The General’s Manor.

Li Xingruo heard some things from Uncle Tian that she couldn’t even imagine. She pulled the two children over and asked them in detail about the process of their acquaintance with Liu Zhenqing.

One detail after another, she listened.

Li Xingruo laughed wildly for a long time before bursting into tears. Finally, she ran out to count how many pills Huo Fenglie had taken along to control his illness.

Uncle Tian couldn’t figure out what Li Xingruo was thinking, and could only ask worriedly: “Did he not bring enough pills?”

Once Li Xingruo finished counting, she estimated, “It was originally enough, but with him, it might not necessarily be enough.”

Uncle Tian’s face was full of questions, and he continued to ask: “Will Second Master go for proper treatment this time? Didn’t you say that he shirked it every time in the past?”

Li Xingruo scoffed and said: “Don’t worry. This time, he’s reluctant to die.”

After Li Xingruo finished speaking, she went to the small Buddhist chamber.

The small Buddhist chamber was deserted. There was a Buddha statue on the table and an incense holder. In the light of the setting sun, one could still clearly read the memorial tablet on the altar. It belonged to Huo Feihan.

But next to Huo Feihan’s, there was another tablet covered with a white silk cloth, so that the writing on it could not be seen. The cloth was poisoned. Even if someone broke in, no one would dare to touch it. Only Li Xingruo could.

She stepped forward and suddenly opened the white cloth. On it was the name “Liu Zhenqing.”

Li Xingruo grew angry upon seeing it. She pointed at Liu Zhenqing’s tablet and cursed: “What a liar! You didn’t even greet me when you came back.”

“Han-ge, do you think it would be better for me to beat him one time or two times?”

“Hmph, I’ll beat him three times.”

“This old lady is angry to death! Now that I can’t hit anyone, I’ll curse you! I curse you…..to be outshined by Er-gou sooner rather than later!”

“No, wouldn’t that make you cheap? Han-ge, your little brother also needs to be taught a lesson. He even hid it from me? What, does he want to hide him away now and not let anyone know? This kid!”

“I say, there’s no need to prepare a memorial tablet. Haha.”

. . . . . . . .

“Shimei, help me prepare a memorial tablet too. It should be made of the same material as the boss’s. This way, me and the boss can stay together and play.”

“Are you crazy? Do you want me to beat you?”

“You know the state of my body the best. Maybe it will come in handy soon.”

“Rubbish. Retire early and take good care of yourself. You’ve done enough for Yuan Jue and Great Zhou. How could something happen to you with Master and I joining forces?”

“En, that’s right. Then I’ll endeavor to live past thirty.”

“Live a long life for this old lady!

. . . . . . . . 

“Achoo!” Liu Zhenqing sneezed loudly. He rubbed his nose, then continued to dig into the soil with the shovel.

After digging happily for a while, he felt more and more that something was wrong. He obviously hadn’t dug very deep back then, so where was it?

Liu Zhenqing paused, turned slightly, and continued digging in disbelief.

Huo Fenglie watched for a while before stepping forward to take Liu Zhenqing’s shovel. Without knowing what he was digging for, he said: “I’ll do it.”

Liu Zhenqing was already tired, and was too lazy to be polite. He sat down to rest and said with a puzzled expression: “When I was kidnapped by the bandits, I was carrying a lot of money and treasures on me. In order to make it easier to escape, I buried them here.”

Huo Fenglie suddenly stopped digging.

“Strange, I remember that it was here, ah. Could it be that I lost too much blood at that time and my head wasn’t clear, so I remembered the wrong place? After all, this is a barren mountain, and it was burned. It’s unlikely that someone would have come here. How could it have disappeared?”

Huo Fenglie continued digging, but his tone was a little stiff when he said, “You could have remembered wrong.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a clang, as if he had hit something hard.

Liu Zhenqing was right next to him, so Huo Fenglie certainly couldn’t hide it, and Liu Zhenqing saw the strange stone buried in the pit at a glance.

Liu Zhenqing took a sharp breath. This was obviously not natural, but a deliberate placement.

Once he could react, Liu Zhenqing let out a wretched cry like the roar of a tyrannosaurus. “Fuck! Who did it!”

The dignified general was shaken by his roar, and sweat began to form on his forehead.

Liu Zhenqing pushed Huo Fenglie away and fished out the stone, but there were no other clues left behind.

His wife money had vanished just like this!

Wife! Money! Ah!

That was the starting capital for him to start a new life and escape!

Before he could even run away, one of his legs was broken!

