Moments later, Huo Fenghua climaxed again. He was completely dazed and limp, too tired to even move a finger, and eventually fell asleep on the bed.
He slept all the way into the next morning. When he opened his eyes again, he found his strength had returned. Aside from the sticky discomfort, nothing else felt wrong. It seemed the abundant internal energy inside him had circulated on its own while he slept, and for the first time he felt that having all this power might actually come with benefits.
Only after he turned over did he realize he was on the outer side of the big bed, with Feng Tianzong beside him, one arm wrapped around his waist. Memories of last night flooded back, and even with his thick skin, his face still heated up. He tried to quietly push Feng Tianzong’s arm away and get out of bed.
But he had barely moved when Feng Tianzong woke up. The arm around his waist tightened sharply, and Feng Tianzong pulled him in and rolled over, placing him on the inside.
In an instant, Huo Fenghua ended up between Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang. He hadn’t even caught up to what was happening before his heart started hammering.
All three of them were still naked, their bodies pressed together under the bedding. Su Zeyang buried his face against Huo Fenghua’s shoulder, a palm resting against his chest, and asked with his eyes closed, “Not sleeping anymore?”
Huo Fenghua stared at the heavy canopy above them. “You two sleep. I want to get up.”
Su Zeyang opened his eyes too and sat up. The quilt slid down, exposing a body marked with traces from the night before, his long hair falling along his waist.
From above Huo Fenghua, Feng Tianzong reached out and hooked a strand of Su Zeyang’s hair with his fingers.
Huo Fenghua yawned, then stretched. “Senior Brother…” The word had barely left his mouth when he remembered that the one calling the shots in this household was the General. He corrected himself and turned his head. “General.”
Feng Tianzong propped himself up on one arm and looked down at him. “Say what you want to say.”
Huo Fenghua reached out, fingertips sliding along Feng Tianzong’s arm and up over his shoulder to his chest. “I want to go out.”
Feng Tianzong didn’t answer, only watched him.
When he still didn’t respond, Huo Fenghua gently rubbed Feng Tianzong’s nipple, teasing him as he tried to coax him. “I’m just going to take a look at the gambling houses in the city. Half a day, and I’ll be back. I won’t cause trouble.”
“What are you going to a gambling house for?” Feng Tianzong asked.
Huo Fenghua looked up at him. “To gamble, obviously. What else, eat dinner?”
Su Zeyang interrupted, “That’s improper.”
Huo Fenghua rolled to face him. “Improper? Senior Brother, don’t joke with me.” As if the three of them in one bed counted as “proper.”
Su Zeyang didn’t argue. He just looked at him.
Feng Tianzong suddenly said, “By the rules, I shouldn’t agree. But everything has exceptions. It depends on whether you know how to behave.”
Huo Fenghua sat up, swept his hair behind his ear, then pushed the quilt aside and knelt. He knelt between Feng Tianzong’s legs and grabbed his considerable cock. He looked up at Feng Tianzong, then said, “General, aren’t you afraid of excessive indulgence?” before he opened his mouth and swallowed the entire member.
Su Zeyang sat back against the wooden bed rail, watching them quietly.
While giving Feng Tianzong a blowjob, Huo Fenghua reached out to Su Zeyang, his hand snaking its way between his legs. After getting them both fully hard, he pulled off of Feng Tianzong’s cock and reached out for Su Zeyang, before pressing him back towards Feng Tianzong. Seeing Feng Tianzong embraced Su Zeyang as he landed in his arms, Huo Fenghua quickly flipped over and jumped off the bed.
Feng Tianzong reacted fast and reached out to grab him but Huo Fenghua immediately caught his wrist instead and shouted, “Absorbing Technique!”
Remembering Huo Fenghua’s strange power, Feng Tianzong pulled his hand back at once.
Huo Fenghua snatched up his clothes from the floor and had already retreated to the doorway. “General, if you go back on your word, you’ll regret it! I can go out today, right?”
Feng Tianzong looked at him and couldn’t help but smile faintly. He flicked a hand. “Get lost.”
Huo Fenghua hurriedly pulled his clothes on. When he pushed the door open, he caught on the threshold again and nearly fell, but he still remembered to swing back and shut the door for them.
Feng Tianzong pulled Su Zeyang into his arms, tipped up his chin, and kissed him.
Su Zeyang looped an arm around Feng Tianzong’s neck and sighed. “You’re really going to let him?”
“It’s fine,” Feng Tianzong said, his hand smoothing over him. “I’ll have someone follow him in secret so he won’t get into any trouble.”
“Mm.” Su Zeyang closed his eyes. “Tianzong… don’t hold back.”
Su Zeyang rose from the edge of the bed and slowly unbuttoned his robe.
Huo Fenghua’s breath hitched. He instinctively turned to look at Feng Tianzong and saw that Feng Tianzong clearly had no intention of leaving the room. A rush of nerves hit him. It felt like nothing good was waiting for him after all.
“Forget it,” Huo Fenghua said. “This doesn’t have to happen right away.”
He turned, meaning to head out.
Feng Tianzong stepped into his path. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Huo Fenghua didn’t answer. The next moment, Feng Tianzong swept him up into his arms. Huo Fenghua startled and hooked an arm around his shoulder on reflex.
Carrying him to the bedside, Feng Tianzong took off his boots and climbed onto the bed, still holding Huo Fenghua close. He lowered his head and asked, “You begged me to agree, and I finally did. Why are you trying to run now?”
Huo Fenghua’s breathing quickened. He felt Feng Tianzong’s hand slip beneath his collar, warm and rough against his skin, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
“Then what are you still doing here, General?”
Feng Tianzong’s tone stayed even. “My concubine wants to share my wife, but I’m not allowed to stay in the room? What kind of logic is that?”
Huo Fenghua shivered at the touch, eyes tipping upward. “Since when has any of this ever been logical?”
Feng Tianzong looked at him, then let out a chuckle and leaned in to kiss him.
At the bedside, Su Zeyang had already removed his outer robe. Then he stripped away the rest with unhurried calm. He was tall and lean, his skin pale and flawless, and he climbed onto the bed without the slightest attempt to hide himself. Kneeling there, he lifted a hand to loosen the ribbon binding his hair. Black hair spilled down at once, falling over his shoulders like ink, and he flicked the ribbon aside.
Huo Fenghua stared, suddenly realizing for the first time that someone could look both untouched by the world and unbearably seductive at the same time. He took a deep breath, feeling his penis hardening and struggled a little. But Feng Tianzong, who was holding him from behind, didn’t let go. He forced Huo Fenghua to remain sitting on his lap as he reached out and opened Huo Fenghua’s clothes and pulled down his trousers, revealing the fully hardened erection.
Su Zeyang knelt on the bed, crawling closer to Huo Fenghua. He first leaned forward and kissed Feng Tianzong behind Huo Fenghua. Huo Fenghua felt his black hair fall down, covering his eyes, and only heard the wet kissing sounds of the two. He said unhappily, “Let go of me!”
Su Zeyang then lowered his head to look at him, straddled him with his legs, and reached out to caress Huo Fenghua’s face.
Huo Fenghua raised his hand to hold the back of his neck, kissing his chin. The warm, lingering kisses slid down Su Zeyang’s naked chest, and he sucked on one of his nipples, his soft tongue licking it vigorously.
Su Zeyang tilted his head back, his breathing becoming rapid.
At this moment, Feng Tianzong separated Huo Fenghua’s legs and lifted him onto his lap. Huo Fenghua instantly felt Feng Tianzong’s thick, hard, and hot cock pressing against the cleft of his ass through his trousers. The two of them had done this countless times along the way, and their bodies were already intimately familiar with each other. At that moment, Huo Fenghua felt a hollow, itchy sensation inside. The thought made Huo Fenghua’s cheeks flush slightly. He continued to caress and kiss Su Zeyang defiantly, watching Su Zeyang’s body turn a faint pink, and feeling the hard erection between his legs pressing against his lower abs, finally regaining some sense of accomplishment.
While Huo Fenghua was caressing Su Zeyang, Feng Tianzong reached his hand under his clothes, gently stroking his slender waist, his fingers slowly moving across his ribs, pinching his nipples between his middle and index fingers, and then rubbing the tips with his calloused thumb.
A sudden wave of pleasure washed over Huo Fenghua. As he held Su Zeyang’s nipple in his mouth, he couldn’t help but gasp. He had to open his mouth, his eyes moist, looking up at Su Zeyang.
Su Zeyang used one hand to push all the long hair that had fallen on him behind his back. He supported himself on the bed with both hands and leaned his upper body back. His beautiful and alluring body was completely exposed to Huo Fenghua, while their cocks were tightly pressed together, rubbing against each other.
At this moment, Feng Tianzong reached out a hand from behind Huo Fenghua, simultaneously grabbing both their shafts. He began to stroke them all the way to the base, while his thumb gently rubbed the tip.
Huo Fenghua and Su Zeyang groaned almost simultaneously.
Huo Fenghua instinctively wanted to lean back, but he was tightly pressed against Feng Tianzong’s embrace, with nowhere to retreat. He tilted his head back, resting it on Feng Tianzong’s shoulder, looking at Feng Tianzong’s sharply defined jawline, and couldn’t help but lean in and kiss him.
Feng Tianzong turned his head, pecked him lightly on the lips, and asked, “Do you like it?”
Huo Fenghua swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, uttering a “Mm,” followed by a series of moans. He had lived two lives, and even with the combined experiences of both, he couldn’t have imagined three men being so depraved on the same bed.
Thankfully, he wasn’t repulsed; instead, it only heightened his arousal.
With his other hand, Feng Tianzong somehow produced some lube and smeared it onto Huo Fenghua’s chest, making it slick and smooth. Then, he used his lube-covered hand to grasp Huo Fenghua’s penis, slicking it up.
After that, Su Zeyang propped himself up, spread his legs wider, held onto Huo Fenghua’s cock, and slowly sat down.
The warm, soft flesh of his hole tightly enveloped the hard shaft.
With the lube, the penetration was smooth. Su Zeyang placed his hands on Huo Fenghua’s shoulders, completely taking him inside.
Huo Fenghua’s chest heaved violently. He was eager to begin thrusting, but then he felt Feng Tianzong behind him, holding his waist and pulling down his pants.
He felt the heat of something thick and hard pressing against his ass. Feng Tianzong’s finger, still slippery from being coated with lube, traced his hole that was already gaping open due to his legs being spread.
Huo Fenghua realized what Feng Tianzong was about to do, and he couldn’t help but protest. “No…”
“No?” Feng Tianzong asked, inserting the lube into Huo Fenghua’s body, and then smearing it onto his own cock.
Huo Fenghua simply felt it was too depraved; even the thought of it was unbearable.
At this moment, Su Zeyang clenched his hole, slowly raised his hips, then relaxed, and sat down completely.
“Ah—” Huo Fenghua cried out. Su Zeyang called to him. “Fenghua.”
“Senior Brother…” Before Huo Fenghua could finish speaking, Feng Tianzong lifted his hips and thrust himself into him. The thick, hot shaft skillfully and forcefully pressed against his sensitive insides. He widened his eyes and opened his mouth, unable to make a sound for a moment.
Behind him was Feng Tianzong’s thrusting, which made him tremble with every movement, while in front of him was Su Zeyang displaying his fair, alluring body while Huo Fenghua was burrowed into his soft passage.
Huo Fenghua had never experienced anything so stimulating in his two lifetimes. He opened his mouth and gasped for air, as if he would suffocate otherwise. He was also moaning, uncontrollably, the pleasure overflowing to the point of almost pain.
He thought how embarrassing it would be that he might die from sex. He was in a daze, his whole body, except for his still hardened erection, was weak and powerless.
After thrusting for a long time, perhaps finding it difficult to exert force, Feng Tianzong reached out and pushed Huo Fenghua forward to lie prone, while Su Zeyang lay back, spreading his legs to facilitate Huo Fenghua’s thrusts.
Huo Fenghua’s hands couldn’t support his body, and he softly collapsed onto Su Zeyang, his body rubbing against his delicate skin. Feng Tianzong increased the force of his pounding. Now, Huo Fenghua felt he wasn’t the one penetrating Su Zeyang, but rather Feng Tianzong thrusting him into Su Zeyang.
The pleasure was too overwhelming; Huo Fenghua felt like he was about to cum. But he was unwilling. He reached out and touched Su Zeyang and found that he was still hard. He tried relentlessly to make Su Zeyang cum by jacking him off.
However, he couldn’t hold on for long. Huo Fenghua’s body trembled and his muscles tensed. After a brief moment, he spilled his seed inside Su Zeyang. Simultaneously, Feng Tianzong had stopped his pounding, allowing Huo Fenghua’s cock to remain deeply burrow inside Su Zeyang. The tip of his cock pressed hard against Su Zeyang’s passage, creating waves of continuous pleasure. Huo Fenghua felt tears stream down his face as his orgasm continued.
