Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 89

Seeing everyone lower their weapons, Huo Fenghua finally felt a little more at ease, and he had the spare mind to worry about other things. He asked Su Zeyang, “Where’s Master?”

Su Zeyang said, “We got separated.”

Feng Tianzong added, “Senior went after Bai Huan and split off from us.”

Huo Fenghua said, “I ran into Bai Huan.”

“You ran into Bai Huan?” Feng Tianzong looked surprised.

Huo Fenghua nodded. “And I found out some things too, but it’s a long story. Do you all want to sit for a bit? I’ve been walking forever, and I really just want to squat somewhere for a minute.”

At that, Feng Tianzong opened his arms to him.

Huo Fenghua hurried over, hugged Feng Tianzong around the waist, and leaned into him as Feng Tianzong wrapped an arm around him.

Shao Feijie frowned hard at the sight and couldn’t help saying, “Second Prince, mind your status.”

Huo Fenghua shot him a look. “What status? Aren’t I General Feng’s male concubine? What’s improper about that?”

Shao Feijie had no way to refute it and could only snort.

Feng Tianzong patted Huo Fenghua’s hair and looked at Shao Feijie. “General Shao isn’t having an easy time these days either, is he?”

Only when he spoke did Huo Fenghua suddenly realize the two of them were in somewhat similar circumstances. Both betrayed, both on the run. He said, “That’s true. You two are basically in the same boat. You should sympathize with each other, not go around trying to kill each other.”

Shao Feijie took a deep breath. “Wang Chu had someone deliver me a letter. He wanted us to collude from inside and outside and get rid of you first.” As he said this, Shao Feijie was looking at Feng Tianzong. He didn’t hide the contents at all. “The letter said it was Second Prince who was pulling the strings, and that I was supposed to write a reply in my own hand to Second Prince. I turned the messenger away.”

“Huh?” Huo Fenghua was a little surprised. “Why turn him away? Don’t you want to get rid of Feng Tianzong?”

Shao Feijie tightened his grip on the bow. “I don’t want Feng Tianzong dead out of personal hatred. I want to drive Donglin’s army off Xichou soil. Wang Chu is wolf-hearted and ambitious. I won’t plot with a tiger. And Second Prince is the late emperor’s only bloodline. He wanted that reply from me for one reason, to harm Second Prince.”

Huo Fenghua fell silent. The idea for that letter had come from him in the first place, suggested to Wang Chu’s nephew, Pan Yuanjun. His purpose had never been to frame himself, only to take the Wang family down. He hadn’t expected Shao Feijie to keep worrying about his safety and refuse to write it. Feeling ashamed, Huo Fenghua buried half his face against Feng Tianzong’s shoulder and didn’t dare speak.

“After I talked it over with Heyi,” Shao Feijie said, looking toward Wen Heyi, “I rejected Wang Chu’s man. I didn’t expect him to secretly collude with my deputy, Zheng Luan, and set an ambush for us. We fled north to evade pursuit. On the way, Heyi was injured saving me. After I escaped alone, I got separated from him. I searched for him for a long time and couldn’t find him.”

Wen Heyi didn’t say a word.

Huo Fenghua glanced at him and saw his calm gaze as he leaned against the rock wall. He thought Wen Heyi must’ve hit his head by accident and gotten confused, which was why Third Master Luo’s men had picked him up and delivered him to the bald scholar to test medicines on.

“Didn’t expect Martial Uncle to be someone with loyalty and feeling,” Huo Fenghua said.

Wen Heyi gave him a cold look.

Huo Fenghua added, “Too bad it isn’t toward me.”

Feng Tianzong lightly tapped Huo Fenghua on the head and asked Shao Feijie, “So what did General Shao come to Luofeng Ridge to find?”

Before Shao Feijie could answer, Huo Fenghua blurted out, “The Flying Phoenix Scroll.”

Shao Feijie froze, his expression turning grave. He looked at Huo Fenghua. “How do you know about the Flying Phoenix Scroll?”

Huo Fenghua sighed. “That circles back to what I said earlier, about Luofeng Ridge and Bai Huan. I don’t know if you’ve got the patience to hear the whole thing.”

Feng Tianzong said, “Talk, and keep it brief.”

Huo Fenghua thought for a moment, then gave them the short version of everything Bai Huan had told him about Luofeng Ridge and the Flying Phoenix Scroll. Clearly, none of them knew the background. Even Shao Feijie, who had come looking for the Flying Phoenix Scroll, only knew it was a military treatise. He didn’t know where it truly came from.

When Huo Fenghua finished, Su Zeyang looked at Feng Tianzong and asked, “Did you know?”

Feng Tianzong slowly shook his head. His face was calm, but his eyes weren’t without ripples. He lifted his gaze to the low ceiling of the passage, as if he could see through it into the entire body of Luofeng Ridge. Then he said, “I have no memories of my parents. I only know that when I was little, I wandered with my eldest brother all the way to Yujing City, and Grand Tutor He took us in. Becoming a great general and destroying Xichou is something my brother used to repeat in my ear. I heard it so often I came to believe it was my own goal, the thing I had to accomplish in this life. Thinking about it now, it may have been what our parents taught him before they died.”

“Extermination,” Shao Feijie said heavily, spitting out the word. In that instant, the national hatred between him and Feng Tianzong seemed to take on another layer of color. “If it were me, I’d probably do the same for clan revenge.”

Feng Tianzong looked at him and shook his head. “There’s no hatred in my heart. Xichou is already gone. I don’t plan to carry that hatred and live with it.”

Shao Feijie didn’t speak, only held Feng Tianzong’s gaze.

Huo Fenghua said quietly, “Huo Tinggao wiped out the Feng clan back then. Now Xichou has been destroyed by General Feng. Whether or not it’s karmic retribution, doesn’t that count as an ending?”

Shao Feijie’s tone flared. “An ending? What ending? You think the hatred of a fallen kingdom should just be put down, and we should accept being captured by Donglin forever?”

Feng Tianzong said, “For me, it’s ended. For Fenghua, it’s ended too. If General Shao wants revenge and wants to drive Donglin’s troops out, that’s General Shao’s matter. It has nothing to do with us.”

