Because He Lan’s leg was injured and it was inconvenient for him to move, He Lan said before deciding to go down the mountain: “I’ll stay, ba. Lao Qin, you take Prefect Wu away.”

Qin Yu glanced at He Lan’s leg.

“What are you worrying about me for, ah? If you hadn’t stabbed a hole in Prefect Wu’s shoulder and made him faint, I would rather you carry me down the mountain.” He Lan crossed his legs and lay carelessly on the bed, saying, “I can’t move anyway, so I’ll just wait for someone to carry me.”

“You go, I’ll stay here to look after him,” Liu Zhenqing said.

Huo Fenglie looked toward him. “It’s not safe.”

He Lan expressed his dissatisfaction. “Hey, hey, hey, I’m here too.”

Liu Zhenqing analyzed calmly, “Qin-daren will move a little slower if he takes Prefect Wu, but you will be able to move faster and seize military power from the lieutenant in order to mobilize the troops and lay siege. Taking me with you will waste time. The people here won’t be able to find us for a while, and it will be more advantageous to act quickly. In addition, troops must be sent to arrest Magistrate Wang.”

He Lan and Qin Yu looked a little surprised. They were not familiar with Liu Zhenqing, and didn’t expect this guy to be so clever and organized.

“That makes sense,” Qin Yu said.

But Huo Fenglie took a deep look at Liu Zhenqing, and could only say to He Lan in the end: “Protect him.”

He Lan looked speechlessly at his injured leg.

Huo Fenglie and Qin Yu took Prefect Wu and the evidence down the mountain at once.

Glancing at He Lan on the bed, Liu Zhenqing said: “Let me get some water to clean your wound.”

He Lan said with a smile: “Thank you, but…..you’d better not leave my sight.”

Liu Zhenqing froze: “Ah?”

“Zhanyuan said to protect you. What if you encounter danger when you go out? If you’re in front of me, I can still fight if something happens.” Bored to death, He Lan pointed at the chair beside him: “Sit down, ba. It will take at least a shichen for them to leave and come back. Wait here.”

Although it was in the name of protection, He Lan really kept a close eye on him. This made Liu Zhenqing unhappy, and he wondered why Er-gou deliberately left such a command.

But it didn’t matter. There would be plenty of opportunities.

That’s right, he had to go.

Soon, the entire courtyard became lively. They had probably discovered the situation in the cave and were anxiously searching for the leader. As a result, they found that all the guests and women they brought were unconscious in the rooms. The courtyard was in chaos, and because Prefect Wu was not considered a guest in the first place, no one cared about him at all.

At the same time, Huo Fenglie and Qin Yu forcefully suppressed all the military officials on Prefect Wu’s list as soon as possible, including the lieutenant, then took out the token given by the emperor and directly took over the five thousand troops there. 

Qin Yu supervised a troop of soldiers to go to the Magistrate’s Manor and arrest that person, while Huo Fenglie led the remaining troops to surround the Heaven’s Blessing Sect’s mountain.

Just as he was about to lead the army in to lay siege, Qin Yu flew over alone.

“Magistrate Wang wasn’t in the manor. I asked the guards at the city gate and they said that he went to the Heaven’s Blessing Sect after you did tonight. We may have missed him. He should be in the Heaven’s Blessing Sect now.”

Huo Fenglie nodded. “I will lead troops to suppress them, and you lead people to pick up the others.”

Qin Yu had just nodded and was about to leave, but Huo Fenglie grabbed his arm and said, “You must retrieve them.”

Qin Yu felt strange, and thought that Huo Fenglie’s behavior tonight was a bit like a mother-in-law.

Soon, the Heaven’s Blessing Sect was thrown into chaos as the army attacked. Without a leader, they could only flee in all directions, but even the ones who escaped outside were caught by the surrounding troops.

Qin Yu also led his team to find Liu Zhenqing and He Lan, and escorted them to the circle where soldiers and horses were stationed outside the courtyard. Many people who were deceived had been taken there.

After settling them in, Qin Yu rushed to find Magistrate Wang. After all, they had been placed somewhere very safe, so Qin Yu no longer felt the need to worry about them.

And the troops had also brought along a military doctor, who was able to help treat He Lan’s wounds.

It was during this interval that a young soldier on guard was watching the excitement in the courtyard curiously, and he suddenly saw a noble young man walking through the crowd.

“Brother, I feel sick to my stomach. May I go into the woods to sort it out?”

The soldier had seen that he was with two lords, so he naturally regarded him as an honored guest and gave way. He was on guard duty, so he naturally couldn’t leave his post, and could only tell him to call out if something happened.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and walked slowly toward the forest. As he went, he saw horses tied nearby and grabbed one before disappearing into the trees.

Huo Fenglie returned after some time and couldn’t find Liu Zhenqing in the crowd, so he immediately rushed to ask He Lan.

How could He Lan know? He looked blankly at Huo Fenglie, whose expression had completely changed. 

After some inquiries, he finally determined a direction.