Su Zeyang raised his hand and wiped away his tears. Huo Fenghua felt embarrassed and buried his face in Su Zeyang’s shoulder, softly calling out, “Senior Brother.”
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Feng Tianzong pulled out of Huo Fenghua. Su Zeyang hugged Huo Fenghua, rolled over on the bed, and pinned Huo Fenghua beneath him.
Huo Fenghua was stunned. He weakly watched Su Zeyang turn his head and kiss Feng Tianzong. Then, Feng Tianzong, with perfect coordination, slowly inserted himself into Su Zeyang.
Thinking that his own cum was still inside Su Zeyang, and that Feng Tianzong had just entered that very same hole, Huo Fenghua’s face immediately turned bright red. Following up, Su Zeyang spread Huo Fenghua’s legs and squeezed his own erection into Huo Fenghua’s entrance.
“Nn—” Huo Fenghua was powerless to resist, tilting his head back and moaning again. At the same time, he felt Su Zeyang clasped his hand, and their fingers interlaced, their palms pressed tightly together.
Myss couldn’t even wait to take it back. He opened his mouth to bite—his head just halfway forward when a pair of hands reached from behind and fixed his head in place.
Myss struggled forward with all his strength, his face stretched and distorted. Then, remembering he had hands, he tried to snatch the thing. Kalen stepped back two paces in surprise and held the black lump high.
“Don’t touch this. It’s very dangerous. Let me handle it,” he said with complete sincerity.
Those hands restraining Myss—Salaar’s hands—shifted and pulled Myss back into his arms. The great hero wasn’t in good shape; most of his weight was pressed down on Myss, making him feel as if he was being used as a crutch.
Just as the Demon Lord was about to explode, Salaar asked, “You don’t know what this is, but you know it’s dangerous?”
Kalen nodded solemnly. “Yes. I once saw it flatten an entire village.”
Myss immediately softened his struggling. The thing smelled so delicious it made his head spin, but he didn’t want his mouth blown off.
Seeing that Myss had calmed down, Salaar loosened his arms.
Myss’s clothes had been corroded into shreds, but parts of it were still being held up by his belt, so he wasn’t stark naked. Salaar’s clothes, however, had been reduced to pathetic strips, making him look rather unpresentable.
“It’s not convenient to talk here. Let us return to the church.”
Kalen took off his last remaining shirt and handed it to Salaar to cover himself—after all, there was a clear-headed little girl inside the church.
A few minutes later, inside the church.
“She’s Scintilla.”
Seeing the mutilated unconscious girl, Hailey recognized her at once.
Upon entering the church, Salaar had casually torn a piece of white silk from a statue. With quick hands he had fashioned a simple white robe for himself, making him look less miserable.
He then carried Scintilla onto a bench and skillfully cast healing magic. The pale red threads and memory fragments on her body hadn’t vanished, but her face regained some color and her breathing gradually steadied.
Hailey hesitated, then followed Kalen’s example, taking off her outer cloak to cover Scintilla’s curled-up body.
Myss didn’t care who Scintilla was. His gaze stayed hooked on that mysterious object, like a fishhook luring a fat fish.
Salaar sighed and clung close to Myss, prepared for any eventuality. He looked at the unnatural darkness outside the door and then at Kalen. “Would you mind explaining?”
The pale red threads had all broken and Mina was gone, yet that dreadful darkness still remained.
Even without eyes that could see through magic, Salaar could guess the core of this anomaly was not Scintilla or Mina but that strange lump—
Kalen was holding it carefully with both hands and now set it down gently on a flat ritual stone table.
“This time, thanks to you two, the disaster was lifted. Naturally, I owe you an explanation.”
After making sure the thing was safely placed, Kalen let out a long breath. “You two seem quite interested in the strange illness. In fact, Rosha isn’t the only place with ominous outbreaks.”
“In recent years, several places have experienced similar odd events—someone suddenly mutates, then drags everything nearby into hell. Those who mutate often have this thing on them.”
“At present it seems to be highly concentrated pure magic. The more grotesque the host’s mutation and the greater the number of people affected, the purer the magic power extracted into this thing.”
“It sounds like rose essential oil.” Salaar thought of the Magibases engulfed by the pale red threads. To get one gram of rose essential oil one must distill tens of thousands of roses. Then how much magic must be drained to form this?
No wonder Myss only found normal Magibases faintly fragrant yet couldn’t resist this “extracted essence” at all.
Kalen smiled. “Ah, my brother used a similar comparison. He also gave it a name: ‘Abnormal Fruit’.”
“He taught me the trick to dealing with Abnormal Fruit.”
“Deal with it? How?”
The moment the keyword came up, Myss’s ears perked up.
“There’s only one known solution: consume it using harmless magic until it is gone. Only when the Abnormal Fruit disappears will the anomaly fully dissipate,” Kalen said. “But the Abnormal Fruit is highly unstable. If someone tries to cut it or take it by force, it will explode on the spot.”
Myss’s face went pale, and he let out a sound almost like a sob.
Salaar forced his mouth into a flat line. He still had many questions but talking too much might push the Demon Lord into losing control again.
But one thing was certain, he couldn’t let Myss eat that thing.
If Myss got blown up, he might return to his original form; but if he absorbed all that magic, the balance of strength between them would shatter.
“Myss, don’t risk it this time. Its origin is strange. What if it’s poisonous?” Salaar whispered as he steadied a hand on his shoulder.
“Let us do as Kalen said and use a magic spell to consume it. While it’s being used up, you and I can watch carefully.”
Myss’s heart was shattered—yes, what else could he do but make it disappear from sight?
Calming down and thinking it through, earlier he and Salaar together barely subdued that monster… Even if this thing wasn’t toxic, its power was formidable; his human body might not endure it.
Until they found a safe way to handle it, it wasn’t worth dying for a taste.
… But it smelled so good. Damn it, he was starving.
Myss covered his face with both hands and slowly squatted down, not wanting to say a single word. He tried to hide his nose to block out that deadly scent.
“If you two have no objections, I’ll begin eliminating it,” Kalen said. “Please step back a little.”
Salaar didn’t move. “Must it be consumed by a specific magic? Would other harmless spells work?”
Kalen scratched his head. “As long as it is not destructive magic, theoretically yes… Would you like to try?”
He stopped moving and looked at Salaar inquiringly.
Salaar thought for a moment, broke off a small piece of white stone from the statue, and began drawing a magic circle on the floor.
Seeing Salaar, who usually cast spells barehanded, actually drew a proper magic array, Myss couldn’t help raising his head and secretly peeking through his fingers.
That guy must have borrowed Lord Karns’s knowledge. The circle looked decent and contained many runes Myss had never seen.
“Myss.” Salaar seemed aware he was peeking and spoke without looking up. “Don’t you think there’s a problem between us?”
Myss frowned. “Hmm? Is there a problem between us?”
Then he had better quickly address any gaps.
Salaar glanced at him and whispered, “Fine, let me rephrase. Earlier in the fight you got distracted. Were you doubting me?”
Salaar knew he had made mistakes while in his support, but he hadn’t expected Myss’s reaction to be that big. He thought Myss had long since engraved ‘Salaar is untrustworthy’ into instinct.
This realization left him feeling… complicated.
Myss didn’t reply.
Being distracted during battle was humiliating but having your archenemy guess the reason why was even worse. He decided to play dead on the spot.
“I know what worries you. You fear I’ll discover the truth first and stab you in the back. But if we’re always on guard, we can’t fight at full strength. That’s a serious problem.”
Salaar tapped the ground with the stone. “We don’t need to talk about meaningless ‘trust’. Let us just make a contract—using the Abnormal Fruit as material, the magic effect will be absolutely guaranteed.”
A contract?
Myss finally lifted his head and raised his eyebrows.
“Before uncovering the truth about the body-switch ritual, you and I must share all related information and can’t lie or hide anything.”
“Before uncovering the truth about the ritual, you and I must guarantee each other’s safety and can’t act passively.”
“Before uncovering the truth about the ritual, you and I must stay close and can’t leave without permission.”
Salaar stated each clause emphatically while he fixed his gaze directly at Myss, as if he was trying to catch every smallest reaction.
“…Well? This way there’ll be no ‘I found the truth but kept silent.’ After the truth is known, who lives or dies will depend on skill.”
Myss thought for a while, then stood up. “Fine.”
Good enough. The Abnormal Fruit would stay with him in another form; his pent-up grievance eased considerably. And he truly didn’t want to be constantly suspicious, with his mind always on Salaar. A contract would make things simpler.
“But I’ll cast with you. You’d better not pull any tricks.” Myss pointed at his eyes. “I can see things very clearly right now.”
Salaar smiled back.
“Have you two decided?” Since they had lowered their voices, Kalen had politely kept his distance.
“Done, Father.” Salaar patted the white stone dust off his hands. “Please bring the Abnormal Fruit here and teach us the process.”
It turned out to be much simpler than they expected.
Kalen only asked where the center of the array was, then placed the plump Abnormal Fruit right on top.
“It’s a bit like a lost ancient alchemy. I heard this kind of magic is extremely complicated.” He peered curiously at the array. “Are you an alchemist?”
“No. I’m just a scholar who likes researching history,” Salaar said calmly.
At the edge of the round-table-sized array, Salaar and Myss stood facing each other. Salaar extended one hand and chanted a long incantation that Myss couldn’t understand.
The array lit with a gentle, brilliant gold glow, and the pitch-black Abnormal Fruit gave a slight wriggle.
Wave after wave of magic surged out like a tsunami, blowing both their hair sideways.
Countless gold motes danced above the array, drifting around the two of them and forming a splendid band of light like a Möbius strip.
Soundless information flooded into Myss’s mind. It was the three terms Salaar had just stated.
Salaar hadn’t tampered with it. The information was even more precise and detailed than his spoken wording, watertight in every respect.
If either of them broke the contract, their power would vanish immediately and wouldn’t return until the other party chose to forgive them.
“…Contract confirmed. Offer perfect metal imbued with essence,” Salaar intoned.
What’s that supposed to mean? Myss looked at him, puzzled.
Salaar didn’t bother to explain. He took out the ritual dagger made of pure silver and sliced open his own palm. The silver-white blade, covered in blood, dropped into the gold light of the array.
It didn’t hit the ground but melted into a small silver-white sphere and floated slowly on one side of the array.
Myss suddenly understood. He felt around in his shredded clothes and pulled out the nearly ruined silver dining fork.
The warped fork pricked his arm, then fell with his blood into the array and immediately became a silver sphere of the same size. The two spheres orbited the array, circling closer and closer. The Abnormal Fruit dissolved at high speed, and the two spheres grew ever more dazzling.
At the instant the fruit disappeared, the spheres merged into one and turned into a silver… egg.
Myss: ?
Crack.
The array slowly dimmed. The silver egg split open in front of him and two tiny silver snakes crawled out. They floated in midair and slithered toward Myss and Salaar respectively.
Myss instinctively held out his hand and allowed the snake to coil around his right arm. It had eyes like garnet, its skin shone with a dark silvery gray, and it carried a faint metallic texture.
Just looking at it gave Myss a strange sense of intimacy, as if it was a part of him.
The other snake flew into Salaar’s hand.
With a flash of silver light, that snake turned into a single-serpent staff. Its length matched an ordinary walking stick, its color a subdued silver gray. A slender silver snake coiled at the head of the staff, its eyes like inlaid lapis lazuli.
“The air outside is really fresh.”
The snake, which looked like a mere ornament, actually opened its mouth and spoke.
Myss stared at it in shock, then looked at his own snake. His snake was busy yawning, exposing tiny fangs, with no time to talk.
“This is the embodied symbol of the contract. In a sense, it is one with us,” Salaar said. “I thought the Magibases were an interesting idea, so I tried something similar.”
“You can turn it into a weapon, like this—”
Salaar flicked the serpent staff. The snake instantly formed a hilt-like structure at the head, while the lower half of the staff was wrapped in brilliant gold light and became a slender blade.
A delicate lightsaber appeared before Myss. The power of the Abnormal Fruit had fused into it perfectly. A faint pressure emanated from it, far stronger than that ritual dagger had ever been.
Tap. Tap.
The tip touched the floor twice. The gold faded at once, and the lightsaber returned to a plain serpent staff.
“That tickles,” the snake said again.
…This is amazing!Salaar actually had such a miraculous use for it!
Myss immediately looked at his own snake and began considering what to make it become.
A dagger?
No, not quite right. He mainly used magic to eliminate enemies, so a wound from the slightest stab from a dagger was negligible. The earlier use of a dining fork had only been to provide an anchoring point for his magic.
A bow and arrows?
That would fit his ranger persona, and long-range attacks suited him. But a longbow was bulky, and drawing and shooting was troublesome. Myss felt a headache just thinking about it.
If only he could combine the two.
In a flash, the image of Salaar raising a dagger and firing flames crossed his mind.
The silver snake moved on its own, coiling around Myss’s right wrist. A moment later it fixed its body in place, its head resting on the back of Myss’s right hand.
