Chapter 17: Ingenious Hiding Place
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Ye Zong dismissed everyone from the meeting hall except for Ziyun and Xiao Ning'Er and in a low voice filled with controlled fury, began speaking in a precise, clipped tone. "Ziyun. What were you thinking?" he asked. "You of all people should know how dangerous it is out there with the Dark Guild and how much leverage they would have over me and this city if they could capture you."
He continued, "How could you go on such a foolhardy expedition with that irresponsible smooth-talker? Look at what happened to him! Do you even understand the risk that you took? What if that had been you?"
Faced with the composed onslaught of accusations from her father, Ziyun couldn't help but lose control of the emotions that spilled out of her young heart. As tears started to fall freely, she tried to respond as silent sobs caused her chest to heave uncontrollably, "I'm...I'm...sor...sorry, so...sorry. I've fai...failed...dd...you...Father."
Ye Zong's expression remained unmoved as he turned his cold gaze towards Xiao Ning'Er. "I heard a bit about what happened from the boys. You have my thanks for saving my foolish daughter. I hope that you can aid her in making better decisions next time, instead of just blindly following along." he said while nodding his head in slight approval towards her as he thanked her.
Xiao Ning'Er bowed her head in respect to him. "She is my best friend. I would not hesitate to give my life to protect her." she said as Ziyun lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at her friend, touched by her moving words. "City Lord, I have something to report if I could have the permission to speak freely."
"Go ahead," came the curt reply.
"The one leading the group from the Dark Guild. I've seen him before...in Glory City. His name is Deacon Yun Hua and I have seen him coming out of the Star Restaurant, conversing with some elders from the Sacred Family." she told Ye Zong in a careful but assertive tone.
He looked at her with a pensive expression for a very long time, with his right hand clasping his chin. Finally, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper, "Young lady, do you know what you are implying? This can be a very serious accusation." He paused. "I heard that you're engaged to a boy of ill repute...is it possible that you're stirring something up to get out of an undesirable situation?" He carefully looked at her face for any tell-tale fluctuations in emotion.
Ye Zong hid his surprise as he spoke to Xiao Ning'Er. Was this really a 13 year old girl reasoning and trying to persuade him? It felt a bit as though he were speaking to a strategist in his war room! Even if she were lying, she communicated her thoughts with utmost calmness, succinctness and conviction. He couldn't help but start falling into her rhythm as he pondered the implications of the Sacred Family colluding with the Dark Guild. What a terrifying possibility!
"Do you have any proof," he asked as he began to believe some of her words.
"Unfortunately, I do not. But I am certain that if you don't put some measures into place, Glory City will suffer greatly in the near future..." she replied ominously.
He agreed with her. It could mean the entire downfall of their beautiful city if the Dark Guild's plans were to ever come to fruition. He decided to test her even though he didn't really have any expectations, "What kind of measures do you think we should put in place?"
She thought for a moment as her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "We need to find solid evidence if not, the other families would never agree to take action against one of the three major families. And the Sacred Family cannot know that they're being watched, if not they won't slip up. We would need to find a way to secretly monitor their movements and activities until they make a mistake when they communicate or handle a transaction with the Dark Guild. Deacon Yun Hua won't show up again for now because we've already seen his face."
This time, he couldn't hide his surprise at all as his eyebrows lifted up so high that they almost flew off his forehead. This would have been his exact plan that he would have implemented through Ye Shuo, the mysterious grey-robed man who was actually the head of his organisation in the shadows, which handled the more...unsavoury but necessary missions for Glory City. He regained his composure, rubbing the stubble on his chin with his fingers and muttering a thoughtful, "Hmmmm..."
"You've given me a lot to think about, young lady. Please do not discuss this with anybody else while I put certain things into motion." He then turned to Ziyun and said tersely, "Please be more careful next time and be wiser!"
He dismissed them with a final instruction to stay out of trouble if at all possible, then slumped down in his chair once they left the hall. He would have a long night ahead thinking through some weighty issues of great consequence.
As they arrived back to Ziyun's private courtyard, Xiao Ning'Er looked at her friend's tired, tear-stricken face. It had been a trying and anxiety-ridden week and she could tell that Ziyun would need some time to recover. Without bothering to say anything, she gave Ziyun a gentle hug for an extended time, waiting for her friend to pull away before bringing her arms back.
