Chapter 1

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Title: As an Elder Brother (为兄 Wei Xiong)  \n

Author: Kun Yi Wei Lou (困倚危楼)\n

Rating: R-18\n

Chinese Status: Completed\n

English Status: Ongoing\n

Main Characters: He Tingzhou, Xu Feng\n

Pairings: He Tingzhou (seme, gong) x Xu Feng (uke, shou)\n

Summary: He Tingzhou bitterly searched for many years for his little brother, and unexpectedly found him among his own male concubines in the end…\n

Tags: incest, rape, stupid self-sacrificing shou, 1v1, wuxia, handsome male lead\n

Translator: God\n

English Proofreader: Grumpykit\n

QC: Xiao\n

As an Elder Brother: Chapter 1\n

Xu Feng reclined in the bamboo chair after he’d finished eating his lunch, and casually flipped through a huaben^[1] anthology. The heat of the autumn sun had yet to dissipate, and the sun was still quite vicious, but it was still considered shady and cool beneath the grape trellis. He used his left hand to flip through the pages of the book, while his right hand dangled beside his body, revealing a centipede-like scar upon his wrist.\n

But as he got to an interesting part, he saw Jin Shu, the person who ordinarily served him every day, hurriedly sprinting inside towards him and yelling out, “Young Master, Young Master, the Palace Master^[2] has come to our Cui Zhu^[3] Pavilion^[4]!”\n

Xu Feng didn’t even lift his head and continued to slowly flip through the pages of his book as before. He smiled, “Do not try to trick me with your words. The day isn’t even dark yet, why would the Palace Master be here already?”\n

Jin Shu was sweating profusely, “The Palace Master has already passed by the Yue Dong^[5] Gate, and is currently in the front courtyard looking at the hibiscus flowers.”\n

At this point, Xu Feng realized he was telling the truth, and the smile slowly faded from his face. His right hand, which had no power left in it, curled up, and he withdrew it into the expanse of his wide sleeve. He had surreptitiously counted the days and thought to himself that the Palace Master hadn’t stepped into the Cui Zhu Pavilion for at least two to three months. Why would he come today all of a sudden?\n

He thought it would be great if that person never showed up again for the rest of his life, but he didn’t have the ability to go chase that person away. And so he had to get up and go to greet him.\n

By his side, Jin Shu said, “Young Master, are you not going to change your clothes first? Aiyo^[6], you should probably also change the hairpin in your hair. I remember that there is still one made from jasper^[7]  inside the chest.”\n

Xu Feng couldn’t help but smile bitterly. That person made someone as average looking as him into a male concubine just for the mere purpose of humiliating him. Why would he care about what clothes he was wearing, or what hairpin he was using? However, Jin Shu had good intentions, so he couldn’t bear to scold him either. So, he straightened out the worn-out clothing on his torso and went ahead towards the front courtyard.\n

The hibiscus flowers in the front courtyard had been planted last year, and because they had been well cared for, the blooming flowers were especially gorgeous. They were very dazzling, clothed in their brilliant red. The Palace Master of the Ji Le^[8] Palace was standing in front of the flowering tree; he was enjoying the view of a flower that was about to bloom with single-hearted devotion.\n

The Ji Le Palace was seen as an unorthodox sect within Jiang Hu^[9], all because the most powerful martial arts skill in the sect could only be trained by having dual cultivation between two married ones^[10]. As a result, the palace was very selective when choosing disciples, and only selected the most attractive people. Naturally, the most outstanding of them all was the Palace Master. Today, he wore a light cyan robe, with his hair pinned up by a golden crown. His pupils were jet-black and his long eyebrows arched towards his temple. Contrasted against the hibiscus flowers that resembled flames, his complexion appeared increasingly more like jade. Without speaking, he smiled, power and prestige emanated from him to the greatest extent.\n

Xu Feng loathed him from the bottom of his heart. He walked towards him and stood at a three-step distance away from him, and called out lukewarmly, “Palace Master.”\n

He Tingzhou didn’t pay attention to him at all, and just continued to observe the flowers. He ignored Xu Feng for a complete quarter of an hour before he turned around, and swept his eyes over Xu Feng, taking careful measure of him.\n

