The Law of the Silent Gentleman

hours ago.

Of course Antoine didn't know where "Madame Manleigh's shop Flower Spring" was.

In fact, he didn't even know what Mrs. Manlei looked like, or what business "Flower Spring" was doing. But there is a humble attitude in the world called "don't be ashamed to ask", which is what he used to find Petro's shop. Mrs. Manley sounds much more famous than Petro, so it must be easier to find.

After leaving the "Aromatic Decoction", he pretended to be confident and walked to the corner of the street. There was an old man with white hair and beard huddled in the shadows, a brown clay bowl with a missing corner in front of him. The old man was dark-skinned, with a dirty face, wearing only a thin piece of clothing, and occasionally shouted angrily, "Grandpa, please do me a favor and reward me for being tall." expire.

Antoine looked at him and thought to himself, the old man had lived in the city-state for a long time, so he probably knew the way better than the young man, let alone such a poor old beggar would not be able to lie.

"Old man, I want to ask you something. Do you know how to get to Mrs. Manlei's shop?"

The old beggar opened one eye, looked at Antoine with the eyes of a dead fish, and pushed the broken pottery bowl forward without saying a word. A few copper coins lay pitifully in the pottery bowl. Antoine knew he meant money. The teacher said that money is needed for everything in a big city, and asking for help is even more costly. Without money, it is impossible to move an inch. The teacher is really well-informed, and he is not deceived.

He took out his wallet, counted three copper coins out of it, and threw them into the old beggar's clay bowl. The copper coins made a jingling sound, and the old beggar smiled when he heard the sound, staring straight at the wallet in Antoine's hand. The young swordsman quickly put the wallet into his pocket. Most of the money in his pocket was not his own. Enzo was afraid that he would lose money in the city, so he specially gave him a sum of money.

The old beggar pointed to the east with his thin fingers, chattering a lot of Jodh. Antoine only understood a few words such as "go forward" and "turn left" sporadically. He looked at the old beggar in bewilderment. After talking for a long time, the old beggar finally found that Antoine couldn't understand, so he made gestures and said in heavily accented Imperial language: "I will lead you!" go."

"Really? Uh, will it be too much trouble for you?"

"No trouble, no trouble." Saying that, the old beggar stood up tremblingly, picked up his broken pottery bowl, and walked to the end of the street. Antoine followed closely behind. The old beggar walked very slowly, coughing a few times every few steps, and Antoine was very worried that he would pass out before reaching the destination.

"Young man, is this your first time in Vanessa?" the old beggar asked weakly.

"yes."

"Do you want to go to Mrs. Manlei's shop for the first time?"

"Well, a friend of mine sent me."

"Ahem, that friend of yours is really knowledgeable." The old beggar smiled teasingly.

Antoine scratched his head in confusion. Whether it's Petro or an old beggar, why does his attitude become so subtle when Madam Manley's shop is mentioned? What the **** is there? Since it is the meeting point designated by Enzo, it can't be a dragon's den or a tiger's den!

They walked for a while, turning from the main street into a narrow, run-down alley. The sun was setting, and the alley was as dark as night, the ground was muddy, and every step would splash sewage that had accumulated for centuries. Squeaky mice came out of the cracks in the wall, not afraid of humans at all, and darted under Antoine's feet arrogantly. The air was filled with an unknown stench. Compared with it, the strange smell in the alchemist's shop could be regarded as "fragrant and fresh".

"Are you on the right track?" Antoine looked around anxiously. Years of sword training had given him a **** instinct to sniff out danger.

"This is a shortcut," said the old beggar graciously. "No one else knows about it. It saves time."

Antoine involuntarily pressed the hilt of "Girissa". "Old man, I think we should not take shortcuts. It's getting late, so it's safe to go..."

"Whoa!"

The old beggar screamed and fell into the muddy water, convulsing all over his body. Antoine was taken aback, and regardless of his own safety, he quickly supported his body and felt his pulse.

"Are you all right? Are you sick?"

The old man tightly grasped Antoine's skirt, gasping for breath in pain: "The old problem is committed..."

"Lie down here, I'll call for help!"

Antoine rushed to the entrance of the alley, but within two steps, he suddenly felt something was wrong, wiped his arms, and found that the wallet was missing!