She then headed back to her room but halfway, she abruptly turned towards the direction of the city gates. Even though she did not know what to say or how to deal with the guilt she was feeling, she knew that she should drop by to see Linjian.
When she arrived, he was completely fast asleep. It was already late at night after all and at the same time, he had been given powerful pain-killing medication. She pulled up a chair and sat watching him through the night, frowning every time he jerked or moaned out loud in discomfort. Close to dawn, she placed her head on her arms at the side of the bed and finally succumbed to the exhaustion that she had been ignoring in her own body.
.....
When the sun rose, Chen Linjian woke up with a loud yawn, "Ahhh..." Halfway through, he cut his yawn short, as his eyes opened wide with surprise when he saw the long black hair of somebody resting near to his feet. He looked closer and with a sinking feeling, realised that it was Xiao Ning'Er.
He carefully climbed out of bed, making as little movement and noise as possible, and began quietly hopping out of the room. He really did not want to face her right now. As he reached the doorway, she groggily opened her eyes.
"Oh! Linjian...sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." she said as she tucked some hair behind her right ear and looked downwards to the ground in awkwardness.
"It's OK," he gruffly replied. "I was just...erm...getting some fresh air."
She jumped up to her feet, picking up his crutches next to the bed and passed it over to him, "You, erm...forgot your crutches."
He mumbled a quick thank you, his cheeks turning red as he knew he had been found out.
"Let me come with you for a walk." she said with a smile. "It would be good to get some fresh air."
They slowly walked around the garden in front of the infirmary in complete silence, keeping to his slow, hopping pace. She somehow sensed that he was not ready to talk yet and although the tension was uncomfortable at first, they eventually reached a certain level of familiarity with each other's company as they listened to the birds in the trees chirping to each other.
After a few hours, he finally turned to her, "Ning'Er, thank you for coming to visit me. Even though you must have been so tired after everything you've been through. I do...really appreciate it."
"Linjian..." she inadvertently glanced at the bandages wrapped around his wounds as her words caught in her throat. "You..."
He cut her off, "Wait a moment..." He took a long sigh. "I want you to know I don't blame you for anything. If I had a choice, I would have done what I did again. I just hope that it did help to give you and Ziyun a better chance of escaping that day..."
Her eyes teared in gratefulness at his words. "Of course it helped. It bought so many precious seconds for me to reach the river before those experts could catch us. It meant everything to me, Linjian..."
His face suddenly broke out into a genuine smile so different from what she had seen of him since the night before. "That's good. I'm glad I could be a bit of a hero then."
"Could I ask, how are your injuries? When will you recover?" she tentatively asked him.
His eyes sank and his mouth turned downwards again when he heard her question. "My leg and my side should heal within one to two months. But my face will always have these deep scars and my left eye...I won't be able to see out of it ever again." He turned to her and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "So I hope you'll still be able to look at my ugly face when I get out of here."
She gently punched his arm and forced out a smile. "I'll do my best...but if I can't, we can make you wear a cool mask every time you go out." she joked as she stuck out her tongue.
"Ning'Er, thanks for coming by to encourage me...really. Go and do what you need to, you don't have to waste so much time accompanying me." he told her.
"Mmm," she nodded. "I'll be back to see you again this evening."
"Oh yea, before I forget, I need to return this to you," he said as he took out a beautiful sword from his interspatial ring.
Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Didn't the Dark Guild confiscate all your items when you were captured? How come you still have the Unity Sword?"
He gave her a sheepish grin, looking a bit embarrassed. "To be honest, when I first heard from you that the large man was from the Dark Guild, my first thought was that I would lose your precious family heirloom. I was trying to think of a solution when you suddenly soul formed and gave me the perfect distraction."
"While everyone was looking at you, I swapped out my interspatial ring with a spare one..." He hesitated as he looked at her, considering whether to tell her or not. "Then I swallowed it."
Her expression was fluidly changing as he told her this story, from curiosity, to wonder before finally inadvertently crinkling in a slight look of disgust as she imagined how he might have recovered his hidden ring. As their eyes met, they suddenly started giggling, which then progressed to uncontrollable laughter.