He Tingzhou usually always came at night. After pinning Xu Feng down beneath him and doing shameful acts, he usually left before it got bright outside. Perhaps it was because he didn’t like Xu Feng’s appearance, but he never gave him a second glance. But now, who knew what had bewitched him to actually lead him to look at him, just as how he was looking at the single flower stem.\n

Xu Feng felt like prey that was being targeted by a venomous snake, and felt uneasy from head to toe, so he said obligingly, “If Palace Master likes these flowers, just call someone over to dig them up and send them over.”\n

He Tingzhou smiled slightly and said, “If I move them to a different location, I’m afraid they would not survive.”\n

These words seemed to carry a deeper meaning; Xu Feng didn’t understand it yet, but He Tingzhou had already begun waving his hand and said, “Let’s talk after we go inside.”\n

Jin Shu, that little one was very quick-witted and had already brewed some fine tea leaves. Once He Tingzhou took a seat after entering, he was right on time to offer him the aromatic tea.\n

Xu Feng understood his own status, and didn’t dare to sit in the presence of the Palace Master, so he obediently stood on the side, but to his surprise, He Tingzhou beckoned towards him, and said, “Sit.”\n

Xu Feng’s heart tightened with worry as he sat down, and thought to himself that this was also one of this person’s great talents. He would always be smiling no matter the situation, making it so that no one could read him. It was like that day when He Tingzhou had crippled his right hand; he held a sharp sword that shone with coldness within his hand, and pearls of blood had trickled down it, drop by drop. He had that smiling expression on his face that was tender with emotions, even though it was more moving than any other time.\n

Xu Feng wasn’t really an individual intimidated by death, but when he faced He Tingzhou, he always felt some sort of unspeakable fear. It was only because of that time when he had offended this person when he was young and arrogant, that he’d fallen into the absurd and yet ludicrous situation that he was in now.\n

He Tingzhou’s gaze circled around the interior of the room, and he frowned, “This room is pretty clean, but it’s just a little bit too plain.”\n

Xu Feng definitely wasn’t going to respond, Jin Shu worried for him on the inside and said hurriedly, “Young Master usually prefers peace and quiet, and is living quite comfortably. If the Palace Master would be willing to come by more often, then this place could become a lot more lively.”\n

He spoke very frankly and didn’t hold back. He Tingzhou looked like he was listening, yet not really listening, and just ignored him. He turned to Xu Feng and said, “I’ve haven’t asked you yet, but how old are you this year?”\n

Xu Feng was baffled, and he didn’t understand his meaning in asking such a question. He replied, “My zodiac animal is the dragon, I am twenty-two years old this year.”\n

He Tingzhou nodded his head, he revealed a strange smile, and said, “Then I am older than you by six years.”\n

He continued to ask, “What day is your birthday?”\n

“Since I was young, I was taken in by my master who took care of me. I do not know what day I was born. I only know the day that my master picked me up, the twelfth of the seventh month, which is considered my birthday.\n

“What about your birth parents?”\n

“Twenty years ago, there was a great drought in Ji Zhong^[11]. My parents grabbed me and escaped the area. But they passed away one after another after contracting an illness. Once again, I was homeless and under harsh conditions for a period of time, then I happened to meet my master.”\n

He Tingzhou’s expression twitched slightly, and he asked, “Apart from them, do you not have any other relatives?”\n

Being interrogated like this, Xu Feng already had his guard up, and replied after thinking carefully, “I also used to have an older brother, but we lost touch while escaping. It has been many years since I have heard any news about him, and I do not know if he is dead or alive either.”\n

He Tingzhou listened to what he said, and just stared at him without looking away. He sighed lightly, and said, “So according to what you have said, you still have an older brother.”\n

Xu Feng thought to himself, “Whether I have an older brother or not, what does it have to do with you?” Could this person want to capture his long-lost brother as well and use him to threaten him? But thinking about his current situation again, if He Tingzhou wanted to crush him, it would be as easy as crushing an ant. He Tingzhou had no reason to expend that much energy.\n

Be that as it may, he didn’t dare speak so freely. He Tingzhou asked about his past again, with which Xu Feng answered vaguely, glancing over the details.\n

He Tingzhou didn’t pursue any further, and he spoke pleasantly for a brief moment, then turned his head to look outside at the color of the sky and said to Jin Shu, “It looks like it is about time, call someone over to set up for dinner.”\n

Jin Shu beamed with joy on his face. He bowed with a yes, and then scurried out.\n

