“How can that be?”

The policeman at the desk frowned upon hearing his colleague’s words.

“That child was so big, but his eyes were gouged out, his stomach disemboweled, and he didn’t put up a struggle? A little old fellow who had been lying down for many years could be knocked down with one punch, right? To put it bluntly, in a hospital as big as the Central Hospital, how could the nurses allow a person lying in the vegetative state ward to run to another person’s room? And it caused such a big incident…..”

“Why else would I say this was nefarious?” 

The uniformed middle-aged man in the room wore a solemn expression.

“We also interrogated the nurses and the relevant personnel in the ward, and they all said they didn’t see anything wrong that day…..it’s like they just magically lost the ability to see. The nurse’s station wasn’t far from that ward, but neither the nurses on duty nor the caregivers hired by others in the ward heard the victim make a sound.”

“Oh, right, the strangest thing about this incident isn’t that the old person ate human entrails and eyeballs…..”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man clicked the mouse and played a security surveillance video on the computer screen.

The video displayed that the time was two o’clock in the morning, and the camera was pointed at what seemed to be a garden path. The lighting was very dim. There was no movement for a long time on this path surrounded by bushes and trees. Not even a wild nocturnal cat or dog could be seen.

Until suddenly, a white figure broke into the scene.

It was a boy, whose lower half was soaked in blood. His head was lowered, his legs swinging very stiffly as he walked somewhere extremely unsteadily.

“Hiss…..”

The people in front of the computer watching the footage together gasped involuntarily.

“W-what is this?”

“This is the nighttime surveillance footage of Qiming Secondary School,” the middle-aged policeman said quietly, his voice very tense.

“A nurse immediately called the police after discovering the incident at the Central Hospital, but when we arrived, there was no one in the ward aside from the elderly person whose mind had already regressed to the state of a toddler.”

The colleague whispered in disbelief: “But h-his eyes were eaten, ah? And his stomach was even cut open. How is this possible?”

The air conditioner in the office was an antiquated thing from who knew how many years ago, yellowed by cigarette smoke. In summer, everyone complained that the shabby air conditioner didn’t cool well enough.

But now, as they gathered together in front of the computer to look at the files and evidence, there was an insidious feeling in their hearts, and an inexplicable chill ran from the top of their heads to their chests.

“Right, so when we first got there, we searched the Central Hospital.” The policeman who spoke stared closely at the boy on the surveillance video, a bit of cold sweat on his forehead. “Who would expect a person to hike so far with such serious injuries? It can be considered that encountering such an attack and suffering huge mental trauma could cause abnormal behavior, b-but…..”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

There was a brief silence in the office.

None of the people here were rookies with tofu in their heads. They all knew very well that people…..especially normal people, would find it difficult even if they were stimulated to inexplicably run several kilometers away from the Central Hospital to Qiming Secondary School under such circumstances.

Someone stared at the screen and couldn’t help but say: “The way he walks is a little strange.”

“Why does it look like someone is pulling him forward…..”

However, they could clearly see that Song Cheng was the only one in front of the camera.

“The tech department has analyzed this video. There are no traces of modification. No one is holding him up. If there is, then that person is someone we can’t see—”

The young policeman spoke tremblingly, and as he spoke, he couldn’t help but look around him.

Sure enough, he found that the faces of the colleagues around him were a little stiff.

“Why is it all so nefarious like the Xiao family back then, ah?”

It was unknown who inexplicably brought up that incident from many years ago.

All at once, the tragedy that shocked the country over a decade ago appeared in everyone’s minds. And even the experienced and knowledgeable police officers all shuddered when they heard the Xiao family spoken of.

“Set aside all those strange and confusing things in your minds,” the oldest police officer said sharply.

“Cough, Captain Zhang is right…..this case hasn’t been studied in detail yet. Won’t thinking about those things interfere with our train of thought?”

Someone immediately spoke as if relieved from a burden, glossing over the Xiao family.

“In addition to this Qiming student, there seems to be a teacher who has also inexplicably disappeared? Is there any connection between the two?” someone else asked.

“That’s right, the Qiming teacher who molested students.” Captain Zhang rubbed the bridge of his nose and said in a heavy voice, “In fact, the school has been looking for that male teacher. After meticulously inspecting the school surveillance, they discovered Song Cheng, the victim in our case.”

At this point, Captain Zhang stopped speaking.

What he didn’t say was that if it hadn’t been for this incident, it was likely that the school wouldn’t have even thought of checking the situation in the Xiao Family Haunted House.

And as for the body of the boy named Song Cheng, it might have been many days before anyone discovered it.

“I also heard that the boy’s posture was very strange when he was found.”

“En, he was kneeling toward the wall. It looked like……he was worshiping, but the direction wasn’t right.”

The police went through the files and found the photos of when Song Cheng’s body was first discovered.

In the photos, the body of the young man who had died due to excessive blood loss was stiff. But inexplicably, his extreme fear could be seen from the posture of the corpse.

Captain Zhang stared at the photo and couldn’t help but think: What was he afraid of?

He was so terrified that he didn’t dare to look back.

The middle-aged man glanced toward the corner of the photo. Behind Song Cheng’s body was just an ordinary wall.

The wall was covered by wallpaper that had long gone out of fashion, on which spots of mildew had arisen due to neglect. No matter how Captain Zhang looked, he couldn’t see any issues.

However, if it was the Xiao family…..

“Oh, right.”

After a short period of unnatural silence, the young policeman spoke again.

“For boys Song Cheng’s age, a cell phone is like an organ outside their body, and they’ll pretty much always carry them around. But no matter if it was at Song Cheng’s home, the hospital, or his place of death, we didn’t find his cell phone.”

“His phone was deliberately taken away.”

*

[Heh, A Xiu.]

[My A-Xiu, how do you cry so beautifully?]

Deep in a dilapidated urban village, inside an ancient illegally-built apartment.

In the shadows, a strange and sticky whisper sounded softly.

“Wu—”

Holding a yellow talisman, Li Xiu’s grandmother walked back and forth in front of this door several times.

But in the end, she didn’t dare actually walk into the room.

She could only stand stiffly in front of the door, her body shaking and trembling.

And the moment the sound came from the room, she suddenly raised a hand to press it hard against her mouth, forcing the frightened sob in her mouth back into her throat.

The old woman looked incomparably terrified. Her eyes were wide, very wide, and she backed away fearfully.

It was as if just behind the closed door existed some utterly terrible, absolutely twisted thing.

It wasn’t until she left the hallway that the grandmother staggered and half-fell to the floor.

Two lines of tears flowed from her cloudy eyes.

The old woman put her hands on the floor and half-crawled, half rolled toward the door. She just huddled at that door and sat there for a long time. Only then did her thin, withered face gain a little more color.

“Such a sin, ah…..” the grandmother murmured.

“Truly such a sin.”

Even as she didn’t dare enter the room due to fear, behind that wooden door was still just a room that Li Xiu was familiar with each day.

The floor was dusty, the lighting was dim, and there was cheap, useless junk everywhere.

But at this moment, there was something else going on under the bed where Li Xiu kept a bowl of uncooked rice every day.

Under the dusty bed was a cracked and bloodstained cell phone.

The screen was on, with a scene playing continuously.

It was exactly the scene from a few days prior, when Li Xiu was forcibly taken to the Xiao Family Haunted House, bullied and humiliated on the ground, and maliciously recorded.

However, if Li Xiu were to actually see this video, he would be extremely shocked. Because the scene recurring on the screen just now was completely different from what he and Fang Qian’an remembered.

[Wu…..]

In the dim room, a youth whimpered as thinly as a kitten.

There was no foul language, no collective bullying.

The tall, arrogant bullies just stood transfixed in front of the cell phone camera the whole time, heads bowed slightly.

They were motionless, as stiff as corpses nailed to the spot one by one.

And Li Xiu was huddled in the corner, surrounded by them.

The boy’s face was deathly pale, like someone who was trapped in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up. He raised his head slightly, eyes extremely unfocused. There was a constant faint twitch to his body.

Next to Li Xiu was Fang Qian’an.

Like a savage beast, the boy was on all fours in front of the thin, weak youth.

In the video, that strange, jerky, bizarre sound came from his throat.

[“A-Xiu. Mine…..”]

In the frame, Fang Qian’an was stroking the boy’s face, neck, and even his chest in an incredibly intimate way, with strange and awkward movements. Although Li Xiu was obviously not fully conscious, every time he was touched by “Fang Qian’an,” he would reflexively avoid it. In order to stay close to Li Xiu, “Fang Qian’an” had to adjust his posture slightly, and at certain angles, the camera would capture his profile.

That was to say, the eye on one side of his face was shown.

In the eye socket, two pupils were squeezed together.

The wicked, demonic double eyes quivered slightly, reflecting a bloody light under the setting sun.

*

Creak—

Huddled at the door with her back to the room, the grandmother suddenly heard the sound of a door opening.

She completely stopped moving, breathing so rapidly that she could almost die in the next second.

[“Grandmother, where is A-Xiu?]

Amidst her huffing and puffing, the grandmother seemed to hear a hoarse voice.

[“I’m hungry.”]

---

The Author Has Something to Say:

Gege: I also want to eat an Angus beef fish roe burger. QAQ

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Chapter 25 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 27

Fang Qian’an’s mind went blank for a moment.

What was that? Bloody flesh? When had he ever eaten something like this…..

The boy stared down at the contents of the toilet and blinked. When he looked again, he found that the contents had changed into something else.

It was the bite of burger he hadn’t chewed at all, along with…..

Some small white particles?

They looked like undigested, uncooked rice. What the hell was this?!

Before Fang Qian’an could identify what he had vomited, the toilet made a whirring sound as the automatic flush activated, sluicing away his vomit.

The moment the flush sounded, Fang Qian’an’s nerves reflexively tensed. He took a big, uncontrolled step back and hit the door hard.

Very soon, the whirlpool in the toilet vanished, leaving only a puddle of clear water inside.

In the bathroom, the only sounds left were the boy’s heavy gasps and the sound of the toilet tank filling with water.

The white light on the ceiling flickered.

After a while, the cubicle door opened roughly and a stiff Fang Qian’an walked out with a tense face.

Turning on the faucet, Fang Qian’an splashed cold water on his face. It took him a long time to calm down. After doing this, the boy braced his hands on the sink and took a deep breath, staring at himself in the mirror.

The mirror reflected a boy with a pale face and empty eyes, and even Fang Qian’an himself had to admit that this guy looked as if he was at death’s door.

Fang Qian’an was instantly filled with an uncontrollable rage.

“Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium…..it was just an illusion, are you fucking scared?!”

He cursed himself viciously in the mirror, as if in this way, he could ignore the remaining fear inside him.

The reflection in the mirror still looked dark and gloomy, like an animal that had fallen into a trap, helpless and in dire straits. And for some reason, when Fang Qian’an looked at “himself,” he felt that his face looked a little strange.

Did his expression usually look so ghastly?

Fang Qian’an unconsciously leaned forward a bit, as if to inspect the reflection in the mirror more clearly.

It was at this moment that he saw the scene behind him in the mirror—behind his back, a cubicle door silently opened.

Through the crack in the door, Fang Qian’an directly met a prying eye.

His heart nearly jumped out of his throat. 

“Who is it?! Who’s pretending to be a ghost?! Get out!”

The boy’s voice was hoarse as he blurted out the angry rebuke.

“Y-Young Master Fang…..i-it’s me, ah.”

Behind Fang Qian’an, the toilet door was pushed open slowly. With a timid and uneasy mutter, a face slowly poked out from behind the toilet cubicle door.

“Sorry, Young Master Fang. I saw you weren’t feeling well, so I didn’t dare come out and disturb you.”

“Song Cheng, how is it you?”

Fang Qian’an couldn’t believe his good luck, because the person slowly walking out of the cubicle was just the person he was looking for.

Song Cheng, who had just been taken away by ambulance the day before, was now standing in front of Fang Qian’an.

In just one short day, the boy who was aggressive and looking for trouble the day before was now as ill-looking as a drug-addled smoker, the color of his lips and face blending into one. His eyes were also a bloodshot red with pupils that were dilated very wide. This made his eyes seem very dark, but his gaze was vacant.

This person was like a zombie wrapped in a school uniform, disturbingly thin and sallow.

Even someone like Fang Qian’an who didn’t care about the little shrimps around him at all was shocked when he saw Song Cheng’s current frail appearance. He couldn’t help but ask: “When were you discharged from the hospital? Why did you come to school all of a sudden?”

Song Cheng hesitated where he stood, then spoke in a dry voice.

“I-I didn’t dare stay in the hospital. Other than school, I…..I don’t want to stay anywhere else.” His throat rolled, and his voice was extremely slurred.

Seeing his appearance, Fang Qian’an suddenly understood.

The school bully crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his voice unconsciously.

“Have you encountered something too?” he asked.

Sure enough, even though Fang Qian’an hadn’t said much, Song Cheng’s entire body began to tremble.

“Y-Young Master Fang…..” The boy’s breathing was rapid, fear gradually leaking into his voice. “How do you know that…..that I…..”

How do you know that I met a ghost?

In fact, Song Cheng’s memory of the previous morning was rather vague.

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed he had gone to cause trouble for that cripple in the morning. The cripple ran away, and he…..

He couldn’t remember much after that.

When he regained consciousness, Song Cheng was already in the hospital.

He didn’t know at that time what he had vomited out at school, only that he was lying in the emergency room rest area at the hospital and his whole body was limp. There was an indescribable plastic taste in his throat, and it was when the nurse came to change the intravenous drip and dressings that Song Cheng realized he’d just had his stomach pumped.

Accompanying him was his mother’s life assistant — his mother had been keen on spiritual practices lately, and was currently studying the so-called theory of cosmology on a small island abroad. The well-maintained woman sighed on the cell phone screen and first asked Song Cheng what he had done. Song Cheng himself was still confused, so he naturally couldn’t answer. His mother’s expression changed. She muttered several curses, and Song Cheng was so annoyed that he just hung up the phone.

Song Cheng’s father had taken some time out of his busy day to have a look at his son. After all, he managed the hospital Song Cheng was sent to. It was a pity that the director of the Central Hospital was too busy now and had very important luncheons at noon and in the afternoon.

Once he learned that his son had suffered from food poisoning and was fine now, Father Song didn’t examine him carefully. Simply leaving his son to his subordinates, he hurried to catch his lunch meeting.

Of course, even though his parents weren’t around, Song Cheng didn’t have to worry about having no one to take care of him. As the director’s son, even if he only needed some water to balance his electrolytes and protect his stomach, he didn’t have to crowd into the infusion room with normal people. Somebody had organized an inpatient department ward for Song Cheng to lie down in. That ward was originally a senior ward, and was located at the end of a special hallway.

It was very quiet in the separate room. The furnishings were also quite comfortable, more like a suite in a high-end resort than a ward.

Lying on the comfortable hospital bed, Song Cheng could vaguely feel the nurses giving him strange looks every time they came in to change his dressings. But if he had to say what was wrong, he couldn’t.

He could only prick up his ears and listen to the occasional chatter of the nurses outside the door, only able to hear fragments of words he didn’t understand.

“Wow, you’re saying he really vomited…..”

“A plate full of maggots, many of them with wings…..I don’t know what children are thinking these days. It’s probably some sort of novelty challenge…..”

“I heard the nurses there all threw up.”

“It’s so crazy…..”

“It’s nothing surprising. Weren’t there people who were shoving eels into their stomachs before? Now it’s these people, ah. Tsk, tsk.”

What on earth were these nurses talking about?

Song Cheng didn’t understand, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his mind was a ball of paste. Thinking and thinking, Song Cheng lay in bed and unknowingly fell asleep.

What woke him up again was the pain in his abdomen.

In the beginning, the pain was within a tolerable range, but it didn’t take long for it to become completely unbearable.

It hurts.

Song Cheng screamed in pain on the hospital bed.

In a daze, he tried to prop himself up with his arms and ring the call bell.

However, his body was so heavy that he couldn’t get up at all.

Was the quilt the nurse had put on him this heavy? Why…..why was it so heavy?

Enduring the pain, Song Cheng opened his eyes.

A dark shadow was reflected in them.

Song Cheng’s eyes widened in shock. Looking ahead in disbelief, he finally understood why his body was so heavy — an elderly person in a hospital gown was huddled on his stomach, crouching there steadily.

The person was so old that their age and gender could not be discerned, with only a thin layer of white hair.

The skin on their face was loose and folded together, facial features sunk deep into the wrinkles. The only part Song Cheng could see was the person’s grinning mouth.

Dry lips exposed crimson gums with a few yellow teeth, several pieces of sticky, dark red meat hanging from them.

Further down, Song Cheng saw the old person’s hands.

The old person’s nails were so long that they had curled up. Right now, those yellow-nailed hands were being used to carefully press Song Cheng’s belly.

Song Cheng saw that on his belly, a long incision had been made at some point.

And the old person…..was dragging something soft and red from that incision.

It was Song Cheng’s intestines.

As if noticing Song Cheng’s gaze, the old person suddenly turned their head and muttered illogically: “Hehe, delicious. This is delicious.”

