Snow in the Spring Courtyard - Chapter 2 - The Waiter

Chapter 2 – The Waiter

-One year ago –

　　The entire Great Wilderness Mountain was coated in heavy snow, which fluttered through the breeze, as if intending to cover the entire world with a thick layer of snow.

　　There was only one inn in the Great Wilderness Mountain, located halfway up its slope. On such a snowy day, there’s usually no business. The cold wind rolled the snowflakes towards the in and hit the crooked plaque. The plaque, with the two words “Wuhui Inn”, seemed to be on the verge of being blown down by the wind and snow at any time. Not only that, but it also made a creaking sound from time to time, which was particularly harsh against the backdrop of the snowy night.

　　The waiter closed one of the doors of the inn, sat at the table closest to the door, and yawned with his head on his head. He rubbed his nose, glancing at the shopkeeper who was still calculating on the abacus, and muttered: “There is no need to calculate because we’re definitely not getting any customers today.”

　　”Even so, you must calculate clearly, not a single cent more or less.” The shopkeeper said, still immersed in his calculations.

　　The waiter crossed his legs and looked down at the calluses on his palms. “This time, we must get this order before that little girl.”

　　Hearing the word “little girl”, the shopkeeper paused his counting, his ears moving slightly as he said seriously, “Here they come.”

　　The waiter jumped up excitedly, opening the closed door, and looked into the depths of the snow.

　　The snow was so strong that the visitors had no way to light lanterns, and could only rely on the dim light from the lobby of the inn to find their way. When the team approached the inn, the waiter had already calculated how many people had come.

　　Although they were all covered with straw raincoats, the waiter could still vaguely distinguish between men and women from their figures.

　　Two men, two women.

　　The waiter had sharp eyes and caught a glimpse of the half-revealed skirt of one of them, with a golden lotus embroidered on the skirt. The waiter knew that these people were not sheep that they could just slaughter carelessly.

　　”Sir, please come in.” The waiter said cautiously, recognizing that they were from the Tianfo Sect, and that their inn could not afford to povoke people from the four major families unless necessary.

　　The shopkeeper gave the waiter a look, “It’s snowing hard tonight, and there might be wild beasts. You take these guests to the rooms you’ve chosen in the yard, so they can sleep better.”

　　The waiter nodded, “Okay!” After that, he led the four people through the front hall and walked deep into the backyard.

　　There were exactly two upper rooms at the innermost part. The waiter first sent the two male guests to the one on the left, lit the candles, then withdrew and entered the one on the right, lighting the candles in the middle.

　　The candles illuminated the entire room as Shen Yi finally took off the bamboo hat on her head, shook off the snow on it outside the door, took off her raincoat and put it outside the room.

　　The girl next to her also took off her raincoat and bamboo hat like Shen Yi before following Shen Yi into the room.

　　The disciples of Tianfo Sect have always been rumored to be elegant, and the waiter experienced firsthand the truth of that statement.

　　Especially Shen Yi, the waiter felt that this girl had a chill that kept people away from her, and her temperament was cold, not unlike the stone Buddha statue in the mountain temple.

　　As if noticing the waiter’s gaze, Shen Yi looked back coldly, and the waiter shrank his neck and quickly closed the door before he dared to breathe a sigh of relief.

　　Isn’t she just a little girl from the Tianfo Sect, what is he afraid of? When the waiter came to his senses, he couldn’t help but secretly laugh at himself. After settling everything here, he would rush back to the main hall to help the shopkeeper with his work. After Shen Yi heard the waiter’s footsteps go away, she looked at the junior sister beside her, “Xiaotang, don’t get too comfortable, both of these people know martial arts.”

　　Her junior sister simply said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.” After that, she gave Shen Yi an innocent smile. This person was none other than Shen Yi’s most beloved junior sister in the sect, Qi Xiaotang.

　　Shen Yi smiled slightly, and looked back at the upper room, which was fairly clean. She was about to go over and make the bed, when her keen senses picked up the sound of a weapon being unsheathed in the wind and snow.

　　”Xiaotang, stay here, I’ll go out and take a look.” Shen Yi lowered her head and checked the gold needle bag on her waist, confirming that the twelve gold needles were still there before heading towards the door to go out and take a look.

　　However, Qi Xiaotang quickly pressed against the door, stopping her and whispered, “Senior sister, maybe it’s better to stay inside-“

　　”If someone comes for us, hiding will only ensure the same death as investigating.” Shen Yi said solemnly, and gave Qi Xiaotang a wink, “Go and tell the junior brothers to sleep light, I’ll go check and come back.” She had already made up her mind. If this inn really is a black shop, then she will just take the initiative to get rid of the harm for the people today rather than tomorrow.

　　She moved with immense speed, her toes stepping on the stone slab as she flew up to the eaves of the corridor like a flying swallow. She paused for a moment, glancing down to confirm that there was no unusual movement before continuing to quickly fly to the main hall.

　　The main hall of the inn has two floors. There are eight small rooms without doors on the upper floor, all equipped with tables and chairs. Merchants who like cleanliness enjoy eating here quite a lot. Despite it being late at night, there is only a candle on the counter in the main hall, the dim light barely illuminating half of the lower floor, submerging the second floor in the night.

　　*Creak–

　　The small window suddenly opened, and the waiter rushed up vigilantly, before realizing that the window sash was only blown open by the wind and snow. Feeling bored, he went to close the small window, but found that the original bolt of the small window was broken. Since the window could not be closed, he had to leave it open.

　　”They’re here!” Hearing the shopkeeper’s cough to remind him, the waiter hurriedly rushed down the main hall and bowed to greet the person.

