Chapter 32: Their whereabouts

“You, you are Chen Chengyi…?” After I had seriously explained my identity, Ge Quan’s face first showed surprise, and then disbelief.

I can understand his skepticism. After all, he is a well-informed person, and my appearance is not a big secret. He must have known about it.

Suddenly, I appeared in front of him in this image, and he must not have accepted it.

I didn’t want to torture Ge Quan’s heart any more, so I took out a Taoist artifact from my briefcase. It was just a common Taoist artifact, but it was my master’s favorite from his early years and was used most often. Then I casually revealed the string of agarwood beads on my hand. It wasn’t hard for Ge Quan to see what was on my wrist. If someone wanted to impersonate me and find a string of aged agarwood beads, it would be difficult.

The tiger claw and the rare sandalwood are almost my signature items.

“I disguised myself, and the department helped me, but the arrangements they made for me almost exposed my whereabouts, so I didn’t think it was reliable, so I acted alone. I don’t know if Master Ge is willing to wade through the muck and help me out?” In the end, I said to Ge Quan with a teasing tone and a joke.

In fact, I knew that Ge Quan would definitely help me without waiting for him to answer. When he saw the magic weapon that my master used to use, his eyes had already turned red. Do I need to elaborate on this friendship?

Ge Quan was only then able to calm down. He stood up from his stool, walked up to me in three steps, grabbed my sleeve, and looked at me carefully. In fact, I was disguised now, so what was there to look at?

But he looked at me for nearly half a minute, and then suddenly slapped me on the head. It didn’t hurt that much, but I screamed in an exaggerated manner. This feeling was actually long overdue for me, a kind of emotional rebuke from an elder.

“You little brat, why did you get me into so much trouble? Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning? Does that mean you don’t trust me, Ge Quan?” At the end of his speech, Ge Quan really seemed a little angry.

I quickly explained, “Master Ge, it’s not my fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s Master Liu. He said that your relationship with the master can only be described as good. You are well informed and know my current situation. How dare I act impulsively? Moreover, you also know my master, or the eccentricity of my old Li school. They all protect their disciples very well. They don’t release people from the circle unless they can’t release people from the circle. I haven’t had contact with you either.”

“Old Liu? He’s used to getting what he wants for his daughter, so what does he know about feelings? He’s already obsessed with his daughter.” After saying this, Ge Quan paused for a moment, and then said, “Well, he’s gone now, and I don’t want to comment on him. He was the youngest of us, so I never thought he would really be the one to go first. But he was the one who went first, and it was expected. I… Well, when he was young, it wasn’t like that.”

He said he wouldn’t comment, but when he talked about the old man, Ge Quan’s tone was still quite melancholy, and he couldn’t help but say something. A trace of nostalgia and heaviness also appeared in his eyes. When I thought about my subsequent interactions with Master Liu, he really wasn’t the kind of person who had no feelings at all and only cared about his daughter.

I can’t help but sigh, but I can feel that people who can maintain a long-term relationship with their master are actually good people, although most of them, like my master, have many minor problems.

The two of them mentioned Master Liu and were silent for a while, then I said, “So Master Ge, my brother and sister…” I was most concerned about this after all. Even if it is a rootless duckweed, there will always be a time when it is tired of floating. And undoubtedly, finding them now will give me the greatest sense of belonging.

“Don’t worry, I probably know something about your brother and sister. But since you’ve come to my door, I, as an elder, must treat you well. I’ll go cook for us, and we’ll have a drink and talk.” Master Ge’s expression was still a bit agitated, and I couldn’t argue with him, so I had to agree.

More than an hour later, we were sitting on the small terrace again.

It was already noon, and the only difference was that a few dishes had been placed on the stone table on the small terrace. After traveling all over the country and eating a lot of delicious food, I couldn’t tell what the dishes were called. I was curious and picked up a chopstick and put it in my mouth. The deliciousness was like an explosion in my mouth, but I really didn’t know what I had eaten.