"Owww, owww, stop it, owww!" he gasped as he tried to restrain his laughter. "It hurts...oh man, it hurts."
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Ye Zong dismissed everyone from the meeting hall except for Ziyun and Xiao Ning'Er and in a low voice filled with controlled fury, began speaking in a precise, clipped tone. "Ziyun. What were you thinking?" he asked. "You of all people should know how dangerous it is out there with the Dark Guild and how much leverage they would have over me and this city if they could capture you."
He continued, "How could you go on such a foolhardy expedition with that irresponsible smooth-talker? Look at what happened to him! Do you even understand the risk that you took? What if that had been you?"
Faced with the composed onslaught of accusations from her father, Ziyun couldn't help but lose control of the emotions that spilled out of her young heart. As tears started to fall freely, she tried to respond as silent sobs caused her chest to heave uncontrollably, "I'm...I'm...sor...sorry, so...sorry. I've fai...failed...dd...you...Father."
Ye Zong's expression remained unmoved as he turned his cold gaze towards Xiao Ning'Er. "I heard a bit about what happened from the boys. You have my thanks for saving my foolish daughter. I hope that you can aid her in making better decisions next time, instead of just blindly following along." he said while nodding his head in slight approval towards her as he thanked her.
Xiao Ning'Er bowed her head in respect to him. "She is my best friend. I would not hesitate to give my life to protect her." she said as Ziyun lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at her friend, touched by her moving words. "City Lord, I have something to report if I could have the permission to speak freely."
"Go ahead," came the curt reply.
"The one leading the group from the Dark Guild. I've seen him before...in Glory City. His name is Deacon Yun Hua and I have seen him coming out of the Star Restaurant, conversing with some elders from the Sacred Family." she told Ye Zong in a careful but assertive tone.
He looked at her with a pensive expression for a very long time, with his right hand clasping his chin. Finally, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper, "Young lady, do you know what you are implying? This can be a very serious accusation." He paused. "I heard that you're engaged to a boy of ill repute...is it possible that you're stirring something up to get out of an undesirable situation?" He carefully looked at her face for any tell-tale fluctuations in emotion.
Ye Zong hid his surprise as he spoke to Xiao Ning'Er. Was this really a 13 year old girl reasoning and trying to persuade him? It felt a bit as though he were speaking to a strategist in his war room! Even if she were lying, she communicated her thoughts with utmost calmness, succinctness and conviction. He couldn't help but start falling into her rhythm as he pondered the implications of the Sacred Family colluding with the Dark Guild. What a terrifying possibility!
"Do you have any proof," he asked as he began to believe some of her words.
"Unfortunately, I do not. But I am certain that if you don't put some measures into place, Glory City will suffer greatly in the near future..." she replied ominously.
He agreed with her. It could mean the entire downfall of their beautiful city if the Dark Guild's plans were to ever come to fruition. He decided to test her even though he didn't really have any expectations, "What kind of measures do you think we should put in place?"
She thought for a moment as her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "We need to find solid evidence if not, the other families would never agree to take action against one of the three major families. And the Sacred Family cannot know that they're being watched, if not they won't slip up. We would need to find a way to secretly monitor their movements and activities until they make a mistake when they communicate or handle a transaction with the Dark Guild. Deacon Yun Hua won't show up again for now because we've already seen his face."
This time, he couldn't hide his surprise at all as his eyebrows lifted up so high that they almost flew off his forehead. This would have been his exact plan that he would have implemented through Ye Shuo, the mysterious grey-robed man who was actually the head of his organisation in the shadows, which handled the more...unsavoury but necessary missions for Glory City. He regained his composure, rubbing the stubble on his chin with his fingers and muttering a thoughtful, "Hmmmm..."
"You've given me a lot to think about, young lady. Please do not discuss this with anybody else while I put certain things into motion." He then turned to Ziyun and said tersely, "Please be more careful next time and be wiser!"
He dismissed them with a final instruction to stay out of trouble if at all possible, then slumped down in his chair once they left the hall. He would have a long night ahead thinking through some weighty issues of great consequence.
As they arrived back to Ziyun's private courtyard, Xiao Ning'Er looked at her friend's tired, tear-stricken face. It had been a trying and anxiety-ridden week and she could tell that Ziyun would need some time to recover. Without bothering to say anything, she gave Ziyun a gentle hug for an extended time, waiting for her friend to pull away before bringing her arms back.