　　”Waiter, come to the eighth room!” The first person to come in was a sturdy man with a voice as loud as a bell. As soon as he came in, he roared loudly and kept shaking off the snow on his body, “I’m freezing! Bring me two more catties of wine and five catties of beef. We brothers need to warm ourselves up first.”

　　”Yes, yes, yes, please come in, sir.” The waiter welcomed a few people in, secretly counting the number of people. He remembered that there were eight people written on the list, so why were there only seven people tonight?

　　The sturdy man sat down at the table, and the six people following him surrounded him, urging the waiter to serve the wine first.

　　The shopkeeper put the wine jar on the table first, bowed and said: “Serve the wine to the guests first, the beef needs to be heated up, otherwise it will be uncomfortable to eat in this icy and snowy weather.”

　　”Okay.” The sturdy man waved his hand to signal the shopkeeper to leave.

　　The waiter neatly placed wine bowls for several people, and while pouring wine, he greeted them: “Where are you from, gentlemen?”

　　”What? Are you tired of living?” The strong man glanced at the waiter coldly. The waiter was scared to the point that his voice trembled as he quickly responded, “I am too talkative! I am too talkative!” As he said that, he slapped himself twice.

　　The strong man threw a silver ingot to the waiter with satisfaction, “Good! Wait aside, we’ll pour the wine ourselves.”

　　”Yes, yes, yes.” The waiter said, agreeing as he stepped back with the silver in his hand, thinking: There is one less person here, how can we start?

　　At the same time, Shen Yi took advantage of the waiter greeting these people and rushed in from the second-floor window. She hid behind the corridor column, holding her breath and watching every move downstairs.

　　She found the actions of the waiter and the shopkeeper strange. They were obviously martial artists, but they were overly respectful to the seven people, and their eyes were full of complexity when they looked at the group.

　　The shopkeeper quickly brought a plate of cut braised beef, which was still steaming hot.

　　Although the seven people were extremely hungry, they were not in a hurry to eat the beef. They each took out a silver dagger from their waist and stabbed it into the beef. It seemed that they were cutting meat, but in fact they were testing for poison.

　　The silver dagger did not change color, which showed that the beef was not poisonous.

　　The seven people temporarily relaxed their vigilance, and after testing the wine, they shouted and ate with big mouthfuls.

　　After eating a few bites, one of them couldn’t help asking, “Why hasn’t the seventh brother come yet?”

　　After he asked, the strong man suddenly stopped chewing, “Something’s not right!” As soon as the voice fell, several looms were heard in the hall. Hundreds of iron bars as thick as arms were pierced through the walls of the entire main hall, and the entire main hall was instantly turned into a huge birdcage that could not be escaped.

　　Shen Yi’s retreat was suddenly cut off, leaving her with no choice but to continue hiding in the dark and wait to see what would happen. If the waiter and the shopkeeper wanted to deal with the four of them, they would have to unlock the mechanism in the main hall, otherwise they would not be able to get out.

　　”No wonder I felt strange since we came in, it’s really a black shop!” The strong man sneered, suddenly lifted the dining table, and pulled off his raincoat, “Open your dog eyes and see clearly! I am from the Nether Prison! How dare you do this?!”

　　Hearing the word “Nether Prison”, Shen Yi’s face changed suddenly.

　　Originally, she had thought that this was a black shop, and that the waiter and the shopkeeper were people with malicious intent. But she never could’ve expected that the seven people were the remnants of the demon sect, and on the contrary, the waiter and the shopkeeper were the righteous people who were ambushing them.

　　Shen Yi reached into the needle bag and put her fingertips on the cold golden needles.

　　Each golden needle of the Tianfo Sect is half a foot long. If it is not necessary, no disciple of the sect would be willing to take the initiative to use needles to hurt people; however, when she met the remnants of the Cangming Sect, Shen Yi would never let them go unpunnished!

　　She hated these remnants of the demon sect. If it weren’t for them, her family would not have been destroyed.

　　Even though she had been immersed in Buddhism for many years, Shen Yi still had a strong murderous intent in her eyes. At this time, the hand holding the golden needle could not help but tremble.

　　Then, she was suddenly startled by a wisp of cold air rushing up her neck. Shen Yi couldn’t help but shiver as she moved to turn. Unexpectedly, however, before she could fully turn around, she was strangled by a soft arm and pressed against the pillar.

　　The woman moved silently, and despite her acute senses, Shen Yi didn’t notice her approach at all.

　　An inexplicable sense of fear came over her heart and Shen Yi was about to struggle, but the woman quickly pressed her acupuncture points, sealing her voice before turning her around.

　　 Despite the fact that face was in the dark and Shen Yi couldn’t see what she looked like, she could still tell that the woman had a pair of bright peach blossom eyes and despite the harsh cold of a snowy winter night, she was only wearing a fiery red dress. “Miss, please don’t move carelessly.” She said, leaning close to Shen Yi’s ear as she comforted her with a low voice.

　　The breath scraped across Shen Yi’s earlobe, revealing a strong smell of alcohol.

　　The smell of alcohol was not bad, with a hint of fruity aroma, mixed with the smell of her powder. Shen Yi subconsciously wanted to sneeze, but the woman in red pinched her nose lightly.

　　The woman in red suppressed her smile and put her finger on Shen Yi’s lips.

　　Shen Yi was rarely flirted with like this. She felt humiliated as she silently stood, but there was nothing she could do but endure and let the woman in red manipulate her. She was so embarrassed and annoyed that her ears turned red.

　　”Who’s up there?!”

　　Someone shouted as several people downstairs noticed the movement upstairs and suddenly looked over.