Chapter 56: Xue San and the Dog

“It was male.”

One sentence.

Like a bolt from a clear sky.

The husky went completely dog-stupid.

That fierceness.

That temper.

That resistance.

That spicy flavor.

Everything it had enjoyed suddenly acquired an entirely different interpretation.

Woof-fuck.

It was male.

Of course the damned thing fought back when I tried to do that to it!

The Blind Man Bei reached out and picked up the erhu he had previously left beside the piano.

Using his sleeve, he carefully wiped it clean.

“I’ve missed the sound of the piano and the feeling of these keys for more than half a year.

“But only now have I discovered that in this era, the erhu perhaps suits me better.”

As he spoke, the Blind Man Bei raised his head toward Winter.

“I don’t have much interest in teaching you piano.

“And there would not be much point.

“What sounds like heavenly music to you is, to me, nothing more than repeating the work of others.

“If you want to learn something, I could teach you the erhu.

“At the very least, even if you fall so far one day that both your legs are broken, you’ll still possess a skill for begging and won’t starve to death.”

Winter nodded.

But his gaze remained fixed on the husky standing stunned behind the Blind Man.

Clearly, he still held some hope for the demonic beast that had always accompanied him.

“I don’t believe it!

“I don’t believe it!”

The husky suddenly roared.

It raised one paw.

The Blind Man Bei, his back still turned, did not move.

He merely plucked one of the erhu strings.

Buzz!

Smack!

The husky’s paw slammed directly into its own enormous face.

Blood immediately poured down.

At that moment, it finally confirmed that its mental consciousness had indeed been invaded by the other party long ago.

As a demonic beast gifted in mental abilities, it understood exactly what mental invasion meant.

Everything you saw was what that person wanted you to see.

Everything you heard was what that person wanted you to hear.

All your senses no longer depended on reality, but on that person’s will.

The implications terrified the husky beyond measure.

On the other side, seeing his giant dog slap itself flat, Winter lowered his head helplessly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Then he looked up again and spoke with admirable ease.

“All right.

“So now both my life and my dog’s life are in your hands.”

After saying this, Winter suddenly felt there was something slightly wrong with his phrasing.

“I have no particular interest in your life.

“What I want is cooperation.

“Everything that just happened only occurred because you yourself demanded a process.

“I wanted to skip this part.

“But you insisted on the completeness of the experience, so I had no choice but to satisfy you.”

“Actually, I think the safest option would be for you to threaten me with my life, have me pay to buy my own life back, then take the money and disappear,” Winter suggested.

“But that would also be the most shortsighted option.

“What we want is not merely a few hundred warhorses.

“Nor only a few hundred sets of military equipment.

“Our appetite will continue growing larger.”

“I think perhaps you do not understand just how valuable my life truly is.”

The Blind Man Bei laughed.

“Don’t tell me you’re the illegitimate son of some great noble?”

Winter’s eyes narrowed suddenly.

“You know far more than I expected.”

“I did not investigate that deeply.”

The Blind Man Bei shook his head.

“It’s merely that the Eastern trash-protagonist routine and the Western illegitimate-son routine have both been used to death.”

“...”

Winter fell silent.

“What you seek is probably not merely wealth from trade.

“You crossed the desert and came all the way to the distant East.

“Gold alone cannot be your only attraction.

“You want to build an achievement here.

“You want to use that achievement to prove your ability and wash away the stigma of being an illegitimate son.

“Now, I have already placed an opportunity before you.”

“Should I interpret this as a threat?

“Or as a negotiation?”

The Blind Man Bei shook his head again.

“This is a plea.”

“You jest.

“You are literally holding my life in your hands.”

“Neither you nor your dog’s life is worth much in my eyes.”

“...”

Winter.

“...”

The husky.

“Fine.

“I can agree.

“But I have one condition.”

“Speak.”

“You just said you have a Master?”

“Yes.”

“I do not know who your Master is.

“If we are to cooperate, I recognize only you.

“I will cooperate only with you.

“You can choose to leave your Master.

“In fact, I can even help you deal with your Master.”

“San’er,” the Blind Man Bei called.

“Here.”

“Kill him.”

“Gladly.”

“...”

Winter!

“All right!

“I’m willing to take one step back!”

Winter hurriedly shouted.

The Blind Man Bei nodded.

He raised one hand and indicated for Winter to continue.

“I want you to teach me piano.

“I do not want to learn your erhu!”

“San’er.”

“Here.”

“Kill him.”

“All right.”

“No, no, no!

“I don’t want any conditions!”

“Hehehe...”

The Blind Man Bei laughed.

He waved a hand, telling Xue San to release Winter.

Winter twisted his neck.

Then said, “You are very interesting.

“I find you extremely attractive.”

The instant he heard that, Xue San turned toward the Blind Man Bei.

“Kill him or not?”

The Blind Man Bei instead walked forward.

Facing Winter, he said, “We Easterners are comparatively reserved.

“We do not like saying things so explicitly.”

“I’m willing to gamble on you.

“Even if, in name, I will be cooperating with your Master, the reason I’m willing to invest in your group is that I have taken a liking to you.”