At first glance it looked like a silver bracelet in the shape of a serpent. Myss, however, caught the idea at once. It was essentially a refined wrist crossbow.
He lifted his hand and moved his will. A jet of pitch-black magic shot from the snake’s mouth like a viper spitting venom.
The shot grazed Salaar’s foot and ate a bottomless little hole into the floorboards.
Myss and the silver snake both cried out “Wow!” at the same time.
This thing was even more handy than he expected, and its attack coverage was quite flexible. In close quarters he could even have the snake bite directly.
“How is it?” Salaar winked at him.
“I’m naming it ‘Fork’.” Myss stroked the silver snake in satisfaction. Its touch was cool and silky, and it gave off a faint pleasant scent.
Fork narrowed its eyes at him and said in a shrill voice, “Your taste in names is awful.”
Myss narrowed his eyes right back. “If you want to live, keep quiet.”
Salaar chuckled and coughed twice, then waved his own serpent staff. “Then I will call this one ‘Knife’. It’s basically a knife transformed.”
Knife: “That’s truly a… unique name, beyond my comprehension.”
Salaar: “Really? Thank you for the compliment.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Kalen applauded from a few steps away, wearing the same astonished look as Myss.
“This is the first time I have seen such wondrous alchemical magic,” the priest exclaimed. “Congratulations on successfully, uh, giving birth to new life…?”
Myss and Salaar both fell silent.
After a few seconds, Salaar gave a dry laugh, thanked him, and used magic to erase the traces of the array on the floor.
“But the anomaly here hasn’t disappeared,” Kalen said, glancing toward the door. “Sir, did you overlook something?”
“No. There’s indeed a tiny remaining portion of the Abnormal Fruit. Only a very, very small bit,” Salaar said, then produced a candy ball as if by sleight of hand.
Myss couldn’t fathom it. This man’s clothes had nearly fallen apart earlier. The ritual dagger was one thing, but this was somehow still around.
He was in no mood for such details now. From that candy he smelled an extremely alluring fragrance.
It was the scent of the Abnormal Fruit. It wasn’t as intense as the fruit itself, but exactly the same in flavor, most likely the residual crumbs of the contract magic.
“Eat it,” Salaar said, tossing it to him. “In such a tiny amount, even if it is poisonous, it won’t matter.”
Myss popped the candy into his mouth without hesitation.
Curiously, his sense of taste didn’t react. The fragrance felt more like a guide, as if his instincts had borrowed human senses on purpose just to secure his attention.
As the fruit’s magic seeped into him, Myss felt vividly and unmistakably alive. It was an incomparable comfort, like a newborn taking a first breath.
In truth, Myss could more or less guess Salaar’s motive.
If he kept brooding over this, it wouldn’t benefit anyone. The great hero was cooling a powder keg. Myss couldn’t resist such bribery though. The contract first and the candy after; Myss’s dissatisfaction vanished to the sweetness.
“I’ve decided not to resent you for now.”
Myss devoted himself to savoring the magic. His whole body tensed, and the corners of his eyes grew faintly moist.
“That’s truly my honor, My~ss~,” Salaar said cheerfully.
……
The candy melted, and the illusion quietly collapsed.
Faint voices drifted from the nearby street. The damp, fishy odor fully dispersed, and the air turned dry and clear.
The church was still the same church, but the sky outside the door had brightened at once. Myss looked up and saw the spire intact, all the damage from the battle gone without a trace.
The hot, rank air, the membranous sheath covering the city, the windows lit from within—all of it had felt so real. Yet the twisted monster nurtured there had never managed to be born.
Only the contract’s silver snake still lay on the back of Myss’s hand. Its cool, slippery touch told him the past events hadn’t been false.
At last, the Abnormal Fruit’s remnants were completely digested by Myss. Mina’s distorted memories faded, leaving only a light impression that could no longer stir any emotion.
In the very end, Myss seemed to hear a soft sigh.
“Who goes there?!” A roar followed at once, making Myss jump.
—People in disheveled clothing had appeared in the church, creating quite a suspicious scene. The night watchman swung his lantern and shouted them out.
Scintilla, whose appearance had grown abnormal, was wrapped in silk and was being floated by Salaar. Huey was still unconscious and was carried on Kalen’s back.
Hailey ran ahead to lead the way. She moved through the night with practiced ease and guided them straight to the Hammer Tavern.
Since the bird-beaked demon had appeared, the tavern had far fewer guests. Even so, at the sight of this particularly strange group, a wave of whispers and exclamations rose. Hammer silenced the curious patrons with a look and pointed upstairs.
“I’ll get you something to eat in a bit. Tell me what herbs you need,” he whispered.
…And just like that, Scintilla and Huey took the beds that should have belonged to Myss and Salaar.
Myss was in a good mood, savoring the candy, so he decided not to pursue the matter for now. He leaned against the corner and watched the busy humans.
Perhaps because he had newly gained the fruit’s power, Salaar generously cast cleansing spells and removed all the grime from everyone.
Earlier, to attend the exorcism and blessing, Salaar had only worn a loose old outfit. Now he pulled out that dark-blue formal suit again and changed quickly in the corridor. Paired with the newly acquired serpent staff, he looked even more like a proper scholar.
“Mr. Huey has nothing serious. His magic fluctuations are a bit weak. Slow recuperation will suffice.”
After carefully checking Huey’s condition, Kalen looked relieved. A few more crows had gathered outside the window, hopping along the sill and gently tapping the glass with their beaks.
Kalen smiled and waved to them, then went to check Scintilla on the other bed. At the sight of the girl’s terrifying alteration, that trace of relief vanished at once.
Half of Scintilla’s body was gone, leaving only pale red threads tangled into a mass. They drooped dryly like plant roots withered by drought.
Myss narrowed his eyes, trying to observe the Magibase inside Scintilla. He found only a broken, indescribable clump of something. It was less like a living thing and more like scraps of meat on a butcher’s board.
Salaar stood beside him and watched in silence as well.
“Miss Scintilla’s situation isn’t optimistic.” Kalen sighed. “Forget recovery. I have never seen someone altered like this return to human form. Mr. Myss being able to separate her human body at all is already an extraordinary feat.”
Salaar looked at him noncommittally. “So?”
“So I’ll look after her until the very last moment,” Kalen said softly. “How about I take her home, and you two look after Mr. Huey and Miss Hailey. If anything else comes up, find me at Scintilla’s house anytime.”
“The Abnormal Fruit is gone, and the strange sickness won’t recur. Your investigation can be wrapped up.”
“Is that so?” Salaar crossed his arms. Knife flicked its tongue.
“I never said our goal was to investigate the ‘Lower City plague’.”
“As it happens, when I last visited Scintilla’s home, something seemed to be missing from her table… Of course I don’t mean the lantern.”
“Father, what’s that letter in your pocket?”
The author has something to say:
The pets are here!
Yes, I declare they have two children, blood-related (…)
Two adorable contract snakes to make up for the fact that neither of them has a Magibase, and they even come as a matching couple—
The roof of the small-footprint church was a spired cone. At its very peak stood a cross, while twelve panes of stained glass formed the church’s dome.
When sunlight streamed through those panes, anyone standing in the ground-floor hall would feel bathed in divine light.
Bathed in such radiance, walking through such a church, no one could help believing that their wishes would be granted if they only prayed to God.
Unfortunately, there was no sunlight now; only the eternally unchanging gray sky.
And of the twelve beautiful panes, one had already been shattered.
Bai Zhou and Zhou Qian now stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the metal framing between the two panes flanking that gap.
On the narrow stone eaves outside the remaining panes stood, to their left, the Peach Blossom Legion headed by Ke Yuxiao, and, to their right, the Feidu Legion led by Xu Yang.
The three gunshots had barely rung out when both Ke Yuxiao and Xu Yang were stunned, and so were the people in the church below who had watched everything through the glass.
Zhou Qian’s features were exquisitely handsome. When he narrowed his eyes to aim, the lift of his outer eye-corners lent a hint of wickedness to his assured gaze—it was hard to look away once you saw it.
At the same time, he bore the obvious polish of someone raised amid wealth. Even now, his stance as he fired was textbook perfect, very likely the product of frequent professional training at archery ranges and the like back in real life.
That Zhou Qian had fired three shots into the empty sky with such crisp, fluid form. After the brief moment of confusion, the spectators in the hall below were instantly gripped by dread. A few who didn’t know him couldn’t keep from cursing aloud.
“Those were our only three rounds. What’s he playing at?!”
“Has he lost his mind?!”
“If he doesn’t care about living, what are we supposed to do?”
“No, he’s famous. I know him. In the player-rating leaderboards before S-level he’s still number one. No one’s ever topped him! It’s just that his clears are always something no one expects.”
“I don’t care how ingenious he is. There are rules, you know! He’s just thrown away our only weapon!”
……
Up on the roof, Zhou Qian ignored every word from the players below. He casually tossed the gun onto the tiles, shot Ke Yuxiao a contemptuous glance, then turned a look of lofty disdain toward Xu Yang.
He began, “Hints in the system broadcasts, the fact that you knew weapon caches beforehand, your recruiting by way of making examples of others. All of it points to one thing: weapons in this instance are extremely limited.
“The Peach Blossom Legion opened this very special instance with a mountain of intel in hand and made straight for the richest weapon deposits. How did the Feidu Legion learn all that? I’m guessing… you planted a mole in Peach Blossom, right?”
Peach Blossom had triggered the instance. They wanted its hidden rewards, and they wanted Zhou Qian dead in the melee. Coming in with so much info, they should have stationed different squads at each cache to monopolize the lot. At minimum, it was enough to deny Feidu any chance to stand as an equal.
So how had things ended up like this?
Peach Blossom weren’t fools: knowing caches lay in several spots, they couldn’t have occupied only one, unless they had a traitor.
Most likely that mole gathered intel, hid a portion of the weapons from Peach Blossom, then passed the info to Feidu, letting Feidu seize those arms.
“Mm. Peach Blossom has a Feidu mole. I don’t need to spell that out, do I?”
Here Zhou Qian turned to look at Ke Yuxiao and the ranking members behind him. Seeing their faces indeed shift, he went on with a smile. “Peach Blossom’s a big legion. Intel of this weight can’t be handled by one person. So our mole wouldn’t dare sit on anything really crucial. It would be too easy to get caught. A reasonable inference, then…”
His gaze slid to Xu Yang, eyes glinting. “Peach Blossom’s stockpile still exceeds yours by far. Xu Yang, with things like that, you’re still here for me?”
Without waiting for more words, Xu Yang quickly worked out the logic and his complexion darkened.
By contrast, Zhou Qian looked ever more composed. “Xu Yang, what passed between us before, you can call it a minor episode, water under the bridge. What feud do we really have?
“Let me pose this: say you have twenty bullets left, Peach Blossom fifty. Wiping out everyone here with me would cost you your full twenty. You sure you want that?”
He spread his hands. “You know there were only three bullets where I was. If I’d claimed I couldn’t find them, you’d never trust me. You’d fear I’d take a potshot. If I’d sworn not to use them, same story. Lucky for you, I did find all three—and I’ve just fired them. You saw it yourself.
“Now you’re certain I pose zero threat, yes?
“Unarmed me is no danger to Feidu or Peach Blossom. In that case, will you waste your ammo on me or save it to use on each other?”
With that, he took Bai Zhou’s hand, as calmly as if out for a lovers’ stroll.
He did indeed lead Bai Zhou a few steps along the roof’s edge, then looked back at Ke Yuxiao’s side. “Same logic your way. Even with fifty rounds, killing me costs you twenty. Why not keep them for the real threat, Feidu?
“If you shoot us, it’s thirty versus twenty and your edge shrinks. Besides… you still have at least one mole you haven’t found, don’t you?”
Behind Ke Yuxiao, several squad leaders were now eyeing one another warily. Seeing it, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, waved lightly, and, before both legions’ gazes, walked to the roof edge.
Bai Zhou slipped an arm around his waist. “Hold tight.”
“Mm.” Zhou Qian smiled at him, hooked his left arm around Bai Zhou’s neck…
And Bai Zhou, holding him, leapt down, landing steadily on Liuguang Street.
Under everyone’s eyes, Zhou Qian swaggered into the church hall with Bai Zhou, produced all the yellow wristbands, and tossed them a careless look.
“Put them on, all of you. You heard what I said: for them to spend all their ammo on us is a losing bargain. In this situation the twenty of us must come together completely if we’re to flip disadvantage to advantage. If we don’t stay united, we’ll spiral into collapse and we’ll all die. But…”
His tone suddenly turned icy, laden with menace. “I advise you to stay obedient. First, they may not trust you; second, all they want are the information on the murderers you possess, and afterward they’ll kill you anyway.
