The Western Shu Kingdom gave no response to Great Zhou, but stationed troops in the distance as if to prevent the invasion of Great Zhou’s army at any time.

The message sent this day could be regarded as the last chance given by Great Zhou. If the King of Western Shu still didn’t respond, they would be forced to escort Qiao An back to their capital and confront him face-to-face.

Huo Fenglie had been very busy making arrangements.

Liu Zhenqing was lying in bed with his legs crossed, lost in thought, when he heard that Tang-chengzhu was coming.

Thinking that she had some important business, Liu Zhenqing went out to meet her, and Tang Rou unexpectedly apologized as soon as she saw him.

It turned out that she knew what Tang-furen had done, and was filled with shame.

Liu Zhenqing naturally knew how Tang Rou felt about this matter, so he smiled and comforted her, saying: “It’s no problem, I fooled your mother. This kind of thing can be delayed for a while, and there’s no benefit in drawing a hard line. When I saw your mother, she didn’t seem very well.”

“She is mentally ill. There’s nothing to be done.” Tang Rou’s face was full of worry, because when the army entered the Western Shu Kingdom with the prince, she and Dai Tingyu would be left behind to guard Nanfeng City and prevent any sneak attacks. She was also very busy during this period, and couldn’t keep a close eye on her mother. There were obviously big events ahead, but her mother was always causing trouble.

“Her main concern is likely to pave a safe path for you. But there are no witnesses or evidence for what happened back then, and the parties involved are dead. It is fundamentally impossible to reverse people’s views on the matter. You can make that clear to your mother,” Liu Zhenqing said.

Tang Rou took a deep breath: “It’s not that simple. I know her the best. She has to be strong in everything, and even if she’s beaten like this, she will refuse to admit defeat. Do you think what she said about not seeking status is true? She thinks that a figure like General Huo must leave an heir, and that it’s impossible for him to actually marry a male wife. She is retreating in order to advance.”

Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched when he heard this. Great, he had still underestimated Tang-furen.

Tang Rou couldn’t help but say: “I think that unless the two of you are engaged or married, my mother won’t give up. She’s just this kind of fixated person. It’s fortunate that you came to the military camp, and my mother can only bother me.”

Liu Zhenqing’s heart was moved by Tang Rou’s words.

After Tang Rou left, Huo Fenglie returned late at night and found Liu Zhenqing still awake and waiting for him.

Huo Fenglie asked: “You’re not resting?”

“I slept a lot during the day,” Liu Zhenqing replied, looking directly at Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie removed his armor. With lowered eyes, he asked casually: “I heard that Tang-chengzhu came to see you. Was it something serious?”

She would normally come to him if she had any business to discuss. After all, Liu Zhenqing had no official position. Unless it was a private matter, and the most recent private matter was the struggle with Tang-furen.

Liu Zhenqing complained: “She came to apologize. She was too embarrassed to see you, and asked that I convey the message on her behalf.”

Huo Fenglie frowned and said nothing.

Liu Zhenqing had originally been lying in bed and reading a book in his underclothes. Now he was sitting cross-legged, holding his chin in one hand and looking at Huo Fenglie with his head tilted.

Huo Fenglie eventually felt that something wasn’t right with Liu Zhenqing today. When he turned his head to look over, he saw Liu Zhenqing crooking his fingers at him. That gesture was so frivolous, but it moved Huo Fenglie’s heart.

They hadn’t been on intimate terms for many days. Maybe Qing-ge wanted to do it.

Huo Fenglie’s expression was a bit unnatural. He wanted to say that they shouldn’t do it in the military camp, but then Liu Zhenqing said “Come here” in that mild tone of voice.

Huo Fenglie was still like an obedient domesticated dog, and obeyed the order to sit on the bedside.

Liu Zhenqing leaned against Huo Fenglie’s shoulder and played with his hair. His movements appeared relaxed and carefree, but only Liu Zhenqing himself knew how nervous he was. How could he lose his dignity in front of the younger man?

So he opened his mouth to feel him out: “Tang Rou said that her mother might keep bothering you since you’re not engaged yet.”

Huo Fenglie didn’t understand why he was continuing with this topic: “It doesn’t matter.”

Liu Zhenqing really didn’t dare to look at Huo Fenglie. A chill came over him, and he said abruptly: “How about…..consider getting engaged…..”

Huo Fenglie froze.

Since he was leaning against him, Liu Zhenqing could naturally feel this and became even more nervous. “Actually, getting engaged is nothing, it’s a good thing…..”

Even though Huo Fenglie had never confessed for some unknown reason, Liu Zhenqing could sense his feelings. They had done this and that together, and Huo Fenlgie had to have considered marrying him, right? He supposed the other man was too embarrassed to bring it up. If that was the case, he should take the initiative and not compete with Er-gou anymore.

He heard a low, hoarse voice sound from above: “Why are you suddenly bringing this up? What are your intentions?”

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback. There was something wrong with his tone. He looked up, a little confused over Huo Fenglie’s reaction, and found that Huo Fenglie’s black and white eyes were bloodshot as he looked at him with flaring anger.

Liu Zhenqing sat up straight in shock. Huo Fenglie averted his gaze and turned his head, as if the anger just now had been Liu Zhenqing’s imagination.

Frowning, Liu Zhenqing said: “You don’t want to?”

Huo Fenlgie abruptly stood up with his back to Liu Zhenqing. He said: “Qing-ge, don’t you think it’s ridiculous to mention such a thing now? Yes, I don’t want to!”

When he finished speaking, Huo Fenglie rushed out of the tent. Liu Zhenqing was left alone on the bed, with a confused look on his face and heavy mental trauma.

Wait?

Er-gou actually said he didn’t want to get engaged to him?!

Although the timing of his proposal was a bit inconvenient, a little abrupt and unromantic, shouldn’t this be a natural thing between the two of them? Why didn’t he want to get engaged to him?

Was it because his proposal just now wasn’t good?

He’d thought that after making his proposal, he would tell Huo Fenglie about the secret he’d been hiding. He just thought that if they were engaged or married, he and Huo Fenglie would be bound together, and this would give Liu Zhenqing an extra layer of psychological security, as if giving himself grounds to speak. But Huo Fenglie hadn’t given him a chance at all.

Liu Zhenqing was truly angry and annoyed. What did he mean, ah! He was playing with him!

In an instant, many possibilities flashed through Liu Zhenqing’s mind. Had he misunderstood the whole time? Did Er-gou not like him? Was it just brotherly love? Were those kisses and hugs just the product of impulse? Did Er-gou still hold his older brother’s death against him? Or did he not like his current appearance?

No, no, no, he wasn’t a fool. He could sense that although Er-gou was very reserved, he was very obvious. If nothing else, that fellow definitely had impulses toward him.

Damnit, if he didn’t like him, if everything was a misunderstanding and he didn’t want to get engaged to him, then…..then he would use every means to get him to agree. Liu Zhenqing still didn’t believe that his his abilities and charm, he couldn’t win over this stupid dog!

Liu Zhenqing held back his stomach full of questions, but was still so flustered that he couldn’t calm down at all. After getting dressed, he went out to find Huo Fenglie. He must make things clear today.

On the other side, Huo Fenglie had flown out of the tent to an open space and pulled out the Chunjun Sword, swinging it wildly under the night sky. The Chunjun Sword cut through the air with a hum. The surrounding trees seemed to be affected by the sand and rocks sent flying by Huo Fenglie’s raging internal force, dropping their leaves. 

After tossing about as if to vent his anger, he plunged the sword into the ground, holding onto it a bit too fiercely.

Huo Fenglie’s face seemed to be covered in a layer of frost, his eyes full of self-deprecating sadness.

It was fine to be used as a toy for Liu Zhenqing to relieve his loneliness. He despicably enjoyed the chance to be intimate with Qing-ge and wanted to monopolize this opportunity. He didn’t expect any other response from Qing-ge, and only hoped that his desire for this toy was exclusive.

But Qing-ge had actually suggested that he get engaged to Tang Rou over this irrelevant matter…..

Huo Fenglie had no spare time to think about how unreasonable it was that he would “propose that he and Tang Rou get engaged,” because Huo Fenglie blindly believed that since Liu Zhenqing had brought it up, he must have his own considerations. In Huo Fenglie’s view, there were no other possibilities apart from this. But this time, he could not obey.

With a bitter smile, Huo Fenglie pulled out the Chunjun Sword and calmed his emotions. He knew very well that Qing-ge had no considerations toward him, so why go looking for trouble? At most, it would make Qing-ge unhappy, and he wasn’t going to marry anyway.

Huo Fenglie suppressed his restless mood and walked back. On the way, he met the somewhat flustered Qiao An.

“General…..General Huo.” Qiao An was extremely anxious when he met Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie said with a frown: “What’s wrong, Your Highness.”

Qiao An hurriedly said: “I came to see you. I wanted to ask, if the Western Shu Kingdom doesn’t respond tomorrow…..”

“Then we will directly bring troops to escort you there.” Having already said this before, Huo Fenglie was a little impatient, but when asked by royalty, he still had to give him face.

Qiao An gave a couple of dry laughs. Seeing that Huo Fenglie was about to leave, he was a little unresigned and said: “General Huo, would you like to come to my tent tonight? When I return to Western Shu, this opportunity might not come again.”

Qiao An approached suggestively, saying: “Don’t you think sleeping with the king of a neighboring country would be a pretty good experience?

Looking at Qiao An as he drew near, Huo Fenglie’s disgust overflowed: “Your Highness, have respect for yourself and the royal family of Western Shu.”

Qiao An’s expression distorted the instant he said this.

As he watched Huo Fenglie leave, Qiao An scoffed coldly.

Huo Fenglie didn’t head back to the tent, because he didn’t want to see Liu Zhenqing yet.

But within an hour, guards came over. The Huo Family guards were very dutiful, saying that Liu Zhenqing had run out of the tent angrily, but never came back. They had no idea if he was with Huo Fenglie or somewhere else and were a little worried, so they had come to confirm.

Only then did Huo Fenglie know that Liu Zhenqing was missing.

A shout: “Find him!” Sensing their general’s anxiety and uneasiness, the 50,000-strong army searched all night without even finding an ant.

But Liu Zhenqing had simply vanished, and the responsibility of those on the periphery of the camp became greater. 

Liu Zhenqing didn’t know martial arts, and they hadn’t seen anyone come in or out, which meant that a martial arts master must have snuck in and kidnapped him.

Huo Fenglie only knew of one such master.

At this moment, someone hit the gate of their camp with a feathered arrow.

There was a note and a jade hairpin tied to it. Huo Fenglie knew that jade hairpin. It belonged to Liu Zhenqing.

The note read: Young Master Liu has been invited to be our guest. We hope that General Huo will not invade the territory of the Western Shu Kingdom.

The feathered arrow shattered with a crack in Huo Fenglie’s hand. Those around him didn’t dare breathe, because the aura released by Huo Fenglie nearly overpowered them to their knees. Among them were commanders who had followed Huo Fenglie for a long time. They all seemed to find the current Huo Fenglie very unfamiliar, because they had never seen him outwardly express his anger like this.

In a flash, Huo Fenglie raised his head, dark eyes glinting with murderous intent. He murmured: “Qiao An!”

He disappeared right after saying this, and several subordinates chased after him anxiously.

Among the peripheral guards who were questioned one by one, only one group experienced anything while on patrol that somewhat gave them an idea. That was Prince Qiao An, who had gotten lost and clamored for them to take him back. But as guards, they couldn’t leave, so they paid him no attention at all. Afterward, Qiao An left on his own.

But for a martial arts master, a single distraction was enough.

When the subordinates arrived, their legs went weak when they heard screams coming from the tent.

Upon entering, they saw that Huo Fenglie had one of Qiao An’s arms twisted, pressing his sword against his neck with a fierce, Shura-like expression.

“Speak! Tell me exactly what you did!”

When Qiao An saw others arriving, he tried to call out for help. He was the future king of the Western Shu Kingdom. How could he be abused like this? But those people pretended not to see anything and looked elsewhere, allowing Huo Fenglie’s sword to cut into Qiao An’s neck.

Only then did Qiao An realize what it meant for someone to be called the general who guards the country, inferior to one and above all others.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk…..”

On the other side, Liu Zhenqing was lying in bed when he awoke. He looked at the sunlight. It was already dusk on the second day. He had gone out to look for a certain person, but met Qiao An blocking his way and trying to pester him. He had no patience for this person, but in the next second, there was a pain in his neck and he passed out. 

Liu Zhenqing stood and rubbed his neck, scanning the decor around him with a look of such curiosity that it made the person watching him laugh out loud.

Liu Zhenqing turned to look, and found the handsome youth he had met once sitting there. Liu Zhenqing looked at him carefully this time, and the more he looked, the more apprehensive he became. 

Qiao Jin saw that Liu Zhenqing was cool-headed and unafraid when he woke up, just looking around for a while and staring at him, and he gradually grew uncomfortable.

“What are you looking at!” Qiao Jin said. “Do you know who I am? Do you know where you are?”

Know who he was? Liu Zhenqing looked at Qiao Jin and suddenly let out a heavy sigh. This strange behavior confused Qiao Jin even more.

“You…..you’re not afraid?” Qiao Jin said in amazement.

Liu Zhenqing relaxed his posture and took the time to tidy his mussed hair and clothes right at the bedside. “What’s there to be afraid of? You kidnapped me just to threaten Huo Fenglie, which is quite clever. You know I’m his weak point and can be used to restrain him, so you must treat me gently so that he doesn’t get angry and flatten your Western Shu.”

Qiao Jin was really speechless. This was the first time he had witnessed a hostage behave in such a way. But after some thought, he figured Liu Zhenqing was just putting on a front.

“Weakness? You think too highly of yourself. I just thought you were of some use to Huo Fenglie and wanted to use you to buy some time. After all, you’re just Huo Fenglie’s male favorite, not a legitimate existence. I’m actually worried that I kidnapped the wrong person. If you aren’t important to Huo Fenglie, all of my effort will be in vain.”

It had to be said that Qiao Jin’s words stung Liu Zhenqing. Wasn’t he similar to a male favorite? After all, that person didn’t want to get engaged to him.

Seeing that Liu Zhenqing had a bad expression, Qiao Jin immediately felt that he had the upper hand. “So be sensible and cooperate obediently, and I will leave you a way to survive when the time comes.”

“So if I don’t cooperate, I’m ignorant?” Liu Zhenqing retorted.

Qiao Jin choked.

“When will the time come?” Liu Zhenqing asked. “How much time are you trying to buy?”

Qiao Jin was agitated: “Why do you talk so much?”

Liu Zhenqing shrugged, having already mentally determined many things. For example, that Qiao An was on Qiao Jin’s side, or was serving the same person. What they had really been doing for so long was delaying Huo Fenglie’s return to the capital.

Liu Zhenqing pondered as he tidied himself without pause, and suddenly found that his hair pin was missing. “Where is the person who kidnapped me? Have him come out, I want to meet him.”

Qiao Jin stared blankly: “Aren’t you being too presumptuous, making demands of me?”

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “I’m just curious about his identity. After all, he’s a martial arts master who can infiltrate a 50,000-strong military camp as if it’s deserted. And he must be the one who survived that last fight with Huo Fenglie, whose martial arts are the strongest I’ve ever seen. Can’t I meet him? I’ll cooperate with you obediently without making a fuss or being a threat. You won’t refuse this minor request, will you?”

Qiao Jin narrowed his eyes. He waved his hand, and a tall figure in black flew down.

Liu Zhenqing’s squinted eyes immediately locked onto that person. The man stood silently. It seemed that as long as he didn’t speak, he could be used as a silent backdrop. Although his face was still covered, those two eyes were still the clearest Liu Zhenqing had ever seen. He knew this was Liu Qiao.

His throat tightened uncontrollably, and his voice was a bit unsteady: “Still wearing a mask?”

“What are you doing? Do you plan to remember your enemy’s face so you can take revenge later?” Qiao Jin asked with dissatisfaction.

“A martial arts master like him shouldn’t be afraid of showing his face,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

Liu Qiao lowered his mask without a care, and his pretty, delicate face came into view. Different from Bai Yu’s elegance and softness, although Liu Qiao looked delicate, he seemed to have the aura of a sharp blade. At first glance, he looked like a martial arts practitioner who was not easy to deal with. If looked at closely, one part of his cheek had a slightly uneven skin tone. It was originally a brand mark scar, proving that Liu Qiao was a slave, but Liu Zhenqing didn’t like it and asked his master to remove it for him. Thus, the area with the mark appeared slightly pinker than the rest.