“The noodles are delicious.”

“Hu….hu…..help…..help…..”

Song Cheng tried to call for help, but the extreme pain and fear utterly blocked his vocal cords, and he couldn’t shout a word.

He could feel his warm blood continuously gushing out.

The blood soaked through the bedding and even the mattress.

Drip, drip, drip, it fell to the floor, forming a small pool.

And at this moment, the old person suddenly moved closer to Song Cheng’s face.

Drool tripped continuously from the corners of their mouth.

“Sweet dumplings.” The old person’s turbid eyes stared straight into Song Cheng’s. “Sweet dumplings are also delicious…..they don’t let me eat…..sweet dumplings…..”

With a childishness completely inconsistent with their age, the old person shouted and rushed forward.

“I want to eat sweet dumplings!”

Only at this moment did Song Cheng suddenly remember that in the wards on this floor, there were actually many people who had completely lost the ability to take care of themselves. Even the elderly whose minds had been severely degraded by Alzheimer’s disease.

. . . . . . . 

“Ah, so you dreamed that your intestines were eaten like noodles, and your eyeballs were eaten as sweet dumplings? Fuck, that dream of yours is so disgusting.”

Inside the boys’ bathroom, Fang Qian’an was already a little impatient as he listened to Song Cheng retell his nightmare in detail.

After confirming that the other party had also begun to have nightmares because of the haunted house, what Fang Qian’an wanted to inquire about was “that incident” they had experienced together in the haunted house.

“About that day in the haunted house, when we…..we bullied Li Xiu together…..how much do you remember?” Fang Qian’an frowned, his expression extremely ugly. “Oh, right, the cell phone. You turned on the camera to record back then, right? Give me your phone.”

Fang Qian’an stretched his hand out toward Song Cheng.

After everything he had experienced in the past few days, Fang Qian’an was nearly driven crazy by hallucinations and nightmares. He no longer dared to trust his own memories, so the only thing that was credible now was probably the video Song Cheng took at that time. Fang Qian’an was determined to figure out how many people, or things, were in the haunted house that night.

When he heard Fang Qian’an’s urging, Song Cheng returned to his senses. He lowered his head and began to rummage through his pockets. “The phone, right. I took pictures and videos.”

“I remember my phone was just here.”

After a moment, Song Cheng’s voice grew panicked.

“It’s so strange, why can’t I find my cell phone? Didn’t I keep it in my pocket all this time, ah?”

“Why, why can’t I find it?”

While desperately searching for his phone, Song Cheng lowered his head and spoke to Fang Qian’an in a plaintive voice.

“Young Master Fang, please turn on the light a little brighter, I can’t see clearly…..”

Fang Qian’an silently raised his head to peer at the bright light in the bathroom.

His nerves were beginning to fray.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly, a moist chill seeping into Fang Qian’an’s skin little by little. He looked stiffly at the boy in front of him, whose head went lower and lower, his movements growing increasingly strange.

“W-why can’t you see clearly?” Fang Qian’an asked in an extremely dry voice.

Shlick, shlick.

There was a sound of bones rubbing against skin and flesh, making a wet and muffled sound.

As soon as Fang Qian’an finished speaking, he saw Song Cheng raise his head straight up in a very bizarre fashion.

He stared at Fang Qian’an, his voice becoming unfamiliar and hollow.

“Young Master Fang, it’s so weird, why can’t I see anything—”

On the boy’s face, where there should have been eyes, there were now only two holes gurgling blood.

*

At the same time, City A Police Department.

A stack of photos was placed on the desk.

“That Qiming student case?”

The young policeman in charge of the case unpreparedly picked up the photos and opened them while eating. In the next second, he couldn’t swallow the takeaway in his mouth.

“Damn, what is this……a perverted murderer?”

The policeman could be considered the experienced sort, but his tone was a little unstable at this moment.

The photos were a graphic report of the student’s body found in the abandoned Xiao Family Gardens. In the photos, this boy from a well-off family had hollow eye sockets, the eyes having long disappeared. There was a very crude incision in the abdominal cavity, where the skin collapsed inward because the internal organs that should have filled that entire cavity were gone.

“Forget it, I’d rather that there was a perverted murderer.”

The policeman to the side was slightly pale, and unconsciously lowered his voice.

“This case is particularly nefarious. The boy had food poisoning and was sent to the hospital. Isn’t his dad that, that Song Yidao? So the boy was sent to the senior ward, and guess what – an elderly person who had been in a vegetative state for over a decade suddenly regained consciousness and somehow entered the boy’s ward…..by the time anyone found out, the elderly person had already dug out the child’s eyes and eaten them.”

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Chapter 24 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 26

He Chuzhou walked He Xingxing and prepared breakfast when he returned. When he sat at the dining table, Pei Xi’s entire being didn’t feel right.

Not only had his bold behavior yesterday disgraced him in He Chuzhou’s eyes, more importantly, Pei Xi had to pretend not to remember anything.

Never had he thought that he would one day sit completely sober at a table with this person he’d despised in the past, calmly eating the breakfast made by the other party.

He didn’t know what sort of expression or attitude to use during such a situation, let alone the right thing to say.

His lost spirit was reflected in the way he became colder and haughtier than usual, and even more out of reach.

This look would normally fool a person, but in He Chuzhou’s eyes right then — he was an ill-tempered ragdoll cat who would ignore a person but still obediently drink warm milk.

Milk warmed by his own hands.

He didn’t directly start smoothing his fur, but instead adopted the most restrained behavior out of consideration for Pei Xi being in his right mind. But if that didn’t work, why not feed him before heading to the office?

As soon as Pei Xi put down the milk, a piece of toast meticulously covered with jam was placed in front of him.

The outside was toasted to a crispy brown, with only a thin layer of crispy texture in the middle, and the bright strawberry jam looked very pretty and appetizing. 

He couldn’t help being startled, and raised his eyes.

The other party wasn’t looking at him, and just continued to calmly spread jam on his toast, as if giving him a slice was just a perfectly normal thing to do.

It appeared he was in a fuss for no reason.

When his mind was confused, He Chuzhou’s care for him extended beyond just making him breakfast.

He quickly convinced himself with some careful logic, then picked up the toast and took a bite.

A better flavor than he could have imagined occupied his taste buds, and he didn’t realize that his process of acceptance was so fast that he didn’t even have time to struggle.

He didn’t even notice the corners of that person’s mouth silently rise when he saw him eating toast with a cold expression from the corner of his eye.

Pei Xi finally realized what was most glaringly wrong.

Only at the end of the meal did he notice that he hadn’t taken off the watch He Chuzhou had put on him last night.

There was no problem with Pei-calico wearing it, but it wouldn’t make sense for him to wear it now. Perhaps it might accidentally reveal that he didn’t lose his memories after waking up.

He was endlessly annoyed by this mistake, and quickly thought about whether He Chuzhou had noticed any abnormal behavior since he woke up.

But whether he had noticed or not, he needed to immediately mend the situation before it was too late.

“What is this?”

When he put down his cup, he pretended to have just discovered the watch on his wrist. He frowned slightly, trying to express his surprise with a dignified appearance.

However, He Chuzhou’s answer immediately turned his feigned surprise into reality.

“You won it by smashing the golden egg.”

He Chuzhou didn’t even pause to think about it, as if he had already decided on an answer to this problem.

Pei Xi: “…..Smashed the golden egg?”

“Yes, ah.” He Chuzhou spoke nonsense without a change of expression. “I took you with me to the real estate center after work yesterday. We saw the golden eggs sitting neatly inside, and I took you to smash them. Who knew you’d end up winning the grand prize with one hit?”

As he spoke, he didn’t neglect to give him a commendatory look: “President Pei is really lucky.”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi: “So you bought a house?”

He Chuzhou: “Bought what house?”

Pei Xi’s feelings were complicated: “The golden eggs in the real estate center can only be smashed after buying a house.”

“Really? That’s not true.”

He Chuzhou remained calm: “I gave their staff twenty yuan and they let me smash it.”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “Maybe it was because I’m good-looking?”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou didn’t doubt himself in the slightest: “It looks rather nice on you.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to wear it, just put it in a conspicuous place before going to bed. Your amnesiac self quite likes it. He’ll get angry with me if he can’t find it, and might not be lucky enough to smash another one out again.”

Pei Xi was silent. He put down his hand: “I’m done eating.”

He rubbed the well-made watch strap where He Chuzhou couldn’t see. However, he didn’t take it off.

He Chuzhou also put down his utensils: “Okay, I’m done too. Do you want to go to the company directly or go home?”

Pei Xi knew his intentions and didn’t refuse like last time. He just said two words smoothly: “The company.”

Both companies were located in the city center, so it was the convenient thing to do.

Since sitting in the backseat would presume that the other person was the chauffeur, Pei Xi stood by the car and hesitated for a second before opening the passenger door. 

Then he saw that little stuffed pig he’d laid in the passenger seat earlier.

Pei Xi: “……”

How could he forget about this?

The driver’s door also opened. He Chuzhou lowered his head and sat inside, then saw that he wasn’t moving: “What, did you forget something? Do you want me to go back and get it for you?”

Pei Xi gave a light “No need,” and while sitting down, he courteously grabbed the pig’s head and moved it aside without taking another look. “I don’t know who you are” was written all over him.

He Chuzhou watched this with laughter in his heart.

Yesterday he was so fond of it that he was reluctant to let it go, but when he caught sight of it today, he was disgusted.

But very soon, he realized that it was too soon to say that he was disgusted.

The person in the passenger seat kept peeking at the little pig.

From time to time, he would glance down and then look away.

Another glance, and away.

Another.

The movement was very quick, and the length short. If the rearview mirror wasn’t at the right angle, he wouldn’t have noticed.

His lips curved and he pretended to be oblivious. After bringing Pei Xi to the company, he spoke as Pei Xi was opening the door to get out of the car: “President Pei, this pig belongs to you. Won’t you consider taking it away?”

Pei Xi’s body stiffened almost invisibly, and he glanced back to give him a strange look.

“It’s true, it caught your eye at first sight in the claw machine yesterday, but my skills are limited. It took me an entire afternoon to catch this one.”

He Chuzhou shrugged. He was very good at discrediting himself: “Just think of it as cherishing the fruits of my hard work. Does President Pei not have the face to take away his reward?”

“……”

Pei Xi knew very well that he was being teased again. The hand holding the door handle tightened uncomfortably. He wanted to make him stop teasing him, but doing so would undoubtedly risk being exposed.

In a dilemma, he stared at the pig for a long moment. Only belatedly did he realize he could ignore him and not respond.

All in one go, he turned around and got out of the car without saying a word.

Little did he know that he had a silent look of hesitation on his face.

He Chuzhou saw this and was pleased as punch.

Just as he sighed with emotion over how the sober Pei-calico was so amusing, the car door opened from the outside again.

That amusing Pei-calico bent down, pulled the toy pig by its ears, and lifted it out of the passenger seat. Then he closed the door again and turned toward the company.

It was just a pig. 

Pei Xi raised a hand to touch his earlobe, thinking without emotion, It’s not like it won’t fit in the office.

*

*

[President Pei and President He are in love now, right?]

[You still doubt it?]

[President He sends President Pei to work every day, ah.]

[Sometimes he even provides a pick-up service after work!]

[Isn’t it well-known that President Pei doesn’t like to wear watches? But he wears one every day now. If that isn’t a gift from President He, I’ll bark like a dog.]

[Right, right. And President He also gave him a little stuffed animal.]

[I’ve seen it. President Pei placed it in a conspicuous spot on a cabinet. The contrast is so cute!]

[I gave my girlfriend a fucking ring on our anniversary, and she called me a poor and deceitful man. President He gave President Pei a stuffed animal, and you guys are like ahhh, so sweet, so good. Is this how you girls play?]

[A Life is like Thin Ice has been removed from the chat by the group owner.]

[Who brought that poor and deceitful man in?]

[So when will President He give President Pei a ring? Ahhhh, it’s so romantic to think about!]

[Can I go on their dates?]

[Can I take a photo of them kissing?]

[Can I watch them in bed?]

[Can I pop the champagne when they break up?]

[He Chuzhou is not worthy! ! ! My pure as jade, clear as ice President Pei. Damn, he doesn’t deserve him! ! !]

[Smooth-talker. President Pei, wake up! Don’t believe that dog man’s nonsense, ahhhhhhhhhhh!]

[Another crazy one. Take them away.]

[But my best friend who works at He Group said that President He is actually very nice, in all respects. Those rumors out there might be from people who are jealous.]

[I don’t know if they’re rumors or not, but President He is someone who looks like a caring person at first glance. He’ll take good care of my beautiful President Pei. Wuwu I’m so grateful!]

[The one next door is giving out sugar!]

[/Chat history]

[President He openly praised President Pei for being young, promising, and capable at a high-level meeting, which is just short of saying that his wife is the best in the world.]

[Envious. Enough said.]

[When will President Pei bite?]

[There’s no way. Who made President He a flirtatious devil? And our President Pei isn’t good at showing affection.]

[Mature people need to learn to dig for sugar on their own.]

[@Xiao Gu, Will Xiao Gu submit the project proposal? Come on, dig some out for us!]

Xiao Gu, standing at the door of the President’s office and about to knock on the door: “……”

Knock knock.

He knocked on the door and heard a call of “Come in” from inside. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open.

“President Pei, this is the final version of the plan for next quarter.” He set the documents on President Pei’s desk and stood two steps back.

Pei Xi gave a hum as he finished writing a reply email and clicked send. When he looked up, he found that this person hadn’t left yet: “Is there anything else?”

Xiao Gao had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He organized the words in his mind and mustered up some courage.

But when he looked into Pei Xi’s indifferent eyes, he was speechless and couldn’t spit out the words.

“N-no.”

He caught his breath and said: “I’ll get to work.” Then he left the office in despair.

[It didn’t work, ah, the aura of my family’s boss is too strong. This workplace rookie couldn’t withstand it.]

[I’m feeling a little unwell today, so I’ll leave first. If you want to dig out sugar, you’d better do it yourself.]

The gossip crew was abuzz with activity, soaring up to the point where they could raise the roof. But no one dared dance for joy in front of their idol himself.

When Pei Xi finished reading over the project, it was time to leave work. 

He closed the documents and habitually touched his cell phone to dial He Chuzhou.

And hung up quickly in the next second.

He almost got it mixed up again. He wasn’t brain-addled at the moment.

He packed up his things and left the company, drove all the way home, took a shower, cleaned, and relaxed, even making a casual dinner from the prepared ingredients in the fridge. 

But the flavors he was used to were becoming increasingly difficult to swallow.

His Adam’s apple rolled hard as he squeezed the food down. With a subconscious frown, he looked at the seat across from him.

Empty.

There was no one to talk to.

When he thought about it more clearly, he didn’t even know what he wanted to say.

An indescribable sensation of helplessness came over his heart, and he put down his chopsticks, appetite completely lost.

He wished he could split himself in half.

That he could draw a line between confusion and sanity, so they could act independently from each other. 

That once the side effects passed, he could easily discard the unnecessary part of himself without a trace.

But reality shattered his plans.

He Chuzhou had interceded too much in his life. All of his care and attention had an overwhelming and profound impact on Pei Xi.

In over half a month, he had become accustomed to either waking up in He Chuzhou’s arms or opening the door to a table of steaming breakfast.

He was accustomed to He Chuzhou taking him along everywhere by his side, accustomed to someone comforting him whenever he was upset, accustomed to reflexively asking for help when he encountered a problem. Accustomed to handing all the food he didn’t like after one bite to He Chuzhou.

There were even several times where, due to not changing from sober to confused, he adopted mannerisms that would only occur while brain-addled. Fortunately, he got through without revealing his secret.

But he didn’t like this kind of feeling.

This feeling of unconditional trust and subconscious dependence on another person. It was akin to giving up his initiative and handing it over to another, which made him feel very insecure. Perhaps he had been alone for too long, he thought.

He didn’t know how to spend time normally so close to someone, so only when another person broke inside was he at a loss, easily tossing his armor away.

He had no experience dealing with such a problem, and the only method he could think of was to appropriate something else to take up space in his brain.

And work was the simplest and most efficient way.

So just like every time before, he put away the worthless food, returned to his study, and took care of all the work he could, staying focused until exhaustion got the better of him.

But he didn’t realize that while this method produced immediate results, it also came with serious side effects.

So after masochistically running himself into the ground, he experienced the backlash of his body’s dissatisfaction and was instantly overwhelmed by fatigue.

He fell ill.

A high fever woke him up from his nightmares. He tried to seek out the arms around him, but found nothing.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the empty bed beside him. He sat up in bed and looked out the window at the nighttime scene. The tears made everything he saw blurry.

For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to those late nights when he waited for dawn with his eyes open. There was no one to rely on, and the long nights became increasingly difficult to endure.

Breathing unsteadily, he bent his legs and curled up into a ball. The coldness seeping into his body made him tremble, even when he tightly hugged the quilt.

After waiting silently for a long while with nobody coming in, he lost his patience and took out his cell phone to make a call.

