Faraway Wanderers Novel (English Translation)

Lapis

Chapter 17.

Cao Weining asked in a stupor.

"He... He's that deplorable thief Fang Buzhi?"

The young maiden nodded, pointing at the corpse's left hand.

"It is said that Fang Buzhi is a man in his thirties and has a deformed left hand. There is also an unconfirmed rumor that..."

Her face went pink as she stopped there.

Zhou Zi Shu studied the body's face and clean-shaven chin. He continued in her stead,

"Also, there is a rumor that Fang Buzhi has another deformity on his body. Should our young lady feel uncomfortable, it is better that you go outside first or turn your back to us. Removing his pants will confirm whether he is the legendary thief or not."

The girl glanced at her male companion in embarrassment. He coughed lightly, "Xiaolian, you should go."

She went outside and waited by the door, her back facing the room.

The moment she turned away, Wen Kexing expertly stripped down the dead's trousers to reveal that a particular part of the body had been cut off. He rubbed his chin in thought.

"So it is him, no wonder I couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary when he touched before."

Unwavering and completely unbothered, he continued to remove Fang Buzhi's clothes entirely and searched around. He found his money pouch among a big pile of assorted items and opened it, overjoyed when he found out nothing had been lost. With perfect contentment, he put in back in his chest pocket, not forgetting to tell Cao Weining politely

"Brother Cao, come over here and see if your stuffs are still here."

Cao Weining and the other young man stared at him, dumbstruck.

Zhou Zi Shu reminded him with a cold tone.
"The dead is more important right now, Mister Charitable Wen."

He ignored the stranger's approving look, adding,
"Can you pay me back now?"

Wen Kexing's face was full of grief.

"We already belong to each other, why are you still haggling over that?"

As the young man's expression became even more entertaining, Zhou Zi Shu gripped Wen Kexing's collar and threw the nuisance of a man aside. He squatted down to examine the body from head to toe, then frowned afterwards and concluded,

"He died after a single blow. The attack went through his body from chest to back; clearly the result of the Raksha Palm."

The stranger exclaimed, "You're talking about the Delighted Morning Ghost's Raksha Palm?"

"I'm afraid so." Zhou Zi Shu nodded, covering the body. He turned to the girl outside the door.

"You can come in now, young miss."

The man sized them up, then made a salute,

"My name is Deng Kuan, disciple of Gao Chong, and this is my junior-apprentice sister Gao Xiaolian. We were travelling to accumulate experience, but a few days ago a message was received from my Master, so we had to rush back before Dong Ting's gathering. How may I address you?"

Cao Weining hurried to answer. "Ah, many apologies for our tactlessness, it is an honor to meet you, Young Sir Deng. And surely this young miss must be Sir Gao's daughter? My name is Cao Weining from Qing Feng Sword Sect, currently following my Patriarch's order to attend Dong Ting. My Uncle will also be there soon enough, and on the way I ran into this... this thief master. It was fortunate of me to have been assisted by Brother Zhou and Brother Wen here."