Seeing his old friend again momentarily put Liu Zhenqing in a daze. He could only stare at Liu Qiao blankly, confirming over and over that he was still alive…..he was really still alive.

When he asked Liu Qiao to carry out that mission, it was actually to protect him. Liu Zhenqing knew that although he was highly skilled in martial arts, he was simple-minded. He felt far from good at the time, and feared that he wouldn’t leave his side, so he made him leave in advance.

He had clearly arranged ways out for the people around him, but few of them had good endings. Seeing Liu Qiao again now, Liu Zhenqing’s heart was somewhat comforted.

The kid standing before him was still well, and he didn’t look like he was having a bad time, either. This was truly enough.

“Hey, how long do you plan to look?”

Suddenly, Qiao Jin appeared in front of Liu Qiao. He seemed to really hate the way Liu Zhenqing was looking at Liu Qiao, and Liu Zhenqing was slightly startled by this food-protecting behavior.

After thinking about it, he could basically figure it out. They had been together all this time, and he was Liu Qiao’s unfinished mission.

But Liu Zhenqing didn’t recall making such a request.

Liu Zhenqing tilted his head to look at Liu Qiao and asked: “What is your name?”

He wasn’t sure if that name was still in use.

Then he heard Liu Qiao say: “Liu Qiao.”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth rose slightly. He said: “Liu Qiao? You owe me a hairpin. You took mine and now I can’t put my hair up.”

Liu Qiao stood in amazement.

Thinking that Liu Zhenqing was mocking Liu Qiao, Qiao Jin grew angry. “Someone bring Young Master Liu a box of hairpins!”

Someone soon arrived with a box of hairpins. Liu Zhenqing selected one and said to Liu Qiao: “You pulled it off, so you’re responsible for putting one back on.”

“Are you seeking death?” Qiao Jin said furiously.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows. It seemed he was very protective of his food. He took the hairpin back and put it on by himself.

“Do you plan to keep watching me like this? Shouldn’t the King of Western Shu be very busy?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

Qiao Jin scoffed coldly and said: “Let me ask, the rumors about me and Tang-chengzhu were your doing, weren’t they?” Qiao Jin was still a bit anxious about this matter. He felt that a trick had played on him, and found it difficult to bear.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “You started it. I just copied you.”

Qiao Jin’s eyes narrowed. He said: “It turns out you’re this clever? What a talent. Hey, would…..would you consider being mine?”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned. He silently raised his hands and hugged himself, staring at Qiao Jin in astonishment.

Qiao Jin said angrily: “What are you thinking! Like I could take a fancy to you! I meant as my subordinate!”

Liu Zhenqing said at once: “You gave me a fright. But being your subordinate isn’t as good as being the general’s wife. An intelligent person should know who I’d choose, right? So why ask me this?”

Qiao Jin smiled: “Idiot, you’ve forgotten what I just said. You’re just his male favorite, not the general’s wife. Huo Fenglie will never marry in his life. And even if he does marry one day, it will definitely either be because he was forced to by others, or because he took a person home as a decoration.”

Liu Zhenqing grew angry: “What do you say that, ah?”

Qiao Jin seemed to have finally found a way to deal with Liu Zhenqing, and opened his mouth maliciously: “Because he has someone he loves deeply. Do you know who that person is?”

Stunned, Liu Zhenqing wavered for a moment: “Who?”

Liu Qiao glanced at Qiao Jin and said: “Hey.”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Lui Qiao as if in realization, and immediately became even more confused. If Liu Qiao had known, why hadn’t he told him back then? Was there really someone else? 

Qiao Jin said: “Telling him the truth isn’t a bad thing, and prevents him from being kept in the dark. Perhaps if he knows, he’ll consider becoming my subordinate.”

“Who is it?” Liu Zhenqing was truly anxious.

Qiao Jin raised his head and said contemptuously: “To be more precise, you’re a substitute. Because that person is someone from your family, Prime Minister Liu, Liu Zhenqing. How unexpected!”

Liu Zhenqing: …..

“Oh.” The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth slowly rose. “What evidence do you have that Huo Fenglie liked Liu Zhenqing? Why can’t I believe it? Please show me proof.”

---

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Chapter One Hundred Sixteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Eighteen

The silver elevator doors opened on both sides.

Jiang Jun gently pressed Li Xiu’s back, lowering his head to ask with a smile: “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you afraid of taking the elevator?”

Li Xiu swallowed, looking down to conceal the haunted look in his eyes.

In fact, if he hadn’t seen Wang Rongfa, Li Xiu would have given up on the elevator and taken the stairs. But now, Wang Rongfa’s face peeking around the corner kept popping up in his mind.

The direction where Wang Rongfa had leaned out was next to the stairwell.

Was that person still there now?

Why had he used that strange posture, stretching his neck out to stare at him?

Even just thinking about it gave Li Xiu an indescribable chill.

“I-I’m okay.”

The warmth of Jiang Jun’s body next to him transferred over. After being dazed for a short while, Li Xiu managed to cope with it and followed Jiang Jun into the elevator.

Teacher Xu had said that as long as people didn’t believe in these kinds of things, they wouldn’t be scared by them.

All he really needed to do as a student was study hard.

All the things he had seen were created to scare him…..

After entering the elevator, Li Xiu kept his head down and continuously repeated what Teacher Xu had said to him before. And he prayed wildly that the elevator would quickly reach the first floor, so that he could leave this building that had left a serious psychological shadow on him.

However, the heavens didn’t answer his prayers, and the elevator stopped just as it descended one floor.

Ding-dong—

The door opening prompt sounded.

However, no one came in from outside the elevator.

This situation was rather common. When someone pressed the elevator button and the elevator didn’t come for a long time, they would either change elevators or go directly to the stairwell.

Thus, when the elevator reached that floor and the doors opened, that person would have already left.

Li Xiu wasn’t bothered at first. He just subconsciously looked up at the empty elevator doors, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw something swaying slightly at the other end of the corridor.

Jiang Jun happened to pass him at this time and press the door button.

The silver metal doors closed. 

The elevator slowly descended again.

However…..

It stopped again at the next floor.

Ding-dong—

Accompanied by the familiar electronic sound, the doors opened again. And this time, there was still no one outside the elevator.

No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely empty…..

Li Xiu’s whole body tensed, and his hair stood on end.

He stared straight at the end of the corridor. When he saw the figure crawling on the floor, he was unable to move for a moment. 

It was Wang Rongfa.

Li Xiu was a little surprised that he could recognize the boy — that person no longer had even the basic appearance of a “human.”

The previously strong and robust boy was now hunched over. Like a forcefully stuffed courier box, his body was folded and distorted in a way that defied description. Li Xiu could no longer identify where his original torso was. Arms, legs, spine…..under pale skin were bright red muscles and gray-white bones. Next to Wang Rongfa’s head were the soles of his feet, and his arms were propped up at the very back of his body, scraping the ground little by little to push the “monster” forward.

[“Wait…..hehe…..wait a minute…..”]

[“I want…..to go out…..”]

A dry, hoarse moan came out of Wang Rongfa’s bulging chest.

But as he squirmed forward, Li Xiu’s vision was blocked as the elevator doors closed.

“Going down—”

An electronic chime sounded in the small elevator car.

Li Xiu took a sudden step back and hit the wall.

“A-Xiu? What’s wrong?” Jiang Jun looked at Li Xiu in surprise.

And Li Xiu grabbed his hand with a complete lack of control.

“Did, did you see it?” Li Xiu panted, his voice shaking.

Jiang Jun frowned slightly, looking confused: “Ah? See what?”

At this moment, Li Xiu felt the subtle inertia of the elevator stopping.

Yes, the elevator once again stopped at the next floor.

Ding-dong—

“D-don’t, don’t open the door…..”

Disregarding everything else, Li Xiu rushed to the door and pressed the “close” button. But no matter how much he pressed the gleaming silver metal button, the elevator doors still opened again.

This time, there was still no one outside the door.

At least, no living person.

[“Wait for me…..wait for me…..”]

Wang Rongfa was still squirming toward the elevator step by step from the other end of the corridor.

At this distance, Li Xiu could even look into his cloudy gray-white eyes.

He could also see that his belly had begun to swell.

Fortunately, due to Li Xiu’s frantic pressing of the button, the doors closed much more quickly than before.

“A-Xiu? Are you okay?”

Jiang Jun stepped forward and took his hand, his face full of worry.

“Sometimes people get bored and leave after pressing the elevator button. Don’t be nervous…..you must be claustrophobic, right?”

As Jiang Jun spoke, the elevator descended another level.

And, as expected, the elevator doors opened once more.

Wang Rongfa’s twisted body was getting closer to the elevator. He turned his head, meeting Li Xiu’s fearful gaze inside the elevator car.

[“I said…..wait….for me…..”]

[“You asshole…..why won’t you…..just…..listen….”]

Ding-dong—

Once again, the doors opened.

“Ah, it’s so irritating. Who was bored enough to press every level?”

The words of the boy next to him seemed to come from a faraway place.

Li Xiu was entirely unable to speak.

It felt like daytime sleep paralysis. An invisible force had taken over to suppress him.

His whole body was trembling, but he could only hold onto the bit of warmth at his side, unable to move.

He knew he should take action immediately.

He knew he needed to find a way to escape.

But Li Xiu found that he had completely lost control of his body.

A pinprick-like chill spread down his spine.

The terrifying premonition was so strong that Li Xiu almost vomited.

But he could only stand there stiffly, watching the elevator doors open and close, his eyes reflecting the figure of the twisted monster approaching on every level.

It was getting closer.

“Wang Rongfa” was getting closer and closer.

If he didn’t leave immediately, if he let the elevator continue to stop at each floor, next time….. “Wang Rongfa” would…..arrive at the elevator.

There was a voice screaming in Li Xiu’s head.

Fortunately, at this moment, Li Xiu felt the phone in his pocket buzz.

The buzzing of the phone was like magic, suddenly breaking Li Xiu’s paralysis.

Li Xiu’s hands were shaking, but he still reflexively answered the phone.

As soon as he answered, the phone blew up.

It was Fang Qian’an’s voice.

“Fuck, A-Xiu! Where are you…..zizi…..right now…..zizi…..don’t you know I’ve been calling you…..zizizizi…..”

Li Xiu pressed his lips together, trying to respond to the other party, yet unable to make a sound for a long time.

He squeezed out a sob with all his strength.

“Fang Qian’an, we’re being targeted…..”

He tried his utmost to calm himself, but his voice inevitably trembled due to his extreme tension.

“Wait, what ‘we?’ Who else is with you…..”

For some reason, Fang Qian’an’s voice through the staticky connection sounded even more panicked.

Li Xiu suppressed his fear and struggled to speak: “Jiang Jun. Only Jiang Jun is here.”

“…..A-Xiu.”

Fang Qian’an’s reply was low and deep.

“Listen to me…..zizi…..that person…..can’t be Jiang Jun…..”

“Jiang Jun is…..still attending a funeral in his hometown…..I also…..zizi…..didn’t ask anyone to find you…..”

“A-Xiu…..”

“Zizi…..quickly…..zizi…..escape…..”

Clutching the phone, Liu Xiu froze in place. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

A hand reached over and gently took the phone from Li Xiu, then pressed the ‘end call’ button. Li Xiu turned his head with great difficulty, just in time to see Jiang Jun hang his neck down to look at him.

When had Jiang Jun become…..so tall?

Li Xiu stared blankly at Jiang Jun, and even became numb to fear.

Jiang Jun’s body was stretched like a snake, and mottled blue corpse spots could be seen under white skin. He just stared at Li Xiu like that, the pupils in his eyes dark and reflecting nothing: “What’s wrong? You look so terrible.”

If he didn’t look at his face and just listened to his voice, he was still hearty and cheerful when he spoke.

Ding-dong—

At this moment, the elevator door next to Li Xiu opened again. However, this time it was truly deserted outside the door.

No people. No Wang Rongfa.

There was only darkness outside the elevator.

And when Li Xiu suddenly turned around, he found that Jiang Jun, who’d been next to him just now, had vanished.

The pale lighting brightly illuminated the elevator car, where the rigid Li Xiu stood alone.

But in the next second, Li Xiu heard a loud electronic alarm.

It was the alarm for an overloaded elevator car.

---

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Chapter 40 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 42

Li Xiu retreated with a frown, his back pressing right up against a cold wall.

It was at this time that he suddenly realized how few people were in the complex, and that the air conditioning was turned too low…..

So low that the hairs all over his body stood on end.

Was this guy Wang Rongfa planning to cause trouble for him at the door of the Academic Affairs Office?

Thinking about the past troubles caused by this person, Li Xiu felt his stomach tighten.

He stared at Wang Rongfa in silence, but the more he looked, the more he felt that Wang Rongfa looked really strange.

Li Xiu wasn’t sure if it was because the events of the past few days had made him anxious, but as he looked, he felt that Wang Rongfa’s eyes, face, and posture were abnormal.

So abnormal that he didn’t look like a living person.

And at this moment, a call suddenly came from beside him: “Li Xiu?”

Li Xiu turned his head abruptly. At this moment, a tall, handsome boy was standing next to him with a smile, leaning over slightly to peer at him.

With his body still in shock, Li Xiu’s mind went blank. His expression was extremely stiff and he couldn’t even make a sound.

But the other party wasn’t really paying attention.

The boy looked at Li Xiu with a smile and spoke in a soft voice: “Ah, it’s really you. I found the right person.”

“Fang Qian’an didn’t come to school today and was afraid you’d be bullied, so he asked me to keep an eye on you.”

When he heard this, Li Xiu’s frantic heartbeat finally slowed a bit. Li Xiu blinked and calmed down somewhat.

He had never thought that Fang Qian’an consider things so carefully. And when he came to his senses after greeting Jiang Jun, he turned and looked toward the end of the corridor and found that Wang Rongfa had vanished.

Li Xiu thought to himself, was he worried about being discovered by Fang Qian’an’s friend, so he ran away as soon as he saw him coming?

But he didn’t feel relaxed at all.

He was a little concerned about the strange posture and expression Wang Rongfa had displayed just now. Even now, that gray face and cloudy eyes made Li Xiu feel uncomfortable all over.

Fortunately, the arrival of Jiang Jun relieved some of Li Xiu’s nerves.

“Thanks for coming specifically to find me…..sorry to trouble you.” Li Xiu thanked Jiang Jun in a low voice.

He would definitely be laughed at if he said so, but right now, he was very grateful for someone to accompany him out of the complex. On the way from the Office of Academics Affairs to the elevator, Li Xiu unconsciously took out his cell phone again.

Before today, Li Xiu’s cell phone, like his life, was a stagnant pool of water. But now, in the short amount of time in morning self-study, Fang Qian’an had sent him many messages.

[Fang Qian’an: Did you make a mistake and actually ignore me?]

[Fang Qian’an: I’ve discovered that you’re actually very cold and detached, ah. Why haven’t you asked me why I didn’t come to school?]

[Fang Qian’an: I would never give ordinary people this opportunity to be concerned about me, don’t you know?]

[Fang Qian’an: Shouldn’t morning self-study be over? How long will you continue to remain in seclusion, ah?]

[Fang Qian’an: Is learning that interesting?]

[Fang Qian’an: Want to see Angry Baby Shark? It made me laugh to death. So cute.]

[Fang Qian’an: Angry Baby Shark.jpg]

[Fang Qian’an: ……]

[Fang Qian’an: Why have you been particularly cold to me since we slept together one night?]

Staring at the pointless chatter on the phone, Li Xiu let out a sigh.

Was Fang Qian’an so noisy before? In a daze, Li Xiu felt like he was looking at the big yellow dog he had seen tied to the door of the grocery store before. It looked very fierce, but after carelessly feeding it, even if it just saw Li Xiu from a distance, such a big dog would start bouncing, whimpering, and rolling over.

It was so earnest that Li Xiu was unable to resist.

Of course, when he saw the picture of the angry baby shark, he still couldn’t hold back the slight upward tilt of his lips.

[Li Xiu: Thank you.]

[Fang Qian’an: ? ? ? ? ?]