At 2 o’clock in the morning, He Chuzhou was woken up by his vibrating phone. Half asleep and half awake, he swiped down to answer the call without looking at the caller, then closed his eyes and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” His deep voice was muffled by the drowsy muddledness of sleep.

“Chuzhou.”

A cool, hoarse voice sounded over the receiver, causing him to wake up instantly. He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, then looked at the caller ID and put the phone to his ear again: “Xinxin?”

“Did you go buy a midnight snack? Why haven’t you come back in so long?”

Pei Xi’s voice was very low, and seemed particularly weak this quiet night: “I have a fever. I don’t feel good. I’m uncomfortable all over and my throat hurts.”

“Don’t buy anything too spicy.”

---

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Chapter 28 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 30

When Tang Mu and Dai Tingyu came over, they saw Liu Zhenqing sitting in the corridor outside the treatment room, facing toward the window. Holding a teapot in one hand and using a small fan with the other, he was murmuring continuously. Huo Fenglie’s periodic roars of pain could be heard, and the sound made Dai Tingyu tremble. He didn’t know what kind of pain could make the man who was half-dead on the battlefield without making a sound shout out.

But Liu Zhenqing’s soft voice was like a cool summer breeze drifting through the window, not stopping for any sound.

When they drew closer, they could hear a slight hoarseness in Liu Zhenqing’s voice: “So, ah, the Little Mermaid just…..huh? Why are you two here? Did you come to visit?”

The two of them were a bit confused by what Liu Zhenqing was saying before. Han Ye suddenly opened the window and stuck his head out, saying: “Why did you stop? How did she choose?”

Liu Zhenqing averted his eyes. “I’m not telling this story to you.”

“Master is also listening.”

“Can you focus on the treatment? If anything goes wrong with Er-gou, I’ll trash your business’s reputation!” Liu Zhenqing shot him a glare. “To be continued. Please look forward to next time.”

“Ai! What kind of storyteller are you!”

Tang Mu and Dai Tingyu looked on curiously. Depending on the angle where they stood, they could see inside a bit through the gap in the window. Red threads everywhere seemed to be tied to something, and the room smelled of blood and medicine.

Ignoring Han Ye, Liu Zhenqing called playfully to the voice that had just screamed inside: “Er-gou, I’ll be right back! Wait for me!” Having said this, he took Tang Mu and Dai Tingyu away to talk. He knew there must be a problem for these two to appear, and feared that problem would disturb Huo Fenglie.

Thus, the three of them went to the courtyard and sat down before starting to talk.

“Just now…..” Dai Tingyu said inquisitively.

“I was telling Fenglie a story to divert his attention. That way, the pain will be reduced.”

In fact, Dai Tingyu was even more curious about if the call of “Er-gou” just now was meant for Huo Fenglie.

When Liu Zhenqing finished speaking, he coughed slightly.

It seemed he had worn out his throat after talking for who knew how long.

“How is General Huo?”

“Everything is going well. It’s just that…..it’s painful.” Liu Zhenqing’s eyes were full of distress. 

In fact, Huo Fenglie had been silent at first, and Han Ye would come out occasionally to apprise Liu Zhenqing of the situation. Liu Zhenqing was worried that something had happened.

It wasn’t until Han Ye explained the reason for his silence that Liu Zhenqing understood why there was no noise.

Huo Fenglie was indeed in a lot of pain, but he would rather let his veins bulge and grind his teeth bloody than make any noise for Liu Zhenqing outside to hear.

Even when they lied to Huo Fenglie and said that Liu Zhenqing wasn’t outside, it was useless.

Because even though so many of Huo Fenglie’s senses were vanishing now and it was impossible for him to tell whether or not Liu Zhenqing was outside, he still seemed to know that he would be there.

So Liu Zhenqing simply came to the window and made it clear to Huo Fenglie that he was outside and would always be by his side, that he knew how painful this was for him, so he shouldn’t hold back. He had promised to tell him a story before, and took this opportunity to do so. 

Later, Liu Zhenqing continued to speak outside the window, rested when he got tired, and slept there when he was sleepy. In any case, the summer night weren’t cold, and with his master’s herbal ointments, the mosquitos didn’t swoop in and his throat didn’t wear out too quickly either. It had been going on like this for three days. And Huo Fenglie obediently didn’t hold back too much.

“As long as everything goes well,” Tang Mu said.

“What happened?” Liu Zhenqing asked directly.

Dai Tingyu’s expression brightened at once, and he said: “Something unexpected happened!”

Curious about Dai Tingyu’s expression, Liu Zhenqing glanced at Tang Mu.

Tang Mu said: “An Imperial edict came today, and General Huo and I were asked to receive it. We used the excuse that General Huo was out of the city for a private matter and we didn’t know how many days it would take for him to come back. I received the edict on his behalf for the time being, and the person who delivered the edict didn’t make things difficult for us.” With that, he handed the Imperial edict over for Liu Zhenqing to read. It was obvious that he had confidence in him.

Liu Zhenqing took it and opened it to take a look. His eyes eventually flashed in surprise.

“The King of Western Shu is a fake?” Liu Zhenqing was astonished.

The Imperial edict stated that the identity of the King of Western Shu was taken up before the real one discovered his heritage. Qiao An, the true heir to the Western Shu Kingdom, fled from persecution and traveled to the capital for help. 

After Huo Fenglie defeated the three southwest kingdoms, those kingdoms surrendered to Great Zhou and were one step away from becoming vassal states. To put it bluntly, if there were many princes back then, whoever gained the support of Great Zhou was most likely to be able to secure the throne. But there was one prince at the time, and he was deferential to Great Zhou, so the current King of Western Shu ascended to the throne.

It was just that the current King of Western Shu was restless and was involved with the rebels, which aroused Yuan Jue’s suspicion and dissatisfaction. Just at this time, someone sent the so-called “real” prince Qiao An to seek help from Great Zhou. He also vowed that as long as Great Zhou would help him regain the throne, Western Shu would sign a vassal state agreement. From then on, Great Zhou would be the master and Western Shu would be completely allegiant to it.

Yuan Jue had probably verified this prince’s words several times over and determined that he had the bloodline of the Western Shu royal family. Under the guise of helping Western Shu’s royal family return to legitimacy, he wanted to send Qiao An home in a mighty display. It was very likely that war could not be avoided, and the Imperial edict instructed Huo Fenglie to be ready to lead troops into the country.

In fact, the Great Zhou Dynasty generally didn’t interfere in the affairs of other nations. The pros and cons were almost equal, and whether they took action or not depended on the situation. However, Western Shu was first complicit with the rebels, and then pretended to be confused when Yuan Jue held them accountable. As the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he could not tolerate this. Sending the prince home was just an excuse to teach them a lesson. It also served as a warning to the surrounding nations.

But all of these coincidences made Liu Zhenqing uneasy.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, but he kept feeling like they were being led somewhere. 

The existence of this battle was somewhat deliberate.

But Liu Zhenqing didn’t know much about the battlefield. Perhaps it was something only those who fought could understand.

Who wouldn’t feel uneasy in the face of impending war? Even Dai Tingyu cursed.

Tang Mu said: “The edict says for General Huo to lead the troops escorting Qiao An, but…..”

“Even if he’s cured in two days, he still needs to rest. It’s too soon,” Liu Zhenqing said.

“I said I would go!” said Dai Tingyu.

Liu Zhenqing considered for a moment before saying: ““If we don’t take action, or have you go on Fenglie’s behalf, he’ll be suspected of violating the Imperial edict, so the current plan can only be delayed.

Tang Mu said with a nod: “I think so too. We just received that prince Qiao An on an emergency basis and have not yet met him formally. I wanted to invite you to accompany us to see him.

Liu Zhenqing saw no problem with this, so he accompanied them to the guest house where the prince was currently being entertained.

As a result, they heard the sound of something being smashed just as they arrived at the door.

“Are you looking down on me, giving me such poor things? I was given the very best in Great Zhou’s Imperial Palace. Don’t you know who I am? I’m the legitimate king of Western Shu. If you hold me in contempt like this, I will notify your City Lord to turn you all into the lowest of slaves.”

The three of them paused. Dai Tingyu pointed inside with a dark face and asked them: “Do we really have to help this piece of work? If this guy takes over the throne, he’ll be a tyrant.”

“From a certain perspective, he’s indeed just like a member of the Western Shu royal family,” Tang Mu scoffed.

“It’s not difficult to see what kind of prince he is when he sold his entire country for the throne,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

The servants of the City Lord’s Manor were treated well by Tang Mu, and had never suffered such humiliation. They were out to handle their work, not to be humiliated and scolded by an outsider. When they were reprimanded like this, their eyes reddened in anger as they stood stiffly aside. 

The result was that Qiao An cursed them even more viciously. Just at this moment, the three people stepped inside.

Qiao An shifted his expression the moment he saw them. He donned a noble air and said: “Tang-chengzhu, is this the way your Zhou Dynasty treats its guests? These servants are useless, I suggest you kill them all.”

Standing at the rear, Liu Zhenqing looked around. Young in age, Qiao An looked pretty and harmless, with delicate features. But when he became fierce, those features distorted to reveal what he actually was deep down. 

“Since the service is poor, you can all leave. There is no need to come and serve him.” When Tang Mu finished speaking, gestured for everyone to go away. 

Qiao An was somewhat mollified for a moment, but then he heard Tang Mu say: “The group just now are the best servants in my residence. Since His Highness the Crown Prince is not satisfied, I will trouble the prince to take care of himself during this period. Please tell us if you need anything, and we will provide it.”

When these words came out, Liu Zhenqing almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“You!” Qiao Jin instantly leaped up in anger and pointed a finger at Tang Mu. “You are presumptuous!”

Although Tang Mu looked gentle, he was actually not easy to control. “His Royal Highness is truly making things difficult for me. You didn’t want those people, so I drove them away, but it is impossible for me to conjure up more palatable servants in Nanfeng City. No matter who I find, you will be angry and dissatisfied. I really don’t know how to entertain the prince. Asking the prince to give me advice.”

Qiao An, who had wanted to show off in front of Tang Mu, was hit back hard.

In fact, there was a blood feud between Nanfeng City and the Western Shu Kingdom, especially when it came to the Tang family. How could they bow and scrape to serve him?

Qiao An was at a disadvantage and immediately looked around for a helping hand. It was as if he changed faces. Looking toward Dai Tingyu, who was watching the show, the little guy leaned toward Dai Tingyu like a weak willow facing the wind and said: “Commander Dai, what kind of City Lord is this, ah? He’s clearly trying to make things difficult for me. You must take responsibility!”

This shocked the three of them. Was this the prince’s love routine?

Dai Tingyu was not a participant in male homosexuality, and was so frightened that he took three steps back, wishing that he could seek shelter behind Tang Mu.

“The prince need not ask me. I listen to Chengzhu. Chengzhu is my god. His word is law and I can’t be responsible for anyone.”

When Qiao An saw that nobody was protecting him, his face immediately reddened and he directed a fierce look at Dai Tingyu, who didn’t know how to favor him.

At this time, the person who could smooth things over appeared.

Liu Zhenqing stepped forward and said: “I think Chengzhu might have misunderstood. Perhaps it is due to the two countries having different degrees of service, and that is why the prince grew angry. He’s not being unreasonable. After all, doesn’t he belong to a royal family?”

“Really?” Tang Mu looked at Qiao An and said, “You’re really not trying to embarrass me?”

Qiao An was stifled by these words. The stalemate just now was not in his favor, and there was nobody on his side. Now someone had offered him a way to step down, and he could only follow it: “Yes. Yes, ah, how could I deliberately seek trouble?”

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: “So, Chengzhu, you’ll give the prince time to follow the local people’s customs, won’t you? When another batch comes over, the prince will understand that this is how we do things in Great Zhou, which is different from the customs of Western Shu. Although the prince wishes for the services of Western Shu, there’s really no way. I believe a noble person like the prince will understand.”

Qiao An suddenly felt as if he was being put in a difficult situation, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to refute.

Tang Mu nodded and smiled, then commenced apologizing to Qiao An.

After this series of attacks fell, Qiao An could only constrain his temper and cooperate in a well-behaved manner.

After calming down, Qiao An gave Liu Zhenqing a suspicious look and asked, “Who are you?”

Liu Zhenqing cupped his hands in a salute: “This one is…..General Huo’s military advisor.”

“General Huo. General Huo Fenglie? Is he back?” Qiao An’s eyes lit up. “Then why hasn’t he come to see me?”

Liu Zhenqing said: “The general has already heard about the Imperial edict, and has gone to inspect the area near the Western Shu Kingdom.”

Qiao An said ruthlessly: “What is there to investigate? By virtue of General Huo’s ability, he should escort me back! General Huo should strike that counterfeit down and kill anyone who dares to oppose me!” 

Liu Zhenqing’s expression remained unchanged, but there was a chill in his eyes. Did he think his Er-gou was a weapon he could use however he wanted?

“Hurry up and tell him to come back and organize the troops,” Qiao An said anxiously.

Dai Tingyu could only say: “It’s not that easy.”

“Why not? The fact that you can’t do it doesn’t mean Genera Huo can’t!” Qiao An retorted at once.

Dai Tingyu’s liver ached from Qiao An’s abrupt changes in attitude. He found it difficult to say another word, so he simply shut up.

Liu Zhenqing and Tang Mu exchanged glances, and Tang Mu said: “That’s right. According to regulations, we should first explain the situation to Western Shu and negotiate for the two of you to confront each other face to face, so that the other party can return your identity to you through peaceful means.”

“How can that be done?!” Qiao An asked anxiously.

Tang Mu raised his hands to appease him and said: “This is the regulation. It is impossible to fight immediately. When the other party responds, or if there is no response or a direct counterattack, we will see how to fight based on the specific situation at that time.”

“Could it be that you’re being perfunctory with me?!” Qiao An clearly didn’t have the patience.

Liu Zhenqing said: “Your Highness, if we don’t take peaceful measures before using force, a direct attack may cause the entire country of Western Shu to fight against us. By the time you seize the throne, the country will be no more. You should know that General Huo is capable of conquering the Western Shu Kingdom.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Qiao An’s expression froze as if there was lingering fear in his heart.

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “Since we’ve received an Imperial edict, we will definitely complete the task. Your Highness, please be patient.”

After Qiao An finished his tantrum, he had no choice but to go along with their arrangements.

Taking advantage of this, Liu Zhenqing asked Qiao An about his previous experiences. 

What Qiao An said was pretty much the same as the Imperial edict. His eyes even reddened in front of them, and he said with an attitude of misery that lacked any royal bearing at all: “At that time, I was almost killed. Fortunately, I got lucky and escaped along the river. But I knew that I didn’t have the ability to take the throne by myself, so I had to seek help. I suffered a lot along the way until I finally found the emperor of Great Zhou. His Majesty was willing to help me, and I am truly grateful. As long as I can take back everything that belongs to me, I am willing to pay any amount. I cannot let my ancestors’ inheritance fall into the hands of an outsider.”

“Who helped you meet the emperor?” Liu Zhenqing asked curiously.

“I beat the drum in front of the government office, then met many officials and was sent to the palace,” Qiao An said. “His Majesty saw that I was carrying treasures Great Zhou had given to the Western Shu Kingdom, as well as the mark on my body that is imprinted on every child of royal birth. Only then did he believe my words.”

As Qiao An spoke, he revealed a lotus mark on his wrist.

Liu Zhenqing had indeed heard of it, but had never seen it. It was likely that Yuan Jue had a way to verify its authenticity.

“Then the fake king also has this mark?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

“He made it himself.” Qiao An said with resentment: “But there was a difference between old and new, so he deliberately injured his wrist to remove half of the mark and cover up the truth.”

The three of them finally understood something.

When the three people went out, Dai Tingyu couldn’t help but complain, “What’s going on with this prince? I get goosebumps just looking at him. It’s so hard to bear.”

Tang Mu said awkwardly: “He seems to like men.”

Dai Tingyu trembled.

“But he’s easy to control and won’t cause us any trouble. Then it’s up to us to go at our own pace.” Tang Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

Dai Tingu clasped his fist and said with a smile: “Yes, this way we can use the strategy of negotiation before violence so that Brother Huo can heal up well. It can also be regarded as giving the Western Shu Kingdom the opportunity for civil strife. Perhaps people with their own agendas will overthrow the false king’s regime before we take action and save us the trouble.”

The two of them chatted enthusiastically, but felt that Liu Zhenqing had been quiet the whole time.

Tang Mu asked curiously: “What is it? Brother Liu?”

Liu Zhenqing frowned slightly. “How strange, ah.”

“What’s strange?” said Tang Mu.

“The prince is very strange.” Liu Zhenqing raised his eyes and said: “Did you two notice? His hands, his exposed skin, his whole appearance, and his attitude toward people……”

The two of them couldn’t think of anything strange aside from the prince’s preference for men.

