Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 69
Huo Fenghua didn’t actually care that much whether this business deal with Hu Dong and Lan Shuilian would succeed. What he truly wanted was to join forces with Hu Dong and Lan Shuilian and bring Bao Wentong down. Otherwise, the waterways in and out of Wuhetan would always be controlled by Shenlong Wu, which meant that half the money he earned in the future would end up being handed over to Bao Wentong for nothing. Honestly, he couldn’t swallow that.
Huo Fenghua strolled through Wuhetan’s streets with Wen Heyi. It was already close to noon, and the whole city was gradually coming alive.
In the end, they chose to compromise with Bao Wentong for now. The plan was to build the gambling house first. This newly constructed grand casino would be named “Bu Xian Xian*”. In Huo Fenghua’s vision, it would be a paradise of indulgence, with every vice at hand: food and drink, sex, and gambling. The poor gambling scum who sold their sons and daughters wouldn’t even make it past the front gate. Meanwhile, every rich young master in the Central Plains would consider it an honor to have spent a night there.
*Translated, it means No need to envy Immortals, a quite apt name since the place they’re building will give every vice imaginable that one wouldn’t need to envy a paradise like “heaven” where immortals reside.
Standing in the very center of Wuhetan, hands clasped behind his back, Huo Fenghua smiled broadly. The site for Bu Xian Xian was right ahead. Workers were currently tearing down old buildings, waiting to raise the new one.
Wen Heyi trailed behind him, holding a sugar figurine. He stared for a long while, then opened his mouth and bit the figurine’s head clean off.
Aside from waiting for Bu Xian Xian to be built, there was another matter that had Huo Fenghua restless and irritable.
The men he’d sent to gather news about Feng Tianzong had sent a message back by carrier pigeon. After receiving the imperial decree, Feng Tianzong had gone along with the imperial guards escorting the imperial envoy back to the capital. By now, he should be on the road to Yujing and had likely already entered Donglin territory.
That news made Huo Fenghua deeply uneasy. For an instant, he even had the urge to go looking for Feng Tianzong himself. If Feng Tianzong allowed himself to be taken without resistance, then his fate would be entirely in someone else’s hands. If the emperor of Donglin remembered Feng Tianzong’s achievements and spared his life, fine. But if he didn’t even show that much sentiment, then Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang probably wouldn’t escape this time.
While worrying about this, he then thought again that Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang might have plans of their own. He shouldn’t rashly charge back and only make things worse. So he merely sent a few more men, straight to Yujing, to gather intelligence.
Thinking of it, Huo Fenghua couldn’t help resenting Feng Tianzong and cursed under his breath, “Stupid to death!”
Wen Heyi, chewing on the sugar figurine’s head, asked indistinctly, “Dad? Are you talking about me?”
Huo Fenghua turned to look at him. “Of course I’m talking about you. Stupid and useless. All you do every day is eat, drink, and have fun. You can’t help with anything at all!”
Wen Heyi lowered his eyes, wronged, and looked at the sugar figurine in his hand. He held it up and asked, “Dad, want some?”
“No. Move it away,” Huo Fenghua snapped.
Wen Heyi silently stuck it into his own mouth. After a while, he’d already forgotten Huo Fenghua had just yelled at him and said, “Dad, I want to eat steamed buns.”
After yelling, Huo Fenghua began to feel bad. “Steamed buns, huh? Fine. Let’s go.”
They cut through an alley toward the main street across the way to buy buns.
A bearded, scruffy middle-aged man lay in the alley. Seeing Huo Fenghua’s expensive fabric, he pushed himself up and lunged, trying to rob him. Before he could even get close, Wen Heyi kicked him hard, sending him crashing into the wall.
Wen Heyi frowned. “Smelly. Don’t come close.”
Huo Fenghua didn’t even look at the man. He told Wen Heyi, “Don’t touch him with your hands. It’s dirty.”
Wen Heyi quickly wiped his hands on his clothes. “I didn’t touch him,” he said, and followed behind Huo Fenghua out of the alley.
Other vagrants in the alley, who’d been gearing up to make a move, all shrank back. They only lifted their heads to watch the two of them hurry past, not daring to do anything.
On the main street there was a bun shop. The wrappers were thin and the filling generous. One bite filled your mouth with rich, oily fragrance. Wen Heyi liked them a lot and Huo Fenghua thought they were good too.
As they walked toward the shop, Huo Fenghua spotted someone standing there from a distance. The person wore rough gray cloth. His long hair was tied up with a ribbon into a bun at the back of his head, exposing a snow-white nape and ears.