“Recently, I’ve become interested in the dishes in Dream of the Red Chamber. Out of curiosity, I often imitate the dishes in it. Some are traceable and can be made, but some are impossible to make, so I can only speculate. What do you think of the taste?” In the meantime, Master Ge gave me another spoonful of food.

I don’t know much about the dishes in Dream of the Red Chamber, and I don’t know how to judge them. I don’t even know what they are. After a long time, I said one thing: “It’s delicious, it’s really delicious.” I thought to myself, it’s almost as good as Ru Xue’s cooking, but I don’t want to mention Ru Xue in this situation.

But I didn’t expect that my lame remark would draw a hearty laugh from Master Ge, who then slapped me affectionately and said, “You’re a real child.” He then poured me a glass of wine.

The food was good, and the wine was naturally good wine. Since I had already explained my identity to Master Ge, I wasn’t in a hurry. It was also a kind of warmth to get together with Master Ge’s friends.

So, under the good wine and good food, we didn’t talk about any serious or heavy topics, but instead talked about some interesting things. Master Ge was well-informed, and the things he said through his mouth were exceptionally interesting.

Master Ge told me that when he took me on as his apprentice, before I had even started learning, he had been approached by my master several times, and each time he would inevitably talk about me, how clever and cute I was, how talented I was, and so on.

In fact, at that time, my master had only seen me a few times, and I was still a baby in my mother’s arms. How could he exaggerate like that? But for some reason, as I listened, my heart began to ache…

Later, when I grew up, my master had also met Ge Quan, and he talked about me the most. He mostly talked about how smart I was at learning Taoism, and how understanding and considerate I was to my master… He often lamented that he had someone to carry on his legacy.

This is the first time I have heard my master talk about me to his friends. I finally couldn’t help but gulp down the wine in my glass, and used the alcohol to suppress the urge to cry.

“I’ve been trading information my whole life. Apart from the specialized departments, I’m the most well-informed. Or in some ways, the specialized departments can’t compare to me. But even so, I still can’t find out where my brother is. It’s really…” Ge Quan’s expression was a bit despondent.

But I didn’t want to talk about my master, it would only add to my sadness, and I didn’t know how long it would take to calm down. After a long time of being depressed, I just asked, “Are my brothers and sisters doing well?”

Master Ge smiled and said, “You’re still worried about this, but you’re right to ask me. Besides me, I’m afraid only they themselves know where they are. To be honest, I only found out where they were by paying close attention and making my own deductions. None of your siblings are easy to deal with. The one who can read people’s fortunes should be Chengqing, right?”

“Huh?” I looked at Master Ge with a puzzled look, saying that their whereabouts had nothing to do with Brother Chengqing.

“His kung fu is not weak, and he can even interfere with the high-level people’s divination of their whereabouts. Although he can’t interfere with the whole process, he can never calculate their exact whereabouts. If it weren’t for him, their whereabouts would have been exposed long ago. Only people like me, who have special channels to receive information and can analyze the data, can get a rough idea of where they are.” Master Ge said this with some pride.

I was also very proud, of course, for Brother Chengqing.

“Are they safe now?” I couldn’t help but ask, this is the most important point.

“Don’t worry, those little guys are very smart, they are safe. Although I can’t guess their exact meaning, isn’t it the meaning of “great seclusion in the city”? Master Ge’s face also showed a hint of doubt, and then he said, “But it’s not right to say that they are great seclusion in the city! Chengyi, in short, I can’t guess it. Anyway, no one has found their whereabouts yet, at least no one from any power has found them.

I frowned and asked, “Where are they now?”

“They, they are now in the latest ghost market, and it is a big market. If you hurry up and go there tomorrow, you should be able to see them.” Master Ge said to me seriously.

They are at the ghost market? This… to be honest, I can’t guess what they are planning to do! No wonder Master Ge can’t guess!

Besides, what does he mean by a big market? I don’t understand.