“You…” Shao Feijie wanted to say Feng Tianzong couldn’t possibly wash his hands of it, but when he thought of all those Feng clan lives buried in Luofeng Ridge, he also felt that hatred repaid by hatred might never end. He could only shake his head and look at Huo Fenghua. “Second Prince, you have to come back with me. You’re the rightful Xichou royal line.”

Huo Fenghua gripped Feng Tianzong’s arm. “Huo Fenghua is already dead. If General Shao wants to restore the Xichou royal house, go find another branch of royal blood. As long as they’re named Huo, what’s the difference? If General Shao can’t accept it and wants to drive Donglin’s troops out and become emperor himself, I don’t object either, because Huo Fenghua doesn’t exist in this world anymore.”

Shao Feijie still wanted to argue, but Wen Heyi spoke. “Don’t bother persuading him. You can’t.” He’d never been persuadable in the past. And now, trying to forcibly seize Huo Fenghua and bind him for life was even more impossible.

Huo Fenghua said carefully, “General Shao, I have one last favor to ask. Can you hand over the letter Wang Chu sent you?”

Shao Feijie didn’t answer right away. “You want to use that letter to clear Feng Tianzong’s name?”

Feng Tianzong didn’t hide it. He nodded. “General Shao can rest assured. I only want that letter to wash away the false charge of treason, so I won’t be hunted anymore. I won’t return to Donglin, and I won’t take up command again. The war and grudges between Donglin and Xichou have nothing more to do with me, Feng Tianzong.”

Shao Feijie said, “Besides the letter Wang Chu sent me, I also have a letter he wrote to Zheng Luan. Heyi stole it from Zheng Luan.” At that point, Shao Feijie fell silent for a long time. He glanced at Wen Heyi, as if weighing something in his heart. In the end, he still said, “I can give you both letters, but I have two conditions.”

Feng Tianzong said at once, “General Shao, please state them.”

Shao Feijie said, “First, you swear that in this life you will never return to the Xichou battlefield, and never again lead troops to attack Xichou.”

“Agreed,” Feng Tianzong said immediately. “I, Feng Tianzong, swear to Heaven here that from this day on I will never return to the Xichou battlefield, and will never again lead troops to attack Xichou.”

Shao Feijie said, “Second, you’ll help me obtain the Flying Phoenix Scroll.”

This time Feng Tianzong looked at Huo Fenghua. Huo Fenghua nodded to him, and Feng Tianzong said to Shao Feijie, “Fine. We’ll help you retrieve the Flying Phoenix Scroll. When we do, you’ll hand both secret letters to us.”

With that, Feng Tianzong reached out a hand toward Shao Feijie. Shao Feijie stared at his palm, then slowly stepped forward and slapped his palm against it.

Huo Fenghua led them through the stone door onto the platform where Bai Huan had fallen earlier. He walked to the edge and squatted down. Su Zeyang instinctively raised his sword in front of him as a guard.

Huo Fenghua grabbed Su Zeyang’s scabbard and looked up with a smile. “It’s fine. I won’t fall. Don’t worry, Senior Brother.” Then he pointed downward. “Bai Huan said the Flying Phoenix Scroll is in one of the coffins down there.”

Wen Heyi let out a snort. “You can’t even tell whether he was telling the truth, and you’re going to jump down and pry open coffins like that?”

Huo Fenghua looked up at him. “I really don’t know. But we have to try. Didn’t General Shao’s intel also say the Flying Phoenix Scroll is in Luofeng Ridge? Martial Uncle, where do you think would be more likely to hide it?”

Before Wen Heyi could answer, Shao Feijie said, “If I had to guess, it’s very likely down there.”

“I’ll go down,” Feng Tianzong suddenly said. Ever since they’d come in, he’d been staring blankly at the sea of coffins at the cavern floor. Only after listening to them argue did he speak. “If it isn’t down there, we’ll keep looking. We’ll definitely put the Flying Phoenix Scroll into General Shao’s hands.”

Shao Feijie lowered his head and answered heavily, “Good!”

Su Zeyang reached out and grabbed Feng Tianzong’s wrist. “Don’t go. Let me.”

Feng Tianzong held his hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it lightly. “Don’t worry about me.”

Su Zeyang said, “The people in those coffins aren’t the same to you. It’s more appropriate for me to go.”

Feng Tianzong shook his head. “You and Fenghua stay up here and wait for me. Whether the coffin holds the Flying Phoenix Scroll or not, I’ll be back up soon.”

Huo Fenghua jumped to his feet and threw his arms wide. “I’ll go!”

Feng Tianzong yanked him back from the platform’s edge. “You stay up here and hold the rope for me. If something happens, pull me up immediately.”

Huo Fenghua and Su Zeyang still wanted to argue, but Feng Tianzong’s tone turned stern. “This is my responsibility.”

Su Zeyang looked at Feng Tianzong. Huo Fenghua was silent for a moment, then said, “Fine, fine. Hand me the rope. I’ll tie it on the General myself.”

He and Su Zeyang worked together, front and back, fastening the rope around Feng Tianzong’s waist, checking it inch by inch to make sure it was secure. In the end, they tied the other end to a protruding rock beside the stone door.

The rope was long enough for Feng Tianzong to descend to the cavern floor and reach the largest coffin lid in the center.

Su Zeyang and Shao Feijie gripped the rope and slowly lowered Feng Tianzong down, while Huo Fenghua crouched at the platform edge and stared downward, frowning.

“What are you thinking?” Wen Heyi asked him.

By now Feng Tianzong had reached the bottom and was standing on a coffin lid. He remembered Huo Fenghua saying the blue solution was poisonous and that he could only step on the lids, leaping from the edge toward the central lid.

Huo Fenghua lifted his head and asked Shao Feijie, “General Shao, you’ve got a map of Luofeng Ridge. Besides those six doors up here, does this cavern have any other exit?”

Shao Feijie said, “Not on the map.”

Unease crept over Huo Fenghua. “This is a burial ground. There shouldn’t be another exit down below. Then where did Bai Huan escape from just now?”

For no reason, Huo Fenghua grew tense. He shouted down, “General, be careful! I suspect Bai Huan is still hiding down there!”

Feng Tianzong’s voice drifted back from far below. “Understood!”

He watched warily as Feng Tianzong jumped step by step onto the coffin lid at the very center. Feng Tianzong stared at the lid beneath his feet but didn’t open it right away.

