NHWSG chapter 48

When Zhang Jian returned, it was already half-past eleven at midnight.

Dealing with people evidently tired him out more than dealing with monsters. Zhang Jian entered the door in darkness, throwing his copper coin sword and various odds and ends onto the sofa, then turned to the bar and poured himself a glass of cold water.

“Back already?”

He heard a faint sigh from behind, in the middle of the night, which startled him. He almost dropped the glass in his hand.

Turning back, he realized that Hu Huanyang had come out of the bedroom at some point, leaning against the door frame, staring at him fixedly.

The bedroom light leaked out through the crack in the door, illuminating his fair ankle bones.

Zhang Jian gulped down the remaining half of the water, his face turning red.

“You, you, you… don’t you make any noise when you walk?” Zhang Jian avoided eye contact, whispered, “And why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

Hu Huanyang innocently blinked his eyes, tugged at the hem of his robe, and said, “I’m a fox. Foxes naturally make no noise when they walk.”

Zhang Jian: “…”

—Seems to make sense.

“Why were you gone for so long?” Hu Huanyang lazily yawned, saying, “Was that dragon difficult to deal with?”

Zhang Jian adjusted the hem of his clothes. He always felt nervous when talking to Hu Huanyang alone. Over these past few days, he had gone from stuttering to being able to complete a sentence, but overall, there hadn’t been much progress.

“Not really,” Zhang Jian said, “Dealing with the authorities, all the approvals and reports, it’s a hassle.”

“Oh,” Hu Huanyang was just trying to start a conversation, not really caring about the answers. He nodded indifferently and asked in a relaxed tone, “But now that this matter is over, there shouldn’t be anything that requires my help, right?”

“Umh—” Zhang Jian belatedly caught on to something and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Nothing much.” Hu Huanyang’s eyes curved as he smiled sweetly, “I mean, if there’s nothing else going on, I should head back to Shangdu. I haven’t met my monthly live streaming hours quota yet, I need to go back to work and pay the rent.”

“I’ll pay you a salary.” Zhang Jian’s reaction finally sped up for once, immediately saying, “These days, you can calculate it based on business travel hours.”

Hu Huanyang chuckled.

Hu Huanyang wasn’t sure if this young heir had never been out of the mountain before, hence his lack of understanding of social nuances, completely failing to grasp his subtle hint. He even thought that he was short of money.

Hu Huanyang said with a smile, “You see, you initially approached me to be your assistant, but now that our big boss is here, I can’t be of much help anymore. It’s pointless for me to stay here.”

By this point in the conversation, Zhang Jian finally understood.

“You’re leaving?” Zhang Jian asked.

Hu Huanyang blinked at him, saying nothing, which was taken as confirmation.

“You—”

For some reason, Zhang Jian suddenly felt aggrieved. He turned around and looked at Hu Huanyang with frustration, unable to articulate his thoughts.

His thin hoodie was still clung to his body, with a little bit of moisture still visible around the collar. Hu Huanyang tilted his head in confusion, not expecting such a reaction from him.

“If you want to leave, then go.” Zhang Jian said, “Why ask me? You didn’t sell yourself to me.”

Angry, Hu Huanyang thought.

This tone was too classic, it could easily top the list of “saying one thing but meaning another,” with every word and line filled with “I’m not happy.” With Hu Huanyang’s emotional intelligence, he could tell even from Zhang Jian’s body language.

Hu Huanyang was young, still a fox cub among the monster race, lacking the worldly cunning in his temperament. Now that he saw he had upset someone, though he didn’t understand why, he felt a subtle sense of guilt.

He thought for a moment, then walked over to Zhang Jian with a smile, placing a hand on the table, bending down slightly, and getting close to Zhang Jian’s face.

“Are you mad?” Hu Huanyang asked softly.

“No.” Zhang Jian turned his head away, stiffly saying, “Why would I be mad.”

Hu Huanyang chuckled and persisted, trying to meet his gaze.

“Liar.” Hu Huanyang whispered, “Is it fair for you cultivators to deceive monsters?”

Foxes were naturally gentle and charming creatures, and Hu Huanyang, despite his youth, had a natural talent for beguiling. With his moist eyes and charming demeanor, he was quite effective at influencing others.

Moreover, he positioned himself quite humbly, looking up at Zhang Jian from below, which, at the very least, appeared sincere.

“How about you tell me what you’re mad about?” Hu Huanyang said obediently, “Are you… reluctant to see me go?”

Zhang Jian felt embarrassed and aggrieved, not wanting to speak.

“Let me guess.” Hu Huanyang said with a smile, “You think I’m abandoning you as soon as the big boss arrives, and you’re angry because you think I’m not considering the welfare of the world, right?”

“Not true!” Zhang Jian was  immediately took the bait, refuting, “It’s just that, after working together for these few days, you say you’re leaving, and there’s no sense of reluctance. It’s just… it’s just…”

He struggled for a while but couldn’t come up with a conclusion.

Hu Huanyang understood, though. He chuckled inwardly, thinking that this young heir still had a strong sense of loyalty and righteousness. It had only been a few days, and they had already developed some emotional attachment.

