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Chapter 18 – Lin TaiPing’s Secret
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Guo DaLu further explained, “If she really is hiding because people are trying to track her down, then at least her actions should be more secretive. Yet every time I was at the pawnshop, I would see her everywhere, walking in and out. She did not seem like she afraid of people seeing her at all.”
Yan Qi: “At the time, could you tell what type of person she was? Since people could not even tell who she was, why should she need to be afraid of being seen?”
Guo DaLu: “You think that she did the same thing as Feng QiWu, that she altered her own appearance and disguised herself?”
Yan Qi: “Feng QiWu is not the only person in jianghu who knows the art of disguises.”
Guo DaLu: “Then how could Golden Lion and GunZi recognize her in one glance?”
Yan Qi: “How do you know they recognized her when they saw her?”
Guo DaLu: “If they hadn’t recognized her, why was it that they were so arrogant to HuoBoPi at first but then later became respectful?”
Yan Qi blinked at him. “Well then, in your opinion, what do you think was going on?”
Guo DaLu: “In my opinion, she and HuoBoPi must have some sort of special relationship; perhaps she is his old friend or perhaps she is his relative. Do you think that is reasonable?”
Yan Qi: “Yes.”
Guo DaLu beamed, “I never thought you would admit that my thinking is reasonable.”
Yan Qi gave a little chuckle. “That is because that is what I was thinking in the first place.”
Guo DaLu stopped for a moment. “If that is what you had been thinking, why did you argue with me just now?”
Yan Qi: “Because I naturally like to disagree with you.”
Guo DaLu gawked wide-eyed at him for a long time. “What if I said this snow is white?”
Yan Qi giggled, “Then I would say it is black.”
No matter how smart and capable you may be, there are times when you may come across your nemesis. No matter how great your abilities may be, the instant you meet your nemesis, you will not be able to use any of them. It seemed that Yan Qi was Guo DaLu’s nemesis; Guo DaLu was unable to do anything against him.
Quite a long while passed before he suddenly let out a little laugh and remarked, “At least there is still one thing that you have to admit.”
Yan Qi: “What is that?”
Guo DaLu chuckled, “This time, HuoBoPi did not flay a single person’s skin.”
Yan Qi disagreed, “You are wrong again.”
With a sour smile, Guo DaLu sighed, “I am wrong again.”
Yan Qi: “HuoBoPi flayed at least one person.”
Guo DaLu: “Who?”
Yan Qi: “Himself.”
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Who was Lin TaiPing? Why were people willing to spend several thousand liang to find him? For what reason did they want to find him?
Guo DaLu asked, “Why do you think these people want to find Lin TaiPing?” This time he had learned and was wiser. He did not first offer his opinion.
Yan Qi mused, “What would make you willing to spend five, six thousand liang of silver to find someone?”
Guo DaLu laughed and replied, “I would never do something like that.”
Glaring at him, Yan Qi demanded, “What if I suddenly disappeared? Would you be willing to spend five or six thousand liang to find me?”
Without needing to think, Guo DaLu answered immediately, “Of course I would. For you, even if I was told to pawn my own head, it would not matter.”
Yan Qi’s eyes shone brightly. Only in times of great joy and great elation will one’s eyes shine.
Guo DaLu carried on, “It is because we are really good friends, that is why I would be willing. However, Lin TaiPing is definitely not a friend of those two men. He would never befriend people like them.”
Yan Qi nodded in agreement. “What if someone killed me? Would you also be willing to spend five thousand liang of silver to seek him out?”
Guo DaLu: “Of course. Even if it meant putting my life on the line, I would still hunt that person down and avenge you.” He suddenly stopped and shook his head. “But Lin TaiPing for sure has never killed anyone. That look of pain that he had when he thought he had killed NanGong Chou absolutely could not have been an act.”
Yan Qi speculated, “If someone stole five thousand liang of silver from you, certainly you would be willing to pay another five thousand liang to track that person down.”
Guo DaLu: “But when Lin TaiPing arrived, he did not have a single coin on him. Furthermore, he just is not that type of person.”
Letting out a little laugh, Yan Qi protested, “Now it’s not me trying to argue with you; you are the one who is arguing with me.”
Guo DaLu giggled also. “That’s because I know that you do not really believe any of what you suggested.”
Yan Qi gave a sigh. Smiling cynically, he said, “To be honest, I cannot think of any reason why they would want to find Lin TaiPing.”
With a grin on his face, Guo DaLu said, “Even though we may not be able to think of anything, we can always ask. Do not forget that I have learned many interrogation techniques from GunZi.”
The light was still aglow inside the house. They had not seen anyone enter or leave. They had been all set to go back in and ask for an explanation when the window opened unexpectedly. Someone was standing in the window beckoning with one hand. They were trying to figure out who this person was waving to when they heard, “It must be really chilly up there in the tree. Why don’t you two sirs come in and warm up by the fire?”
The fire was roaring. It really was much more comfortable beside the fire than in the tree.
The person who had signaled to them from the window a moment ago was now seated. This individual was neither the man with the knife scar nor the ferocious looking one-armed man. In fact, this person previously had not even been in the room. And it was unknown where the people who had been in the room had gone. Guo DaLu had not seen them come out or seen this individual go inside.
There was only one point in all this that Guo DaLu could find consolation in: from head to toe and whatever angle you looked, this person was much more pleasant on the eyes than the previous two. Most importantly, this person was a woman.
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