All throughout the Ji Le Palace, there wasn’t a person who hadn’t known that the Palace Master didn’t like to eat meals at the same table with others. Only a few of his most trusted tangzhu^[12] had had a couple of opportunities to drink with him. As far as the other concubines and male pets were concerned, of course, they hadn’t even had a chance. Today, unexpectedly, he had someone come set up dinner at the Cui Zhu Pavilion. The time for his young master’s lucky break was definitely here.\n

Jin Shu went to order people. Not long after, several green-clothed girls came over, carrying lunch boxes. After they had set up the table, they stood on the side, ready to serve.\n

Xu Feng glanced at the table, and saw that out of the five different dishes, four of them were ones that he loved to eat, especially the sweet and sour quick-fried fish, because of its deliciously sweet and sour flavor and tenderness. He always loved to eat the fishtail. At this time, since He Tingzhou had motioned towards him, without any more reservation, Xu Feng lifted his chopsticks to pick at the fishtail.\n

Unexpectedly, he hadn’t even touched the fish when he heard a ‘pa’ sound. It turned out that He Tingzhou’s chopsticks had bumped against his own.\n

Both men were dumbfounded.\n

Xu Feng pulled his chopsticks away first, put on a fake smile, and said, “Palace Master, please enjoy your meal.”\n

He settled for second best and went to go snatch up the braised pork.\n

In the end, there was another ‘pa’ sound yet again, the two pairs of chopsticks knocked against each other head-on once again.\n

Jin Shu, who watched from the side, raised his eyebrows. And one of the servant girls couldn’t hold it in and laughed with a ‘pfft’.\n

Xu Feng couldn’t figure out if He Tingzhou was doing this on purpose or not, so he just stopped moving his chopsticks altogether.\n

He Tingzhou stared blankly at the table of food, and muttered to himself, “So it turns out that you also like to eat these.”\n

Afterward, he broke the fishtail off, then reached over to place it inside of Xu Feng’s bowl.\n

Xu Feng was surprised, and he held his bowl like he was holding a scalding hot yam. He couldn’t eat it, nor couldn’t he not eat it. Ordinarily, he had a big appetite, but due to the fact that He Tingzhou was sitting in front of him, he only managed to eat half a bowl before he was full.\n

He Tingzhou hadn’t eaten much either and kept staring at Xu Feng as they ate. But when Xu Feng returned his gaze, he would pretend that nothing was happening and avert his gaze.\n

Xu Feng felt that this person was thoroughly strange, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was strange. Even though he had been a male concubine for three years, he actually still didn’t know He Tingzhou all that well. He only knew that this man was extremely lecherous and that that behavior of his had already become a part of his personality. If there was a beautiful person that was his type, he would use any means to get his hands on them. It was only because, in his prime, he’d foiled this man’s plans, and rescued the beauty he was yearning for, that his martial art skills had been crippled, and it was also the reason behind why he was at the Ji Le Palace, suffering his fill of humiliation.\n

Xu Feng rubbed the scar on his wrist, and quietly concealed the hatred that lived at the bottom of his heart so that it wouldn’t leak onto his face.\n

He wasn’t the spirited, sword-wielding youth of Jiang Hu anymore.\n

He knew that most of the time, if he only exercised patience, then he would have different opportunities.\n

After the two people had eaten, the group of green-clothed girls retreated one by one. He Tingzhou held his hands behind him and circled the room, and ended up going for the book lying on the couch^[13], turning the pages. With a smile on his face, he said, “This is the type of book you usually read?”\n

Xu Feng’s face heated up, and said, “I am an uneducated one, naturally, what I read is also ordinary.”\n

“It looks pretty interesting to me.” He Tingzhou spoke as he sat down on the couch. He called for Jin Shu to move the light closer and started to read the book with gusto.\n

Xu Feng couldn’t really interrupt him and had no alternative but to sit down by him in vain. He saw by the color of the sky that it was getting later and later. Jin Shu gave him a meaningful glance, conveying that it was time to serve the Palace Master to bed.\n

Xu Feng pretended not to see anything and wished that he could become a piece of wood. It would’ve been good if he could’ve gotten past this muddleheaded and thoughtlessly, but he understood his position as a male concubine, and that the only reason that He Tingzhou had come was so that he could sleep with him. It didn’t matter if he was willing or not, in the end, he couldn’t run away from the tormenting affair. He thought of it as if it was a punishment, and if he just laid on the bed and closed his eyes, he could endure it until it was over.\n

