Words didn’t need to be said because every person who was present in the Green Patrol building, who witnessed the bland exchange of pleasantries, would know imdiately that these two won didn’t like each other one bit.
Souzane didn’t hide her disdain for the elder. She had always said that since Elder Lin stole her brother, Tazane, from her she had always hated her. As Souzane would always curse Elder Lin, "That old hag!"
However, with Elder Lin, it was different. She held a friendly gaze and smile on her face with her hand extended towards Souzane, who blatantly disrespected her by not taking the hand. Aaron was watching, noting the signs that every other person failed to notice.
The body language between the two won. Their expressions and whatnot.
After a more thorough analysis from his end, Aaron ca to one conclusion about the older of the two won — Elder Lin.
"She’s not ordinary," he thought to himself while still calmly observing them.
Elder Lin took a glance at her rejected hand and smiled. She retracted the hand back into the large sleeves of her purple, flower-thed kimono. Elder Lin adjusted her sleeves with class and took a more refined standing posture while clearing her throat to speak.
"Well, if you must know, my dear girl. I am only here for two reasons," she said.
"One. That unfed rascal of yours, what’s his na again... uh... yes. Whisper... right? I am here because he had inford early of your coming concerning business which we shall discuss at my quarters..."
She paused and looked around the inside of where they were with her face carrying a disgusted look.
"And not here."
Souzane threw her head back slightly and showed her teeth. "Huh? So what’s number 2 then?"
Elder Lin moved closer to Souzane, lifting her eyes to look at the bandit leader. The elder smiled.
"Because Wang asked nicely. You know I don’t give a hoot about you, my dear girl."
Elder Lin turned away and left the building with Wang and the rest of her escorts following behind her.
Souzane sighed, her fists clenched in anger. She was more furious than she had been when she argued with Aaron.
"That old hag!"
Aaron’s eyes followed the elder as she walked out, watching her until she disappeared from his sight.
"Hmm. She seems oddly familiar," Aaron breathed inaudibly, trying to make out the source of the familiarity, if any did exist.
He shook it after several seconds of thinking about it, brushing it off as a trivial matter. He rose and walked towards Souzane, standing by her side and looking forward.
"Now, we are free. What’s next?" Souzane asked him.
Aaron looked at her and looked back at his front.
"We find your products."
Souzane exhaled loudly. "Hmm. I see."
Since they were on the matter of products, it occurred to Aaron that he didn’t know exactly what he was even helping them find. He rubbed his chin and looked at Souzane again, this ti his gaze lasted.
Souzane noticed Aaron’s lingering stare from the corner of her eyes and cringed.
"What is it, pretty boy?" she uttered with scorn while returning his gaze.
"You want that much, huh? I knew that our one-ti eting at your massage parlour wouldn’t cut it for you. I’d indulge you if only you—"
"What exactly are these ’your products’?" Aaron asked, rudely cutting her short of her blather.
Souzane grinned. "Seems I haven’t told you yet. My bad, pretty face but we have to leave this place first before I say any other thing."
Souzane scanned every nook and cranny of the space they were in as they stepped out of their cell one after the other, heading towards the exit of the building after having been released by Elder Lin.
****
TAAA!
Flesh struck flesh. This strike was not in any way a friendly one as both flesh involved felt the hot impact of clashing. However, while Elder Lin’s soft palm felt it less, Wang’s right cheek simred and glowed red like a yet-to-shaped tal freshly taken out of the heat.
Wang’s hand covered and rubbed his cheek because of the hotness of the elder’s slap.
Elder Lin hid her hand between the oversized sleeves of her fabric and smiled at Wang.
"Don’t ever bring to this place for such an ignorable matter," she said.
"Am I clear, Wang-dear?"
Wang, still flustered from the slap, nodded hastily and out of fright for the elder’s next action.
He bowed with his hand still glued to his cheek. "Yes, madam!" he exclaid.
"Good," she replied. Afterwards, Elder Lin climbed into her horse-powered cart, of glistening golden and deep brown colours, prepared to depart any mont from now.
The cart of Elder Lin rode away from the Green Patrol building back to where she had co from. The pretty, middle-aged-looking woman took up the hand fan that had been kept by the side of her seat and opened it up, gently fanning herself as she drifted in thought.
"That young man..." she muttered, the image of Aaron Winters manifested in her mind.
"He’s a strange one. He had an odd atmosphere around him, one that didn’t care whatever was happening. As if he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. It was as though he didn’t even need to release them in the first place. There is certainly sothing odd. He’s an interesting figure."
As the cart went along the streets of the Herb village, she recalled herself briefly and slid the curtains of the chamber shut.
Elder Lin placed the fan on her upper lip and giggled as an unusual phenonon began to happen to her. Her wrinkly skin spruced up and softened, losing the wrinkles with every second that passed. It was as if Elder Lin was regaining a youngso appearance and by the end of this transformation, the middle-aged Elder Lin, who had looked sowhere around early forties to late forties in age, now appeared to have a younger, softer and smoother skin, like soone in her twenties.
Her eyes bead with excitent as she played with her reddish-brown braided hair with one hand and her fan on the other.
The image of Aaron flashed through her mind again.
"Such a strange but interesting fellow," she comnted inaudibly.
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