Chapter 115: A Chance Encounter with Haruko Aso

Lin Feng sat at the bar, continuing to sip his beer. It seemed that casual encounters were not exclusive to China; Japanese women enjoyed playing this game as well. Since he had sat down, he had already turned away several attractive Japanese women, some of whom had even offered to pay to keep him.

"Heh, I never thought I’d be so popular," Lin Feng muttered to himself with a self-deprecating chuckle while drinking.

No sooner had he finished than he felt someone sit on the empty stool beside him. Catching a faint scent of perfume, Lin Feng was certain it was another woman. The fragrance felt strangely familiar, and after a moment of thought, he realized it was a brand often used by Xia Ruoxi—no wonder it felt so recognizable.

"Handsome, I’m Asō Haruko. Are you bored drinking alone? Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?" the woman said, settling into her seat and striking up a conversation.

"Apologies, but I’d like some peace and quiet. Could you sit somewhere else?" Perhaps because of the familiar perfume, or perhaps because she spoke such standard Chinese, Lin Feng’s refusal was not as blunt as it had been with the previous women.

Asō Haruko was surprised by the rejection. As the only daughter of the third generation of the Asō family—one of Japan’s two great clans—and one of the nation’s two great beauties, she was the apple of her family’s eye. The line of men wishing to pursue her in Japan could stretch for dozens of kilometers.

In truth, Haruko had arrived at the bar before Lin Feng. It was a place she frequented, and since he had entered, she had been watching him—perhaps drawn by his temperament. Seeing him turn down several lovely women only piqued her interest further, which is why she couldn't resist sitting beside him. She found him intriguing and didn't seem like a bad person, so she wanted to tease him.

"How about I buy you one instead?" Haruko said with a smile, unfazed by his words.

Lin Feng had expected her to leave in a huff like the others, but she persisted. If not for her introducing herself with a Japanese name, he would have assumed she was Chinese.

Irritated, Lin Feng turned his head and said, "Your Chinese is excellent. Can you not understand..." He trailed off, silenced not by a lack of words, but by the sheer shock of her beauty. He had met many stunning women—Ling Shixuan, Xia Ruoxi, Iga Toka—all of whom were devastatingly beautiful. But if those women belonged to the mortal realm, the woman before him seemed like a celestial being descended to earth; her beauty was simply inconceivable.

"Heh, go on. Why did you stop?" Haruko teased, amused by his stunned silence.

Her smile was enough to steal his soul. Lin Feng had only been dazed for a few seconds, yet he felt ashamed. Even with his Emperor’s Art and his experience with beautiful women, he had still been bewitched. *This isn't scientific,* he thought. *She has no seductive allure, only a pure, unadorned beauty. How could I be so easily swayed?*

Haruko, unaware of his thoughts, saw he wasn't answering and, acting on pure impulse, wrapped her arms around his and leaned her face toward his. "Why are you always so dazed? Why won't you answer me?"

Lin Feng snapped out of it, staring at the unadorned yet captivating face so close to his own. Realizing she was holding his arm, he frowned and gently pulled away. "I don't want you to buy me a drink, and I don't want to buy you one. That’s it. You can leave now." In this foreign land, getting entangled with such an impossibly beautiful woman was not wise. He wanted to avoid trouble and issued a cold dismissal.

Haruko wasn't having it. She had grown up with everyone catering to her every whim; it was rare to encounter someone like Lin Feng who didn't want to engage with her. She was confident in her looks and had never met someone who wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

"This is a public establishment, and the seat next to you is for customers. Since no one is sitting there, why shouldn't I?" she pouted, wrinkling her cute nose in a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

Lin Feng conceded defeat. He had only wanted a quiet drink to ease his worries, not to encounter someone like Asō Haruko. Resigned, he picked up his beer, stood up, and moved to another empty seat. Since she refused to leave the bar, he would.

To his dismay, after he sat in a corner of the bar, the woman followed him and sat directly opposite.

Thinking she was looking for trouble, Lin Feng dropped the pretense of politeness. "What is it? Are you trying to start something?"

"Geez, am I that terrifying? You should be happy that a great beauty is sitting here chatting with you. Don't you see the men around us looking at you with such jealousy?" she said with a giggle, oblivious to the awkwardness.

Frustrated to the point of silence, Lin Feng finally stood up, paid his tab, and walked out of the bar without looking back.

In reality, Haruko had snuck out of her home today to get away from her bodyguards. She just wanted to enjoy herself alone for once. She hadn't expected to run into someone as peculiar as Lin Feng. Seeing him leave, she hurriedly paid her own bill and chased after him.

Outside, Lin Feng heard the chirping of the woman following him like a persistent fly. Finally losing his patience, he snapped in Chinese, "Are you sick in the head? Following a stranger around in broad daylight—didn't your family teach you that it's dangerous?"

Haruko, hearing his shout, felt a wave of injustice. Her eyes turned red, and she looked as if she might cry at any moment. Never in her life had anyone dared to speak to her so harshly.

Lin Feng couldn't stand seeing a girl like this. Seeing her on the verge of tears—which would make anyone think he was the one bullying her—he surrendered. "Fine, fine! I give up, okay? Just tell me, what do you want?"

Seeing his defeated look, Haruko broke into a smile. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around him again, and pressed against him suggestively. "My name is Asō Haruko. I feel a sense of security in you that makes me want to get closer, so I wanted to get to know you!"

"Fine, I'm Lin Feng. We know each other now. Can I go?" he asked, trying to pull his arm away.

She only held on tighter. Lin Feng sighed. "We've met. What else do you want?"

"You're so dismissive. Besides, I'm the one losing out by hugging you, not you. Why are you so fussy? You don't act like a man at all!" she said with disdain.

Lin Feng gave up. Were all Japanese women like this? He let her hold his arm as they walked, and from a distance, they truly looked like a couple.

After a while, it dawned on him: he had a local who spoke Chinese right here. Why not just ask her where the Iga family was? He turned around abruptly, the movement so sudden that his face nearly brushed against hers, their lips just two centimeters apart.

Haruko was startled, feeling the hot breath of the man on her face. She blushed deeply. Under normal circumstances, she would have pushed him away, but a voice inside her told her to wait and see what happened next.

Lin Feng stepped back, creating distance. To avoid the awkwardness, he bypassed the incident entirely and asked straight out, "Do you know where the Iga family is?"