Everyone’s eyes were on him. The blue glow muddied their vision, and everything below looked hazy, as if veiled in mist. No one noticed that from the gap beside one coffin lid, a pale hand reached out and grabbed the rope that hung down, tied at Feng Tianzong’s lower back.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 88

Huo Fenghua felt like he was watching an opera. One person finished their turn and another immediately took the stage, not giving him a single moment to catch his breath. He couldn’t be bothered to run anymore, so he simply stood where he was and waited for Wen Heyi to come over, calling out weakly, “Martial Uncle…”

Wen Heyi walked up to him. His expression showed clearly in the candlelight. He let out a cold laugh. “You think calling me ‘Martial Uncle’ nicely means everything you did before is wiped clean?”

Huo Fenghua looked at the slight curve of Wen Heyi’s mouth. He found himself oddly missing the obedient little “Yi’er,” but he forced himself to focus. “So, Martial Uncle, you remember what happened when you weren’t in your right mind?”

“You were probably hoping I wouldn’t remember a thing, weren’t you?”

Huo Fenghua said, “How could you say that, Martial Uncle? Since you remember, then you should also remember being locked in a cage by that Bald Scholar. If your Disciple hadn’t kindly saved you, you’d probably have been turned into his medicine puppet by now.”

Wen Heyi gave a soft chuckle. “You’re right. I remembered that too. But if it weren’t for me, you would’ve had your throat crushed by that bald scholar back then. Would you still be living so freely today?”

Huo Fenghua clapped his hands. “Ah! Then we’re even!” He turned to leave.

Wen Heyi, of course, had no intention of letting him go. He struck fast, a palm aimed at Huo Fenghua’s chest. Huo Fenghua arched his upper body back and whipped his right leg up high, kicking at Wen Heyi’s wrist.

Wen Heyi’s palm sliced down at once, landing on the top of Huo Fenghua’s foot. Then he spun, his right leg sweeping in to hook Huo Fenghua’s left.

It was a move of the Xianyuan Sect. Huo Fenghua knew it well. Back when he’d gone to Zhuyue City for the marriage competition, Wen Heyi had sparred with him almost every day.

By reflex, Huo Fenghua snapped his right foot back and kicked at Wen Heyi’s leg. The moment he moved, he silently cursed himself. Sure enough, Wen Heyi didn’t retract his leg. He dropped low and slid in close to Huo Fenghua’s legs, tapping two points on his leg meridians with both hands.

Huo Fenghua’s legs instantly went numb. Before he could change moves, Wen Heyi tapped two more points on his upper body. Huo Fenghua froze in place, unable to move.

Wen Heyi straightened up. “Sure enough, a dog can’t stop eating shit*.”

*Idiom referring to one’s nature is hard to change and bad habits are hard to break. In this line, you can think of him saying, “You never learn.”

Huo Fenghua looked displeased. “You can say I’m incorrigible, but you can’t call me a dog.”

Whenever Wen Heyi used this move in the past, Huo Fenghua had gotten used to responding the same way. Wen Heyi had ambushed him with it countless times, he still never fixed the habit. Most of Huo Fenghua’s fighting style had been taught by Wen Heyi. This Martial Uncle probably understood him even better than his own Master, Gu Guangji.

Wen Heyi looked at him. “I know your inner energy isn’t what it used to be, but you still lose out because you never learned refined techniques in a systematic way.”

Only Huo Fenghua’s mouth and eyes could move now, but he still shot back immediately. “And whose fault is that? You hid all your skills and wouldn’t teach me. You also knew I couldn’t bring myself to hit you hard, so you took advantage of me.”

Wen Heyi clasped his hands behind his back. “I take advantage of you? Or do you take advantage of me? You made me call you ‘Dad’ for so long. Haven’t you gotten enough out of that yet?”

Huo Fenghua blinked. “So that’s what you’ve been holding onto. Fine. I’ll pay you back double. Just release my points first. Commander Shao is coming over any minute.”

“Shao Feijie?” Wen Heyi looked slightly surprised. “You saw him?”

Huo Fenghua said, “Yeah. I told him I was with you, and he immediately said he’d come find us. Martial Uncle, tell me honestly, is he your lover?”

Wen Heyi didn’t answer. He only asked about what Huo Fenghua had said earlier. “How are you going to pay me back double?”

Huo Fenghua didn’t even think. “Grandpa! I’ll call you Grandpa every time I see you from now on, okay? Isn’t that paying you back double?”

Wen Heyi snorted with laughter. “You really know when to bend.”

Huo Fenghua said, “A real man doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Grandpa, hurry up and let me go.”

Wen Heyi seemed to be in a slightly better mood. He slowly circled Huo Fenghua by half a step, then hooked a finger under his chin. “What else did you do to me?”

Huo Fenghua put on a serious, thoughtful face. “Probably nothing else. You kept fussing about wanting candy. I was worried you’d ruin your teeth, so I wouldn’t let you eat it.”

Wen Heyi’s fingers slid down along his jaw. The back of his hand brushed Huo Fenghua’s neck and Adam’s apple before stopping at his collar. “And what else? Today, why don’t we settle it double, together?”

Huo Fenghua’s breath caught. He remembered that night, touching Wen Heyi’s chest and lower abdomen. He hadn’t expected Wen Heyi to still remember, and to chase him down over it.

Huo Fenghua looked at him and asked, “How do we settle it, Martial Uncle?” Wen Heyi shot him a glare, and Huo Fenghua immediately corrected himself. “Grandpa.”

Wen Heyi hooked a finger in Huo Fenghua’s collar and yanked it open, baring his pale chest and stomach. “Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang both like you so much. Why don’t I taste you too?”

Hearing that, Huo Fenghua wasn’t scared anymore. He didn’t know whether Wen Heyi liked men, but he did know Wen Heyi didn’t like him and had no interest in him. This kind of intimidation wouldn’t work. He only said, “That won’t do. You’re my grandpa. This is incest.”

Wen Heyi smiled. “Your grandpa doesn’t mind.” His palm pressed to Huo Fenghua’s chest and slid downward, cold and without warmth.

Huo Fenghua shut his eyes. “If Grandpa doesn’t mind, then I’ve got nothing to say. Go ahead.” Let’s see who disgusts who.