“And weapons are limited—those will go to their own. If you defect you may not get a weapon, and even if you do…”
Here Zhou Qian lifted Bai Zhou’s hand. “We have Bai Zhou here, ranked first among god-tier players. One way or another, he will cut down traitors. Therefore…
“Take my advice: drop all thoughts of betrayal.
“Since you’re with me, believe this—I can lead you to victory.”
……
[Holy crap, why didn’t I think of that?]
[I’m not being an armchair critic. I did think of it, but I’d never dare try it…]
[Same as above. How could Qian Ge leave those two up there?]
[Yeah, Qian Ge talks a good game, but what if… what if the two legions join forces?]
[Right… They could each spare a few bullets and be done, couldn’t they?]
…
Inside a private box of the virtual viewing hall.
Zhou Qian’s gamblers launched into heated debate over his move.
And not just here, barrage comments were flooding every viewing hall.
The dozen gamblers in this box all turned in unison toward one man.
He was someone with quite a history: Yuan Bing.
Yuan Bing had once been Wen Bin’s gambler. His machinations had nearly trapped Zhou Qian’s team.
Only later did the gamblers learn that Wen Bin’s prowess owed to a brilliant strategist behind him, namely Yuan Bing.
With Wen Bin’s death, Yuan Bing, having lost his bet, owed an astronomical sum.
After a player reached S-level, the number of gamblers soared. Any loss multiplied their payouts. No one knew what Yuan Bing did in real life, but he somehow produced several hundred million and paid it.
Then he actually kept playing, picked a new player, and became Zhou Qian’s gambler.
At first the other gamblers resented him for their former enmity.
Now his position had changed, and they were all in the same boat. Though the other gamblers couldn’t say much to him, they never given him a good face.
But starting from Banquet of the Red God, things changed. Time and again Yuan Bing read Zhou Qian’s moves with uncanny accuracy, and the others began to see him differently.
Since Priest no longer appeared as a gambler to answer questions, Yuan Bing became their sole source for explanations.
Now, facing their expectant looks, Yuan Bing said, “No. The odds of Peach Blossom and Feidu cooperating are vanishingly small.”
“Why?” someone asked.
Yuan Bing: “Had Zhou Qian’s gambit failed, he’d never have left the roof with Bai Zhou alive. Their hesitation proves one thing: Zhou Qian’s calculation was right…
“Right that Peach Blossom has more bullets than Feidu, and both sides prize their ammo. How, then, could they cooperate? Killing Zhou Qian takes at least twenty rounds. Peach Blossom might agree to split it half and half, but Feidu never would. And how would Feidu negotiate?”
One gambler suddenly caught on and shouted, “Holy shit. I get it!”
“What did you get?” someone still lost hurriedly asked.
Excited, he explained: “If Feidu proposed concrete terms, say they supply thirty percent of the bullets and Peach Blossom seventy, what would Peach Blossom think? They’d back-calculate Feidu’s total ammo!
“Qian Ge’s group is twenty people. That’s fixed. Peach Blossom knows its own numbers and how many it’s killed. Everyone knows the total player count is a hundred. Simple subtraction lets Peach Blossom estimate Feidu’s manpower.
“Bullets are precious. They need them for enemy factions and for their own non-core members. Feidu has to ensure enough rounds to cover those before killing Zhou Qian. So broaching terms would expose Feidu’s real tally. This is hugely disadvantageous!”
Thus, the board had become a three-way standoff.
Granted, Zhou Qian’s camp was still the weakest since they had no weapons at all.
This instance had a quirk: each wristband color existed in only twenty-five copies. As things progressed, Peach Blossom’s faction surely controlled more than just green; Feidu likewise more than violet, assigning other execs to manage other colors.
Whatever their exact holdings, seeing Zhou Qian’s headcount let each legion roughly gauge the other’s total numbers—made up of legion core, legion non-core, and coerced lone players.
For Xu Yang of Feidu, the system’s coming “max headcount” meant he had to kill people; only by trimming players to that cap could he clear.
Those he was sure to kill were every non-core member beyond himself, his sister, and five confidants.
Once bullets were gone, they’d be down to melee or clever item use.
Assuming those seven people in Feidu were elite enough to handle two foes apiece; that saved twenty-one bullets.
If their whole faction numbered forty, they still needed nineteen bullets just to quell internal trouble before even facing outsiders.
On top of that they must exterminate everyone outside. Every remaining round had to count.
Earlier Zhou Qian had hypothetically said they held twenty bullets.
In such a pinch, to kill Zhou Qian’s twenty he’d at most offer one round and demand Peach Blossom supply nineteen.
But negotiating at all would lay out Feidu’s trump card.
This undoubtedly would have a huge negative effect on his side. He would never accept it.
Zhou Qian stood in the worst spot—no men, just three bullets.
Yet with a few words and those shots he had used softness to overcome strength, flipping disadvantage into advantage.
Once they grasped that keystone, the gamblers sat in stunned silence before agreeing in chorus: “Holy shit, awesome.” “So dirty. Political masterminds are filthy.” “Is it too late to pick up game theory now?”
Yuan Bing said, “Peach Blossom probably never dreamt they had a mole. Either way, neither legion will move on Zhou Qian: whoever spends ammo is weakened for later fights. But negotiating will reveal their hand, which is also disadvantageous.
“With such self-interested pragmatists, they’ll do neither.
“So, even if Zhou Qian is weaponless, he has formed a stable tripod with them. The three sides will settle into a delicate stalemate. As things continue…”
He paused, then added, “On Peach Blossom’s side… to have obtained intel this crucial, the mole must be high-level and rooting them out is imperative, likely to spark bloody infighting.
“As for Feidu, their non-core members may not know they’re marked for death or some do know but keep silent to avoid being silenced.
“They need only a spark to erupt. And who’s the spark? Don’t forget, they themselves brought in Hidden Blade, He Xiaowei, and the rest.”
With his explanation done, the gamblers relaxed into smiles.
“Qian Ge never disappoints.”
“Yeah, what were we worrying about? We can just lie back.”
“Hey, Yuan Bing, you don’t look that relaxed.”
“Ah, he’s just a serious guy.”
“Come on, let’s hop to another hall and chat with the other Qian Ge’s gamblers. Next time have everyone gather here. No more typing, just talk!”
……
“I’m heading to reality for a bit. Keep an eye on things.”
With that, Yuan Bing rose and left the box.
The gamblers paid little heed… Until, at the main door, a deep, unreadable emotion flickered in Yuan Bing’s gaze.
Instead of pressing the exit button to reach the public transfer zone and return via the high-roller channel, he stopped at the door and quietly drew out an identity-switch card.
In a blink he changed from gambler to player and an “inventory” slot appeared on him.
Next he took out a capsule.
Back when Wen Bin died in Murder Exhibition, Yuan Bing, as his gambler, had faced a colossal payout and despair. Priest had approached him then, inviting him into the Peach Blossom Legion.
Those hundreds of millions? Priest had staked him.
And this capsule in his hand—Priest had given it too.
[Item: Territory-Seizing Capsule]
[Function: Want to expand your legion’s territory? This capsule can help! Activate it to alter the nature of the current instance. A peaceful zone can become a battlefield; an open dungeon can become a sealed one.
Using the capsule, you may design parts of the game world. You will be the god and ruler of this instance! In the dream game you create, the system believes you can sweep all before you and claim victory. Win, and the current instance becomes your legion’s territory. Tempting, isn’t it?]
[Note 1: The user may script portions of the story and settings. For balance, the system will polish the instance, making minor tweaks that don’t affect its framework.]
[Note 2: Seizing territory and scripting a game are no easy feats. Before the capsule fully takes effect, you must clear three solo instances created for you. Their difficulty scales to the size of the territory you hope to claim: the larger the land, the tougher the trials. Use with caution!]
The moment had come. Without hesitation, Yuan Bing used the capsule, converting the semi-open virtual viewing hall into a sealed instance.
A prompt appeared: he must clear solo trials. He clicked Confirm.
Another prompt followed…
[The instance you wish to convert contains many non-players. Will you convert them to NPCs or expel them?]
Yuan Bing chose to convert them all and, in his settings, added a keyword: [Killable.]
Why had he backed Wen Bin so hard, only for Wen Bin to lose to Zhou Qian?
Why could these gamblers, who’d done nothing but pick the right horse, rake in fortunes?
He was the clever one; he deserved to be Zhou Qian’s gambler, didn’t he?
Now, only he could truly help Zhou Qian.
So why should other gamblers split the winnings with him?
As the trial loaded, Yuan Bing murmured almost to himself, “I’ll kill every gambler. Zhou Qian, only I deserve to be your sole gambler.
“When Wen Bin died, I hated you, but now… now I’m your comrade. I want to win with you!
“Only I can help you seize victory.
“You’ll come to see…I’m your one and only gambler.”
The author has something to say:
Yuan Bing’s storyline was foreshadowed back in Chapter 101~
And through his perspective we also get an explanation for how Blue Harbor City was altered.
Huo Fenghua sprang up from the desk in one hop and, under it, gave Feng Tianzong a vicious kick. In his embarrassment and fury just now, he hadn’t noticed anyone’s hurried footsteps approaching. He didn’t believe Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang hadn’t heard them.
Feng Tianzong, however, looked perfectly calm. He and Su Zeyang stood up at the same time and called out, “Elder Brother.”
Feng Tiansheng froze. His gaze swept over Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang, then shifted to Huo Fenghua. He frowned and said, “I heard you slipped back to the capital without permission, so I rushed over to see you, and this is what you’re doing in here?”
Feng Tianzong smiled as he answered, “Someone at home doesn’t understand the rules. I’m teaching him a lesson.”
When Feng Tianzong had insisted on marrying Su Zeyang, Feng Tiansheng hadn’t approved. Still, seeing how deeply attached they were, and that Su Zeyang was quiet and knew his place, he’d ultimately let it go. He hadn’t expected that, coming in a hurry today over serious business, he would find Feng Tianzong fooling around with his household concubine in the study. His expression immediately soured.
“You’re being ridiculous!”
Su Zeyang spoke up then. “Elder Brother, is the Princess feeling better?”
Feng Tiansheng’s expression softened slightly. “Somewhat. The physician told her not to go out, so she doesn’t catch another chill.”
Su Zeyang nodded. “Elder Brother still has things to say to Tianzong. I’ll go out first and have Steward Lu prepare lunch.”
Feng Tiansheng did indeed have things to say to Feng Tianzong. He nodded and said to Su Zeyang, “Thank you for the trouble.”
So Su Zeyang headed out of the study. Seeing that, Huo Fenghua immediately followed and said, “I’ll head out too. You two take your time.”
He caught up to Su Zeyang and, once they’d left the study, grabbed his sleeve.
Su Zeyang turned back to look at him. “Didn’t get enough spanking?”
Huo Fenghua froze.
Su Zeyang lifted his hand and gave him a hard smack on the butt. Huo Fenghua lurched forward, pressing tight against Su Zeyang. He simply wrapped an arm around him and said, “Fine, hit me. Just lighter.”
Su Zeyang stepped away and continued walking outward.
Huo Fenghua chased after him again, calling, “Senior Brother, wait for me.”
Inside the study, only the two brothers remained. There was no need to hide words anymore. Feng Tiansheng asked, “Since when have you and Huo Fenghua become this close?”
Feng Tianzong picked up the white-jade tiger Su Zeyang had set back on the desk before leaving. He held it, feeling the warmth lingering from Su Zeyang’s palm. After a moment, he said, “Elder Brother doesn’t need to worry about Huo Fenghua. He might not be what you imagine.”
Feng Tiansheng’s expression darkened. “What was Huo Fenghua like when he first entered the General’s Manor, and what is he like now? I’m afraid he’s colluding with Wang Chu’s side, deliberately getting close to you to catch the Feng family by the handle. You came back this time. If the emperor finds out, how will you clean it up?”
Feng Tianzong said, “I returned to the residence last night, and early this morning big brother already came. It’s hard not to draw attention.”
Feng Tiansheng looked at him. “So you’re blaming me for coming in person?”
“Elder Brother, that’s not what I mean,” Feng Tianzong said.
Feng Tiansheng frowned. “I’m saying all this for your own good. Su Zeyang was just here too. You were fooling around intimately with your concubine right in front of him. What do you think he’ll feel?”
Feng Tianzong’s fingers traced the white-jade tiger’s smooth-edged forehead. Suddenly he asked, “The Princess miscarried?”
Feng Tiansheng was startled. “That was a few days ago.”
“What a pity I can’t visit,” Feng Tianzong said. “Have Lu Xi send some nourishing medicines over. Consider it my token of concern.”
“There’s no need,” Feng Tiansheng said. “What the General’s Manor has, the Prime Minister’s Manor has too.”
Feng Tianzong looked at him. “Elder Brother, once Xichou is settled and what’s left of Shao Feijie’s forces are wiped out, I want to hand over my military authority and resign.”
Feng Tiansheng’s expression turned sharp in an instant. He stood and walked up to the desk, staring at Feng Tianzong. “What did you say?”