[Fang Qian’an: Wow, you finally responded to me. Right, what are you thanking me for? Did you get the cocoa?]

Looking at Fang Qian’an’s messages on the screen of his phone, Li Xiu suddenly felt a sense of warmth in his heart.

[Li Xiu: Thank you for sending someone to keep me company.]

Just as he was about to keep messaging, Li Xiu sensed someone approaching.

He took a subconscious breath and turned his head.

Jiang Jun was poking his head over beside him. He didn’t seem uncomfortable to be caught peeking at someone else’s cell phone. Instead, his smile became even brighter.

“You have a pretty good relationship with him, ah?” Jiang Jun said with a smile.

Li Xiu’s eyelashes fluttered as he subconsciously avoided Jiang Jun’s gaze.

“It’s fine.”

The boy chose his words carefully.

“Aiya, don’t be nervous.” Jiang Jun didn’t seem to mind Li Xiu’s reticence at all. “If nothing else, that guy has never been so obsessed with someone since he was a child. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had me guard you.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jun reached out to place a hand on Li Xiu’s shoulder.

The overly intimate gesture made Li Xiu shudder, and he instinctively avoided it.

“Ah?”

Jiang Jun’s eyes opened wide and he raised that hand in surprise. 

Only then did Li Xiu realize that his avoidance was too blatant. He looked at Jiang Jun somewhat stiffly: “Sorry, I’m not used to…..”

“Ai, it’s okay, I understand.”

Before Li Xiu could finish speaking, Jiang Jun was already laughing to himself.

“I was too abrupt,” the handsome boy said with a rueful smile.

“I’m not him, after all…..I get it.”

Li Xiu frowned slightly at Jiang Jun’s pointed words.

He wanted to explain, but the relationship between him and Fang Qian’an was so complicated that it was indeed a bit difficult to explain clearly.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just used to being carefree. Come on, let’s not waste any time. This place is too spooky, I’ll take you out first.”

The moment Li Xiu hesitated, Jiang Jun had already touched the back of his own head, speaking cheerfully. He looked as if he had already gotten over this episode  — however, when he walked forward again, that hand seemed to disobey Jiang Jun and hooked Li Xiu’s arm again. 

But this time, out of embarrassment, Li Xiu didn’t move away from the other party.

Li Xiu tried his utmost to center himself, and walked stiffly for a short distance, linked together with Jiang Jun. When he saw they had reached the elevator door, he took the opportunity to let go. Just in time, a sharp, fierce argument was heard from the elevator entrance.

“Fuck you. A good child of Laozi’s has disappeared in your school, and you guys just want to dress up and pretend…..”

“Mr. Wang, calm down a little.”

“Calm down my ass. That person hasn’t been seen in so many days, and you just found out now? Ah, is this how your school should act!? You are all so irresponsible and you still want me to calm down—”

“That isn’t the case. The head teacher also called your home a few days ago when he found that Classmate Wang was absent from school. You also said at the time not to worry…..”

“How can this be the same? He did go out to play a lot before, but how could he disappear like this now? And your school has lost so many lives during this period. Damnit, don’t you know that if my family’s Rongfa is gone, you animals at this school will have to pay for it with your lives? I will make you pay with your fucking lives!”

Li Xiu and Jiang Jun couldn’t help but slow down amidst the cursing of a man and woman and the servile persuasion of the dean. 

The familiar name once again reached his ears, and he didn’t have to listen carefully to know that these were Wang Rongfa’s parents troubling the school leadership.

Li Xiu stood there with a pale face.

Only then did Li Xiu realize that Wang Rongfa had been missing for many days without leaving any trace for his parents or the school. 

Initially, the parents and school thought the situation was the same as before: that the second generation rich kid skipped school to go play outside and didn’t bother to go home. It wasn’t until many days passed and not a single expense appeared on Wang Rongfa’s credit card that his parents realized something was wrong.

After calling the police, they came to the school to investigate. And when the surveillance footage was checked, the results showed Wang Rongfa entering the school a few days ago…..and no record of him leaving at all.

Wang Rongfa had disappeared at school.

No wonder his parents were as agitated as they were now.

If not for the security guards who were blocking them, the Wang family would have attacked the school leaders directly.

“Mr. Wang, in fact, you know that the school monitoring is not comprehensive. Coupled with the fact that Classmate Wang often skipped school before, we are not certain that he actually disappeared at school. And we already informed you before. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate to curse and brawl now, ah?”

Seeing the conflict between the two sides becoming increasingly intense, someone from the school could only begin to toss the blame.

Sure enough, in the next second, the parent who had finally been restrained by a security guard was so furious that he lost all control.

“Fuck your mother, what nonsense are you still going on about…..you want to pass the blame, right? Ha, let me tell you, my family is in the media. I intend to thoroughly expose this matter and let everyone know what a cesspool this shabby Qiming school is…..”

“Pfft.”

Li Xiu suddenly heard a cold chuckle in his ear.

He could help but turn his head and glance at Jiang Jun.

In front of him, the boy was always all smiles and even a little lacking in nerve.

But now, as he looked at the raucous Wang family not far away, his eyes were particularly cold. 

Only then did Li Xiu discover that in fact, Jiang Jun’s facial features were sharp. Once he stopped smiling, he appeared unusually disagreeable and grim.

“In the beginning, he just ran a few local newspapers, but later on they made money by currying favor with the Xiao family. He became a contractor later on, euphemistically known as a real estate developer…..”

Jiang Jun said this in a mild voice, his face full of disdain.

“The newspapers owned by the Wang family have already been packaged and sold, but he still has the nerve to say he works in media. It’s ridiculous. Things aren’t like they were over a decade ago, who would read his stuff now…..”

The boy spoke very briskly, but Li Xiu had no time to listen carefully. In fact, Li Xiu’s back was entirely soaked in cold sweat.

If Wang Rongfa had been missing for so long…..

Then what about the figure he had seen just now?

Had he seen wrong?

No, he and Rong Wangfa had looked at each other for so long. It was impossible to mistake him.

Or was it that Rong Wangfa was deliberately playing tricks?

Then what on earth was he thinking, hiding without a word in the school complex while his parents searched for him outside?

He knew that the “Wang Rongfa” he had seen was probably not the Rong Wangfa he knew.

But Li Xiu still couldn’t help but prevaricate, trying to find a scientific explanation for the figure he’d seen.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Jiang Jun seemed to notice Li Xiu’s abnormality, and waved a hand in front of him.

“I…..”

“Wow, just as expected.” Before Li Xiu could speak, Jiang Jun came over and stared at him for several seconds. “…..you really are timid.”

The boy’s voice was very low, and there seemed to be a hint of indescribable pleasure in it.

Li Xiu felt vaguely uncomfortable, but in the next second, Jiang Jun returned to his cheerful and friendly appearance. He pulled Li Xiu by the hand: “Just a group of people quarreling can scare you like this. No wonder he wanted me to look out for you.”

As he spoke, the boy had already pulled Li Xiu to the other end of the corridor.

The corridors of the building were so complicated that Li Xiu was in a daze and couldn’t even figure out which way Jiang Jun was taking him. After all the twists and turns, the two of them arrived at another elevator.

The elevator hall here looked no different than the other elevator halls in the complex, but whereas other elevator halls had two elevators, there was only one here.

There was a long, narrow corridor in front of the elevator, and while walking through it, Li Xiu found that all the office doors here were locked tightly.

Ding-dong—

When they got there, the elevator stopped right at their floor.

---

T/N: Finally done with a wedding where I was the maid of honor, which took up most of my time this month. It went great! And updates will be regular from here on out!

---

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Chapter 39 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 41

Qiming Secondary School.

Class A1.

“Li Xiu…..Li Xiu?”

Someone nudged Li Xiu gently.

“Ah?”

After a moment, Li Xiu turned to look at the other party as if waking up from a dream.

The girl sitting next to him was giving him an anxious look.

“Did you do yesterday’s math paper? Can you show me the answers? Why do I feel like the teacher made a mistake on the extra question? It doesn’t look right no matter how I calculate it.”

“That’s right. The solution requires a different approach, and there are traps in the extra question,” Li Xiu said subconsciously. Then he handed his paper to the girl, who thanked him profusely. 

However, after taking the paper, the girl didn’t move away immediately. Instead, she stared at Li Xiu several times, and after dithering for a minute, she lowered her voice and whispered: “Li Xiu, are you really okay? You suddenly asked for leave yesterday and you’re so distracted today…..um, someone said they saw you drinking milk tea with the prince of the Fang family in the shopping mall yesterday.”

“Ah?”

“You’re not being blackmailed by that kind of person, are you?”

The girl stared at Li Xiu’s pretty face, her expression gradually becoming solemn. And it took Li Xiu another few seconds to understand what the other party was saying.

“Ah, no…..I’m not. I’m a little distracted today because of things at home.”

“That’s good.” The girl blinked, and after heaving a sigh of relief, she smiled bitterly. “I forgot. It’s impossible for Fang Qian’an to blackmail ordinary students like us.”

But before returning to her seat, she couldn’t help but give a kindly warning: “But in any case, don’t get involved with a person like Fang Qian’an if you can avoid it. That person……is a little scary sometimes.”

The girl instinctively looked around as she spoke.

“There are rumors that Fang Qian’an’s mother was mentally ill and was in a mental hospital for a long time, so Fang Qian’an’s brain…..well, you know.”

The girl drew a circle next to her temple.

Li Xiu paused for a few seconds before responding, his voice very mild: “I see.”

Fang Qian’an’s mother was mentally ill?

Upon hearing this news, Li Xiu’s first thought was not of the rumor that Fang Qian’an had also inherited those mental problems, but of that person yesterday whose face was covered in wounds that he was entirely accustomed to.

Fang Qian’an had said at that time that all of the horrific signs of domestic violence were caused by his father.

“But these things shouldn’t be talked about outside. Fang Qian’an is really…..”

Li Xiu suddenly interrupted the girl: “Hurry up and look at the paper. I’ll need it later.”

The girl’s voice cut off when she saw that Li Xiu wasn’t going to give her the expected reaction, and she sat back in her seat with some annoyance.

Seated next to her, Li Xiu stared at the table for a long time, then lowered his eyes to look at the phone screen in the drawer.

[Li Xiu: Fang Qian’an, are you there?]

Li Xiu actually didn’t know if he had gotten to school.

After learning about that incident from the neighbor sister, for a moment, Li Xiu wanted to rush back and wake up his grandmother to seek a scientific explanation.

But his instincts directly prevented him from doing so.

Call it evasion or call it childishness.

Liu Xiu found that he didn’t want to delve into what happened at home…..he kept feeling that if he began to delve deeper, his peaceful life would fall apart entirely.

Therefore, Li Xiu mechanically went to school and began morning self-study. And before he knew it, he had sent a message to Fang Qian’nan.

It was like he was able to discuss these things with Fang Qian’an.

As it happened, Fang Qian’an sent a reply just at that moment.

[Fang Qian’an: ? ]

Li Xiu’s fingers hovered over the screen indecisively.

Then Fang Qian’an sent several more messages.

[Fang Qian’an: You sought me out unexpectedly. Is something wrong?]

[Fang Qian’an: I didn’t go to school today.]

[Fang Qian’an: But don’t worry. If something happens, just use my name and I’ll take care of it for you when I get to school.]

Obviously, Fang Qian’an wasn’t even able to protect himself…..

Li Xiu stared at Fang Qian’an’s message and finally gave a simple reply.

[Li Xiu: It’s fine.]

After a moment’s hesitation, he added another sentence.

[Li Xiu: In any case, it’s best for students not to skip class.]

After all, Teacher Xu had said that the best way to avoid ghosts was to concentrate on studying.

[Fang Qian’an: ……]

[Fang Qian’an: I don’t call this skipping class, I call it asking for leave.]

[Fang Qian’an: Forget it, I’ll come find you in the afternoon.]

[Fang Qian’an: By the way, have you had breakfast?]

[Fang Qian’an: How about I order you some?]

He was rejected by Li Xiu.

[Fang Qian’an: I finally understand why you don’t have any meat on your body. When I held you last night, your boniness hurt.]

[Fang Qian’an: You won’t get taller if you don’t eat breakfast. Of course, even if you drink milk every day from now on, you won’t be taller than me, hahahaha.]

[Fang Qian’an: Do you want hot cocoa?]

Li Xiu read the various inane words that Fang Qian’an sent one after another, and the veins on his forehead twitched slightly.

[Li Xiu: No need. Please be quiet. I’m turning off my phone. I’m in class.]

But just as Li Xiu was about to turn off his phone and continue studying, the class group interface suddenly popped up on his screen.

Li Xiu’s cell phone was very old, and its system had seizures every day or two, so he didn’t pay too much attention to it.

But it happened that today, when he was shutting the group off, he took another look.

Then, throughout morning self-study, Li Xiu was unable to do anything else.

At this time, the class group had already exploded.

[Wa, are you mistaken? How could Ou Yang’s incident be exposed outside?]

[So annoying. It’s Qiming’s own business. Which idiot went and let outsiders know?]

[The internet is going crazy right now.]

[Seriously. God, can’t the school do something to delete the post? Save me…..]

[Who the hell wants this kind of thing to be known on the entire internet, ah? I’m asking my mother to change schools.]

Amidst the continuous complaints of the student group, Li Xiu clicked on the link forwarded by the person who had spoken first.

Only then did Li Xiu learn that the suicide message and photo of him hanging himself that Ou Yang had previously posted in the group had become hot news on social media.

Unlike that group of students who were worried about tarnishing the “innocence” of the school, Li Xiu didn’t care if this incident was made known to the entire internet. What really drew his attention were a few comments under the marketing account news.

Ou Yang’s behavior originally revealed an indescribable strangeness — without any inducement, the well-hidden Internet celebrity teacher suddenly exposed his most private and disgusting side and sent that horrible photo.

In the words of the marketing account, “It’s like he was controlled by some supernatural force.”

In addition, the marketing account also connected several other things that had happened during the school year, particularly when a student was sent to the hospital for food poisoning and was attacked there, but died mysteriously in the Xiao Family Haunted House. The marketing account’s blog post had begun to be forwarded tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of times. After all, even though over a decade had passed, the famous murders of the Xiao family in City A still evoked people’s most secret fears and curiosity. And what had happened at Qiming Secondary School in just a few days was difficult to explain with common sense.

Netizens had left countless messages under this account.

Li Xiu’s gaze lingered on one of the popular messages for a long time.

[ tj178676: That Teacher Ou Yang wasn’t a good thing to begin with. I spoke up several times when he was still an internet celebrity, but you guys laughed at me and said I was jealous. Do your faces hurt now? That guy was rotten since birth, and did everything from voyeurism to filming. This was revealed several times when I was in school. ]

[ tj178676: It can be said that bad people have bad endings. He was able to escape every time in the past because his sister married into the Xiao family, and she always used her power to suppress others. When the murder case broke out later, this man quickly left the country with his tail between his legs. After he came back, you idiots chased that internet celebrity teacher, licking the screen and calling him Gege and Husband every day. ]

[ tj178676: He himself wasn’t afraid of death and went to Qiming to teach. Now that he’s gotten his wish, I hope he and his cheap sister in the underworld are never reincarnated.]

The ID of the commenter was system-generated, and it was obviously a small account.

It was filled with all kinds of abuse and humiliation toward Ou Yang and the Xiao family. This made the posts seem less credible, and many people accused him of talking far-fetched nonsense just for the popularity.

Li Xiu looked at his phone and his expression became grave. He knew very well that the other party’s words were likely true.

In the Xiao family portrait, he had indeed seen Ou Yang in his youth.

So was Ou Yang in his and Fang Qian’an’s terrible nightmare because of the Xiao Family Haunted House?

Ou Yang’s sister turned out to be the missus of the Xiao family…..

The terrifying rotting corpses he’d seen in his hallucination appeared in Li Xiu’s mind. Did that woman really abuse a child in such a cruel way? 

That child…..where was he now?

Li Xiu unconsciously shivered, beginning to feel cold again.

No…..

Li Xiu bit the tip of his tongue and forced himself not to focus on the Xiao family’s past.

After all, the most important thing for him now was studying. If he could still get first place in the exams as before, according to his contract with Qiming, he could get a scholarship of 3,000 yuan per month.

