Chapter 7 Who is Hanshan?

When he woke up the next morning after twisting and turning all night, Dongyue was still a bit forlorn. Her icy words repeated themselves in his mind, taking sleep away from him as he confusedly thought of Muxue Xiyu’s glittering large eyes again and again. 

Why? Why? Why? He questioned himself. She didn’t need him. He hadn’t thought liking a person was so complex.

The more he thought of her, the more he felt disappointed.

He didn't know what had got into him in the first place, but it turned out that he had really fallen for the 'cursed' proprietress. It hurt him so much how her words had cut through him like a knife. His admiration for her had happened at an extremely rapid pace that it didn’t seem realistic, but once the young master had his mind on something, he would not deviate from his plan until he achieved what he wanted.

He was just that hopeless and obstinate!

Yet, she didn't seem to share the same feelings for him; he realised sadly. Perhaps it was expected of her. She was so beautiful, and he was just a normal-looking man, so as he thought. He remembered the little details of her appearance; petite frame, narrow waist, sharp chin and nose, luscious lips and crimson cheeks, all of which appealed so much to him. Why would she even think of accepting a man like him? Furthermore, he was not even from this place.

He was such a cursed soul that even his parents never found interest in him. His father didn’t care about him, and while his mother did care for him to some extent, she was against what he did. Especially how he had chosen to take an amnesiac stranger home and gone against their wishes when he made his decision to become an explorer instead of staying at home and remaining out of trouble.

"Young Master, it’s time to head downstairs for breakfast," Ya’Xing told him, cautiously nearing his bed. 

"Okay." Forcing himself from the bed, he dragged himself across the wooden boards of the inn bedroom and hesitatingly sauntered down the stairs, thinking about the icy woman. The thought of being able to see Miss Muxue again created a glitter of hope in his mind. Yet, he was still negative that she would be cold to him again.

He tried to concentrate on the question of what delicacy she would be cooking for their meals. Yesterday, she had served meat porridge. 

Dongyue appeared to be thinking too much, as the next step he took caused him to hit his head on the side of a pillar.

“Are you okay, brother?” Xiao Tian asked in a low voice. 

Dongyue faked a smile.

“I am fine. I didn’t have enough sleep last night. I didn’t see the pillar.”

They entered the dining hall and chattered among themselves, but there was no sign of the veiled proprietress. An unknown woman emerged, round as a pumpkin, waddling slowly while carrying a tray containing bowls of a thick soup. The soup was still warm from the primitive cooking technologies of Muxue. Cooking was done with the addition of melee to the mix, performed on a mystical stove found in the Crimson Fairy’s kitchens. The process was probably too complicated for a simple-minded man from Yilong like Ya’Xing or even Dongyue to understand. She introduced herself as the cook of Crimson Fairy, Sister Qing.

"Where's Miss Muxue?" he asked, looking crestfallen. He didn’t seem interested at all in what the soup contained, listlessly shoving it down his throat.

"The proprietress is sick," the woman answered. "She caught a cold last night."

He found it hard to accept that Xiyu was down with a cold. After all, the heat of her body was intense. This had contradicted how icy she was, he thought, and a smile spread across his face as he reminisced in his memory of their hot kisses. He liked the taste of her sweet lips on his, and how she had not so innocently crashed her lips on his after he attempted to taste her.

The men found him insane. Why in the world was their leader, while upset, suddenly smiling to himself for no reason?

"Brother, are you alright?" Xiao Tian found his voice. "You were in a daze, smiling!"

Due to his promise, Dongyue couldn't tell his companions about his encounter with Miss Muxue at the stream, so he just answered that he was daydreaming about getting a wife.

"But we don't even know if we can leave this strange place," Xiao Tian claimed.

Dongyue contemplated the matter at hand. His eyes shone brightly as he figured what they could do as a solution.

"We are traders, after all. We could get ourselves a deal. First, we should try to sell our load and find a job."

The men clapped, and they continued with their meal. It didn’t take much observation by the men to realise Dongyue was not in a good mood opposed to the normally-cheerful young master he was. Of course, none of the men found it in their place to ask him why he was upset. The talk with his companions and the inn staff lightened his mood, and he felt a lot more motivated compared to his gloomy self earlier.

When they returned to their bedroom, Dongyue was aghast to see his outer garment hanging in the room. Had she come by to return the garment when he was not in? Seizing the garment, he sniffed it to find out for himself if her fragrance remained. When his results came out nil, it upset him further.

‘Miss Muxue…’ he whispered to himself and stared at the garment for a long time. 

Again, they thought. The men finally compromised by leaving him to his own devices and going about their business in the market square of the island. They went to watch a fire-swallowing trick in the centre of the market, while Dongyue was confined to their bedroom.

After some hours of self-reflection, he eventually concluded that cooping himself up was useless and just made him feel sadder. Perhaps he could gain some intel on the icy beauty and find a way to her heart instead, he thought. He had read a few books on pursuing a beauty, but none of these methods would probably work on a witch like her.

He put together the words she had said. She had said, ‘You are no different from Hanshan’. Who was this Hanshan person, and why was she comparing him with that person?

He suddenly had an idea. As a trader, he could make her a proposition that may interest her in terms of making business! From a young age, he had indulged himself in reading while he was locked away in the west chamber of the Zhans’ gigantic mansion, and he could assume that he had gained some knowledge in the field of business. Even if she wasn’t impressed by him enough to trust him, it was a step closer in building up a bond between them.

Xiyu’s personal chambers were on the upper level of the inn, and from what he heard from the waiter Ma Qi, it was restricted. Even Ma Qi and Sister Qing had no entry. If he could find his way into her chambers to negotiate a deal with her, perhaps he could have a better opportunity to discuss his plans with her.

But how could he get her to lower her wards? He wondered. Maybe, he could disguise himself as Ma Qi to gain access to her chambers. But Ma Qi was way smaller and shorter than he was, and it wouldn’t work out.

What about Hanshan? If he could find out more about this person, he would have an idea of why this person affected her so much.