To say I didn't want to would be dishonest. Her forlorn figure, defeated and alone, after we parted ways in that desolate village, has been etched in my mind ever since.
Regardless of our differing stances, Shen Xingyue was a person worthy of respect.
To be defeated repeatedly, and yet to rise again and again, if it were me, my spirit would have been extinguished long ago.
Because of the planned meeting with Shakespeare and the potential for the revenge-seeking "Mohe" organization to appear, Yao Yao took our trip to Benxi very seriously regarding security. Besides the two of us, we brought Meng Meng and Kun Kun. Meng Meng could handle the brute force, and if that didn't work, the versatile Kun Kun could employ a more subtle approach.
Driving the newly purchased little BMW, carrying three beauties. Wait, beauties?
I glanced back at the fox spirit in the back seat. "How did you come out of Chen Lu's room looking like this? Did you confront her?"
"Mm-hmm," the female fox spirit replied with a relaxed expression. "No more pretending, I've revealed myself. Your old classmate cried for a long time, but in the end, I managed to soothe her with my tongue, hehe..."
"...You're so perverted."
Good. In my opinion, the biggest internal threat has been neutralized. The fox spirit stated that Chen Lu's emotions were stable and she had accepted her gender. When the time was right, the fox spirit wanted to reveal her true identity to Chen Lu, with our permission, of course.
"Alright, you decide," Yao Yao said. "Your understanding of human hearts is far more profound than any of ours, after all, you are what you eat."
"Huh?" I didn't understand.
"This one used to be very picky, specializing in eating human hearts." Yao Yao poked my left chest. I looked back at Kun Kun. She extended her remarkably long tongue and licked my ear.
"That tongue of yours is like a dagger. Was that perhaps the weapon you used to eat human hearts back then?" I guessed. Kun Kun nodded calmly.
"And perhaps, it can be used for other things too, given its flexibility, both soft and hard, controlled at will?" I asked with a smile.
"Yeah! It's no worse than yours!" The fox spirit actually transformed her tongue into a hammer-like shape. I instinctively dodged, not wanting it to poke me. I'm straight!
Yao Yao covered her mouth and chuckled, telling her to quickly retract it, as it was too indecent.
"...What are you guys talking about?" Meng Meng asked, clueless.
"Nothing, not suitable for children, and not suitable for you either." I cleared my throat and started the BMW, heading for Benxi.
I had learned a little about the fox spirit's peculiar physiology, but I still couldn't figure out why her weapon was nine flying daggers. Could it be that she planned to roll them up with her tongue and hurl them?
The BMW was indeed swift. Since I had hidden the temporary license plate, we had no plates, and we sped recklessly, reaching the outskirts of Benxi in twenty minutes. We arrived at Jin Qiang Sect's weapon workshop, the one that served as an exhibition hall.
A Mercedes-Benz E-Class with a Fucheng license plate was parked outside. It was likely Shen Xingyue's car.
I sent a WeChat message to Jin Xiaomei, but she didn't reply. She was probably negotiating with Shen Xingyue, and Jin Xiaomei wouldn't know we were here.
"Is Shen Xingyue here?" I asked Yao Yao.
Yao Yao rolled down the car window, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "Yes, but she's alone."
"It might be a personal visit," I speculated. With her alone, we wouldn't even need to sneak in. We could just walk in openly. Shen Xingyue knew the disparity in our strength and wouldn't dare to clash with us.
The four of us got out of the car and entered the workshop. The receptionist wasn't Jin Xiaomei but a young beautiful woman who didn't recognize us. However, I had the order for the Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue from yesterday. The young woman recognized the order and led us through the front exhibition hall to the actual weapon workshop behind it.
The Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue were indeed ready. They were placed on a rosewood rack in the workshop. Two workers were doing the final grinding and polishing with sandpaper. This process had nothing to do with the weapon's performance; it was purely for aesthetics. These two workers recognized us from yesterday and immediately stepped forward to greet us when they saw the buyer.
Yao Yao took the twin axes from the rack and proceeded to a brute-force test, clashing them against each other, sparks flying. After a few strikes, she inspected the edges; there wasn't a single mark.
"Hmm, not bad," Yao Yao nodded with satisfaction, placing the weapons back on the rack. She then turned towards the back door and stood with her hands behind her back.
I guessed someone was arriving.
As expected, Shen Xingyue entered the workshop, accompanied by Elder Jin, Jin Xiaomei, and Cui Sanye.
"Captain Shen, this is our forging... workshop..." Elder Jin froze upon seeing us, his expression slightly flustered.
Shen Xingyue, on the other hand, was calmer, only scoffing. "Running into you here again is truly bad luck."