With a little planning, he might be able to buy a cheap surveillance system to put up at home.

His grandmother’s condition was obviously bad, and Li Xiu didn’t know what she might do at home with her Alzheimer’s disease advancing. 

Just as the morning self-study bell rang, Li Xiu was called out of the classroom again.

The police were looking for him.

*

The building complex, Academic Affairs Office.

Li Xiu sat on pins and needles in the office, where he had to steel himself and give an account in front of two police officers. Of course, compared to the dean, the attitudes of the police officers were particularly kind and gentle. 

What they asked about was the last time Li Xiu saw Ou Yang, and if he displayed any abnormal behavior.

And what Li Xiu hadn’t known until this moment was that he was the last person to come into contact with Ou Yang at school that day.

“Abnormal?”

Li Xiu frowned and tried to recall the scene at that time.

“At that time…..well, the window blew open and some books fell off the shelf, so he was a little frightened.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the police officers exchange looks.

Then they asked Li Xiu to verify the colors of the books on the bookshelf, but so many things had happened these days that Li Xiu couldn’t remember much. After going through the whole process quickly, the officers sent Li Xiu out of the office.

A policeman patted Li Xiu on the shoulder and said with a smile: “Okay, thank you for your cooperation, Classmate Li Xiu.”

As if aware of Li Xiu’s tension, he specifically explained before he left: “Don’t be so nervous, we’re just investigating this matter. It has nothing to do with you.”

Li Xiu tried his best to smile and cope with it.

Of course, he couldn’t tell the police in front of him that it wasn’t their identities that made him nervous, but this building. 

What had happened to Fang Qian’an in this building complex was a nightmare that Li Xiu didn’t want to recall in this lifetime.

In fact, when the office door closed, Li Xiu quickly fell into a heavy mood.

He looked with difficulty toward the elevator at the end of the corridor, then turned to look at the stairs.

The trauma that elevator had brought him was too much. How about taking the stairs?

Just at this time, Li Xiu suddenly sensed an intense gaze.

He turned his head automatically and happened to see a slightly blue face with sunken eyes slowly peeking at him from around the corner of the corridor.

That person only had their head and neck exposed, and was so low that it made a person think they were lying on the floor, only revealing their head to take a peek.

And Li Xiu looked at them for several seconds before just barely realizing who that haggard face belonged to.

“Wang Rongfa?”

---

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Chapter 38 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 40

Li Xiu had a dream.

He knew very well that it was a dream, because the red rope around his waist was always faintly hot, seemingly to remind him of this.

In this dream, Li Xiu found that he had returned to the Xiao family villa he had just visited during the day.

It must be because he was so stimulated during the day that he kept dreaming about this, right? Because this time, he not only dreamed of the silent and eerie haunted house, but also of Teacher Xu and the others he had met that day.

With no control over himself, he stood in the corner of the room and watched Teacher Xu and the others perform various strange activities in front of the small storage room door that he and Fang Qian’an had inspected before. He watched as those people poured large amounts of talismans into the brazier with cold sweat on their brows, and could faintly hear the sound of Teacher Xu chanting mantras.

Zizi…..

A discomfiting wet sound came from the brazier.

Li Xiu looked into the brazier with a frown, then realized that what was burning in the basin was not fire. On the contrary, there was now only a thick and sticky black-red mud.

Like some kind of living creature, the “mud” continuously climbed up the sides of the basin, tangled and revolting.

Li Xiu felt nauseous, and some kind of intuition made him want to avoid the thing in the basin. However, there seemed to be an invisible force restraining him in this dream, forcing him closer and closer to the storage room door.

Only then did Li Xiu discover that the storage room door was completely different in the dream than in reality.

The scarlet door was densely covered in yellow symbols, and countless chains as thick as a baby’s wrist were welded to the rock wall, locking it tightly.

One after another, long, shrill screams continued to squeeze out from the cracks in the door.

[“It’s not me…..let me out…..you made a mistake…..”]

[“He ran away. He ran away a long time ago, hehehehe…..”]

[“I beg of you, let me out…..you made a mistake, ahhhhh……let me out wuwuwu…..it hurts…..it hurts ahhhhh…..”]

They were the howls of a grown man. Each syllable uttered contained tremendous pain, as if it could be transmitted through sound waves into the souls of others.

Li Xiu’s figure swayed, and his body wouldn’t stop trembling.

So painful, so nauseous…..

He covered his ears with his hands, hardly able to continue listening.

However, no matter how he resisted, the screams of the thing inside the door were always with him, extremely clear.

But it seemed to be aware that nobody was paying any attention to its wails of pain.

The screamer’s voice became shriller and more vicious, and eventually, its howls turned into incredibly dark and vicious curses.

[“You will all die.”]

The crying was mixed with an eerie, hissing laughter.

[“There is no escape. No one can escape. Hehehehe, you think you’ve suppressed him…..hehe, he left here long ago.”]

[“I will never reincarnate…..but you…..all of you are the same…..it’s the same for all of us…..]

[“All of you will die. Everyone will die!]

Accompanied by the male voice’s curses, black and red blood as thick as asphalt seeped out of the cracks in the closed door.

“Wu…..”

Even knowing that this was a nightmare, Li Xiu still couldn’t help but take a step back.

Then…..he felt himself crash directly into a cold embrace.

Li Xiu instantly froze.

It was obviously a dream, but the feeling of cold behind him was so clear. So clear that even in a dream, his hair stood on end and his heart tightened.

The pair of hands gradually moved from Li Xiu’s shoulders to his chest. Under Li Xiu’s trembling gaze, that pair of nailless hands moved over Li Xiu’s body inch by inch.

The corpse’s lips pressed against his ear, and his breath when he spoke brought with it an arctic chill.

[“Don’t be afraid, A-Xiu.”]

[“Gege won’t kill A-Xiu.”]

[“Gege loves you.”]

. . . . . .

Beepbeep beepbeep—

The alarm on his cell phone rang next to his pillow. The boy, grimacing and sweating on the single bed, was successfully brought back to reality from his nightmare.

Li Xiu groaned. With great difficulty, he fumbled for his phone and turned off the alarm. It took several more seconds before he forced himself to open his eyes.

His head was very heavy.

All of the joints in his body were also extremely stiff. When Li Xiu stood, he almost felt like he was carrying another person on his back, so heavy that he could hardly lift his head.

It seemed he’d had another nightmare last night.

Having experienced many such things since childhood, Li Xiu didn’t pay attention to the strangeness of his body.

He just vaguely felt that something wasn’t right when he woke up. Thinking about the reason his body was so heavy now, Li Xiu suddenly realized that there was one person missing from the bed.

All of Fang Qian’an’s things had vanished. Apparently, the other party had left before Li Xiu woke up.

For a moment, Li Xiu looked at the bed and didn’t know if he should feel unhappy or relieved.

Now that he thought about it, it should be more of the latter.

…..Maybe it felt a little weird to wake up in the same bed or something. 

This thought briefly passed through Li Xiu’s mind. He glanced at the time on his phone and was suddenly invigorated, waking up completely. He also had no time to think about his poor, choppy interpersonal relationships.

Because he was almost late.

Li Xiu quickly finished washing up, changed into his school uniform, and went to rush into his gege’s room and take out the uncooked rice he had placed under the bed the day before.

However, there was nothing under the bed.

Li Xiu’s heart tightened at once. He even took out his cell phone and took several pictures under the bed, but the bowl that should have been there was still missing — it wasn’t until Li Xiu arrived in the kitchen that he discovered that his gege’s bowl had been cleanly washed and placed on the dining table.

Standing at the table, Li Xiu looked at that lone bowl. He kept feeling that after waking up this morning, the house felt extremely cold.

There seemed to be a sweet, fishy smell in the air…..

Teacher Xu’s words the day before were still ringing in his ears. Li Xiu calmed down and forced himself not to think in the direction of the supernatural.

After taking a deep breath, he stood next to his grandmother’s bedroom and whispered into the quiet room, “Grandmother, did you take out Gege’s rice bowl?”

He waited for a long time before an extremely faint, hoarse response came.

“He’s full…..A-Xiu, ah…..he’s full.”

He was full?

Did that mean “Gege” was full?

Li Xiu was at a loss. He heard his grandmother continue to speak: “Just ignore all that and leave quickly. Leave quickly.”

The old woman’s voice returned to normal, and she began to urge Li Xiu to go to school.

At the door, Li Xiu let out a quiet sigh: “Oh. Then I’ll leave for school first, Grandmother.”

Recently, his grandmother’s various manifestations showed that her Alzheimer’s disease was getting increasingly serious. Perhaps in his grandmother’s mind, that “gege” trapped under the bed was finally full?

Although he was extremely uneasy, Li Xiu was indeed very close to being late.

Li Xiu could only hastily rush out of the house with his school bag on his back, his heart in his throat.

When the door closed, it seemed as if he could still hear his grandmother’s babbling.

[“A-Xiu, leave quickly.”]

[“Leave quickly.”]

*

“Hey, Li kid.”

When he got downstairs, Li Xiu walked in a hurry with his head down.

But when passing by the downstairs neighbor, he was still stopped in the alleyway by the neighbor sister.

“Auntie Liu? What is it?”

Li Xiu raised his head to see the neighbor sister’s long face.

“I say, ah, can’t you tell that relative of yours to stop crying every night at three in the morning? Seriously, I’ve tolerated you for a long time. How can the noise keep me awake living next door to you across the street? Crying one day, two days, crying and crying every day. You wouldn’t want to be disturbed by that noise, would you? My son still needs to go to school. It’s annoying to death.”

Li Xiu looked at the neighbor with a blank face.

“Relative? Auntie Liu, we don’t have any relatives coming to our house…..”

Auntie Liu became instantly furious when he heard Li Xiu’s response, and yelled while pointing at the window of Li Xiu’s living room: “How is that not the case? I can see through your window!”

Building homes in a shantytown had always been about finding every opportunity. Although Li Xiu’s house and the neighbor sister’s house were two buildings, the distance between the two families was indeed so close that you could run from one to the other just by clambering up.

And the neighbor’s balcony really did face Li Xiu’s living room.

As Li Xiu suddenly became very silent, the neighbor sister was still shouting in anger.

“At three in the morning, she’ll run around the living room crying, and I’ll call to her through the window to keep her voice down. But she’s still pretending to be deaf.”

“But…..”

“I say this so loudly and angrily, because you’re a child who studies, yet you’re still lying to me. What do you mean your family has no relatives? How many years has that woman lived there with your grandmother? Do you think we’re all blind?”

The shouts of the neighbor sister gradually became distant.

It was like a pair of invisible hands were gently covering Li Xiu’s ears.

However, on this ordinary weekday morning, Li Xiu stood below his home and shivered uncontrollably from the cold.

He knew very well that he and his grandmother had only each other to depend on for so many years.

But at the same time, he also thought of the “guest” he would see in the living room every time he went home, as well as the pair of high heels the guest left by the door.

Some things that Li Xiu had inadvertently ignored suddenly became extremely clear.

For example, he had seen the old pair of high heels at the door when he got home yesterday.

But when he entered the house, no one was there.

For another example, his grandmother seemed to have hugged him once while murmuring to him.

[“A-Xiu, don’t touch those shoes.”]

[“Those are the shoes of a dead person. Whichever direction the toes of the shoes point, she only knows how to go in that direction.”]

[“If you mess up her shoes, she won’t know how to get home.”]

---

The Author Has Something to Say:

Just in case, I’d like to add that this idea of the shoe toes came from a ghost story I heard before. 

That is to say, everyone should avoid pointing the toes of their shoes toward the bed before going to sleep. Otherwise, ghosts will follow the toes of the shoes and crawl up.

---

Consider donating via Kofi here.

Chapter 37 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 39

After Pei Xi spoke, he realized he had said the wrong thing.

He “couldn’t remember” what happened when he was braid-addled. He shouldn’t have known that they went to the supermarket together the day before, let alone that he’d bought jello there.

As expected, He Chuzhou was silent for a long time on the other end of the line: “How did you—”

“Is it difficult to guess?”

Pei Xi made a preemptive strike: “There’s obviously a large supermarket opposite the community gate. If I didn’t buy it there, wouldn’t I have to travel a long way?”

“These weren’t at home before yesterday. Since they’re here today, they must have been bought yesterday. It’s impossible for you to have gone out and bought so many things before going to work.”

“Even if I didn’t buy them from the supermarket, if I go there and buy something else and ask them to give me an extra spoon at checkout, they won’t refuse.”

He spoke logically and meticulously, blocking off all avenues of suspicion. He Chuzhou had no chance to interrupt.

When he finished speaking, the phone was strangely silent for a few seconds.

After a long moment, He Chuzhou said leisurely: “I just wanted to say, why go to the supermarket to get one? There are plenty small spoons to eat jello with at home.”

Pei Xi: …..

Pei Xi: ……..

He Chuzhou seemed to be suppressing a smile: “Now that it’s not on your way, will you still send the document to me?”

Pei Xi drew in a deep breath. He opened the study door and asked stiffly: “Where is the document?”

He Chuzhou’s tone rose: “In the left hand drawer, you’ll see it when you open it. My office is on the top floor. I’ll go down to pick you up when you get here?”

Pei Xi opened the drawer and found the file: “No need.”

He Chuzhou: “You can come up yourself. I’ll tell the front desk staff soon to send you to the elevator when you arrive.”

Pei Xi hung up the phone.

He Chuzhou listened to the dial tone and looked at the interface that had jumped back to the address book. Finally, he couldn’t hold back his laugh.

At home, at home he’d said.

He savored the words spoken by Pei Xi, unable to keep his lips from rising.

Ai, it was nothing specific, ah.

So why did it sound so pleasant from Pei Xinxin’s mouth?

*

*

There was more than one vehicle in He Chuzhou’s garage, and he told Pei Xi where the keys were so that he could drive them as he pleased.

Between driving and taking a taxi, Pei Xi chose the latter without hesitation.

He didn’t know how the parking spaces on the basement floor of the He Group building were allocated. Parking in an unfamiliar place was too troublesome, so taking a taxi was more convenient.

The front desk knew of him and greeted him in advance, attentively taking him to the elevator as soon as he arrived.

It was just that the elevator card wasn’t authorized for the special elevator, and he wasn’t the only one waiting outside the general one.

A man and a woman were holding computers as they chatted behind Pei Xi.

“Did you hear that President He brought someone home?”

“What kind of person?”

“What kind? What do you mean, what kind? Of course it’s a little lover, ah. According to my friend at the upper levels, President He dotes on him so much that he always has him with him during video conferences. If he’s hungry or thirsty at one moment or another, he’ll spread dog food in public.”

“Oh, no wonder he didn’t come work at the company yesterday.”

President He’s little lover standing in front of them: “……”

The elevator arrived. Pei Xi entered first as soon as it opened, as the two behind him chatted animatedly. They came in and pressed a button, then turned their backs to him and continued gossiping.

“But isn’t President He in a relationship with that person? There was such a commotion over it, so why is there another little lover now?”

That person?

Pei Xi wasn’t taking their nonsense seriously at all, but he was stunned when he heard this.

He Chuzhou was in a relationship?

Who was he dating?

Why wasn’t he aware at all?

“Ai, do you not understand the world of wealthy people or are you pretending not to understand? Besides, can a boyfriend and a little lover be the same?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, President He isn’t that kind of person.”

“That kind of person? It’s normal for grown men to have some fun. Besides, those willing to give and take are young and romantic. I don’t believe that person doesn’t know. He must have acquiesced.”

“Did they see what that little lover looked like?”

“No, ah. President He hid him well, he never showed his face. Not even a finger could be seen.”

“Then how do you know it was his little lover and not the empress?”

“How could that be…..”

Pei Xi closed his eyes forcefully. Inexplicable anger surged through his chest, and a strong astringency went straight to his nose.

He Chuzhou had a boyfriend?

Who was it, and why had he never seen him?

Since he already had a boyfriend, why was he so comfortable playing the part of Pei Xi’s other half when he was brain-addled? Why had he still let him move in?

He shouldn’t have agreed to move in so easily. After delivering the document, he would immediately go back and pack—

“What is President Pei’s identity? He’s not one of those young boys who serve others for sex. How is it possible for him to act cutesy when President He is taking care of business?”

“Yes, President Pei should have been working at that time.”

Pei Xi: “……”

The roller coaster plummeted from its apex, and the swell of anger extinguished with a pop.

