Chapter 5038 — Small Talk

And from the look of things, the two thugs actually seemed a little afraid of this girl—how very strange.

"Climb out the window and jump down yourselves, or take the consequences." Leng Leng stared at the two of them without a trace of expression.

"This..." Pheasant and Bao Pi exchanged glances, their hearts itching to put up a bold front, but the memory of this woman's fighting prowess made them think better of it—the two of them together would only get a beating, and at a moment like this they had not the guts for any brave words. And Leng Leng was eyeing them with such ill intent that it felt like being stalked by an utterly dangerous leopard; they could not help but feel the hairs on their bodies stand on end, a chill crawling over their skin.

"Stop the bus! I want to get off!" Pheasant had no choice but to shout at the driver. Since they could not afford to provoke her, they would just have to swallow their pride.

"Sorry, there are no stops here. I can't stop the bus," the driver said without turning his head.

"Hey! I told you to stop, so stop! What's with all the nonsense? Believe me, one of these days I'll bring my boys round to block your door every single day!" Pheasant threatened.

"I'll count to three. If you don't disappear by then, don't blame me for what happens." Leng Leng could not have cared less whether the bus stopped or not; she simply began to count. "One, two, three!"

Before her voice had even died away, Pheasant and Bao Pi had thrown caution to the winds and scrambled out the side window, landing so hard they were all bruises and swelling. It was only because the driver had slowed down that they got off with that; otherwise a jump like that would have put both of them in the hospital.

The other passengers stared at the scene with their mouths agape, and in no time at all every one of them regarded Leng Leng as some kind of marvel. Was this girl, by any chance, an undercover police officer out of legend? To scare two petty thugs into such a state—good heavens, how savage!

Leng Leng, however, remained as though nothing had happened—she even wrinkled her brow, so faintly that no one noticed. There had been reasons beyond mere punishment for making those two jump off the bus; in fact, there was one far more important. The bus was simply too crowded.

It was the morning rush hour. Even with two people forced off in such a fashion, the bus was still packed to a hopeless degree. With her cold, forbidding nature, which held people at arm's length, ordinary people could not get within three paces of her. Now, though, she was surrounded on all sides by people, and there was no avoiding physical contact—how could anyone stand it?

After hesitating for a long while, Leng Leng at last steeled herself and edged toward Wei Zhao. Rather than be jostled by all these strangers, she would sooner be close to him. At least they were somewhat familiar with each other—and she did not dislike Wei Zhao.

This unexpected move left Wei Zhao astonished for quite some time. Never had he imagined that the little ice queen would take the initiative to draw near him. Breathing in the faint orchid fragrance of her body, so close at hand, Wei Zhao thought to himself that this bus ride had been crowded at exactly the right time—what an unexpected delight.

Yet though the two of them were squeezed up against each other, Wei Zhao made not the slightest move to take advantage. He knew full well that the little ice queen's willingness to stay close to him was the fruit of many days' effort; if he were now to entertain some thought he ought not to, it would utterly destroy the good impression he had worked so hard to build. He was not about to do anything so foolish and self-defeating.

Such gentlemanly conduct on Wei Zhao's part took even Leng Leng somewhat by surprise. In her mind, Wei Zhao was a most persistent suitor; she had assumed that with the lamb delivered into the tiger's mouth, he would certainly not let the chance slip by.

She had even been prepared for it—so long as Wei Zhao did nothing excessive, a hug was just a hug. Little had she expected that Wei Zhao would be so restrained, without a single clean-handed attempt to take advantage of her.

As a result, Wei Zhao's image in her mind grew all the more upright and dependable, and Leng Leng could not help but entertain a strange notion: this fellow seemed a bit more reliable than those suitors in the Great Ancient Little Jianghu.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Once they reached the city proper, the two of them fought and struggled their way off the bus, exchanged a glance, and without a word breathed out a long sigh in unison. Rushing-hour buses were simply terrifying; how on earth did those office workers who had to squeeze on and off morning and night manage to survive?

"Taking the bus is convenient enough, but it really is too crowded," Leng Leng said with a bitter smile, watching the bus recede into the distance. After one experience like that, she never wanted to ride a bus again for the rest of her life—not for anything.

"Can't be helped. We were just unlucky enough to hit the morning rush. If we'd come a little later it would have been fine—my mistake," Wei Zhao said with a bitter laugh of his own, then added, "Come on, let's go take a look at the phone market. I think it's just a little way up ahead."

"Mm." Leng Leng nodded, at the same time looking with some curiosity at the bustling urban district before her. Though she had been in the secular world for some time now, she had not often come to a busy downtown like this; strictly speaking, this was only her second time. The first time she had been in too much of a hurry to look carefully, and in the end she had gotten lost. This time, with Wei Zhao accompanying her, she could properly take in the prosperity of the secular world.

"You've never been here before?" Wei Zhao asked casually.

"I came once, but I didn't look carefully. Your secular world..." Leng Leng was about to let something slip out of habit, caught herself, and hastily amended, "This place is a bit different from my hometown—mm, I should say very different."

"Is that so? Oh, right—I still don't even know where you're from. Where are you from?" Wei Zhao's eyes lit up as he seized the chance to probe.

"I..." Leng Leng did not know how to answer for a moment. After thinking it over for a good while, she said, "I suppose you could say Huxi Province."

This was not exactly a lie. If the Shennongjia region was taken as the exit of the Great Ancient Little Jianghu, then geographically that really did place her in Huxi Province.

"Huxi Province?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. He could not tell whether her words were true or false, so he ventured, "But from your accent, I'd say it seems a little different from that part of Huxi?"

"Ah? Well, Huxi is a big place with many accents. It's only natural they'd be different." Leng Leng had finally managed a flash of quick wit. Fearing that Wei Zhao would keep digging, she hastily changed the subject. "Let's talk about you instead. What's your name, and where are you from?"

Wei Zhao was struck speechless for a moment. Of course he knew she was changing the subject, but even so, hearing those words, he could not help feeling an urge to burst into tears. After half a month of pouring his heart out in devoted service, the little ice queen had finally remembered to ask his name!

"My name is Wei Zhao. My hometown is West Star Mountain Village—a little mountain village, a small place. You've probably never heard of it," Wei Zhao answered with a smile.

"Oh." Leng Leng nodded, secretly letting out a breath of relief. She had finally fobbed him off.