Chapter 52: Make Him Fall in Love with You!

"I don't know. Who is this person?"

At that very moment, Zhuyin seemed to have resigned herself to her fate, speaking with a disheartened and weary tone.

"Why be like this? It's not like I'm casting you away permanently!"

Zhou Zheng said calmly, "As long as you accomplish this task, you can come back whenever you wish, and I will welcome you with open arms!"

With that, Zhou Zheng smiled and added, "It's the very person who came to you to buy coal!"

"You must find a way to stay by his side, and..."

"...make him fall in love with you."

A flash of utter astonishment crossed Zhuyin's eyes. She had never expected it to be him!

After all, that man looked ragged and disheveled. Even if he had managed to scrape together some silver, he clearly wasn't the scion of any wealthy or influential family. How could someone like that possibly be worth Zhou Zheng expending so much elaborate effort?

"My lord!"

A hint of panic crept into Zhuyin's voice.

"Rest assured, you only need to do what you do best. I have cultivated and trained you for so long; you should know that you are my sharpest blade. Now, I am sending you out into the world..."

"...simply because I expect to reap sufficient benefits in return!"

"My lord, is this person truly worth your going to such lengths?"

After hesitating for a long while, Zhuyin finally voiced the question.

Zhou Zheng slowly seated himself in his chair, took a leisurely sip of tea, his gaze devoid of a single ripple. "I cannot say for certain either. But it has been a very long time since I last experienced this thrill of playing chess."

"I am not afraid of him opposing me across the chessboard; what truly worries me is that this man possesses the capability to make me vanish from this world without a single trace."

At this, Zhou Zheng let out a sudden, low chuckle. "This person possesses precisely that kind of ability!"

"My lord, this man..."

Zhuyin wanted to press further.

Zhou Zheng, however, simply waved his hand dismissively.

"Do as you are told and stop chattering so much. If this matter is successfully handled, your rewards will be boundless!"

"If it is botched..."

Zhou Zheng left the sentence unfinished, but the profound and chilling implication beneath his words was something anyone could feel.

...

"Achoo..."

"Achoo!"

Having just stepped out of Carpenter Wang's house, Lu Chuan could not help sneezing twice. He rubbed his nose with a speechless expression, muttering, "Who on earth is talking about me?"

"Hehe, Master! Who else could it be? Naturally, it's the Mistress. You've been out for so long, it's only natural for her to miss you!" Sun Laizi chimed in at the appropriate moment from the side.

Lu Chuan raised his hand and delivered a sharp smack to the back of Sun Laizi's head!

"Why didn't I ever realize you had such a slick tongue before?"

"Hehe, Master."

Sun Laizi said somewhat awkwardly, "I was a bit muddle-headed before. Please don't hold my past foolishness against me!"

"That Carpenter Wang heard you were sent by Magistrate Zhou, and he acted just like a pug, practically itching to lick the dust off your shoes with his tongue!"

"Get lost!"

Hearing this, Lu Chuan scolded him with a glare. "If you don't know how to speak properly, keep your mouth tightly shut from now on!"

"Hehe!"

Sun Laizi nodded with an awkward grin.

The matter of the spinning machine was thus settled. Lu Chuan decided to head back first, determined to make a trip up the mountain come hell or high water tomorrow.

Otherwise, fulfilling the promise of wild pheasants might prove rather difficult.

"Let's go!"

"We're making another trip to the black market..."

Lu Chuan's voice was soft.

"What are we going to buy?"

Sun Laizi asked with a curious expression.

"A bow!"

"And some arrows!"

Sun Laizi froze in his tracks, a wave of pleasant surprise instantly flooding his eyes. "Master, are you planning to go hunting in the mountains? Will you be taking me along?"

"Aren't you planning to go with the people from the village?" Lu Chuan asked with a hint of curiosity.

"You are my master, so naturally I'll follow you. Why would I tag along with those villagers? Those people don't have an ounce of real capability; the only thing they know how to do is look down on others from their high horses!"

"And they actually dare to venture deep into the mountains alone—they'll probably be gored by a wild boar and won't even know what hit them!"

Sun Laizi did not hold the slightest shred of goodwill toward those villagers.

"Alright, save your breath!"

Lu Chuan shook his head. "Everyone makes their own choices. As long as they don't try to take advantage of us, let them do whatever they please."

Lu Chuan paused in contemplation for a moment.

"Do you have money to buy a bow? Do you have money to buy arrows?" Lu Chuan asked.

"N—no, I don't..."

Sun Laizi let out a bitter laugh. "Master, to tell you the truth, I did have some silver on me before. But that day... well, your hand was rather heavy, and you pierced right through my palm. All my money went toward paying for the doctor and medicines for this hand!"

"Even so, the physician told me at the time that if my luck hadn't been good, this hand would have been crippled for life!"

As he spoke, Sun Laizi shook his clumsily bandaged hand for emphasis.

Looking at Sun Laizi's plight, Lu Chuan let out a speechless, amused chuckle!

That was true enough.

In this day and age, there were no anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics. Once tetanus set in, even the immortals would find it hard to save you!

Put that way, Sun Laizi's luck had indeed been quite decent.

At this thought, Lu Chuan smiled faintly. "You can't blame that entirely on me, you know. You were the one harassing people back then. Even if I had killed you right on the spot, not a single person in this town would have been able to say I was in the wrong."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

Sun Laizi hurriedly nodded with a guilty conscience.

Are you kidding me?

The master before him had slaughtered bandits right on his own doorstep, openly gone to report it to the authorities, and even chatted and laughed easily with the magistrate. A person like this was an absolute ruthlessly formidable character!

That was the sort of individual he would never dare to provoke in this lifetime.

Watching Sun Laizi, Lu Chuan paused slightly before continuing, "If you have the money, you can buy one yourself. If you don't, I can forge one for you later. However, there might be quite a difference between the bow I make for you and the one I intend to make for myself!"

"Huh?"

Sun Laizi raised his head in surprise.

"Didn't you say you were going to buy a bow, Master? Why would you still need to make one yourself?"

Lu Chuan smiled.

"Calling it 'buying a bow' is really just buying some raw materials."

"The iron we usually forge ourselves is far from sufficient. Besides, the village currently lacks proper smelting equipment."

"We can only check the black market to see if there is anything usable."

As Lu Chuan spoke, the two of them once again arrived outside the tea house.

The tea server, recognizing the pair, immediately beamed with delight. "Ah, the two of you are back for tea?"

"Mhm."

Lu Chuan nodded. "Two bowls of tea, same as before."

"Coming right up! Please make yourselves comfortable!"

After the server brought over the two bowls of tea, Lu Chuan and Sun Laizi slipped into the black market.

The very first instant they entered, Lu Chuan's gaze turned toward that familiar corner.

Sure enough!