Chapter 5 – Face

Caught in the middle, Fang Yang didn’t understand what was going on. Looking left and right, although he couldn’t parse the hidden meaning in the two peoples’ words, he did realize that the atmosphere between them seemed a little odd.

Fang Yang looked to the left, and saw that Useless-shixiong was wearing a serious expression he’d never seen before, which made his ordinary face look somewhat severe. This was the complete opposite of the Feng Ye he usually knew.

Just when he couldn’t hold back any longer and was going to inquire, Hao Chen suddenly opened his fan with a swish, like a clarion call to stop a war. Feng Ye’s serious expression vanished as well, and he smiled harmlessly once more: “Fellow Daoist Hao has just arrived. Would he like a tour of the sect?”

Hao Chen acquiesced with a nod: “I have long heard of its celebrated name, and couldn’t be more grateful.”

The two of them tacitly dropped the fictitious discussion, but they had already stamped a huge, suspicious label on each other in their hearts — there was something wrong with this person.

Although there was something fishy, the two did not directly expose each other’s false identities. Because they didn’t know the other party’s identity or purpose, nor did they know the other’s depth.

Yes, depth.

Feng Ye’s cultivation level was at the third level of Qi Refining, while Hao Chen’s was only a little higher, at the fourth level of Qi Refining. The two of them together were only as good as one Fang Yang, who had been cultivating for just over a year. There was no way to tell their depth at all.

But even if Feng Ye and Hao Chen used their feet to think, they would know that their opponent was definitely more powerful than they showed on the surface.

Out of caution, neither of them acted rashly.

“Shixiong, you and your friend can go walk around. I’m going to practice swordplay,” Fang Yang said to Feng Ye. He couldn’t comprehend the strange atmosphere between the two, but since they were friends, there shouldn’t be any problems. It was more important to hone his sword skills.

This was exactly what Feng Ye wanted. Hao Chen was pretending to know him and using this to get close to him, his purpose unclear. With Fang Yang around, Feng Ye was somewhat restrained by the need to maintain his image as a useless shixiong, so him leaving was perfect.

Feng Ye waved to Fang Yang: “Bye-bye.”

The endlessly energetic Fang Yang and his wooden sword quickly left their sights.

Now it was just the two of them.

Hao Chen waved his fan again with a swish. With a face more handsome than that of Pan An, he looked a bit like one of those romantic young masters in mortal storybooks.

And there was a perpetual faint smile at the corners of his lips, and from whichever angle one looked at him, one would feel he was smiling at them. Coupled with his peach-blossom eyes that seemed to contain the waters of the Sanjiang rivers, unmarried girls would blush with palpitating hearts at the sight of him. 

It was a pity that Feng Ye was the only one present, and was not at all impressed by Hao Chen’s outstanding appearance.

Hao Chen watched Fang Yang’s back as he left and commented with a smile: “Fellow Daoist, your shidi is very cute.” Foolishly cute.

Feng Ye had no fan to wave, and felt that he was somewhat lacking in ostentation and extravagance, so he crossed his arms and donned an identical provocative smile: “Fellow Daoist Hao keeps calling me Fellow Daoist. It’s a little unfamiliar. Why not just call me by my name?”

Hao Chen’s smile deepened once more. His eyebrows curved like those of a sly fox, and the fan in his hand continued to wave unhurriedly to a certain rhythm: “Fellow Daoist, you may not know, but I’ve been cultivating too hard these past few days, and in a moment of carelessness, I injured my brain. What is your name?”

Feng Ye: “……”

The smile on his face froze for a split second, because he hadn’t expected that there was such a thick-skinned person in this world.

It was clear that Hao Chen had given this excuse because he was just too lazy to come up with a new one.

But it made sense. They had already revealed their flaws to each other, and it was only because they didn’t know each other’s strength that they didn’t take reckless action. In any case, they both knew they were lying through their teeth, so the credibility of those lies didn’t matter.

At this thought, Feng Ye no longer bothered with such trivial matters and directly answered: “Feng Ye.”

“Maple Leaf?”^[1] Hao Chen raised an eyebrow. This didn’t sound like a name. He quickly came to his senses and realized that the “枫” Feng should probably be written as “封.”

He quickly filtered through the list of powerful people in his mind, and this name wasn’t on it. But that didn’t mean the other party was an unknown person, because “Maple Leaf” was most likely a pseudonym.

Feng Ye was unaware of Hao Chen’s change of mind, and only thought he was ridiculing his name. He had no intention of explaining, and just said: “Hao Chen. This name is interesting.”

“Oh? How do you mean?” Hao Chen asked with interest.

Feng Ye looked Hao Chen over from top to bottom, then commented: “Hao Chen^[2]……is somewhat of a misnomer.”

Hao Chen had to think for a moment before he realized Feng Ye was mocking him. He retorted in his heart: that’s because you haven’t seen my true form.

But just like Feng Ye, he wasn’t prepared to remove his disguise, so he just smiled and said nothing.

Feng Ye felt that he had recovered some lost ground, and the smile on his face finally contained some sincerity. He walked ahead and led the way: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen came to visit without giving me notice, so I didn’t have time to prepare.”

Hao Chen followed behind him. Since the other party didn’t expose his identity as a fake friend, he just kept pretending and went along with it: “Fellow Daoist Feng Ye needn’t worry. Since we last parted, I’ve missed you so much that I’ve been tossing and turning every day, and you’ve been in all of my dreams, so I took the liberty of coming to disturb you.”

