The height beneath the bed was limited, so when Huo Fenglie came over, it was impossible to keep an appropriate distance from Liu Zhenqing, and he nearly touched the tip of his nose.

Those dark eyes flashed with strong emotions, an unknown beast unleashed within the shallow dark red. The masculine aura that seemed to be able to completely suppress a person was like alcohol floating in the air, making him drunk without knowing it.

Hot breath blew against his face, rapid and heavy, causing Lu Zhenqing to endure a torture like being set aflame. Liu Zhenqing looked back at him and unexpectedly grew afraid. 

Only a low “I’m sorry” was heard.

Liu Zhenqing panicked. Was he really going to…..

He closed his eyes fearfully.

But soon after, he felt a slight pain in his neck and his vision went dark.

Why…..why did he want to knock him out?!

Could it be that he couldn’t bear it anymore, so he planned to use this trick and deceive him?

Do whatever he wanted after knocking him out, and pretend nothing happened when he woke up?

I didn’t expect you to be like this, Er-gou!

As long as he thought he was unconscious, Huo Fenglie might do all those kinds of things in the book to him. Liu Zhenqing had a very strong sense of survival while passed out, and tried to wake up.

When he awoke, he was already lying in bed at an inn.

Liu Zhenqing stared at the scene before him and was confused for a moment. When he raised his hand, he found that he was only wearing his under robes.

Liu Zhenqing’s entire person felt bad. With a pale face, he cautiously moved his body.

It….it didn’t seem to hurt.

He checked a couple of places silently, and there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.

Was it just kissing, hugging, and rubbing?

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but touch the corner of his mouth, his face coloring.

Suddenly, there were footsteps beside the bed. Liu Zhenqing tensed up. Looking over, he saw Huo Fenglie lifting the bed curtain.

“Qing-ge?”

“You!” Anger suddenly arose in Liu Zhenqing’s heart, but he hesitantly wondered whether he should ask him if he had taken advantage of the opportunity to do something.

Huo Fenglie hurriedly said: “I’m sorry, Qing-ge. I was afraid you would be affected after inhaling the drug, so I could only knock you out first.”

Liu Zhenqing squinted at him: “What about my clothes?”

“There was dust under the bed, so…..”

Bah, he couldn’t believe it. The person he yearned for was right next to him, his body was responding, and he still didn’t take action.

Do you dare or not dare? Bad dog!

“That incense does not make a big impact on the body, and will dissipate soon.” Due to having hit him, Huo Fenglie lowered his head with a guilty conscience.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows. “Oh. What about you, were you affected?”

Huo Fenglie shook his head. “I have internal strength, so…..”

What a liar, I saw it all!

Liu Zhenqing was unbearably angry and was about to teach him a lesson. Suddenly, his nose twitched and he smelled the scent of blood. He immediately frowned and said seriously: “What happened afterwards? How did we get back? Was there a fight?”

Huo Fenglie explained: “Everything went well. I got the key. Qin Yu and He Lan went to the treasury, and they’ll send the key back after they find the register.”

Liu Zhenqing became confused for a moment: “No fight? Why is there the smell of blood? Are you injured?”

Huo Fenglie was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Liu Zhenqing’s nose to be so sharp. Facing him, Huo Fenglie was really not used to lying, so he instinctively hid his hand behind him.

With sharp eyes, Liu Zhenqing instantly grabbed his wrist and pulled it over. He saw a deep bite mark on the inside of his wrist, the kind that would bleed directly.

Liu Zhenqing was shocked. Such a wound could not be caused easily.

“This is…..” Liu Zhenqing was confused. He had been unconscious, and couldn’t struggle to bite Er-gou. Was his straight male desire to survive so strong? But…..

How did he get his mouth off him? This bite must hurt so much, ah.

“It’s fine, I bit myself.” Huo Fenglie closed his hand in embarrassment.

Liu Zhenqing paused for a moment, then raised his head to look at Huo Fenglie in confusion.

Huo Fenglie could only say frankly: “I was actually a little affected by the incense. In order to stay calm, I had to…..”

Liu Zhenqing was dumbfounded, and stared at the wound in a daze. Then he lowered his eyes and murmured: “If you can’t hold on, then don’t hold on.”

