The two walked together quietly for the rest of the way. Every time Hua Tianshu tried to speak, Jie Fu Lian clenched his fist in anger and Hua Tianshu immediately closed his mouth.
Asking Jie Fu Lian to sneak into the Jin Sect and steal documents was one thing, but asking him to turn into a dog while doing so was entirely another issue.
Jie Fu Lian was a man with a lot of pride so he would rather choose to die than turn into a dog.
When they reached the bottom of the mountain, they met up with Duan Luoyang who was already waiting for them.
"Shizun, I managed to find an inn!" The boy happily exclaimed, "There were only two rooms available so I went ahead and booked them. I can stay with Uncle Fu and Shizun can have the other room."
Hua Tianshu frowned as he heard this and immediately spoke up, sounding a bit displeased, "Let your uncle Fu have the other room. It would be rude for you to live with him when you two hardly know each other."
"Then Shizun would have to share a room with me," Duan Luoyang reminded.
"Then so be it."
Duan Luoyang looked to be a little excited as he heard this response and bobbed his head up and down, agreeing.
"Wait!" Jie Fu Lian frowned as he raised his hand and spoke up, "Duan Luoyang was the one who booked the two rooms. It would be cruel and unfair to let him share it with either of us. Duan Luoyang, you can have the other room. I'll share a room with brother Hua."
"Huh?" Thinking that Jie Fu Lian was being considerate towards him, Duan Luoyang immediately waved his hands in front of him as he spoke, "It's not cruel. It's not unfair. I'm happy for Uncle Fu's consideration but it's really no trouble. Sharing a room with Shizun is no problem for me."
Jie Fu Lian's eyes narrowed down on the man as he asked, "How can you be so sure? Have you shared a room with him before this?"
"Of course, I have." Duan Luoyang innocently replied without thinking too much about it, "Shizun doesn't sleep much. He always chooses a corner and meditates so it's quite convenient to share a room with him."
"..." For some reason, Jie Fu Lian felt a little irritated as he heard this.
"So uncle Fu, you can rest assured. We won't have any trouble sharing a room. You can have the other room."
"I don't want it," Jie Fu Lian firmly replied, not bothering to explain anything further.
Duan Luoyang looked to be a little taken back and confused by this reaction, but before he could say anything, he saw Hua Tianshu smiling as he spoke up, "Duan Luoyang, he's right. You were the one who ran ahead first and booked the rooms. You can take the other room."
Duan Luoyang was now stunned as he looked at his Master.
Hua Tianshu looked to be genuinely happy and it was probably the first time Duan Luoyang had seen such an expression on the man's face.
Duan Luoyang was a bit naive and a bit innocent but he wasn't dumb. He had been carefully observing the relationship between his master and this Fu Ming. Although he still couldn't say exactly what relationship the two had, he could clearly confirm one thing and it was the fact that his master liked Fu Ming.
Having this understanding, Duan Luoyang quickly straightened his back as he spoke, "Yes, Master. I'll take the other room. You can spend the night with Uncle Fu."
At the end of his sentence, he even winked at Hua Tianshu, showing that he had already caught on to his master's plan and was being fully supportive of it.
Hua Tianshu smiled with satisfaction and Jie Fu Lian also seemed to be feeling the same, but although their feeling was the same, the reason for that satisfied feeling was a bit different.
Duan Luoyang led them to the inn that he had booked and showed them to the room that they would be using for the day.
The inn wasn't too lavish but it wasn't too bad either. The room that Jie Fu Lian and Hua Tianshu were given looked to be big but in reality, it was smaller than the one Duan Luoyang was using. The reason for this difference was Duan Luoyang. Originally he planned to let two people share the bigger room. but then, when the room was being shared by Hua Tianshu and Jie Fu Lian, he decided to switch it into a smaller room to support his master.
'Smaller spaces bring people closer.'
Since he had understood his Master's intentions and was now sure of it, he planned to do everything in his power to support his master.
Uncle Fu wasn't too bad and from the looks of it, Uncle Fu also seemed to like his master quite a lot, so a romantic relationship between the two was clearly possible.
