Chapter 144

The structure of all the rooms was basically the same. I looked at the nails in the room and then went to the hardware store in town to buy some materials. I got a nail puller, bought some nails that were the same size, and then blackened them with fire. Meanwhile, Bai Haotian and Xiang Dun made an appointment with Hong Ding Shuixian. They used the method I had taught them to reveal that they had some clues about the calling spring.

We didn’t know who Hong Ding Shuixian’s boss was, but Bai Haotian asked Hong Ding Shuixian to help her make an appointment with that young man. She told him that in order to find the entrance to the calling spring, she needed that person to get involved. In this way, an appointment was made. After getting everything together, Hong Ding Shuixian, the young man, Bai Haotian, and Xiang Dun would ask the boss on the fourth floor for money.

The fourth floor was actually quite relaxed. The young man didn’t want to leave the fourth floor to meet them, so they faced each other in the corridor next to the stairs.

I took off all my disguises and chatted with Fatty in the courtyard below, pretending to have an argument. Fatty pointed at me, “I’ve been working so hard to find out about that place, so there will definitely be news later. Why don’t you just wait and quit being so impatient?”

I turned my back to them and said to Fatty, “I am your father.” (1)

Fatty was very angry, but he was afraid that those people could read lips, so he had to keep acting. After our little performance was over, we went back to the room and I asked the others how things were going. At this time, I quickly discovered that Bai Haotian hadn’t come back yet.

Xiang Dun told me that Bai Haotian and the young man went back to his room, saying they had something to do. I paused, feeling a little worried in my heart. Bai Haotian was a little girl, so she shouldn’t be going behind enemy lines so hastily. But Xiang Dun told me that everything was fine. The fourth floor was much more relaxed than we had initially thought. Even if they had been discovered, based on the atmosphere of their chat just now, those people wouldn’t lay hands on anyone.

I thought about it for a moment and had to agree. This was a rescue operation, after all. It wasn’t impossible to do things like murder or arson before you reached the deep mountains, but it was certainly unnecessary.

Xiang Dun said that they didn’t talk much about any substantive issues, just about the possibility of cooperating with each other. As expected, the young man recognized me at a glance. When Bai Haotian and Xiang Dun told him that they wanted to betray me for money, the young man’s reaction was very strange. He said to them, “Impossible. That person controls everyone around him. They’ll come to a tragic ending eventually.”

I took a deep breath. My defensive instincts prevented these words from piercing my heart, but suddenly saying something like that still made my heart tremble.

Xiang Dun asked me what these words meant, but I couldn’t answer him.

Everyone was the protagonist of their own life, while all the other people were just mere passers-by. In my own dramas, I always placed myself in a supporting role in the beginning so that I could look at all of the problems. The protagonists around me were tempered by fate, while I was just a wandering poet watching and recording all that I had seen and heard. There were difficulties, along with life and death, but my brushwork was always steady.

I eventually realized that this was wrong. No one should ever think that they were a supporting role. Instead, they should be the protagonist of their own life, while also understanding that they were always the supporting role in other people’s lives. If they kept their imaginary life out of other people’s lives, then it would make things a little easier.

Bai Haotian seemed a little dazed when she returned to the room. I noticed that her expression looked a little confused as she walked up to me and spread her hands out, “He gave it to me and told me to show it to you.”

I picked it up and looked at it. It was half a copper coin, which looked like the one A Ning liked. “He also said that you owe his sister an explanation,” Bai Haotian continued. “He didn’t come here for the calling spring. He came here for you.”

Fatty was puzzled, “Mr. Naïve, what did you do to him?” As soon as he spoke, he also recognized the copper coin, “Oh.”

My scheme had obviously been seen through, but it wasn’t my fault. Even if it was A Ning’s brother, my plan was still the same. The only difference now was that I would be the bait instead of the money.

“He also said that none of the people who follow you come to a good end.” Bai Haotian said as she bit her lower lip. “I slapped him. He’s looking for someone to hate, but what does that have to do with you? When his sister entered the business, you weren’t even in the business at all.”

After listening to this conclusion, it was obvious that the two of them had a deep discussion. Bai Haotian stared at me with trembling lips, so I asked slowly, “Is he going to see me in person?”

Bai Haotian nodded, “Don’t go. I think he’s going to do something bad to you.”

I didn’t say anything else and just patted Fatty before going out. Bai Haotian looked at us, but didn’t follow.

“Little Bai was a little off just now,” Fatty said to me.

I could also tell that her heart had changed, and it was the young man’s words that had brought the impact. I didn’t know whether this change was towards me or that young man, but Bai Haotian was a good girl. I didn’t want to think the worst of her.

“What does that guy want to do?”

I looked across the corridor. As expected, that guy was on the fourth floor opposite us, looking down at me. This was the first time he and I had looked at each other like this.

I watched as the guy lit a cigarette and made a gesture like he was sniping at me.

<Chapter 143><Table of Contents><Chapter 145>

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TN Notes:

(1) Ok, I apparently missed this last time but it’s kind of a joke made in poor taste? Tiffany and I think it’s a mix of the whole Star Wars “Luke, I am your father” thing and respecting your elders. Like, Wu Xie would be arguing that he’s the father so he can’t be refuted. We’ll just say Wu Xie is bad at improvising lines while Fatty is great at it lol