His breathing stopped for a moment, and the astringent feeling in his nose reminded him of his inexplicable near-emotional collapse just now. 

In the end, he was the one who benefitted. He Chuzhou had the freedom to fall in love, so why would he be angry? 

“According to what you said, does that mean—”

The man’s voice cut off abruptly the second he raised his head.

The gleaming elevator walls reflected a clear image of the elevator’s interior, and he happened to meet a cold, indifferent gaze from outside.

“……”

“……….”

Pei Xi wasn’t wearing formal attire, and the casual clothes gave him the appearance of a new intern who hadn’t yet graduated. This was the main reason that the two of them hadn’t noticed him right away.

But once he noticed, he was frightened to death.

The man swallowed hard and stiffly nudged the arm of the woman next to him. The woman asked what he was doing and raised her head.

“……”

The two of them stared foolishly and even forgot to turn back toward one another. With difficulty, they called out to the reflection on the wall: “…..P-President Pei.”

Pei Xi gave an indifferent hum just as the elevator door opened. Seeing that the two were still standing there foolishly, Pei Xi reminded them: “This is your stop.”

“Ah?”

“Oh, oh, it is, it is.”

After two or three scrambling steps, they didn’t dare to leave even once they were out. They turned their heads and stood up straight at the door like two doormen, watching the elevator door close.

“It’s over…..”

“My career has come to an end…..”

“I just saw dog hair on President Pei’s clothes. Doesn’t President He have a dog in the family?”

“I already said he’s the empress……”

“……”

“We’re dead, we’re dead…..”

Pei Xi went to the top floor and directly to He Chuzhou’s office, then set down the documents and went to leave.

He Chuzhou was absolutely dumbfounded, and quickly stood up: “No way, you won’t even have a sip of water? You’re in that much of a hurry?”

Pei Xi: “I’m not thirsty.”

He Chuzhou: “Aren’t you tired from coming all the way here? Won’t you sit down and rest for a while?”

Pei Xi said seriously: “This isn’t my destination.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Why did he feel like he’d received a piece of wagyu beef for his hotpot, but when he picked it up and bit into it, it was frozen?

With a helpless sigh, he picked up the elevator card: “Let’s go, I’ll take you down.”

Pei Xi refused: “I can go down by myself.”

He Chuzhou: “It’s on my way. I’m going to the front desk for a bottle of water.”

They descended in the special elevator to the ground floor lobby. He Chuzhou casually took a bottle of mineral water from the front desk, put Pei Xi in the car, and told him that if he was bored, he could go to the supermarket and buy what he wanted to eat in the evening. He would cook it when he got back.

Pei Xi nodded and asked him if he was going to have a meeting later.

He Chuzhou nodded. “There’s a meeting, why?”

Pei Xi said quietly: “Lock the door tightly. Don’t let random people come in and disturb you.”

Although He Chuzhou didn’t understand his reasoning, he still agreed.

He watched the taxi depart until he could no longer see it, then rubbed his nose and turned back.

The receptionist poked her head out from behind the computer and began to type with joy:

[President Pei was here for some spice!]

[President Pei came and went!]

[President He was very sad when he walked him to the car. He looked like a big dog that had been wagging its tail for a long time without being petted~]

[Ah, so cute!]

*

*

Pei Xi didn’t know how to buy groceries.

To put it shamefully, he couldn’t tell the difference between many similar-looking vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage and baby cabbage, or leeks and garlic sprouts.

He was unable to tell which raw materials He Chuzhou had used to cook for him before, and was too embarrassed to call him and specifically ask. Thus, he could only deliberate slowly based on his intuition. He brought a lot home in the end.

Of course, when he checked out, he didn’t forget to ask the cashier to give him a plastic spoon for eating the jello when he got back.

As a result, He Chuzhou returned from work in the evening to see that the bunch of vegetables he’d bought were difficult to use together, as well as mushrooms that had been pre-soaked in water and ended up spilling all over the floor. He almost couldn’t contain himself.

Pei Xi frowned: “I only soaked enough for the two of us. Their expansion was out of control.”

“It’s no big deal. They would have expanded out of my control too.”

In order to save some face for him, He Chuzhou tried his utmost not to laugh. After cleaning up the overflowing mushrooms, he turned his attention to the huge sack of vegetables.

“You like fried pork with bell peppers, right? Then you need to buy bell peppers, ah. These small peppers are too spicy and can only be used in condiments.”

“Crucian carp is good, but sweet and sour fish generally isn’t made with them. You can try making this fish into a salad or a crucian carp soup.”

“This is okay, is it? How do you want to eat the okra? I didn’t make it since I didn’t think you’d eat it, but it turns out you like it? 

Unexpectedly, Pei Xi was confused: “You didn’t?”

He Chuzhou: “Did I? No, I haven’t even bought them…..hiss, wait, are you talking about the hot tigerskin green pepper dish?”

Pei Xi: “…..I didn’t taste any spiciness.”

He Chuzhou: “I was afraid you didn’t know how to eat spicy food, so I took special care with it.

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Since none of the vegetables Pei Xi had gone home were something he really wanted to eat, the two of them went to the supermarket again.

This time, He Chuzhou was in charge of the precise selections and taught Pei Xi: “The tigerskin pepper dish is made with this kind of pepper, and this kind of young ginger is used for stir-fried pork with ginger, not the old ginger you bought. You can use regular carp, mandarin fish, grass carp, and koi carp for sweet and sour fish…..”

Pei Xi listened intently, silently jotting down mental notes.

He was dressed too much like a young, energetic university student today, and his posture made it seem like he was practicing looking upper-class. From time to time, he would pick up a bunch of vegetables and study them carefully. His face was so tender that water could be squeezed from it, and He Chuzhou’s heart melted at the sight.

“You really want to learn how to cook, ah?” he asked.

After some thought, Pei Xi nodded. His cooking skills were very poor. Almost non-existent. He could freeload off He Chuzhou now, but he would be on his own in the future.

At this thought, he happened to recall the question Pei-calico had asked, and the answer He Chuzhou gave him.

—I don’t want to learn, can you keep cooking for me?

—Of course.

Was he simply trying to coax him into behaving, or…..”

“Okay!” He Chuzhou said, easy-mannered. “I’ll pick a suitable time to teach you later. Which dish do you want to learn, braised pork ribs or sweet and sour fish?”

Pei Xi’s distantly stunned look vanished and he picked up the bag, turning around to leave.

“What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy?”

He Chuzhou followed at once: “You don’t want to learn those? Then how about something else?”

“How about I teach you something simple, like steamed crab?”

“Be careful, there’s water on the ground ahead…..”

When checking out, Pei Xi carefully observed each cashier channel and made sure that the auntie who cashed them out yesterday wasn’t there before letting He Chuzhou choose as he pleased.

Think of the thing you’re afraid of, and it will come. A few steps out of the supermarket, they ran into that auntie, who was coming in for a shift change.

Pei Xi took a deep, silent breath. He slowed down and prayed that the aunt wouldn’t recognize them and would pass them by.

The auntie: “Ai! It’s you, ah, young man!”

Pei Xi: “……”

When he saw her shift her gaze from Pei Xi to He Chuzhou, his heart was on tenterhooks and he quickly listed countless responses he could give without giving himself away.

Little did he know that the situation of the other person wasn’t much better than his.

He Chuzhou had completely forgotten about this incident at first, but how that they’d met the enemy on a narrow road, he felt like they were Spartans.

The auntie said with a smile: “You went to the supermarket with your husband again, ah.”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “……”

“Ah, yes! What a coincidence, Auntie!”

He Chuzhou was the first to react: “Do you live around here? So do we, are you going to work? No wonder I just said I didn’t see you. You must be busy, so we won’t take up your time. See you here next time!”

He said his hellos and goodbyes in one breath and forcibly sent the dazed auntie away before turning to face Pei Xi.

Pei Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed: “She……”

“That cashier met us yesterday.” He Chuzhou intercepted his words in a timely manner. “She said we look alike, so I casually said I’m your big brother.”^[1]

Pei Xi was silent for a moment, and his tone was a bit strange when he said: “Big brother?”

“Yes, ah.” He Chuzhou found an opening and began spewing nonsense in an earnest manner: “She just asked if you went to the supermarket with your big brother, did you not hear clearly?”

Pei Xi nodded, accepting this explanation. Without asking further questions, he turned around and began to walk.

He Chuzhou breathed an inward sigh of relief and wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

It was a close call, but fortune smiled upon him and he reacted quickly.

And as he turned around, Pei Xi closed his eyes in relief and finally let his dangling heart drop.

That was a close call. But fortune smiled upon him and He Chuzhou reacted quickly.

---

T/N: Sorry for the wait on this one, guys. I’m a couple chapters ahead on the other two ongoing stories, but behind on this one. I’m the Maid of Honor at my best friend’s wedding, which is in two weeks, so…..responsibilities!

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[1] So the wordplay here is that “husband” (Lǎogōng, 老公) and “big brother/dude/bro” (Lǎoxiōng, 老兄) are pronounced so similarly that one could have been mistaken for the other. ⮐

---

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Chapter 34 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 36

Indeed, it wasn’t difficult to handle at all. Once he received the letter, Yuan Jue directly granted the request and sent it swiftly to Nanfeng City.

Reading over the private message about the current situation, Yuan Jue slowly turned the jade ring on his finger. The smile on his face was cold.

“It seems Zhanyuan really does have a new advisor. Liu Xiaozhu…..Liu……”

*

*

When he heard their arrangements, Dai Tingyu gave Liu Zhenqing a thumbs up.

And Tang Rou stared at Liu Zhenqing in shock and bewilderment. She had never expected someone to go to such lengths for her.

She lamented silently once more: This relative was indeed very similar to Liu Zhenqing.

Next, Dai Tingyu woke up Uncle Tang and began to interrogate him.

When Uncle Tang awoke and realized the others were no longer there and that Huo Fenglie was back, he understood at once that he was doomed. Even if he used his status as Tang Rou’s uncle and begged her to save him, it would all be in vain. After all, even Tang-furen was absent, which proved that nobody was on his side.

Dai Tingyu clearly had a knife against his throat. Uncle Tang was a coward at heart, and confessed everything at once.

The facts were thus: People from the Western Shu Kingdom had contacted him and promised to work with him inside and outside to make him City Lord, offering him glory and wealth. He resented Tang Rou for refusing to abdicate, which resulted in this situation. Regarding the Old City Lord’s treason, he had no idea whether or not it was true, but he possessed some minor cleverness. Rumor would become truth if he actually obtained the position, so up to the end, the Western Shu Kingdom had no idea that Tang Rou was a woman. It was entirely his intention to use this to raise the stakes and show his goodwill to the Western Shu Kingdom. 

“You really are my uncle.” Tang Rou was so angry that she almost laughed.

“I’ve confessed everything. For the sake of me being your uncle, please have mercy.” Uncle Tang said tearfully, “Your mother only has this one brother. If you kill me, your mother will never forgive you.”

“Then I just won’t be forgiven!”

Although Tang Rou was a woman and had an affable personality, she was not a pushover. For both public and private reasons, Uncle Tang must die. At most, she was unwilling to do it herself, and left it to Dai Tingyu to remove him from the City Lord’s manor before executing him.

But the impact caused by Uncle Tang was extremely dire, and even with 50,000 troops camped nearby, the anxiety of the common people in Nanfeng City couldn’t be assuaged in one day.

Of course, it didn’t matter that Tang Rou’s identity as a woman was exposed. As soon as the Imperial Edict arrived, everything would be put to rest. But the matter of the Old City Lord still couldn’t be discussed, not only for the sake of the innocent members of the Tang family, but also for the sake of peace in Nanfeng City.

But just as Uncle Tang had expected, if one thing was true, the other matter would be regarded as true in the eyes of the public even without evidence, so corresponding measures must be taken to guide public opinion.

As everyone discussed, Tang Rou frowned in thought. As an involved party, it was difficult for her to think outside the box, and Dai Tingyu was racking his brains even more. He really couldn’t bear it anymore, and wanted to beat people up when he went out nowadays. What those bastard common people said about Tang Rou was entirely unreasonable.

He really couldn’t think of anything in the end, and instinctively turned to ask Liu Zhenqing: “Young Master Liu, do you have a method?”

Tang Rou also looked over expectantly. With an awkward smile, Liu Zhenqing said: “There is indeed a method, but it’s a bit damaging to your reputation.”

Tang Rou hadn’t actually expected Liu Zhenqing to have a solution. She said quickly: “What reputation do I have now? Brother Liu, please speak.”

Liu Zhenqing touched his head and slowly explained his plan.

*

*

Soon after, in the Western Shu Kingdom, someone knelt down and reported the news from Nanfeng City to Qiao Jin.

“It is rumored that Your Majesty has long known that Tang-chengzhu is a woman, and because his love was unrequited, you snatched the throne and used it to force Tang-chengzhu to submit. They say that all of the current rumors are just traps set to force Tang-chengzhu to marry you, so…..”

“Nonsense! That isn’t true at all!” 

Qiao Jin became anxious at once, because he saw Liu Qiao peering at him with curious eyes.

Under pressure, the subordinate said: “Of course it’s only a random fabrication, but…..it is already known to everyone in Nanfeng City. Everyone’s emotions have been assuaged, and nobody believes what was said about the Old City Lord. Coupled with the Imperial Edict from the Zhou Dynasty’s emperor, the Tang-chengzhu’s identity has been rectified and she has been appointed as the City Lord. So now, the common people of Nanfeng City are united against the outside world. They all say…..don’t even think about marrying their City Lord!”

Qiao Jin was so enraged that the veins on his forehead bulged. He hadn’t expected that someone would use such a trick against him, causing him to fall short of success. Inexplicably, he thought of that member of the Liu family, feeling that such an unscrupulous method must have come from his mind. 

“What about Huo Fenglie!” Qiao Jin asked, “Is there news?”

“There has been no movement. He met up with the main army, and they are training steadily. It seems they are ready to attack our Western Shu Kingdom at any time.”

Qiao Jin’s face darkened. He gestured for him to step down, and saw that Liu Qiao was still looking at him curiously. He immediately shouted at Liu Qiao: “Don’t believe that too!”

Liu Qiao considered for a moment, then said: “You’re eighteen and it’s time for you to get engaged, but…..Tang-chengzhu is much older than you…..”

“Bullshit! Are you trying to anger me to death too?” Qiao Jin was in a fury.

Liu Qiao shrugged, saying: “In any case, your plan failed.”

Qiao Jin’s mood wasn’t good. He knew that although his excuse for this plan was to reveal the truth about Liu Zhenqing and restore his reputation, Liu Qiao knew that his real purpose was to deal with Huo Fenglie. Liu Qiao was unhappy with this, but didn’t stop him. In his opinion, apart from the already deceased Liu Zhenqing, Qiao Jin was at least the most important in Liu Qiao’s heart, so he was quite happy. But unexpectedly, that was thoroughly undermined by this person.

“Are you happy that my plan failed?” Qiao Jin habitually vented his anger on this block of wood.

Liu Qiao said: “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?!”

“Because I don’t know whether or not you wanted it to fail. What are you trying to do?” Liu Qiao regarded him with a rare frown.

Qiao Jin’s eyes darkened. He said: “Regardless, what will happen to me if you leave? It can’t be that you also don’t care about me?”

Liu Qiao was taken aback. He saw Qiao Jin’s bright eyes glinting under his thick black eyelashes, like an encroaching wild beast. It made one’s heart tremble to behold it. That natural attractive force was worthy of a member of the Yuan clan.

That gaze was so fiery hot that it made Liu Qiao rely purely on instinct to avoid danger.

“If it really does come to battle, even if Western Shu has a 200,000-strong army, it won’t be able to defeat Huo Fenglie’s 50,000 Huo family troops.” Liu Qiao showed rare concern for Qiao Jin’s plight.

Qiao Jin gritted his teeth, saying coldly: “Of course I know that even the generals of Western Shu can’t stop Huo Fenglie, but……he is not the flawless God of War he was before. Do me a favor.”

“Tell me,” Liu Qiao said. “I won’t assasinate Huo Fenglie.”

Qiao Jin glared angrily at Liu Qiao: “Help me kidnap a certain person. Rest assured, I’m reluctant to let you take risks. Someone will assist you.”