All at once, Huo Fenghua felt the silhouette was painfully familiar. He couldn’t help slowing down.
That person bought two buns from the shop, wrapped them in oiled paper, and turned to leave. As he did, he glanced back at Huo Fenghua.
With that single look, both of them froze.
Even in coarse clothes, the man’s clear, elegant beauty couldn’t be hidden. A being like this, Huo Fenghua had only ever seen one since coming to this world. The words flew out of his mouth, “Senior Brother!”
But after hearing “Senior Brother,” Su Zeyang turned his gaze away. As if he hadn’t seen Huo Fenghua at all, he continued walking forward.
Huo Fenghua jolted, then immediately chased after him.
Wen Heyi grabbed Huo Fenghua’s arm and shouted, “Dad, buy buns!”
Huo Fenghua was held back and could only fling Wen Heyi’s hand off. Pointing at Su Zeyang ahead, he said, “Stop him, and I’ll buy you buns!”
At that, Wen Heyi leapt lightly, did a smooth flip in midair, and landed right in front of Su Zeyang, blocking his path.
Su Zeyang looked startled. “Martial Uncle Wen?”
Wen Heyi touched his lips lightly with the half-eaten sugar figurine, staring at Su Zeyang in confusion. “What did you call me?”
Huo Fenghua had already caught up. He grabbed Su Zeyang’s wrist. “Senior Brother, why won’t you acknowledge me?”
Su Zeyang turned his head away. “Weren’t you already dead?”
Huo Fenghua knew Su Zeyang was angry. Panicking, he lifted his arms and hugged Su Zeyang, burying his face in Su Zeyang’s shoulder.
“You know why I left.”
Su Zeyang didn’t hug him back. His voice was cold, but it trembled faintly. “I told you to leave. So why did you still lie to me?”
Huo Fenghua truly started to hurt. He brushed his lips lightly against Su Zeyang’s pale neck.
“Because I wanted you and the General to be together. I wanted it to be like I never existed.”
Su Zeyang took a deep breath and pushed at Huo Fenghua. “Fine. Then I’ll act like you don’t exist. So why are you stopping me?”
Huo Fenghua refused to let go. He hurriedly said, “I know the emperor sent people to escort Feng Tianzong back to Yujing. Why are you here?”
Su Zeyang fell silent for a moment, as if making up his mind. He pushed Huo Fenghua away and said, “You don’t need to worry about it.”
Then he turned and quickly entered a narrow alley to the side.
Huo Fenghua chased after him again. Wen Heyi, curious, followed too.
At the mouth of the narrow alley, Huo Fenghua stopped Su Zeyang. This time he locked his arms around him from behind, refusing to let him go.
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother. I know I was wrong. I didn’t want to hurt you. I just wanted you both to live well.”
Su Zeyang didn’t speak. His body was stiff, unwilling to yield.
Huo Fenghua hurried on, “I know you don’t want to forgive me, but the General is being escorted back to Yujing right now. Aren’t you afraid someone will kill him on the road? Even if you won’t forgive me, you can’t ignore whether he lives or dies. Tell me, why are you here? Do you even know how the General is right now?”
Su Zeyang said, “I told you. Don’t get involved.”
Huo Fenghua wouldn’t accept that. “This is Wuhetan, not Donglin, not Xichou. They can’t control this place. Here, I can still speak with some weight. If you won’t tell me anything, I’ll send people to follow you and investigate on my own.”
Su Zeyang clenched one hand at his side. After a long while, as if finally deciding, he asked Huo Fenghua, “Can you find a trustworthy physician?”
Huo Fenghua’s heart lurched. “What happened?”
Su Zeyang said, “Tianzong was poisoned. Even now, he still falls into unconsciousness. I had nowhere else to go, so I brought him to Wuhetan.”
Huo Fenghua’s eyes flew wide. “Take me to him!”
Su Zeyang led Huo Fenghua and Wen Heyi through the cramped alleyways. At the end, he slipped into a hidden courtyard. The house inside was shabby, and the door was locked from the outside.
Su Zeyang unlocked it. The moment he pushed the door open, Huo Fenghua saw Feng Tianzong lying on the bed.
Feng Tianzong’s eyes were shut tight. His face was deathly pale. A thin, damp quilt covered him. He seemed still unconscious, not reacting at all to people entering.
For a moment, Huo Fenghua felt dazed. He walked unsteadily to the bedside, slowly crouched, and touched Feng Tianzong’s cheek.
“General?” he whispered.
Feng Tianzong didn’t wake.