“Ah?” Huo Fenglie made a puzzled sound, as if he didn’t understand.

Pulling his hand, Liu Zhenqing got out of bed angrily to look for a medicine box in order to bandage him.

“I say, you forgot about the antidote made by your sister-in-law. Why not just find it and take it? I could take it with you.”

Huo Fenglie was forced to sit down, and could only let Liu Zhenqing deal with the wound. “There are very few pills. Our journey may not be easy, so there was no need to waste them in a place like this.”

As a result, as soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhenqing hit him on the head.

Huo Fenglie looked at Liu Zhenqing innocently.

Liu Zhenqing pointed at his hand and scolded: “You’re injured. No matter how precious the pill is, it is useless if not used. Are you stupid? Doesn’t this hurt? You dared to bite yourself. How big a deal is it? You also said that kind of incense won’t have much of an effect. At worst, you can just relieve yourself, don’t tell me you don’t know this.”

Huo Fenglie was immediately embarrassed by Liu Zhenqing’s words.

What did he mean by ‘relieve?’ At that time, he was under the bed and next to Qing-ge. How could he…..”

But facing Liu Zhenqing, who was looking at him angrily, Huo Fenglie could only keep silent.

Liu Zhenqing suddenly said: “I don’t want to see any more scars on your body.”

He had seen the current state of Huo Fenglie’s body. There were countless scars on it.

Huo Fenglie looked up at Liu Zhenqing as he treated the wound. He recalled that when they were under the bed before, after knocking Liu Zhenqing unconscious and looking at the person beneath him, he nearly lost control of himself.

That bite was a warning to himself, don’t mess around!

But he didn’t want Liu Zhenqing to worry.

His emotions were like water in a cup. They were in a state of fullness, seemingly calm and unruffled, with an occasional layer of ice. But as long as there was a slight gust from the person in front of him, it would directly make him overflow.

Huo Fenglie couldn’t help but lean forward and rest his forehead gently on the back of Liu Zhenqing’s hand, like a small animal suddenly showing weakness.

Cautious and solemn, but unable to hold on.

Liu Zhenqing’s hands froze. He looked down at Huo Fenglie, but could only see his lonely, dazed profile.

His heart was inexplicably hit, which caused him to become tangled up again. He couldn’t help but raise his hand to touch the other’s head like a puppy.

Er-gou really liked him, ah. He didn’t want this child to be sad.

Although he was a man…..he was still Er-gou in the end. Maybe he could try it and see if it worked?

Should he think it over carefully before Er-gou broke the window paper?

Cough, cough, cough, you couldn’t force your feelings. He would just place Er-gou among those who could be considered. At worst, he would simply not treat him as just a little brother in the future.

Moreover, a man and a man…..he needed to do some good mental preparation.

Even when sitting down, Er-gou looked tall and mighty.

Sure enough, no matter how he thought about it, there was a top and a bottom in the book. But…..it was extremely exhausting work.

Aiya, so vexing!

Qin Yu and He Lan soon returned. They completed everything smoothly and brought back the relevant records of the convoy passing through Tongmao Prefecture.

The scope covered the first two months, with a total of ten teams passing through.

Based on the recorded number of people and vehicles, they were eliminated until only three remained.

Liu Zhenqing pointed at one of them and said: “It should be this one.”

The three of them looked at Liu Zhenqing with questions in their eyes.

Liu Zhenqing said: “Based on the time it takes to get from Tongmao Prefecture to Kangchuan City, the fastest is five days. This one took five days, and the other two took eight days and ten days respectively. This proves that the two teams must have stayed in other towns. Only genuine caravans will stop in town wherever they go. If they were rushing to send money…..”

And there was one thing he didn’t say. This team was heading toward Yangkun Prefecture, where there was a large port for the Liu family’s river transport. Since their river transport was involved, there must inevitably be more stages in the process. Therefore, this was the most suspicious.

“And this is the closest. If we make a mistake, we won’t lose much by turning back,” Liu Zhenqing said.

All three of them felt that Liu Zhenqing’s analysis was reasonable, so early the next morning, they set off on the road again.