Liu Qiao was startled. Reluctant to let him take risks? It seemed this kid had begun to like saying things like this in the past year or two.

*

*

On the other side, at the City Lord’s manor.

Due to being frightened by Huo Fenglie, Prince Qiao An hadn’t shown up for several days. But at this time, he actually came to Tang Rou.

“I heard that the false king of Western Shu likes you?”

Liu Zhenqing, who was discussing matters with Tang Rou, laughed endlessly upon hearing this. Unexpectedly, Tang Rou had heard about this while living in seclusion. It seemed that his plan had been successful.

Tang Rou rubbed her brow with a headache: “Your Highness, it’s time for you to pack up and head to the military camp.”

Because 50,000 troops had arrived, the military camp was naturally safer than staying in the City Lord’s manor. Liu Zhenqing was also going over.

“Let me remind you, that person is no good. Don’t become confused and betray your Great Zhou Dynasty,” Qiao An said.

“Many thanks for the reminder. I won’t,” Tang Rou said with displeasure.

Qiao An scoffed coldly and departed. Compared to his previous attitude toward Tang-chengzhu, it was about twice as bad. This clearly had something to do with the extremely low status of women in his country.

Liu Zhenqing gazed after Qiao An’s departing figure and analyzed the purpose of his actions. When he turned around, he found Tang Rou looking at him.

Tang Rou was currently still in customary men’s attire.

“What is it?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

“It’s still hard for me to imagine that Nanfeng City’s attitude has changed in such a way,” Tang Rou sighed.

“Just don’t blame me for ruining your reputation,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile. “The common people are more receptive to gossip than power struggles, especially when it comes to love and hate. This can arouse their collective sense of honor and unity against the outside world, which is the most consistent way to divert attention. And when the emperor’s Imperial Edict arrived, the positive effects were condensed, and the common people naturally felt that all of the previous negative news was all a conspiracy. In fact, they had been led well. Public opinion was a double-edged sword. If used well, it would definitely benefit them. And at this point, the king of Western Shu was still young.

Tang Rou considered for a moment before saying: “Just like Prime Minister Liu used public opinion to exonerate our Tang family, Nanfeng City has been stabilized. Brother Liu, you have a lot in common with Prime Minister Liu.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said curiously: “Do you intend to wear men’s clothes all the time?”

Looking embarrassed, Tang Rou said: “It’s convenient, and I’ve said that I don’t intend to marry.”

Liu Zhenqing coughed and said, “Actually…..”

“I know what you’re going to say. I’m not going to marry and attach myself to someone. I just don’t think it’s necessary.” Tang Rou said with a smile: “I’m content right now. Not every woman in this world wants to get married and have children.”

Liu Zhenqing was momentarily stunned. “Indeed,” he said. He had actually intended to say that she could look at the people next to her. Dai Tingyu, for example. But it felt inappropriate to say such a thing now.

According to the time, Huo Fenglie should be coming back to pick him up. Liu Zhenqing intended to go back and clean up.

As a result, he met Tang-furen halfway.

They hadn’t seen each other for several days. Upon meeting again, Tang-furen seemed to be in a daze. When she saw Liu Zhenqing avert his gaze, she at last stepped forward to salute Liu Zhenqing and apologize for her previous offenses.

Seeing her finally behaving in a reasonable manner, Liu Zhenqing breathed a sigh of relief. “Is Tang-furen out for a walk?”

“No…..I…..I’m looking for General Huo.” Tang-furen’s tone of voice sounded a little weak. Looking at her pale face, Liu Zhenqing wondered if she was ill. Although he had some medical skills, Liu Zhenqing was not generous enough to extend them to everyone he met.

“General Huo should be here soon. Would you like…..to wait in the courtyard?” Liu Zhenqing glanced in the direction Tang-furen was walking and simply planned to go to the courtyard they resided in.

Tang-furen nodded and said: “I’ll trouble you.”

When the two arrived at the courtyard, Liu Zhenqing said: “I still need to pack my bags. Tang-furen, please make yourself at home.” He was actually a little curious as to why she was here. But according to the relationship between the two of them, Tang-furen probably didn’t have anything to say to him. Thus, Liu Zhenqing could only clean up and wait for Huo Fenglie to return.

In fact, all Liu Zhenqing needed to take with him were a few articles of clothing and the medicine left to him by his master. When he went to the bedroom, he saw that everything was basically tidied up. He dared say that when he was lying in bed in Huo Fenglie’s room, the man had come and cleaned everything up for him in advance.

Liu Zhenqing looked at the bags placed on the table and sat down with a smile to take inventory. He recalled that there seemed to have been a similar scene in the past. As long as Er-gou was around, even a young Er-gou, he didn’t need any servants around him. Er-gou would prepare everything for him, so he didn’t have to worry about such trivial matters at all. 

Li Xingruo had said jealously that Er-gou didn’t even treat his own brother like this, and that he was basically part of the Liu family.

Come to think of it, hadn’t he been raised by the Liu family?

The more Liu Zhenqing thought about it, the happier he became. Suddenly, he remembered the hidden troubles in his heart and could only sigh. He’d been thinking about Liu Qiao these days. He still couldn’t think of what to do, and didn’t know how to talk about it with Huo Fenglie. He always felt that as soon as he spoke, the perfect image Huo Fenglie had of him would be destroyed. After all, Huo Fenglie came from the loyal and patriotic Huo family, and his infatuation with Liu Zhenqing might be broken. He was already used to Er-gou’s affection for him, and if it diminished even a little, he might not be able to bear it.

But a war might begin soon, and he couldn’t just not tell him, ah.

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard a noise outside. Huo Fenglie had returned.

As soon as Liu Zhenqing opened the door, he saw that a distance across the courtyard, Tang-furen had knelt down and was kowtowing heavily toward Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie was very indifferent toward outsiders. He didn’t step forward to help her up, and only asked: “What is the meaning of this, Tang-furen?”

Tang-furen had naturally come because of Tang Rou. She knew in her heart that everything was untrue. Huo Fenglie had protected Tang Rou so that she could avoid fretting over the crime she’d committed, and also protected the Tang family from the problems left behind by the Old City Lord. Tang-furen felt exceptionally guilty and grateful, and naturally wanted to express her gratitude.

But Tang-furen’s purpose was not limited to that.

“General Huo, I would like to apologize to you for my previous designs with you and Rou’er, but my intentions were good. You and Rou’er are the same age, and you’ve also seen that she has been passing for a man all these years and her conduct is pure. If General Huo doesn’t dislike her, can he accept Rou’er?”

Liu Zhenqing was struck dumb. With a slight frown, Huo Fenglie looked up at Liu Zhenqing by the door of the house. He couldn’t understand why he had let Tang-furen inside.

How could Liu Zhenqing not have known that Tang-furen had such a plan, ah? Publicly prying into his corner? He really wasn’t taken seriously, ah. He really didn’t have a legitimate identity. He should get engaged and married as soon as possible. Next time he would just say that he was the general’s fiance, husband, wife, whatever, and see who dared to be so hasty.

“Tang-furen, please come back another time.” Huo Fenglie’s refusal was cold.

Tang-furen’s face paled, and she began to cough. Feeling as if she was at the end of her life, she immediately kowtowed to Huo Fenglie and said: “I know that General Huo already has someone, but you are the general who guards the country, ah. It doesn’t matter if there is one more or one less person at your side. Even if you don’t give Rou’er the status of first wife, a side wife or concubine is fine, or at least give her a son or two to let the world know that she is your woman.”

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but frown upon hearing this. He seemed to understand Tang-furen’s thoughts.

Huo Fenglie’s brow furrowed. His tone was displeased: “Why does Tang-furen look down on her daughter like this?”

Tang-furen kowtowed again, her forehead turning red. “The King of Western Shu has his eye on my daughter, I…..”

“That is false,” Huo Fenglie said directly.

In the end, Tang-furen could only tell the truth: “General, have mercy. Just accept Rou’er. That father of hers left a life-threatening danger behind for our whole family. Even if we can hide it for a while, there is still a sword hanging over our heads, ah. As long as you put her under your protection, Rou’er and her younger siblings will not…..If this old woman dies, that’s fine, but they are innocent, ah.”

Tang-furen shuffled on her knees to Huo Fenglie. She knew that this was her only chance. If Huo Fenglie left, there would be no chance of fighting for asylum for her children. Tang-furen tugged at the hem of his clothes and said with a teary face: “General Huo, Rou’er is beautiful and gentle. If the matters at home hadn’t happened, she would have been able to marry and become a wife long ago. I no longer expect an engagement between Rou’er and the general. As long as you just accept her…..”

Huo Fenglie simply stepped away. Tang-furen lost her grip and fell to the ground in great embarrassment. Liu Zhenqing looked at the older woman with a sigh, then stepped forward to help her. 

Tang-furen grabbed Liu Zhenqing and said bitterly: “Young Master Liu, Rou’er has a good relationship with you and won’t compete with you. We just want to save our lives, ah. Please help intercede for me, Young Master Liu, and ask General Huo to agree.”

Although this Tang-furen was always doing muddle-headed things, she was thinking of Tang Rou in this particular matter.

“But is Tang Rou willing?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

Tang-furen said quickly: “As long as you agree, Tang Rou will still accept if I cry, make a fuss, and threaten to hang myself.”

Liu Zhenqing thought for a moment, then said: “Tang-furen, please go back first. I will advise him.”

Tang-furen instantly looked at Liu Zhenqing in shock, while Huo Fenglie opposite stared blankly at Liu Zhenqing.

After the staggering Tang-furen was sent away, he turned to find Huo Fenglie glaring at him with a dark expression.

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “What’s all this? I lied to her, otherwise the old woman would cry, fuss, and hang herself right here. Why go to all this trouble? It was better to trick her into leaving first so she wouldn’t faint in front of us. I made no promises on your behalf, so why are you angry?”

Huo Fenglie turned around and said: “I’m not angry.”

“You’re obviously angry.” Liu Zhenqing stepped forward and nudged Huo Fenglie, saying with a smile: “You’re outstanding and hold a high position. It’s normal for others to have such thoughts.”

Huo Fenglie slowly turned his head to look at Liu Zhenqing, and it could be seen that he really wasn’t angry at all. On the contrary, he was teasing him. Huo Fenglie smiled wryly and took a deep breath, saying: “Have you ever encountered such a thing before?”

Liu Zhenqing rubbed his nose and said proudly: “There must be many times, but I don’t have…..”

“Then did Tang Mu have such a plan before, to promise Tang Rou to you? It happened to be that she liked you.” Huo Fenglie’s tone was suddenly unclear.

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback, and looked at Huo Fenglie in astonishment. How had he guessed? He was so clever, ah.

Huo Fenglie knew he had guessed correctly as soon as he saw his expression. Tang-furen had such thoughts, but he hadn’t known if Tang Mu had them back then. What’s more, Tang Rou was still in her prime at that time, and Liu Zhenqing was not yet married. A marriage to the powerful Prime Minister Liu would naturally give protection to the Tang family.

Liu Zhenqing was about to explain that Tang Mu had only mentioned it, but Huo Fenglie was already walking toward the room.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t take it seriously, simply regarding it as a casual chat.

Soon afterwards, he and Prince Qiao An were escorted to the military camp by a team led by Huo Fenglie. Liu Zhenqing wanted to show off by riding with the general under the eyes of 50,000 people, but on the way there, Huo Fenglie was very stern. Riding on Chen Jiangyue, he didn’t look back at Liu Zhenqing peeping at him.

Even when he coaxed Chen Jiangyue to turn his head, Huo Fenglie still took the reins to control her.

Liu Zhenqing wasn’t clear on if he just wanted to maintain his dignity in front of the army or if before they left the City Lord’s manor, Tang-furen had secretly pulled him aside to talk and annoyed him.

But he had tricked that old woman.

Liu Zhenqing shamelessly followed Huo Fenglie after disembarking the carriage. He still knew the rules of the military camp. After all, he used to spend time next to Huo Feihan, so he wouldn’t mess around and damage Huo Fenglie’s prestige. He took care to not behave excessively.

This was the 50,000-strong Huo Family Army, and they followed Huo Fenglie. They saw that besides Qiao An, there was a young master following their general very closely. Was this a distance their general would permit? Would the general shoulder-toss him to the ground? Everyone couldn’t help being curious.

The quartermaster was just about to find a place for Liu Zhenqing, when Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “I don’t want to waste resources, I’ll share a tent with your general.”

He heard Qiao An scoff coldly beside him. The subordinate was shocked, and looked toward his general.

Huo Fenglie was talking with someone, and turned around when he heard this. He was about to say that he wasn’t sharing a tent with Liu Zhenqing, but then he saw him look over with a smile. And he still…..nodded.

The quartermaster was dumbfounded, and could only have someone show Liu Zhenqing the way. Huo Fenglie was still busy, so Liu Zhenqing went on his own.

The tent where Qiao An was staying was right beside Huo Fenglie’s. When he saw Liu Zhenqing swaggering into Huo Fenglie’s tent, he was suddenly so angry that his face twisted up. His eyes flashed again, and he scoffed.

The tent of the general who guards the country wasn’t much more ostentatious than the others, and was in the center of the military camp. When Liu Zhenqing entered, he looked around and saw that there were too few places to sit, so he threw himself directly onto Huo Fenglie’s bed. He was feeling tired after riding in the carriage for so long.

Just at this time, a soldier announced that he was coming in to add an extra bed. At a glance, he discovered Liu Zhenqing lying on their general’s bed indecently, and was stunned on the spot.

Liu Zhenqing looked at the bedding the soldier was holding and skewed his eyes, saying with a smile: “No need to bother, I’ll sleep right here.”

The rather young soldier instinctively retorted: “That’s the general’s bed the young master is using. The general …..”

As a result, he was teased by the older man and retreated awkwardly.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t stop laughing. This would spread throughout the military camp soon. He felt as if he had easily put a stop to an untold number of hidden love rivals, as well as fellows who wanted to be Er-gou’s in-laws.

---

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Chapter One Hundred Fifteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Seventeen

Fang Qian’an knew that Li Xiu was very pale.

But he didn’t expect him to be this pale.

Because it was bedtime, there was only one desk lamp turned on in the room. Under the dim light, Li Xiu was changing clothes with his back to him. His skin was as white as a handful of fresh snow, or a dollop of fine, soft cream.

Every inch of the boy in the corner seemed to glow.

His back was so slender, the contours of his shoulder blades fine and delicate with the furrow of his spine sandwiched between them. Li Xiu weighed far less than his peers, which made his waist look extremely narrow.

Fang Qian’an unconsciously raised his hand, grasping in mid-air. He felt that he would be able to hold Li Xiu’s waist with one hand.

And what made Fang Qian’an unable to take his eyes away the most was the red rope tied around Li Xiu’s waist.

To facilitate movement, it was loosely tied. Following Li Xiu’s movements, the red rope continuously swayed around his thin, narrow waist, leaving Fang Qian’an’s dry mouth tongue-tied.

Fang Qian’an couldn’t figure it out. It was just a simple red rope tied to a boy, but why did the red rope look so…..like that?

It felt like something inside his body was on fire.

Fang Qian’an’s Adam’s apple kept bobbing. He knew he shouldn’t continue to stare at Li Xiu, but his eyes wouldn’t obey him at all.

The gaze from behind was so intense that it was impossible to ignore.

Li Xiu put on his pajamas and abruptly turned his head to face Fang Qian’an’s burning eyes. He asked with a frown, “What are you looking at?”

It was just a casual question, but Fang Qian’an instantly shrank under the quilt as if frightened. Li Xiu’s bed gave several overburdened creaks as he moved.

Li Xiu: ……

After a few seconds’ pause, Fang Qian’an put a fisted hand in front of his lips and lightly coughed.

“I was just looking at that red rope Teach Xu gave you yesterday. It turns out you’re so obedient that you tied it on now, ah?”

Li Xiu tilted his head in confusion. 

“Otherwise?” He asked back, “It’s better to believe it works rather than think it doesn’t. Haven’t you tied yours?”

Fang Qian’an shook his head.

“I originally planned to tie it on when I got home, but right after I left, I got into a fight with that old beast. When I thought about it later, my shoulder was already swollen…..en, now that you’ve ravaged me, my hand is even more unruly.”

