Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 24

Su Zeyang left just like that, catching Huo Fenghua completely off guard. Huo Fenghua had been thinking that as long as he stayed by Su Zeyang’s side, he’d still have a chance to slip away, but Wen Heyi showed him not a shred of mercy. He grabbed the shackles on Huo Fenghua’s wrists and dragged him back out the way they’d come.

Huo Fenghua had spoken to Wen Heyi without the slightest courtesy before. Now he was uneasy, and he asked carefully, “Martial Uncle, where are you taking me?”

Wen Heyi let out a cold laugh. “Where would you like me to take you?”

Huo Fenghua forced a smile. “How about nowhere. Once we’re out of this cave, you and I go our separate ways.”

“In your dreams!”

Huo Fenghua said, “Martial Uncle, you’re someone so capable. Why follow Shao Feijie? Why don’t you and I start our own faction? No, we don’t even need to. Let’s go back to the Xianyuan Sect, recruit troops, and rebel.”

Wen Heyi looked at him. “Rebel against who?”

“Obviously rebel against Donglin,” Huo Fenghua said. “You like fighting wars. I’ll appoint you Grand Marshall of all the armies under heaven. You lead the troops and fight to your heart’s content. Who cares about Donglin or Xichou, we’ll beat them all into the ground. Then we’ll establish the Xianyuan Kingdom. I’ll be emperor, and you can be whatever you want.”

“We rebel against Donglin,” Wen Heyi drawled. “Do you think Feng Tianzong would let us off? Wouldn’t your Senior Brother come after you then?”

Huo Fenghua snorted. “He doesn’t want me anymore, so why should I care?” The words came out sounding even to himself a little plaintive. Then he added, “Fine, then we kill Feng Tianzong, tie Senior Brother up and take him back. I’ll chain him in my room so he can’t go anywhere.”

Wen Heyi said, “You’re really devoted to him.”

Huo Fenghua laughed. “Devoted, not exactly. If I become emperor, I’ll have three thousand beauties in my harem. If he behaves, I’ll spoil him. If he doesn’t, I’ll make him watch me favor my consorts every day.”

By then, they’d crawled out of the cave. The sudden light stabbed into Huo Fenghua’s eyes and made him lift a hand to shield them.

There was only one horse left outside. Su Zeyang had already ridden off on the horse they’d come on.

Even though he’d known that would be the case, Huo Fenghua still stood there dazed until Wen Heyi grabbed him by the back of the collar and tossed him onto the saddle.

Wen Heyi swung up behind him, made Huo Fenghua sit in front, and urged the horse forward.

Seeing they weren’t going the right way, Huo Fenghua said, “Martial Uncle, weren’t we going back to the Xianyuan Sect to recruit troops? Where are we going now?”

Wen Heyi answered lazily, “Recruiting troops doesn’t happen without money. I’m taking you to raise silver first, so we’ll have the means.”

“Where are we raising it?” Huo Fenghua asked.

“Of course we’re going to find Shao Feijie,” Wen Heyi said. “You’re a Xichou prince. Who knows if the Xichou royal house has some hidden trove or secret treasure. Once you and Shao Feijie reunite, we dig up the treasure, then we kill Shao Feijie and go back to the Xianyuan Sect and set ourselves up as kings.”

Huo Fenghua thought it over. “That’s a great idea. Martial Uncle, you really are something.”

After that, both of them fell quiet, with only the pounding hoofbeats of the horse.

A moment later, Huo Fenghua said, “Wait. Martial Uncle, you’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

Wen Heyi chuckled twice. “Guess.”

Huo Fenghua didn’t actually think his nonsense would persuade Wen Heyi, but the thought of being dragged back to Shao Feijie’s side, forced to live as “Huo Fengnian,” exhausted him.

He let out a heavy sigh, stared at the jagged mountains around Luofeng Ridge, and went silent.

Along the way, Wen Heyi stayed extremely guarded, leaving him no chance to run. The wrist shackles were also a huge nuisance. The moment he raised his hands even a little, they clinked.