It's that old man! When I grabbed his skirt just now, I took the wallet away! Damn, I thought the old beggar was kind enough to lead him the way, but it turned out to be this kind of idea! He must be faking his illness!

Antoine turned his head, just in time to see the old and disrespectful thief jumping up like a rabbit, running towards the exit on the other side of the alley. "Don't run! Old man! Let me teach you a lesson!" Antoine gritted his teeth and chased after him. The old beggar didn't look like he was hobbling just now, and his legs and feet were so fast that even the nimble young man couldn't match him.

The two rushed out of the alley one after the other and came to a street. Antoine quickly closed the distance, and the old beggar was within an arm's length. He yelled and grabbed the other person's hair, intending to give him some pain, but the white hair slipped from the old beggar's head, and the white beard fell off together. Antoine was dumbfounded. It turned out that the beggar was not old at all, but a middle-aged man. He just smeared soot on his face, wore a wig and fake beard, and pretended to be an old man to beg in order to deceive the love of the giver.

The beggar took advantage of the moment Antoine was in a daze to overturn the stall on the street and continued to flee for his life. Antoine bypassed the vegetables rolling around on the ground and shouted angrily, "Thief! Stop! Don't let me catch you, or I'll make you look good!"

The beggar dodged left and right on the street, using vendors and passers-by to constantly create obstacles to prevent Antoine from chasing him. With all his strength, the young swordsman dexterously avoided pedestrians and obstacles, locked on the back of the beggar and chased after him. He didn't care about the little money, the key was that Enzo's token was also placed in his wallet with great care! It's okay to lose the money, but if the token is lost, he can't afford it even with a human head!

"Catch him! Catch the thief!" Antoine yelled, hoping that kind passers-by would help him, but there were many pedestrians on the road, but they all avoided them for fear of getting into trouble. Antoine thought sadly, the Vanessa people are so indifferent, they don't even have anyone who is brave enough to stand up for righteousness, it's really cold in the world.

The two turned into another street chasing each other, and a carriage came oncoming. The beggar happened to rush past the front of the carriage. Antoine was a step behind and was stopped by the carriage. The horse neighed in fright at the sudden rush of the two men, and the driver quickly tightened the reins, cursing a series of obscenities in Yodd. The beggar walked around the carriage, laughing triumphantly. He had such a long lead that Antoine couldn't catch up even if he flattered him.

In the next instant, his laughter suddenly turned into a scream! For some reason, a pillar of fire rose in front of him! The beggar turned around and tried to escape, but a flame shot up behind him. Two pillars of fire curved and merged above his head, each split into several strands to the left and right, and finally turned into a birdcage shape, and he was the prey locked in the cage with nowhere to escape.

The beggar had never seen such a formation before, his legs went limp in fright on the spot, and he knelt down with a plop. "Forgive me! Please forgive me! I just want to make some money, please let me go!" He threw Antoine's wallet on the ground, and all kinds of coins scattered all over the place.

A few seconds later, the flaming bird cage went out like a burnt fire, a few sparks disappeared with the wind, and the stench of burnt hair poured into the nostrils. The beggar screamed strangely, got up on the ground with hands and feet, and ran away desperately. When Antoine bypassed the carriage and came to the place where the flaming birdcage appeared, the beggar had disappeared, leaving only the dirt-stained wallet, scattered coins and Enzo's token.

Antoine looked at the direction in which the beggar was fleeing, and stomped his feet in resentment: "You run fast! In my hometown, if you steal something, you have to chop off your hand!"

Behind him, the coachman calmed his horse, turned to the carriage and complained: "Miss, I know you are a great mystic, but you don't have to set fire in the street, right? The villain almost peed his pants because of you!"

A delicate female voice came out from the carriage: "The incident happened suddenly, and I saw a rough road, so I can't care about that!"

Hearing another "crash", the window of the carriage was opened, a head poked out, turned left and right, and shouted in surprise: "Huh? Isn't that Antoine!"

The young swordsman was busy collecting money, when he suddenly heard his name in an unfamiliar foreign country, he was so shocked that he lost all the money.

"Wait a minute, Miss! I'll open the door for you!" The coachman grabbed the handle of the carriage, and before he could open the door, the door bounced open with a bang, almost hitting his face. A figure jumped out of the car, jumped at An Tuo Wan happily, hooked his neck and spun around, and An Tuo Wan's waist almost broke due to the pressure.