Liu Zhenqing’s face darkened as he said: “How could a person who was persecuted and unaccounted for since childhood, who was exiled to our country, have such tender flesh? There are no scars at all. He said that he just met the emperor with difficulty not long ago, but he doesn’t look at all like he had a hard time. Even if he recovered in Great Zhou’s Imperial Palace, he should not have recovered so quickly. And going by his attitude toward servants and some of his mannerisms, although he is arrogant and unreasonable, he is obviously used to a life of pampering and privilege. It isn’t that he suddenly gained power and wants to show it off. And some habits only appear in those who have been cultivated by the customs of Western Shu.”

---

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Chapter One Hundred Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Nine

“Li Xiu? What’s wrong with you, you look weird.”

When Li Xiu returned to the classroom that day, his expression had changed so much that even the classmates he had a distant relationship with couldn’t help but inquire.

“……That one didn’t do anything to you, right?”

Li Xiu felt a few gazes lingering on the parts of his body exposed outside of his school uniform. It was clear that Fang Qian’an dragging him out in front of everyone today had given many classmates a very bad association.

The young man took a deep breath and forced a smile: “I’m fine.”

What came to mind was the embarrassing and nerve-wracking scene when he came out of the lounge. Xu Luren didn’t seem to be the very bright type, and everything he was thinking was pretty much revealed on his face.

In fact, it was just a matter of a few words to explain. However, in the face of Xu Luren’s panicked apologies, what Fang Qian’an said was—

“If you dare to tell anyone about what you saw today, you’re dead.”

Li Xiu, who was standing next to Fang Qian’an at the time: “Fang Qian’an?!”

Noticing Li Xiu’s shocked and condemning eyes, Fang Qian’an seemed to have figured out that something was wrong, and added: “Me and A-Xiu didn’t do anything at all! Remember that!”

Xu Luren’s face paled, and he nodded quickly. He didn’t hesitate to swear that he hadn’t seen anything, and of course he wouldn’t speak a word of it. 

“That’s enough…..”

. . . . . .

Not long after he returned to his seat, morning classes began.

Li Xiu sat upright at his desk, but his eyes were still a little vacant.

The empty desk dragged over by Fang Qian’an was still there, but with no one in the seat — of course, Fang Qian’an wanted to stay with Li Xiu every moment of the day, but Li Xiu firmly refused.

The first reason was that as long as Fang Qian’an was around, it was impossible for him to pay good attention to the lecture. The second reason was……

[“Don’t you have a psychological shadow?]

With last night’s nightmare, Li Xiu really didn’t want to challenge himself and recreate that scene again.

Against Li Xiu’s cold eyes, Fang Qian’an was defeated in despair. After agreeing to contact each other by phone any time or anywhere, he left dejectedly.

“Phew…..”

However, Li Xiu had to admit that even without Fang Qian’an’s interference, he wasn’t able to study in earnest at all.

He had driven Fang Qian’an away simply…..to just escape for a little bit.

Ghosts.

As the teacher was still lecturing seriously at the podium, Li Xiu unconsciously wrote this word down on paper.

Li Xiu stared at this word for a long time. The tips of his fingers were chilled, and the palm holding the pen was covered in cold sweat.

There was a strange, unexplainable fear in his heart.

It was as if Fang Qian’an didn’t realize he had been in the Xiao Family Haunted House until today. They had already shared a room once with many supernatural beings. And Li Xiu also realized dimly that he seemed to have overlooked many things.

A lot of things that were…..amiss.

A breeze blew through the window, and the paper slogans and learning materials on the walls fluttered in the air.

The wall clock moved forward regularly, kacha, kacha, and the teacher’s sonorous and powerful teaching voice echoed in the quiet classroom.

It was clearly a sunny morning, and the classroom contained many normal humans, but Li Xiu found that he was involuntarily shivering.

Due to not sleeping well, the heaviness of his body became extremely evident.

He couldn’t help but think, So cold…..

Had his low fever not gone away yet? Why was it that after several days, his shoulders still felt too heavy to lift and his whole body began to get chills from time to time?

Just as Li Xiu was distracted by his physical problems, a siren outside the window abruptly pierced through his trance.

Although the siren quickly stopped within a few seconds, the students sitting by the window suddenly realized that something was amiss on campus — police cars had arrived at the school.

Even during class, peoples’ curious nature could not be restrained.

Noticing the unusual goings-on downstairs, even as the teacher said “listen carefully,” she couldn’t help but lean toward the window to take a peek.

The location of Class A1 was just at the right spot to catch a glimpse of the back door at the junction of the Xiao Family Haunted House and the campus.

That door, which connected the two locations, was a heavy iron door with an iron lock that had been fastened for many years. It had never been opened by anyone. 

In addition, the wall between the haunted house and the campus was not very high, and if the students of Qiming wanted to go to the haunted house, they would choose to climb over it directly. This back door was out of sight most of the time.

But presently, there were several police cars parked there. Someone got out of a car and stood beside the old janitor, waiting for the old man to shakily go through his keys one by one to open the door.

“God, what’s going on?”

“There must have been an accident over there at the haunted house…..”

Uneasy whispers began to spread throughout the class.

And very soon, even more bizarre gossip spread virally on everyone’s cell phones.

Some students happened to have free time during this class. Although they were blocked from getting closer, they all watched from a distance as someone carried a person out of the Xiao Family Haunted House.

And that person was carried out under a shroud.

[Holy shit, has the haunted house shown off its power again?]

[I hear that every year, several people die there without explanation.]

[I wonder which unlucky guy it is. It couldn’t be someone from our school, right?]

[Haha, maybe it’s Ouyang?]

The messages originally flooding the screen paused for a moment when Ouyang was mentioned.

After all, many people had seen the pictures that were posted in the group before.

He was a living person, and moreover, a popular male teacher in the school just a day ago. Yet it was very possible that he had filmed the entire process of hanging himself and posted it to the group chat…..

Not everyone could bear the impact of this.

Thinking back to the terrifying rumors about the Xiao Family Haunted House, the lawless students with severe chuunibyou elements were also more or less frightened.

[How annoying. Don’t come on here and talk about things without evidence.]

[Laughing to death. Does anyone really believe those kinds of ghost stories?]

[Maybe a homeless person went inside? There are security guards patrolling the school, after all, so maybe they didn’t dare rest in the school and went to the haunted house instead. Homeless people have so many underlying diseases, it’s normal for one to kick the bucket.]

[But I heard that the school has lost contact with a sophomore student…..]

[Ah, so annoying. Stop talking.]

Throughout the next classes, the students were a little distracted and absent-minded.

In the presence of these people, even Li Xiu’s inattentiveness became less obvious.

After waiting until class was finally over, this group of people rushed to the window to keep watching.

“Fuck, what happened?”

“What the hell…..”

His classmates’ words caused Li Xiu to reflexively walk to the window. Lowering his head, he glanced in the direction of the haunted house. Right afterward, his brow furrowed.

The police cars had already left after the first class, or the school had realized something was wrong and had the police cars move to a different location.

The back door to the haunted house was still open, and there were several more school staff at the wall. Every one of them was busy, climbing up and down to add railings and barbed wire to the original fence.

Judging by the small fraction of work that had been completed, the school seemed to intend to simply raise the wall to a point where even monkeys couldn’t climb over it.

Of course, if that was all it was, the school’s action of sending maintenance workers to heighten the fence boiled down to the normal behavior of stopping further losses since something had happened in the haunted house.

However…..

There were a few who looked like logistics staff doing something extremely strange.

They were tying red cloth to the large trees and bushes near the fence.

Each strip of cloth was a dazzling red color. They were impatiently tying them all over the foliage, which looked indescribably bizarre.

“What is the school doing? Isn’t that too unsightly?”

“People don’t normally go into the haunted house, right? Do they need to make such a grand gesture?”

“Damn, the more I think about it, the more scared I get. So they really did carry someone out of the haunted house?”

As Li Xiu listened to the chattering of his classmates, the chill in his body became increasingly obvious.

And before the bell rang, there was an announcement.

The panic in his official tone could not be hidden as the dean announced to the students as calmly as possible on the intercom that from today onwards, the school would strictly prohibit students from entering the Xiao Family Gardens. Once discovered, they would be punished with a demerit and expulsion from school.

As for the red cloth on the trees, according to the school leaders, it turned out that the school was preparing the trees in advance to protect them from the cold.

“…..Please take good care of the campus environment and respect the fruits of the staff’s labor. Do not take off or damage the cloth strips on the branches when passing by. We will also send people to patrol the area regularly. If a student is caught not following discipline and damaging the environment, they will be dealt with severely.”

“Pfft, do these school people think we’re idiots? Who would protect trees by tying strips of red cloth to them at the end of summer? Are they sick in the head?”

Unlike the well-behaved Class A1, a boy in another classroom simply laughed after hearing the campus announcement.

He leaned against the window and craned his neck to look in the direction of the haunted house. Seeing that chaotic and mindless scene, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Young Master Fang, don’t you think so?”

He turned around eagerly to look at the tall boy in the classroom who was playing on his cell phone with his head down.

It was unknown why, when a rare bit of fun was happening outside, the young master of the Fang family still refused to raise his head and look out, and wouldn’t even go near the window today.

The former prince exuded an aura of alienation and alertness all over his body today, and the way he stared at them put people on pins and needles.

Sure enough, when the boy bravely spoke to him, Fang Qian’an ignored him entirely.

The other went silent in embarrassment and looked at the others awkwardly.

[Hey, you guys, can someone tell me why Young Master Fang is acting so strange today?]

The boy gave a light cough, pretending to play on his phone as he secretly messaged the others.

[I heard that some moron interrupted his personal affairs this morning.]

[Affairs? What affairs? Wait, this affair can’t be the one I’m thinking of, right?]

[But didn’t Young Master Fang go to Class A1 to snatch that person this morning?]

[Shh, don’t talk nonsense. You’re dead if someone hears.]

[Wait, you’re not talking about that one this morning…..]

[I think I might know what’s going on, but I’m afraid to say it.]

All at once, rumors about what had happened with the prince of the Fang family spread among this group of idle playboys, the importance of which even outweighed the strange things happening at school.

Nearly everyone maintained a subtle silence, but their eyes all fell on Fang Qian’an.

The result of this observation was that everyone discovered that Fang Qian’an’s expression was very bad at the moment.

This wasn’t caused by a bad temper…..instead, it seemed like he was completely drained of energy.

The strong, healthy boy who could beat people fiercely like a human weapon had a slightly gray face today. The bruises under his eyes were so thick that they were black, and there was no color to his lips at all.

Everyone exchanged glances, and the atmosphere was incredibly solemn.

Nobody dared to speak.

Nobody even dared to type their guesses on their phones.

Fortunately, at this anxious moment, a companion came through the door carrying takeout from an expensive burger restaurant outside the school.

According to convention, this person chose the most expensive one and handed it to Fang Qian’an.

“Angus beef and fish roe bacon burger. Young Master Fang, I remember you liked the taste of this last time.”

“Right, and here’s the iced americano you wanted.”

When the cold coffee cup touched his fingertips, Fang Qian’an abruptly shivered and drew his attention from his cell phone. 

He took a deep breath and hesitated for a second on the lines of text on his phone, then hit the pause button on the screen fiercely.

Fang Qian’an didn’t have much of an appetite.

His stomach felt heavy due to the news he had just received, and his chest felt tight. 

But Fang Qian’an soon recalled that he hadn’t eaten anything since the day before.

Although he wasn’t hungry, it seemed like a very bad idea to continue to starve.

Fang Qian’an didn’t refuse the hamburger offered by his follower. But after just one bite of the burger…..

“Bleh…..”

A strong fishy taste spurted up from deep inside his body.

Fang Qian’an ignored the panic of the others and rushed to the toilet as he gagged.

When he opened his mouth, the burger he had just eaten suddenly gushed out.

His stomach was churning. Fang Qian’an felt as if he had turned into a high-pressure water gun as he sprayed vomit into the toilet.

The fishy smell spread throughout the toilet cubicle. Even for a big, strong person like Fang Qian’an, his stomach cramped like crazy and he felt dizzy after vomiting.

With great difficulty, Fang Qian’an stopped spewing his stomach contents.

He wiped away the vomit-induced tears, sniffled, and was about to flush……

He suddenly stopped moving. 

The toilet was full of the things he had spit out.

Pieces of flesh big and small, with the teeth marks still remaining, sank into the water dyed crimson with blood.

There were gray-white fingers that had been chewed to the point of losing their shape mixed in with the viscera-like pieces of meat.

Those were clearly human fingers.

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Chapter 23 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 25

“Don’t worry about me!” At the critical moment, Liu Zhenqing stepped back so as not to cause trouble for Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie took a quick glance to make sure Liu Zhenqing was fine, then immediately grabbed Qiao Jin and stepped aside.

Dai Tingyu shielded Tang Mu and withdrew. He saw a figure flash by so quickly that his eyes couldn’t follow it.

When he was able to see clearly, the newcomer had already begun to fight with Huo Fenglie.

After a handful of moves, Qiao Jin found an opening and swiftly broke away while the other dealt with Huo Fenglie.

Dai Tingyu immediately jumped into the fighting ring to assist.

Tang Mu quickly approached Liu Zhenqing and asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Liu Zhenqing shook his head and then regarded the new arrival. This person should be Qiao Jin’s bodyguard. He wore a comical street mask, and although there were no distinguishing features, Liu Zhenqing somehow felt that he was familiar. 

Qiao Jin and the bodyguard worked well together, especially since the bodyguard was extremely skilled in martial arts.

In an instant, Huo Fenglie and Dai Tinyu were at a disadvantage. 

Qiao Jin rushed forward at once, as if he intended to kill Huo Fenglie with a final move.

This was outright seeking death. Huo Fenglie promptly slapped him.

Before Qiao Jin could react, he was kicked away by the bodyguard, who met Huo Fenglie’s blow with his own palm.

Internal strength leaked out as the two palms met, instantly knocking away the surrounding tables and chairs.

Liu Zhenqing’s expression shifted slightly. Huo Fenglie’s treatment was still ongoing, and it wasn’t appropriate for him to use his internal strength. He had to stay back no matter what, so Liu Zhenqing shouted: “Stop!”

Huo Fenglie retreated at once with Dai Tingyu to protect Liu Zhenqing.

The guard also stood in front of Qiao Jin, regarding Huo Fenglie warily. Qiao Jin touched his neck where it had been gripped and said to the guard: “He shouted stop, so you stopped? In the end, who do you listen to?”

He actually lost his temper at his own guard?

The guard turned his head to look back at Qiao Jin.

Qiao Jin gritted his teeth, then said to everyone: “Today was a learning experience. Till we meet again.”

Having said this, the two leaped up and away.

Dai Tingyu immediately glanced at Tang Mu and said: “What should we do? Close the city?”

Tang Mu frowned and shook his head: “With their speed, we won’t be able to catch up.”

“Who was he?” Dai Tingyu asked.

“He should be…..the king of Western Shu.”

Shocked, Dai Tingyu looked askance at Huo Fenglie.

Liu Zhenqing quickly stepped forward to support Huo Fenglie, saying to the two of them: “The carriage!”

Only then did the two realize there was something wrong with Huo Fenglie’s expression. The carriage took them back to the City Lord’s manor. By the time Huo Fenglie returned to the courtyard, he had already started to vomit blood.

“Master!” Liu Zhenqing shouted anxiously.

The master and Han Ye immediately rushed out and saw the situation. They were instantly furious, but it wasn’t the right time to be angry. They quickly helped this person into the house and began treatment.

With an ugly expression, Liu Zhenqing sat down to wait in the courtyard.

Out of courtesy, Dai Tingyu and Tang Mu usually wouldn’t step inside their courtyard.

This time, the two followed them inside. Seeing this, Dai Tingyu couldn’t help but say: “What’s wrong with Brother Huo, ah? Although the man just now had great skill in martial arts, the internal force of that strike shouldn’t have been enough to hurt Brother Huo.”

Liu Zhenqing had to say, “Didn’t you participate in the fight against the alliance of the three small nations with Huo Fenglie before? Do you recall why they attacked?”

Dai Tingyu was taken aback, then heard Tang Mu say: “Because everyone heard that Huo Fenglie was injured and would soon be dead, so they decided to try their chances.”

“Yes, it was because of his injury at that time. He is still undergoing treatment. The guard just now originally couldn’t have hurt Huo Fenglie, but because his internal injuries have yet to heal, it’s not suitable for him to fight against a master. So…..” As he spoke, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but bring his fist down on the table. “It’s all my fault.”

Tang Mu quickly spoke: “How can it be your fault? It was they who took the initiative to provoke us, and it was only a matter of time before we met. No one could have known he had such a capable guard. Before, General Huo would have been more than enough to deal with the King of Western Shu.”

Dai Tingyu immediately nodded in agreement: “Back then, Brother Huo went into battle injured, then was injured even further. He was fine then, and this time there are miracle doctors here, so he’ll definitely be okay. Brother Huo has the strongest willpower of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Liu Zhenqing’s lips twitched: “Yes, ah, he has great fortitude.” Though he knew this, such an incident was still aggravating. “Hmph, if I ever catch the King of Western Shu and that guard, I’ll definitely make them pay.”

Just as he was speaking, he saw Han Ye come out and rushed up to question him.