“Here’s the thing,” Hu Huanyang quickly said, “I’m just afraid you think I’m a hindrance, after all, you see, the big boss can help you capture monsters, but all I can do is watch from the sidelines.”

“Really?” Zhang Jian asked skeptically.

“Really.” Hu Huanyang said earnestly.

Foxes were experts at charming hearts, and although Hu Huanyang was young, he had an innate understanding of this art. The Tianshi Mountain lineage had old ties with the fox clan, and Zhang Jian naturally had a favorable impression of Hu Huanyang. It was easy for Hu Huanyang to fool him.

“I don’t feel that way.” Zhang Jian said seriously, “Before Xing Yingzhu and Sheng Zhao came, you helped me out several times.”

“In that case, I won’t leave.” Hu Huanyang thought for a moment and said, “Is that okay?”

Originally, Hu Huanyang just didn’t want to deal with cultivators more than necessary. He always felt that they weren’t of the same kind, and there was always a bit of a grudge between them. But since this young heir was reluctant to see him go, why not take advantage of this opportunity?

Hu Huanyang thought gleefully, and Zhang Jian’s complexion improved a lot when he heard that he had conceded.

Zhang Jian wasn’t foolish enough to ask why he suddenly changed his mind. He cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “By the way, about what happened with Sheng Zhao earlier, did you figure it out?”

Hu Huanyang had been waiting for him to ask this question. Without hesitation, he recounted Sheng Zhao’s explanation to Zhang Jian verbatim.

But that ambiguous answer clearly wasn’t what Zhang Jian wanted. He frowned, biting his lip in thought for a while, but couldn’t get past that mental hurdle.

“No, I have to go ask.” Zhang Jian said, “I don’t believe Sheng Zhao is just an ordinary person without a heritage.”

“You can’t go—” Hu Huanyang stopped him, saying, “but he’s someone protected by our big boss. If you bother him, the big boss won’t be happy.”

“Xing Yingzhu?” Zhang Jian asked in confusion, “My sect’s inheritance has a dossier on him, only saying he has a bad temper and shouldn’t be disturbed without reason. I’ve never heard of him having any relationship with humans.”

“But now he does.” Hu Huanyang said in a ethereal tone, “I suspect that the human-monster diplomatic affairs rely entirely on Xiao Zhao. If he steps up a bit, maybe the diplomatic relations between the two races will be right in front of us.”

Zhang Jian was silent for two seconds, then gave an accurate assessment: “Nonsense.”

“You humans don’t understand.” Hu Huanyang waved his hand and said nonchalantly, “But from the way the big boss looks at Little Zhao, he’s already skinned and eaten him several times over in his mind.”

Zhang Jian: “…”

“Yes, trust me.” Hu Huanyang said confidently, “Foxes are emotional experts.”

Although Zhang Jian couldn’t see any credibility in Hu Huanyang’s offhand remarks, he gave up on pressing further since Hu Huanyang was so insistent.

Zhang Jian still had to stay in Shanghai for another two or three days. The corpse of the dragon had bones too hard to be refined on the spot by the Tianshi Mountain people, so they had to once again seek help from Xing Yingzhu.

The next morning, after several days of heavy rain in Shanghai, it finally stopped. At eight or nine in the morning, Zhang Jian left with Xing Yingzhu, leaving Sheng Zhao and Hu Huanyang behind at the hotel to enjoy a breakfast costing 568 yuan per person.

The hotel’s revolving restaurant on the ninety-second floor had glass walls on all four sides, and Sheng Zhao was sitting by the window, where he could see the Changning Development Zone at a glance.

That area had roughly returned to normalcy. Apart from the large pit caused by lightning strikes on the ground, there were no strange traces visible.

After taking a sip of coffee, Sheng Zhao casually dismissed the news alert on his phone about “safety precautions during thunderstorms,” and casually asked, “Zhang Jian mentioned before that after this matter is done, he wants to take Xing Yingzhu to Tianshi Mountain—what are they going to do there?”

“I don’t know.” Hu Huanyang stuffed a piece of grilled chicken breast into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks, “Maybe there’s some trade between them. We’ll just follow along; it’s useless to ask so many questions.”

Sheng Zhao, with something on his mind, looked out the window with a worried expression. After a while, he sighed and took another sip of coffee.

He sighed, and Hu Huanyang, even though slow, sensed that something was wrong.

The half-eaten fried egg in Hu Huanyang’s mouth fell into the plate with a clatter. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously lowered his head, turned his eyes, and asked, “Xiao Zhao, what’s wrong with you?”

“I’m thinking about something.” Sheng Zhao said heavily, “Do you think it’s safe for Xing Yingzhu to go to Tianshi Mountain? Will he be captured?”

“There’s nothing unsafe about it.” Hu Huanyang thought he was overthinking, relaxed, and put down the juice glass, waving his hand, “Don’t think their relationship with monsters is so bad. The big boss is still their advisor; they won’t resort to violence at the drop of a hat.”

“It’s different.” Sheng Zhao turned his head slowly, his worried tone almost dripping onto the table. He paused briefly, and said with a hint of sorrow, “After all, myths say that humans and monsters cannot love each other.”

Hu Huanyang: “Pfft—”