering the cheapest option in the bar.'

The voice in his head echoed,

Cui Len'an's expression slightly twisted before recovering back to its original state. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You're good friends with Old Lao, right?" He suddenly asked while waiting for his drink to be made.

Wang Ling laughed slightly, "We share a mutual business cooperation."

"What does that mean?" He couldn't help but ask.

"He brings in the clients and they have to contact him through me," Wang Ling replied with a slight waver in his voice.

Isn't that one-sided? With only one party reaping all the benefits?

Old Lao tells his clients to come to West Street Bar, a lot of them ended up becoming regulars here. Whether to look for him or to have a great time, all of them had to go through this bar.

He deduced and thought in amusement.

This man is way too calculating!

"Does he have a lot of clients?"

"Many! Most of them end up becoming my regulars anyways. You can say our business is running pretty well, at least on my part," he spoke with a somewhat proud smile.

"…"

Their personalities sure contradict one another, Old Lao is quite unfortunate whereas Wang Ling doesn't even attempt to hide his maneuvers.

Cui Len'an was speechless.

"Here's your drink."

Wang Ling placed the margarita on the table and went around to serve the others. Cui Len'an sat comfortably and took a sip of the margarita.

After the first sip, he exclaimed pleasantly in his head.

This margarita is one of the best I've had!

Despite not being a drinker, he enjoyed this alcoholic beverage immensely.

"You seem to enjoy the margarita," Wang Ling approached him and laughed at his expression. He nodded, drinking the drink.

I wonder how do I leave this place without being under surveillance?

"Wang Ling, I want to ask you something," He called for his attention.

Wang Ling hummed in acknowledgment, "What is it?"

"Has any of Old Lao's clients reported the feeling of being watched?"

After asking the question, Wang Ling's eyes widened somewhat before recovering. He looked as though he had an idea of what it is, with a somewhat sense of relief.

"No. I think I am familiar with it and I can assure you it doesn't impose any threat to your safety," He comforted him with assuring words and sincere eyes.

The voice inside my mind isn't reporting anything, I think I can be sure he is telling the truth but I still feel like I shouldn't trust anyone even with a lie detector.

He sighed in relief and thanked him, "Thank you, I can rest assured now."

Wang Ling made a hand signal, extending his palm toward his chest, and said, "Wait here, there's something Old Lao told me to give to you."

He hurriedly went behind the bar and started searching for something, leaving Cui Len'an in his seat and leaving him some time to observe people.

A couple of visitors were all engaged in their small talks, Cui Len'an couldn't hear a lot but he picked up a couple of words from lip reading.

'Have you heard of the newly released TV show where the main character has the ability to mind control people? It was so satisfying to see him manipulate the villains to have them do his biddings!.'

'Haha! Did you hear the Goddess has actually released her newly anticipated album? It was definitely the best out of all her other albums!"

He lowered his expression, giving others no way to identify what emotions he was going through. With the left eye patch and the small numbers of people here, most of them wouldn't be able to recognize him.

Wang Ling returned with a brown box, with strange patterns on it and a bunch of letters. The book was undamaged and looked clean.

Cui Len'an gave it a close look and discovered his name written on the box.

Wang Ling placed it in his hands and smiled at him, "He told me to give this to you. Apparently, there's a bunch of things you might need with you when you're on your own," he pointed at the box and continued, "There's a piece of note there, it was written by Old Lao. Make sure to read it when you get home."

Cui Len'an was a bit startled by the sudden gift but he took it and thanked Old Lao through Wang Ling, he didn't think he had prepared a gift for him in advance.

We only met today and he's already sent me a gift.

Cui Len'an bid him farewell and was about to leave before being stopped by Wang Ling, he stared at him and the drink behind him with meaningful eyes.

'You forgot to pay for the drink.'

He coughed and promised to pay him back tomorrow, knowing he didn't have any money with him and his ego was his biggest weak spot. He felt his stomach turn slightly heated.

"I'm sure a young master like you wouldn't go back on your words."

"…"

Cui Len'an asked to go to the bathroom first, the first thing he did was confirm there weren't any unusual movements around him. Afterward, he took care of his important needs.

I have to see what is in the box first! I need to make sure it is something I can put into use to defend myself if a supernatural incident were to happen like the previous one. Although most people would think I am being too extreme, I can only justify it using my previous experience trusting people and with the addition of too many coincidences, I may have to strengthen my caution.

Old Lao wouldn't leave me with nothing to defend myself, he undoubtedly predicted there will be strange things happening and precisely the reason he wanted me to come here first, and specifically prepared a gift for me.

He quickly took out the lid of the box and lifted it up, to discover a spotless and shiny material inside of it, embedded in all sorts of symbols and patterns.

It was a dagger!

The dagger was finely detailed, with the handle of it taking the shape of a woman's hand. The woman's palm was gripping the blade tightly, blood was drawn from the top of its fingers and flowed downward, and the blood and the handle were lustrous and had the sensation of rubber. On the wrist of the lady were five fingerprints, indicating where the holder should put his hand. The blade was grey in color, clean, and untouched. It was an extremely well-defined piece of art, something he had never come across before.

He took the dagger and held it tightly as he felt his grip on the handle rapidly tighten as if the handle was trying to merge his palm into it, fitting perfectly into the size of his palm. It adjusted the size to be accurate as possible for his use.

This is unlike any dagger I have ever seen! The very image of it felt almost cursed!

He swung the dagger a couple of times, he grabbed a piece of paper, and shredded it into pieces. He ascertained that the dagger could be effective in battle and placed it back into the box, keeping it close to him.

There were a couple of things in the box, he lowered his head to observe them

A silver necklace and a jade bracelet!

If one were to look at it, they would undoubtedly think they were ordinary accessories to enhance their beauty of themselves. Cui Len'an felt a warm and gentle ambiance shrouding him, making him feel secure and safe.

This!