Huo Fenglie gazed at the agitated Liu Zhenqing and seemed to see tears of despair glimmering in his eyes.

Huo Fenglie had a guilty conscience. “I have money here.”

Liu Zhenqing looked aggrievedly at Huo Fenglie!

Huo Fenglie still felt guilty: “It’s enough.”

Liu Zhenqing: That’s useless, ah!

Running away from Huo Fenglie and leaving the Liu family in a mess was already wicked enough. How could he escape and take away his money?!

There was nothing he could do now, so he cursed the guy who had cheated him of his wife money.

Curse him for not being able to marry a wife in this lifetime!

Liu Zhenqing, who had been in high spirits along the way, was completely silent as he returned to the carriage. His entire person seemed to have lost the glow of vitality as he leaned listlessly against the wall of the carriage. Even Huo Fenglie got into the carriage and looked at him. This person didn’t even have the energy to talk anymore. It was obvious that he had taken a hard blow.

Originally, in order to make up for the mistake made by his subordinates, Huo Fenglie had planned to hand over his wallet to Liu Zhenqing. But seeing Liu Zhenqing so downcast, he seemed to understand something and didn’t mention it again.

When they arrived in a new town that night, they checked into an inn. It wasn’t until Liu Zhenqing followed Huo Fenglie to a room that he seemed to return to his senses. 

“General Huo, you’re sleeping in the same room as me?”

Huo Fenglie nodded.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help the widening of his eyes. As he looked around, he found that although it was only one room, there was a table in the middle with screen-off beds on the left and right sides. It could be considered a double room, a reasonable arrangement.

Liu Zhenqing randomly picked a bed, set down his bags, and thought to himself: What is he thinking? Sleeping in the same room as someone who had pursued him? If it was the original person, after this night, I fear Er-gou would have lost his innocence. This child is truly not enlightened in this area, ba. Just like when he was a child, he was emotionally unresponsive.

Just after putting his things away, Liu Zhenqing turned and found Huo Fenglie standing behind him like a silent shadow. Liu Zhenqing was so frightened that he tilted back, and would have fallen on the bed if Huo Fenglie hadn’t grabbed him.

“What are you doing?” Liu Zhenqing asked in shock.

Huo Fenglie held Liu Zhenqing steady before letting go, and said in a low voice, “I’m calling you to eat.”

Liu Zhenqing was speechless for a moment. He could just call out, he wasn’t deaf. “You don’t make any noise when you walk. It’s rather scary.”

Huo Fenglie said that he would pay attention next time. Scanning around, he made sure that there was only the one window in the room, then walked around outside the screen to wait.

When they came to the first floor of the inn to eat, Huo Fenglie asked him to order, and Liu Zhenqing felt a little better when he saw that the dishes were good.

The waiter saw that they were well-dressed, and naturally gave them warm recommendations. “Guests, would you like some wine? Our wine is the best in the city.”

Liu Zhenqing’s interest was piqued when he heard this, but then he glanced at Huo Fenglie across from him and remembered the night before. He waved his hand with lingering fear. “No need, no need, let’s just have tea. Right…..Brother Huo?”

Huo Fenglie looked at Liu Zhenqing and nodded.

Once the waiter had left regretfully, Liu Zhenqing asked: “Is it okay if I call you Brother Huo?” Going out to investigate while incognito, he couldn’t call him ‘general.’ It would be too easy to be exposed.

Huo Fenglie nodded.

Liu Zhenqing smiled dryly and sounded him out: “By the way, I didn’t do anything while drunk last night, right?”

Huo Fenglie lowered his head and drank his tea. “I don’t know.”

When he said this, Liu Zhenqing was relieved. As expected, Er-gou’s drinking capacity was still average. He must have gotten drunk too.

Now that he had a garbage constitution, he had better not drink alcohol before leaving, just in case he exposed himself.

That’s right, Liu Zhenqing still had to run away. Although he didn’t have a few taels of silver on him, how could a living person be so foolish as to die from holding in his pee?^[1]

However, in order to prevent his escape from becoming more difficult, it was better to eat and stay with Huo Fenglie all the way. When they got to Jiangnan, it wouldn’t be too late to run away then.

Thinking this way, Liu Zhenqing regained his energy and ate contentedly, only to find that there was another empty plate on the table with pieces of boneless fish meat gradually being laid on it.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows, and was about to pick his own fish when he saw Huo Fenglie opposite him push the plate toward him.

Liu Zhenqing looked up in surprise, and Huo Fenglie said: “You eat it.”

“Ah?”

