“Do you know who it was?” Yu Shuren noticed that Ji Kang had dropped his act and did the same.

“No. But they were watching us for quite a while, so we can be certain they plan to do something. We should be on guard for ambushes for the rest of our stay in Anwon, make sure you have a weapon at hand at all times.” Ji Kang warily continued scanning their surroundings.

“Should we tell Lu Wu and Jin Xun?”

“Hmm, no. If the watcher doesn’t end up acting then our warning will have been wasted and if they do ambush us it might be better if those two didn’t know… to keep the ambushers from realizing we were on to them.” Ji Kang met Yu Shuren’s eyes and mutual understanding passed between them.

If Lu Wu was killed in an ambush Ji Kang and Yu Shuren would be laughing in their sleep for years afterwards.

“Besides, maybe it was our contact in the city. Maybe our strategy to draw their attention worked and they’ll be making contact with us soon.” Ji Kang continued.

“That’s possible. I would say that we definitely succeeded in drawing attention to ourselves, the only question now is whether the person we want to contact was paying attention.” Yu Shuren said.

“Hmm, in fact, if we’re being watched we may need to change our plans to make it easier for us to be contacted unobserved.” Ji Kang paused to consider, “We’ll need to get Lu Wu on board for any plan. Cooperate with me later…”

Shortly after this conversation, Lu Wu and Jin Xun finished their audience with Mo Xinyue and were dismissed. The four boys left the Mo residence and started making their way back to the inn.

“I’m starting to worry. When we paraded around the city trying to draw attention, what if we were noticed by more people than just our contact? Maybe there will be other spies watching the inn and observing us. If that’s true our contact could be reluctant to meet with us.” Ji Kang whispered to Yu Shuren.

“Indeed, that might be an issue. You’re underestimating our young master though; it is only too easy for him to deal with this. If you’ve had this thought you can be sure he has already considered it as well.” Yu Shuren answered.

The two boys said this loudly enough for Lu Wu and Jin Xun’s enhanced cultivator’s senses to barely hear, but addressed their remarks solely to each other.

Ji Kang went to the effort of having this conversation with Yu Shuren and allowing Lu Wu to ‘overhear’ because if he spoke directly to Lu Wu, he didn’t know how Lu Wu would react to Ji Kang making suggestions. If he pretended he was just discussing the situation with Yu Shuren while allowing Lu Wu to overhear it, then he could avoid looking like he was trying to dictate the group’s actions while still making sure Lu Wu was considering everything.

Navigating his superior’s ego was a crucial part of being Lu Wu’s subordinate. If Lu Wu started to think Ji Kang was manipulating him or telling him what to do, things would become very dangerous for Ji Kang.

The group lapsed back into silence for a moment while Jin Xun and Lu Wu considered what they had heard

“Hah! You two can stop your speculation. I have already decided how we will deal with this situation. Two of us will spend the day in the inn’s restaurant and the other two will go back to the market and check on the destruction from yesterday.” Lu Wu stroked his chin in self-satisfaction. “That way, if our contact gets spooked by any other watchers they can get in touch with the two of us wandering the market.”

“Ah! I’m embarrassed at my own foolishness, young master.” Ji Kang cupped his fists and bowed.

“Hahaha, don’t worry about it. This kind of thing is why I’m the leader. You just have to do what I say and everything will work out.” Lu Wu benevolently waved his hand in acknowledgment.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Ji Kang was relieved. Immediately after bowing he had thought he might have laid it on too thick and that anyone with any sense would have felt something off, but it seemed he had worried over nothing.

Back in one of their rooms at the inn, Lu Wu filled the rest of them in on the details of how he wanted to proceed. While Jin Xun had initially struggled for the leadership position in the group, Ji Kang and Yu Shuren’s complete obedience to Lu Wu’s commands had worn down his belief that he could take the lead. He had slowly decided to give up contesting Lu Wu’s leadership and now took Lu Wu’s lead.

“Jin Xun and I will go back to the market and gather as much intelligence on what happened yesterday as we can. Ji Kang and Yu Shuren, I want you two to stay in the restaurant downstairs for the rest of the day and do the same. You have my permission to drink so as to fit in with the other patrons, but if you become drunk you will have to answer to me.” Lu Wu said sternly. “We’ll all keep a sharp lookout for the recognition passwords we were given by the sect for when our contact makes their approach. This is all the more important now that our first attempt to send a signal was disrupted.”

“Yes, young master” Yu Shuren formally accepted his orders.

“As you command, young master.” Ji Kang followed his example.

Lu Wu wasn’t finished elaborating the details however.

“We’ll leave the gold with you two, make sure it never leaves your sight. No matter which pair they approach, we will arrange a place for us to drop the gold off tonight or tomorrow. We will not attempt to hand it off in person. If they insist on receiving the gold immediately I give you permission to assume our mission has been compromised and to act accordingly.”

The other three boys all expressed their agreement. Lu Wu and Jin Xun then left. Once those two had exited earshot, Ji Kang and Yu Shuren discussed how they would behave.

“If we bring our heavy packs down to the bar with us we will look somewhat suspicious no matter how we try to explain it. We have to accept that observant people will notice and do our best regardless.” Ji Kang pointed out.

“I agree. I think we should move all the gold into one pack and remove everything else. That way we’ll have one smaller bag rather than two large bags.” Yu Shuren suggested.

“Good idea.” Ji Kang said. “What should we be doing in the bar all day? We need some activity that our contact can use as an excuse to join us without making themselves conspicuous simply by approaching us.”

“Some kind of drinking game then? I have a deck of wine cards we can use.”

“That will work. We can sit in a corner playing with the cards, pretending to get drunk. Whoever asks to join us we’ll wait for them to say their half of the password before we show any sign we were waiting for someone.” Ji Kang said.

“I wish we had thought to pack clothes that weren’t our sect robes though. Two cultivators spending the day getting drunk is slightly suspicious.” Yu Shuren lamented.

“Hmm, you’re right that it might be more suspicious to random passersby that cultivators are wasting the day getting drunk, but for anyone who has been observing the four of us, changing outfits would be a clear sign that we’re doing something unusual.” Ji Kang pointed out after considering it.

“I’m starting to think we might be overthinking this whole plan.” Yu Shuren laughed wryly. “But let’s not waste anymore time, let’s get this over with.”

Ji Kang and Yu Shuren went down into the inn’s dining area and chose a booth against a wall, away from the door and the staircase leading back up to their room on the second floor.

Ji Kang was able to keep his sword on his lap, hidden from sight by the table, but Yu Shuren had no choice but to lean his spear up against the wall outside the booth. They put the bag full of gold on the floor under the table, away from the outside of the booth. They called over the waiter and ordered two jugs of rice wine and four cups.

The room wasn’t very full since it was only late afternoon, but there was already a jovial atmosphere among those who were present so Ji Kang and Yu Shuren didn’t feel out of place bringing out Yu Shuren’s deck of cards and starting their drinking game. They started slowly, having upbeat conversations about trivialities between hands, making sure not to act too drunk too abruptly.

Soon the sun dropped towards the horizon and more patrons filtered into the restaurant. As the other patrons became more boisterous, so did they. Several times other patrons joined them for a round or two. When they showed no signs of being the contact, Ji Kang and Yu Shuren made themselves disagreeable until they left.

As the evening wore on Ji Kang was slowly convincing himself that they wouldn’t be the ones who were approached. He had almost finished the job when one last person thumped a full jug of wine on their table and unceremoniously claimed a seat.