Feng Tianzong lounged back against the chair, one long leg draped over an armrest, posture casual. His expression was unusually blank, almost dazed.
“I’m just tired. Zeyang stays in the residence alone, and we can’t even see each other once a year. That shouldn’t be his life. I should be out in the martial world with him, living freely.”
“That shouldn’t be his life, but fighting on the battlefield should be yours!” Feng Tiansheng planted both hands on the edge of the desk. “Have you forgotten how we wandered when we were little, how much humiliation and hardship we suffered? Back then we swore we’d achieve merit and make a name for ourselves, that we’d never endure that kind of disgrace again!”
Feng Tianzong tossed the white-jade tiger up into the air and caught it again. “I’ve already destroyed Xichou for Donglin. Whether it’s the remnants of Xichou or foreign tribes beyond the borders, none of them are worth fearing. What more do you want me to achieve? Next I return to the capital to report in, and the emperor will certainly demand I surrender my command. If I refuse to return to the capital, that’s open rebellion and treason.”
Feng Tiansheng said, “Xichou’s remnants aren’t eliminated yet. What’s wrong with you leading troops in Xichou? The entire garrison in Xichou is made up of your men. As long as you don’t come back, you remain a deterrent to Donglin.”
Feng Tianzong asked, “For how long? Are you confident you can bring down the Wang family in a short time? By then, I’ll be stuck in Xichou with troops, refusing to return. The emperor will tie up you and the Princess, and Zeyang too, and use you as leverage to force me back to hand over my command. Then what should I do?”
The commander of the capital’s imperial guards was named He Zhongping, the brother-in-law of Wang Chu’s nephew by marriage, connected by kinship and, in the end, part of the Wang family’s sphere.
Feng Tiansheng stared at Feng Tianzong with a hard, furious look, as if exasperated at his failure to measure up.
Feng Tianzong let out a sigh. “Elder Brother, court struggle runs too deep. No matter how glorious it looks, it’s only temporary. You understand that in your heart. Why do you need me to persuade you?”
Feng Tiansheng’s voice was cold and heavy. “I don’t care that you married a male wife, but now you’re indulging in lust with men, losing ambition. You’ve probably forgotten every humiliation we suffered back then. Our Feng brothers are tied together at the root. One prospers, both prosper; one falls, both fall. You’d better make plans for the future!”
With that, Feng Tiansheng shoved open the study door and left as hurriedly as he’d come.
Feng Tianzong sat alone in the study for a while. Then Su Zeyang pushed the door open and came in. “Elder Brother left? I ran into him. He wouldn’t even stay to eat, so I had to see him to the carriage.”
Feng Tianzong didn’t answer. He lifted his head to look at Su Zeyang and extended a hand.
Su Zeyang walked over and took it. Feng Tianzong pulled him down to sit on his thigh.
Feng Tianzong wrapped one arm around Su Zeyang’s waist and gently stroked his cheek with the other. “It’s been hard on you, dealing with these affairs in the General’s Manor every day.”
“It’s not hard,” Su Zeyang said, resting his head on Feng Tianzong’s shoulder.
Feng Tianzong fell silent for a moment, then said, “In a while, no more than two years, I’ll take off this armor and roam the world with you, to the ends of the earth. How about it?”
“All right,” Su Zeyang said softly.
“All right?” Feng Tianzong murmured in his ear.
Su Zeyang replied, “As long as I’m with you, it’s all right.”
Feng Tianzong held him even tighter, as if he wanted to press him into bone and flesh. In a low voice he asked, “You like Huo Fenghua because you’ve been alone in the General’s Manor for so many years, and life’s been lonely?”
Su Zeyang lifted his eyes to him. “How could you think that? I know you like him too. Is that because you’re lonely as well? If you like someone, you like them. How would it only be because you’re lonely?”
Feng Tianzong kissed his forehead. “I was just afraid… There’s no need to say more. I only hope you won’t hide things from me in the future. Tell me whatever you’re thinking.”
Su Zeyang nodded. “All right.”
That night, before bed, Liu Yong came to Huo Fenghua’s small courtyard. Reluctantly, he called from outside, “Young Master Huo!”
Qingqing moved fast, throwing open the window and shouting out, “What is it, coming this late to find Young Master Huo?”
Liu Yong said, “The General requests your presence.”
Qingqing’s voice shot up. “Coming, coming right away!”
“Who said I’m coming right away?” Huo Fenghua was still brooding over Feng Tianzong spanking him today and making him lose face in front of Feng Tiansheng. He didn’t want to see him.
Qingqing didn’t care. She immediately tidied him up and shoved him out the door, then said to Liu Yong, “Young Master Huo is ready.”
Liu Yong had been waiting a long time already and was growing impatient. Under his breath, he muttered, “Ungrateful,” and turned to leave.
Huo Fenghua had no choice but to follow.
Feng Tianzong spent years on campaign. Whenever he returned to the General’s Manor, he typically stayed with Su Zeyang. But he also had a room of his own next to the study. The direction Liu Yong led him was precisely toward Feng Tianzong’s study.
Huo Fenghua grew suspicious and asked, “The General isn’t spending the night in Young Master Su’s room tonight?”
Liu Yong answered impatiently, “How would I know what the General plans?”
Huo Fenghua pondered it. If Feng Tianzong wasn’t spending the night with Su Zeyang but was calling him over, wasn’t he afraid Su Zeyang would be angry? Or had the two of them, because of him, finally ended up unhappy? Was Feng Tianzong calling him over to vent his anger?
His mind ran wild. He’d already stepped into the courtyard gate when he stopped and said to Liu Yong, “Eunuch Liu, please tell the General I’m not going after all.”
Liu Yong whirled around and bellowed, “What did you call me?”
Huo Fenghua hadn’t expected such a big reaction and blinked dumbly. “Eunuch Liu?”
Liu Yong stepped forward, face red with anger. “Who told you I’m a eunuch?”
Only then did Huo Fenghua have a sudden realization. “So you’re not a eunuch? Then Feng Tianzong still has you following Su Zeyang around to serve him?”
Liu Yong clenched his fists, as if he wanted to punch Huo Fenghua in the face. He suppressed it for a long time, then angrily shouted toward the room, “General, Young Master Huo has arrived!”
Feng Tianzong’s voice came from inside. “Come in.”
Liu Yong brushed past Huo Fenghua and left the courtyard.
Huo Fenghua fidgeted in place for a moment, thinking, ‘I’ve got this energy-sucking art. If he makes a move, I’ll drain his cultivation and vault the wall to run. What’s there to fear?’
With that thought, he steadied himself and walked up to push the door. Something seemed to be blocking it from inside. He pushed once and it didn’t open, so he raised both hands and shoved harder.
This time, someone opened the door before he could. Huo Fenghua couldn’t stop himself in time. He stumbled on the threshold and fell forward onto the floor.
Feng Tianzong stood at the doorway and said calmly, “I can’t bear such a grand salute. Rise.”
As he spoke, he reached out and shut the door.
Huo Fenghua glared at him and got to his feet, only to realize there was someone else in the room.
Su Zeyang sat on the edge of the bed and said to Huo Fenghua, “Come here. I’m going to make good on what I promised you.”
Qingqing had finished boiling the water in the courtyard, but she didn’t dare go into the room. Anxious, she paced back and forth around the yard a few times. Then she suddenly saw Feng Tianzong come out of Huo Fenghua’s room with a rather dark expression.
She bowed to Feng Tianzong. Only after he left the small courtyard did she hurry to the door, raise her hand and knock, and ask, “Young Master, may I come in?”
Huo Fenghua’s voice came from inside. “Come in.”
Qingqing quickly pushed the door open. She saw Huo Fenghua standing by the bed getting dressed. She went over and helped him put on his outer robe, asking, “Why was the General angry?”
Huo Fenghua glanced back at her. “I don’t know either. We were talking just fine, and then all of a sudden he got unhappy. I don’t even know how I offended him.”
Qingqing complained, “The General finally came over for once. How did you manage to make him leave angry?”
Huo Fenghua froze for a moment. “The way you say that makes it sounds like I’m fighting for favor in this General’s Manor.”
Qingqing said, “You’re the General’s concubine, after all. Fighting for favor is only natural.”
Huo Fenghua couldn’t help laughing. “You stay in this little courtyard all day and night. What nonsense are you thinking about?”
Qingqing lowered her voice. “I’m doing it for your own good. While the General is still in the residence, you should get closer to him these days. Maybe in the future he’ll treat you a little better.”
“All right, I got it, Sister Qingqing,” Huo Fenghua said.
After breakfast, Huo Fenghua had nothing to do in the small courtyard, so he wandered toward the central compound, thinking it’d be nice to find either Su Zeyang or Feng Tianzong and talk to someone.
But Su Zeyang wasn’t in his room either. On the way, Huo Fenghua ran into Su Zeyang’s maid, Zhu’er, who told him that Young Master Su and the General were discussing matters in the General’s study.
So Huo Fenghua headed for Feng Tianzong’s study. There was no one guarding outside, but the instant he stepped into the courtyard, he felt someone watching him from the shadows. He figured Feng Tianzong must have hidden guards lying in wait all around.
He walked to the window and secretly peeked inside. Not only were Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang there, Steward Lu was in there too. And in the corner of the study, a man dressed in black was kneeling.
Lu Xi was facing the window and spotted Huo Fenghua at a glance, interrupting Feng Tianzong mid-sentence. “General, please wait a moment.”
Since he’d already been seen, Huo Fenghua didn’t bother hiding. He simply pushed open the door and went in.
Feng Tianzong was seated behind a wide rosewood desk. Su Zeyang and Lu Xi sat on chairs against the wall, one on each side.
Lu Xi asked, “Young Master Huo, what is it?”
Huo Fenghua said, “I was bored and just taking a walk. Don’t mind me.”
Feng Tianzong said to the kneeling man in black, “Continue. What’s the situation at the Wang’s Manor now?”
“General,” Lu Xi stood and clasped his hands to Feng Tianzong. “Do we need to ask Young Master Huo to leave?”
Feng Tianzong glanced at Huo Fenghua. “No need. Ignore him. We’ll continue.”
Huo Fenghua chuckled, walked over to the chair beside Su Zeyang, and sat down. Unhurried, he straightened his sleeves and listened to the man in black report.
Lu Xi frowned slightly, looking at Huo Fenghua.
The man in black said, “This subordinate has already stationed people outside the Wang’s Manor day and night to watch everyone entering and leaving. But so far there’s been nothing unusual, and there’s been no news that Wang Anzhi is unconscious.”
On Feng Tianzong’s desk was a paperweight: a vivid tiger carved from clear white jade. It had a fierce head with its tail lifted high. Feng Tianzong lightly stroked it with his fingers and said quietly, “Looks like the Wang family doesn’t want the news to get out.”
Huo Fenghua couldn’t help but speak up. “What if Wang Anzhi wasn’t poisoned at all?”
“Impossible,” Su Zeyang replied without hesitation, tone calm. “I fed the poison to him with my own hands. They won’t be able to cure it, and they won’t be able to identify the cause. They can summon as many physicians as they like, it won’t help.”
“Have you seen the Wang family invite doctors into the residence?” Feng Tianzong asked the man in black.
“Not yet,” the man replied.
Su Zeyang rested one hand on the armrest. His fingers were pale and long, nails smooth and rounded. He tapped the armrest lightly. “The Wang’s Manor has its own physician. They’ll try that first. If it can’t be treated, they’ll invite famous doctors from the capital. If that still fails, they’ll have no choice but to seek out priests and exorcists.”
The man in black asked, “Should this subordinate send someone into the Wang’s Manor to investigate Wang Anzhi’s condition?”
“Not now,” Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang said in unison. As the words fell, the two of them exchanged a glance.
Huo Fenghua watched silently, thinking, You two really are in sync like husband and wife.
Feng Tianzong said, “Zeyang snuck into the Wang’s Manor to set the formation. They’ll definitely be on high alert now. If we barge in rashly and get caught, things will be hard to handle.”
Lu Xi asked in a low voice, “Wang Anzhi has been cursed. If Wang Chu connects it to the curse formation at the Feng family site, the first ones he’ll suspect will be our Feng family.”
Feng Tianzong’s brows were tightly knit. “They don’t have evidence, and neither do we. It’s mutual restraint. As long as Wang Anzhi doesn’t wake up, he has to weigh Wang Anzhi’s life. He won’t act rashly.”
Listening to them, Huo Fenghua crossed his left leg over his right knee and couldn’t help saying, “We do have evidence. That wooden box.”
All of them looked at him at once. Seeing everyone’s gaze drop to his leg, he quietly put it down.
Feng Tianzong shook his head. “Even if the emperor knows it’s real, he’ll never turn on the Wang family for the sake of the Feng family. Right now, in Donglin, the Wang and Feng families check each other. He’s wary of both sides, and he won’t move against either. In the end, he’ll just smooth it over or maybe give them a token punishment and then some sweet consolation.”