Hua Tianshu, who knew his disciple the best, could already guess what his disciple was trying to do, but he wasn't mad at all. On the contrary, for the first time, he was quite satisfied with his disciple's creative imagination.
"Let's drink!" Jie Fu Lian sat down cross-legged on the floor as he placed two jars of Osmanthus wine on the table.
"You're not mad anymore?" Hua Tianshu asked.
"If you mention anything about a dog, I'm kicking you out. If you don't mention it, I'll be benevolent enough to let you sit and share a drink with me."
Hua Tianshu couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hua Tianshu, I don't like sharing my wine so you should consider yourself lucky."
"Don't worry, I also don't drink with others so luck is not only on my side." Hua Tianshu crossed his legs and sat down facing Jie Fu Lian.
"You don't drink with others? Why? Do you have a low tolerance?"
Hua Tianshu shrugged his shoulders, "I've never drunk more than two cups so I don't know. What about you?"
Jie Fu Lian confidently smirked as he exclaimed, "I have a high tolerance. Give me five jars and I would still not budge!"
Hua Tianshu felt a little impressed as he heard this.
"Hua Tianshu, do you dare compete with me?"
Hua Tianshu raised his eyebrows as he asked, "A contest needs a prize. What would the winner get?"
Jie Fu Lian carefully thought about it for a minute before he replied, "A wish."
"A wish?"
"Yes. The winner would get a wish and the loser will have to fulfill that wish no matter what it is."
Hua Tianshu chuckled as he heard this and nodded his head, "Okay."
Seeing Jie Fu Lian's confidence, Hua Tianshu was sure that he would lose, but he didn't really care about winning or losing. Even if it hadn't been for this little competition, he would have still fulfilled all of Jie Fu Lian's wishes. As long as the man asked for it, Hua Tianshu would be ready to do just about anything.
However, surprisingly enough, Jie Fu Lian was really a show-off with no supporting bone.
He had talked big about remaining unbudged after five jars of wine but in reality, after just a single jar, his cheeks were already flushed red and he couldn't even look straight.
Compared to him, Hua Tianshu looked to be a lot more sober.
"You've lost," Hua Tianshu informed with a warm smile as he looked at Jie Fu Lian.
"Lost?" Jie Fu Lian pouted as he repeated and glared at Hua Tianshu, "I haven't lost! Who says I've lost? You're the loser! Your Dog is the loser! Your whole family is the loser!"
Instead of getting offended by his words, Hua Tianshu simply chuckled in amusement as he heard this and replied, "I thought we weren't going to mention anything about a Dog."
Jie Fu Lian clenched his fist and looked as if he was ready to punch Hua Tianshu, but one was drunk while the other was sober. Even if the drunkard wanted to punch the man, how could Hua Tianshu let it happen?
"You're the Dog! Your whole family is a Dog!"
Hua Tianshu sighed with a smile, "Alright then, I'll be the Dog."
"Hehe," Jie Fu Lian happily giggled as he heard this response and his previous hostile demeanor disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only a satisfied goofy smile on his face.
"But if I'm the Dog, who'll be my master?" Hua Tianshu titled his head as he asked, teasing Jie Fu Lian.
Jie Fu Lian suddenly frowned and closed his eyes as he sat there, seeming to be carefully thinking about it.
A few minutes passed and Hua Tianshu raised his eyebrows as he questioned, "Did you fall asleep?"
Jie Fu Lian suddenly snapped his eyes open and looked at Hua Tianshu with a blank expression, "Eh... Who are you?"
"..." Hua Tianshu didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or hit his head on the table and forcefully pass out on the spot.
"You look familiar..." Jie Fu Lian muttered as he leaned in closer to Hua Tianshu's face.
Hua Tianshu gulped as he felt a little surprised and a bit flustered.
"I know you," Jie Fu Lian added with a frown as he poked Hua Tianshu's cheek with his index finger, "Oh! You're the mannerless self-obsessed hypocrite bastard Hua!"
"..."