They traveled for three days and linked up with Shao Feijie’s forward scouts. After that, Huo Fenghua was watched even more tightly. He gave up on trying to escape and decided he’d figure it out once he was back at Shao Feijie’s side.

If Shao Feijie still wanted him to impersonate the Xichou crown prince, then he couldn’t keep guarding him like a criminal forever. When the time came, Huo Fenghua could put on an act, make Shao Feijie believe he truly meant to follow them and restore the kingdom, and eventually they’d loosen their vigilance.

But when Huo Fenghua saw Shao Feijie again, it wasn’t at Tiantou Stronghold.

Feng Tianzong had led troops to attack Tiantou Stronghold. Shao Feijie caught wind of it and didn’t want a head-on clash, so he withdrew the garrison ahead of time, retreating into the endless primeval forest along Xichou’s border. This time, it would be even harder for Feng Tianzong to track them down.

Yet Huo Fenghua didn’t meet Shao Feijie in that forest camp either, but in a remote border town in Xichou. The place hadn’t been touched by the war, and no Donglin troops were stationed there. It was poor, but the people’s lives were still relatively peaceful.

Wen Heyi brought Huo Fenghua into a tavern in town. The two went in one after the other. The iron shackles on Huo Fenghua’s wrists were conspicuous, but in wartime ordinary people didn’t dare meddle, so no one had asked questions along the way.

Inside the tavern, Shao Feijie had changed into a merchant’s outfit, reining in the murderous aura he usually carried. He sat drinking at a table in the corner. Only one attendant was with him. When Huo Fenghua looked closely, he recognized him as someone familiar: Jia Duo, the man who’d gone to Yujing to bring him back to Xichou.

Back then, between Jiang Yuan and Jia Duo, Jia Duo had actually been quite polite to him.

Wen Heyi took Huo Fenghua forward and sat down at an empty spot at Shao Feijie’s table.

Before Shao Feijie could speak, Huo Fenghua placed both hands on the tabletop and smiled. “Marshal Shao. Long time no see.”

Shao Feijie looked him up and down. “What are you trying to do, Huo Fenghua?”

Huo Fenghua put on a startled look. “What did you call me, Marshal Shao? I’m Huo Fengnian. Why are you calling me Huo Fenghua?”

Hearing that, Shao Feijie looked to Wen Heyi.

Wen Heyi sneered. “This brat wants to play tricks. Ignore him.”

Huo Fenghua said, “Mr. Wen, that’s not right. You said you wanted me to cooperate with Marshal Shao. Isn’t Marshal Shao’s whole plan for me to pretend to be Huo Fengnian? Am I not acting convincingly enough?”

Shao Feijie didn’t bother with him. He said to Wen Heyi, “The lord of Zhuyue City is holding a martial-arts competition to choose a husband for his daughter a month from now. I’ve already had someone submit the Crown Prince’s name card. If we set out now, we’ll arrive right around early next month.”

“Huh? What?” Huo Fenghua cocked an ear. “A martial arts competition for marriage?”

Wen Heyi picked up the wine jug on the table and poured himself a cup. “Yep. We’re planning to get you a wife.”

Huo Fenghua was genuinely shocked. His mouth fell slightly open as he swept his gaze over the three faces in front of him, then landed back on Wen Heyi. “Mr. Wen, it’s not like you don’t know. I… prefer men. How am I supposed to marry a woman?”

Shao Feijie frowned faintly.

But Wen Heyi didn’t change expressions at all. “The Crown Prince has four secondary consorts. I’ve never heard anything about you preferring men.”

Huo Fenghua said, “Those four were just a smokescreen. The one I truly like is still a man. If you and Marshal Shao don’t believe me, I, Huo Fengnian, can swear to Heaven.”

“Enough!” Shao Feijie finally couldn’t take it anymore. “You will behave yourself and take part in Zhuyue City’s marriage competition, and you will marry the city lord’s daughter!”

Zhuyue City was a major city in southern Xichou. Though it was called a “city,” it actually covered a vast area. Beyond the main city were several smaller satellite cities, essentially like a small southwestern kingdom, and the lord of Zhuyue City was effectively a king.