Huo Fenghua’s head started to ache from hearing all this. “So no matter what the Wang family does, the emperor won’t touch them?”
Feng Tianzong looked at Huo Fenghua, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. “Not exactly. There’s one thing neither the Wang family nor the Feng family can afford to touch.”
Huo Fenghua asked, “What is it?”
Su Zeyang suddenly said, “Come here. I’ll tell you.”
Huo Fenghua glanced at him and leaned closer, but Su Zeyang didn’t move, and there was a tea table between them. Since Su Zeyang stayed put, Huo Fenghua had to stand, walk over, bend down, and bring his ear close.
Su Zeyang breathed into his ear, right at the hollow. “Treason.”
Before Su Zeyang spoke, Huo Fenghua had already figured it out. Now he straightened up, and his mind jumped to Kangxi and Wei Xiaobao killing Ao Bai*, then to “Empresses in the Palace”, and all the palace dramas he’d watched. As for the power struggles and coups he’d supposedly studied in history books, he couldn’t recall a single one. For the first time, he felt that being uneducated really was a disadvantage.
Feng Tianzong said to the man in black, “You may go. Keep a tight watch on the Wang’s Manor. Report at once if anything happens.”
“Yes!” the man answered, rising and leaving the study.
Not long after he left, Liu Yong hurried to the study door and knocked, saying something had come up in the residence and calling Lu Xi out. In an instant, only Feng Tianzong, Su Zeyang, and Huo Fenghua remained.
Before, it hadn’t felt like much. But once it was just the three of them, Huo Fenghua immediately felt an indescribable awkwardness.
Su Zeyang and Feng Tianzong were both silent. Huo Fenghua couldn’t hold his tongue and insisted on breaking the silence. Pointing at the paperweight on Feng Tianzong’s desk, he said, “General, the tiger on your desk is really nice.”
Feng Tianzong picked up the paperweight. “You like it?”
Huo Fenghua held out his hand. “Let me play with it.”
So Feng Tianzong casually tossed it. The transparent white-jade tiger flew toward Huo Fenghua, making his heart lurch. He hurried to catch it.
But halfway there, Su Zeyang reached out and caught it instead, holding it in his hand. Unhurried, he said, “Do you two have nothing you want to say to me?”
Su Zeyang wasn’t a fool. Before, Feng Tianzong had been able to tell at a glance that Su Zeyang’s attitude toward Huo Fenghua wasn’t ordinary. Now that Feng Tianzong was back, the relationship between Feng Tianzong and Huo Fenghua had clearly eased. Su Zeyang saw it even more plainly.
Feng Tianzong didn’t want to hide it from Su Zeyang. He said, “Before, I went with him to look for your master and ask about your whereabouts. At that time, we slept together.”
Huo Fenghua suddenly felt uneasy. He looked at Su Zeyang, not even sure anymore who had betrayed whom with whom.
Su Zeyang’s expression was blank for a moment. After a beat, he tilted his head slightly and said, “He’s your concubine. That’s only right.”
Feng Tianzong continued, “I saw the brand on his waist that you left.”
Su Zeyang nodded. “Mm. I like him.”
Neither Huo Fenghua nor Feng Tianzong seemed to expect him to be so blunt. But then Su Zeyang added, “I like him, and it doesn’t affect what I feel for you. Nothing between us has changed.”
Feng Tianzong stared at the desk, his expression complicated. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh. “I understand. He’s someone people can’t help liking. And I don’t want anything between us to change either.”
Huo Fenghua couldn’t listen anymore. “Wait. Did either of you ask whether I like you two?”
Su Zeyang looked puzzled. “You said you like me. You’ve said it many times.”
Huo Fenghua was at a loss for words. He had said it plenty of times, and he’d always said it easily. He raised a hand and scratched his face, then suddenly slapped the tea table beside him and stood up. Facing Su Zeyang, he demanded, “Then do you still mean it, what you said about letting me do it?”
Su Zeyang lifted his eyes to him and said softly, “I mean it.”
Huo Fenghua immediately turned to Feng Tianzong. “See? He agreed. You agreed too. Nobody’s allowed to go back on it!”
Hearing that, Su Zeyang looked at Feng Tianzong, sounding incredulous. “You agreed?”
Feng Tianzong looked at Huo Fenghua and darkened his face. “I agreed?”
Huo Fenghua made a small, strangled sound, and cold sweat pricked at his forehead.
Feng Tianzong said in a low voice, “Come here.”
Huo Fenghua said, “What for?”
Feng Tianzong’s voice turned even colder, his expression severe. “Come here.”
Even though Huo Fenghua had just gained a whole body of inner energy, he was still afraid of him, especially when Feng Tianzong got serious. So, unwillingly, he walked over and asked softly, “General? What is it?”
Feng Tianzong patted the wide desk in front of him. “Lie on it.”
Huo Fenghua’s heart sank. He thought Feng Tianzong was about to do something right here. “That’s not a good idea, General.”
Feng Tianzong didn’t speak, only stared at him with a set face.
Huo Fenghua pressed his lips together and lay down on the desk.
Feng Tianzong lifted his hem and brought a palm down on his ass.
Huo Fenghua snapped, “What gives you the right to hit me?”
Feng Tianzong didn’t answer. He slapped him again, landing on his full ass through his trousers, a dull smack.
Huo Fenghua was both embarrassed and furious. Face flushed, he twisted his head to look at Su Zeyang and said bitterly, “You only dare hit me. You never dare bully Senior Brother!”
Su Zeyang toyed with the white-jade tiger. His translucent fingers and the jade tiger almost seemed to merge together. He said, “How do you know he’s never hit me?”
Huo Fenghua froze. “He has?” He didn’t even finish the word before Feng Tianzong’s palm came down again. The end of his voice lifted involuntarily, almost like a moan.
Right then, someone pushed open the study door and hurried in. “Tianzong, you’re back?”
Huo Fenghua hurriedly turned his head, only to discover the newcomer was Feng Tianzong’s elder brother, Feng Tiansheng.
Huo Fenghua didn’t answer Feng Tianzong’s question right away. He simply pressed his palm to Feng Tianzong’s chest and felt his heartbeat. Feng Tianzong’s pulse seemed slower than most people’s, but it was steady and powerful.
He said, “If I say I’m leaving, what will you do? And if I say I’m not leaving, what are you going to do?”
Feng Tianzong’s voice was low. “If you want to leave, no matter what, I’ll send you off. If you want to stay, I’ll use every means to make you stay.”
Huo Fenghua paused slightly. He couldn’t feel any change in Feng Tianzong’s heartbeat, so he tilted his head up to look at him. “Aren’t you afraid that even if I stay, I’ll still be entangled with Senior Brother?”
Feng Tianzong seemed to let out a very faint sigh. “If that can’t be changed, then I’m willing to bear it.” In truth, Feng Tianzong had thought far more about this over these days than what he was telling Huo Fenghua now.
Between the three of them, it was hard to have a relationship that was completely equal.
In name, Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua were his wife and concubine; legitimately, both belonged to him. But he’d never been willing to place himself and the people he loved in an unequal position. If, out of selfishness, he wanted both of them to remain at his side, then he also had to personally break his own possessiveness and accept the private feelings between Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua.
Last night, when he’d been intimate with Su Zeyang, neither of them mentioned Huo Fenghua. But when he’d been keeping watch on the street before slipping into the carriage, he already knew the two people inside weren’t just sitting there talking innocently. This morning, when Feng Tianzong woke up and Su Zeyang was still asleep, Feng Tianzong looked at Su Zeyang’s face and suddenly thought of Huo Fenghua. He knew his own heart had been moved, and he also knew Su Zeyang had feelings for Huo Fenghua. That didn’t seem to change what existed between him and Su Zeyang, but thinking long-term still left him struggling to accept it.
Feng Tianzong was torn.
Huo Fenghua, meanwhile, was shocked. He hadn’t expected Feng Tianzong to be willing to yield to this extent for his sake. He said, “I thought you’d whip me with your lash.”
Feng Tianzong lowered his gaze to him. “It’s been a long time since I whipped you.”
Huo Fenghua heard the depth in his voice and suddenly felt something stir in his chest. He propped himself up with one hand on the bed, sat up a little more, leaned in, and kissed Feng Tianzong’s lips.
Feng Tianzong reached up, gathered his long hair, and his warm, strong tongue gently swept through Huo Fenghua’s mouth.
Huo Fenghua breathed softly. When they finally parted, he said, “I’m leaving.”
Feng Tianzong’s thumb brushed the corner of his mouth. “You don’t trust me, or you don’t trust Zeyang?”
Huo Fenghua sat cross-legged, his whole body slumped in a lazy sprawl. “No. I just want to open a gambling house, be my own boss. I don’t want to spend my whole life here.”
Feng Tianzong seemed amused. He let out a very light laugh, though his eyes held resignation. “Is a gambling house alone enough for you?”
Huo Fenghua asked him, “With Senior Brother, is that still not enough for you?”
Feng Tianzong was taken aback. Then he lifted a hand to pull Huo Fenghua’s inner robe closed, and tugged the quilt up to cover his chest. “I understand. I’ll arrange it immediately. When the time comes, you’ll pretend to be ill and fake your death. I’ll send people to get you out.”
Huo Fenghua asked, “You think we can fool Senior Brother?” If he died, Su Zeyang couldn’t possibly not come see him in person. Whether Huo Fenghua faked his death or they found a corpse to pose as him, Su Zeyang would definitely be able to tell.
“That’s why we have to think it through,” Feng Tianzong said. “We can’t rush it.”
Huo Fenghua reached over and held Feng Tianzong’s hand. “General, how long will you stay in the capital?”
Feng Tianzong’s rough thumb pad lightly rubbed Huo Fenghua’s soft palm. “If the war in Xichou stabilizes and Shao Feijie stays holed up and doesn’t come out for now, then I want to settle the matter of the curse before I leave.”
Huo Fenghua said, “That won’t be a matter of one or two days, will it?”
Feng Tianzong nodded. “Still, it needs to be as fast as possible. The longer I remain here, the easier it is for my whereabouts to leak. If His Majesty finds out, it’ll be disastrous.”
Huo Fenghua couldn’t help asking, “If the emperor doesn’t even trust you, then why are you still working yourself to the bone for him?”
Maybe many people around Feng Tianzong had thought that before, but Huo Fenghua was the first to say it so openly. Feng Tianzong raised a hand and covered Huo Fenghua’s mouth, pulling him into his arms. He spoke low by his ear. “Don’t talk nonsense. It’s one thing to say it to me, but you must never let anyone else hear it.”
With his mouth covered, Huo Fenghua made a few muffled noises, like he was trying to say something.
Feng Tianzong let go and leaned his ear toward Huo Fenghua’s lips. “What did you say?”
Huo Fenghua panted, “Are princes and generals born with special blood? Forget it. I know I can’t argue you out of it. Do whatever you want.” He took a few big breaths, then said to Feng Tianzong, “Since I’ve decided to go, I have two requests. I don’t know if the General is willing to agree.”
Feng Tianzong looked at him. “Say it.”
Huo Fenghua’s fingers gripped Feng Tianzong’s lapel. “The maid who serves me in my room—Qingqing. After I leave, help me find her a good family to marry into. Don’t let her become someone’s concubine. Find a man who’ll treat her well.”
Feng Tianzong answered, “All right. What’s the second?”
Huo Fenghua kept his eyes on him, his gaze darting restlessly. He pressed his lips together, clearly hesitating.
Feng Tianzong said, “If you have something to say, say it.”
This time Huo Fenghua truly felt nervous. He saw Feng Tianzong didn’t have his whip with him, but he still prepared himself. If Feng Tianzong got angry, he’d jump off the bed and bolt at once. He took a deep breath and said, “Let me sleep with Senior Brother for one night. Let me fuck him.”
Feng Tianzong didn’t answer. His face showed no expression either.
Huo Fenghua’s heart leapt into his throat. He braced himself for Feng Tianzong’s fury, but Feng Tianzong only pinched his chin with one hand, tilted his face up, and said in a voice that was somewhat cold and hard, “That’s your last request of me?”
Huo Fenghua could tell he was angry, but for a moment he couldn’t tell exactly what he was angry about. So he tested the waters and whispered, “I want to fuck you too. I just figured you wouldn’t agree.”
This time Feng Tianzong really was so mad he laughed.
Kinky Thoughts:
LMAO, Huo Fenghua reallyyyy loves poking the bear. Give him an inch and he’ll definitely take a mile… Though in this case, he’s definitely taking a few inches.
“Where have you been these past few days?” Feng Tianzong asked Su Zeyang softly.
Su Zeyang said, “I went to see Master, then I came back to Yujing.”
“For the Feng family curse?” Feng Tianzong asked.
Su Zeyang wasn’t surprised that Feng Tianzong already knew. He simply nodded and continued, “That wooden box holding yours and Elder Brother’s birth data was a tribute item made by the Yu family woodworks. I heard that the palace keeps records of who each tribute item is bestowed upon, so after returning to the capital, I didn’t go back to the General’s Manor first. I found a chance to make a trip to the palace.”
