Liang Jian: I have a canteen

Xiao Hong is gone, and Huan Ji has arrived.

Unlike Xiao Hong, she didn't snuggle into Xu San's arms. Instead, she greeted him and sat down at the back of the house, imitating Xu San by looking up at the starry sky.

After a while, Huanji said, "I know you have a prejudice against us Japanese."

Xu San did not answer.

It wasn't that he didn't want to answer, but rather that the question couldn't be answered.

Seeing that Xu San did not answer, Huan Ji continued, "Actually, I still prefer your identity as a Japanese person. These days I often think how wonderful it would be if that identity were your true identity."

"Are you threatening me?" Xu San finally spoke up after hearing Huan Ji's words.

"No, I just felt compelled to say it!"

"I'll believe you for now!" Xu San said calmly.

After a while, Xu San spoke up, "When did you fall in love with me?"

"I don't know either, maybe it started when I seduced you." Huanji said, taking out a kunai and playing with it in her hand for a while before continuing, "My brother said I'm no longer suitable for important missions, so he arranged for me to be your bodyguard."

"Your brother is protecting you!"

"Maybe so, but what else can ninjas do if they're not on missions?"

"Female ninjas can warm the bed, and male ninjas can carry bricks. In short, as long as you work hard, you won't starve!"

Huanji put away her kunai, looked up at the stars, and said, "You're right, we won't starve! But...a ninja should uphold their ninja way, right? Is carrying bricks and warming beds really the ninja way?"

"Ninja Way, my foot! It's all just rhetoric from the higher-ups to fool the lower-ups into working wholeheartedly. You really think your brother is the highest leader of your Kii clan?" Xu San wrapped his clothes tighter, changed his posture, and recited a plot commonly seen in novels.

"Are you saying my brother is a puppet?" Huan Ji wasn't stupid. Precisely because she was very smart, she could guess some things from Xu San's doubts.

"I didn't say that!" Xu San denied it, because only by denying it would people become more suspicious. "Fine! Whether my brother is a puppet or not, I'll listen to him."

"Did you have other missions when you went to Japan this time, such as assassinating some important figure?"

"No! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Kazuo Mishima?" Xu San asked tentatively, because Kazuo Mishima was Kazuya Mishima's older brother and the first in line to inherit the Mishima family.

Although Kazuya Mishima claims he has no interest in the family fortune, who would believe such a vast amount of assets?

His sudden decision to return to China is very likely related to the inheritance of his estate.

"Don't talk nonsense! Our Kii clan and the Mishima family have a very good relationship."

"That's why you have to choose sides! Your brother is on the 18th team, right?" Xu San continued to ask.

"Shall we change the subject?" Huanji didn't want to talk about this anymore; she was afraid she would overthink it.

"No, that's all I'm talking about right now!" Xu San insisted.

"Then I won't talk to you anymore!" Huanji said, plugging her ears with earplugs.

If he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't care. He just changed his posture and continued to look at the stars.

Another hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Ping'an City fell completely silent.

There were no firecrackers, no night watchmen, only the howling wind.

In the silence, Xu San suddenly spoke, making a request, "Play another shakuhachi tune, the kind that great swordsmen play when they make their entrance." (End of Chapter)