“Wh-what were you looking for me for?” Master Qi queried in a barely-audible voice and with her head down.
“Huh?” Hong Jiu never thought about what to say next as he only prevented Master Qi from leaving so that he could ask for Blood Demon’s whereabouts.
“Ooooooohhh.” In the end, as per the “When you’re stuck, throw out ‘Leader’” tradition, he started with, “I came after you on Leader’s orders.”
“Your leader? That Ming Feizhen? What did he tell you to chase me down for?” Master Qi visibly lowered her guard when Ming Feizhen was mentioned to be the mastermind.
Put on the spot, Hong Jiu fell back on the strategy Ming Feizhen taught him in the past. “Primarily… because… I… was thinking about you.”
Master Qi felt her face burning. “What were you thinking about me for?”
“That day, when we met at the academy…”
Hong Jiu paused and tripped between words solely because he wasn’t as fast as Ming Feizhen and Ming Huayu when it came to making excuses. Howbeit, Master Qi didn’t assume so. Instead, she thought he was going to bring up her gender.
“Shut up! Br-bring it up again, and I’ll… I’ll… I’ll chop you up.”
“Ah? Ah, no, I was trying to say, uh, I, uh, admire and respect your martial prowess. I, this one wants to befriend you so that he may learn from you and improve himself. That’s why Leader told him to go and befriend you, so here he is.”
Master Qi narrowed her eyes.
“As it was an abrupt decision, this one did not have time to prepare a gift. As such, he, uh…” Hong Chu fumbled through his back for a while, but he couldn’t find anything he deemed an appropriate gift. If only he remembered he barely had any money on him in the first place. Nonetheless, his clothing entered his field of view when he looked down to his pouch. “I bought a set of clothes for you.”
“I-I see… You don’t have to wear it, though, do you?”
Hong Jiu, with a straight face, replied, “As a man, it would be inappropriate for me to go around with a girl’s set of clothes on me. People would make fun of me.”
“O-oh…”
“My point is, I was in a rush. You know how clothing is the most prone to damage in the pugilistic world. You were in a pickle, weren’t you?”
“Me? I’m okay. My attire isn’t damaged.”
“Indeed, but they are wet, right? Besides, you couldn’t walk around in those garments if it was daytime.”
Master Qi chuckled. “Your clothes are wet, too.”
“Different situation. Come touch.”
“How is it different?” Master Qi touched Hong Jiu’s clothes. “What the? How is it dry and warm?”
Due to his concern for Ming Feizhen, Hong Jiu’s true qi was roiling when he resurfaced. That was why his clothing was dry; it was on purpose.
“Master Qi, I mean, Miss Qi, it is not wise for you to be wearing wet clothes on a cold night. You can wear my clothes.”
Master Qi didn’t mind getting back in the water; however, she could no longer feel safe in the water after crossing Fiends’ Genesis. She certainly couldn’t walk around nude, so she expressed, “Thank you very much.” At the same time, she stealthily dried out her clothing using her energy.
Hong Jiu promptly stripped down and then rubbed his palms together.
Once she was ready, Master Qi gave her thanks as she took the garments Hong Jiu passed her, then wore them straight on.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Hong Jiu jumped to his feet.
“What’s the matter?”
“Y-y-you’re just going to wear it over the top?”
“Y-yeah? Is something the matter?”
“Aren’t you… Aren’t you going to take off the suit?”
“What for?”
“No, I mean, I was worried it’d feel uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“It’s fine… It’s fine… Okay, then… I don’t have other clothes, though, and it’s cold.”
Master Qi flapped her eyelids. “You wouldn’t fit in my clothes, no?”
“That… is a good point…”
The two of them sat by the riverbank in each other’s company for a while. Master Qi didn’t know why Hong Jiu hung his head similarly to a man in defeat, but, out of gratitude, she decided to start talking first. “I saw your palm techniques.”
Having failed to obtain the diving suit and lost his clothing, Hong Jiu lifelessly responded, “Yeah, you did.”
“Are you really Hong Jiu? The one who is considered one of the top five palm technicians?”
Hong Jiu shook his head. “At the very least, top four.”
Master Qi gasped comparably to a fan girl. “I hear you’re a direct disciple of Mount Daluo’s patriarch and the young master of Beggars Sect. Why are you someone’s minion? I mean that Ming Feizhen…”
“He’s my senior.”
“He’s superior to you? Doesn’t look like it to me.”
“I would be undermining his abilities if I said he was ten times stronger than me.” Hong Jiu rested his head on his right hand whilst gazing at the water. “You have to be at a certain level to comprehend Leader’s greatness.”
Master Qi didn’t buy it. “You’re thirty this year, so you’ve been removed from Seventeen Wyrms and replaced by Song Clan’s Yu Lang and your junior. Who is stronger between you and them?”
“Never fought them. How should anyone know?” Hong Jiu looked askance at Master Qi. Although it was a tad too big for her, the weapon of mass destruction on Hong Jiu became a beautiful bouquet of flower’s wrapping, yet he didn’t have any butterflies in his stomach. “Why do you dress up as a boy? Because of your disguise, I…”
“My elder sister’s instructions.” Master Qi cuddled her knees and smiled. “She told me I’m girly, so people might not fear me. As His Highness’ bodyguard, I need to appear imposing, so I dress as a man. While it was quite fun at first, it became a hassle later, but my sister wouldn’t let me change.”
Hong Jiu bobbed his head. “Your sister is quite the piece of work.”
Master Qi whacked Hong Jiu over the head. “Only I can criticise my sister!”
Hong Jiu rubbed his head. “You want to get reckless, you ungrateful woman?”
Master Qi grabbed Hong Jiu’s ear. “What was that?!”
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Gentlemen don’t throw hands!”
“I’ll throw my fingers, then!”
“Pipe down! You want to be heard?”
“How would they catch up after all this time?”
“You really don’t know how petty Fiends’ Genesis’ group is, do you? They may look as human as we do, but they won’t quit until you’re dead once they designate you as their prey.”
“Hah, I don’t believe you.”
It was only a second later that they could hear brisk footsteps of an advanced martial artist. They looked to each other and, sharing a magic moment, simultaneously stated, “They’re fast.”
