Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 162: A Rare Moment of Rest

Zhao Changhe thought that now with Gusu and the Tang Clan in disarray, with neither the aunt nor nephew of the Tang Clan having time to come over, and with him still yet to fully recover from his injuries, there was indeed nothing else to do at the moment.

He wanted to chat more with Sisi, but it was not appropriate for him to directly ask her about the situation of the Ancient Spirit Tribe. They were clearly both hiding things from each other, which made the situation quite awkward. It seemed like going back into the room to tell a story was not such a bad idea.

It was a rare moment of rest since his arrival in this world. The pace of the past half year has indeed been too fast. Looking back, he felt really exhausted.

Seeing Zhao Changhe agree, Sisi was very happy and quickly disappeared with excitement.

When she reappeared, she was dressed as the little maid once again, completely covered up, showing not a hint of her skin.

She happily pulled him to sit by the table and presented him with various bottles and jars as if she were presenting a treasure. “This disguise is actually nothing special, it’s just a special material formulated from a secret recipe. When you apply it to the face, it looks just like real skin! With practice, you can even create different skin tones. It’s the foundation for my disguise. If you don’t want to impersonate someone else, you can also just use it to cover scars and whatnot. Once you learn the recipe, you’re all set.”

Zhao Changhe leaned in to take a look. “It doesn’t smell like anything. Are the ingredients difficult to find?”

“They’re fairly difficult to find, but with the Tang Clan backing you, do you really need to worry? You can get whatever you need,” Sisi replied confidently. Then, she abruptly stopped and stretched out her delicate hand. “Give me some money.”

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Sisi said confidently, “I’m out of money. Do you know how hard it was for me to resist taking the silver notes you left in front of me several times?”

Zhao Changhe chuckled and said, “If I give you money, does that count as sponsoring you or paying my maid’s salary?”

Sisi’s eyes shimmered, and she said in a seductive tone, “Now that my identity needs some explaining to the Tang Clan, how about I really do become your maid? However, my services are quite expensive...”

Zhao Changhe took out a thousand-tael silver note and placed it in her hand, “Is this enough for ten days?”

Sisi grabbed the silver note and grumbled, “Only ten days... Oh, and with the back pay for the last three days, you have seven left.”

Zhao Changhe really did not know whether to laugh or cry, “Hey, do you realize that you’ve really become my maid? Don’t you have any dignity?”

“What’s wrong with being a maid? Master, besides flirting with your mouth, what else can you do?”

“...I think you’ve forgotten some painful memories.”

Sisi straightened her neck stubbornly and said, “I don’t remember! Alright, let’s get back to disguise arts. Do you just want to change your appearance so that you can’t be recognized when conducting secret activities, or do you plan to disguise yourself as someone else?”

“I don’t want to live with someone else’s face, that’s just silly...” After he said that, Sisi’s gaze suddenly turned dangerous. He hurriedly corrected himself, “Uh, I meant, very smart, very smart...”

Sisi glared at him, and Zhao Changhe raised his hands in surrender.

Sisi snorted, “Disguising oneself as someone else is the highest achievement of disguise. It’s not enough to just have good makeup skills; you also need to be good at imitating other people’s mannerisms. It’s an art, and it’s not inferior to martial arts in any way. Do you really think it’s silly?”

Zhao Changhe laughed and said, “Now I understand why Ye Wuzong didn’t get angry even though you stole from the Thieves Guild. I think you’re the true heir to his legacy. Ji Chengkong clearly doesn’t hold the same level of passion as you do toward his arts.”

Sisi was taken aback, her eyes showing a hint of hesitation. After a moment, she said, “So why do you seem to look down on it?”

Zhao Changhe said lightly, “I just feel that no one has the right to make me impersonate them.”

“...” The corners of Sisi’s mouth twitched, too lazy to bother with him any further. What the hell is with this saber and its master? They both think that they’re the best in the world.

Sisi felt like there was a term for it... and, indeed, such characters were generally termed “chuuni” in the modern world. Unfortunately, that term did not really exist here. Yet.

“Okay, okay, I’ll just give you the recipe for the material that will help you conceal your features. Shouldn’t you start telling me the story now?”

“...Sure,” Zhao Changhe could not help but find it absurd that, in this transaction where he had exchanged a saber intent and a story for a disguise art, she actually prioritized obtaining the story over the saber intent.

Sisi could not sense his sarcasm. Seeing his agreement, she eagerly brewed tea, her eyes sparkling as she leaned on her hand, waiting for him to start telling the story.

Zhao Changhe found this quite amusing. She looked exactly like a naive girl who had never seen the world. Well, considering that she probably lived most of her life in the Ancient Spirit Tribe, how big of an area and how many people could she have really come across? They probably have stories of ancient gods and demons that were passed down from generation to generation, but they could not possibly have the rich and diverse culture of the divine land, let alone modern novels.