Right then, in the dim corridor, a flash of cold light cut through the darkness. A white figure burst in from around the corner, sword qi riding on a razor-sharp blade as it stabbed straight toward Wen Heyi’s back.

Wen Heyi slipped aside and caught the incoming strike.

Huo Fenghua opened his eyes and shouted in delight, “Senior Brother!”

Su Zeyang grabbed Huo Fenghua’s arm and shoved him behind himself. Right behind Su Zeyang came Feng Tianzong. He caught Huo Fenghua in his arms, pulled him close, and reached up to draw his collar closed again.

Meanwhile, Su Zeyang was still trading blows with Wen Heyi in the narrow passage, sword light flickering without pause.

Held in Feng Tianzong’s arms, Huo Fenghua hurriedly said, “General, release my acupoint seal!”

Feng Tianzong wasn’t in a hurry at all. He said, “We heard what you just said.”

Huo Fenghua froze and looked up at Su Zeyang. Su Zeyang’s swordplay looked unusually fierce, and Wen Heyi was close to being overwhelmed.

“I was just provoking him. He wouldn’t actually do it,” Huo Fenghua argued quickly.

While exchanging moves with Su Zeyang, Wen Heyi said, “Who says I wouldn’t? You invited me so warmly. Why shouldn’t I?”

Huo Fenghua blurted, “Your lover’s about to show up, and you still want to do something to me? Even if you strip me naked, you might not have the ability!”

Feng Tianzong asked, “His lover?”

Before the words had even settled, there was a sharp twang, and an arrow shot toward Feng Tianzong’s back.

Huo Fenghua’s face changed instantly. “General!”

Feng Tianzong drew his long whip from his waist and snapped it out, knocking the arrow away. Then he slapped a hand against Huo Fenghua’s body, releasing his sealed points, and pushed him behind himself.

A tall man appeared from the far end of the corridor, gripping a longbow. The arrow was trained on Feng Tianzong, ready to fly at any moment. His steps were steady as he advanced slowly. “Feng Tianzong.”

Feng Tianzong’s voice was low. “Shao Feijie.”

They faced off. Shao Feijie stopped, arrow steady on the bowstring. “Send Wen Heyi and Second Prince over here.”

Wen Heyi glanced at Shao Feijie. The moment of distraction let Su Zeyang’s sword slide up to Wen Heyi’s throat. Wen Heyi looked back at Su Zeyang and stopped moving.

Su Zeyang said coldly, “If you don’t care whether Wen Heyi lives, then go ahead and make your move.”

Shao Feijie’s expression darkened. The veins on the hand gripping the arrowhead bulged.

Now that his points were released, Huo Fenghua could finally move. He rubbed his stiff shoulder, poked his head out from behind Feng Tianzong, and said, “Commander Shao, calm down. We’re all on the same side. How about we put our weapons down and talk.”

In the narrow corridor, everyone except Huo Fenghua spoke at the same time. “Who’s on the same side?”

Huo Fenghua fell silent for a moment, then said awkwardly, “Can’t you all count as my people? Commander Shao, what do you say?”

Shao Feijie looked at Su Zeyang. “Let him go.” Then he slowly lowered his bow.

Su Zeyang lowered the sword from Wen Heyi’s neck as well. “Martial Uncle, forgive me.”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 87

Bai Huan stood up from beside the stone bed and said to Huo Fenghua, “You’ve heard the story. Can we go now?”

Huo Fenghua’s fingertips still held the cold sensation left by the carved writing on the wall. He had a strange feeling about Bai Huan and asked, “Go where?”

Bai Huan looked at him. “Doesn’t Second Prince want to find the Flying Phoenix Scroll? I’ll take you to it.” With that, he headed out of the cavern.

Huo Fenghua followed and asked, “So you’re planning to throw in your lot with me?”

Bai Huan glanced back at him.

Huo Fenghua smiled. “I don’t know why you’re helping the Wang family. If you help them kill Feng Tianzong, what can they give you? Don’t forget you’re Xichou. You might as well help me. After all, we have the same goal—killing Feng Tianzong. As long as I can restore the kingdom someday, I can agree to any conditions you want.”

Carrying the candle stand, Bai Huan moved through the dim maze. “Xichou’s already been destroyed by Donglin. What conditions can Second Highness offer me now?”

Huo Fenghua thought for a moment. “Then can you tell me what your real goal is? Feng Tianzong’s already lost his power, sure, but when Xichou was first taken, the one who led the troops and swept through everything was Feng Tianzong. Why did you choose to side with the Wang family from the start? Or to put it another way, what can the Wang family give you?”

Bai Huan stayed silent.

Huo Fenghua’s thoughts were faintly linking into a thread, but it was still blurry. He wanted to draw even a scrap of information from Bai Huan so he could sort out the chaos in his head. “Why do you know about Huo Tinggao and Feng Yiting? I’m the Second Prince of Xichou and I’ve never even heard of it. And why are you so familiar with Luofeng Ridge’s terrain? Who told you the Flying Phoenix Scroll is inside Luofeng Ridge? Didn’t the Flying Phoenix Scroll disappear along with Feng Yiting?”

Bai Huan gave a soft laugh. “Second Highness, you’ve got too many questions. Which one do you want answered most?”

Huo Fenghua considered briefly. “Where is the Flying Phoenix Scroll?”

Bai Huan said, “If you want to know where the Flying Phoenix Scroll is, then be quiet and follow me. I’ll take you to it.”

Huo Fenghua knew Bai Huan wasn’t going to say anything more. He also found it strange that Bai Huan would voluntarily lead him to the Flying Phoenix Scroll. Watching Bai Huan’s back, Huo Fenghua grew more and more wary.

Still, as Bai Huan led him through the maze, they didn’t encounter danger. Or rather, every trap was avoided by Bai Huan. Huo Fenghua had no idea how long they walked before Bai Huan stopped in front of a stone door.

There was a mechanism on one side of the door. Bai Huan reached out and pushed it, and the stone door slid aside with startling speed, revealing a path ahead. The entire process was soundless.

Bai Huan went in first. Huo Fenghua followed. Bai Huan didn’t go far before he stopped. Candlelight only reached so far. Huo Fenghua started to say, “Th…” and immediately cut himself off. Even though he couldn’t see clearly, he could feel he was in an extremely open space. His voice overlapped with waves of echoes, making it sound unusually loud.