Firm with his decision, Xu Feng nodded his head towards Jin Shu.\n

After receiving instructions, Jin Shu hastened inside to prepare the bed.\n

He Tingzhou was skilled in martial arts, so naturally, this hadn’t escaped his notice. He lifted his head and asked, “What are you two, master and servant, riddling each other for?”\n

“It is not early anymore. I’ve let Jin Shu go in to prepare the bed.”\n

“Mn, it is about time to retire.”\n

Xu Feng walked forward a step, and said with some stiffness, “Allow me to assist the Palace Master to retire for the night.”\n

He Tingzhou was dumbfounded at first, then he raised his eyebrows, and asked with some surprise, “What did you say?”\n

Xu Feng was even more surprised and asked in response, “Does the Palace Master not want me to serve him?”\n

“Of course not!”\n

After He Tingzhou understood what he meant, he practically jumped up from the couch, and the large, vigorous movement gave Xu Feng a scare. He knew that he had lost his composure, and glanced at the submissive young man in front of him, feeling frustrated.\n

He still vaguely remembered what Xu Feng was like before. He used to be a young boy who had just entered Jiang Hu, and yet he dared to hold a sword and point it at him. But, the energetic youth from before had already been ruined by He Tingzhou’s own hands.\n

He Tingzhou inhaled deeply; he was afraid that if he spoke what he kept inside, it would frighten Xu Feng, so he spoke tenderly, “You should sleep first. I shall come visit you again when I am free.”\n

Xu Feng hadn’t thought he could evade misfortune so easily, and still didn’t believe it, and said, “Palace Master is not going to stay and spend the night?”\n

“Not staying, not staying.”\n

He Tingzhou waved his hands, and walked away without looking back, and without any sign of his usual calm demeanor.\n

His appearance of having been defeated while fleeing the scene made it seem like Xu Feng was some sort of the lowest kind of shameless, obscene man, and that he was afraid that if he’d stayed too long, his purity would have been tarnished by Xu Feng.\n

Xu Feng was very bewildered, and he almost couldn’t tell who was the male pet.\n

By then, Jin Shu had come out after preparing the bed, and when he saw that his master had been unable to retain the Palace Master, he felt a burst of bitterness, and until it was time to sleep, he still had an expression showing that he hated iron for not becoming steel^[14].\n

Xu Feng hadn’t bothered with him, and just climbed into bed and fell asleep. He had escaped the suffering that would’ve taken a small army to stop, which allowed him to sleep soundly. And it wasn’t long before he started to dream.\n

Within his dream, he could hear the clip-clop sound of horse hooves. It was like he had returned back to the year when he was nineteen years old. He had just descended from the mountain and was walking down the main road towards Luo Yang^[15] all by himself.\n

The sun was scorching hot, and the foreheads of those in the sun were covered in sweat. Xu Feng complained under his breath as he wiped away his sweat. When he was on the mountain, he had read a lot of huaben novels, which influenced him to set out into Jiang Hu without a care and help those in need like a hero. It wasn’t until he’d left the mountain that he had realized it wasn’t as fulfilling of a dream as he’d previously thought.\n

First of all, you couldn’t wear white. Great, sandy winds blew across the road, making it so that it wouldn’t even be two days before the clothes you were wearing turned ash gray, and washing them was a pain in the ass. The next thing was, you couldn’t eat or drink in large quantities, or it wouldn’t even be two days before you’d exhausted your stash of travel money. In the end, the only thing a person could do was to go out and work hard. The cyan steel sword that he’d equipped at his waist was used to chop wood and to go hunting.\n

Worst of all, he hadn’t had enough money to buy a horse either, and it made him really jealous to see other people urging their horses along.\n

At that moment, he heard the sound of hooves ringing out on the road again. Xu Feng looked back, only to see a horse-drawn carriage rushing towards him. The bodies of the two horses that pulled the carriage were entirely snow-white; there was no hint of variegation. The carriage was adorned lavishly, making it obvious that it was owned by a wealthy family. The weird thing was that, surprisingly, no one was driving the carriage. It was just the two horses violently charging through, raising up a cloud of dust in their wake.\n