Feng Tianzong lifted his head to look at him. “You’re too bold.”
“I know trespassing in the palace is dangerous, so I didn’t let anyone notice,” Su Zeyang said. “You can rest assured. Every one of that batch of Yu family boxes had a serial number. I checked the Directorate’s records for the one from Luofeng Ridge. It was delivered to Her Highness the Noble Consort’s Shoukang Palace.”
At present there was only one Noble Consort the emperor had formally appointed: Wang Chu’s daughter, Wang Anzhi’s elder sister, Wang Yun’er.
“The Yu family boxes have always looked plain and old-fashioned. If it was sent into Shoukang Palace, it probably wouldn’t catch the Noble Consort’s eye. Maybe at some point it got packed up with gifts and sent back to her family,” Su Zeyang continued. “Anyway, this matter definitely can’t be separated from the Wang family.”
Feng Tianzong drew a deep breath, then said, “I understand. You’ve already done enough on this. From here on, leave it to me.”
Su Zeyang lifted his head from Feng Tianzong’s shoulder. “This might be settled very soon. Wang Anzhi is unconscious, and the Wangs will definitely recognize the effects of the soul-snatching curse. They’ll go find someone who can break it. By tomorrow there will surely be news.”
“I understand,” Feng Tianzong said. “I’ll send people to look into what’s happening at the Wang’s Manor.”
Huo Fenghua had been propping his chin up with both hands, listening the whole time. Now he couldn’t help but speak. “Can I ask a question?”
Su Zeyang looked over at him. “What?”
Huo Fenghua asked, “Those three sets of birth data in the box, aside from the General and the Left Prime Minister, who’s the third person?”
Su Zeyang looked at him without answering. He was silent for a long time before finally saying, “You don’t need to know.”
Huo Fenghua asked, “Does it have nothing to do with me?”
“It has nothing to do with you,” Su Zeyang answered.
Huo Fenghua stared at him quietly, then straightened up, hands folded in front of him, looking like a little old man who’d suddenly felt a chill on a winter night. “Fine. Then I won’t ask.”
The carriage fell silent. Up front, the driver flicked the whip with one hand and held the reins with the other, steering them onto a quieter road. The wheels clattered fast over the stone slabs. Huo Fenghua lifted the curtain and saw green roof tiles and red walls of noble residences outside, and lanterns hanging along the walls.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
The carriage drove straight into the General’s Manor.
Lu Xi hadn’t gone to bed yet. He was waiting in the courtyard to receive them. When the carriage door opened, the first person to step down was Feng Tianzong.
“General?” Lu Xi lowered his voice, but the shock in it was impossible to hide.
Feng Tianzong nodded. “We’ll talk in the room.”
Su Zeyang came after him, but he paused, leaned close to Huo Fenghua’s ear, and said softly, “Don’t bring up that data again.”
Huo Fenghua froze and turned his head to look at him.
Su Zeyang suddenly reached out, pressed a hand to the back of Huo Fenghua’s neck, and pushed his head against his own shoulder. He kissed behind Huo Fenghua’s ear and murmured, “Listen to your Senior Brother.” Then he let go and stepped down from the carriage.
Feng Tianzong stood outside and held Su Zeyang’s hand to steady him down. After that, he reached a hand out to Huo Fenghua.
Huo Fenghua looked at his palm and felt a mischievous impulse. He jumped out of the carriage.
Feng Tianzong raised both hands, caught him midair by the waist, and set him down safely. When Huo Fenghua looked up, he saw a faint smile flicker across Feng Tianzong’s lips that quickly vanished.
Feng Tianzong let go, turned to take Su Zeyang’s hand again, then said to Lu Xi, “Uncle Lu, come back to the room with us. I still have things to tell you.”
Lu Xi nodded.
Huo Fenghua clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward slightly, looking at them. “Then I’m heading back to my room.”
Su Zeyang turned back to him and said softly, “Rest early.”
Huo Fenghua lifted a hand and waved, then turned and walked alone toward the small side courtyard where he lived.
Tonight was a little chilly, but the moonlight was beautiful. When he reached the lotus pond in the inner courtyard, he stopped on the zigzag wooden bridge and looked up at the sky. A solitary crescent moon hung there, cold moonlight spilling over the land.
Back in his room, Qingqing still hadn’t gone to bed. She’d prepared hot water for him to wash.
“Qingqing,” Huo Fenghua suddenly said, “do you know the moon’s light isn’t really the moon’s light?”
Qingqing looked at him strangely. “Then whose light is it?”
Huo Fenghua slid his feet into the wooden basin of hot water and sighed in comfort before saying, “Moonlight is actually sunlight reflected.”
“Huh?” Qingqing came over and set the foot cloth on the chair beside him. “You’ve drunk too much, Young Master. The sun’s set at night. Where would sunlight come from?”
“It’s true,” Huo Fenghua said. “The moon doesn’t produce light. And the land we’re on is actually a sphere. The sun and the moon are both spheres too. The earth goes around the sun, and the moon goes around the earth.”
Qingqing snorted with laughter. “You’re really something. You can even come up with that.”
Huo Fenghua looked at her and sighed with regret. “I haven’t read much. I only know this tiny bit of astronomy, and I told you all of it, and you still don’t believe me.”
Qingqing grabbed the cloth and tossed it at him. “Hurry up and dry your feet, or the water’s going to go cold.”
After Huo Fenghua finished washing, Qingqing carried the basin out. Once she dumped the water, she would probably go to bed.
As a maid of the General’s Manor, even if she slept late, Qingqing still woke before dawn every morning. She’d tidy herself up first, step out to check on Huo Fenghua’s room, and seeing the door shut and him still asleep, she’d go to the corner of the courtyard to light the small stove and boil water.
The main kitchen had a large stove and hot water could be fetched directly, but their side courtyard was a bit far. By the time Qingqing carried a bucket over, it was often nearly cold. So she frequently boiled water herself on the little stove in the courtyard, especially once the weather turned cold.
Today, just as she crouched in front of the stove and got the fire going, she heard footsteps entering from outside. She stood up in confusion. At this hour, no one usually came to Huo Fenghua’s small side courtyard.
Dawn was only just breaking. Qingqing waited until the person stepped into the yard before she could see his face. Her eyes widened in shock, and even her speech went clumsy. “G-General?!”
Wasn’t General Feng still leading troops in Xichou? When had he returned? She had no idea. And what shocked her even more was that ever since Huo Fenghua had married into the residence as a male concubine, General Feng had never once set foot in this side courtyard. He and Young Master Su had always acted as if Huo Fenghua didn’t exist at all.
Feng Tianzong gave Qingqing a nod and asked, “Is he up?”
On this return to the residence, it was impossible to hide from every servant, but fortunately everyone here had been personally chosen and trained by Lu Xi, with strict orders that nothing leak out. At most, the servants dared to gossip among themselves; no one would speak carelessly outside. So Feng Tianzong didn’t avoid Qingqing.
For a moment Qingqing didn’t even register who he meant. When she came back to herself, she hurried two steps forward and answered, “Not yet. He slept late last night. Young Master Huo probably hasn’t woken up.”
Feng Tianzong nodded. “Then I’ll go in and take a look.”
Qingqing lifted a hand on instinct, as if to stop him, but she reacted immediately, dropped her hand, and silently stepped aside.
Feng Tianzong pushed open the door. A warm breath of air rushed toward him. He walked to the bedside and saw Huo Fenghua lying there, the quilt covering half his face. He was sleeping on his side, completely unguarded, looking utterly without decorum.
But after traveling together these days, Feng Tianzong had already grown used to seeing him like this. He reached out and stroked Huo Fenghua’s hair.
Huo Fenghua rolled over, pulled the quilt higher, and let out an annoyed little hum.
Feng Tianzong said, “You’ve got a whole body of inner energy, yet you’re this defenseless. I’m already sitting at your bedside and you still don’t wake up?”
Huo Fenghua finally opened his eyes to a thin slit and answered lazily, “You think I don’t know it’s you?”
Feng Tianzong reached out and pulled him up. Huo Fenghua lifted his arms to hook around Feng Tianzong’s neck, leaning into his chest, still half-asleep, and murmured, “What is it? Didn’t Senior Brother satisfy the General last night?”
Feng Tianzong only smiled slightly and didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “I have a question for you.”
Wang Chu hurried over. He’d had some wine tonight, but he was still clearheaded. When he saw Wang Anzhi being hauled out of the pond by the household servants, his face immediately filled with anger. But the moment he spotted Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua, he reined it in, turning instead to scold the servants for failing to look after the young master properly.
He ordered them to help Wang Anzhi away, and at the same time he also saw the red cloth floating in the water. Shocked and furious, he demanded, “What’s that?”
The two servants who had dragged Wang Anzhi out swam back toward the middle of the pond to grab the red cloth. The water wasn’t deep. Standing in it, they flipped the cloth over and discovered that what had been floating on the surface was a mannequin dressed in red. It looked eerily like the paper effigies burned for the dead.
Both of them jumped back in fright. One of them turned to Wang Chu and shouted, “Master, it’s a dummy!”
Wang Chu’s expression tightened. He first turned to Su Zeyang and the others. “It’s getting late. I won’t be keeping any guests today.”
Su Zeyang nodded, the first to respond. “Then we’ll take our leave, Right Prime Minister.”
Wang Chu’s tone was somewhat cold as he said to a servant behind him, “See them out.”
The servant hurriedly raised his hand toward Su Zeyang and the others. “This way, Young Masters.”
Huo Fenghua followed behind Su Zeyang as they headed out. Before leaving the inner courtyard, he saw that Wang Chu had already ordered the dummy fished out of the pond. Wang Chu was crouched by the water, inspecting it carefully.
The two of them left the Wang residence. The General’s Manor carriage was still waiting outside. After Su Zeyang got in, he reached out and pulled Huo Fenghua in as well. They sat facing each other inside the carriage.
Huo Fenghua studied Su Zeyang closely.
Su Zeyang leaned his head against the carriage window and closed his eyes.
“Senior brother,” Huo Fenghua called softly. “Are you hiding something from me?” Su Zeyang was absolutely not someone who would fear Wang Anzhi. Seeing him yield again and again tonight, Huo Fenghua felt there had to be a purpose to it, especially remembering Su Zeyang had said earlier he had something to do.
Su Zeyang opened his eyes and looked at him, speaking softly. “That red-clothed dummy was something I sank in the pond of the Wang’s Manor.”
Huo Fenghua wore an expression that said, I knew it. He leaned forward slightly. “And? What’s it for?”
Su Zeyang said, “Wang Chu should discover that the dummy has his son’s birth data pasted on it. If he’s careful, he’ll also find a few talismans pasted around the pond, sealed with wax on the outside to keep out the water.”
Huo Fenghua asked, “What’s it for? Another kind of curse?”
Su Zeyang said, “It’s a soul-snatching curse. It’s recorded in the same book as the curse array we saw at Luofeng Ridge.”
Huo Fenghua frowned slightly. “You want to curse Wang Anzhi to death? Why? Was that Luofeng Ridge array set up by him?”
Su Zeyang tipped his head back. “Even if he wasn’t the one who laid it, the Wang family can’t be unrelated. But I don’t want him dead. I just want to draw out the person behind the curse array.”
Huo Fenghua immediately understood. “A lost curse recorded in the same ancient book. If that person could set an evil array targeting the Feng family, then they can definitely remove the curse on Wang Anzhi. If Wang Chu wants to save his son, he’ll naturally invite that person over.”
Su Zeyang nodded slowly.
But Huo Fenghua suddenly grabbed his hand. “Senior brother, I remember Master saying that using this kind of vicious curse brings backlash.”
Su Zeyang lightly rubbed the back of his hand with his fingers. “Yes. That’s why I didn’t truly activate it. Wang Anzhi won’t wake up tomorrow because I drugged his wine tonight.”
Huo Fenghua froze.
With one hand still clasped with his, Su Zeyang reached into his robe with the other and took out a white jade wine cup. He raised it to eye level. “Tonight the Wang family hosted guests. Every table’s cups were identical. Plenty of cups were broken during the banquet. No one would notice one missing. No one would know Wang Anzhi was poisoned rather than cursed.”
Huo Fenghua looked at the cup. Su Zeyang’s long, elegant fingers closed around it, applying a little pressure. When he opened his hand again, the white jade cup had turned to powder. He cracked the carriage door open just a bit, and the powder sifted out between his fingers into the night outside.
When he drew his hand back, Su Zeyang touched Huo Fenghua’s face. Huo Fenghua felt as though he could still sense the cup’s dust lingering on Su Zeyang’s palm, slightly rough, yet oddly slick.
He stared at Su Zeyang’s face, the delicate lines of his features so perfect they seemed unreal. His heart raced. He lifted Su Zeyang’s hand, held it to his lips, and kissed it.