Fang Qian’an’s thoughts moved as he spoke. He looked straight at Li Xiu and blurted out: “This is just right. A-Xiu, can you tie it for me now?”

As these words fell, Fang Qian’an reached for his jacket and took the crumpled red rope out of his pocket, moving to hand it to Li Xiu.

Li Xiu was silent for a few seconds.

His eyes slowly moved from Fang Qian’an’s palm to his face.

Although the boy didn’t actually refuse, Fang Qian’an could clearly see the avoidance and rejection in Li Xiu’s eyes.

Sure enough, in the next second, he heard Li Xiu say faintly: “But Fang Qian’an, I recall that your hand is only injured, not broken.

Fang Qian’an bit the bullet and asked Li Xiu: “But shouldn’t good friends help each other out?”

“Since when am I your friend?” Li Xiu replied.

Fang Qian’an stared blankly, then remembered all at once that just a few days ago, he had watched with indifference as a group of idiots bullied Li Xiu unscrupulously on campus.

For the first time in his life, the prince of the Fang family felt what it meant to be “too late for regrets.”

The tall boy froze on the bed. His lips closed for a moment, and in the end, he couldn’t even say a word — an apology was indeed too frivolous to say to the victim.

However, just as Fang Qian’an was at a loss, Li Xiu’s clear voice sounded in his ears.

“Forget it. Give it to me.”

Li Xiu approached the bed and took the red rope directly from Fang Qian’an’s palm.

The youth lowered his eyes and leaned forward to lift Fang Qian’an’s clothes. Li Xiu’s arm went around Fang Qian’an’s waist as he wrapped the red rope around him.

Li Xiu’s pajamas were very well-used, and the loose collar hung down. Fang Qian’an could even see a flash of something on Li Xiu’s chest…..

Damnit, they were both men. Why were Li Xiu’s pink?

At this time, Li Xiu began to tie the red rope.

And Fang Qian’an stared dumbly at the boy close at hand, his mind completely blank.

Right then, as long as he lowered his head slightly, it was as if he could touch the tips of Li Xiu’s eyes.

Upon realizing this, Fang Qian’an’s movements stiffened. 

His heart was beating so fast that it was practically performing death metal.

As a male high school student, Fang Qian’an could only stiffly and awkwardly try to hide his embarrassment.

Li Xiu’s fingers were quite dextrous, and in just a few seconds, he had tied the evil-warding rope for this young master who was far removed from the lives of normal people.

“Do you have any further instructions? Honorable Young Master Fang?”

When he stepped back, he saw Fang Qian’an’s foolish appearance and narrowed his eyes.

“Of course, even if there are more instructions, I won’t go along with them. I’m already really tired,” Li Xiu said with a sullen expression.

Perhaps his admonition finally had its intended effect. Although Fang Qian’an wore a strange look, he didn’t make trouble out of nothing again.

“Oh….g-good night then,” Fang Qian’an said as if sleepwalking. Then he fell to his side on the bed with his back toward Li Xiu.

The whole bed became extremely narrow and crowded because of him lying there. And Fang Qian’an was so tall that he even had to bend his knees to sleep. Li Xiu glanced at him and felt that his posture would only make the bed more crowded, but considering all that had happened, he really didn’t have the energy to worry about such small things anymore.

“Good night.”

After turning off the light, Li Xiu carefully leaned against Fang Qian’an’s side and found a gap to lay down too.

So crowded…..

This was the first thought in Li Xiu’s mind after lying down.

It wasn’t just that the single bed was now extremely cramped with two boys crammed into it.

There was also the particular scent of Fang Qian’an’s body mixed with medicine, as well as the other person’s body temperature…..

Fang Qian’an’s sense of presence was so strong that it seemed to have substance, pressing toward Li Xiu from all directions.

This made Li Xiu, who had never had close contact with anyone his age since childhood, feel more crowded than ever before.

Li Xiu thought to himself with a wry smile, It’ll be difficult to fall asleep tonight…..

But unexpectedly, enveloped in the unfamiliar scent and body temperature, Li Xiu fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The youth who had fallen into a deep sleep had no way of knowing that, long after he fell asleep, the boy beside him suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes quivered violently, and the strange double pupils glowed like will-o’-the-wisps in the darkness.

A rough, turbid growl sounded, and it took a long time for the boy’s bent legs to slowly straighten out.

Fang Qian’an, who’d originally had his back to Li Xiu, changed his position.

The large boy lying on Li Xiu’s single bed looked like some kind of ferocious beast in the dark, ready to attack.

The pitch black darkness could not block his gaze. The boy’s eyes continued to wander, greedily licking at the face of the boy sleeping peacefully beside him.

Then, he reached out and enveloped the boy in his arms.

[What should be done?]

[My A-Xiu, ah…..]

[Such an unwary child…..]

[It really makes one worry, ah.]

*

Late at night.

In Li Xiu’s grandmother’s room, the old woman who should have been deeply asleep began to frequently toss and turn in bed.

“Wuwu…..”

“It hurts so much, ah…..Mom…..it hurts so much…..”

“Wuwuwuwu…..wuwu……”

A faint cry sounded from the depths of the night.

A look of pain gradually appeared on the old woman’s sleeping face, and her eyes began to twitch rapidly under her eyelids.

“Wuwuwu…..”

Finally, amidst cry after cry, the grandmother suddenly opened her eyes with a gasp.

“Linlin—”

The old woman turned sideways and held herself up in bed with her arms, looking nervously toward where the cries had been coming from outside the door.

But the crying that had lingered in her sleep instantly vanished when she awoke.

However, just as the grandmother squinted her eyes to look outside the door, something seemed to flash past the gap.

It seemed to be a pale shadow.

The grandmother straightened up at once and murmured, “Linlin? Linlin, why are you here now?”

Supporting herself with the bed, the old woman hurriedly staggered to her feet, tottering out of the bedroom in pursuit of the shadow.

But there was nothing in the hallway.

The night was already very deep.

So deep that even the feral cats outside the window had ceased making noise.

In the darkness, the old wall clock ticked and tocked regularly on the wall.

The grandmother slowly approached the living room with dragging steps.

On this night, something in the house seemed to be different than before. Even though her mind wasn’t very clear, at this moment, the grandmother realized this very clearly.

The red shrine in the living room was still lit, but at this moment, the electronic candle in front of the shrine that was always supposed to be on had dimmed as if malfunctioning. There was only a wisp of red in the light bulb, glowing with an extremely weak crimson light.

It was obviously dark all around, but in the grandmother’s field of vision, the entire room was immersed in a hazy blush. 

A bone-chilling sensation seeped out little by little from the room’s red hue. 

“Linlin? Is that you?”

There was a thick, unpleasant odor wafting in the air, like the fishy stench of accumulated blood stains, or some kind of spoiled and rotten incense.

Shasha—

A soft rustling sound came from deep within the kitchen.

Panting rapidly, the grandmother tremblingly turned her head toward the kitchen.

In the next second, her body began to shake.

She saw a thing, a thing that did not belong in the world of the living, crouching on the floor with its body hunched over as it chewed something.

The thing was twisted and filthy, its shadow so enormous that it filled nearly the entire kitchen.

Crunch—crunch—

A clearly audible chewing sound came from between its teeth.

“Wu—”

The grandmother covered her lips, forcing back her whimper of fear as she looked at “it.”

The old woman stepped back in sheer terror.

However, that thing had already noticed her arrival.

Its head was turned past 180 degrees. The blue-white face and double pupils pointed directly at the grandmother.

[“Grandmother…..”]

A strange, emotionless voice sounded from deep within its body.

Although it called out “Grandmother,” this address was obviously just mimicking what Li Xiu called her.

It grinned, opening its lower jaw to reveal the sharp white teeth inside.

[“I was just so happy today that I got hungry really quickly.”]

[“Grandmother can just go to bed. I…..will be full very soon.”]

There seemed to be something squirming in its nailless hands, dripping with foul blood.

The grandmother felt faint for a moment and staggered back, but happened to step on something wet and cold, and almost slipped and fell.

The old woman lowered her head to look at the floor in horror. Then she discovered that what she had stepped on was a strange thing that looked like a leather bag.

The thing was soft, its skin an indescribable off-white color.

When the grandmother stepped on it, she could hear the squelching sound of wet mucus come out of it.

A brightly-colored advertisement shirt was wrapped wetly in the large leather bag. A red rope stretched out from it like an umbilical cord, connecting it tightly to the thing in the kitchen.

---

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Chapter 36 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 38

Ten minutes later.

“Shh…..”

Li Xiu tiptoed to open the door and turned around, gesturing to Fang Qian’an.

“My grandmother is already asleep, don’t wake her up.”

The youth’s voice was very low. Seeing Fang Qian’an nod in understanding, he let him into his home.

Li Xiu gave his slippers to Fang Qian’an. The latter struggled to stuff the front halves of his feet into the worn slippers, walking with a peculiar sort of clumsiness.

There were no lights on in the early morning, so the house was dark.

The old woman’s dull, turbid snoring sounded from the dark room. Li Xiu unconsciously held his breath and turned to look at Fang Qian’an behind him.

The late night visitor followed him quietly with an extremely well-behaved appearance.

However, Li Xiu was still a little ill at ease, although he himself couldn’t think of the reason for his discomfort.

Li Xiu took Fang Qian’an to his bedroom like a thief. When they entered the room, Li Xiu quickly locked the door, blocking out his grandmother’s snoring. He leaned against the door frame and breathed a slow sigh of relief.

After calming down, Li Xiu turned to look at Fang Qian’an.

“Fang Qian’an, what’s going on with you?”

As soon as the latter entered the door, he occupied the only chair in the room, not at all reserved like someone would usually be during their first time at someone else’s home.

Fang Qian’an sat backwards on the chair, resting his hands on the backrest to support his chin. He said nonchalantly: “Didn’t I say? I had a fight with someone.”

Li Xiu knitted his brow.

Just downstairs, he had given the same vague answer.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Fang Qian’an fastened his eyes on Li Xiu. As if aware of the other’s dissatisfaction, he slowly added a few words. “It’s just that…..something happened, so I got into it with my old brute of a father. But let me emphasize, it was one against many. And even if it wasn’t one against many, it would have been a tie.”

He said this vaguely to emphasize that he was not beaten unilaterally.

Li Xiu lowered his eyes, his brow furrowing even more upon hearing that Fang Qian’an had been beaten like this by his father.

“I’m telling you, these are just flesh injuries. I was just accidentally scratched by the belt buckle. It’s really nothing, it just looks scary—”

Before Fang Qian’an could finish speaking, Li Xiu had already pulled out various bruise spray medicine and iodine cotton swabs from the corner of the room and approached him.

Li Xiu: “Look up.”

“Don’t worry about my injuries, they don’t hurt. They’ll be fine in a couple of days—hiss, owowow.”

As Li Xiu stared at the boy whose face was covered in injuries but was trying to maintain a playful smile, he suddenly felt agitated for no reason.

In an almost crude way, he poured hydrogen peroxide directly onto Fang Qian’ans wounds.

Fang Qian’an groaned. His jaw muscles tightened, and the fake smile on his face finally vanished.

A pair of hands reached over and neatly applied medicine for him.

There was still a stinging pain in the wound the dressing had been applied to. Fang Qian’an reflexively wanted to curse, but when he raised his head, he happened to meet Li Xiu’s lowered features.

His heartbeat jumped wildly.

“…..I told you not to worry about it.”

Fang Qian’an’s voice gradually went lower, until it was a hum as quiet as a mosquito.

Li Xiu seemed unusually silent in the room.

After cleaning up the wounds exposed outside Fang Qian’an’s clothing, he continued to speak to Fang Qian’an with an indifferent tone.

“Take off your clothes. Then scram over to the bed and lie down.”

Fang Qian’an was stunned for a few seconds, then his lips twitched and he joked exaggeratedly, “…..What are you going to do to me?”

Li Xiu stared at Fang Qian’an in silence.

After a brief meeting of the eyes, the corners of Fang Qian’an’s mouth twitched unnaturally.

“Damn, why are you so fierce?” the young school bully complained at a volume that (he thought) only he could hear.

Then he turned to Li Xiu and raised his voice: “Do you know that in the entirety of City A, you’re still the only person who dares say the word ‘scram’ to me—”

“Fang Qian’an, don’t make me say it a third time. It’s late. I’m very sleepy, and I just want to go to bed quickly.”

“Tsk. Fine, I can’t be bothered to argue with you about this,” Fang Qian’an muttered as he took off his shirt. Following Li Xiu’s command, he lay down on the narrow single bed in the room.

Sure enough, it was just as Li Xiu thought. The bruises on Fang Qian’an’s body were worse than the wounds on his face.

The worst part was that the shoulder, which had been injured in the afternoon, was now slightly swollen.

Li Xiu sucked in a deep breath.

His grandmother was old, and there may not be much else at home, but the medicinal wine used to treat headaches, brain heat, bruises, and injuries should be enough to treat it.

Ice-cold medicinal wine was poured directly onto the bruises on Fang Qian’an’s body. The youth’s palms were slightly warm, and after pouring the medicinal wine, he began to rub it in hard.

The unexpected pain hit Fang Qian’an along with the pungent smell of medicinal wine. He lay on the bed, unable to restrain his trembling and whimpers.

“Holy shit, A-Xiu, please be gentle…..hiss…..it hurts so much, my bones are about to break…..save me, why are you more ruthless than my father? Wa, it hurts so much, ahhh…..”

Under Li Xiu’s hands, Fang Qian’an was like a live fish thrown onto a chopping board, jumping so much that he nearly fell off the bed.

“It hurts so much…..please, A-Xiu, slow down a little…..hiss…..seriously…..lighter, lighter…..wu…..”

The boy’s muffled gasps echoed in his ears, along with his hoarse pleas for mercy.

Li Xiu told him several times to be quiet, and Fang Qian’an just gasped even more severely.

“I told you, shut up!”

As he listened to Fang Qian’an’s voice become increasingly ambiguous, Li Xiu’s cheeks felt inexplicably hot. Unable to bear it any longer, he directly slapped his hand down.

Pa—

In the cramped room, that slap was nearly deafening.

Li Xiu felt the 1.9 meter tall school bully’s body bounce heavily under his palm. Fang Qian’an instantly fell silent.

Li Xiu: “……”

He pursed his lips.

Fang Qian’an buried his head in his arms and remained silent. However, his neck exposed to Li Xiu’s sight, and even his earlobes, were so red that they were practically bleeding.

The location of the slap just now…..

Li Xiu quickly withdrew his gaze.

“You’ll be fine once the blood congestion is rubbed away. Aren’t you usually so formidable? Yet this hurts you.” He swiftly took care of what could be done for Fang Qian’an, and a thin layer of sweat soon broke out on his forehead. “But you’d better go to the hospital for a checkup.”

The boy spoke calmly, deciding to pretend that little incident never happened.

“Tsk, it stinks to death. I told you not to worry about it. Only someone like you, a person with thin arms and legs and who can easily fall over if the wind blows, would make such a fuss.”

In the end, Fang Qian’an’s obedience only lasted for a short amount of time.

When Li Xiu finished with the medical kit and stowed it away, Fang Qian’an instantly turned over and sat up. As he raised his hand and softly brushed the shoulder Li Xiu had rubbed for him just now, he stared at Li Xiu’s back and continued to mumble as if in complaint.

Li Xiu stuffed the cardboard box back into the corner of the bookcase. Hearing the chatter of the guy behind him, a vein on his forehead pulsed.

Fang Qian’an kept saying that there was no need to worry about the injuries on his body. However, when Li Xiu applied medicine to it just now, it was clear that it was not a minor injury that would heal on its own without treatment.

Not only his head and face, but Fang Qian’an’s body hidden under his clothes was also covered in wounds. Even Li Xiu felt a little alarmed at the sight.

Of course, from another perspective, Fang Qian’a’n’s injuries were not so terrible.

With Li Xiu’s character, he likely wouldn’t have agreed to Fang Qian’an’s request at all.

[“What’s wrong with you…..no, how do you know where my home is?”]

[“I found someone and asked.”]

[“……”]

[“Are you touched that I came here specially to find you? Seeing how hard it was for me to find your home…..can I stay at your place for the night?]

In fact, Fang Qian’an didn’t act miserable at the time, and his tone of voice was even casual when he spoke.

Contrary to what was expected, Li Xiu glared at the uninvited guest downstairs but couldn’t force the rejection past his lips.