Han Ye said to Liu Zhenqing snappily: “There’s good news and bad news.”

Liu Zhenqing said speechlessly: “Who taught you to talk like this? I just want to know that Fenglie is alright!”

Han Ye rolled his eyes. “Now you worry. You should be more careful, ah. I think you just want to shorten our lives. The good news is that he’s fine, and it was a blessing in disguise that the blockage opened up. There’s no need to delay treatment for another month or two. Just five days will do, and he won’t have further trouble from then on.”

Liu Zhenqing frowned slightly: “And the bad news is……”

“The process of the treatment is extremely painful, and he won’t be able to come out during those five days,” Han Ye said.

Liu Zhenqing asked at once: “What level of extreme pain, like when Master…..”

“It will hurt twice as much as the previous time.” Han Ye said, “But according to his character, he’ll definitely be fine. Master told me to come out and tell you not to worry. We’ll just get it over with and he’ll be okay. You don’t need to stay here for these five days, stay farther away.”

Liu Zhenqing’s face paled. The time before had been the most painful thing, and Huo Fenglie had called out to him for a whole day, ah. Now his master was telling him to stay far away. Wasn’t this because he feared that Liu Zhenqing would hear something and be frightened?

His expression distorted in distress. Han Ye saw this and said: “Don’t worry so much. Instead of spending a month or two in uncertainty, now it will be over in five days. This is a good thing as far as us doctors are concerned.”

Liu Zhenqing regarded Han Ye with complicated emotions. “I won’t leave.”

Han Ye said: “Are you certain he wants you to stay?”

Of course Er-gou wouldn’t be happy, but Liu Zhenqing also had grounds to forestall him. 

“If I’m not there and the news spreads, others will know that Huo Fenglie is receiving treatment,” Liu Zhenqing said gravely.

“It’s up to you.” Han Ye didn’t bother to dissuade him.

Dai Tingyu couldn’t help but step forward to ask about Huo Fenglie’s injuries. Han Ye wasn’t very willing to pay attention to him and glanced away, his sight falling on Tang Mu.

Tang Mu was also somewhat anxious, but according to the relationship he had with Huo Fenglie, it wasn’t easy for him to inquire.

Unexpectedly, Han Ye’s gaze lingered strangely on Tang Mu’s face. But he didn’t say anything, and looked away as he explained.

“You two have heard everything. We won’t be going out after this, and if something happens outside…..”

Tang Mu understood thoroughly, and said: “Don’t worry, if something serious happens, we won’t bother you. Just treat him in peace.”

Liu Zhenqing nodded and gave thanks. The two people said their farewells and left.

Walking outside the courtyard, Han Ye ordered the servants to not come and serve them for the next five days.

“Tsk, I don’t understand.” Dai Tingyu scratched his head fretfully. 

“What is it?” Tang Mu asked.

“This ailment has been going on for so long. It can obviously be cured, so why didn’t Brother Huo have it done back then, ah?”

Tang Mu smiled helplessly: “There must be a reason, ah. For example, perhaps there was not a good treatment for it at that time, or the injury wasn’t as serious then. It can’t be that he didn’t cooperate with the treatment.”

Dai Tingyu thought for a while, and his expression became inexplicably strange. 

Tang Mu didn’t think too much about it, but he was curious.

The battle that year was not close to Nanfeng City, so Tang Mu only heard about it and sent supplies to the front. When he heard Dai Tingyu bring up the events at that time, he couldn’t help but wonder: “In the battle back then, rumors said that once the God of War arrived, he was invincible. It turns out things were so difficult?”

Dai Tingyu hurriedly nodded, saying: “Exactly. When Brother Huo arrived, his face was still pale. At that time, we only thought that he was majestic and untouchable. We had no idea that he was recovering from a serious injury. It’s all because we were useless and couldn’t help shoulder the burden. He took over the worst situation as soon as he came. I remember that in the following battles, he rode Chen Jiangyue with a high fever and led everyone to fight. The enemy didn’t notice. Only when he returned to the military camp did he collapse and receive urgent treatment from the military doctors.”

Tang Mu was shocked to hear this: “There was actually this sort of danger, and those of us at the rear had no clue.”

“Not many people knew about his condition. Because I was also injured and couldn’t go to the battlefield, I applied to personally care for Brother Huo. At that time, I didn’t dare to sleep at night for fear that something would happen to Brother Huo, who was seriously injured. But not only did nothing happen to him, each day when the drums sounded, he stood up as if nothing was wrong and put on his armor and red tassel, continuing to fight on horseback. The hard armor rubbed against his body and pressed on the wound. Blood oozed out, but there was no expression on his face.”

Dai Tingyu spoke as if in a trance: “Back then, I wasn’t familiar with Brother Huo. I only felt that his majesty was terrifying, just like a cold Imperial blade, completely disregarding life and death. That he was an emotionless person. But one night, I discovered a secret. I never thought about him in such a way again.”

“What was it?” Tang Mu asked curiously.

“It was just as you guessed,” Dai Tingyu said directly, not hiding anything.

Tang Mu’s expression became somewhat unnatural. He said: “It was because General Huo admired…..that person?”

Dai Tingyu nodded and said: “I found that when Brother Huo was muddleheaded, he would keep repeating the name ‘Qing-ge.’ There was also a tattoo that gradually appeared on his body due to the fever.”

“A tattoo?” Tang Mu was taken aback.

“En, it has something to do with that person. Anyway, all signs indicated that Brother Huo had feelings for that person. It was at that point that I felt Brother Huo was human too. Regardless of whether his love interest was the right person or not, Brother Huo was an infatuated kid. Because the object of his infatuation was already dead, Brother Huo really looked like he was half-dead too. But he still stuck to his job, which really made people sympathetic. So what I’m seeing now really surprises me. It feels like Brother Huo has come back to life. Although……he still has the same majesty, but he seems completely different than before.”

Tang Mu said with a sigh: “The credit goes to Brother Liu.”

Dai Tingyu also couldn’t help but sigh, saying: “I didn’t expect that the dignified general who guards the country would be influenced by a love affair. I really didn’t expect it. In fact, I was originally worried that with the two of them so close, an intelligent person like Young Master Liu would see the tattoo and make some connections. But seeing how good their relationship is now, I figure there isn’t a problem.”

“What kind of tattoo is it?” Tang Mu asked curiously.

“Liu…..”

Which character Liu?^[1] 

Liu Zhenqing stood behind the wall, pressing up against it. But whether Dai Tingyu couldn’t explain it clearly or it wasn’t convenient to continue, the two went quiet for a moment and then changed the subject.

Liu Zhenqing was frustrated for a while. It would be no good for him to show up suddenly and ask, because they already regarded him as a substitute and definitely wouldn’t tell him.

But his first reaction was that the tattoo was a name. Was it Liu Zhenqing or Liu Xiting? It seemed to make sense that he was too embarrassed to show him his tattoo because it was Liu Zhenqing’s name, but Er-gou didn’t mind showing it to others? Rumors painted them as having a hostile relationship, and if others saw it, there would be a strange scandal. But he’d never heard of one, ah. Or perhaps he took a smarter approach and the tattoo only appeared with heat, so the only ones with a chance to see it included people like Dai Tingyu.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t dwell overly much on the tattoo. After all, he already knew Huo Fenglie liked him, and this was just a bit of fun, the icing on the cake. It was just that after hearing about Huo Fenglie’s situation a few years back, he was in a very low mood.

Huo Fenglie had only touched on it lightly before.

Although he knew that the process must have been more serious than Huo Fenglie described, he hadn’t thought it was this bad.

Liu Zhenqing had just remembered that there was something he needed to say to them, so he chased after them when they left. He didn’t expect to hear such a conversation, so he listened carefully in secret, and now his chest hurt.

After kneading it for a moment, he went out to meet them.

There was a pond outside, and dozens of weeping willows could be seen. There were also a lot of willows at the City Lord’s manor.

When Liu Zhenqing walked out, he heard them talking about the matter of the Western Shu Kingdom.

“What on earth is the king of Western Shu thinking? Why did he sneak into Nanfeng City just to meet Brother Huo?” Dai Tingyu asked in puzzlement.

“Seeing his behavior today, it was indeed consistent with Brother Liu’s analysis. He is not a very calm person, he is impatient and radical, and his heart might be loftier than the sky. He is fearless, so he wanted to try and test the God of War,” Tang Mu speculated.

As soon as they saw Liu Zhenqing arrive, the two froze. They seemed to be worried that Liu Zhenqing had overheard something he shouldn’t hear. 

Liu Zhenqing got straight to the point: “I forgot to tell you something. Since the King of Western Shu dared to come and provoke him, that proves he has the intention to attack. And according to the mentality he showcased before, he might be eager to compete with Fenglie. Although the timeframe is unknown, we must be prepared. He doesn’t have a friendly attitude toward Great Zhou, so I suggest you prepare for battle.”

“Prepare for battle?!” Dai Tingyu said in shock: “Is this really necessary?”

“The preparation should be slow,” Liu Zhenqing said. “With the goal of not alerting the enemy, carry on as usual while adjusting strategy materials, weapons, and tools. If my guess is right, we’ll be ready, and if it’s wrong, it won’t be a big loss. In any case, people should be sent to keep an eye on Western Shu’s troops and generals closest to here.”

Dai Tingyu stared at Liu Zhenqing, then nodded gravely and said: “I understand.”

Tang Mu said: “I will also do my utmost to cooperate and maintain a good appearance.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled. It was rather gratifying that these two respected his opinions. After he explained the matter, the two went about their own business. 

At this time, Qiao Jin and his guard had returned to Western Shu and met up with his entourage.

When everyone saw their master returning, they all knelt down and shouted ‘long live the King of Western Shu.’

Qiao Jin walked into the tent, and when the guard followed him inside, he finally couldn’t help but say in a fury: “You went easy on him!”

“I said I wouldn’t hurt him.” The guard removed his mask expressionlessly, revealing a face that wasn’t handsome, but was good enough looking. 

“But he hurt me! You didn’t come out to protect me right away! You don’t care about me!”

The guard looked at him with a slight frown.

Qiao Jin was enraged. “Don’t look at me like I’m making trouble for no good reason!”

“Yuan Jin…..”

Qiao Jin’s expression changed drastically. “I told you not to call me Yuan Jin. Call me Qiao Jin outside! Qiao! Like Liu Qiao!”

Liu Qiao gave the man a strange look. “What exactly are you angry about?”

Qiao Jin stepped forward and said in one breath: “I’m angry that you treated an outsider better than me when you keep saying you’ll protect me!”

“You were too close to him right then. General Huo is a master in martial arts, and there wasn’t enough time,” Liu Qiao said matter-of-factly. “Why did you go forward and provoke him?”

Qiao Jin glared at Liu Qiao. “Because I bought flowers and someone didn’t want them. Why shouldn’t I give them away?”

Liu Qiao looked at him like he couldn’t understand him. This man had tried to give the flowers to him, but he didn’t want them, as they would hinder his movements. Qiao Jin had suddenly become unhappy, and Liu Zhenqing didn’t know why. The temperament of this kind of superior was always unpredictable. His master was still better. 

“What are you thinking about! I’m talking to you!”

“I’m thinking about my master,” Liu Qiao said bluntly. Seeing Huo Fenglie had indeed reminded him of his master.

Qiao Jin almost fainted in anger. “Y-y-you! Then you ought to take action against Huo Fenglie even more! Didn’t he dig up the grave and burn the corpse? You don’t even have a grave to pay homage to.”

Liu Qiao said with a frown: “That’s not the case. He liked Master and was good to him.”

“You!” Jin Qiao laughed in anger, then said abruptly: “He liked him, but isn’t there another man with him now? And he also seems to be from the Liu family. His infatuation with your master wasn’t enough for him not to change his mind the moment he saw something different.”

Liu Qiao thought for a moment, then said: “Master also didn’t say he liked him. I don’t think there is a problem with him protecting this person like jade.”

Qiao Jin was short of breath, and could only say: “Okay, then Huo Fenglie can at best be regarded as Liu Zhenqing’s friend, right? Let me just ask, if we have a conflict, who will you help? Don’t…..don’t you forget, you and Liu Zhenqing were only together for three years, but you and I have been together for almost nine years. We’re…..we’re together.”

“You insist on having a conflict with him? What on earth do you intend to do?” Liu Qiao asked in confusion. 

Qiao Jin’s eyes suddenly darkened as he looked at Liu Qiao. Suddenly, a report came from outside the camp.

The message quickly reached Qiao Jin.

His expression changed slightly as he took a glance. Handing the report to Liu Qiao, he said with a sneer: “See, just as I thought. We’ve been forced into conflict.”

Liu Qiao took a look. His expression seemed a little complicated, but he soon recovered his calm, unperturbed appearance. “They did it without our consent. Are they trying to guard against you?”

“It’s reasonable for you to think of me. It would be like killing two birds with one stone.” After speaking, he crushed the secret message. His face was blatantly cold. “I want to see who the oriole is.” 

Three days later, the City Lord’s manor not only received an Imperial edict, but also an unexpected guest.

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[1] Reminder: The first character of Liu Zhenqing’s name (柳) is also the character for the willow tree. #fnref-1

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Chapter One Hundred Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Eight

Naturally, it was impossible for He Chuzhou to go out without clothing in such a shameless manner. 

But from the moment he went out, a resentful gaze never left his body.

Pei Xi sat on the edge of the bed and stared at him when he came out to get the hair dryer, stared at him as he walked over to get his phone, and stared at him when he walked over to find the charger.

The corners of his mouth were flat, his eyes dull and unhappy.

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou: “Be good. Stop making trouble and go take a shower, then go to bed early.”

Pei Xi: “Why won’t you let me touch them?”

He Chuzhou: “……….”

The confused Pei-calico’s bluntness was truly overwhelming in some aspects.

He Chuzhou spoke nonsense: “Not today.”

Pei Xi didn’t understand: “Do you want to choose an auspicious day?”

He Chuzhou was stifled for a moment: “That’s not necessary, but today…..I’m not in very good physical condition, and there are some signs that I’m catching a cold. I need to keep warm.”

Pei Xi: “We can lay under the sheets while I touch them, so you won’t catch a cold.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou: “That won’t work either.”

Pei Xi: “Why not?”

He Chuzhou: “The feng shui is no good.”

Pei Xi: “ ? ”

Looking at He Chuzhou, he realized something and gradually frowned: “Chuzhou, you’re just making excuses because you don’t want me to touch you, aren’t you?”

He Chuzhou ground his back molars with a headache, and wanted to quibble.

But Pei Xi didn’t give him the chance: “We’re married. As a husband, you have the obligation to satisfy your partner.”

“If you don’t let me touch, I can apply to the court to compel you to perform your obligations.”

He Chuzhou: “……?”

Court?

Apply?

Compel?

Was it that serious?

Was the next step transferring it to the United Nations for arbitration? ? ?

Fortunately, his “other half” wasn’t so cruel, and the so-called applying to the court was just a way to vent his frustrations. After saying that, he ignored him and got up to get his pajamas with an expressionless face.

He Chuzhou breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned around and began to think of how to coax this person now.

It wasn’t realistic to make a late-night snack right after dinner, and too late to buy another watch, not to mention that Pei Xi already had one and might not want another.

Or he could simply give him…..

Tsk, no, that was too much.

How about letting him touch his biceps instead? He sat down where Pei Xi was just sitting and plugged in his phone charger.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the screen turned on, he was caught off guard as the person on the screen saver sat on his lap.

Pei Xi had initially planned to go to the bathroom, but he suddenly thought of something midway. His steps paused, and his expression became solemn.

This was a serious problem and could not be solved immediately.

Thus, he immediately changed his plans, turned around, and straddled He Chuzhou. Face to face, he directly met his surprised gaze: “Chuzhou, have you cheated?”

In this tournament battle, another precise flash of lightning struck the head of the person who was unable to escape from the previous question.

He Chuzhou was struck so hard that he was charred on the outside but tender on the inside. He stared with wide, round eyes: “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Pei Xi said on solid grounds: “You refuse to bathe with me, and you refuse to let me touch you.”

He Chuzhou: “? ? ?”

Pei Xi: “I’ve seen it before. There are two reasons why men insist on not being close to their wives. One is cheating, and the other is trying to hide the traces of the affair.”

His eyes reddened, and Hu Chuzhou’s went dull due to information indigestion. “Did I guess right? Did you really cheat?”

“You have someone else. You have someone else outside, and there are traces on your body that you don’t want me to see…..”

He Chuzhou took a deep breath, then lifted up the hem of his shirt and removed it.

“Come and see if there are any marks.”

With that said, he took Pei Xi’s hand and pressed it all over his abs: “Touch, touch as much as you want!”

When the palm of his hand pressed down, the encroaching tears in Pei Xi’s eyes suddenly vanished.

His eyes were very red, but his expression was focused.

He Chuzhou: “……”

Why did he feel like he’d been scammed?

Pei Xi looked very seriously, and there seemed to be a scale in his eyes, starting at He Chuzhou’s trim waist and measuring upward inch by inch.