This journey lasted only two days, and just one was on the road. The carriage had just arrived on a stone bridge over a mountain stream.

Three of the people in the carriage suddenly became alert. Before Liu Zhenqing could react, He Lan got out of the carriage and kicked the driver out. “Run!”

Qin Yu climbed out of the window and onto the roof of the carriage.

And Huo Fenglie pulled Liu Zhenqing over and embraced him. Suddenly, the horses outside seemed to be stimulated by something and began to run and neigh like crazy, causing the carriage to become bumpy.

Just when the carriage was about to tip over the stone bridge, Qin Yu shouted, and Huo Fenglie flew out of the carriage with Liu Zhenqing in an instant.

When the four people landed on the stone bridge, more than ten people instantly appeared and surrounded them.

In addition to the four different-looking leaders, the others were all dressed in black.

“Looks like they aren’t ordinary bandits, ah.” He Lan chuckled and slowly took out the blade in his hand. “So we chose the right place?”

Qin Yu glanced around and quickly recognized the identities of these people. “The Four Evils of Jiangnan.”

“Four Evils of Jiangnan?” Huo Fenglie frowned.

He usually remained in the military camp and didn’t know anyone from the Jianghu community. Among the four people in front of him, he saw an old man with a stooped back, one with a mouth that stuck out and a chin like an ape, a woman wearing only two pieces of cloth, and a dwarf who looked like a child wearing a monkey mask.

“These are well-known assassins who work for money. It seems someone bribed them to kill us.” He Lan smiled and said: “Hey, do you know who we are? You dare to take this kind of job?”

“We don’t care who you are. As long as we can kill you, you can become our targets. Today, the four of us were asked to go out together and kill you all. You’ll die worthy deaths,” the man said with a wicked smile.

Qin Yu: “The master who hired them must know about us, so the matter we intend to investigate may not be as trivial as it appears.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man sneered. “You just need to know that today is the day that you die.”

Qin Yu and He Lan exchanged glances. Although they looked relaxed on the surface, they knew in their hearts that the Four Evils of Jiangnan had long been famous, and were not easy to deal with. And those men in black were not just cannon fodder. They were all masters. The two of them gave Huo Fenglie a look.

Huo Fenglie’s expression remained unchanged. He only whispered: “Qing-ge?”

Liu Zhenqing suddenly warned three of them: “The old man is slow, but good at long-range concealed weapons. The man’s strength is low, but he is fast and proficient in assassination. The woman’s internal strength is weak, but she is good with poisons, so don’t get close. The dwarf…..I don’t know.”

He Lan and Qin Yu immediately looke at Liu Zhenqing in surprise. Regarding the Four Evils of Jiangnan, as members of the Imperial court, they had almost no contact with them and only knew some superficial information. They didn’t expect Liu Zhenqing to be able to break through their weaknesses one by one.

Huo Fenglie knew that Liu Zhenqing and the others used to travel south to study and often met martial arts figures. Liu Zhenqing had met the assassin in the woods before, so he very clearly knew information about him. Could it be that he had met the four people in front of them before as well?

Huo Fenglie was not wrong. He had indeed met them during his study tour. In fact, they had only been the Three Evils of Jiangnan back then, and at that time, there were other masters around to deal with them.

But now that there was one more person, Liu Zhenqing still warned everyone to be cautious.

Liu Zhenqing looked at the doubtful faces of the three people and said: “I’m part of an Imperial merchant family with traveling caravans, so I naturally know some information. You three should be careful. You are better than them when fighting one on one, but they have cooperated for many years and are experienced. They also have shadow soldiers to help them, so take care.”

Qin Yu and He Lan nodded.

Huo Fenglie’s expression was tense.

“Don’t worry, I’m the best at hiding.” As soon as Liu Zhenqing finished speaking, they heard a voice sound from among the crowd of villains.

The old man pointed at Liu Zhenqing in Huo Fenglie’s arms and said: “I want the little doll in the middle. He has thin skin and tender meat. It will be delicious when cooked.”

Liu Zhenqing was instantly nauseated. This old guy was still so disgusting. He hadn’t changed for so many years, why wasn’t he dead yet?

