"It’s male." That one sentence, like a bolt from the blue, left Erha utterly dumbstruck.
That spiciness, that temper, that rebellion, that hot flavor—the taste it favored—was suddenly given another layer of interpretation.
Shit, it was a male! How could it not resist when I was doing *that* to it!
Blind Bei reached out, took the erhu he had placed aside on the piano, and carefully wiped it with his sleeve.
"I’ve longed for the sound of the piano, for the touch of its keys, for over half a year. But I just realized, in this era, the erhu seems more suited to me."
As he spoke, Blind Bei lifted his head and looked at Wenter.
"Teaching you the piano doesn’t interest me, nor does it hold much meaning. What is a heavenly melody to you is, to me, simply a repetition of others’ unoriginal thoughts. If you want to learn, I’m willing to teach you the erhu. At the very least, no matter how badly you end up in the future, even if you lose a leg, you will have a skill to beg for food and won’t starve."
Wenter nodded, but his gaze remained firmly on Erha, who was standing dumbstruck behind Blind Bei. Apparently, he still had hopes for the demonic beast that had always been by his side.
"I don’t believe it! I don’t!" Erha suddenly roared, raising its paw.
Blind Bei, who had his back to it, remained unmoved, merely plucking the erhu strings lightly.
SMACK! Erha’s paw struck its own face. Blood immediately gushed out.
At this moment, it confirmed its mental consciousness had long been invaded by the other party. As a demonic beast with psychic talents, it naturally understood what it meant for its mind to be invaded: All you see is what that person wants you to see; everything you hear is what that person wants you to hear; all your senses no longer depend on reality, but on that person’s will. This method terrified Erha.
Meanwhile, Wenter couldn’t help but lower his head and rub the bridge of his nose when he saw his own dog slap itself.
Then, he looked up again and said nonchalantly, "Alright, now it seems my life and my dog’s life are both in your hands."
After speaking, Wenter suddenly felt like there was something wrong with what he’d just said.
"I’m not interested in your life. I want cooperation. What just happened was merely because you requested the full process. I intended to skip this part, but since you insisted on its completeness, I had to oblige."
"Actually, I think it’s safer if you threaten me with my life, then I pay to save my life, and then you all vanish with the money," Wenter suggested.
"But that would be the most shortsighted. What we want isn’t just a few hundred warhorses or a few hundred sets of military equipment. Our appetite will continue to grow."
"I think you probably don’t know just how valuable my life really is."
Upon hearing this, Blind Bei laughed, saying, "You wouldn’t happen to be the illegitimate son of some great nobleman, would you?"
Wenter’s eyes suddenly narrowed. "You know far more than I imagined," he said.
"I didn’t investigate that much," Blind Bei shook his head, "but the wastrels from the East and the illegitimate children from the West are both overused clichés."
Wenter was speechless.
"What you’re pursuing isn’t merely business profits. You crossed the desert to come to the Far East, and gold coins aren’t your only reason. You want to establish your own career here, to prove your ability, and to use your achievements to wash away the stain of being an illegitimate son. Now, I’m giving you that opportunity."
"Can I interpret this as a threat, or a negotiation?"
Blind Bei shook his head again. "This is a plea."
"You jest. You are currently holding my life in your hands."
"Your life, along with that of your dog, is worthless in my eyes."
Wenter was speechless.
"Alright, I’m willing to agree. However, I have one condition."
"You mentioned earlier, you also have My lord?"
"I don’t know who My lord is. If we are to cooperate, I will only acknowledge you, and I will only cooperate with you. You can choose to leave My lord; I can even help you eliminate My lord."
"San’er," Blind Bei called out.
"Here," San’er replied.
"Alright, I’m willing to back down!" Wenter hastily shouted.
Blind Bei nodded and raised his hand, gesturing for him to continue.
"I want you to teach me the piano! I don’t want to learn your erhu!"
"No, no, no! I don’t want any conditions!"
"Heh heh heh..." Blind Bei chuckled, gesturing for Xue Three to release Wenter.
Wenter rubbed his neck, saying, "You... you intrigue me. You really draw me in."
Upon hearing this, Xue Three immediately looked at Blind Bei and asked, "Kill him or not?"
Blind Bei then stepped forward to face Wenter. "We Easterners are rather reserved; we don’t like to speak so bluntly."
"I’m willing to take a gamble on you. Even if, nominally, it’s cooperation between me and My lord, the reason I’m willing to invest in you all is because I see something in you."