Meanwhile, his hands were not idle. He stuck his whole hand to it, fingers to palm, and stroked slowly over the ups and downs to inspect how it felt.

His strokes were very light and gentle, and he occasionally lingered to caress a spot. There was no desire, just pure appreciation.

But to He Chuzhou, it was more like wide-spreading ripples caused by a goose feather falling on the surface of a lake, or like a mosquito bite he couldn’t scratch.

Gritting his teeth, he did his utmost to ignore the feeling of being touched and control the direction his blood was flowing.

But Pei Xi’s touch was too intense. The temperature of his palm was obviously not high, but they were piping hot wherever they touched, stirring up boiling, raging flames wherever they passed.

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down uncontrollably, and his throat was so dry that it was practically smoking. But Pei Xi only cared about himself, and didn’t spare a thought for his life or death.

From one spot to another, and then to another.

They were just abdominal muscles, but Pei Xi looked as if he was studying something interesting, profound and addictive.

“So pretty.”

“So warm.”

“It turns out that after training, they’re still obvious but soft.”

He gently pinched the most attractive part of the curves, seemingly unaware of the other person’s subtle stiffness and occasional sensitivity.

Then he slowly moved up his side, his eyes trailing close behind.

“It’s so good-looking here.”

“The same here. Supple.”

“Why does it seem to be turning red?”

“Chuzhou, you’re pink….”

His bright eyes reflected the beautiful scenery he was unable to rip his gaze away from before gradually settling on the place that attracted him the most. His fingers were eager to explore.

When he was less than two inches away from it, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist with force.

There was a whirlwind immediately afterward, and the positions of the two were changed.

His back fell on the bed, and the person he was sitting on rolled over and pressed him down. That person’s body was a size bigger than his, and restrained him to the point that he couldn’t move.

Pei Xi: “ ? ”

Pei Xi frowned: “I’m not done touching yet. Are you backing out?”

“Not done touching yet?”

He Chuzhou’s eyes were dark. His heavy breathing was unsteady, and his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth: “If you touch me again, you’ll toy with me to death.”

“Toy with you?”

Pei Xi couldn’t comprehend this: “Chuzhou, I’m not toying with you. I’m just exercising my normal marital rights. Why do you think I’m toying with you?”

He Chuzhou: “…..”

He thought: How can I explain this clearly to Pei-calico?

Nothing could be explained clearly.

If he couldn’t explain, what else could he say? 

No more talking!

His gritted his teeth and held the other person tightly, like he was collecting a debt: “You’ve really taken every advantage. You just do whatever you want because you don’t have to take responsibility, right?”

Because he didn’t have to take responsibility?

Pei Xi hugged the person buried in his shoulder and thought carefully about the meaning of this sentence.

He didn’t have to take responsibility. Did this mean that because he couldn’t overwork himself due to being sick, he could only light fires without putting them out? 

If that was the case, he denied it.

So he dug He Chuzhou’s head out and, face to face, said with an earnest gaze: “I can be responsible for whatever I want to be responsible for.”

“As I said last time, if you’re truly uncomfortable, I can help you with my hands. It’s easy, not difficult.”

When the other person tried to dodge his gaze again, he simply held his face to prevent him from turning away: “Chuzhou, there are still a lot of things the two of us can do. Don’t feel embarrassed.”

“I’m the only person in the world who’s qualified to do every intimate thing with you. You don’t have to be shy in front of me.”

“Also, since you said I should take responsibility, can you let me take advantage of you a little more?”

As his words fell, He Chuzhou suddenly asked a question with no forethought.

“Would you be responsible for just anyone?”

“No matter who it is you’re responsible for, you would want to take advantage of him?”

Could it be that no matter who the amnesiac mistook for his husband, he would still say and do the same things as today?

“What do you mean?”

Pei Xi frowned. He didn’t understand why he would ask such a stupid question: “Of course it’s only you.”

“And why would I take responsibility for someone who doesn’t matter when I have you?”

“Chuzhou, I only like you, I only want to take advantage of you, and I only want to be responsible for you.”

He Chuzhou could hear his own heartbeat.

Very fast. Very loud.

Knowing that Pei Xi wasn’t in his right mind at the moment, he couldn’t take anything he said seriously.

Each heartbeat was louder than the previous one.

Seeing as he hadn’t answered for a long time, Pei Xi thought for a moment and asked again: “Did I make you feel insecure?”

After speaking, he thought he had guessed correctly, so he moved closer and kissed his chin reassuringly.

In the next second, his arms were empty.

The person who he’d defined as insecure catapulted away from him with lightning speed.

Stunned, Pei Xi slowly turned his head, but all he could see was the other party’s back as he walked hastily toward the living room. The back of his neck seemed to be red.

In the living room, He Xingxing was gazing in contemplation at the nighttime scenery. When he heard a sound, he raised his head 180 degrees to see his father come into the room and head directly toward the kitchen.

He drank a glass of cold water, half of which flowed down his chin and onto his clothes.

Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong.

Breathing unsteadily, He Chuzhou set down the empty cup and rested for a couple of seconds, then poured another.

Why was it so easy for things to go to his head lately?

What a mess.

Wasn’t his blood pressure a little high? ? ?

*

*

Once again, He Chuzhou couldn’t sleep well.

That night, he dreamed that Pei-calico put his hands inside his clothes and touched him here and there, saying continuously that he wanted to take advantage of him.

He couldn’t bear the harassment, but also took a bit of indescribable joy in it, wanting to welcome him but only able to refuse. Exhausted and dizzy, he woke up very early for the first time.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he met a calm, sober gaze.

…..Pei-calico’s mouth was indeed full of nonsense.

He said he couldn’t wake up early in the morning, but actually woke up so early every day.

For a long while, he didn’t move.

Nor did Pei Xi.

The two of them woke up in the same bed for the first time since they’d reached a consensus. As they looked at each other, the atmosphere seemed awkward and embarrassing.

Of course, it was possible that he was the only one feeling embarrassed.

After all, two minutes ago, he was still being touched by the man in front of him in his dreams.

The sound of scratching came from the door. He Xingxing was hungry, and began to think of ways to get He Chuzhou to open the door and feed him.

This perfectly solved the current dilemma neither of them had a solution for.

Scratching his head, He Chuzhou sat up first. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed: “I’ll go feed He Xingxing first. If you’re tired, you can go back to sleep.”

He randomly picked a formal suit from the closet. When he thought of something, he turned around and was about to speak when he realized that Pei Xi had grabbed the quilt and covered his head. Only the very tip of his head was still outside.

“ ? ”

A question mark slowly appeared above his head.

Before he could think too much, hands quickly pulled down that quilt to reveal a cold, tranquil face.

“……”

Crazy.

He had actually thought Pei Xi was shy just now.

“I brought some clothes from your house last time.” He spoke what he had intended to say just now. The formal clothes are all hung up in here. You can wear them directly to the company if you need to.”

Pei Xi raised his eyelids to look at him, and gave a faint hum.

He Chuzhou nodded and turned back to continue changing his clothes. He habitually lifted his clothes from the bottom, and had just taken them off halfway when his entire body stiffened.

He’d forgotten. Pei-calico was still watching.

But there was nothing to be done. He’d already taken them off halfway, and it would be too stupid to put them back on. He could only bite the bullet and continue to remove his clothes, comforting himself that the normal Pei-calico couldn’t remember anything, so he wouldn’t still be interested in his body.

……He still felt uneasy.

Then he heard footsteps behind him, and the bathroom door opened and shut. His shoulders slumped and he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

While buttoning his shirt, he glanced at the messy bed and suddenly couldn’t keep his lips from rising.

Tsk, he was truly filled with admiration.

How was this person so cute even when pulling the quilt up?

*

The temperature in the bathroom was slightly lower than outside, and the clean mirror clearly reflected Pei Xi’s lowered, trembling eyelashes and the red tips of his ears.

Very slowly, his face also turned red.

Before it could spread out of control, he crumbled and closed his eyes, moving to cover it with one of his hands.

But halfway through the movement, he remembered what this hand had done the night before and his palm suddenly shook. 

The hand covering his face switched from his right to his left. His right hand, which had become hot for no apparent reason, stretched out beneath the faucet.

The sensor light came on and cold water rushed down, helping him to cool off in a sensible way.

---

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Chapter 27 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 29

“F-Fang-ge? What’s the matter? You’re suddenly looking for me…..Lao Wang? What’s wrong with Wang Rongfa? Fang-ge, why do you suddenly care about him…..”

Inside the lounge, a boy’s slightly nervous voice sounded from Fang Qian’an’s cell phone.

The boy’s name was Jiang Jun, and he was one of the very few younger brothers who could directly call Fang Qian’an by name.

The assets of Jiang Jun’s family could only be considered moderate, but he himself was an out-and-out social butterfly and could greet every brother with a smile. Strictly speaking, he had basically organized the small circle around Fang Qian’an, and even Wang Rongfa was brought into the fold by him.

“Hey, that guy Lao Wang is thin-skinned. He must not be able to keep his face after you taught him a lesson yesterday. His cell phone has been turned off since then, and nobody can contact him. I heard he didn’t go home last night, so there’s no telling where he went to clear his head…..but don’t worry, Fang-ge, that guy is just like this and bows his head when he gets sulky. He definitely doesn’t dare to confront you, haha. I’m not trying to blame you. Fang-ge, I actually think that guy is a little annoying. With the little money his family has, it’s only because of Fang-ge’s good temperament that you let him follow you so shamelessly. Fortunately for him, he was pulled a step up. He actually thought he was someone. Fang-ge, your lesson yesterday actually made him calm down a bit…..”

When he heard that Fang Qian’an was just asking about Wang Rongfa’s whereabouts and had no intention of mustering troops to investigate, Jiang Jun’s tone instantly became lighter. He diligently flattered the other party on the phone, unaware that Fang Qian’an’s face on the other side was getting worse and worse.

The Wang family were truly nouveau riche. Their only method of raising children was to give them money, so Wang Rongfa had the overbearing character of a bully. It was not uncommon for him to spend the night out.

If things were normal, Fang Qian’an wouldn’t care about the fate of such a person at all, but after these two days of bizarre encounters, he had a very bad premonition as soon as he heard that Wang Rongfa had disappeared.

Fang Qian’an firmly interrupted Jiang Jun’s chatter to ask: “…..And you?”

“Has anything happened to you in the past two days?”

“Ah? Fang-ge, what are you referring to?”

Jiang Jun’s tone was terribly confused.

Fang Qian’an’s brow knitted together. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he thought about what he had experienced, and began to break out in a cold sweat again. 

The question “have you ever encountered a ghost” stuck in his throat and couldn’t be squeezed out for a long while.

Li Xiu noticed that something was wrong and looked up at Fang Qian’an’s expression. His forehead twitched slightly.

Waving a hand in front of Fang Qian’an’s eyes, he mouthed a sentence silently—

“H-have you encountered anything weird or frightening?”

When Jiang Jun heard this question on the phone, his expression became increasingly confused.

“No, nothing, ah. Fang-ge, why are you asking this out of nowhere?”

Jiang Jun secretly considered his bad luck. He had finally received an unsolicited call from Fang-ge, but his phone had little power and kept buzzing as if it was malfunctioning. Fang Qian’an’s voice sounded very faint, and odd accentuations could be heard.

After hearing that nothing had happened to Jiang Jun, Fang Qian’an narrowed his eyes in great displeasure and asked about the situation of the others. “What about the others? Has anyone who was there that day encountered anything?”

As a result, Jiang Jun was even more bewildered.

“That, ah? Fang-ge, what…..are you talking about?”

Fang Qian’an was momentarily speechless.

“The haunted house.” He gave Li Xiu an unnatural look and lowered his voice subconsciously. “We were in the haunted house the other day…..and found Li Xiu…..to cause trouble…..what happened to the people who were there?”

“Fang-ge, cough, are you thinking of the wrong person?” Jiang Jun stuttered a bit when he spoke. “It was my grandma’s birthday the day before yesterday. I went home really early and didn’t go to the haunted house.”

He did know that Wang Rongfa was going to cause trouble for Li Xiu that day, but he had never liked that sort of thing, so he avoided it intentionally or otherwise.

In fact, he was a little surprised. He had thought Fang Qian’an wouldn’t go with them, because he could vaguely feel that he actually didn’t like Wang Rongfa’s little group very much.

Fang Qian’an was silent for a moment.

“Heh,” he scoffed with an angry laugh. “You’re saying you weren’t there? You obviously—”

Halfway through his words, Fang Qian’an’s voice suddenly cut off.

Because he found that he actually…..actually didn’t remember Jiang Jun being among that group of people.

In his memory, the faces of the boys around him were very blurry. That attentive, flattering tone made him think Jiang Jun was with those other losers.

But, if he thought about it carefully…..did he really know those people?

“Fang-ge? Fang-ge, what’s wrong? Are you okay—”

Fang Qian’an abruptly hung up the phone.

His breathing grew uncontrollably fast, and goosebumps appeared on his arms.

“Fang Qian’an, what’s wrong?”

Li Xiu seemed to be calling out to him, and with this, Fang Qian’an recovered with a gasp from his terrible panic.

“A-A-Xiu.”

Before Li Xiu could react, Fang Qian’an grabbed his wrist.

The shirtless boy was like a frightened cat, and couldn’t wait to stick his entire body to him. The scent of body wash mixed with his high body temperature and spread over the youth. Li Xiu shivered all over, automatically trying to push the other away. But in the next second, he found that Fang Qian’an was shaking slightly.

Inexplicably, Li Xiu didn’t remove his hand where it was pressed to Fang Qian’an’s chest.

Then, he heard the slight sobbing tone in Fang Qian’an’s voice.

“A-Xiu…..they weren’t right…..the people in the haunted house that day…..really weren’t right…..”

Because of what happened to him as a child, even though Fang Qian’an didn’t really like those hypocritical doglegs around him, he wouldn’t actually drive them away. Of course, he also wouldn’t throw his arms around their shoulders and be affectionate with the group.

He just needed the presence of someone next to him.

But in Fang Qian’an’s memory, the abandoned room of that haunted house had been very crowded that day.

“That’s why I hid on the windowsill and played with my phone.”

After a long while, Fang Qian’an finally calmed down in Li Xiu’s stiff embrace. Only then was he able to muster his energy and analyze the situation.

“But there were so many people in the room…..when I left, there were literally only five people around me.”

Fang Qian’an’s face turned a bit gray as he spoke of this.

“Until just now, I didn’t think there was anything wrong.”

When did the “crowd” in the villa disperse? Fang Qian’an found that he had no impression of it at all. He hadn’t even thought it was strange.

This was simply not a thing humans could do.

When he thought of the fact that he had been in the same room with countless ghosts unknowingly, not even realizing it, Fang Qian’an felt like he was about to pass out. He reflexively looked toward Li Xiu to try to draw some courage from the calm and indifferent young man next to him, only to find that Li Xiu’s face was extremely pale at the moment.

“……I…..don’t remember either.”

Li Xiu’s lips quivered slightly, his voice urgent and fast.

Yes, he just now recalled that he didn’t seem to have seen the faces of those “people” closely at all.

The room was full of a stale, dusty scent, and the light was unusually dim at dusk. In his panic, he only felt that those people were frightening and strange.

Fang Qian’an wrote down the few people he could confirm were present on a notepad.

At that time, Song Cheng was the one taking pictures with the cell phone.

Wang Rongfa and Amazi were leaning down next to Song Cheng, grinning widely and constantly uttering all kinds of obscene and insulting words.

Fang Qian’an had initially just watched the farce before his eyes, half annoyed and half amused, but then he unknowingly joined in. With others firmly trapping Li Xiu’s hands and feet, he came forward and moved his hand.

Then who was beside Li Xiu, using cold and twisted limbs like pale vines to bind him?

Who was behind the young man, laughing wildly and taking him into his arms?

Fang Qian’an. Li Xiu.

Song Cheng and Amazi.

Because his hands were shaking, the names were jotted down crookedly. It looked extremely comical, but neither of the two people sitting on the sofa cared. 

Fang Qian’an stared at the names he had listed, breathing very rapidly: “We left you in the room and went out…..so it was me, Wang Rongfa, Song Cheng, and Amazi. That’s four. But I remember clearly that there was another person when we left…..”

When they left, the sunset fell upon that group of people.

Five shadows were cast on the ground.

That person…..who could it be?

In the temperature-controlled lounge that was as pleasant and warm as spring all year long, Li Xiu’s body began to feel cold. 

He and Fang Qian’an stared at each other for a good while.

As they were wondering what to do next, there was suddenly a noise at the door.

Fang Qian’an and Li Xiu were startled, and huddled together unconsciously.

“Hey, isn’t that strange? The door’s locked.”

The two heard someone talking to themself in puzzlement outside the door.

“Is there a mistake? So early in the morning…..”

The combination lock beeped, but because the door was locked from the inside, the visitor failed to open it after several tries.

“Scram.”

When he returned to his senses, Fang Qian’an was agitated by the commotion and couldn’t help but direct a curse toward the door.

“Fang-ge?”

