There was Qing Shu who was an elder who was very kind and skilled. There was Lady Ling Ding Ching, whom she had already met. She was powerful, though she had a cold demeanor and oftentimes recused herself from the public scene unless she absolutely had to. Zhang Xin Ci felt a small bit of hope at learning that Ling Ding Ching was not, as a matter of fact, Fang Yuan's fiancé or wife.
And then there was Fang Yuan's younger brother, Fang Zheng. From her brief meeting with Fang Zheng, she couldn't help but feel that something was very... off about him.
"I was so saddened to hear about what had happened to you," Fang Zheng said speaking to her.
"Oh, that is..." Zhang Xin Ci said, assuming that he was talking about the calamity that had befallen the merchant caravan and her uncle, until he continued speaking:
"But I'm sure that there will be a cure for it soon. You know, we men need to keep our heads up whenever things get bad."
That last statement made very little sense to her.
There was also something very... weird about the way that Fang Zhen looked at her.
Many people stared at her because of her beauty. However, Fang Zhen looked at her with strange eyes, as if he was pitying her, and then would shake his head.
His comments about finding a 'cure' also made very little sense to her, and that was because Fang Zheng was thinking something entirely different from what she was thinking.
Unlike everyone else in Gu Village, he knew the truth about Bai Ning Bing and the fact that she had been a man before. He also knew about the Dollhouse.
As such, when Fang Yuan had come from a distant place with a woman who was nearly as beautiful as Bai Ning Bing, he had come to the immediate and incorrect conclusion that Zhang Xin Ci had also been a man previously, and had been turned into a woman by the Dollhouse or some other means.
As such, he held no attraction towards her beauty, and often shook his head when other clan members would comment about it. 'They don't know that she's actually a man,' he thought to himself.
He assumed that the reason that Fang Yuan was taking such good care of her was because she was related to the Dollhouse in some way, and he knew that the Dollhouse was powerful. As such, he played along and focused on doing more of his clan head duties, slowly but surely getting the hang of them. It would still be years until he was fully comfortable with them, however.
Two weeks after their arrival, Xiao Die said to Zhang Xin Ci, watching her stare off into the distance mindlessly. "Is it alright if I say something?"
"Yes..."
"The thing is, do you not think that there is something... off about Fang Yuan?" She kept her voice hushed while saying so. Fang Yuan was their benefactor, after all.
"Something wrong as in what?" she asked.
"It's just that... do you know what they say? 'That water that is too pure cannot hold any fish.' Fang Yuan, his deeds and actions, they seem to be too good to be true."
Zhang Xin Ci sort of understood what Xiao Die was getting at. Ever since being near this village, she had been regaled with stories about his kindness. That was just how famous Fang Yuan was for his virtue. Of course, in addition to this there was his rapid rise to power. And as Xiao Die said, some may even consider all of this to be too good to be true. Zhang Xin Ci shook her head. "Would you have been more accepting of him if he had some sort of flaw?"
Xiao Die gave her a sad smile. "It might be weird to say so, Young Missy, but yes. If he had been less perfect, I think he would be more believable. If I had heard of such a man in some bard's tale, I would have assumed that they were exaggerating, but there's no exaggeration here. Fang Yuan is exactly how everyone spoke about him to be."
Zhang Xin Ci shook her head. "I think that you're being far too suspicious of him, Xiao Die. After all, we've met so many wicked and selfish people along our journey, but that doesn't mean that we should forget that there's still good in this world. If we meet someone who is genuinely as kind and caring as Fang Yuan, should we reject him simply because he is too kind?"
"That is not just it," Xiao Die said, shaking her head slightly. She was not sure if she should say what was on her mind next. "But Young Missy, you seem to be quite infatuated with him. I just didn't want you to end up hurting yourself in some way."
Zhang Xin Ci lightly blushed but brushed her away. "Don't worry, I haven't lost sight of our ultimate goal. We are going towards Shang Clan City, after all." They had been resting here on Gu Mountain for some time, and it was indeed high time that they make a plan for leaving.
What Zhang Xin Ci didn't know was that while she was greatly praising Fang Yuan's virtue, Fang Yuan was indeed planning on making good use of her.
He had initially thought of using Steal Virtue Gu on Qing Shu, but had happened to find a far better candidate for this idea of his.
Zhang Xin Ci, from his knowledge of the future was actually Shang Xin Ci - a daughter of the current Shang Clan head. Her identity was hidden by her mother as the Zhang and the Shang clan were at odds with each other, but she would soon know of it the moment that she walked into Shang Clan City. In the future, she would arise to become a major player within the Shang Clan, though she was always renowned for her kindness. She had even converted many demonic Gu Masters to the righteous path much like Paradise Earth had done. There was likely no better target for Steal Virtue Gue in the entirety of the Southern Border.
He needed to enact his plan before she got there, however. Steal Virtue Gu had a downside in that its range was limited, and so he had to be close to her after using it. There was the chance that it also might be discovered were she to run into an Immortal - but Fang Yuan intended to be done with his plan by then.
Part of this would be gaining her trust, which he was doing by bringing her back here so that she could hear of what he had done in the past; using his reputation to his advantage.
Fang Yuan had not said anything regarding leaving though, so Zhang Xin Ci brought up the idea to him sometime later.
Fang Yuan tapped his chin, as if deep in thought. "Zhang Xin Ci, there was a matter that I wanted to discuss with you before we planned to leave. Can you come by my room early tomorrow morning?"
It was a bit of an odd request, though Zhang Xin Ci could see no reason to refuse.