"Antoine! It's me! I didn't expect to meet here! What a coincidence!"

"Kang, Miss Constantia?!"

A thunderbolt hit Antoine on the head, and he was stunned on the spot.

"How could you... Didn't you stay in Xanodia?"

"I still have to ask you! What are you doing in Vanessa?"

This is a long story... Antoine thought that the **** ship sank, and they went to Vanessa again, and they would never see Miss Constanzia again. Unexpectedly, there would be such a coincidence in the world. Meet again on the streets of Vanessa. Antoine was both emotional and moved, his chest was filled with something sweet and sour, and he obviously wanted to say a lot to Miss Constanzia, but he couldn't say a word at the moment.

"I...Miss Constanzia, I...well, I can't tell for a while...Wait a minute, since you are here, your teacher..."

His eyes moved from Constantia to the carriage. The coachman finally got a chance to show himself, standing by the door with his chest up and his arms raised like a perfect gentleman, waiting for the lady in the car to get out of the car with his arms supported. A middle-aged woman leaned out of the car door, but did not intend to get out of the car. The coachman slumped his shoulders in discouragement and returned to the driver's seat with his head downcast.

"Constanzia, be dignified! It's not proper to cuddle with someone in the street."

"Understood, teacher." Constantia stuck out her tongue and released Antoine.

The young swordsman regretted for no reason. "Lady Theodora is there too..." he muttered under his breath.

The female scholar Theodora waved to them in the car: "Since we met, Antoine can take our car. Constanzia, help him pick up the things."

"Got it, teacher, I'm not blind!"

Constanzia helped Antoine pick up the coins on the ground, the young swordsman was flattered and thanked him repeatedly. Thinking of those coins being touched by Miss Constanzia, he almost didn't want to spend them or return them to Enzo.

"What is this?" Constanzia picked up Enzo's token and weighed it curiously, "Oh, I recognize this pattern, it's the holy emblem of the 'God of Truth and Falsehood'. I really can't see you You still believe in this pair of gods, why have you never heard of it before?"

Antoine stammered and explained: "No, no, this, this is not mine, but Enzo's. He gave it to me for temporary storage, and I have to return it to him later."

"Enzo? Him?"

Constanzia showed a strange expression for a moment, but quickly recovered. She returned the Holy Emblem to Antoine, "Take it, it's such an important thing, it would be bad if you lost it."

"I think so too. It doesn't matter if the money is lost. If this thing is lost, Enzo must kill me." He rubbed his neck with lingering fear. If he didn't meet Miss Constantia, the thief must have escaped. When he meets Enzo, will his head stay on his neck safely?

The two picked up all the coins, and Antoine counted the number, and he was relieved that there were not many coins. Constantia climbed into the carriage, waved to Antoine, patted the seat next to her, and beckoned him to sit down. Antoine boarded the car with a blushing face, and sat beside her cautiously, his whole body turned into a stone statue, with his hands resting stiffly on his knees, not daring to move.

"Antoine, where are you going?" asked Lady Theodora.

"Go to a shop called 'Huahua Yongquan'. But I don't know its location. Just now I asked someone for directions, but I didn't expect that person to be a thief..." Thinking of the beggar pretending to be an old man, Antoine couldn't get angry Call one.

Constanzia said loudly: "Mr. Coachman, you are a local, do you know where the 'Flower Spring' is?"

The driver is driving ahead. "Oh, miss, the villain knows it, but he dare not take you two there! A decent lady shouldn't go to that kind of place!"

"Why? We can't go, but Antoine can?"

"Hey hey, miss, you don't know, it's a place for men to have fun, and doesn't accept female customers. Of course, if you two want to see it, there are also shops in this city that cater exclusively to women..."

Constanzia stared at Antoine in confusion at first, thinking about what kind of shop it was. After hearing what the coachman said, her face quickly turned red as if a bottle of red ink had been poured on it. "You mean, that's a brothel?!" She exclaimed, "Antoine, you, you, you... you want to go to a brothel? I misread you! So you are this kind of person! Get down! You give I'm going down!"

Antoine was more embarrassed than she was. I thought the store was a tavern or a hotel, but it turned out to be a brothel. No wonder Petro and the beggar mentioned the shop in strange tones. Enzo, oh Enzo, you have done me a disservice! It's fine if you love looking for flowers and asking willows, don't fall for me! My innocence! my reputation!