Hi patricia, the last 'NanGong Chou' was actually an imposter. That was Mei RuJia in disguise.
Chapter 34 continued.....
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In reality, he had never seen what NanGong Chou really looked like. The one he had seen was actually Mei RuJia. Although this man’s attire and appearance, even the sword that he carried, was completely identical to Mei RuJia the time he had appeared with GunZi at Mai LaoGuang’s barbecue meats shop, Guo DaLu was absolutely certain that this was not Mei RuJia. It was not because he was slightly taller than Mei RuJia or because he was a little thinner – what could it be? Even Guo DaLu himself did not really know.
When Mei RuJia was dressed in the black attire, he seemed to carry a fierce and menacing aura of death. This man did not have that. He neither had an aura of death or the aura of a human being. In fact, he did not seem to carry any sort of aura at all, as if he would not have any reaction even if you gave him a solid kick.
But Guo DaLu was willing to guarantee that, regardless of who it was, no one would be willing to even touch one of this man’s fingers. The pupils of his eyes were very black and very bright, not all that different from any other ordinary person who practiced martial arts, yet for some reason, he only needed to take one glance at you and your entire body would seem to grow uncomfortable.
Right then, he was looking at Guo DaLu.
Guo DaLu’s whole body was feeling uncomfortable, like awakening on the second day from a drunken stupor. His palms were clammy and his head was pounding so hard that he wished he could snatch up a sabre and chop it off.
The black-clothed man’s eyes were still on him. It was obvious that he was waiting for Guo DaLu’s response. However, Guo DaLu seemed to have forgotten to answer him. The black-clothed man did not say a word. Turning around abruptly, he began slowly walking away. The way he walked was also very normal except that the pace he was moving at was particularly slow. With every step, he would first take a look in front of him before he would set his foot down, as if he was afraid that his next step would be on thin air and take him tumbling into a ditch filled with water or as if he was worried that he might kill an ant on the ground. At the way he was going, he would still not be off the mountain by the following afternoon.
Guo DaLu could not help himself as he spoke up unexpectedly, “Wait a minute.”
The black-clothed man did not even turn his head. “No need to wait.”
Guo DaLu: “Why?”
Black-clothed man: “Since it is inconvenient here, then I will not force it.” After he finished these couple of sentences, he walked forward another two steps.
With a loud laugh, Guo DaLu said, “Who said it would be inconvenient? Within an eight hundred li radius, there is no other place that is as welcoming to guests as this one is. Please hurry and come in.”
The black-clothed man was still hesitant. It was only after quite a lengthy moment that he finally turned his head around. Guo DaLu had to wait for another long while before he walked back to the door. “You are really inviting me inside?” He spoke extremely slowly, but he used very few words. Something that would require ten words for other people to say, he would only need at most six or seven words.
Guo DaLu: “Yes, honestly. Please come in.”
Black-clothed man: “You will not regret it?”
Smiling, Guo DaLu answered, “Why would I regret it? You need not even mention one night; even if you stayed for three or five months, we would still welcome you just the same.” His generous tendencies were starting to flare-up again.
Black-clothed man: “Thank you.” He finally stepped into the courtyard, his eyes fixated only on the path before him and not looking over at anything else. Yan Qi and Wang Dong were watching him from the window and their expressions, too, showed shock. As the black-clothed man reached the corridor, he halted.
“Please go in first and have a cup of wine to drink,” Guo DaLu invited with a pleasant smile.
“No.”
Guo DaLu: “You never drink?”
Black-clothed man: “At times I will.”
Guo DaLu: “And when are the times that you will?”
Black-clothed man: “After I have killed someone.”
Stunned, Guo DaLu paused a moment before muttering, “If that is the case, it’s best if you don’t drink then.” But then right after, as he thought about it, he found this hilarious. Mr. Guo would actually tell someone not to drink. This was a first.
The black-clothed man stood motionless at the start of that corridor. “There are guest rooms in the back. Since you will not be drinking wine, then please head over there,” Guo DaLu told him.
“That will not be necessary.”
Guo DaLu paused again. “Not necessary? What is not necessary?”
Black-clothed man: “It is not necessary to go to the guest room.”
Guo DaLu: “Don’t tell me that you want to sleep right here.”
Black-clothed man: “Yes.” As if he could not be bothered to speak to Guo DaLu anymore, he slowly closed his eyes and leaned himself against a column at the head of the corridor.
Guo DaLu could not help asking again, “If you are going to sleep here, are you not going to at least lie down?”
Black-clothed man: “Not necessary.”
Guo DaLu: “Not necessary to lie down?”
Black-clothed man: “Yes.”
Guo DaLu was speechless. The look on his face was as if he had seen a talking horse.
“Horses do not talk.”
“But only a horse would stand up to sleep.”
“He is a horse?”
“No.”
“Who do you think he is?”
“NanGong Chou!”
Yan Qi nodded. This time, he was finally agreeing with what Guo DaLu was saying.
The black-clothed man stood resting against the column, and he actually appeared to be really asleep. He himself looked like pillar – straight, cold, hard, responseless, emotionless.
With a sigh, Guo DaLu remarked, “If this person is not NanGong Chou, then there is no one else in the world who could be NanGong Chou.”
“Regardless of whether he is a horse or NanGong Chou, he has nothing to do with us in the least bit,” Wang Dong spoke up.
“He does,” Guo DaLu contradicted.
Wang Dong: “What would he have to do with us?”
Guo DaLu: “For someone like NanGong Chou, if he did not have a purpose, why would he come here?”
Wang Dong: “Why couldn’t he come here?”
Guo DaLu: “What would he come here for?”
Wang Dong: “No matter what sort of person he is, he still needs to find a place to sleep at night.”
Guo DaLu: “Do you really believe he came here just to sleep?”
Wang Dong: “He is sleeping right now.”
Guo DaLu: “If he is going to sleep that way, he could sleep anywhere. Why would he deliberately come here just to sleep?”
Wang Dong: “Regardless of what his purpose is, nevertheless he is still sleeping now, and so…”
Guo DaLu: “And so what?”
Wang Dong: “And so we should all go to sleep too.” This was his conclusion. And so, he went off to go sleep. When Wang Dong said he was going to bed, it did not matter what else you wanted him to do as it would not get done.
However, Guo DaLu still stood by the window staring. “Why are you not going to bed yet?” Yan Qi asked him.
Guo DaLu answered, “I want to see if he really is sleeping and how long he can sleep like that.”
Yan Qi was gnawing on his lip as he protested, “But this is my room. I want to sleep.”
“Then go have your sleep. I won’t be noisy and disturb you,” Guo DaLu told him.
Yan Qi: “You can’t.”
Guo DaLu: “Why can’t I?”
Yan Qi: “I cannot sleep when there is someone else in my room.”
Guo DaLu chuckled, “If you get married and have a wife in the future, will you tell her to go sleep in a separate room?”
Yan Qi’s cheeks seemed to redden slightly. Glowering, he snapped, “How do you know for sure that I am going to get married and have a wife?”
Guo DaLu replied, “Because there only two types of people in the world who won’t take a wife.”
“Which two?” Yan Qi asked curiously.
With a wide grin, Guo DaLu said, “One type is monks. The other type is those half-male-but-not-female people. In any case, you would not fall within one of those types.”
Yan Qi was getting somewhat irritated and retorted, “Even if I must marry and take a wife, I would definitely not marry someone who was a stinky man like you.” He had been a little annoyed before, but after he said this sentence, his face flushed an even deeper red color.
Suddenly, Guo DaLu pulled Yan Qi close to himself. “Look. What is that over there on the wall?” he whispered.