Su Zeyang gave a firm tug with the hand holding his, pulling Huo Fenghua into his arms. He pinched Huo Fenghua’s chin and kissed him.
Huo Fenghua’s soft tongue slipped into Su Zeyang’s mouth. His palm pressed to Su Zeyang’s throat, feeling the pulse beating there. The kiss turned fierce, until the carriage was filled with nothing but the sound of kissing and fabric rubbing. Huo Fenghua panted softly as he reached to pull open Su Zeyang’s collar. Su Zeyang’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if the wine’s heat was only now rising through him.
Suddenly, the languid, at-ease Su Zeyang snapped his eyes open. With one hand he flung Huo Fenghua behind him. He rose and shoved the carriage door open. Huo Fenghua saw a figure drop down as if from the air, agile as a leopard, and slip straight into the carriage.
The instant Su Zeyang saw who it was, all his guard fell away. Huo Fenghua even saw light flare in his eyes as he breathed, “Tianzong!”
Feng Tianzong shut the carriage door, sat down on the bench to one side, pulled Su Zeyang into his arms, and kissed him.
Huo Fenghua sat opposite them, propping his face in his hands as he watched.
When the kiss ended, Feng Tianzong still wouldn’t let go, lingering as his lips brushed against Su Zeyang’s. He asked intimately, “Where did you go? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
“Tianzong…” Su Zeyang didn’t answer. He only buried his face in Feng Tianzong’s shoulder and drew in a deep breath.
Feng Tianzong stroked his hair, then lifted his head and looked at Huo Fenghua sitting across from them.
The guests who’d come to offer birthday congratulations were invited to move into the inner courtyard to take their seats. Huo Fenghua was holding a pastry in his hand, searching along the lakeside for Su Zeyang, but he couldn’t find him. As crowds of people passed by him heading inward, a young man suddenly grabbed Huo Fenghua by the wrist and said, “Huo Fenghua?”
Huo Fenghua looked at him. The young man was dressed in fine, luxurious clothes, and by his looks he seemed like the son of an official family in the capital. Huo Fenghua clasped his hands in greeting. “Hello, brother. Do we know each other?”
The young man let go, staring at him in confusion. “You don’t recognize me anymore?”
Huo Fenghua smiled. “My memory’s not great. I was locked up in the General’s Manor for so long that even people I used to know, I don’t recognize anymore.”
The young man looked him up and down, still full of doubt. After a moment he reached out and grabbed Huo Fenghua’s wrist again. “Come. Come with me.”
Huo Fenghua saw him heading toward the inner courtyard. He needed to go there to find Su Zeyang anyway, so he followed along. On the way, the two of them ran into Wang Anzhi, who was greeting guests. The young man lifted a hand and waved. “Look who I ran into!”
Wang Anzhi walked over with a smile. “Well, isn’t this Brother Fenghua? You haven’t seen him in ages. I was drinking with him not that long ago.”
“Oh?” The young man looked surprised.
Wang Anzhi led them farther in. “Since we’ve run into each other, we have to drink a few cups together tonight. You two sit first. Once I’m done here, I’ll come over.”
The inner courtyard was a large garden. One side had a pond too, though it was much smaller than the big lake outside, and the water seemed shallow, with only some aquatic plants floating around the edges. At this time, the garden was filled with banquet tables. Guests gathered around the round tables to sit, and a stage had been set up at the front. To celebrate Wang Chu’s birthday, the Wang family had hired the best opera troupe in the capital to perform “The Eight Immortals Congratulate the Birthday.”
Wang Anzhi and the young man brought Huo Fenghua toward a table near the pond. Halfway there, Huo Fenghua shook off the young man’s hand and said, “I still need to find someone.”
Wang Anzhi let out a laugh and asked, “Looking for your ‘sister’?”
The young man didn’t understand at first what Wang Anzhi meant, but then he laughed along.
“I saw him just now,” Wang Anzhi said. “Today I’m treating you to a drink. There’s no reason I need his permission. I’ll go talk to him for you.” With that, Wang Anzhi let go of Huo Fenghua and found Su Zeyang in the crowd.
Following his gaze, Huo Fenghua finally spotted Su Zeyang. Su Zeyang had casually chosen a table and sat down. Wang Anzhi walked over, murmured a few words to him, then pointed in Huo Fenghua’s direction.
Su Zeyang looked over and gave a slight nod.
Only then did Wang Anzhi grin and stroll back.
Huo Fenghua remembered Su Zeyang saying he still had something to do and couldn’t help feeling puzzled. At that moment the young man tugged at him again. Huo Fenghua didn’t resist, and the young man led him to sit at a table near the pond.
There were seven or eight young men at that table, all of them Wang Anzhi’s drinking buddies, the spoiled sons of the rich of the capital. Back when Huo Fenghua used to hang around with Wang Anzhi, he’d often drank and visited prostitutes with this group too.
Huo Fenghua’s appearance today naturally caused a stir. These young men, whose names he couldn’t even remember, pulled him down by the round table, all saying it had been ages, asking whether he’d been doing well living in the General’s Manor.
But no matter what they said, most of the “concern” was malicious. On the surface they called him brother, but inside they were curious about his identity as a male concubine. The concern was fake. The real point was to mock and humiliate him.
Huo Fenghua didn’t really care. When someone asked, he answered freely, without the slightest embarrassment.
The young man who’d brought him over said, “Brother Fenghua is truly a carefree soul.”
Huo Fenghua clasped his hands. “You’re too kind, you’re too kind.”
After a while, Wang Anzhi arrived too. The first thing he did after sitting down was pour Huo Fenghua a cup of wine. “You haven’t been out in so long. Shouldn’t you drink this one?”
Hearing that, Huo Fenghua picked up his cup and raised it to Wang Anzhi. “Brother Wang’s got a point. Not only should I drink, I should toast you first. Today is the Right Prime Minister’s birthday. With this cup, I wish him evergreen pines and cypresses, and a long life as lofty as the Southern Mountain!”
With him putting it like that, Wang Anzhi couldn’t very well refuse. He lifted his cup, clinked it with Huo Fenghua’s, and the two of them drained it.
As soon as the cup was set down, Huo Fenghua stood and refilled both their cups. He raised his cup again to toast Wang Anzhi. “This second cup, I wish the Old Madam robust health and blessings and longevity without end.”
Wang Anzhi shot him a look, then drank again.
When Huo Fenghua reached to pour a third cup, Wang Anzhi grabbed his hand. “What? Are you trying to get me drunk?”
Huo Fenghua smiled. “What are you saying? Today’s the Right Prime Minister’s birthday. Brother Wang should be the star of the show. These cups are just my heartfelt intention. If Brother Wang doesn’t like it, then forget it.”
Wang Anzhi looked him up and down. “Ever since you went to the General’s Manor, you’ve changed a lot. Every time I see you, you feel different.”
Huo Fenghua stared at his wine cup, lips curling. He leaned close to Wang Anzhi’s ear and murmured, “That’s the General’s ‘nourishment.’ Is that what Brother Wang wants to hear? Satisfied?”
Wang Anzhi gave an awkward chuckle. He’d meant to humiliate and mock Huo Fenghua but hearing him say it so frankly and without any shame made it feel strangely pointless. So he asked, “Looks like you and that Su Zeyang get along pretty well?”
Huo Fenghua nodded. “Pretty well. He’s the legitimate wife, after all. I don’t go provoking him.”
“Tsk,” Wang Anzhi snorted. “So you’re willing to spend your whole life in the General’s Manor as a male concubine?”
Huo Fenghua lowered his voice. “Then would Brother Wang be willing to point out a clear road for me?”
Wang Anzhi said, “If you’re willing, then I’ve got nothing to say. But if you’re not, you might as well come back and follow me again. The Feng family isn’t a place just anyone can slip into, but since you’re already inside, wouldn’t it be convenient to get a lot of things done?”
Huo Fenghua looked suddenly enlightened. “So that’s how it is. Give me a little time, Brother Wang. I still need to think it through carefully.”
After they whispered a few more words, the young men at the table began to toast one another, and the atmosphere warmed up.
At first, some couldn’t resist making jokes about Huo Fenghua’s status. Later, seeing he didn’t care, it faded. More often they reminisced about their carefree days in the capital. The more they drank, the more spirited they became.
Wang Anzhi draped an arm over Huo Fenghua’s shoulder and said, “Fenghua, do you remember Miss Linglong, the top courtesan at Zuixiang Pavilion?”
Huo Fenghua wasn’t actually drunk. He didn’t know why, but his body felt like a bottomless pit. No matter how much he drank, his mind stayed clear. Only his cheeks were flushed. He deliberately let his eyes look hazy and smiled, shaking his head. “Don’t remember.”
Wang Anzhi said, “You insisted on stealing her from me. I said, let her choose and she chose you. I’ve held a grudge ever since.”
Huo Fenghua burst into loud laughter.
Suddenly, a cool, clear voice spoke from behind him. “It’s time to go.”
Huo Fenghua immediately turned. Su Zeyang was standing there.
Before Huo Fenghua could say anything, Wang Anzhi flung his wine cup aside and stood, walking up to Su Zeyang. “I’m drinking with my brother. Why’s Madam Feng in such a hurry?”
Wang Anzhi had drunk quite a bit and was already muddleheaded.
On the stage, “The Eight Immortals Congratulate the Birthday” had finished, and the banquet had mostly broken up. Guests were leaving one after another. Only this table of young masters remained, still drinking and chatting, with a few maidservants standing by to attend them.
Wang Anzhi wasn’t speaking particularly loudly, but in the open garden his words were unusually clear.
Su Zeyang’s tone was calm. “It’s late. We should take our leave, Young Master Wang.”
Wang Anzhi reached out and shoved Su Zeyang on the shoulder. “I told you to stay with the women. If you want to leave, then leave by yourself.”
Seeing Su Zeyang stumble a step back, Huo Fenghua hurriedly stood, wanting to separate them. But Su Zeyang said unhurriedly, “Fenghua came with me. I should take him home. So tell me, Young Master Wang, what will it take for you to let him leave with me?”
Wang Anzhi laughed. “What will it take? Then come drink with me. Everybody in the capital says Feng Tianzong’s male wife is a great beauty. I’ve had plenty of pretty women serve me. I’ve never tried a pretty man. Serve Feng Tianzong the way you do and come serve me too. Let me try.”
His words were outrageously rude. If other guests heard them, it would be hard to contain. But the only people left in the garden were his pack of cronies. A few young men who were a little more sober came up to persuade him. “Brother Wang, you’ve had too much. You shouldn’t say nonsense.”
Huo Fenghua also tried to smooth things over. “You’re drunk. Go rest early.” He was about to call a maidservant over to help Wang Anzhi back.
But Wang Anzhi lifted a hand and shoved them aside, saying to Su Zeyang, “I’m serious.” Then he actually raised a hand and touched Su Zeyang’s face, clicking his tongue. “Tsk. Pretty smooth.”
Huo Fenghua narrowed his eyes, deeply displeased. One hand clenched into a fist at his side. Before he could speak, he heard Su Zeyang say, “Sure. I’ll offer Young Master Wang a toast. But once you finish this cup, please let Fenghua go home with me.”
Wang Anzhi dropped down onto a nearby stool, tugged at his robe, and said, “Pour.”
Huo Fenghua reached out to press on Su Zeyang’s arm, but Su Zeyang gently pushed his hand away. Su Zeyang picked up the wine pot, poured a cup, and held it out in front of Wang Anzhi. “I toast you, Young Master Wang.”
Wang Anzhi stared at his pale fingers and couldn’t help reaching up to touch them. He looked up at Su Zeyang and said, “Feed me.”
A young man beside them tried to stop him, murmuring, “Brother Wang, that’s enough.”
Su Zeyang lowered his eyes, his face unreadable. He brought the cup to Wang Anzhi’s lips and fed him the wine.
After Wang Anzhi finished the cup, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Su Zeyang, trying to drag him into his arms. Several people rushed forward to stop him. Someone shouted at the maidservants nearby, “Go fetch your master! Your young master is drunk. Don’t let him make a scene!”
Su Zeyang said nothing, only struggled.
A drunk person was frighteningly strong. Even with several people trying to restrain him, they couldn’t. Su Zeyang retreated toward the pond. Wang Anzhi chased after him trying to grab him but Su Zeyang dodged aside. When Wang Anzhi lunged forward, he fell straight into the pond.
The pond wasn’t deep, but the moment the drunk Wang Anzhi went in, he disappeared from view. Two servants immediately jumped in and hauled him up. Just as his head surfaced, someone on the bank pointed into the pond and shouted in alarm, “What’s that?”
Huo Fenghua also stood at the shore looking in. In the middle of the pond, a piece of red cloth floated up, bobbing up and down. It looked as if someone in red clothing were floating on the surface.
At that moment a maidservant shrieked, “Ah! There’s a dead body!”
Kinky Translations 