He Lan was about to say that they could just send someone to look for him, but Huo Fenglie didn’t listen to him at all. With a whistle, a huge black horse appeared. This was his mount, “Chen Jiangyue.” Huo Fenglie got on the horse and rushed out.

Just at this time, Qin Yu came back to see Huo Fenglie leaving.

“What’s wrong?” Qin Yu looked at He Lan suspiciously.

He Lan was stunned by this incident. “Lao Qin, I think what you said…..might really be true. Young Master Liu just walked away for a moment, so why is he so panicked?”

“Panicked?” Qin Yu frowned.

He Lan awkwardly tried to stand up, but his leg was bandaged and it was difficult to move. He could only tug on Qin Yu and say: “Chase after him quickly. Zhanyuan’s old problem has resurfaced.”

As soon as he spoke, Qin Yu’s expression changed slightly. He stopped talking and immediately gave chase.

But how could an ordinary horse catch up with Chen Jiangyue, who was of red rabbit horse and sweatblood horse origin?

The forest wind blew past his ears, and Huo Fenglie could hear nothing. He could only keep chasing forward.

He didn’t know how long he had been chasing when Chen Jiangyue’s hooves suddenly slowed and a long whinny brought Huo Fenglie to his senses.

Feeling oncoming murderous intent, Huo Fenglie rolled off his horse and pulled out the Chunjun sword. Shen Jiangyue cooperated and kept its distance, and two ding ding sounds were heard as two hidden weapons impacted the groove in the Chunjun sword.

“Who’s there!”

“Stop chasing me, young god of war general. I don’t wish to take your life and become a criminal in Great Zhou.”

Huo Fenglie instantly gazed at the dark road ahead and saw an old man with half his hair disheveled, wearing tattered clothes and holding a cane as he walked out slowly.

There was another person on horseback behind him. That person was not Liu Zhenqing, but a man dressed in splendid brocade clothing, dignified and fierce. His features were somewhat similar to those of the leader. 

Huo Fenglie realized at once that the man on the horse was Magistrate Wang, who had yet to be found.

“Kill him,” Magistrate Wang said directly.

“What do you know? Why haven’t you run away quickly? If you don’t drag me down, I’ll try my best to do something about him.”

Magistrate Wang was not angry upon hearing the old man’s rude words. He only gritted his teeth and turned around to ride away.

Then the old man said: “Boy, turn around and go back. You are no match for me.”

“Have you seen anyone else while going in this direction?” Huo Fenglie said in a deep voice.

The old man was taken aback for a moment, a little puzzled. Wasn’t this person here to pursue Magistrate Wang?

“No?” Huo Fenglie suddenly rushed toward the old man with his sword. “Then get out of the way!”

Huo Fenglie was full of murderous intent, the Chunjun sword pointed right at the old man’s face. When the old man dodged, he discovered that Huo Fenglie didn’t want to fight him at all, and really just wanted him to make way.

Chen Jiangyue also had a close connection with her master and detoured directly ahead.

But how could the old man let him go? He simply thought that Huo Fenglie was going after Magistrate Wang.

He flew up in an instant, pulling a sharp sword from his cane, and rushed forward to fight Huo Fenglie.

There was a clang as their swords met, and Huo Fenglie was knocked back several steps by his opponent’s internal force.

The person who had come was a master, a true master of martial arts.

Huo Fenglie looked into the distance, the redness in his eyes becoming deeper and deeper. The feeling of being too late eroded his heart, and his body grew increasingly hot, nearly making him lose his mind.

When the old man across from him noticed his appearance, he was suddenly cheerful. “A problem with your internal force?”

Huo Fenglie’s expression became severe, and he ducked in front of the old man. The light of his sword came and went like a shadow, and he exchanged dozens of moves in an instant.

The old man smiled and delayed time by saying: “Boy, you probably don’t know this, but I fought against your brother before! He was seriously injured by me when he was still young. I have already seen the skills of your Huo family, and there is nothing you can do to me. Forget it, since you are seeking death, I couldn’t kill your brother back then, so I will kill you today!”

The old man was a vicious person. When he truly wanted to take action, he would not care about the greater good of the country.

And he was also a despicable person. The two of them were initially in the same league, but the old man directly raised a hand of white powder. Even though Huo Fenglie dodged, he still received a lot of it because of the direction the wind was blowing.

Huo Fenglie instantly felt the strength in his body draining away.

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from the forest, “Attack his right knee!”

Huo Fenglie trembled all over. That was……Liu Zhenqing’s voice.

He looked in that direction, but it was too dark and too far away to see anything. He could only release a long whistle to order Chen Jiangyue to turn around while he stabbed toward the old man with his sword.

“Who is it!” The old man instantly panicked. Very few people knew about his weak point. Even Huo Fenglie, who had just fought with him, didn’t seem to know, which proved that his brother hadn’t told him about it!

But it was too late to ask. Huo Fenglie stabbed at the old man’s knee with his sword, and sure enough, his leg reacted slower than any other part of his body.