It wasn’t until it got closer, that Xu Feng noticed among the horses, one of them had a dagger stabbed into its back hip. Fresh blood flowed from the wound in a steady stream. The horse was suffering greatly, which was why it had been running so wildly earlier. In its panic, it was having difficulty orienting itself, and the horse-drawn carriage began to gradually drift off the main road. At a glance, one could see that it wouldn’t have been too long before it would have crashed into the large tree ahead of it.\n

Xu Feng swore and quickly used qinggong^[16] to chase after it. He wasn’t what one would’ve considered talented, but still, he’d trained consistently and diligently, so the foundation of his martial arts wasn’t bad. With a few light jumps, he leaped onto the carriage.\n

It became apparent that the injured horse couldn’t be controlled, so Xu Feng made a decision in the heat of the moment to unsheathe his sword, and cut the reins free. This allowed the two horses to sprint off violently, and the body of the carriage slowed down to a stop. While he was dealing with the mess, for what seemed like ages, there hadn’t been a single sign of movement from within the carriage. He had an expectation of what had happened inside, but once he opened the curtain to take a look, he was met with surprise.\n

It turned out that the inside of the carriage was a chaotic mess and it looked like it had been ransacked by someone. There was a person lying down stiffly inside, with their face down, which made it hard to tell if they were dead or alive.\n

Since Xu Feng had already stuck his nose into this situation, he should follow it through to the end, so he walked over, flipped the person’s body around, and checked to see if he was breathing.\n

The person was a young man around twenty years old. His entire body emanated wealth and he was exceedingly handsome. And although his face was as white as paper, he was still breathing, thankfully. Just as Xu Feng wanted to look and see if he was injured anywhere, the man suddenly opened his eyes. Only a ‘pu’^[17] sound could be heard as the man opened his mouth, and spat out a silver needle.\n

The action was so unexpected that if it weren’t for Xu Feng’s quick reaction, it would have pierced and blinded him. Even so, the silver needle still brushed past his cheek, drawing a long trace of blood across it.\n

Xu Feng immediately pushed the man away, and yelled, “Why were you trying to hurt me?”\n

The young man’s face paled even further, and he spoke in a low voice, “Evil crook. I would rather die than go with you.”\n

Xu Feng asked in confusion, “Who did you call an evil crook?”\n

“You are not one of Ji Le Palace’s men?”\n

Xu Feng had trekked across Jiang Hu, so naturally, he had heard of the reputation of the Ji Le Palace before and so he quickly replied, “The Ji Le Palace is tyrannical, and they have done a great number of evil deeds. How could someone like me, who is here to help people and bring justice, be associated with such an unorthodox place?”\n

The youth showed a skeptical look on his face; he didn’t believe him at the moment.\n

Xu Feng then explained, one step at a time, about how he’d seen the horse-drawn carriage running rampant on the main road, and also about how he stopped this matter. And just in case the young man didn’t believe him, he also revealed to him which sect he was from. His sect wasn’t terribly famous within Jiang Hu, but it was a righteous sect with a little known name. After the young man heard such, he was relieved, as expected.\n

“Xiao Xiong Di^[18],” The young man let out a few breaths as his eyes slightly shone with a strange sparkle. “You and I are strangers who met by chance. I shouldn’t inconvenience you, but I am in a dire situation right now, and I want to ask you for a favor”\n

Xu Feng didn’t dare to promise recklessly, and just said, “There is no harm in saying what one thinks.”\n

The young man’s line of sight fell upon Xu Feng’s sword. He gritted his teeth, and said, “Please end my life with your sword, so that I will not fall into the Ji Le Palace’s grasp, and be humiliated by those vile crooks.”\n

Xu Feng was flabbergasted and didn’t know what to do. He would never have guessed that the young man would want them to kill him. Not to mention that he’d never killed anyone before, even if he had to kill someone, he couldn’t just slaughter the innocent. After all, he was inexperienced. He immediately lost his grounding and said, “I… I cannot do that…”\n

The young man was extremely resolute. He became silent at once and threw himself at Xu Feng to fight for his cyan steel sword. It’s unknown if it was because he was injured or poisoned, but the young man couldn’t exert any strength, and it hadn’t taken very many tries before Xu Feng stopped him.\n

Xu Feng said, “If you are afraid of being caught by the Ji Le Palace’s people, then why do you not quickly flee for your life? There is no need for you to seek such a method.”\n