Bai Huan turned around and took a torch from the rock wall behind Huo Fenghua. He used the candle to light it first. As the fire brightened, Huo Fenghua realized they seemed to be standing on a small terrace. It was only about five steps from front to back, and beyond that was nothing.

Then Bai Huan took the rope off his back, tied one end to the torch, and gripped the rope. He gave it a few swings, then hurled it hard out beyond the terrace. The rope spun, the torch tied to it making more than half a circle through the air, and it lit five or six torches in the distance. The entire space flared bright in an instant.

As Bai Huan reeled the rope back in, Huo Fenghua stepped forward. He watched Bai Huan’s movements while looking down toward the edge under his feet. Only then did he realize they were inside a vast hollow cavern in the belly of a ring-shaped mountain. The cavern itself was circular. Every so often, a torch was set into the rock wall. Beneath each torch was a narrow platform like the one they stood on. Behind each platform was a stone door. It looked like you could enter this huge cavern from different tunnels.

Directly opposite them, the farthest platform was at least dozens of zhang away. When he looked up, he saw the rock walls narrowing into a cone, the top swallowed in darkness with no visible exit. When he looked down, he saw they were still dozens of zhang above the cavern floor. The torchlight couldn’t reach that far, but down below floated a dim blue glow. It didn’t illuminate much, yet he could faintly make out the scene beneath it.

Bai Huan hung the torch back on the wall, coiled the rope up, and walked to Huo Fenghua’s side. Together they looked down.

In the middle of the blue glow, Huo Fenghua could make out many wooden boards laid out in neat rows. He asked, “What are those?”

Bai Huan said, “Do you remember what I told you Luofeng Ridge originally was?”

Huo Fenghua thought about it. “You said it was the Feng clan’s burial ground.” As he said that, his heart gave a sudden jolt.

Bai Huan nodded. “Those neatly arranged boards are all coffin lids. The blue light you see is from the medicinal solution soaking the coffins. That solution can keep bodies from decaying for a very long time. So those coffins aren’t sealed shut. The solution soaks through and seeps into the coffins as well, preserving the Feng clan’s remains.”

After Bai Huan said that, Huo Fenghua immediately felt as if the whole cavern had turned cold and clammy. The air seemed to carry a strange scent. He couldn’t tell whether it was the smell of the solution or the smell of corpses.

Bai Huan pointed to the largest wooden board at the very center of the cavern floor. By now Huo Fenghua understood it was the largest coffin lid. Bai Huan said, “The Flying Phoenix Scroll is inside that coffin.”

Huo Fenghua looked at him. “How do you know?”

Bai Huan didn’t answer. He only said, “Tie the rope around yourself. I’ll lower you down. Be careful. That solution is corrosive. Once you’re down there, step on the coffin lids. Jump to the center, open the lid, take out the Flying Phoenix Scroll, and then I’ll pull you back up.”

It was as if Huo Fenghua hadn’t heard him. He asked again, “How do you know?”

Bai Huan turned to look at him. After a moment of silence, he said, “The largest clan of the Yuqing people bears the surname Feng. The second-largest clan originally bore the surname Bai.”

Huo Fenghua suddenly understood. “You’re Yuqing too?”

Bai Huan’s voice lowered. “The Bai and Feng clans have been enemies for generations. They fought for years without end. The Bai clan gradually declined and was enslaved by the Feng clan. Do you see what’s beside the coffins in those corners?”

Huo Fenghua hadn’t looked closely before. When Bai Huan pointed toward the corners, he looked and saw many stone mannequins standing there. They formed a ring around the cavern, encircling the coffins in the middle.

Bai Huan withdrew his hand. “Inside every stone figure stands a member of the Bai clan. They weren’t just enslaved generation after generation. Even in death, they must guard the Feng clan’s coffins forever. They’re never allowed to be reborn.”

Huo Fenghua finally understood. “You’re from the Bai clan of Yuqing. So you weren’t following Wang Anzhi’s orders to go after Feng Tianzong. From beginning to end, you sided with the Wang family to target the Feng brothers.”

Bai Huan nodded. “Second Prince is right. We have a common enemy, Feng Tianzong. So I won’t harm you. I’m willing to help you find the Flying Phoenix Scroll and destroy Feng Tianzong. As for whether Donglin or Xichou wins, that doesn’t matter to me.”

Something felt off to Huo Fenghua. He slowly stood and took a small step back. “Then when Huo Tinggao exterminated the Feng clan, where did the Bai clan go?”

Bai Huan said, “They took the chance to escape.”

“No.” Huo Fenghua kept backing away. “The Bai clan was captured by the Feng clan and enslaved for generations. That day in Luofeng Ridge, the ones slaughtered weren’t only the Feng clan. Your Bai clan would’ve been slaughtered too. You’re not standing with me out of shared hatred. You want to wipe out both me and the Feng brothers. That’s why the formation at Luofeng Ridge used my birth data as the core.”

Bai Huan rose to face him. “No. They really did escape. I have no grievance with you. I should thank you Huos for killing off the Feng clan. Even if your line is ruined now, I’m still willing to help you get the Flying Phoenix Scroll, then kill Feng Tianzong and repay our shared great hatred.”

Huo Fenghua wanted to retreat through the door behind him.

But Bai Huan suddenly said, “Don’t step back. If you do, you’ll fall.”

Huo Fenghua stopped short and turned to look. There was no stone door behind him at all, only empty space. One more step and he would’ve plunged into the abyss. Their stone platform had suddenly become an island in the cavern, identical from every angle.

Bai Huan smiled. “Has no one ever told you? What I’m best at is setting formations. Yin and yang, the Eight Trigrams, endless celestial patterns. The human heart is easiest to confuse with what the eyes can see, and once you lose your bearings, you’re done.”

Huo Fenghua didn’t speak. He only stared at Bai Huan.

Bai Huan said, “I’m not killing you. I truly mean to help you obtain the Flying Phoenix Scroll.”

Huo Fenghua kept his palm close to his thigh, gathering inner energy. He slowly raised his hand. Just as he was about to strike, he abruptly pulled back and looked past Bai Huan’s shoulder.

Bai Huan’s brows tightened. He heard the sharp whistling of a feathered arrow leaving the string. He twisted aside, barely avoiding the shot. When he turned, he saw someone appear on the opposite platform, a longbow in hand, gaze sharp as he aimed across.