“I don’t eat much. You eat it so that it doesn’t go to waste.” Huo Fenglie spoke in a calm tone, as if this was a normal thing.

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched. He didn’t feel that the fish meat picked by Huo Fenglie was something that mortals couldn’t touch, but only felt that Er-gou was pitiful. Was this bad habit truly unbreakable?

“Then thank you. But if you don’t want to eat it, you can try not to choose it. Habits can be changed,” Liu Zhenqing advised as he picked up a few slices and ate them shamelessly.

Huo Fenglie glanced at him and said, “There’s no need to change. I like picking fish bones.”

Liu Zhenqing pitied Huo Fenglie even more.

After finishing the meal, he wanted to call for hot water and take a bath in the room, and the waiter recommended the inn’s own hot spring pool. After a day of traveling and riding in the carriage, his back was sore. As soon as he heard about the hot spring, Liu Zhenqing was immediately interested. Returning to the room, he happily picked up a change of clothes and prepared to rush to the hot spring pool. He saw Huo Fenglie standing there and invited: “Does Brother Huo want to come too?”

Huo Fenglie’s expression seemed a little abnormal, and there was some hesitation on his face.

Liu Zhenqing instantly understood. It was fine to sleep in the same room, but not to bathe together. This boy really did care.

Liu Zhenqing was amused. “Brother Huo, could it be that you’re afraid I’ll…..”

“Brother Liu is worrying too much.” Huo Fenglie’s expression was serious as he turned around and picked up his clothes, intending to go with him.

There were quite a few people when they came to the changing room, all of whom were old men taking off their clothes. Some removed their clothes completely, and some wore towels. The hot spring could be reached through the bamboo door to the side.

Liu Zhenqing stripped naked and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Turning his head to the side, he saw that Huo Fenglie next to him had only taken off his top layer. He didn’t know if was already feeling the heat of the hot spring from here, but Huo Fenglie’s ears were already a little red from the steam. 

Liu Zhenqing was not in a hurry to go soak in the hot spring, and had enough time to examine Er-gou’s grown up body.

His body was strong and muscular, a perfect inverted triangle shape, and of course he had abs. Every line was just right, without a trace of excess fat. Like a graceful leopard, every inch was full of hidden strength and masculine charm. 

As soon as he took off his shirt, many men around made sounds of admiration.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t care much about Er-gou’s figure. After all, he was sick of looking at Huo Feihan in the past. There was no telling how many times he had touched it, and he was already immune to this kind of figure. However, Liu Zhenqing was dazzled by how many scars there were on his body.

Even Huo Feihan did not have so many when he was alive.

This child had suffered many injuries throughout the years, many of which were near the heart. He could imagine how dire those injuries had been. 

Likely because Liu Zhenqing’s gaze was so obvious, Huo Fenglie’s hands paused while undressing on the belt of his last layer.

Sensing Huo Fenglie’s embarrassment, Liu Zhenqing innocently raised his head and looked at him. Huo Fenglie felt uncomfortable for a rare moment, and then glanced at him as if in warning.

Liu Zhenqing: ……

Okay, ba. If I keep looking, I won’t be able to use amnesia as an excuse.

“Brother Huo, I’ll go first.” Liu Zhenqing laughed dryly, then turned and walked toward the bamboo door.

And the moment Liu Zhenqing turned around, Huo Fenglie hastily took off his clothes.

Liu Zhenqing suddenly stopped, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smirk. How could he be so honest? In fact, he was rather curious about Er-gou’s situation. He was so big. And he was still a man who was like an older brother, so it was natural to be competitive.

So as he approached the bamboo gate, Liu Zhenqing turned back secretly but failed to match Huo Fenglie’s speed.

At that time, Huo Fenglie was already wearing a towel and had his back turned to him.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t see anything, but he glimpsed several uncles standing opposite Huo Fenglie. They had been talking and laughing normally, but now they were staring open-mouthed in Huo Fenglie’s direction. Swallowing, they picked up the towels next to them and silently covered themselves, as if they had been given a shock.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows curiously and watched as Huo Fenglie turned around. Naturally, he was caught peeking.

Huo Fenglie regarded Liu Zhenqing with a stiff expression.

Liu Zhenqing smiled awkwardly, turned around, and rushed to the hot spring to take a dip.

When Huo Fenglie came in, he said nothing, and sat an arm’s length away from him with a straight face.

Liu Zhenqing felt that he had to clear his name, so he turned to say that he had no evil intentions toward him. He sensed Huo Fenglie tense up for a moment and turn slightly in the other direction.

