As Huo Yuan and Xue Qian returned to Luoyang, Huo Yuan briefly saw a figure dressed in dark green fleeting across One Hundred Flowers Brothel's rooftop. He focused on the individual’s face but was unsure if his eyes were deceiving him. “Could that be Wang Ai Lang?” wondered Huo Yuan. The features were similar, yet Wang was a young man and this person had too much gray hair to be who he thought he was. Huo Yuan tried to take a better look; however, the figure had already disappeared.
He was tempted to follow the figure into the brothel, but Xue Qian distracted him, “Can you hurry it up? Zhao Long Inn is quite a distance away! I’m very hungry and the smell of your burnt fish is not helping me.” Xue Qian stretched out his arms and continued to complain, “I had such a terrible sleep last night on that uncomfortable grass and in these now worthless clothes,” thinking about the urine incident, Xue Qian’s agitation increased, “When I get my hands on that miserable waiter, he’ll wish he was never born.” As a count, he commanded respect and fear; people aimed to please him and constantly flattered him. Never had he been so humiliated until he encountered that dirty waiter.
Just as Xue Qian stepped into the restaurant, Feng recognized him and quickly turned around so that he couldn’t be seen. He started cleaning the tables, all the while inching closer to the back door. Fortunately for him, Xue Qian could not differentiate between the waiters’ backs. All commoners were dirt in his eyes, and he rarely bothered to remember much detail about them. Only those he despised did he bother to remember their faces to make their lives insufferable, especially those he had a vendetta against.
Huo Yuan saw Feng exit the back door and excused himself, “Go ahead and order. I’ll be right back.” He exited the back door and quickly followed Feng who panicked but was unable to outrun him.
“What are you doing, following me? I didn’t spill any urine on you!” exclaimed Feng.
Huo Yuan reached into his pocket and took out one tael of gold, “This is to cover the cost of the damage yesterday,” and handed it to Feng.
“Huh, what do you know? You actually kept your word,” however, Feng pushed the tael back, “Don’t give it to me. Give it to my boss.” Feng did not wish to reenter the restaurant to hand the tael over.
Huo Yuan put the tael of gold back into his pocket and guessed, “Actually, I know that you’re afraid to see my companion.”
“Well, you can’t blame me. He has such a nasty attitude. Instead of being appreciative of my help, he looks like he wants to kill me every time he sees me now.” Feng walked towards the outhouse and squatted down to clean it as the area began to reek strongly from urine and feces scattered everywhere. He also hoped that the smell would encourage Huo Yuan to leave. “This man cannot be a good person if he has such a rude companion,” thought Feng.
Surprisingly, Huo Yuan followed him and also squatted down, “I’m here to warn you to leave this area for a bit while my companion cools down. He looks like a man of power and is obviously displeased with you.”
“Aren’t you put off by the smell?” Feng was curious. Most men of Huo Yuan’s status only used the outhouse when necessary and definitely not for conversations.
Huo Yuan replied, “You can’t use these tricks against me.” While training, he had been through much worse things than people realized, “But I’ll take my leave. I hope the next time I see you, you’re not beaten up.”
Feng continued to scrub and thought about Huo Yuan’s words, “He has a point. With that spoiled young master here, the prediction will really come true.”