After treating Fang Qian’an, Li Xiu yawned.

He happened to glance at the time and immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

Li Xiu paled, murmuring, “This won’t work. If I don’t go to sleep, I’ll be doomed to sleep in morning self-study.”

After searching the room for a long while, Li Xiu finally dug out an oversized T-shirt from the corner of the closet, which smelled like mothballs. 

Those old clothes were left there by the previous renter. There was an advertisement on it from some supermarket chain in alarming red, blue, and yellow colors that could blind a person. Its only advantage was probably that it was loose enough for someone as big as Fang Qian’an to squeeze into.

When Fang Qian’an put it on, the effect was…..intriguing.

Even Li Xiu had to admit that even though Fang Qian’an was beaten until his face swelled, was wearing the cheapest and most ridiculous advertising shirt, and would be sleeping in a narrow, dilapidated room in a shantytown, he still had a strangely noble aura about him.

He and Li Xiu came from two completely different worlds. If not for the ghostly encounters, it was likely that the two would never intersect after leaving Qiming.

Tonight, however, Li Xiu had to sleep in the same bed as someone like Fang Qian’an.

Li Xiu looked at Fang Qian’an and couldn’t help but ask, “Actually, a young master like you should have a lot of places to spend the night, right?”

Fang Qian’an was taken off guard, and blurted out, “Ah, that’s not the case. I don’t have any friends.”

“If not for you this time, I would have no choice but to sleep in the car. It was like that every time before. But after being beaten and huddling in a sports car, my whole body would really hurt when I woke up the next day.” The tall boy said this with a calm expression, and it was unknown whether to call this a misfortune or humble-bragging.

Li Xiu was silent for a moment, then replied in a dazed manner: “Oh. If you hadn’t bought me hot chocolate today, I wouldn’t have bothered to take care of you.”

“Forget it, go to sleep.”

As he spoke, Li Xiu retreated to the corner to change into pajamas.

In a fluster, Li Xiu didn’t notice that the moment he took off his shirt, Fang Qian’an, who was looking at his phone, happened to glance in this direction.

Then, Fang Qian’an’s eyes fixed onto him.

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The Author Has Something to Say:

Dog Qian’an: Although young, he is already under the wife’s thumb.

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Chapter 35 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 37

Liu Zhenqing asked Huo Fenglie about it when he returned at night, but Huo Fenglie had no idea. He only knew that Dai Tingyu had issued a city-wide arrest warrant. But when it came to Dai Tingyu’s situation, the man seemed somewhat nervous, especially in regard to Tang Rou. Dai Tingyu seemed to be hiding something, and was fearful of Huo Fenglie finding out.

However, Huo Fenglie didn’t ask further questions.

Liu Zhenqing truly hated iron for not becoming steel, ah. How could he not have asked more questions? But soon, Liu Zhenqing became aware of what was going on.

Within the first two days, Dai Tingyu captured Uncle Tang and escorted him back to the City Lord’s manor so that Tang Rou could interrogate him.

Only then did Liu Zhenqing lay eyes on Dai Tingyu. The man often stared blankly at Tang Rou, but when Tang Rou looked over, he would immediately move his gaze away again with a look of discomfort on his face.

Liu Zhenqing instantly understood.

But before this situation could be exposed, there was a sudden commotion outside the City Lord’s manor.

Immediately after, a few officials rushed inside to find Tang Rou.

When they saw her, they got straight to the point. It had been exposed that the City Lord was a woman

Currently, it could be said that the entire city was in an uproar.

The officials, the servants, and the crowd outside the City Lord’s manor all seemed like shackles on Tang Rou’s body.

Her expression was no longer very surprised, but her face was pale. She looked down at her uncle, who was kneeling at the front of the hall.

And Uncle Tang was already trembling. It was clear that he had caused this.

“City Lord, are you really…..” Somebody stepped forward.

Dai Tingyu immediately stood in front of the visitor and said: “Do you still have discipline? You just believe what others say! I…..I can certify that the City Lord is a man! Are you just like the ignorant people outside, slandering the City Lord because of hearsay?!”

When Dai Tingyu said this, everyone who was about to take action fell silent.

But that fool Uncle Tang felt that if Tang Rou didn’t step down at this time, something might befall him. So he shouted: “Why did you arrest me? I didn’t make a mistake, I just told the truth! You…..are my niece, Tang Rou. Tang Mu died nine years ago, and Tang Rou replaced him as City Lord. You’ve all been deceived! This is a crime of deceiving the emperor! Don’t let this little girl keep fooling you!”

“What nonsense are you saying?” Dai Tingyu swiftly kicked Uncle Tang over.

Uncle Tang shouted: “Commander Dai supports my niece to such an extent, could it be that he’s having an affair with her?!”

These words were simply the most vicious insult. Dai Tingyu drew his sword in a fury.

Uncle Tang shouted at once: “If you don’t believe it, ask her to remove her clothes in public. She’s still unmarried and has no other women around her. Don’t you doubt her?”

Everyone looked toward Tang Rou in suspicion. 

Tang-furen had heard the news that her brother had been arrested, and also rushed over at this time in embarrassment. She originally intended to plead for her brother, but upon witnessing this scene, she was dumbfounded: “What do you think you’re doing!”

Uncle Tang saw his sister and quickly shouted: “Sister, you’re her mother. You are the best proof that I’m not lying. What I said was obviously true, but they still arrested me.”

In a rare occurrence, Tang-furen stood on her daughter’s side. She stepped forward and shoved Uncle Tang: “You’re crazy! Crazy! It’s all nonsense!”

Tang-furen often threatened her daughter, but never intended to actually expose her publicly. After all, this was a crime of deceiving the emperor!

Uncle Tang was angered by this: “How am I crazy? Sister is the one who’s crazy, actually thinking she’s the dead Tang Mu. You promised to give me the position of City Lord, but now you’re going back on your promise and allowing others to drive me away. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have…..”

Tang-furen couldn’t believe that the promise she’d made had actually given Uncle Tang this ambition. In the end, she had caused her daughter to be hurt. She looked at her daughter with great regret. Everything felt irreversible, and for an instant, she wanted to slam herself into a wall and end it all. 

Tang Rou closed her eyes and shouted for them to stop it. She was well and truly exhausted.

“I…..” Tang Rou was about to take off her official hat and reveal everything.

Suddenly, Liu Zhenqing’s voice sounded from outside the door.

“Tang-chengzhu is indeed a woman.”

Everyone looked toward Liu Zhenqing the moment he said this. Dai Tingyu was sweating anxiously. He wanted to refute, but seeing Tang Rou’s ashen expression, he didn’t know what to say.

“It’s just as I told you,” Uncle Tang shouted at once, “If you still don’t believe me, then you’ve all been fooled by her.”

The people present couldn’t help but make a clamor.

But then Liu Zhenqing walked over and directly kicked Uncle Tang, who cried out and glared at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing went to Tang Rou’s side and addressed everyone coldly: “Everyone, be quiet and listen to me.”

His voice couldn’t be considered commanding, but its condensed authority inexplicably silence everyone present.

“General Huo has known for some years that Tang-chengzhu is a woman.”

These words were like thunder, shocking everyone.

Even Tang Rou was staring at Liu Zhenqing blankly.

Liu Zhenqing said calmly: “Back then, Tang Mu left for business, leaving his sister Tang Rou to temporarily take on the position of City Lord in order to prevent the surrounding countries from seizing the opportunity to cause chaos. They didn’t expect that something would happen to Tang Mu at that time. But the borders of Great Zhou were unstable, and the three southwest countries were looking on with anticipation. Great Zhou was considering sending more garrison troops to Nanfeng City during that period. Tang Rou didn’t know how best to act, so she wrote a letter to General Huo explaining the situation, and was willing to accept the punishment for her crime. Upon learning that Tang Rou was the interim City Lord of Nanfeng City and was managing it properly, he asked her in his reply to continue managing it in case something unexpected happened.”

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard this, and stared at Tang Rou in disbelief.

Uncle Tang regarded her with a horrified expression.

And Tang Rou knew that Liu Zhenqing was lying. She had never done any of this.

Liu Zhenqing continued: “And General Huo promised to explain his reasoning to His Majesty in private. As you all know, war was constant at that time, and General Huo rarely returned to the capital, so the matter was repeatedly delayed. But before coming here and accepting the Imperial Edict, General Huo wrote to His Majesty for an Imperial Edict to appoint Tang Rou as City Lord. I believe this edict is on its way, and everything will be reasonable and legal at that time. Do you still have any doubts?”

Dai Tingyu looked toward Tang Rou, but she was looking at Liu Zhenqing. She was in a daze, feeling that although the person in front of her was obviously not tall, he was still holding back a flood. He was just as dazzling as that person, causing one to be unable to tear their eyes away.

“Young Master, is what you say true?” Someone asked. “If you’re lying, then…..”

“It’s a lie, it must be a lie! You’re just using General Huo’s name to help her get away with it!” Uncle Tang shouted at once.

“It’s so noisy, Commander Dai.” Liu Zhenqing glanced at him.

Dai Tingyu understood immediately and stepped forward, knocking Uncle Tang unconscious to await interrogation.

Liu Zhenqing looked at everyone once more and said with a smile: “Don’t worry, when General Huo comes back later, you can ask him to see if I’m lying.”

When he said this, someone dared to ask: “Where is General Huo right now?”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and pointed out the door to the north.

“Fifty thousand troops are coming here, so he naturally went to pick them up.”

It was unknown if it was just a psychological effect, but everyone felt the ground shaking slightly at this moment. That was the movement of 50,000 cavalry heading toward Nanfeng City.

Everyone present wore solemn expressions, as if they didn’t dare to offend Liu Zhenqing at all.

“Don’t worry, if you have any questions, you can ask me or General Huo later.” Liu Zhenqing’s smile remained unchanged, but there was no trace of one in his eyes. “Our Great Zhou Dynasty has laws that permit women to take office, so General Huo recommended Tang Rou to continue as City Lord based on her past achievements. If everyone feels that Tang Rou was incompetent and inadequate during her nine years as City Lord, hindering the development of Nanfeng City, or if you feel that someone else would do better than her, or perhaps you already dislike her because of her former false identity as Tang Mu, you can also make reports, suggestions, and recommendations to General Huo. While General Huo is still in Nanfeng City, he will help you take care of it in one go so that you’re all satisfied. How about it?”

Liu Zhenqing glanced at everyone, and they lowered their gazes. After all, no one could justifiably say that Tang Rou hadn’t done well.

“Tang Rou is a woman, after all, so she certainly has her shortcomings. Everyone talk it over. If you don’t speak up, you won’t have a chance in the future.” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile, “Tang Rou, if you don’t wish to be City Lord, you can dismiss yourself when the Imperial Edict arrives and recommend someone else. You have the freedom to do so.”

Tang Rou stared blankly at Liu Zhenqing, not knowing for the moment which of his words were true or false.

But the others were a bit flustered. It wasn’t a question of whether the City Lord was qualified, but whether Tang-chengzhu wanted to lead them.

Everyone examined their own consciences, and really didn’t think that Tang Rou had done anything wrong. In the past, they had praised her the most for being young and promising, a model member of the Tang family. Now that they knew she was a woman, they still felt at first that a woman couldn’t take on such a huge responsibility. But now Liu Zhenqing had said these things, giving them the right to refuse and Tang Rou the opportunity to choose, they didn’t feel happy at all.

At this moment, Dai Tingyu said with a sneer: “I’ve been here for many years, and whether male or female, I haven’t met anyone better than the City Lord. I’m willing to follow her. But if someone else takes over, it remains to be seen if the General can be convinced.”

Stunned, Tang Mu looked at Dai Tingyu.

Dai Tingyu didn’t avoid eye contact now, and nodded firmly at Tang Rou.

Everyone seemed to recall that when Dai Tingyu first came to Nanfeng City, his Dai family had produced military commanders for generations, and there was a precedent for their women to be marquis. So when he came, his status was higher than anyone present here. There was no one he didn’t look down on, not even the weak, scholar-like Tang Rou. But later on, he was gradually tamed by Tang Rou’s management ability, as they had witnessed themselves. 

Now that Dai Tingyu had said this, they could only acknowledge Tang Rou’s ability.

The shaking of the ground seemed to gradually stop at this moment, and very soon, someone announced that General Huo was coming.

When Huo Fenglie arrived, he sensed something off about the atmosphere. He glanced at Liu Zhenqing and was given a playful wink.

Someone came forward at this time to ask cautiously: “General Huo, have you known for a long time that Tang Rou is a woman? We’re not…..calling you into question, we’re just worried that there is a possibility of a crime. These subordinates will listen to you…..”

Not waiting for the man to probe further, Huo Fenglie said directly: “I knew from the start. His words are my will. Are there any questions?”

Huo Fenglie’s expressionless majesty turned all of Liu Zhenqing’s unbelievable words to facts. The dust settled. 

Liu Zhenqing smiled in satisfaction. Tang Rou didn’t expect even the general to lie so easily on her behalf. 

Tang Rou drew in a deep breath. She stepped forward and cupped her hands, saying: “Everyone, it was wrong of me to deceive you. But since I became City Lord in my brother’s stead, I have tried my best, and have never done anything detrimental to Nanfeng City. Everyone, please believe in me and join me in protecting Nanfeng City through this calamity. If you have no faith in me, you can dismiss me, and I will have no complaints. I have worked with you all throughout the years. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

Tang Rou bowed deeply after she finished speaking. She wasn’t Tang Mu, but she was still the person who had been City Lord for the past nine years. She was faultless, her grace undiminished.

At this time, someone finally said: “Tang-chengzhu, don’t say that. As long as you don’t violate the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I’m willing to follow you.”

Once one person spoke up, others spoke up one after another to pledge their allegiance. In the end, all of the officials in the room saluted Tang Rou.

How many of them were sincere? How much of this was due to the support of Huo Fenglie and Dai Tingyu? None of this mattered to Tang Rou.

Tang Rou’s mental barriers were no more.

She was willing to be City Lord if others supported her, and willing to step down if they didn’t .

Tang Rou asked everyone to leave and see to their business, and to not worry about rumors from the outside world. She would take care of them herself.

There were some people who trembled, wanting to ask that since it was true that Tang Rou was a woman, were the rumors about the Old City Lord also true? 

But with a cold glance from Huo Fenglie, they were forced to retreat, as if one word from them would get them arrested as spies.

The shaking Tang-furen was also helped away. What had just happened had likely cost her half her life.

Once everyone departed, Tang Rou saluted the remaining three people.

“Chengzhu, don’t be like this. I meant everything I said! I haven’t had conviction in many women, but I have faith in you!” Dai Tingyu said with a blushing face.

“As long as you don’t blame me for deceiving you.” Tang Rou showed her womanly side for a rare moment, which immediately made Dai Tingyu even more flustered.

Tang Rou turned to Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie, at a momentary loss for words.

Liu Zhenqing first made things clear to Huo Fenglie.

Dai Tingyu was absolutely shocked to hear that everything he’d said was a lie, yet Brother Huo hadn’t reacted at all. On the contrary, he seemed accustomed to Liu Zhenqing using his power to intimidate people.

“Understood,” said Huo Fenglie.

“Just like that?” Dai Tingyu said, “Then what about the Imperial Edict?”

A lot of what had been said just now about Huo Fenglie’s private actions had been fabricated. As long as Huo Fenglie and Tang Rou didn’t tell anyone, nobody would know whether it was true or false, but what did the Imperial Edict say, ah?

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “Actually, before…..”

Tang Rou looked over, her eyes full of shock.

In fact, after they discovered that Tang Rou was a woman, Liu Zhenqing felt that it might cause trouble in the future. In order to avoid this, he had asked Huo Fenglie to request an edict to clear Tang Rou’s name. 

According to its speed, the reply should already be on the way.

The general who guards the country, a leader below one man and above thousands, made his statement, and Liu Zhenqing polished up his private message. It boasted of the difficult and desperate situation Tang Rou was forced into. According to Liu Zhenqing’s understanding of Yuan Jue, Huo Fenglie was just asking for a small favor during wartime, and Yuan Jue wouldn’t care at all as long as it didn’t hurt his interests. In addition, Tang Rou had indeed performed well, so this situation would not be difficult to handle.

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Chapter One Hundred Fourteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Sixteen