Just as Wenwu was drowning in despair, a figure crashed through the window. Under the faint moonlight, Wenwu discerned the familiar face—it was Silver.
"Ha! Master, did you forget? The beastkin’s hearing and sense of smell are leagues beyond humans. Stay silent all you like, I’ll still find you," Silver said smugly.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
"Sir, I heard glass shattering—is everything alright?" The voice of a passing waiter came from the door.
"No... uh... yes... it’s fine... just... too... too intense..." Silver replied swiftly, punctuating her words with moans.
"My apologies for disturbing you." The waiter’s voice carried obvious embarrassment as he quickly departed upon hearing the sounds from inside.
Wenwu couldn’t help but question Silver’s apparent mastery of those moans—perhaps her youthful looks were deceiving.
"Master, I’ve always hated assassins. Look at this mess now," Silver said as though this were a normal day for her.
Wenwu shot her a sharp glare, silently urging her to act instead of stand there cracking jokes. Catching his desperate expression, Silver walked over to him. The crimson of spilled blood had soaked nearly half the bed.
"Master, I’m going to pull the dagger out first. I’ll take care of the rest in a moment," Silver said casually, her movements betraying the sort of expertise that came from finishing this job many times over.
Grasping the hilt of the dagger, Silver warned, "It might hurt a bit, Master, so please—"
Before Wenwu could brace himself, Silver applied just enough force to yank the blade free. Pain exploded in Wenwu’s chest, twisting his face into a grimace. Unleashing a torrent of curses in his mind, he silently swore vengeance for her merciless efficiency.
After extracting the blade, Silver retrieved a small vial from her waist pouch. She poured white powder from within and applied it directly to Wenwu’s wound. Had Wenwu been capable of speech, his screams might’ve rattled the entire royal city. It wasn’t healing—it was outright torture.
Next, Silver pulled out bandages and began wrapping the wound with practiced yet unceremonious movements. Once his chest was tended to, she produced another vial, this time containing medicinal pills. She helped him swallow one. Slowly but surely, Wenwu regained the ability to move his limbs and speak faintly.
Roughly ten minutes later, the medicine had fully taken effect. Wenwu, now able to speak freely, wasted no time. "Silver, you absolute—couldn’t you’ve gone easier? I’m dying here!"
"Master, punish me if you must," Silver answered, her lips curling into a strange grin.
"Turn around," Wenwu ordered.
Silver eagerly followed, turning and wagging her tail excitedly. Wenwu delivered a measured kick to her rear, neither too soft nor too strong. Silver collapsed forward, face-down, wagging her tail suggestively as though inviting more.
Wenwu let out an exasperated sigh, clearly uninterested in indulging her antics further. He sat up and stretched—though tending the wound had hurt like hell, now he felt no discomfort. Either his nerves were utterly spent, or the medicine had worked remarkably well.
"Damn that Amia. I’ll make her pay." Rage seethed in Wenwu’s heart. Not only had he failed to secure the girl, but he’d been stabbed, bled out, and even robbed of his remaining money. Worst of all, Amia, vile through and through, had taken every last coin as if mocking him publicly while leaving him impoverished.
Silver’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "But Master, even though Amia’s an assassin, why would she come for your life without clear cause?"
"Someone hired her," Wenwu replied, wiping away dried flecks of blood. "Could it have been the Princess? Maybe she wanted me dead to avoid paying the full reward."
"But hadn’t the Princess Royal already given you a thousand gold coins? What could she still owe you?"
Wenwu bit his lip—it wasn’t as though he could confess the Princess had promised him far more intimate payment. His silence over the matter was justifiable.
A sudden thought struck him. "Silver... How old *are* you now?"
"Compared to you, Master? I’m just a baby," Silver replied with a teasing grin.
Wenwu’s lips twitched in disbelief but decided to switch topics. "Have... have you and I ever done anything... like *that*?"
"I’m still a virgin!" Silver responded unabashedly, poisoning any shred of subtlety Wenwu might’ve aimed for.
Caught off guard, Wenwu felt his dormant desires snuffed out entirely, her borderline maniacal expressions leaving him in no mood to entertain such thoughts. He quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. "By the way, Silver—you seem strangely familiar with medicine. How do you know so much?"
Silver sighed, "About a year ago, near a little village not far from the royal city, we helped a doctor. Those medicines were her way of thanking us."
"A seasoned doctor, huh? It takes serious credentials to craft medicine this potent," Wenwu mused.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Silver waggled her finger playfully. "She wasn’t just seasoned—she was a girl, Master. A *young* doctor."
Wenwu’s expression perked up, his interest in a maiden doctor suddenly reignited.
"It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen her," Silver continued. "The next time we meet, maybe she can check your memory impairment."
Feigning deep reflection, Wenwu decided to go along with the idea. After all, his supposed loss of memory was a convenient lie; the ‘self’ of this world had been erased. He wasn’t fearful of exposure. And if meeting the doctor meant encountering yet another potential romance, Wenwu wouldn’t refuse.
By the time their chatter subsided, Wenwu had thoroughly cleaned himself up. Luckily, Amia had removed his clothes beforehand—no bloodstains on his attire. Otherwise, leaving the inn shamefully bare-chested might’ve been his only option.
"Master, the *door* is right there. Why are you climbing out the window?" Silver finally piped up, noticing his preparations.
"Are you dense?" Wenwu shot back. "That conniving Amia stole every coin I had! I'm flat-out broke. How do I pay for this room, huh?"
Without waiting for more questions, Wenwu hoisted himself over the windowsill, locating footholds and gracefully landing below. All those years scaling walls in school hadn’t been for nothing.
Quickly, Silver followed suit.
"Well, well, kid. We meet again," a voice greeted them from the shadows.