Huo Fenglie’s eyes became fierce at once, and he hugged Liu Zhenqing tightly, as if he wanted to hide him.

“Hoo, what a ferocious look in his eyes. He has killed before,” the man said, looking at Huo Fenglie with a smile.

“Aiyaya, they are all such good-looking little brothers. This slave feels itchy just looking at them. I’m reluctant to part with them, must they really be killed?” The woman charmingly bit down on a strand of hair and said, “Such handsome brothers should be loved and cherished.”

Liu Zhenqing’s head was covered in black lines. He suddenly had a bad feeling. This woman had fallen in love with Huo Feihan back then. Could it be that this time…..

“Bitch, are you being lecherous again?”

“This slave has said that on any operation, whatever this slave likes must be given to me.”

“Then I can’t give you all four. You can only pick one,” the man said.

The old man immediately said: “Don’t steal my food.”

The woman pointed at He Lan, who was standing in front, and said: “Not too hard, not too soft. I just want this one.” Having said this, she touched the dwarf next to her with one hand and said: “Good child, that one must live, the rest don’t matter. You understand.”

The dwarf made a chirping sound. He seemed unable to speak the human language, but this could be considered a response.

Liu Zhenqing inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t fancy Er-gou.

Ai, wait, why did she choose Huo Feihan before but not Huo Fenglie this time, ah? Was Huo Fenglie worse than He Lan?

Liu Zhenqing was suddenly a little dissatisfied.

He Lan was stunned, and began to laugh. “Should I be happy to be fancied by a beauty?”

Qin Yu was a spoilsport. “Happy? According to the records, she is at least fifty years old. She could be your mother.” 

He Lan suddenly felt goosebumps.

When the woman heard this, she gave Qin Yu a fierce look and said: “Loudmouth, I’ll kill you first.”

Qin Yu smiled coldly. With a snap, he pulled out an iron whip and wrapped it around his hand dangerously like it was a venomous snake. “Oh, give it a try.”

The enemy made a “go” sound.

The group of shadow soldiers were the first to rush over. They probably wanted to use these to consume the three people’s physical strength first, but the three of them weren’t stupid. At first, Huo Fenglie didn’t participate in the battle at all, and just watched the four people warily. When the four people took action, Huo Fenglie joined the fight.

Swords met on the stone bridge, blood and severed limbs flying, and soon corpses fell continuously into the rushing river below.

Liu Zhenqing watched silently from the sidelines as the masters exchanged blows. Not to mention how his eyes couldn’t catch up, even if he was able to see clearly, he couldn’t just yell out advice and drag the three of them down with him. If someone tried to kill him, the only thing Liu Zhenqing could do was to run to a relatively safe place to prevent the enemy from succeeding, and so that the three of them wouldn’t be distracted by having to save him.

But gradually, Liu Zhenqing realized that something wasn’t right. The dwarf hadn’t moved.

And after killing all the men in black, the three people on their side were exhausted. Except for Huo Fenglie, He Lan and Qin Yu were more or less injured. As for the Four Evils, other than the dwarf who hadn’t moved, the remaining three were somewhat beyond their limits.

It seemed to be a close match.

But at this time, a strange ape-like cry sounded, and before Qin Yu could react, a figure flashed in front of him almost like lightning. Qin Yu only had time to shield his chest with the iron whip. In that instant, a blow filled with strong internal force actually smashed the black iron whip to pieces. If it had hit his chest directly, it would have shattered his entire sternum, causing him to die on the spot.

And even though Qin Yu blocked in time, the remaining force still impacted his chest. Spurting out a mouthful of blood, Qin Yu was knocked directly into the water.

“Lao Qin!” He Lan shouted. He rushed over, but his speed was not faster than the dwarf’s. Almost instantly, he was kicked over by the dwarf, who seemed to have listened to the woman’s words and didn’t use all his strength. Therefore, although He Lan was hit head-on, the injury was not serious.

With just two moves, such masters as He Lan and Qin Yu were defeated. Seeing the dwarf rush toward Huo Fenglie, Liu Zhenqing’s heart was in his throat.

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Chapter Fifty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Nine