It was Shao Feijie.

Huo Fenghua gathered qi again and slammed a palm strike into Bai Huan’s shoulder while shouting, “Many thanks, General Shao!”

Shao Feijie didn’t respond. A second arrow was already nocked on the string, aimed straight at them, but he didn’t release it immediately.

Bai Huan’s martial skill was clearly inferior to Huo Fenghua’s, and he hadn’t expected Huo Fenghua’s inner strength to be so deep. He struggled to take four or five exchanges, retreating again and again until his feet were at the edge of the platform.

Then Huo Fenghua drove a palm into Bai Huan’s chest. Bai Huan toppled backward, his body falling off the platform. Huo Fenghua leaned out to look, but Bai Huan’s figure vanished in midair. He didn’t see him drop into the sea of coffins at the cavern floor either.

Huo Fenghua looked up at Shao Feijie across from him. “Where did he go?”

Shao Feijie’s arrow was still trained in this direction, but he slowly lowered the bow. “He flung his rope onto the cavern wall, caught something, and escaped.”

Huo Fenghua asked, “Why didn’t you shoot him?”

Shao Feijie said instead, “Who was he? So you’re really not dead, Second Prince. Why are you here?”

Huo Fenghua froze, then suddenly remembered their purpose. “We came to find you!”

“Find me?” Shao Feijie’s brows drew tight. “You? Who else is with you?”

Huo Fenghua’s mind turned quickly, and the words came out. “And Martial Uncle Wen. What happened to my Martial Uncle? Do you know?”

Shao Feijie stepped forward. “You saw Heyi?”

Talking like this was far too inconvenient. Huo Fenghua asked, “How did you find this place? Do you know the way inside?”

Shao Feijie answered, “I found an old map of Luofeng Ridge.”

Huo Fenghua said, “Then can we talk somewhere else? I’m afraid we’re being too loud and we’ll wake the ones sleeping down below. If they get unhappy, we’re finished.”

Shao Feijie said, “Wait over there. I’ll come to you.”

Huo Fenghua nodded. “Hurry.”

Then he saw Shao Feijie retreat back out through the cavern entrance he’d come from.

After Bai Huan fell, the surroundings around Huo Fenghua returned to normal. Being alone in this burial place made his skin crawl. He took the candle stand Bai Huan had brought and backed out too, intending to find somewhere outside to sit and wait for Shao Feijie.

But he had barely stepped out when he saw someone standing at the end of a corridor to one side, holding up a candle stand.

Huo Fenghua realized that it was Wen Heyi.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 86

Huo Fenghua couldn’t quite understand Bai Huan’s intentions. “If you can take Feng Tianzong’s life directly, then why did you take the long way around back then and set up that whole ‘cut off the bloodline’ curse formation?”

Bai Huan didn’t answer. He only looked at Huo Fenghua.

Huo Fenghua met his gaze calmly.

After a moment, Bai Huan said, “This isn’t something that can be explained in a few words. Come with me.” With that, he raised the candle stand in his hand and walked out of the cavern.

Huo Fenghua had plenty of questions, but he didn’t dare press too hard. He was afraid of making Bai Huan suspicious. So he could only shake the mud from his boots and follow.

Outside the cavern was a corridor. By the light of Bai Huan’s candle, Huo Fenghua saw many exits along both sides. Some opened into more corridors that sloped upward or downward or ran level into the distance. Others opened into caverns, layered and overlapping. It was as if the entire mountain of Luofeng Ridge had been hollowed out into a gigantic maze, twisting and crossing through the lightless belly of the mountain.

He tried to memorize the route. Every time they passed through a corridor, he channeled inner energy into his fingertip and left a mark.

Bai Huan walked ahead without looking back. He seemed very familiar with the paths inside. After a long while, Huo Fenghua realized they hadn’t taken a single repeated turn.

Later, though, Huo Fenghua noticed that some of the caverns bore signs that someone had lived there. He saw stone beds and tables. He even saw luminous pearls set into the walls, and bead curtains hanging down as obvious decoration. He reached up to try and pry one of the pearls loose, but he couldn’t. When he turned around, he found Bai Huan watching him. Not wanting to expose his strength, he stopped and clapped his hands lightly. “Someone lived in here?”

Bai Huan was silent for a moment. “You came looking for the Flying Phoenix Scroll, yet you don’t know people lived here?”

Huo Fenghua had no idea what the Flying Phoenix Scroll even was. The more he said, the more likely he’d slip up. He clasped his hands behind his back, put on a deep, inscrutable air, and walked a few steps along the wall studded with luminous pearls. “I don’t know because nobody was willing to tell me. You can’t understand that?”

Bai Huan didn’t respond.

Huo Fenghua felt a bit annoyed at how uncooperative he was, so he continued. “I was sent to Donglin when I was young. Only now have they finally allowed me back to Xichou. Do you think they treat me like a prince… or like a tool? Can’t you see it?”

As he spoke, Huo Fenghua abruptly stopped. He’d spotted a line of carved characters on the cavern wall. He reached out to touch them and realized they were written in a script he didn’t recognize, like earthworms linked head to tail.

Bai Huan looked at him. “That’s the writing of the Yuqing people.”

Huo Fenghua turned to look at him.

Bai Huan walked to his side, lifted the candle stand, and illuminated the carving more clearly. “What’s carved there is a girl’s name, and her birth data.”

As he spoke, he lifted a hand and touched the carving too.

“Yu—what people?” Huo Fenghua hadn’t caught it.

Bai Huan said, “Yuqing used to be a small country in the northwest of Xichou. Many years ago, Xichou destroyed it. After that, the Yuqing people became the Yuqing clan. The largest surname of the Yuqing clan is Feng.”

Huo Fenghua was shocked. Feng. His mind immediately leapt to Feng Tianzong. “Feng? Then why is this place called Luofeng Ridge? Isn’t that an extremely unlucky name?”

Bai Huan told him, “Because Luofeng Ridge was originally the burial ground of the Feng clan.”

Huo Fenghua stared at Bai Huan, the astonishment on his face not fading at all.

Bai Huan set the candlestand down. “Since you want to know, I can tell you the ending of the Feng clan and the Flying Phoenix Scroll.”