Because of the piano.

Because of *Für Elise*.

Because both men shared a pursuit of ritual and refinement in daily life.

Because two extremely particular bastards had found a kindred spirit in one another.

“Should I kneel on one knee and express my gratitude?” the Blind Man Bei asked.

“If you’re also willing to swear loyalty to me, that would be even better.”

Xue San looked curiously at Winter.

“Have the tastes of Western nobles already drifted this far off the road in this era?”

“Warhorses.

“Military equipment.

“Money and grain.

“I can use my channels to help you obtain all of them.

“But I still want to ask one final time.

“My position may be awkward.

“But if you are willing to follow me, then once we return to the West, we may have a chance to seize everything that someone born an illegitimate son like me should never have been able to dream of!”

“Sorry.

“After getting used to the erhu, I don’t miss the piano that much anymore.”

“Fine.

“If you refuse, then so be it.

“I think we can begin negotiating the concrete details now.

“Also, I want to ask something.

“As an investor, what should I be called among your people?

“Patron?

“Or shareholder?”

The Blind Man Bei thought for a moment.

Then answered, “We prefer to call people like you... leeks.”

...

The negotiations began.

They involved procuring supplies, transportation, secrecy, and even long-term planning.

Even though both sides were clever people, there was no possibility of the discussion ending quickly.

The room was left to them to burn through their brainpower.

Outside, Xue San leaned against the husky, legs crossed, one foot bouncing lazily.

The husky no longer displayed any hostility.

It merely sighed from time to time.

“Cheer up, brother.

“Life— no.

“Dog life— needs a little unusual experience now and then.

“Otherwise you’ll have lived this whole life for nothing.”

At that moment, Maimuti emerged after receiving orders to deliver tea and refreshments.

His head lowered, he quickly walked away.

He had no idea why two additional people had suddenly appeared here.

But judging from his master’s attitude toward them, Maimuti wisely chose not to ask.

The husky extended one paw and pointed at Maimuti’s retreating back.

“How about I grab him for you?

“Let you experience a different sort of excitement in life too?”

Xue San laughed awkwardly.

“No.

“No, that won’t do.”

“Hypocritical Easterner.”

“You just did it with a male dog.

“And now you’ll only give me a man?

“Wouldn’t I be getting completely ripped off?”

The husky looked at Xue San in surprise.

With a trace of disbelief, it sighed.

“You are much more terrifying than I imagined.”

“You flatter me.

“You flatter me.”

“Have you ever considered that once you and the blind man walk out of this compound, not only might you receive none of the things promised on paper, you may also be hunted down?”

“If even a dog brain can think of that possibility, how could I fail to consider it?”

“...”

The husky fell silent.

“Actually, I’m not particularly afraid of that possibility.

“You probably do not understand people like us.

“We have no hatred between states and families.

“No grand ambitions either.

“You could even say we have no pursuits at all.”

“Then what exactly are you doing?”

“Purely finding things to do because we have nothing better going on.”

“What?”

“We’re alive.

“So we have to move around.

“Truthfully, I don’t really enjoy building territory.

“I don’t especially like training troops either.

“And I definitely don’t like development work.

“I hate all those tedious things.”

“I can tell.

“You resemble an assassin.

“A very accomplished assassin.

“In the West, we have many famous assassin organizations.”

“I played that kind of thing before.

“Climbing walls was pretty fun.”

“Hmm?”

“Back to what we were saying.

“If you truly keep your word and cooperate, then we cooperate.

“We farm a little.

“Train some troops.

“Then go outside, find whatever justification we feel like using, and rob villains, raid people, that sort of thing.

“If you go back on your word, that is fine too.

“Then we can simply spend our time taking revenge on you.

“For example, you.

“Next time you want to mate, you’ll probably suffer psychological trauma.”

“You underestimate us.

“This time, you only succeeded because you caught us off guard.”

“No.

“You underestimate us.

“You should know that one month ago, other than having one particular feature longer than average, there was absolutely nothing remarkable about me.

“But one month later, I can already sneak into your master’s bedroom and castrate him.”

“I like that metaphor very much.”

“Your attitude toward your master is genuinely fascinating.”

“Mm.

“If he were willing to abandon the propagation of his bloodline, he could obtain greater standing and authority within the family.

“Then I wouldn’t have needed to follow him all the way to this distant East.

“Western dogs have beautiful physiques.

“Graceful forms.

“Elegant bearing.

“But here in the East, I can’t find any at all.”

“No, brother.

“I think you’ve simply been looking in the wrong place.”

The husky turned toward Xue San in confusion.

With some disbelief, it asked, “You have connections?”

“I do.

“I guarantee satisfaction.”

“Where?”

“The Yan imperial palace.

“Don’t you know?

“The Yan imperial house has always bred Pixiu descended from those raised during their founding emperor’s generation.

“There must be pure-blooded Pixiu in the imperial palace.

“They’d suit you perfectly.”

“...”

The husky fell silent.

“What?

“You’re still not satisfied?” Xue San asked.

The husky spoke with a terribly aggrieved expression.

“Pixiu... don’t have a back door.”

(End of Chapter)