This time, the city lord’s daughter’s marriage competition had been announced widely: regardless of birth or status, any man who submitted a name card to Zhuyue City could participate. The only condition was that the participant could not already have a lawful wife. Huo Fengnian had several secondary consorts but had never married a principal wife, and with the chaos of war, those consorts had all died in the flames of conflict. So now his participation could be considered proper and legitimate.

At this point, Huo Fenghua still didn’t understand all of Shao Feijie’s calculations. He leaned forward slightly and asked, “Marshal Shao, I don’t know martial arts. How am I supposed to enter a martial arts competition?”

Shao Feijie said, “Starting now, you train relentlessly day and night.”

Huo Fenghua let out a short “Ha,” thinking it was absurd beyond belief.

But Wen Heyi said seriously, “Don’t you have the internal cultivation manual sect leader Senior Brother gave you?”

Huo Fenghua looked at him.

Wen Heyi said, “Starting today, I’m teaching you martial arts.”

That day, Shao Feijie and his men didn’t rush to leave the town.

That night in the guest room, Shao Feijie used his Blood Drinking saber to chop off the shackles on Huo Fenghua’s wrists. Huo Fenghua crouched on the floor with his wrists resting on a stool, watching Shao Feijie lift the long blade with trembling nerves. “Marshal Shao, can you actually do this? Don’t cut my hands off too.”

Shao Feijie didn’t even look at him. Before Huo Fenghua could react, the blade fell in a sudden flash, severing the shackles perfectly without nicking his hands in the slightest.

When Huo Fenghua pulled his hands back, his legs went weak and he nearly couldn’t stand. He rubbed his wrists lightly and exclaimed, “What a blade. What a technique!”

Wen Heyi sat on a stool nearby, holding the internal cultivation manual he’d confiscated from Huo Fenghua’s chest. “Now that the shackles are off, starting now you train properly.”

Even without Wen Heyi forcing him, Huo Fenghua had always wanted to learn martial arts. Otherwise he wouldn’t have apprenticed himself to Gu Guangji in the first place. After Gu Guangji gave him the manual, he’d studied it for a long time on his own, but he could never find the correct path for many of the acupoints and qi-circulation methods. Su Zeyang never guided him either, so up to now he’d learned nothing and couldn’t keep up with internal training.

If he could truly take this chance to learn, then escaping in the future would naturally become much easier.

So he nodded at Wen Heyi. “Please give me guidance, Martial Uncle. I’ll study seriously.”

From that day on, they traveled slowly toward Zhuyue City, and Wen Heyi taught him the sect’s martial arts along the way. At night they practiced the internal cultivation method, and during the day Wen Heyi taught him a basic set of fist techniques.

With someone teaching him, Huo Fenghua got started quickly, but his progress was slow. Wen Heyi said Huo Fenghua was smart and his bones were well suited, but it was a pity he was already too old. Starting now, it would be hard for him to truly achieve much.

While holding a horse stance, Huo Fenghua asked Wen Heyi, “Martial Uncle, do you think if I train like this for a month, I’ll be able to enter that marriage competition and marry that city lord’s daughter?”

Wen Heyi was sprawled on a low tree branch nearby, lazily flipping through a book. “Do you think you can?”

“I don’t,” Huo Fenghua said. “That’s why I’m telling you early. I’m afraid you’re wasting your effort.” As he spoke, he glanced at Shao Feijie, who wasn’t far off, making a fire and roasting meat.

Wen Heyi closed the book. “Marshal Shao has his own plan. You don’t need to worry so much.”

Huo Fenghua thought for a moment, then lowered his voice. “Does Marshal Shao already have ties with the lord of Zhuyue City? Is sending me to the competition just a pretense, and the real plan is to borrow Zhuyue City’s wealth and troops to restore the kingdom?”

Shao Feijie had heard him. He lifted his head and shot him a look, saying in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

Huo Fenghua quietly pursed his lips.

Wen Heyi smiled at him. “You’re not completely wrong, and not completely right. Once we get to Zhuyue City, you’ll know what it’s really for.”

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