*****

“We’re here,” Jinjing told me as we stepped inside the restaurant that she and that man had agreed upon.

A lanky man immediately approached us. “Is it Mister Wei?” he asked me.

I nodded. “It is.”

“My name is Jia Xing. I’m the manager of this restaurant. Lord Lan is waiting for you upstairs.”

Lord Lan?

Finally, I got a name to address him with. Since they referred to him as ‘lord’, it meant he was someone important, or someone who belonged to a noble family.

The realization heightened my anxiety. If he were a commoner, I probably would not feel so threatened, but someone so powerful and wealthy could easily reach out to the members of the royal court in Kan Empire and make an arrangement for my head.

I discreetly took a deep breath to loosen my tightening chest. I did not want Jinjing to notice how distressed I was or she’d feel guilty.

The manager led us upstairs. There was not much light in the area so the silhouettes of the two servants who greeted us were hard to distinguish.

I returned their greeting.

“This way, please,” Jia Xing said but I was hesitant to follow him.

As if Jinjing was aware that I almost could not see anything anymore and I was anxious I might bump into things, she gently held my right hand to reassure me. With that added support from her, along with my stick, I followed the manager with ease.

When we stopped, Jia Xing pulled a curtain aside and I saw the silhouette of a man seated comfortably at the table. The frame of his body was enough to tell me that it was indeed the same man that I had encountered the other night.

Who else could it be? Not too many men in this area, not even from where I came from, could possess such an intimidating form.

He was not actually as buffed as those men I had met from the Northern part of the continent, but he had a strong physical built. Combine that with his towering height, he was definitely a sight to be reckoned with.

“Lord Lan, your guest has arrived,” the manager said.

My heart pounded and my fingers felt cold, but I struggled to exhibit a calm demeanor as I folded my hands before my chest and bowed to greet the man, but the man remained seated and did not even utter a word.

Jia Xing pulled a chair for me but I did not sit down. From where I was raised, we always made sure that in the presence of a woman, the woman must settle down first before the men.

I turned to Jinjing instead. “Take the seat.”

“Fan,” she uttered softly as if she was embarrassed about something. “I cannot sit with you here. I’m not worthy.”

“What do you mean you’re not worthy?”

“You already know,” she replied in an embarrassed tone. “My previous profession.”

“But you promised to accompany me.”

“I did accompany you, but I can’t sit at this table with two respectable gentlemen. It’s not appropriate, considering my… reputation.”

Before I could say another word, the manager interrupted. “Miss, your table is right over there.”

“I won’t be far,” she assured me before she left with Jia Xing.

The place became totally silent and I was left alone with a stranger. It felt a little awkward.

Slowly, I sat on the chair. I felt like I had just thrown myself into a tiger’s den.

The man finally sighed. From the position of his body, I could tell he had his elbow on the table while resting his chin on his palm. He had been watching us quietly and indolently.

“If I wanted to harm you, do you think that woman can do anything to stop me?” he asked.

It took a while for me to respond as I pondered if he meant the words he had said as a threat, but I thought I must be overthinking things. “It’s not for that reason. It’s just that I feel more comfortable when she’s beside me.”

He sighed again. “Just as she’d said, she’s not supposed to sit with us.”

“I’m just a commoner. I hardly have any reputation left as well. If she doesn’t deserve to sit with his lordship, then I don’t either.”

“Divine Mage High Priest Wei Fan, Grandmaster of Ethereal Frost Sect,” he taunted as if to slap in my face that I was not as common as I claimed I was. “You misunderstood what I meant. We are men and she’s a woman. She’s married to neither of us nor is she a relative. If she sits with us, it gives people the wrong impression. Don’t worry, I told the owner beforehand to cater to anything she wants. She won’t be bored.”

I found his reason acceptable, but I did not like how he had addressed me. “I’m no longer a priest or a disciple of any sect. You can just call me by my name.”

“Isn’t that a bit disrespectful to a seventh-level cultivator? Only a handful can make it to a grandmaster level. You deserve the utmost respect.”

“Lord Lan, since you know my name, I’m sure you’ve heard of my downfall. No need to rub salt into my wounds.”

His laugh was deep and low as if it came from the underground. I felt like I was talking to a devil. “Ahh, Wei Fan. Not long ago, your sect was the talk of the martial arts world. They had been expecting the elusive Divine Mage to surpass the level of his master soon. And indeed, it had happened. So I don’t know what triggered you to poison your own master after achieving the pinnacle of cultivation.”

I swallowed. I could feel the heat creeping all over my face, but I held my anger down. After everything that I had gone through, it was no longer difficult for me to just swallow the insult and pretend I heard nothing. “I came here because you told my wife that you have something important to discuss with me.”

To my surprise, he suddenly tapped the table surface so hard that the plates and bowls bounced.

I froze, wondering what had made him so angry all of a sudden.

“If you keep referring to that whore as your wife, let’s end the discussion right now,” he grunted.

The more that I was dumbfounded. Even if he did not believe that Jinjing was my wife, I could not understand his furious reaction over one small word.

I took a deep breath. If not for the debt that Jinjing had incurred, I would have walked out already. “Then Lord Lan, please proceed.”

He smirked and poured tea into a cup. “The tea here is excellent. You should try,” he said in a calm and pleasant voice and placed the cup in front of me.

After his brief feat of anger, he was suddenly in a good mood. I could not help but wonder if this man had some mental issues.

“Thank you,” I said and took the cup, but I hesitated to drink from it.

“What’s wrong? You’re afraid that I’ve poisoned the tea?” he taunted.

I swallowed. He was too clever to see what I had in mind.

I had been through some terrible experiences that I could hardly trust a stranger anymore. Only Jinjing had managed to gain my trust because I could not find any reason why she would help me out of a motive. She had seen my condition and she had no idea about who I was. She knew there was nothing for her to gain from me, so I could only assume that she had done so out of genuine kindness.

But this man here knew me, probably too well. Otherwise, he would not waste his time sitting here before me.

“Lord Lan, if you don’t mind, I have a question,” I said.

“Then ask.”

“I had been secluded from the rest of the world since I was young. Not even half of the disciples in Frost Mountain had seen me. How did you figure out who I am?”

He smirked and sighed. “A-Fan, how could you forget me so easily? To think that I was the one who saved your life.”

I frowned. He just called me A-Fan. Does that mean that I had known him all along but I just could not recognize his voice? And what did he mean he saved my life? As far as I was concerned, I had never needed any saving until recently, but this man had not come to my rescue.