Shortly after meeting Jiang Yan, Chen Zixi noticed his constant reading. Day and night. While drinking. Every …
Shortly after meeting Jiang Yan, Chen Zixi noticed his constant reading. Day and night. While drinking. Every spare moment. Assuming it must be thrilling martial arts tales, Chen grew offended. Keeping such entertainment to himself meant Jiang Yan didn't consider them friends! The outrage! Thus, Chen had no choice but to demand a look.
"Sect secrets are not for outsiders." Jiang's refusal was firm, which only made Zixi more curious. Was it some scandalous sect history? Forbidden knowledge? The itch of not knowing was unbearable. So when Yan was asleep, Zixi stole the book from his pack. No title. Worn cover. Utterly unremarkable. Then he opened it. Page after page of densely packed blade techniques. This was what had Jiang so obsessed? A manual of blade skills? The man was either fascinating or painfully dull.
The next morning, Jiang opened his book to find new annotations:
"Note: Are you sure it's not 'Book of Heaven'? This is incomprehensible."
"Note: Even if you shared this, no one would care. Rest easy."
"Note: I finished it. Still don't understand. No need to keep reading."
"Note: Drinks, Jiang Yan?"
Jiang frowned and looked up at Chen. Zixi fanned himself lazily.
"Drinks, Jiang Yan?"