“You don’t know how powerful the Ji Le Palace is. Moreover, this time, the Palace Master came personally. It won’t be long before they catch up to me. It is simply impossible to evade them.”\n

“I see that your horse is very faithful. The uninjured one has returned. Let us ditch the carriage and ride the horse, then we would definitely be able to move much faster.”\n

The young man merely shook his head and smiled bitterly as he spoke, “That won’t work. If I fall into the clutches of the Palace Master, the shame and humiliation I will receive are fine, but I am only afraid that I will tarnish my family’s reputation. The brothers and sisters that come after me won’t be able to lift up their heads without shame.”\n

Xu Feng listened to him speak. He had presumed that the man’s background wasn’t ordinary, and seeing how determined he was, his chivalrous heart jumped inevitably. He muttered under his breath and made a decision. He reached out his hand to pick up the man.\n

The young man spoke in shock, “What are you doing? Let go of me!”\n

Xu Feng carried him out of the carriage. With one leap, he jumped onto a large tree on the side of the road and placed the man between two of its branches. He concealed him with the lush expanse of tree leaves, hiding all traces of the man.\n

The young man asked, “What is the meaning of this?”\n

Xu Feng faced him and looked at him. “Even if the Ji Le Palace’s men catch up, they will definitely be following the wheel tracks. As long as I continue to drive forward in the carriage, they would never suspect that you would be hiding here.”\n

The young man was quite clever, and immediately understood what he meant. “Xiao Xiong Di, that is way too dangerous. You are not the Ji Le Palace’s opponent…”\n

“Don’t worry. I know my own limits and I won’t go head-on against them. Even though I only know a little bit of martial arts, I could still manage to escape if I wanted to.” He suspected that since the young man was in a bit of trouble, his family’s subordinates would be urgently looking for him. He could only hope to buy him a couple of hours to help him escape this misfortune.\n

After Xu Feng finished saying those words, all the while disregarding the young man’s persuasions, he arrived at the phrase, “I am sure we will meet again someday”, then lightly jumped down from the tree. He brought the uninjured horse back to the carriage, whipped it, and rode the carriage, disappearing into the dust.\n

Because of the sun’s intensity, there weren’t really any people on the main road. Xu Feng had been driving the horse-drawn carriage for about an hour when he suddenly heard a burst of hoof beats erupt from behind him. At least ten or more people rode behind him. His heart started to beat wildly. He knew that the Ji Le Palace’s people had caught up to him, so he hurriedly whipped the horse more urgently. Suddenly he could hear the sound of laughter which resembled the sound of silver bells resounding in his ear.\n

“Young Master Mu Rong, our Palace Master has kindly invited you to be a guest of Ji Le Palace. Why are you unwilling to give us even a little bit of face?”\n

The girl’s voice was delicate, soft, and seductive to the bone. It was clear that it came from afar, but it sounded like it was right next to his ear, and gave him goosebumps which were nearly impossible to suppress.\n

It wasn’t until that moment that Xu Feng learned the young man’s surname was Mu Rong, he didn’t know whether or not he was part of the Mu Rong aristocratic household. He was indeed at a young and vigorous age. After hearing the woman’s laughter, he only felt his blood rushing, and couldn’t help but look back for a glance.\n

He only saw that there really were at least ten people behind him, and could barely discern that there was a cyan-clothed person who was the leader in the group. The cyan-clothed person wore a bamboo hat upon their head. It was too far to see their features clearly. Their hands, which were holding the reins, were the only things that were exposed. Their fingers were slender and powerful, and the finger joints were distinct, reflecting against the jet-black reins within their hands, they were truly as lustrously white as jade.\n

The cyan-clothed person brandished their hand, and a person rode out from the crowd at once, chasing straight at Xu Feng. A woman rode the horse. She couldn’t be considered young, but she had excellent bone structure and was extremely beautiful. She grinned, “Xiao Xiong Di, with such a bright sun, aren’t you getting tired driving the carriage? Why don’t you let Jie Jie^[19] wipe away your sweat for you?”\n

Her voice was very seductive. She was definitely the owner of the laugh from earlier.\n

Xu Feng’s heart shook, and he was almost affected by her words. He calmed his state of mind down immediately, gritted his teeth, and continued to push the carriage along.\n