When the other party heard his voice, he was not angry, but happy.

“I was just looking for you, Fang-ge. I’m Xu Luren. There’s going to be a small charity dinner at my house in a week, which is pretty much my personal social event. Fang-ge, do you have time to make an appearance…..”

With a click, the door suddenly opened a crack.

Xu Luren, who was leaning against the door as he tried to shout through it, nearly fell to the floor when his center of gravity changed. When he at last managed to stabilize his body and raised his head again, he saw Fang Qian’an with a pale face and a bare upper body, holding the door handle and looking at him with an icy gaze like he was about to eat him.

“Shut up. Get out of here.”

Fang Qian’an’s voice was cold and gloomy, and every word seemed to be covered in chips of ice.

Xu Luren shuddered in fear, but his eyes paused for the moment on the bruises on Fang Qian’an’s body.

His gaze drifted.

“S-sorry, Fang-ge, did I disturb your rest? I can stuff the invitation under the door for you and wait for you to rest, then you can take a look at it—”

Slam—

The door brushed the tip of his nose as it closed again.

“It’s just an obnoxious guy—”

After sending Xu Luren away, Fang Qian’an was just turning around to explain when a piece of clothing was tossed at his head.

“Get dressed, I’m leaving,” Li Xiu said expressionlessly, his head lowered.

After the small episode just now, the young man seemed calmer than before.

Fang Qian’an’s eyes opened wide in surprise: “What, but…..”

Li Xiu: “It’s pretty much certain now that the problem lies with the Xiao Family Haunted House, but there are still some things I need to think over again.”

Fang Qian’an said in a flustered tone: “Then why do you have to leave so suddenly?”

Li Xiu took a deep breath: “Because morning self-study is about to end, and the first class is about to start.”

The youth’s face was full of restlessness as he scratched his hair vigorously: “There’s no way I can miss class because of the ghost incident.”

Seeing that Fang Qian’an still wanted to speak, Li Xiu raised a hand and blocked his words aggressively. “In any case, come back at lunch break if you have anything else.”

His soft palm was pressed against Fang Qian’an’s lips. The boy’s body temperature was obviously low, but Fang Qian’an felt the place where Li Xiu touched suddenly start to burn.

*

The lounge door opened again. 

“…..You said before that as long as someone memorizes the core values of socialism and mathematical theorems, they can defeat all strange forces. It turns out to be useless.”

“Then don’t you think it’s possible that you haven’t memorized them at all? Hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium. You only have these four? Do you think that’s eloquent?”

“Wait, it’s come to this point and you still remember that?”

Xu Luren crouched at the door of the lounge, holding the invitation his mother had told him to deliver no matter what. He raised his head very stiffly to watch the two people walking out of the lounge. 

The flirting between the teenagers abruptly cut off. The moment they saw Xu Luren, the entrance to the lounge fell deathly silent.

“Uh…..”

Xu Luren blinked, staring at the school bully who had finally put on his clothes, and at Li Xiu who was following him. His blank brain idled a couple of times in vain before squeezing out a dry sentence: 

“Fang-ge, I-I was wrong.”

“No wonder you were so angry just now, ah?”

---

The Author Has Something to Say:

A-Xiu: I’m not! I don’t! Fang Qian’an, explain quickly! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Dog Qian’an: Well…..that…..it’s just…..not what you think…..（///▽///）

A-Xiu: Why are you blushing! ! ! ! !

---

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Chapter 22 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 24

It was a pity that Pei Xi had no interest in watching movies.

At least, he wasn’t interested right now. But in the blink of an eye, his attention was drawn to the claw machines to the side.

There was a row of new machines, and the stuffed animals inside seemed to have been replaced, full and neat.

It wasn’t time for people to get off work or for school to end, so there weren’t many people around, just a few adults catching stuffed animals with their kindergarten-age children who couldn’t even walk steadily.

He Chuzhou followed Pei Xi over, watching as he stopped in front of one of the machines and carefully observed a pink piglet inside.

It was very pink and tender, with short limbs, round eyes, and an innocent appearance that was very similar to the pink pig he had lost somewhere.

So he raised his hand and poked the glass with the tip of his index finger, pointing at the pig inside with his gaze on He Chuzhou: “Chuzhou, I want this one.”

He Chuzhou spread out his hand. There was already a considerable amount of game coins lying in it. “Want to catch it yourself? Or do you want my help?”

Pei Xi was stunned: “When did you get those?”

“Just now, ah.”

He Chuzhou’s eyebrows rose slightly: “How come I don’t even have this bit of insight into your mind?”

Pei Xi pursed his lips in a smile and grabbed a few from his hand: “I’ll give it a try.”

He had never played this before, and his technique wasn’t good. Either he couldn’t grip it, or the stuffed animal fell as soon as the claw lifted up.

Every time he put in a game coin, the result was negative.

He curled his fingers and silently retracted his hand to his side. He didn’t say anything, but his expectant eyes said it all.

He Chuzhou weighed the game coins and happily took his place: “Wait, I’ll catch it for you.”

He Chuzhou was obviously very familiar with the technique, and also had a strategy for the loose clamps.

After picking one, he began to shake the claw the first two times he grabbed it, making it fall near the exit. Then he let it be naturally shaken off the third time, and the target was successfully shipped out of the warehouse.

The piggy’s eyes were black oval glass balls, sparkling as the light shone on them.

But when Pei Xi took that piggy, his eyes were even brighter.

“Chuzhou, you’re so amazing,” he praised sincerely. “That was a brilliant catch.”

He Chuzhou never thought in his life that catching a stuffed animal would be considered “brilliant,” and was a bit dumbfounded: “You praise me too much, Classmate Xiao Pei. It wasn’t anything impressive.”

“Aiyue loved playing this when she was little, and she would roll around on the ground and refuse to leave until one was caught. If I caught a lot of them for her to coax her, she would naturally come along.”

With that said, he gave his hand over to Pei Xi: “Are you interested in learning? I’ll teach you.”

“No.” Pei Xi shook his head without hesitation. “It’s too troublesome. I have you.”

Seeing that He Chuzhou seemed stunned, he was puzzled: “I only wanted the stuffed animal, not to catch it. No matter what I want in the future, I can just ask you to help me catch it. Why should I learn it myself?”

As his words fell, the corners of He Chuzhou’s eyes moved slightly, and the unreasonable joy in his eyes practically overflowed.

“En, that’s right.”

He plucked the ear of the piglet in Pei Xi’s arms and smiled in agreement: “I’ll help you with whatever you want from now on. You can keep them wherever you want. It’s no problem if they fill an entire room.”

Pei Xi didn’t have such great ambition. He only wanted two for now. One was already in his arms, and as for the second one, he pointed to a large pink pig wearing a peaked cap next door: “I also want this.”

That one was several times bigger than the one in his hands where it hung in the window. The gameplay was to cut the string above it with scissors, and it cost ten coins per try.

He Chuzhou peered through his left eye and then his right to find a good angle, then spent twenty coins to determine the rhythm of the scissors as they stopped and moved. The third time, he made a swift move and successfully harvested the second pig of the day.

When he pulled the pig out of the slot at the bottom, he realized that it was much bigger than it had looked through the window. It was also soft and felt better than the piglet. The hat could be taken off, and the curly tail bounced.

He childishly played with it a couple of times, and just as he was about to speak, a female voice came from the side and asked him politely: “Excuse me, can you sell this one to me?”

He Chuzhou turned his head to see a young mother holding a two or three-year-old girl in her arms.

She had come earlier than them, but gained very little and couldn’t catch what she wanted.

He Chuzhou’s ease of action had drawn her attention, and seeing that he had easily caught the large pig, she couldn’t help but walk up and talk to him.

“My child likes this little pig very much.”

She gestured to the little girl in her arms and said helplessly: “But I tried several times unsuccessfully. I realize this is very presumptuous, but you can name the price. It’s fine if it’s a little more expensive.”

As she spoke, Pei Xi stood beside He Chuzhou and looked at the little girl in her arms.

Her eyes were very big and very pretty. Even though he didn’t like children, he had to admit that she was really cute.

A soft and childish piglet goes well with such a soft and childish girl, he thought.

It would be no good if He Chuzhou refused, and in any case, he still had the small one, and he might be lucky enough to get one next time…..

“Apologies, that won’t work.”

He Chuzhou’s gentle but straightforward refusal killed his thoughts in the cradle: “My family’s child also likes this pig very much.”

Although the fruits of his labor could not be handed over, his labor force could be shared.

Even though the pig was out, He Chuzhou helped her catch a small green dinosaur. Fortunately, the little girl was not too picky and liked whatever was put into her hands.

They gave a simple farewell and departed from the shopping mall to the underground garage. He Chuzhou held the large piglet in one hand and gained a lot of attention along the way.

After locating the car, he opened the backseat door and was about to stuff the piglet in, when there was a tug on his cuff. 

Turning around, he saw Pei Xi, who had been silent the whole way, standing behind him. His eyes were bright, and he looked very happy.

It seemed he was in a better mood.

He leaned against the door and asked with a smile: “What is it?”

Pei Xi didn’t relinquish his grip: “The ‘child’ you mentioned, did you mean me?”

“Is there another child who told me he likes this pig?”

He Chuzhou hissed, feigning confusion: “Why didn’t I know?”

Pei Xi knew he was being teased, and the corners of his pursed lips still curved in a particularly beautiful way: “He Chuzhou, you know I don’t like children.”

He said he didn’t like them, but his expression said the opposite. He Chuzhou didn’t get what he was saying: “So?”

“But with all my heart, I really like this feeling of your favoritism for me.”

Pei Xi whispered word by word in his unique cool voice: “So this is an exception. You can always treat me as a child.”

He Chuzhou lowered his eyes to look at him. His fingertips holding the stuffed animal curled unknowingly as something unfamiliar soared through his heart.

He suddenly felt that the Pei Xi before him looked like a child who had never eaten candy before, and of course, children never found sweets unpleasant to eat.

He happened to give him a piece and Pei Xi ate it, but instead of thinking candy was delicious, he concluded that only the candy he gave was sweet. 

Was this a good thing?

He didn’t know, and only felt a soft current running from the tip of his heart.

He wanted to correct him that in fact, all sugar was sweet, and it was unlikely that everyone would be willing to give him candy unconditionally.

…..Forget it. Exceptions were exceptions.

He couldn’t be certain of others, but he could be certain of himself. He would always give Pei Xi candy, as much as he wanted.

Besides, he quite liked this exception.

“Okay, ah.”

He smiled and pulled off the piglet’s hat, placing it on Pei Xi’s head: “I don’t really like children either, but my family’s is an exception.”

The circumference of the pig’s head was bigger than Pei Xi’s, and the brim of the hat pretty much covered his eyes.

But He Chuzhou thought he looked even cuter: “Sure enough, it looks better on you.”

Pei Xi was quiet for a second or two. He moved the hat back but didn’t take it off, silently condoning He Chuzhou’s childish behavior.

He Chuzhou smiled so hard that his eyes could hardly be seen. He helped him lift the brim of his hat, and was about to say something when there was a faint cry of a child behind them.

It was the mother and daughter from the mall just now. The little girl in her mother’s arms held the little green dinosaur and addressed him as “Gege” in a lispy voice.

Gege?

“I couldn’t.” He turned with a smile and said: “Just call me uncle.”

The little girl changed her words from “gege” to “uncle,” but her voice was still a little hard to understand.

He Chuzhou shook the piglet’s big hooves at her in response. When the child turned around and hid in her mother’s arms, he looked at the mother, only to find that the other’s eyes were currently a bit subtle.

“Your family’s little friend is so lovely.”

The other party turned her head to look at Pei Xi, then at him. As if finally understanding the implications of what he’d said in the mall, she smiled and joked: “Unlike my family’s child, who’s insensible and naughty.”

Her meaning was obvious. He Chuzhou’s eyes couldn’t help but drift to the “little friend” beside him. He immediately coughed as the corners of his mouth lowered, and he didn’t deny it like last time: “Yeah. Your family’s is also cute.”

“No, he and I are just friends.”

Two sentences left two people’s mouths, nearly overlapping.

The little girl’s mother was stupefied.

But He Chuzhou was even more stupefied than her. With a bit of disbelief in his eyes, he asked: “Xinxin?”

“We don’t have the relationship you think we do,” Pei Xi explained again. He turned to He Chuzhou for confirmation: “We’re just ordinary good friends who take care of each other, right?”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He was so stumped that he couldn’t laugh.

He gave a dry nod and continued to push the piglet into the back car seat under the woman’s complicated gaze.

Strange.

He had clearly spoken these words himself in the beginning, so why did they sound so harsh now?

*

*

He Chuzhou received a message from Ms. Chu on the way back, saying that the watch she bought him on her last trip abroad had arrived, and asked him to pick it up himself.

After parking the car at home, He Chuzhou first went to pick up the express delivery package from the mailbox outside. When he turned his head, Pei Xi had followed him at some point in time, holding the big piglet.

“Why aren’t you waiting for me inside?”

He took the stuffed animal from Pei Xi’s hands and saw that there was only one, so he said: “Don’t you want to take the smaller one back?”

Pei Xi: “I forgot. I’ll get it next time.”

That was fine. Anyway, it wouldn’t get lost in the car.

He Chuzhou took Pei Xi inside and tossed the pig on the sofa, then casually took a utility knife from the shelf to open his express delivery.

The packaging was very exquisite, but a bit complicated, not to his taste as someone who found even separately packaged cookies troublesome.

But the watch was still pretty good.

Hand-made by a world-famous master, the dial size was just right. It was low-key and elegant, let luxurious, and the details were exquisite.

He took it out and looked around. Seeing that Pei Xi was watching him with interest, he held the watch out and shook it: “Does it look good?”

Pei Xi nodded: “Looks good.”

He Chuzhou set down the box: “Hold out your hand.”

Pei Xi stretched out his left hand and felt a cold sensation on his wrist. With a click, the watch was put on his hand.

Pei Xi raised his hand to look at it, asking him: “Is this for me?”

His wrist was slim and white, with beautiful bone structure. When paired with the expensive watch, it looked even better. 

He Chuzhou was extremely satisfied: “Yes, I’m giving it to you. Wear it and play with it.”

Putting the utility knife back in place, he went to the balcony to return Ms. Chu’s call. When he returned, the TV was already on.

Pei Xi was reclined with his pig on the left side of the sofa, while He Xinxing took up the right. While watching TV, Pei Xi would raise his wrist to look at it from time to time in a movement that was somewhat childish. It seemed he really liked it.

His lips curved, and once again sent Ms Chu the feedback that “The gift is really good.” As he did so, he processed a few simple emails on his phone. When he saw that it was almost time, he put his phone down and went to the kitchen to make dinner.

He didn’t really like having other people in his home, so he never hired a live-in housekeeper.

Someone had come to clean various areas during the day, and all kinds of supplies and ingredients in the refrigerator had been replenished. There was no need to prepare anything, and he could get started right away.

Pei Xi was in a good mood today, both because of the gift and because of the piglets.

He Chuzhou made the food and put it on the table. Pei Xi was no longer looking at his watch frequently. Instead, he held the piglet head and dedicated himself to figuring out how to put the hat on it again.

A pink rubber pig, a small pig plushie, and a large pig plushie.

He wanted to ask Pei Xi why he liked pigs so much, but when the words came to his lips, he remembered the answer he received when he asked this question one day in the past and immediately swallowed them back. 

Forget it, he didn’t really want to know the answer.

After dinner, Pei Xi volunteered to walk the dog. He Chuzhou was very comfortable with the security in the community, so he put a leash on He Xingxing and handed it to him, then went to take a bath.

After spending so many days together, the relationship between Pei Xi and He Xingxing had become very harmonious. Even aside from having to get up early, he found the dog  quite interesting. 

He Xinxing liked the stray little cow-spotted cat in the neighborhood. Every time, he had to crouch by the flower bed and wait for the little cow cat to come out and play, and today was no exception.

Pei Xi waited patiently with him, checking the time every minute.

Not for the sake of looking at the time, but for the sake of looking at the watch.

Watching the time pass by on the gift He Chuzhou had given him made him incredibly pleased.

When they returned home, he removed the leash from He Xingxing’s neck. As soon as he opened the bedroom door, he heard the sound of the bathroom door closing.

He raised his head and saw that the light in the bathroom was still on, with steam filling the air. “Chuzhou?”

There was a faint response from inside.

Pei Xi asked: “Did you forget something?”

It immediately went quiet inside.

He Chuzhou looked at the soaked underwear he had accidentally dropped on the floor and felt an oncoming headache.

He had intended to go out and get another pair, but who would have thought that by some coincidence, Pei-calico would come back just then.

There was no other way: “Xinxin, help me grab a pair of, cough…..underwear from the bottom left drawer of the wardrobe.”

The sound of footsteps went from near to far outside, then from far to near. There was a knock on the door: “Chuzhou, open the door.”

He Chuzhou opened the door and stretched out a hand.

He got the underwear, but the problem was that the other party didn’t let go.

He Chuzhou: “ ? ”

He stuck out half of his head awkwardly: “What’s wrong?”

