After finishing the meal, I had originally planned to find Bai Hanyan, as she had helped me a lot before and I still owed her several meals.
However, as soon as I stepped out of the neighborhood, I saw a familiar figure.
Why was he here?
Hong Yunpeng's house was in the old town, surrounded by alleys and countless shops selling all sorts of things.
It was always crowded here, whether day or night.
But by sheer coincidence, as soon as I stepped out, I saw someone I knew.
This person was none other than Yang Hanxue.
Why was he still in Guangling?
After I finished picking the lock last time, he said he had something to attend to, and we hadn't been in touch since. Why was he still in Guangling?
Just as I was about to call out to him, I noticed he was walking in a hurry, as if he had an urgent matter.
I took a closer look and realized he seemed to be following someone.
This made me curious, so I quietly followed him as well.
After passing through a few alleys, I lost track of Yang Hanxue.
Where did he go?
He was clearly here a moment ago, how did he disappear in the blink of an eye?
Just as I was feeling puzzled, someone patted my shoulder. When I turned around, Yang Hanxue was standing right in front of me.
"Brother Yang!"
He made a "shushing" gesture towards me and then pulled me into a deserted alley.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a low voice.
"I just returned from out of town," I replied. "Brother Yang, what are you..."
Before I could finish, he glanced around and said, "This isn't a place to talk. Come with me."
About fifteen minutes later, I followed him to a rented room.
This rented room was only about thirty square meters. Besides a bed, there was only a simple table.
It was clear that this room was just a temporary resting place.
"Brother Yang, who were you following just now?" I asked directly.
Yang Hanxue looked at me and said, "Someone from Chi Lei Fang."
"Chi Lei Fang?" I was slightly taken aback. "Why were you following them?"
Yang Hanxue hesitated to speak. After a moment, he said, "In a month, at the Guangbei Appraisal Convention, an item will appear..."
He stopped speaking at this point.
"What item?" I pressed.
"This matter doesn't concern you, the less you know, the better," Yang Hanxue said.
"Is it the Young Lady?" I asked.
Yang Hanxue was taken aback. "You know..."
I nodded. "Brother Yang, if I'm not mistaken, you must be a Suozhe, right?"
"How much do you know?" Yang Hanxue stared at me, his brows furrowed.
"I probably know what I need to know."
"So, you and the Young Lady..."
Before he could finish, I interrupted him. "I'm also working for her. The reason I went out of town recently was to find something for her."
"You're also a Suozhe?" Yang Hanxue asked, looking surprised.
I shook my head. "We're just friends... but I do know some Suozhe."
Yang Hanxue's gaze shifted around, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
It seemed he didn't know about my relationship with Sister Ying, and I had never mentioned it to him.
I had accidentally discovered the "Xinfu" on him before.
So he knew nothing about me and also didn't know about my relationship with Sister Ying.
"The Young Lady stayed in Guangling for a while before, you know that, right?" I asked.
Yang Hanxue remained silent, staring at me. I continued, "I was working for her at that time."
"Is everything you know what she told you?" he asked.
I remained silent, not answering the question.
"Then, does that mean that when you first found me, it was also arranged by her?" he asked again.
"I found you just to pick the lock. I didn't know you were a Suozhe at the time," I said. "It was just a coincidence."
He seemed unconvinced and looked at me. "Are you really not a Suozhe?"
I nodded. "No."
He pondered for a long time, as if thinking about something.
After a while, he sighed and said, "Then you are lucky..."
I didn't quite understand what he meant by that. "Lucky?"
He gave a wry smile, his eyes filled with helplessness. "Didn't that woman tell you about the curse of the Xinfu?"
"Curse?"
This made me quite puzzled.
Yang Hanxue nodded. "Do you think that if it weren't for the curse, Suozhe would willingly work for her?"
"Brother Yang, can you explain in more detail?" I asked.
He took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and took a slow drag. "The inheritance of the Xinfu, while bringing benefits to the Suozhe, also has its drawbacks."
Yang Hanxue said that the Xinfu is a form of inheritance. After receiving the inheritance of the Xinfu, that person gains some extraordinary abilities.
He didn't elaborate on what those abilities were, but from his tone, it seemed that each person gained different abilities.
While gaining these extraordinary abilities, they also paid a corresponding price, which was to be under someone's control for life.
In other words, someone who accepted the inheritance of the Xinfu had to obey Sister Ying's commands unconditionally. If they betrayed her, the Xinfu would disappear, and the disappearance of the Xinfu would signify the end of their life.
Mao Guizhi had not told me about this before. After listening to Yang Hanxue's account, I was completely stunned.
For a moment, I felt like I didn't understand this world at all.
Mainly, these things were completely beyond common sense. This was simply too fantastical and absurd.
"It seems you don't know much about the Xinfu," Yang Hanxue said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Brother Yang, what are these extraordinary abilities you mentioned?" I couldn't help but ask.
He looked at me and said, "You can think of it as a special ability."
"Special ability?"
"Yes... I haven't met any other Suozhe, so I don't know what abilities they possess..."
Yang Hanxue paused. "Without oxygen, I can hold my breath for an hour and a half... My lung capacity is tens of times that of an ordinary person."
"Is this the special ability the Xinfu gave you?" I asked.
Yang Hanxue nodded. "Yes, and my physical fitness in all aspects is better than ordinary people... From birth, my physical condition was very poor, and I almost died several times. Since my father passed on the Xinfu inheritance to me, my body has undergone earth-shattering changes. At first, I thought it was very magical, but later when that woman found me, I realized that all of this came at a price..."
I roughly understood what he meant by special abilities. While these so-called "special abilities" were astonishing, they weren't enough to shock me.
According to him, then what about Fu Honglang's special ability, perhaps his sense of smell?
He was the descendant of the Xiujin Sect, and his keen sense of smell was due to the Xinfu inheritance?
Then what were Mao Guizhi's special abilities?
The more I thought about it, the more incredible it seemed. Who exactly was Sister Ying?
In other words, how was she born into this world?
Was she still human?
Or had she transcended the realm of humanity?
It took me a long time to slowly digest the overwhelming amount of information.