She then headed back to her room but halfway, she abruptly turned towards the direction of the city gates. Even though she did not know what to say or how to deal with the guilt she was feeling, she knew that she should drop by to see Linjian.
When she arrived, he was completely fast asleep. It was already late at night after all and at the same time, he had been given powerful pain-killing medication. She pulled up a chair and sat watching him through the night, frowning every time he jerked or moaned out loud in discomfort. Close to dawn, she placed her head on her arms at the side of the bed and finally succumbed to the exhaustion that she had been ignoring in her own body.
.....
When the sun rose, Chen Linjian woke up with a loud yawn, "Ahhh..." Halfway through, he cut his yawn short, as his eyes opened wide with surprise when he saw the long black hair of somebody resting near to his feet. He looked closer and with a sinking feeling, realised that it was Xiao Ning'Er.
He carefully climbed out of bed, making as little movement and noise as possible, and began quietly hopping out of the room. He really did not want to face her right now. As he reached the doorway, she groggily opened her eyes.
"Oh! Linjian...sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." she said as she tucked some hair behind her right ear and looked downwards to the ground in awkwardness.
"It's OK," he gruffly replied. "I was just...erm...getting some fresh air."
She jumped up to her feet, picking up his crutches next to the bed and passed it over to him, "You, erm...forgot your crutches."
He mumbled a quick thank you, his cheeks turning red as he knew he had been found out.
"Let me come with you for a walk." she said with a smile. "It would be good to get some fresh air."
They slowly walked around the garden in front of the infirmary in complete silence, keeping to his slow, hopping pace. She somehow sensed that he was not ready to talk yet and although the tension was uncomfortable at first, they eventually reached a certain level of familiarity with each other's company as they listened to the birds in the trees chirping to each other.
After a few hours, he finally turned to her, "Ning'Er, thank you for coming to visit me. Even though you must have been so tired after everything you've been through. I do...really appreciate it."
"Linjian..." she inadvertently glanced at the bandages wrapped around his wounds as her words caught in her throat. "You..."
He cut her off, "Wait a moment..." He took a long sigh. "I want you to know I don't blame you for anything. If I had a choice, I would have done what I did again. I just hope that it did help to give you and Ziyun a better chance of escaping that day..."
Her eyes teared in gratefulness at his words. "Of course it helped. It bought so many precious seconds for me to reach the river before those experts could catch us. It meant everything to me, Linjian..."
His face suddenly broke out into a genuine smile so different from what she had seen of him since the night before. "That's good. I'm glad I could be a bit of a hero then."
"Could I ask, how are your injuries? When will you recover?" she tentatively asked him.
His eyes sank and his mouth turned downwards again when he heard her question. "My leg and my side should heal within one to two months. But my face will always have these deep scars and my left eye...I won't be able to see out of it ever again." He turned to her and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "So I hope you'll still be able to look at my ugly face when I get out of here."
She gently punched his arm and forced out a smile. "I'll do my best...but if I can't, we can make you wear a cool mask every time you go out." she joked as she stuck out her tongue.
"Ning'Er, thanks for coming by to encourage me...really. Go and do what you need to, you don't have to waste so much time accompanying me." he told her.
"Mmm," she nodded. "I'll be back to see you again this evening."
"Oh yea, before I forget, I need to return this to you," he said as he took out a beautiful sword from his interspatial ring.
Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Didn't the Dark Guild confiscate all your items when you were captured? How come you still have the Unity Sword?"
He gave her a sheepish grin, looking a bit embarrassed. "To be honest, when I first heard from you that the large man was from the Dark Guild, my first thought was that I would lose your precious family heirloom. I was trying to think of a solution when you suddenly soul formed and gave me the perfect distraction."
"While everyone was looking at you, I swapped out my interspatial ring with a spare one..." He hesitated as he looked at her, considering whether to tell her or not. "Then I swallowed it."
Her expression was fluidly changing as he told her this story, from curiosity, to wonder before finally inadvertently crinkling in a slight look of disgust as she imagined how he might have recovered his hidden ring. As their eyes met, they suddenly started giggling, which then progressed to uncontrollable laughter.