The woman had excellent horsemanship, and it wasn’t long until she caught up. She conjured up a whip from seemingly nowhere, and laughed, “Xiao Xiong Di, why are you running away? Do not be afraid, Jie Jie is very fond of you.”\n

She spoke sweetly, yet she was definitely not one to show mercy when completing a task. With a swish, her whip flew towards Xu Feng’s face.\n

Xu Feng had unsheathed his sword long ago. He simultaneously dodged sideways and brandished his sword to return fire. But his skill in martial arts was only mediocre to start with, and he hadn’t had much experience facing others. He only managed to make ten moves under the woman’s control, before his sword was caught by the whip, and he was thrown off the horse-drawn carriage, along with his sword.\n

With a side character like him, the woman naturally hadn’t thought about him too much. She just smiled sweetly at him and quickly moved onto the horse-drawn carriage. She said, “Please come out, Young Master Mu Rong.”\n

As she spoke, she lifted the curtain, which made her gasp with surprise. She yelled, “Mu Rong Fei is not in the carriage!”\n

After Xu Feng had fallen onto the ground, he remained motionless. It wasn’t until he heard the woman shouting that he jumped up, and used qinggong to charge forward. To start with, he already knew that he wasn’t the Ji Le Palace’s opponent, so he came up with a strategy to protect his life. He planned on taking advantage of the fact that everyone would be distracted by the horse-drawn carriage to look for an opportunity to escape.\n

It was a good plan, but as they say, there are skies beyond the sky and people beyond people. He had only managed to run about a hundred zhang^[20] when he heard someone’s disapproving laughter. The laughter was in close proximity, as if the person was standing right next to his ear. The tip of Xu Feng’s heart shivered. There hadn’t even been enough time for him to turn around before someone grabbed his clothes at the middle of his back, and pulled him down then dragged him back.\n

Xu Feng only saw the sky spinning, and a short while after, he was thrown onto the ground. It was a very heavy fall. He had barely managed to lift up his head to discover that the person who had pulled him back was indeed the cyan-clothed leader. At this time, that person had taken the bamboo hat off their head, and Xu Feng could see his appearance clearly. He couldn’t help but stare blankly.\n

He had long heard about the Ji Le Palace’s bad reputation, and thinking about such unorthodoxy, he had anticipated a crooked demon, since they were, naturally, ugly as hell. But to his surprise, the cyan-clothed person had a handsome brow and clear eyes, with a smile upon his thin lips. Contrary to what he had thought, the man was several times more handsome than a painting.\n

Xu Feng was dazed. The woman from before came up and bowed. She said, “Palace Master, I do not see any trace of Young Master Mu Rong. I am afraid… he has already fled.”\n

The Palace Master laughed, “Mu Rong Fei has been infected with chunchan^[21] poison, he definitely could not have gone far.”\n

He muttered to himself, and said, “Send some people to go back to search along the main road, especially along the side of the road where someone could easily hide. We cannot let him get away, no matter what.”\n

Xu Feng saw that his guess wasn’t wrong, he couldn’t help but take a furtive look at them, yet he saw that the Palace Master was also looking at him as he spoke to the woman, “Liu Yue, examine this youngster who was driving the carriage.”\n

Liu Yue replied with a “yes,” then walked up to Xu Feng with the whip in her hand, and said, “Xiao Xiong Di, you are so young. I would hate to kill you. As long as you obediently tell us where Mu Rong Fei has gone, I can ask the Palace Master for a favor and beg for your life. How about it?”\n

Xu Feng spit in contempt, and cursed, “Shameless bastard, who would want you to beg for them?”\n

“What a truly stubborn personality.”\n

Not only was Liu Yue not mad, but her smile was chillingly beautiful. She was smiling when she suddenly flicked her wrist, and the whip violently thrashed against Xu Feng’s body. She had excellent control, and didn’t hit any vital parts, but it was still enough to make it hurt like hell.\n

Since Xu Feng first started exploring Jiang Hu, had he ever experienced this degree of cruelty? At the moment, he grunted and an ‘ah’ sound came out. He wasn’t willing to show any weakness, so immediately after, he clenched his jaw tightly shut.\n

Liu Yue didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath, and quickly whipped him again and again, raining them down on him like a hurricane.\n