The corners of Feng Ye’s mouth twitched. Although he knew Hao Chen was speaking nonsense, it still sounded a little strange to him.

Hao Chen’s words seemed more like those of a maiden yearning for her lover, but his tone was exceedingly upright. Perhaps he was overthinking it.

Feng Ye observed Hao Chen’s expression. Hao Chen had likely realized that it was his entertained look that had exposed him before, so he was now extremely dedicated to disguising his facial expressions.

His face revealed three parts melancholy and seven parts joy, as if he was endlessly delighted to meet his old friend Feng Ye.

If I didn’t know better, I almost would have believed it, Feng Ye thought. At the same time, he also realized how difficult it was to deal with this person.

He continued to calmly sound him out: “What has Fellow Daoist Hao Chen come here to do?”

Hao Chen waved his fan, all smiles: “To see you.”

Feng Ye: “ ? ”

He waited silently for a moment, but Hao Chen didn’t speak again, as if these three words truly were his only purpose for coming here.

Feng Ye could only ask: “Nothing else?”

Hao Chen nodded affirmatively: “Nothing else.”

Feng Ye: “……” Nobody would believe that.

Feng Ye decided to change his strategy, seeing as this person’s ability to make up lies was comparable to his own and he wouldn’t be able to compete with him in this area in the short term.

The art of war was all about deception. If he wanted to make this leakproof old fox reveal his flaws, he must disrupt his rhythm and take him by surprise.

Feng Ye faced Hao Chen and made a drastic move, saying expressionlessly: “You’ve seen me. You can leave now. The gate is over there.”

Although he didn’t know what Hao Chen’s purpose was, one thing was clear – Hao Chen wanted to get close to him. Once he was driven away, his situation would be more or less thrown into chaos and it would be easy for him to make a mistake.

Hao Chen really hadn’t expected Feng Ye to play by his own rules. There was a brief look of surprise on his face, but he reacted swiftly and adopted an expression of deep pain: “Fellow Daoist Feng Ye didn’t miss me at all?”

Feng Ye gave an affected sigh: “I’ve been busy cultivating and had no time to think about you. Besides, our sect’s assessment will be held in a few days and I must hurry up and prepare. Fellow Daoist Hao Chen, please go back.”

Hao Chen hadn’t sussed out Feng Ye’s identity yet, and he naturally refused to leave. Thus, he used the situation to his advantage and said: “Speaking of cultivation, I also have some experience and comprehension, which is just right for having a good discussion with Fellow Daoist Feng Ye.”

Feng Ye solemnly corrected: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen misunderstands my meaning. What I meant by preparing is…..”

As they spoke, they arrived at Feng Ye’s residence, a simple and uncluttered small bamboo house.

Feng Ye paused briefly before opening the door. Then he immediately laid down in bed and covered himself with a blanket with an unhurried: “I’m going to sleep.”

Hao Chen: “……” At once, he recalled the mocking of that other junior disciple. It turned out that it wasn’t just a joke, but an actual phenomenon.

Feng Ye wrapped himself up in his small blanket and sighed with contentment. He closed his eyes slightly in feigned drowsiness and said again to expel the guest: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen, I’m going to sleep.”

The implication was that he should scram.

It was impossible for Hao Chen to misunderstand. Although Feng Ye hadn’t rested well the night before, he wasn’t so sleepy that he would fall asleep the moment he lay down. He was just pretending while simultaneously observing Hao Chen’s expression through the crack between his eyelids. He wanted to see what this guy would do now.

The smile on Hao Chen’s face froze momentarily. But just when Feng Ye thought he had the upper hand, Hao Chen made an unexpected move.

Feng Ye had made countless calculations, but he had overlooked Hao Chen’s determination, as well as…..his nearly nonexistent bottom line.

Hao Chen lay down next to Feng Ye, whose surprised gaze turned to one of alarm. The weight of two grown men with their shoulders pressed together bore down on the small bamboo bed, causing it to creak under the heavy load.

Hao Chen still felt it wasn’t enough, as if something was missing. He caught a glimpse of the blanket Feng Ye had covered himself with, and while the other was still in shock, he pulled half of it over and forcibly covered them both with a single blanket. At the same time, he responded: “I also have experience in this area. We can work together.”

Feng Ye: “……” He’d lost.

In terms of whose skin was thicker, he’d lost.

Although Feng Ye had originally planned to catch up on some rest in the afternoon, he couldn’t sleep with the addition of Hao Chen’s participation.

Hao Chen asked innocently from beside him: “Why isn’t Fellow Daoist Feng Ye sleeping?”

Feng Ye didn’t answer. He was so shocked by Hao Chen’s unexpected move that he still hadn’t recovered. After a while, he slowly and tactfully expressed his thoughts: “I’m not used to sleeping with a man.”

Hao Chen nodded in agreement: “It’s my first time as well.”

Feng Ye: “……” This was sounding increasingly wrong.

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[1] Feng Ye’s name is spelled “封烨,” (to stopper/seal flames), but Hao Chen mistakes it as “枫,叶,” (Maple Leaf). ⮐

[2] Hao Chen’s name is spelled “郝沉,” (deep, ancient place) and Feng Ye interprets it on purpose as “好沉,” (very heavy). ⮐

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Chapter 4 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 6