Liu Zhenqing: Pfft.

What to do? With such an interesting Er-gou, he suddenly wanted to play with him.

Suppressing a laugh, Liu Zhenqing deliberately took a step to the side. Although he didn’t see Huo Fenglie move, he could clearly feel that the distance between them had widened once more.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows and took a big step closer. He could instantly see Huo Fenglie’s jaw tense.

He moved again, and again.

Finally, without realizing it, Huo Fenglie was sitting in the corner of the hot spring pool. It would be too obvious if he moved again. 

Liu Zhenqing moved his buttocks at once and sat down directly next to Huo Fenglie. Their arms brushed, and he naturally felt the tense muscles of Er-gou’s arm.

“Ai, Brother Huo, why do you keep running to the side, ah? I want to talk to you.” Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but smile like crazy. Seeing Huo Fenglie’s originally cold and unapproachable expression gradually crack, Liu Zhenqing became even more unscrupulous and leaned to the side at an angle, saying directly into this person’s ear: “Brother Huo, what are you doing? Are you…..afraid of me? But I’m a weak young master without the strength to truss a chicken, ah. You could topple me with just a finger, so I should be the one afraid of you, ah.”

Probably because his breath irritated Huo Fenglie’s already red earlobes, he turned to look at Liu Zhenqing. The sudden closeness almost caused the two of them to hit noses. Liu Zhenqing didn’t react, but Huo Fenglie had already tilted his head back to maintain a safe distance.

Looking at his expression, he was clearly angry, with an expression like he was being bullied but couldn’t resist. Liu Zhenqing was so happy that he almost laughed out loud. Where was the cold and dignified General Huo from before? Why did he feel so helpless with his clothes off?

But he knew that he had to stop and not go too far, lest he have to explain himself.

Liu Zhenqing cleared his throat and sat up straight, saying seriously: “Brother Huo, I’m just joking with you. I know you must still have some concerns, but believe me, I don’t like men in the first place. You can verify this. The reason I became obsessed with you later was probably because of your life-saving grace at the beginning. Now that I’ve lost my memory and returned to my senses, I really have no such thoughts about you anymore.”

Huo Fenglie’s expression changed, as if he didn’t know how to react.

Liu Zhenqing continued to explain: “And I didn’t have that kind of intention when I looked at you just now. It was because I saw something on you…..”

As Liu Zhenqing spoke, he looked at his chest, which was half-submerged beneath the hot spring water, and wanted to talk about the scars.

But in the next second, Liu Zhenqing’s gaze suddenly paused. With a look of confusion on his face, he reached out a finger and said, “What is this…..”

There was a sudden splash, and water was flung into Liu Zhenqing’s face and eyes. When he opened his eyes again, there was a flash of white, and Liu Zhenqing was shocked to see that Huo Fenglie was not only wearing a towel underneath, but also covering his entire upper body.

This girdle was as tight as a woman’s, and in the entire hot spring pool, he was probably the only one in such a strange situation. 

Liu Zhenqing was dumbfounded. He had actually prepared two towels and brought them in deliberately.

Was he really worried about him peeking at his body?

Wait, he couldn’t have thought just now that he wanted not only to look, but to touch.

This fucking made sense, and he couldn’t even explain himself clearly.

Liu Zhenqing cast Huo Fenglie a depressed look. “Brother Huo, I’m really not a cut-sleeve.”

He thought he wouldn’t get a response, but heard Huo Fenglie answer in a low voice, “I know.”

Such simple straightforwardness was not comforting at all. Too fucking fake.

Liu Zhenqing no longer continued the conversation, and blamed himself for being too nosy.

He took the initiative to sit farther away and slowly scrubbed himself. Huo Fenglie didn’t take off the towel during the entire process. When he was ready to go out, Liu Zhenqing left first, and Huo Fenglie waited a long time before following. Liu Zhenqing had learned his lesson, and avoided looking at him this time.

Just as he was getting into bed, that scene flashed through Liu Zhenqing’s mind.

Had he been disoriented by the steam in the hot spring?

Why did he seem to have seen some kind of brown-green tattoo slowly appearing on Huo Fenglie’s body?

This was obviously not normal. The area he saw at the time seemed to be quite broad, but it was not fully displayed, so he didn’t know what it was. 

Liu Zhenqing was curious about this matter, but was too embarrassed to ask. He also didn’t have the nerve, and it would be even more ambiguous if he questioned him again. Fortunately, Huo Fenglie returned with a normal attitude afterward, and the two of them got along naturally and harmoniously.