Standing at the door, Pei Xi’s gaze fell on his face first, then his neck, his distinct shoulders, and side muscles. Any further down…..was blocked by the door.

With a little disappointment in his eyes, he asked: “We really can’t bathe together?”

He Chuzhou felt ill-at-ease under his gaze. Before neatly closing the door, he didn’t forget to grab the underwear and push the other’s hand out safely. “Be good. We can do that next time.”

He thought this would make him give up, but in the next second, there was another knock on the bathroom door.

He Chuzhou took the pajamas hanging to the side and asked helplessly: “What’s wrong now?”

Pei Xi’s calm voice sounded through the door: “Can you stop putting on your clothes when you come out?”

He Chuzhou paused as he was putting on his clothes: “…..What?”

“We haven’t done it in so long that I’ve forgotten what your abs look like.”

Pei Xi frowned, saying seriously: “I want to touch them, okay?”

---

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Chapter 26 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 28

Today happened to be Nanfeng City’s Flower Festival. As soon as they went to the streets, they could see colorful flowers hanging beneath the eaves, floating in the river, and placed on stalls. It was as if they had entered a world where flowers were in full bloom, and even the wind blowing in their faces was mixed with the fragrance of various flowers.

“Not only do they use flowers to brew wine, but if you look at cakes at the stalls around us, many of them are also made from flowers,” Tang Mu presented with a smile.

Liu Zhenqing asked curiously: “Do you have any tasty recommendations?”

Tang Mu said: “It depends on personal taste.”

Liu Zhenqing glanced at Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie immediately stepped forward to buy some food of each type and carried them in his arms.

Liu Zhenqing walked around with a smile, eating all the way.

Dai Tingyu watched this, dumbfounded. The dignified general was working as a servant? He couldn’t help but continuously shoot Tang Mu meaningful looks.

Tang Mu smiled and said nothing. He had seen much more electrifying scenes.

A young girl suddenly came forward and shyly stuffed a bouquet of flowers into Tang Mu’s arms: “I’m Wan-er, from Dongdao Street.” When she finished speaking, she ran away with a smile.

When Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie looked back, Tang Mu’s expression was somewhat unnatural.

Holding his forehead, Dai Tingyu said: “It’s starting again.”

“What’s the situation?” Liu Zhenqing asked curiously.

“This is a custom. If a woman likes a certain man, she can send flowers to show her affection, in hopes that the other party will send people to her home to discuss marriage.” Dai Tingyu said: “Every year at this time, as long as Tang-chengzhu goes to the streets, he’ll inevitably encounter…..”

Before he finished speaking, girls could be seen coming forward to give flowers one after another. Since it would be rude to reject such things, he could only accept them.

After some time, Tang Mu couldn’t hold any more.

And Dai Tingyu actually received a few flowers.

Liu Zhenqing looked at Dai Tingyu in disbelief. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Dai Tingyu’s charms, but there was still himself and Huo Fenglie standing in front of him. Why hadn’t they received any?

Likely noticing Liu Zhenqing’s confusion, Tang Mu explained awkwardly: “You’re outsiders and they aren’t familiar with you, so naturally they won’t…..”

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Zhenqing heard from the side: “Young Master…..this daughter…..requests…..”

Liu Zhenqing thought she was addressing him, and when he turned around with a joyful heart, he saw the visitor stuffing flowers into Huo Fenglie’s snack-filled arms.

Liu Zhenqing’s face wrinkled up. He looked at Tang Mu and said: “Didn’t you say…..”

Tang Mu smiled helplessly and said: “Perhaps General Huo is so charming that people can fall in love with him at first sight.”

Liu Zhenqing looked with dissatisfaction at Huo Fenglie, who didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.

But after a while, several more courageous women came forward to give Huo Fenglie flowers.

Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes for a moment, then said abruptly: “Is it okay to give them away to strangers like this? What if they actually have to get married?”

He wasn’t jealous that others had given Huo Fenglie flowers, nor angry that he himself hadn’t received any. He was just questioning the rationality of this.

Tang Mu laughed at the sourness in his voice and pointed to a young man setting up a stall nearby.

When Liu Zhenqing looked, he suddenly found that the man had some conspicuous red silk tied around his waist. At a glance, there were indeed many men wearing eye-catching red silk ribbons on the street.

“That…..”

“Red silk tied around the waist shows that they have a wife or are engaged, and that they won’t accept flowers,” Tang Mu explained with a smile.

Liu Zhenqing listened to this with interest and turned to look at Huo Fenglie with a half-smile.

Huo Fenglie instinctively felt that there was a target on his back. As expected, it wasn’t long before they happened upon a vendor specializing in red silk, and Liu Zhenqing directly went to it.

Tang Mu and Dai Tingyu both looked at Huo Fenglie.

Dai Tingyu said: “Is Young Master Liu going to give one to Brother Huo? Is it possible that Brother Huo is already engaged?”

Huo Fenglie shook his head.

“Then…..”

“He just thinks it’s fun,” Huo Fenglie said lightly.

Not long after, Liu Zhenqing bought a piece of red silk and said to Huo Fenglie: “Save yourself some trouble and don’t waste those girls’ flowers. Come on, raise your arms.”

Huo Fenglie was holding things, and could only raise his arms obediently. Liu Zhenqing stood directly in front of him and tied the red silk on him.

Dai Tingyu to the side whispered to Tang-chengzhu: “Should Young Master Liu be told that if you take the initiative to tie someone’s silk today, it means you’re proposing marriage to your lover?”

Tang Mu held back his laughter with a cough, saying: “He’s so clever, but he might not have considered what type of person is qualified to tie the red silk for another.”

These words naturally didn’t fall into Liu Zhenqing’s ears, but with Huo Fenglie’s great internal strength, he heard them clearly.

Looking down at Liu Zhenqing as the other tied the red silk for him, Huo Fenglie cheeks reddened uncontrollably. Although he knew that Qing-ge was just playing around, he still couldn’t help but feel a little happy and complicated inside.

Seeing that it was fastened well, Dai Tingyu joked: “You’re just tying one on Brother Huo? What about you?”

Huo Fenglie looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing raised an eyebrow and said: “No one has given anything to me.”

Huo Fenglie looked away with his lips slightly pursed.

Liu Zhenqing said: “Brother Tang and Brother Dai don’t need one to avoid them?”

“We’re locals, so we don’t dare tell such a lie,” Dai Tingyu said.

The consequences of not daring to lie came back to bite them on the next two streets. Tang Mu was practically buried in flowers. Looking at Tang Mu, who was tiredly huffing and puffing, his face seemed to be dyed red by the flowers, and petals landed in his hair from time to time. With that handsome face hidden among the petals, he really did look more beautiful than a flower. They could only be taken away by servants and delivered to the City Lords manor.

“Brother Tang is so popular, ah. If you don’t marry, you will probably receive them for many years,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

Tang Mu shook his head helplessly and said: “A few years ago, I announced that I will never marry.”

“Chengzhou doesn’t have to make this sacrifice to defend the city. Don’t you still have me?” Dai Tingyu said with a chuckle.

“I don’t think marriage is necessary. Being able to defend the city is enough for me in this life.” After speaking, Tang Mu couldn’t help but touch his jade pendant. This movement alerted Liu Zhenqing, and he suddenly felt that starting this topic was a bad idea.

Huo Fenglie also looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing coughed awkwardly and changed the subject: “By the way, where are Brother Tang’s other siblings? Have they all married or started businesses?”

“My younger brother is studying literature and is already married, but they live elsewhere. My younger sister also got married and lives in the city.”

Liu Zhenqing was slightly surprised to hear this: “And the other?” Didn’t he recall that Tang Mu had two younger sisters?”

Tang Mu paused and looked at Liu Zhenqing in some puzzlement, thinking that perhaps he’d happened to hear something elsewhere. He said: “I am one of four siblings. The other one…..my twin sister Tang Rou passed away from illness several years ago.”

Liu Zhenqing was immediately embarrassed: “I’m so sorry.”

He vaguely recalled that there was a girl who looked identical to Tang Mu. 

Because Tang Mu and Tang Rou were twins, they were both elegant and heroic in spirit, both of them very good-looking. In his impression, they practically behaved the same. But Tang Mu was natural and poised when they were together, while Tang Rou had the appearance of a young girl, and would hide shyly whenever she saw him. He didn’t recall spending much time together, but unexpectedly, the beauty had a harsh life. If she were still here, she would already be a great beauty who could conquer the entire country.

“It’s okay.” Tang Mu smiled casually.

After a while, the group sat down in a tavern. More people came forward to give flowers to Tang Mu, even men.

Astonished, Liu Zhenqing asked Huo Fenglie in a whisper: “Do you think that if Song Xingmu was here, he would be as popular as Tang Mu?”

Huo Fenglie glanced at Liu Zhenqing and said: “I couldn’t say.”

But Liu Zhenqing forced a smile and said: “Yes, ah, Liu Zhenqing must have been the most attractive in the past, right?”

Huo Fenglie didn’t see the trap at all, and instinctively nodded.

Liu Zhenqing’s smile faded at once, and his tone suddenly became enigmatic, “Yes, ah, I would have received many flowers if I came here before, unlike the current me, who hasn’t received any.”

Huo Fenglie was at a loss: “Qing-ge…..”

Liu Zhenqing gave Huo Fenglie a look of condemnation, as if he had been wronged. “You also don’t want to give any to me now.”

Huo Fenglie’s heart was instantly yanked up and down, and he instinctively wanted to coax him. Regardless of what he had just heard about what giving flowers meant, he promptly went to a stall outside to buy some.

Liu Zhenqing held his chin with a smile as he looked at Er-gou, whom he was teasing.

“What is Brother Huo doing?” Dai Tingyu asked doubtfully.

“Didn’t you say that giving flowers means you want the other party to propose marriage?” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “He went to buy flowers for me. Later, I will think about how to propose marriage.”

Dai Tingyu and Tang Mu were astonished when he said this.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t stop laughing when he saw their facial expressions. Then a big red flower branch suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback by the sudden development, and Dai Tingyu and Tang Mu also looked the flower branch over.

They saw a very young man in black standing in front of Liu Zhenqing.

Although the man’s facial features had not fully matured, he was already at the point of becoming fierce and handsome, with a tall, straight posture. He really had the bearing of an attractive young man. However, the look on his face was full of domineering arrogance, and it could be seen at a glance that he was no ordinary person.

In particular, it was the way he looked at people, his cold eyes looking downward with natural contempt and amusement. The corners of his thin lips were raised, and he had an obstinate and unyielding attitude.

“A gift for the young master. Please.”

According to the rules, Liu Zhenqing had to accept it. Even though he should be happy to be given flowers, Liu Zhenqing was scrutinizing the visitor’s face, because this man looked…..somewhat familiar.

“Why are you giving me flowers?” Liu Zhenqing asked with a smile on his lips.

“I feel that the young master and I are like old friends at our first meeting. What should I call you?”

Liu Zhenqing said bluntly: “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before asking for someone else’s name?”

There was a bit of impatience in the man’s eyes, but he still said in a good tone: “This one is Qiao Jin. My caravan is passing through Nanfeng City.”

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes flashed faintly. He wasn’t sure which characters were used in that name, but he didn’t recognize the pronunciation. “This one is Liu Xiaozhu.”

Qiao Jin stared in obvious surprise for a moment, then said: “A good name.”

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “Since you’ve given me flowers, I’ll treat you to a drink. Please have a seat.”

Qiao Jin sat down in a relaxed manner: “Where has Young Master Liu come from?”

“The north.” Liu Zhenqing ignored the other two people, by all appearances chatting happily with Qiao Jin.

“Is it difficult to do business right now?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

“It is. We’re near to being locked up in the city and unable to leave. With orders from above, food rations may be cut off at the bottom,” Qiao Jin said.

Liu Zhenqing’s smile became even brighter. At this moment, a figure appeared outside the door, and it seemed as if half the outside light was blocked at once.

Liu Zhenqing looked over and saw Huo Fenglie standing at the door, holding a flower with an expressionless face. His emotions were difficult to parse. He just solemnly looked at them, eyeing the flowers in Liu Zhenqing’s hands.

The atmosphere sank all around, as if Huo Fenglie was holding not a flower, but a sword.

Qiao Jin also turned to observe the person who had come, and raised his eyebrows in a very provocative gesture.

Noticing Qiao Jin’s gaze, Huo Fenglie frowned slightly and walked up.

“You’ve been gone a long time, ah,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

Huo Fenglie’s lips pressed down as if he was in a huff, but he still handed over the flower in a well-behaved manner. With a smile, Liu Zhenqing placed the flowers Qiao Jin had just given him on the table and inserted the pink flower branch from Huo Fenglie into the lapel of his clothes. Just by lowering his head, he could get close to the flower branch and smell its fragrance.

This action indeed improved Huo Fenglie’s mood a lot.

Qiao Jin to the side said abruptly: “Brother, isn’t it bad to do this? You’re wearing red silk around your waist.”

These mocking words immediately caused a lot of discussion around them. This was indeed a situation that made people misunderstand.

But Liu Zhenqing reached out and hooked the red silk around Huo Fenglie’s waist, pulling him forward.

“I tied it just now. Isn’t that fine?”

What this meant was that this young master had just proposed to that brother, and the brother sent him flowers again, ah. Naturally, everyone’s disdain turned into congratulations.

Qiao Jin smiled and said: “Does Young Master Liu understand what this means?”

“Of course I do,” Liu Zhenqing said, smiling.

“In that case, it was unnecessary for me to give you flowers. It turns out that you two have this kind of relationship,” Qiao Jin said with raised eyebrows.

Liu Zhenqing donned an expression of surprise and said: “I thought you had investigated thoroughly before appearing in front of us. Aren’t you just here for him?”

Qiao Jin’s expression shifted at once: “What are you saying…..”

Before Qiao Jin could finish speaking, Liu Zhenqing stepped back and said in a cold tone: “Fenglie!”

They cooperated tacitly, and almost at the same time Liu Zhenqing called out, Huo Fenglie moved swiftly toward Qiao Jin.

At such a close distance, it was impossible for Qiao Jin to avoid the attack of a master like Huo Fenglie. Even though it could be seen that Qiao Jin knew some martial arts, he was still grabbed at the neck by Huo Fenglie and captured alive.

Such an incident naturally frightened the people around them.

Tang Mu and Dai Tingyu also stood up at once.

Tang Mu immediately shouted for the sake of the peoples’ safety: “Clear the place!”

The subordinates following him immediately began protecting the common people as they left.

“What…..what’s going on?!” Dai Tingyu automatically guarded Tang Mu, thinking there was some kind of danger. 

“Who is he…..” Tang Mu asked Liu Zhenqing with a frown.

Standing behind Huo Fenglie, Liu Zhenqing looked at Qiao Jin and said: “Little friend, would you like to introduce yourself again?”

Qiao Jin’s expression had become fierce at this time. He stared at Liu Zhenqing and then at Huo Fenglie, his eyes full of disbelief.

“It turns out he’s not a male pet,” Qiao Jin mocked.

Before Liu Zhenqing could react, the force of Huo Fenglie’s grip immediately made breathing difficult for Qiao Jin.

Qiao Jin roared fiercely like an angry tiger: “You…..I’ll remember you!”

But Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “Remember him? It’s still uncertain if you’ll get out alive!”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Do you think I know who you are?” Liu Zhenqing said mockingly. “Whoever you are, he didn’t arrest you based on your identity, did he?”

Qiao Jin’s expression changed several times.

“What on earth is going on?” asked the confused Dai Tingyu.

Tang Mu said seriously: “Most people in this city know me, and a person from a caravan should know me even better. But when he came over, all of his attention was focused on Brother Liu while he turned a blind eye to the two of us, which proves he’s here for Brother Liu. It’s extremely odd.”

Qiao Jin wore a bad expression.

“Firstly, I don’t have the looks of Tang-chengzhou, and secondly, I don’t have the status of Commander Dai. Why would he come to me, ah?” Liu Zhenqing wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction as he spoke, touching the flower arrangement in his lapel: “Is the only thing worthy of his attention that I’m…..a male pet?”

Huo Fenglie turned to give Liu Zhenqing a displeased glance. He didn’t like such an insulting term being used on Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t care, and seemed to be amused. He raised a teasing eyebrow at Huo Fenglie and said: “Thus, it’s only possible that he came here for General Huo.”

“What kind of person would deliberately come here for General Huo?”

Dai Tingyu said at once: “A foreigner! Foreigners like to get their eyes on Brother Huo.”

He said this as if they all admired Huo Fenglie. The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s lips twitched.

“What’s more, he just mentioned that the caravan almost couldn’t leave. The proposal we discussed about the Western Shu Kingdom hasn’t been announced to the public.”

As soon as Liu Zhenqing spoke those words, the expressions of Tang Mu and Qiao Jin abruptly changed.

Tang Mu took another look at Qiao Jin’s age and said in astonishment: “How is this possible? Could this be Western Shu’s…..”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a sudden commotion on the roof of the tavern. In an instant, countless roof tiles tumbled down.

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Chapter One Hundred Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Seven