The dumplings were fragrant and delicious, with the soup being moderately sour and spicy.
In the cold, watery spring night, having such a bowl of dumplings really made one feel warm and content from the inside out.
Hu San slurped the dumplings while ceaselessly introducing the girls of Jile Hall.
"In Jile Hall, there are said to be four top courtesans! The one we saw today from Dangui Alley, Miss Nie, is one of them. Apart from her, there are the leading courtesans from other famous brothels like Huafan Tower and Soft Jade Pavilion—each one a peerless beauty!"
"It’s a pity that I’ve only had the fortune to lay eyes on Miss Nie once, and the rest have been out of reach! Tsk tsk, if I could have the honor to meet them all, then I would die with no regrets!"
Listening to Hu San’s words, Xue An didn’t utter a sound, continuing to eat his dumplings slowly and methodically.
Chan’er, however, really couldn’t stand Hu San, thinking he was deliberately leading the young master astray, so she glared at him fiercely.
"Pah! A lecher!"
"Hey, little girl, how can you speak like that? You should know that ’food and sex are natural desires of mankind.’ For a man to admire beauty is simply the way of the world, what’s wrong with that?" Hu San began to argue "with reason."
"Hmph, I won’t talk to a bad person!"
"Do I look like a bad person?"
"Don’t you?"
"Do I?"
"...."
While the two of them were in the midst of their endless quarrel.
The surrounding area suddenly fell silent.
Though the street had been sparsely populated before, there had still been latecomers or early leavers passing by.
But suddenly.
The entire street became deserted.
Even the laughter coming from the nearby brothels had vanished.
An imposing silence enveloped everything.
This ominous stillness caused Hu San’s face to change dramatically.
"Brother Xue, this..."
Yet Xue An, as if oblivious, kept his head down and continued to eat his dumplings, simply saying, "Don’t talk, keep eating!"
Hu San hesitated, but eventually bowed his head and continued to eat, trembling.
Only after he had finished his bowl of dumplings did Xue An finally, satisfied, wipe his mouth and then raise his head to look into the darkness, a cold smile slowly spreading across his lips.
"Since you’re here, come out then."
With Xue An’s words.
Figures began to emerge one by one from the darkness where the light didn’t reach.
One, two...
Shortly after.
Around the dumpling stand, from all directions, appeared more than a hundred men dressed in black with stern faces.
These men surrounded the dumpling stand completely, and the atmosphere suddenly became extremely tense.
The stall owner had already been scared into hiding under the table.
Hu San’s face was pale, his hands shaking so much he couldn’t even hold his chopsticks steady.
Only Xue An remained composed, letting out a slight sigh after surveying the group, "The Chang Family is really domineering, sending so many people over such a trivial matter. Are they intending to mince me into meat stuffing?"
"You’re right!" A voice filled with mockery and brutality came through, and then the crowd silently parted to make a path, as Chang Haosi slowly walked in.
"Honestly, I didn’t expect to resolve your case tonight because if you had holed up in Dangui Alley and not come out, I couldn’t have done anything to you! But it seems that even Heaven is helping me, you actually dared to come outside for dumplings! Did you really think I wouldn’t dare to kill you?" Chang Haosi’s face showed a cat-playing-with-a-mouse satisfaction.
Xue An listened quietly, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table.
Suddenly, he turned his head to look at the deathly pale Hu San, "You’re right, the dumplings here are indeed quite good, so I’ve decided to have another bowl!"
Hu San was on the verge of tears.
What was the time for this?
Still thinking about eating?
But Chang Haosi just kept his arms folded, leisurely watching.
In his view, Xue An was simply stalling for time.
And he enjoyed this feeling of toying with a dying prey.
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