“This story starts with a man surnamed Duan...” Zhao Changhe did not intend to tell the story in its entirety, it was simply too long. He planned to just briefly tell Duan Yu’s story.

But to his surprise, Sisi attached great importance to Duan Yu’s story. “The Duan Clan of Dali, recorded in the previous era.”

Zhao Changhe was taken aback, only then realizing that the previous era included figures like the Three Sage Rulers—Yao, Shun, and Yun. There was also the Cui Clan of Qinghe and the Wang Clan of Langya. There were also various classical poems and writings that circulated in this world, creating a strange mix of history and...fantasy? So, the fact that there was also a Duan Clan of Dali in this world was not that surprising at all.

Sisi muttered to herself, “That place... is where we once resided...”

She stopped halfway through as if she suddenly came to a realization. However, Zhao Changhe understood that the Ancient Spirit Tribe might be descendants of the Miao of the southwest from the previous era. As for refining gu...

The reason for Sisi’s interest in the story of the Duan Clan now became much clearer. Zhao Changhe’s plan of lazily telling the story had to be abandoned, and he had to recount the story in detail from the beginning.

It turned out to be quite troublesome. It was not until noon that he reached the part where Jiumozhi captured Duan Yu and took him to Yanziwu.

Oddly enough, Zhao Changhe found that his memory improved the more he spoke. He had read the original work, Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon[1], and since then, he had read a lot of similar works and fanfictions, especially the spicy ones... He should have already forgotten the specific plot details by now, but as he spoke, the story flowed more smoothly, and various details that he had once forgotten naturally emerged from his mind.

Sisi listened attentively.

Only when Zhao Changhe mentioned Duan Yu refusing to learn his family’s martial arts and running away did she squint her eyes slightly. After that, she remained expressionless, quietly brewing tea for him and not uttering a single word throughout.

Even when A’Zhu, the maid who was proficient in the art of disguise, appeared in the story, Sisi’s expression did not change at all. Zhao Changhe began to wonder if she was distracted and could not help but ask, “Hey, are you still listening?”

“I am.”

“It’s tough to tell a story when your audience doesn’t react in the slightest...”

Sisi smiled faintly and said, “The story is very good. As long as you don’t always fantasize about aphrodisiacs in the dungeon...”

“I don’t fantasize about such things.”

“You suspected my origins and you actually went through the trouble of fabricating such a story. Your literary talent is truly remarkable,” Sisi teased with a growing smile. “But I have to admit, you did guess a lot of things correctly.”

Zhao Changhe was dumbfounded. “Oh? Which parts are you talking about”

“Duan Yu is me, A’Zhu is me, and Jiumozhi, who steals various martial arts, is also me. You put so much effort into insinuating things, wasn’t it exhausting?”

“Huh?”

“Do you still expect me to kowtow to you a thousand times before you teach me your martial arts? Brother immortal, you’re so shameless.”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes opened so wide that they turned into circles.

Thankfully, you didn’t interrupt me while I was telling the story. Otherwise, how could I have continued telling the story? You’ve twisted it so much that I’ve forgotten what the original was like... I really can’t go back now...

“Hey, Murong Fu hasn’t appeared yet, but you’ve already portrayed him as extraordinary with exceptional martial arts. Could he be Tang Buqi or Tang Wanzhuang?”

“Stop, if you continue like this, the Tang Clan will be ruined by you. The Murong Clan are rebels.” Zhao Changhe was on the verge of tears. “I won’t continue telling you the story, okay? I was wrong. I’ll teach you the saber intent, just stop.”

“Oh? You don’t need me to kowtow to you a thousand times?”

“No, there’s really no need...”

“Hehe...” Sisi blew into his ear and whispered, “Brother immortal...”

Zhao Changhe really wanted to kill himself right this moment.

But then Tang Wanzhuang’s voice came from outside the window, “Mister Zhao, what’s the name of the story?”

Zhao Changhe composed himself and said, “It’s called Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon.”

“In Buddhist terminology, Asuras are one of the eight parts... If we’re to relate this to the story, who is the Asura? Is this Asura bloodthirsty?”

Zhao Changhe covered his face.

Tang Wanzhuang said again: “That prince who lives in that world has many beauties, and most of them are evil. Are they really all sisters?”

Are you and Sisi going to fight to decide who Duan Yu is? Can you guys stop going off on tangents? I’m really getting confused and forgetting the original now.

As expected, Sisi became unhappy and stood up with her hands on her hips. “We, master and servant, are enjoying a story. What’s a dignified official like you doing eavesdropping outside?”

Tang Wanzhuang chuckled and said, “It’s already noon. I have set up a banquet in my courtyard. I came here to invite Mister Zhao to discuss important matters. If you’d be so kind, young lady, I would like to borrow your brother immortal for an hour.”

1. Also known as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils ☜