The weather was nice, so the two of them traveled for five consecutive days, only temporarily stopping at night. Finally, they approach an important hub for the Liu Family River Transport. One of the tasks given to Huo Fenglie by Yuan Jue was also to find where the disaster relief went wrong in Yanqiu prefecture.

And Liu Zhenqing was also very familiar with this place. The counties in Great Zhou that were most prone to flood disasters were under this jurisdiction, and counties eleven and sixty five were in need of disaster relief almost every year.

When Liu Zhenqing was in office, he often had headaches over this place and couldn’t sleep at night.

It was likely the same this time, with someone embezzling disaster relief funds.

As soon as the carriage passed the tea stall in front of the first village, a kind-hearted boss asked them if they intended to keep going. 

Liu Zhenqing enthusiastically inquired about the news.

“I advise the two of you to find another route.”

“Why?”

“The official road ahead passes through Feilong Mountain, and bandits are rampant now. I see that the two of you only have a carriage and a horse, but no guards. It is really unsafe. If you’re stopped by bandits, it would be a small matter to lose your money, but a big matter to lose your lives.”

“Don’t the local officials suppress the bandits?” Liu Zhenqing asked curiously.

“Suppress the bandits?” The boss seemed to have heard something amusing. “There are disasters in our area every year, so there is no time to suppress bandits. Moreover, the mountain is easy to get lost in, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The officials have tried and failed several times to deal with them. In the end, they could only turn a blind eye. Not to mention…..”

The boss immediately stopped talking when he said this, as if afraid of something taboo. “In any case, the two of you should take a detour. Just avoid the first two cities.”

After speaking, the boss turned and continued to work. However, the boss’s son next to him stood and stared at them blankly. It was probably rare to see guests as decent as them, and he asked with bright eyes if they were dignitaries.

Liu Zhenqing used fruits to amuse the child, and noticed that he was holding a frame made of wooden sticks in his hand. The shape was very strange, so he took a few more glances. 

After the boss took the child away, Liu Zhenqing asked Huo Fenglie: “Brother Huo, what should we do next? There are bandits.”

Huo Fenglie seemed to frown in thought, then looked up at Liu Zhenqing. “What do you think?”

Liu Zhenqing didn’t bother to think. “How should I know, ah? I’ll listen to you. I don’t even know martial arts, so if we encounter any, Brother Huo will have to work hard to protect me.”

“You can rest assured of this,” Huo Fenglie said.

Speaking this way was equivalent to going forward. After all, they were going to the city ahead, and there was no way around it. 

He had just gotten into the carriage when Huo Fenglie handed Liu Zhenqing a suit of soft armor from the baggage.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t like wearing these things. They were heavy, but considering the possibility of a mishap, he still had to make do with it.

The carriage continued to move forward, and after marching for half a day, no one was seen blocking the road. Just when Liu Zhenqing was rather disappointed, he heard the startling sound of horse hooves and familiar rhetoric.

“Block the road! This is a robbery!”

Liu Zhenqing covertly opened the curtain and took a look, his eyes filled with helplessness.

There were five or six men, none of whom could be considered strong in stature, and their sword-wielding posture was not standard. Like this…..Huo Fenglie could take ten of them in one go.

Turning around, he saw Huo Fenglie sitting on his horse with an expressionless face. He glanced at Liu Zhenqing calmly, and then at the people hiding in the grass on both sides.

An ambush?

“How many people?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

“Eight in total.”

Liu Zhenqing shook his head regretfully, and Huo Fenglie rode forward on his black horse, which was also calm and completely undisturbed.

Liu Zhenqing got out of the carriage and motioned for the frightened coachman to hide inside.

Huo Fenglie didn’t put a stop to Liu Zhenqing’s movements, because the opponents clearly didn’t have long-range weapons.

However, the bandit leader didn’t realize the seriousness of the problem. When he saw that there were only two people in total, and that they were well-dressed, he suddenly burst into laughter.

He drew in a deep breath and began to shout the rest of his lines: “This mountain is mine…..”

But just as he got started, he saw a handsome young man stand on the carriage and call out: “This road is mine, and now I’m seeing this scene. For this sudden eyesore, you must pay a fine. If you dare to refuse, I will beat you until you cry.”

Huo Fenglie: ……

The bandits were stunned. Why did his words sound so similar to theirs?

Who the hell was robbing whom, ah!

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[1] (活人讓尿憋死) means to be unable to solve a problem due to inflexible thinking. I’m keeping the wording of this idiom as-is. It’s hilarious. ⮐

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Chapter Thirty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Six