Xu Feng couldn’t withstand it and writhed on the ground in pain. He couldn’t suppress his blood-curdling screams anymore, the screams came out of his mouth unceasingly. The ash gray garment he was wearing was quickly dyed red with fresh blood, and it was getting mixed with the dirt on the ground. His appearance was very miserable.\n

It wasn’t until then that Liu Yue stopped, and asked, “Say it, where did Mu Rong Fei go?”\n

“I… I do not know…”\n

Of course, Liu Yue didn’t believe him, and said, “What is your relationship with Mu Rong for you to be so willing to sacrifice yourself on his behalf? Could it be that you think he was born handsome and that you have even come to like him?”\n

Xu Feng merely used one breath and said, “Young Master Mu Rong and I are just strangers who met by chance. We do not have any relationship at all.”\n

“Then why are you unwilling to tell us his whereabouts?”\n

The wounds on Xu Feng’s body throbbed with fiery pain. It wasn’t easy to move his mouth, he spoke one word at a time, “I saw injustice on the road, so I grabbed my sword to defend against it.”\n

Liu Yue listened and spoke to the Palace Master, “Could it be that this boy is stupid?”\n

The Palace Master smiled while stroking his hand, “Good. How righteous of you to see injustice on the road. How righteous of you, to draw your sword to defend against it.”\n

After saying that, he grabbed Xu Feng’s cyan steel sword from the ground, and smiled wryly at him.\n

Xu Feng locked eyes with him, and could only feel a burst of coldness flood his head. He involuntarily shivered. Afterwards, he heard the Palace Master use a quiet, yet pleasant to listen to voice, to say, “I am curious. If I render your right hand useless, then how will you be able to continue rescuing others?”\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nTranslator: God\n

English Proofreader: Grumpykit\n

QC: Xiao\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nXiao’s Comments: Loving the Palace Master so far, so brutal~\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nTranslator’s Notes: \n

^[1] Huaben – 话本, a Chinese short or medium-length story or novella Setsuwa written mostly in vernacular language, sometimes including simple classical language\n

^[2] Master – 宫主, literally means “palace / owner” and could be simply understood as the lord/master of a house\n

^[3] Cui Zhu – 翠竹, literally means “jade green / bamboo”\n

^[4] Pavilion – 轩, specifically, in ancient China, it can mean “a long hall or small house with windows”\n

Image: https://images.app.goo.gl/9L97Ugo2fWwymipG9\n

^[5] Yue Dong – 月洞, literally means “moon / cave”\n

^[6] Aiyo – 哎哟, an exclamation of surprise, like “Oh my”\n

^[7] Jasper – 碧玉, a pretty rock, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper\n

^[8] Ji Le – 极乐, bliss, extreme happiness\n

^[9] Jiang Hu – 江湖, refers to the martial arts community.\n

^[10] “Two married ones” – 合籍(双修), this term is used in the cultivation world (as it is usually followed by the term of “dual cultivation”) and it is specifically used to describe the marriage between two that were approved by their master.\n

^[11] Ji Zhong – 冀中, this actually has a lot of meanings and I’m not sure which one the author was referring to. In ancient times, the character “Ji” can be used to describe farm lands owned by both farmers and herders in the North. In modern times, it could refer to the Hebei province in China. The common thing is that the character is saying that it’s somewhere in the North.\n

^[12] Tangzhu – 堂主, this can be understood as the leader of certain hall(s) within the palace.\n

^[13] Ta – 榻, a long, narrow, low bed. It’s like a couch, but it’s an ancient Chinese bed.\n

^[14] “Hated iron for not becoming steel” – 恨铁不成钢, a phrase that basically means that you had high expectations for someone, but they didn’t meet them.\n

^[15] Luo Yang – 洛阳, probably refers to an old capital from pre-Han times that is located in the Henan region.\n

^[16] Qinggong – 轻功, the ability to lighten the body and move with great agility &amp; swiftness. At high proficiency, practitioners of this skill can run across water, leap to the top of trees, or even glide through the air.\n

^[17] Pu – 噗, a spitting sound\n

^[18] Xiao Xiong Di – 小兄弟, means small/younger brother. Just a way to address a stranger, perhaps “Young fellow” would be an appropriate translation\n

^[19] Jie Jie – 姐姐, older sister\n

^[20] A hundred zhang – 百丈, around 330 meters\n

^[21] Chunchan – 春缠, literally “spring / entanglement”\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nTable of Contents Chapter 2

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