"What are you doing here?" Shi Lihua almost sounded angry, his eyes didn't lift up to see the other person who stood still like an obedient dog.

[What was he doing here? He had no idea.]

"Is that tea?"

Shi Lihua: "..."

"I-I mean is that peach tea?" The damage was already done and inwardly, he wanted to slap himself. What else could it have been? Wine pouring from a teakettle?

"...It is."

Brightness returned to his eyes like he was actually excited about discussing tea. He reached over, poured himself a cup, and drank despite the incredulous look of the maker. "Who made this? It tasted better than the tea I've had."

Avoiding the anticipating eyes and bright smile, the tips of his ears turn a bright red. Shi Lihua said, "I-I made it."

Fighting off his smile, Wu Huan fiend a look of a surprise before pouring himself another cup and blew carefully. "I didn't know Senior brother can make a tasty tea. The mild peach flavor sits on your tongue and you can almost taste the sweetness of the fruit. The tea isn't too bitter either. I already feel relaxed with just the smell of it..." As he said this, Wu Huan watched his once stiff senior brother shifted his position uncomfortably, frowning like he wanted to get out of the situation or to shut his junior brother up instantly.

But he did none of that, and his ears were still pink.

"If-if Senior brother doesn't mind...please also teach me. I feel like it would be a waste to not learn something so valuable from you."

"What's valuable? I-it's just tea..." Cautious phoenix eyes noticed the other's teasing smile. Therefore, he wasn't willing to look at him anymore.

"Yes, it's just tea. What's valuable is that it's your recipe. It's you. I'm learning it from YOU."

That was it. The senior brother didn't have the kind of vocabulary to reply to such sentences. In fact, no one has had ever praised him that high for such a ridiculously small thing. In his heart, he knew this annoying junior brother was teasing him but he also knew it was also his own way of hugging his leg. And under such a committed gaze, he didn't mind so much.

"L-Later. I'll teach you later when it's spring."

"..." Wu Huan almost seemed to not believe his ears. Nonetheless, he almost celebrated outwardly on his seat. Grinning, he refilled Shi Lihua's cup. "Then...then I will look forward to your guidance, Senior brother." He smiled.

This person truly knew how to use his smile and words to coerce people, especially the number one stern person, Shi Lihua. Not talking much anymore, Shi Lihua returned back to the pavilion for rest. But before that, he had turned around, "Pack your stuff. Tomorrow, we are going to the west to investigate."

-

Wu Huan didn't forget to wake up early this time. As long as he was told about the plans beforehand, he could almost wake up at any hour. After talking to the Sect leader, their master had allowed the two to go down the mountain and go west to Yang Ai City which had the highest kidnap cases on par to the east City. His master would stay in the Sect to handle the cases in the central city personally.

Taking only some clothes and medicines, he put his qiankun bag into his chest pocket and picked up his sword. He came outside just at the same time as Shi Lihua. "Senior brother," he greeted with a sunshine smile.

Not paying attention, the other person walked off to their master's pavilion to bid farewell. They had decided to fly on their swords instead of taking the horses for a less messy road trip. However, even with flying, it would take them a day to really reach the center of the city.

Dropping off his sword gracefully, Shi Lihua didn't wait for Wu Huan. He nearly entered an inn but got called back. "Senior brother, why don't we go around to take a look at the outskirts first? Maybe we can find some clues especially in a low protected area like this. It's only the evening, we can come back early to book a room."

"Ok," Shi Lihua muttered and followed three feet behind Wu Huan. They took a walk around the border of the city, scanning the gloomy faces of the people who were not as well-off or comfortable as the inner citizens. Most of them wore very thin clothes even in winter, holding either farming tools or food to sell. Little children ran around begging for one or two silvers, some were older reaching teen and some were even as young as three to four years old.

Wu Huan had also heard about the bad reputation of the city for neglecting their poor citizens and orphan children. But the head of the city, Gao Li was an incredibly wealthy man who actually wanted to start his own sect and was deeply immense in mooching off money from his own auction house. It had been rumored lately that it was doing very well ever since last year after the introduction of extremely rare goods, rarer than any other auction places.