Huo Fenghua’s curiosity was burning so fiercely that he practically wanted to go massage Bai Huan’s shoulders and beg him to take his time and talk.

For some reason, Bai Huan didn’t seem in a hurry anymore. He walked over and sat down on a stone bed in the cavern, then looked up at Huo Fenghua. “Xichou’s Martial Emperor, Huo Tinggao, could be called the emperor who restored Xichou’s strength. You’re surely more familiar with your ancestor’s deeds than I am.”

Huo Fenghua said nothing.

Bai Huan continued, “It’s normal you wouldn’t know the story of Luofeng Ridge and the Flying Phoenix Scroll. The matter began with Huo Tinggao. When he was young, he left the palace in disguise on an inspection tour. While hunting in the mountains, he saved a boy’s life. The boy was named Feng Yiting. Having walked right up to the edge of death, Feng Yiting was profoundly grateful. When they parted, he said that one day he would repay Huo Tinggao’s kindness. Ten years later, after Huo Tinggao had ascended the throne, he met Feng Yiting again, now a strikingly handsome young man.”

Huo Fenghua couldn’t help interrupting. “Is this… a love story?”

Bai Huan glanced at him and didn’t answer.

Huo Fenghua hurriedly said, “Go on, go on.”

Bai Huan’s voice was calm and even. “Feng Yiting was capable in both civil and military affairs. He fulfilled his youthful promise to repay Huo Tinggao’s kindness. He was appointed commander and led a northern expedition, nearly breaking into the northern barbarian capital. Later, the northern barbarians ceded Wuhetan to Xichou with their own hands. When Feng Yiting was about to continue eastward to campaign against Donglin, Huo Tinggao summoned him back to Huijing City, made him relinquish his command, and relinquished him as the Prime Minister of the court. Even so, Feng Yiting bore it without resentment, wholeheartedly assisting Huo Tinggao.”

Huo Fenghua said in a low voice, “Huo Tinggao was afraid he’d become too meritorious and threaten the throne.”

Bai Huan neither confirmed nor denied it. He only said, “In truth, Huo Tinggao trusted and relied on Feng Yiting greatly. He kept him close. The two often talked deep into the night in the palace. When Feng Yiting grew tired, Huo Tinggao would have him sleep on the emperor’s bed. There was even an eunuch who once saw Huo Tinggao personally taking off Feng Yiting’s boots and pulling a blanket over him. And because of Huo Tinggao’s favor, Feng Yiting suffered much jealousy and slander at court. He didn’t take it to heart. At the time, he was pouring himself into writing down everything he’d learned into a military treatise to present to Huo Tinggao. That book was the Flying Phoenix Scroll. Huo Tinggao also seemed untouched by others’ attempts to sow discord. He continued to favor Feng Yiting alone—he even killed a noble consort from his own harem for Feng Yiting’s sake.”

Huo Fenghua couldn’t help thinking, ‘This really is a love story.’

Bai Huan said, “Feng Yiting was trusted that deeply, and he remembered the old debt of kindness. So his feelings of loyalty and attachment grew heavier by the day. One day, the two of them were drinking in the palace. Drunk and dazed, Feng Yiting told Huo Tinggao that he was, in fact, a descendant of the Feng clan of Yuqing. The Feng clan was born able in both letters and arms. They were skilled in astronomy and geography alike, capable of deploying troops and setting formations, as well as reading the stars and divining fortunes. And he—he was only an ordinary member of the clan. Both men were quite drunk. Hearing this, Huo Tinggao laughed loudly, slapped Feng Yiting on the shoulder, and told him to bring his clansmen to help him unify the world. Feng Yiting only smiled faintly and shook his head, saying it was impossible.”

Huo Fenghua’s brows drew together slightly.

Sure enough, Bai Huan continued, “After that, the two of them slept on the same bed. At dawn the next morning, Feng Yiting woke with his head splitting. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Huo Tinggao’s face close at hand, watching him with a deep, unreadable expression. Feng Yiting remembered what he’d drunkenly said the night before, and cold sweat broke out all over him. He hurried to get up and leave the palace, but Huo Tinggao had people stop him and confined him within his own palace. At the same time, he dispatched troops to exterminate the Feng clan of Yuqing.”

Huo Fenghua listened in silence.

Bai Huan went on. “The Feng clan had astrologers. Years earlier, they’d predicted this disaster. To avoid it, the entire clan relocated deep into Luofeng Ridge, living in caves and hiding. Luofeng Ridge was shaped into what it is now by generations of Feng people digging and building. It had originally been their burial ground, meant for the clan’s dead. Now it became their refuge. They hoped to weather this catastrophe, but Huo Tinggao was decisive and ruthless. He sent troops to search harshly for the Feng clan’s whereabouts. He thought: a single Feng Yiting could nearly help him crush the northern barbarians and conquer Donglin. A whole clan of such people would be like a blade hanging over his head. If he didn’t wipe them out, how could he feel secure marching east? In the end, the troops Huo Tinggao sent found Luofeng Ridge’s interior and slaughtered every hidden Feng clansman. Not one was left alive.”

Huo Fenghua asked softly, “But Feng Yiting was still alive?”

Bai Huan nodded. “Only Feng Yiting remained. Huo Tinggao couldn’t bear to kill him, so he kept him imprisoned. There were many rumors in the palace at the time—dirty, vile stories, too ugly to repeat. There were even claims that later, for Feng Yiting’s sake, Huo Tinggao buried alive the very unit of soldiers that had exterminated the Feng clan. No one knows what was true anymore. All that’s known is that in the end, Huo Tinggao still couldn’t bring himself to kill Feng Yiting. And Feng Yiting disappeared from the Xichou palace without a trace. Vanishing with him was the completed Flying Phoenix Scroll.”

Huo Fenghua was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Feng Tianzong is Feng Yiting’s descendant?”

Bai Huan tossed the question back at him. “What do you think?”

Huo Fenghua didn’t answer. He only reached out again to touch the carved writing on the wall. In his mind, an image of a little girl suddenly appeared. Maybe she’d been born in this cavern, and maybe she’d ended her brief life in this cavern as well.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 85

They left the horses outside the valley of Luofeng Ridge and went in together. They found the cave Wen Heyi had brought them to before. The entrance was still covered by an enormous boulder. If you didn’t walk right up to it, it was hard to even notice.

