My Wandering Swordsman

They slunk back to the tin shack. Knowing they were in the wrong, the Flower Monk and Liu Zi went into the inner room without saying a word, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Ruan Tang stood at the door, head down, her toes tracing circles on the ground. After hesitating for a few seconds, she turned and tried to slip away.

"stop."

I quickly stopped drinking.

Ruan Tang paused, turned around, blinked her big, watery eyes, and looked at me innocently: "What's wrong?"

Looking at her seemingly harmless appearance, my lips twitched.

This girl looks as pure as a white flower, but I really can't describe what's inside her.

It was one thing to watch porn before, but now they're even watching live-action versions?

This is outrageous!

After a long pause, I finally spoke, trying to make my tone sound less harsh: "Tangtang, I'm asking you, do you... have any strange fetishes?"

Ruan Tang paused for a moment, then blinked her big eyes: "What do you mean?"

"Well..." I scratched my head, feeling a little awkward asking the question, but I still forced myself to say it, "Do you like women?"

Ruan Tang's face flushed red instantly. She glared at me and cursed, "Damn it! You pervert, you scoundrel! You're the one who likes women! Your whole family likes women!"

After saying that, the girl turned to leave.

I quickly reached out to stop her: "Don't go, explain yourself."

Ruan Tang struggled a couple of times after I grabbed her arm, but couldn't break free. Her face turned even redder: "Ji Xiaosong, let go! What do I have to say?"

But I didn't let go.

The more I thought about it, the more something seemed off, and the more likely it was to be true.

This girl, the first time we met, she was watching porn in an underground screening room, and now she's peeping at actresses changing clothes by leaning over the wall.

What normal girl would do that?

"No, you have to explain yourself clearly today. What exactly is going on?" I said very seriously.

Ruan Tang felt a little uncomfortable under my gaze, so she lowered her head, her lips moved, but she didn't say anything for a long time.

I pressed further, "If you really like women, then there's nothing wrong with that; things will just be..."

I swallowed the rest of my sentence. Well, it was just about telling your aunt to stay away from you.

Ruan Tang suddenly raised her head and glared at me: "Who likes women! Don't talk nonsense."

"Then why were you peeking over the wall watching people change clothes?"

"I……"

"What do you mean, 'you'?"

Ruan Tang's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, her face flushing red and then pale. She stood there dumbfounded for a long time before gritting her teeth and saying, "I was... looking at someone's butt."

I almost thought I misheard.

"What did you say?"

"I said, I was looking at someone's butt!" Ruan Tang also lost all sense of urgency and yelled at me directly.

I laughed in exasperation.

"Fine, fine, you actually have a point, huh? You say you don't like women, but you're the one who keeps looking at their butts..."

Ok?

Halfway through my sentence, my mind suddenly went blank, and the rest of my words were choked back.

Damn it, something's not right.

Buttocks... Why does that word sound so familiar? It seems like my purpose in coming to Hengdian was also to find a buttocks.

I instantly calmed down, and cold sweat poured down my back in an instant.

Ruan Tang didn't notice my unusual behavior and continued explaining to herself, "Ji Xiaosong, let me be frank, I came to Hengdian to find a woman with three moles on her buttocks. This person is very important to me..."

"Stop, stop, stop, say it again." I interrupted Ruan Tang, my body trembling slightly.

Ruan Tang paused for a moment, then looked up at me: "I said, I came to Hengdian to find a butt."

"What's on your buttocks?"

"Three moles!"

Repeat that to me again.

"Are you crazy? Three moles? Don't you understand?!"

I was stunned.

I was completely dumbfounded.

Three moles? Ruan Tang also came to Hengdian looking for three moles? Now it all makes sense. No wonder she watched porn first, and then climbed over the wall—it turns out... her goal was the same as mine.

Thinking of this, without saying a word, I grabbed Ruan Tang's wrist and pulled her to the side.

"Hey—what are you doing!"

Ruan Tang was startled by me and instinctively pulled back, shouting, "Ji Xiaosong, let go! What's wrong with you?!"

I ignored her, not loosening my grip at all, and dragged her around the tin shack, turning into the dark alley next door.

"You're hurting me! Let go!"

Ruan Tang was still struggling, hitting my arm hard, but her strength was like a tickle to me. I ignored her and dragged her deep into the alley.

At this point, I let go of her hand, turned around, and looked at her intently.

Ruan Tang rubbed her wrist, looked up as if about to curse, but when she met my gaze, she froze for a moment.

My eyes at that moment were darker than the alleyway itself, burning with a frighteningly bright flame.

She glanced around instinctively, and seeing that no one was around, her ears turned visibly red, and even her neck turned pink.

"You...you want to be here?" Ruan Tang's eyes darted around, avoiding my gaze, and she murmured softly, "How rude."

Rude?

I had no time to ponder her nonsense and went straight to the point, asking, "Ruan Tang, how did you know about those three moles?"

Ruan Tang was taken aback, her eyes shifting from panic to surprise.

In the dark, alone with a man and a woman, I just mentioned three moles?

"What?" She looked at me suspiciously, her brows furrowing slightly.

I forced myself to suppress the turmoil in my heart and said as calmly as possible, "Answer me first."

Ruan Tang stared at me for several seconds before finally speaking, "It's a matter for my family. This person with three moles is very important to me; I must find her."

At this point, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she abruptly looked up at me: "Ji Xiaosong, do you know where this person is?"

Looking into her bright, sparkling eyes, I almost couldn't contain the surging emotions within me, but I still shook my head: "I don't know."

Ruan Tang's eyes dimmed instantly.

I hesitated for a moment, then continued, "What happened in your family?"

Ruan Tang clearly didn't want to talk to me anymore; she turned her head away and didn't say a word.

Silence spread through the alley.

I looked at her downcast profile, gritted my teeth, and tentatively asked again, "If I may be so bold as to ask, is there... anyone in your family who's in jail?"

Ruan Tang's body stiffened abruptly, her expression changed instantly, and even her hair stood on end.

Seeing her reaction, my heart sank.

That's right!

Ruan Tang finally spoke, unconsciously taking half a step back, quite wary:

"Ji Xiaosong, who exactly are you?"