It was because of the piano, because of Alice, because of their shared pursuit and insistence on a certain ceremony in life. Because of the mutual appreciation between two rather particular individuals.
"Should I kneel down on one knee to thank you?" Blind Bei asked.
"If you’re willing to swear your loyalty to me, that would be perfect."
Xue Three looked at Wenter curiously, saying, "Have the tastes of you Western nobles already strayed so far off course?"
"Warhorses, military equipment, money, and provisions—I can get them for you through my channels. But I want to ask you one last thing. My position is quite awkward, but if you’re willing to follow me, when we return to the West, we’ll have the chance to obtain everything that I, as an illegitimate son, could normally never hope for!"
"I’m sorry. After getting used to the erhu, I’ve lost my fondness for the piano."
"Okay, it doesn’t matter if you disagree. I think we can now start our detailed negotiations. Besides, I would like to ask, as an investor, what should I be called here? A benefactor? Or perhaps, a shareholder?"
Blind Bei pondered for a moment and then answered, "Around here, we like to call them... leeks."
「The negotiation began.」
It involved the procurement of supplies, transportation, and confidentiality, as well as future planning. Even though both parties were intelligent, the talks were destined to be lengthy.
They were left to rack their brains inside the room.
Outside, Xue Three leaned against Erha’s body, one leg crossed over the other, bouncing it idly. Erha no longer showed any aggression, merely sighing from time to time.
"Cheer up, bro. Life... no, a dog’s life, has to experience something different if it’s not to be a waste."
Just then, Maimaiti, who had been ordered to bring tea and snacks, walked out of the room. Head down, he quickly departed. He wasn’t sure why two new people had suddenly appeared, but seeing his master’s attitude towards them, Maimaiti wisely refrained from asking questions.
Erha extended a paw, pointing at Maimaiti’s departing figure, and said, "What if I catch him for you, so you can also experience a different kind of excitement in life?"
Xue Three gave an embarrassed laugh. "That won’t do, that won’t do at all."
"Hypocritical Easterners."
"You clearly just dealt with a male dog, but now you’re only offering me a man. Aren’t I getting the short end of the stick here?"
Erha glanced at Xue Three with some surprise, remarking, "You’re far more terrifying than I imagined."
"Have you ever considered that, perhaps, once you and that blind man in there walk out of this mansion’s gates, you might not only fail to get anything agreed upon on paper but also be hunted down?"
"How could I not have thought of something even a dog’s brain could figure out?"
"Actually, I’m not very afraid of that possibility. You may not understand us. We don’t harbor national or familial hatreds, nor do we have any grand ambitions. You could even say we have no pursuits at all."
"Then what are you all doing?"
"We’re just looking for something to do because we’re bored."
"It’s just that because we’re alive, we feel we have to be doing something. Actually, I don’t really like farming, I don’t enjoy training soldiers, and I dislike ’development’ even more. I don’t like all those tedious things."
"I’ve noticed. You’re very much like an assassin, an excellent one. In our West, there are many famous assassin organizations."
"I’ve dabbled in it before. Climbing walls is quite an experience."
"Anyway, back to what I was saying. If you truly agree to cooperate, then we’ll cooperate. We’ll do some farming, train some soldiers, and then go out looking for all sorts of excuses to prey on other villains, rob people, that sort of thing. If you go back on your word, that’s fine too. Then we’ll just dedicate ourselves to retaliating against you. For instance, you’d probably develop some serious psychological trauma about mating in the future."
"You’re underestimating us. This time, we were merely ambushed by you."
"It’s you who are underestimating us. You should know, a month ago, aside from one particularly long ’asset’ on my body, I had no other skills to speak of. But a month later, I can already sneak into your master’s bedroom and castrate him."
"Your attitude towards your master is really interesting."
"Well, if he were willing to give up on having descendants, he could attain a higher status and more power in the family. Then I wouldn’t have had to follow him to this remote East. Western dogs are beautiful, elegant, and possess a certain grace. You just can’t find that in the East."
"No, bro. I think you just haven’t been looking in the right places."
Erha turned its head in confusion to look at Xue Three, asking in an incredulous tone, "You have connections?"
"Yes, satisfaction guaranteed!"
"The Yan State imperial palace, of course! Didn’t you know? The Yan State royal family has been raising Pixiu passed down since the era of their founding emperor, Mao Tzedong. There must be pure-blooded Pixiu in the Yan State palace. They’d be perfect for you."
"What, you’re not satisfied?" Xue Three asked.
Erha said, somewhat aggrievedly, "Pixiu... don’t have an anus."