Seeing that A Shui had lost her murderous intent, Wen Chaoshen let out a small sigh of relief. He crumpled the erotic painting in his hand into a ball and stuffed it into his clothes, quickly catching up with A Shui. However, whether intentionally or not, A Shui's pace was always a bit faster, preventing him from seeing her face.

  "There's one more thing..."

  Wen Chaoshen, feeling helpless, slowed his pace and followed behind A Shui.

  "That guy named Lu Chuan should know of your existence but doesn't recognize you."

  The cold wind blew in, bringing with it A Shui's curiosity:

  "How can you tell?"

  Wen Chaoshen, without reservation, recounted how he had babbled nonsense to buy time earlier. When he mentioned the 'injured woman outside the abandoned temple,' Lu Chuan's subtle expression did not escape his notice.

  A Shui stopped and turned to give Wen Chaoshen a look.

  "You said that injured woman gave you a night of pleasure?"

  "Tell me more, I want to hear it."

  Wen Chaoshen's expression froze for a moment, then he shrugged and said:

  "Isn't the main point that after learning there might be news about you, Lu Chuan was eager to ask me about it?"

  A Shui:

  "I'm not interested in that."

  Wen Chaoshen rolled his eyes.

  "I didn't mention any of your characteristics. There are plenty of injured women in the world. How would I know who I was babbling about?"

  "He just happened to bring up the topic, and I made up a completely fictitious story to distract him and save my life. Otherwise, by the time you arrived tonight, I'd have been a corpse."

  "Besides, the woman I drew was voluptuous, deliberately avoiding your physique, so it's not offensive."

  "Don't believe me? Want to take another look?"

  As he spoke, he pulled out the crumpled erotic painting from his clothes, but before he could open it, A Shui snatched it away.

  Holding the paper ball in one hand, she gnced at Wen Chaoshen and said in a softened tone:

  "If it’s truly to save your life, next time you can reveal me, it’s fine."

  Wen Chaoshen sighed at her words:

  "It's not that simple."

  "The person tonight was from the Royal City, and seemed to have a high status. Such a person coming to Kuhai County must be for something very important. The more I say, the more I prove I know, and I'll end up dead anyway."

  "Unfortunately, now he's remembered my face. After dark, I don't dare wander around the county city."

  Seeing Wen Chaoshen looking a bit dejected, A Shui said calmly:

  "Next time you need to investigate something, I'll go with you."

  "They're acting secretly, definitely hiding from something, maybe the White Dragon Guards... So in broad daylight, under everyone's eyes, it's generally safe. If things get out of hand, they can't easily resolve it."

  "They wouldn't risk a big problem for a small one."

  As she said this, she leaned closer to Wen Chaoshen's ear and said in a light yet serious tone:

  "One more thing, next time you draw a woman, don't draw a mole on the left breast... Understand?"

  Wen Chaoshen's eyes instinctively gnced downward but quickly returned to normal.

  "You really have one?"

  A Shui raised an eyebrow:

  "I do, want to see?"

  Wen Chaoshen took half a step back, rejecting the deadly question:

  "No, I don't want to see, and I won't draw it anymore."

  With that, the matter was settled. A Shui took the painting and didn't pursue it further. As they walked back, Wen Chaoshen watched her limping figure and asked:

  "Is your injury better? Do you need me to get some medicine for you?"

  A Shui's voice was faint in the wind:

  "I won't die."

  Back at Fan Youwei's house, Wen Chaoshen gathered some firewood and threw it into the brazier, then boiled a pot of water for washing his feet. He fetched a rge wooden basin, filled it with snow, and poured hot water over it. As steam rose, he soaked his feet by the fire, warming up immediately.

  After a while, another pair of small, fair feet slipped into the basin.

  As the hot water covered A Shui's ankles, her brows rexed, and after soaking for a while, fine beads of sweat appeared on her face, softening her features in the firelight.

  Thinking about the night's events, Wen Chaoshen suddenly asked her:

  "Your injury isn't healed, and you went to the County Office tonight?"

  A Shui, taking the lead, emphasized:

  "If I hadn't gone, you'd be dead tonight."

  "Did you expect Chun Qiong to save you?"

  Wen Chaoshen shook his head:

  "Of course not. What I meant was, why did you go to find Chun Qiong?"

  A Shui:

  "To investigate Liu Jinshi's cause of death."

  Wen Chaoshen was taken aback, then said:

  "Just like that?"

  "Did you hold a knife to his neck?"

  A Shui:

  "Pretty much."

  "Those with bare feet aren't afraid of those with shoes. He has concerns, but I don't."

  "He doesn't want to go down with me, wants to make a deal. Then that girl knocked on the County Office's drum, saying something happened at Mandarin Duck Tower. When asked what happened, she wouldn't say. I thought it was suspicious, so I came first."

  Hearing this, Wen Chaoshen couldn't help but ugh, thinking of those who, with a bit of power, consider themselves high and mighty, yet have no way to deal with a straightforward bandit like A Shui.

  It's not that they can't handle A Shui, but it would require a huge price and make the matter very public.

  Wen Chaoshen knew the White Dragon Guards had arrived in Kuhai County, and from Lu Chuan's reaction, their purpose was likely reted to Lu Chuan and his group.

  The interests of the two parties cshed, easily breeding resentment.

  After soaking his feet, Wen Chaoshen went out to dump the water. When he returned, he saw A Shui watching him, so he set down the foot basin and asked:

  "Why are you looking at me?"

  A Shui curiously asked:

  "If I remember correctly, you had two people watching you, and the thin one in bck had quite a high cultivation. How did you manage to communicate with that girl under their noses and have her go to the County Office for help?"

  Though she might not think as deeply as Wen Chaoshen, A Shui was no fool, having survived until now. She had pondered this question for a long time without understanding.

  Wen Chaoshen chuckled, got into bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and sat cross-legged, saying:

  "I met her by chance. At Liu Jinshi's fiftieth birthday, the piece she pyed was one I taught her. We chatted for a long time outside the county, and one of the tunes was the sound a certain country's police cars make when they go out. I hummed the tune to her while making a gesture..."

  As he spoke, he made a vertical motion with his finger in the air.

  A Shui seemed to understand, then asked:

  "Wait, Wen Chaoshen, what does 'police' mean, and why would a carriage make a sound?"

  Seeing her genuine curiosity, Wen Chaoshen tilted his head, thought for a moment, and expined with difficulty:

  "Police means the government officials of that country going out to catch criminals. As for why the carriage makes that sound... uh, because there's usually a musician on board, pying a suona, making a 'wero~wero~wero~' sound."

  A Shui squinted her eyes, leaning back slightly, clearly taken aback by the bizarre image.

  "The government catching people... in a carriage, with a musician?"

  Wen Chaoshen coughed.

  "It has a deterrent effect, I guess."

  "Mainly, in that country, the roads are busy. Hearing that sound, people know the officials are out on a case and need to clear the way..."

  kant202323