Chapter 92 Fire Spirit Suddenly Appears (7)

  Huoxiao Ye finished washing up and changed into the clothes prepared by Qingyun Inn, which were very comfortable and fit perfectly, as if they were tailor-made for him. Huoxiao Ye was not surprised, knowing that the Hu family should have this skill, so he didn't hesitate to put them on neatly.

  After dressing up, Huo Xiaoyao felt refreshed and invigorated, shaking off the recent worries and troubles. His appetite opened up, his stomach growled with hunger, and he felt extremely hungry.

  Huoxiao Ye didn't dare to pull the red rope by the bed to call for service, so he pushed open the door and walked out. He arrived at the front hall of Qingyun Inn. The shopkeeper smiled and quickly walked over, asking: "Sir, what are your orders?"

  "Excuse me, I'm extremely hungry, is there anything to eat?"

  "Ah! Ah! What would you like to eat, sir?"

  "Hmm, hmm, anything is fine, just come as you like, as long as we can eat our fill."

  "The shopkeeper said: 'Alright then, please sit down for a moment, I'll be right back.' The shopkeeper turned to leave."

  "Hey, wait a minute! What's your name?"

  "Oh! I am Xiao Er."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xiào said with a smile: "This is not good, you are not a shopkeeper, what should I call your great name?"

  "Haha, my surname is Dian, my name is Xiao Er, so I'm called Dian Xiao Er. And over there are a few more, they're called Dian Xiao Yi, Dian Xiao San, Dian Xiao Si, and Dian Xiao Wu."

  Huoxiao Ye was taken aback and lost his smile. In this vast world, nothing is impossible, and indeed there existed such an inn, where the waiters were called by such names. Huoxiao Ye could only say: "No wonder your sleeves have numbers one to five embroidered on them, so that's how it is..."

  "Ah, sir, you have a good eye for things. Hehe, please sit down for a moment, I'll go prepare something for you to eat."

  Huoxiao Ye picked up a table in the front hall and sat down. At this time, there were still three people in the front hall, and the monk and lama had disappeared. Those three people were still like Huoxiao Ye when he first entered the Qingyun Inn, each occupying a table, not paying attention to each other, drinking tea on their own, and slowly eating snacks.

  These three people, one was a burly bearded man with shoulder-length hair, but the temples were shaved clean, and a small braid was tied at the back of his head. He wore a hemp robe, with a bulging black canvas bag slung over his back, holding a teacup in one hand, turning it around, while the other hand pinched a pea from the plate on the table, and with a flick of his finger, a pea popped into his mouth.

  The second person was dressed in a neat suit, wearing a pair of round gold-rimmed glasses, with a middle parting in his hair, sunken cheeks, and a lackluster expression. He looked very much like a university professor. He slowly brought a piece of pastry to his mouth, nibbled off a small piece, and then chewed it slowly, savoring the taste. At this rate, it would probably take him an hour to finish one piece of pastry.

  The third person was obviously a dwarf, sitting at the edge of the table, with his head half a head shorter than Xiao Xie. This dwarf had a shaved head, with curved and twisted tattoos on his forehead that didn't resemble any pattern. Although he was short, he had two thick eyebrows that shot up to the sky, a pair of eyes that were both thin and long, an eagle-like nose, cherry lips, and wore a large red cloak with a high collar that was still green. Anyway, this dwarf looked stranger and stranger as you looked at him, but also made people want to laugh. This dwarf didn't eat anything either, just held a pair of chopsticks and slowly picked at the peas on his plate, completely focused, as if no one else existed, leaving everyone baffled.

  Hu Xiaoxiao thought to herself: "This big Han looks like a butcher, the man in the suit looks like a patient, and the short one looks like a clown. When they first came in, there were even monks and lamas - what kind of weirdos are these?"

  Huoxiaozi was thinking to himself when someone in the distance loudly called out to him: "Ah! Isn't that Brother Huo?"

  Hu Xiao Ye turned his head, only to see Zheng Ze Dao hurrying towards him with quick steps, still dressed in the attire of the Red Horse Inn, and wearing the outfit of a young master. This getup looked quite normal at the Qing Yun Inn.

  "Ah, I knew he was here!"

  Huo Xiaoze stood up, rushed towards Zheng Zedong and gave him a hug, saying indifferently: "Ah! Brother Zheng! We meet again!"