His weakness was exploited, and he suffered an injury. The old man was cautious, and even though he knew Huo Fenglie wouldn’t be able to hold on for long, he didn’t dare rush forward. There was also someone else in the forest, so he flew away directly.

At this time, Chen Jiangyue issued a high-pitched whinny to indicate that it had caught someone.

Liu Zhenqing watched helplessly as it bit his sleeve and continuously pulled him forward. He turned to reach for his own reins, but the horse was frightened by Chen Jiangyue and didn’t dare approach. 

In the end, Liu Zhenqing followed Chen Jiangyue’s wishes and came to Huo Fenglie. He was a little worried about Er-gou being poisoned. 

Huo Fenglie could barely stand at this moment, and used his sword to hold his body up with difficulty. It wasn’t until he saw Liu Zhenqing standing in front of him intact that he collapsed.

Liu Zhenqing instinctively stepped forward to catch him.

Huo Fenglie grabbed his wrist at once and stared at him intently.

But Liu Zhenqing only noticed the red color in Huo Fenglie’s eyes and thought it was from the old man’s poison just now. After all, when the three of them were on a study tour, they met an old assassin who knew how to kill with poison. The three of them had to combine their martial arts, poison, and Liu Zhenqing’s observation to defeat the old man. Therefore, they were the only ones who knew his weakness. Unexpectedly, that number one killer from back then was now reduced to being a bodyguard for someone like Magistrate Wang. It was true that money made all the difference, ah.

He was also unfortunate enough to meet them by chance while running through the forest. He was forced to stay and watch the battle, and in the end, he had to reveal himself in order to save Er-gou.

After checking his pulse with a frown, he realized that the drugs not only caused him to lose his strength, but Er-gou’s internal force was disordered. What was going on?

It was his fault for not studying and being unable to tell clearly, but he did know that Er-gou was gradually improving now, and it wasn’t serious.

Liu Zhenqing put Huo Fenglie’s wrist down and looked up, but when their eyes met, his mind froze.

Those black and red eyes were filled with a strange light, looking at him earnestly and directly.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and did not give any apologies or explanations for the current situation. He only said: “Brother Huo, you rest. I’ll get you the antidote pills.”

Liu Zhenqing helped him lean against a tree. He stood up and was about to leave, but found his wrist tightly grasped by this person who was rapidly losing strength.

Liu Zhenqing bowed his head to look at him.

Huo Fenglie’s pupils quivered, his clear eyes completely reflecting Liu Zhenqing’s figure. His low, hoarse voice sounded slowly, “Don’t leave.”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned for a moment. It was as if something had disturbed the calm lake in his heart, causing ripples to appear.

But Liu Zhenqing just smiled gently and said: “I’m just going to get the antidote pills. They’re on my horse. You need to get better quickly in case the assassin comes back. Trust me, ah, I’m not lying to you.”

“Trust me, ah, I’m not lying to you.”

Qing-ge had said this to him countless times, and he had been fooled countless times.

But he never learned his lesson.

His hand gradually lost strength, and it was impossible to tell if it was voluntary or the effect of the drug.

Huo Fenglie just looked straight at Liu Zhenqing and said with nearly imperceptible pleading and hope, “En, I’ll wait for you.”

Liu Zhenqing’s face stiffened for a moment. He had deceived Er-gou countless times, but had never felt any guilt. Could an adult deceiving a child be counted as lying?

It seemed all that guilt was coming due all at once.

Liu Zhenqing turned around, walked back to the forest with stiff steps, and mounted his horse.

When the sound of horse hooves came from the silent forest, Huo Fenglie stared in astonishment at the bag that was already hanging on Chen Jiangyue’s reins.

It was the bag that held the medicine bottles.

He left after all?

Huo Fenglie’s expression was a little embarrassed, and he took out the medicine fiercely, swallowing the antidote pills. The red color in his eyes that had been continuously fading ignited as if resurrected, and what drifted from the flames was chaos and madness.

Hoofbeats suddenly sounded, and Huo Fenglie’s eyes lit up as if he had found something that was lost, but he only saw Qin Yu rushing over.

At this moment, it seemed that his body could no longer endure, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

“Zhanyuan!” Qin Yu immediately dismounted. “Do you have the medicine on you? Take it quickly.”

But Huo Fenglie had regained some strength and pushed Qin Yu away, mounted his horse, pulled the reins, and was about to give chase.

“What are you doing.” 

“Liu…..”

“Liu Xiaozhu? I just met him. He was going back, and said he wanted to find someone to hunt down Magistrate Wang.”

Huo Fenglie immediately reined the horse in and turned to look at Qin Yu. “You said he…..went back?”

Qin Yu nodded. “Yes.”

Huo Fenglie swayed, raising his hand to cover his face as if in disbelief. Before Qin Yu could question him, Huo Fenglie had already taken the pills to suppress his illness and then rode his horse wildly in the direction he had come from.

He didn’t leave?

He really…..didn’t leave?

When the sounds of the crowd came, a familiar figure came into view once more.

At that moment, Huo Fenglie felt his heart beating again.

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

Chapter Forty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Two