"Big brother, big brother! Please let me have some silvers." A small child as short as his waist trudged on his barefoot holding a worn-off hat. On his forehead was a stretch, the blood seemed to already dry.

"What happened to you?" Wu Huan crouched down, solemnly touching the injury. Then he pulled out a small bottle of medicine from his chest pouch.

The child tried to see what he was doing, his eyeballs were also white as he watched Wu Huan lightly tapping the medicine and hissed when he rubbed. "A cat scratched me when I tried to steal its food. The owner was very mean. She didn't let me have a spare bowl."

"She's feeding her cat but not you?" Shi Lihua was definitely very flabergasted. His face was a mixture of death threats and anger. He couldn't function well when he heard or saw things like this so he walked off darkly.

"Senior-" Wu Huan watched in defeat but at last, he pulled out a handful of silver and tightly stuffed them into the child's clothes. "These, big brother will give you. Don't let the adults see and buy food for yourself and your friends as well, ok?"

"Ok! Thank you, kind brother!" Brimming with smiles, he weakly ran off gripping into his clothes and blending further away into the street.

Wu Huan stood up and caught up with the other. Along the way, Shi Lihua's face became darker and darker and he ignored any of his attempts to lighten up the situation. But when he brought dinner, the latter promptly chose a dining restaurant.

"Gao Li, this bastard old man, really doesn't fear anyone. His citizens are crumbling bit by bit and all he cares about are his dens. He used to be such a sweet talker and pretentious upright young man when he was persuading the others for his position. When he gets older, the silvers and gold must have eaten his brain. I met him once when he visited my uncle requesting some assistance during a flood. His money is enough to buy another city but he still used the sect's money to repair the damaged home. My uncle was so angry when he heard that the money was only actually used for loans."

"..." Shi Lihua couldn't pick up his chopstick and the food was already half-finished by Wu Huan. The little junior brother felt guilty after he finished talking so he also dropped his chopstick.

"I'm sorry. I should have let you stayed at the inn while I went out alone.I completely ruined your mood, didn't I?"

"Never mind..." saying this Shi Lihua stood up with his sword and began to leave. Wu Huan dropped some money and followed, confused.

It turned out Shi Lihua wanted to rest early so he returned back to the inn they found earlier. "Can I have two rooms?"

"There's only one room left," the owner said lazily, busy with his accounting.

Wu Huan glanced nervously at the other person. Shi Lihua didn't settle, "So is there any other inn around here? We haven't seen any."

"That's probably because we are the only one around here. No one visits this trashy place compared to the city so no one is willing to do business. Well, except me."

Hearing this Shi Lihua was lost for words mentally. He has never shared a room with anyone, not even a man. Now, for him to be ruthlessly shoved into a corner like this, he was lost for a moment. It was just that he valued his privacy more than a normal person would. And this was Wu Huan, the person he was just warming up to. No way.

Creak

Wu Huan closed the door gently, he turned to look at the gloomy face of his senior brother and gaped slightly. He had just washed and was in denial about who was going to sleep on the bed. But, Shi Lihua had already occupied the small space, his long slender legs spread out as he sat there reading a book. He had on a thin pink rope, and his dark hair was undone, flowing down his to his chest.

Wu Huan gulped unconsciously, swatting at invisible mosquitos. When he heard Shi Lihua slammed his book, he involuntarily jumped a little.

"What did the owner say?"

"He said he doesn't have any spare mattress."

"..." Shi Lihua seemed to surrender his fate. With one wave of his sleeve, the candles went out. Wu Huan stood in darkness, too frozen to move. He knew that the person was only willing to spare the bed because of the cold floor and chilly air.

Thud Thud Thud

His footsteps seemed to vibrate on the wooden floor, but he felt his heartbeat even more. It aligned together.

Thud Thud Thud

He felt relieved when he reached out and touched nothing. That meant Shi Lihua had chosen the inner part of the bed.

He lied on the warm mattress awkwardly, afraid that if he moved, he would touch the other warm person and would be kicked off the bed. Finally, he managed to pull the quilt to his chest.  "Goodnight," he whispered before feeling a movement from the other person.

"Night."