  Zheng Zedao plopped himself down beside Huo Xiaoyi, laughing and saying: "Brother Huo, I knew you'd definitely be able to find this place."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié said: "Still owe Zheng brothers' blessing."

  "Alas! I know Fire Brother must be resentful that I left alone without a word. But the truth is, I only went out to scout ahead and didn't expect to find anything. When I saw the door could be opened, I was overjoyed and forgot myself, so I came down without hesitation. And once I entered this Qingyun Inn, I couldn't leave. I'm really anxious and have no choice! These past few days, I've been feeling very guilty."

  Huo Xiao thought for a moment, what Zheng Zedao said was reasonable, if it were him, he would probably not be able to bear it either.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī lightly smiled and said: "Zhèng brothers are too polite. I understand your feelings."

  "That's good, that's good."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié said: "What about your subordinate Guō Lǎo Qī? Has he come too?"

  "He came down with me, but he didn't have a black stone, so he couldn't stay at the inn and was taken away by someone. I don't know where he is now, and I haven't seen him for several days."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē lightly let out a sound, but didn't say anything, as if deep in thought.

  Zheng Zedao leaned in close to Huo Xiaoxiao and said in a low voice, "Huo brother, we really are quite fated. We met on the ground and now we've both arrived at this Qingyun Inn. Why don't we join forces and look out for each other? I've been hanging around Qingyun Inn for the past two days, gathering some interesting intel that I might as well share with you."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè listened and Zheng Zedao was again trying to win him over, not knowing whether he should be happy or unhappy, said: "With so many masters here, why must you find me?"

  Zheng Zedao smiled and said: "Fire brother, you don't know, if I could cooperate with them, I would have cooperated long ago. Look at that man wearing glasses in a suit."

  Zheng Zedao slightly slanted his eyes, and Huo Xiaoxiao followed his gaze. Zheng Zedao said in a low voice: "I've seen this person in Su Bei before. He's a notorious thief from Shanghai, known as 'Bing Ganzi' (Sickly Jar) in the Jianghu world. His stealing habits are strange - he only steals precious medicinal materials. It's said that he has a younger sister who suffered from a strange illness since childhood and couldn't be cured due to lack of money at home. So, he started stealing various medicinal materials. Later, his sister died, but he couldn't get rid of this habit of stealing medicine. This person is solitary and introverted; it's hard to even have a conversation with him, let alone cooperate with him."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī listened and became interested, then asked: "That short guy wearing bright red and green clothes, do you know him?"

  Zheng Zedao said, "This person has never been seen before, only rumored in the Jianghu, there is a great thief wandering on the borders of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, called Red Jester, who is a dwarf. He steals things strangely, seemingly fond of stealing young beautiful women's hair. I wonder if it's him?"

  Huoxiao Yan nodded and asked: "What about that robust man with a big beard?"

  Zheng Zedao said: "I don't know this person at all."

  Hu Xiaoze turned his head, looked at Zheng Zedao and suddenly asked: "What about you, Brother Zheng? I only know that your name is Zheng Zedao, nicknamed Xiaobuwei, but nothing else."

  Zheng Zedao chuckled and said, "Fire brother, to be honest with you, my Zheng family is a renowned and respected clan in Su Bei. As the only son, I don't have to worry about food or clothing - whatever I want, I can get it. I steal things simply because I enjoy it, and find it endlessly entertaining. But the more I steal, the more I want to steal something that's difficult to get, yet I understand my own limitations. However, the Fire Thief Path is said to be the most supreme skill in the world, where nothing can't be stolen! So when I obtained the Black Stone Fire Token, I was overjoyed and came here, determined to become a disciple of the Fire King! Fire brother, I've told you my story - what about you? Why did you come here?"

  Huoxiao Ye's words were stuck in his throat, and until now, he still didn't have a suitable reason. Was it because he was unwilling to admit defeat? The excuse was too forced; was it because he was entrusted by the Water King? It sounded like nonsense; was it for the sake of Shuixiao'er? It was too sentimental; or was it because he wouldn't come if Bai didn't come? That would make people look down on him.

  "Because I'm called Huo Xiao Xie, that's all."

  Zheng Zedao was taken aback, thought for a moment, and laughed: "Deep! Makes sense! If not for oneself, who would be willing to come here? Because I am Zheng Zedao, so I'm here! It's really great! Great!"

  Hu Xiao awkwardly smiled, really didn't know if Zheng Ze Dao was intentionally trying to curry favor with him or mock him.