Su Zeyang placed the buns he’d bought into a porcelain bowl on the table. “He still hasn’t woken up once this morning. And he hasn’t eaten since last night. If he wakes later, I’ll feed him a bun.”
Wen Heyi stood at the doorway, staring uncertainly at the room and the man on the bed, not daring to come in.
Huo Fenghua slid his hand under the quilt and took Feng Tianzong’s hand. He asked Su Zeyang, “How did it come to this?”
Su Zeyang stood by the table. After a pause, he finally said, “You know the emperor issued a decree accusing him of treason and sent imperial guards to escort him back to the capital. On the way back, they poisoned his food. They wanted to make it look like he died of illness. When I chased after them from Xichou, he was already poisoned, barely alive in the prisoner cart. So I killed the guards escorting him and rescued him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have made it back to Donglin before dying on the road.”
Huo Fenghua thought: what he feared had still happened. He stroked Feng Tianzong’s face and asked, “Why were you in Xichou?”
Su Zeyang said, “Do you remember the curse on the Feng family from Luofeng Ridge? I’d been having people watch the Right Prime Minister’s residence. We found someone of unknown identity going in and out of the Wang’s Manor, very likely the person who set the formation at Luofeng Ridge. I chased him all the way into Xichou. Before I could catch him, I heard something had happened to Tianzong, so I had to go after that first.”
Since Huo Fenghua had faked his death and left the General’s Manor, Su Zeyang and Feng Tianzong hadn’t had a chance to reconcile. In the chaos, this happened. Su Zeyang didn’t hesitate. Alone, he took the risk and saved Feng Tianzong.
But Feng Tianzong’s consciousness was hazy, frequently falling into a coma. Su Zeyang had to carry him while avoiding pursuers. Along the way they could only flee north through remote mountain paths. There was no way to take Feng Tianzong to a proper doctor. They only found a mountain healer who took his pulse and said his life was not in immediate danger.
The imperial guards escorting Feng Tianzong wanted people to believe he died of illness. The poison they used worked slowly. It wouldn’t kill him immediately, but it also couldn’t be left untreated for long.
After Su Zeyang brought Feng Tianzong into Wuhetan, he found a doctor at night to examine him and prescribe antidotes, but after taking them there was no improvement.
Huo Fenghua asked, “Do the pursuers know you entered Wuhetan?”
Su Zeyang said, “Not yet. But if they keep digging, they’ll find traces eventually.”
Huo Fenghua stood up from the bed. “I’ll have a carriage prepared. Come back with me first. I’ll find a doctor to treat the General.”
“No,” Su Zeyang said. “Just find a trustworthy physician and bring them here. Don’t get involved in anything else.”
Huo Fenghua walked up to Su Zeyang. “Why shouldn’t I get involved?”
Su Zeyang raised his eyes to him. “You were willing to fake your death just to leave the General’s Manor. So why insist on dragging yourself back into our affairs now?”
Huo Fenghua fell silent. He lowered his head and tugged at Su Zeyang’s sleeve, fingers rubbing the fabric lightly. After a long while, he said, “I left because I didn’t want to keep interfering in your relationship. It wasn’t because I wanted to draw a line and stop caring whether you lived or died. Senior Brother, have you ever thought about how hard it is for me too? To care every moment but not be able to be with you.”
Su Zeyang didn’t answer.
Huo Fenghua looked up. “I know you won’t come back with me because you’re afraid of implicating me. But I can’t just watch you and the General fall into disaster. Even if it means death, I’m not afraid, if I can die together with you.”
Su Zeyang’s expression stayed calm. Only his lashes trembled slightly.
Huo Fenghua took his hand. “With the General in an environment like this, when will he ever be able to detox? And when the pursuers reach Wuhetan, where can you still run with the General?”
Su Zeyang gave a soft sigh.
Huo Fenghua looked at his pale pink lips and couldn’t help leaning in to kiss him.
Just then, a face suddenly popped in beside them, staring curiously at what they were doing.
Huo Fenghua jumped, turned, and snapped at Wen Heyi, “Move away!”
Wen Heyi pressed a hand to his chest, startled, and called, “Dad—”
Su Zeyang frowned. “What happened to Martial Uncle Wen?”
Before Huo Fenghua could answer, Wen Heyi spoke first. “I’m not Martial Uncle. I’m Yi’er.”
Then he grabbed Huo Fenghua’s arm and asked, “Dad, who is he?”
Huo Fenghua patted the back of Wen Heyi’s hand and said, “He’s your mom. Quickly, call him Mom.”
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