"Owww, owww, stop it, owww!" he gasped as he tried to restrain his laughter. "It hurts...oh man, it hurts."
Ye Zong dismissed everyone from the meeting hall except for Ziyun and Xiao Ning'Er and in a low voice filled with controlled fury, began speaking in a precise, clipped tone. "Ziyun. What were you thinking?" he asked. "You of all people should know how dangerous it is out there with the Dark Guild and how much leverage they would have over me and this city if they could capture you."He continued, "How could you go on such a foolhardy expedition with that irresponsible smooth-talker? Look at what happened to him! Do you even understand the risk that you took? What if that had been you?"Faced with the composed onslaught of accusations from her father, Ziyun couldn't help but lose control of the emotions that spilled out of her young heart. As tears started to fall freely, she tried to respond as silent sobs caused her chest to heave uncontrollably, "I'm...I'm...sor...sorry, so...sorry. I've fai...failed...dd...you...Father."Ye Zong's expression remained unmoved as he turned his cold gaze towards Xiao Ning'Er. "I heard a bit about what happened from the boys. You have my thanks for saving my foolish daughter. I hope that you can aid her in making better decisions next time, instead of just blindly following along." he said while nodding his head in slight approval towards her as he thanked her.Xiao Ning'Er bowed her head in respect to him. "She is my best friend. I would not hesitate to give my life to protect her." she said as Ziyun lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at her friend, touched by her moving words. "City Lord, I have something to report if I could have the permission to speak freely.""Go ahead," came the curt reply."The one leading the group from the Dark Guild. I've seen him before...in Glory City. His name is Deacon Yun Hua and I have seen him coming out of the Star Restaurant, conversing with some elders from the Sacred Family." she told Ye Zong in a careful but assertive tone.He looked at her with a pensive expression for a very long time, with his right hand clasping his chin. Finally, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper, "Young lady, do you know what you are implying? This can be a very serious accusation." He paused. "I heard that you're engaged to a boy of ill repute...is it possible that you're stirring something up to get out of an undesirable situation?" He carefully looked at her face for any tell-tale fluctuations in emotion.Ye Zong hid his surprise as he spoke to Xiao Ning'Er. Was this really a 13 year old girl reasoning and trying to persuade him? It felt a bit as though he were speaking to a strategist in his war room! Even if she were lying, she communicated her thoughts with utmost calmness, succinctness and conviction. He couldn't help but start falling into her rhythm as he pondered the implications of the Sacred Family colluding with the Dark Guild. What a terrifying possibility!"Do you have any proof," he asked as he began to believe some of her words."Unfortunately, I do not. But I am certain that if you don't put some measures into place, Glory City will suffer greatly in the near future..." she replied ominously.He agreed with her. It could mean the entire downfall of their beautiful city if the Dark Guild's plans were to ever come to fruition. He decided to test her even though he didn't really have any expectations, "What kind of measures do you think we should put in place?"She thought for a moment as her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "We need to find solid evidence if not, the other families would never agree to take action against one of the three major families. And the Sacred Family cannot know that they're being watched, if not they won't slip up. We would need to find a way to secretly monitor their movements and activities until they make a mistake when they communicate or handle a transaction with the Dark Guild. Deacon Yun Hua won't show up again for now because we've already seen his face."This time, he couldn't hide his surprise at all as his eyebrows lifted up so high that they almost flew off his forehead. This would have been his exact plan that he would have implemented through Ye Shuo, the mysterious grey-robed man who was actually the head of his organisation in the shadows, which handled the more...unsavoury but necessary missions for Glory City. He regained his composure, rubbing the stubble on his chin with his fingers and muttering a thoughtful, "Hmmmm...""You've given me a lot to think about, young lady. Please do not discuss this with anybody else while I put certain things into motion." He then turned to Ziyun and said tersely, "Please be more careful next time and be wiser!"He dismissed them with a final instruction to stay out of trouble if at all possible, then slumped down in his chair once they left the hall. He would have a long night ahead thinking through some weighty issues of great consequence.As they arrived back to Ziyun's private courtyard, Xiao Ning'Er looked at her friend's tired, tear-stricken face. It had been a trying and anxiety-ridden week and she could tell that Ziyun would need some time to recover. Without bothering to say anything, she gave Ziyun a gentle hug for an extended time, waiting for her friend to pull away before bringing her arms back.She then headed back to her room but halfway, she abruptly turned towards the direction of the city gates. Even though she did not know what to say or how to deal with the guilt she was feeling, she knew that she should drop by to see Linjian.When she arrived, he was completely fast asleep. It was already late at night after all and at the same time, he had been given powerful pain-killing medication. She pulled up a chair and sat watching him through the night, frowning every time he jerked or moaned out loud in discomfort. Close to dawn, she placed her head on her arms at the side of the bed and finally succumbed to the exhaustion that she had been ignoring in her own body......When the sun rose, Chen Linjian woke up with a loud yawn, "Ahhh..." Halfway through, he cut his yawn short, as his eyes opened wide with surprise when he saw the long black hair of somebody resting near to his feet. He looked closer and with a sinking feeling, realised that it was Xiao Ning'Er.He carefully climbed out of bed, making as little movement and noise as possible, and began quietly hopping out of the room. He really did not want to face her right now. As he reached the doorway, she groggily opened her eyes."Oh! Linjian...sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." she said as she tucked some hair behind her right ear and looked downwards to the ground in awkwardness."It's OK," he gruffly replied. "I was just...erm...getting some fresh air."She jumped up to her feet, picking up his crutches next to the bed and passed it over to him, "You, erm...forgot your crutches."He mumbled a quick thank you, his cheeks turning red as he knew he had been found out."Let me come with you for a walk." she said with a smile. "It would be good to get some fresh air."They slowly walked around the garden in front of the infirmary in complete silence, keeping to his slow, hopping pace. She somehow sensed that he was not ready to talk yet and although the tension was uncomfortable at first, they eventually reached a certain level of familiarity with each other's company as they listened to the birds in the trees chirping to each other.After a few hours, he finally turned to her, "Ning'Er, thank you for coming to visit me. Even though you must have been so tired after everything you've been through. I do...really appreciate it.""Linjian..." she inadvertently glanced at the bandages wrapped around his wounds as her words caught in her throat. "You..."He cut her off, "Wait a moment..." He took a long sigh. "I want you to know I don't blame you for anything. If I had a choice, I would have done what I did again. I just hope that it did help to give you and Ziyun a better chance of escaping that day..."Her eyes teared in gratefulness at his words. "Of course it helped. It bought so many precious seconds for me to reach the river before those experts could catch us. It meant everything to me, Linjian..."His face suddenly broke out into a genuine smile so different from what she had seen of him since the night before. "That's good. I'm glad I could be a bit of a hero then.""Could I ask, how are your injuries? When will you recover?" she tentatively asked him.His eyes sank and his mouth turned downwards again when he heard her question. "My leg and my side should heal within one to two months. But my face will always have these deep scars and my left eye...I won't be able to see out of it ever again." He turned to her and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "So I hope you'll still be able to look at my ugly face when I get out of here."She gently punched his arm and forced out a smile. "I'll do my best...but if I can't, we can make you wear a cool mask every time you go out." she joked as she stuck out her tongue."Ning'Er, thanks for coming by to encourage me...really. Go and do what you need to, you don't have to waste so much time accompanying me." he told her."Mmm," she nodded. "I'll be back to see you again this evening.""Oh yea, before I forget, I need to return this to you," he said as he took out a beautiful sword from his interspatial ring.Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Didn't the Dark Guild confiscate all your items when you were captured? How come you still have the Unity Sword?"He gave her a sheepish grin, looking a bit embarrassed. "To be honest, when I first heard from you that the large man was from the Dark Guild, my first thought was that I would lose your precious family heirloom. I was trying to think of a solution when you suddenly soul formed and gave me the perfect distraction.""While everyone was looking at you, I swapped out my interspatial ring with a spare one..." He hesitated as he looked at her, considering whether to tell her or not. "Then I swallowed it."Her expression was fluidly changing as he told her this story, from curiosity, to wonder before finally inadvertently crinkling in a slight look of disgust as she imagined how he might have recovered his hidden ring. As their eyes met, they suddenly started giggling, which then progressed to uncontrollable laughter."Owww, owww, stop it, owww!" he gasped as he tried to restrain his laughter. "It hurts...oh man, it hurts."