Su Zeyang went in first. He’d come here before with Huo Fenghua and knew the paths inside. Feng Tianzong brought up the rear, letting Huo Fenghua and the others enter ahead of him.

Inside, it was pitch-black. When Huo Fenghua stepped in, Wen Heyi clutched his arm tightly and trembled as he called, “Dad… Yi’er’s scared.”

Huo Fenghua patted the back of his hand, soothing him. “Don’t be scared. Just stay close to Dad.”

Up ahead, Gu Guangji gave a low snort. “Little bastard.”

Huo Fenghua ignored him. Something occurred to him, and he asked Wen Heyi, “Yi’er, are you familiar with this place? Does it feel like you’ve been here before?”

Wen Heyi answered, “Yi’er doesn’t know.”

They kept walking forward. They didn’t run into any obstacles, and they didn’t meet anyone else. Then, faintly ahead, they saw a pale yellow glow. They’d reached that circular cavern where the birth characters of Huo Fenghua and the Feng brothers had been buried, and where the curse formation had been laid.

They all lightened their steps and held their breath. No one spoke. Su Zeyang gripped his sword tightly. Only after he could see the whole cavern clearly did he loosen his hold on the hilt and walk in slowly.

The candle stands in the cavern had been lit, but there wasn’t a single person there.

Gu Guangji darted ahead of Su Zeyang, circled the cavern once, and said in confusion, “Where is he?”

Su Zeyang went to the candles and examined them. “They were lit not long ago. Someone was here, but they left.”

Huo Fenghua frowned. “There’s only one way in. If he left the same way, we should’ve run into him.”

Feng Tianzong walked to the center of the cavern and looked at the small pit that had been dug in the ground. “Then there’s another hidden passage.” He turned to Su Zeyang. “This is where the formation was set?”

Su Zeyang went to stand beside him and said softly, “Yes. The wooden box was buried right here in the middle.”

Gu Guangji glanced around anxiously. “Let’s find the hidden passage.”

Huo Fenghua looked around too. The cavern seemed like a single solid piece. It didn’t look like it had any secret way out at all. The ground and the walls were tightly joined with not a crack in sight.

Maybe the hidden passage was outside this circular cavern, in the darker tunnel. In dim light, it would be easy to miss.

Thinking that, he headed back the way they’d come, leaving the circular cavern and returning to the pitch-black corridor.

Wen Heyi still had a death grip on his hand and followed him out into the corridor. He even tried to tug him back, muttering, “So dark. So scary.”

Huo Fenghua didn’t indulge him. He reached into his clothes, took out a fire striker, and blew it to life. He raised the small flame and carefully examined the corridor wall. After sweeping the light around once, he spotted a stone protrusion with a very regular shape. He pressed it, but it didn’t move.

He found it odd. Unwilling to give up, he pressed again with much more force. This time the stone block suddenly sank backward, and the section of rock wall in front of him slid back as well, revealing a hollow opening. But he’d pushed too hard. When the support vanished, his body pitched forward uncontrollably.

There was nothing ahead. Huo Fenghua shouted as he fell onto a smooth, slanted surface, then began sliding rapidly forward. He hurriedly braced a hand, trying to stabilize himself with inner strength, but Wen Heyi, still clinging to his arm, tumbled in after him and slammed into his back. That impact ruined what little control he had. The two of them rolled together, bumping and tumbling down the slick, steep passage.

They rolled for a long time. Then, one after the other, they hit the ground. Wen Heyi landed on top of Huo Fenghua. Huo Fenghua yelped in pain, but after Wen Heyi let out a muffled groan, he went still.

Huo Fenghua struggled upright and pushed at Wen Heyi. Wen Heyi lay sprawled on him, his head pressed to the ground, not moving at all.

The fire striker had flown from his hand during the fall. Everything was black. He couldn’t see anything. He could only reach out and feel for Wen Heyi, until his fingers found his face. Wen Heyi’s eyes were shut tight.

Huo Fenghua’s heart lurched. “Yi’er?”

No response.

He lifted Wen Heyi’s head and felt a stone under it. He must’ve knocked his head on it when they landed. Panic rose in Huo Fenghua’s chest. He touched Wen Heyi’s forehead but didn’t feel any blood. He could only call again, “Yi’er, wake up!”

He grabbed Wen Heyi by the collar and shook him lightly. This time he heard a faint hum. Wen Heyi seemed to be waking.

Huo Fenghua finally breathed a little easier. “You’re awake?”

After a moment, Wen Heyi gave a very soft “Mm.”

Huo Fenghua eased him down onto the ground. “Rest for a bit. I’ll find a way out.” Then he stood and shouted up toward the passage they’d fallen from. “Senior Brother! General!”

No one answered. After a while he shouted again, “Master!”

Still nothing.

So Huo Fenghua began feeling along the cavern wall. The passage they’d rolled down was long, steep, and smooth. It was basically impossible to climb back up. He could only look for another route out.

Very soon, he found another passage, extremely similar to the one they’d come down, also a slick slanted corridor. He had no idea where it led.

He went back to Wen Heyi. “Yi’er, get up. Dad will take you out.”

In the darkness, Wen Heyi seemed to sit up. After a brief silence, he said, “What did you call me?”

“Yi’er…” Huo Fenghua hadn’t finished the word before he suddenly sensed something was wrong. Wen Heyi’s voice was low and heavy, nothing like his usual innocent tone. A bad feeling slammed into him.

Wen Heyi didn’t speak.

The surroundings were completely dark. Huo Fenghua couldn’t see Wen Heyi’s expression. He edged back a little nervously. Wen Heyi suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist. The grip wasn’t very strong, but Huo Fenghua heard him murmur, “Huo Fenghua?”

Huo Fenghua’s heart jumped. He forced his voice steady. “Martial Uncle, are you dizzy?” At the same time, he kept inching backward. He easily broke free of Wen Heyi’s hand and pressed his back to the cavern wall.

Maybe Wen Heyi wasn’t fully awake yet. He didn’t move in the darkness.

Huo Fenghua didn’t really need to be that afraid. He didn’t know if Wen Heyi had truly recovered. Even if he had, with Huo Fenghua’s current skill, Wen Heyi might not even be his match.

But since the day they’d met, Huo Fenghua had suffered at Wen Heyi’s hands again and again. The fear ran deep. His first instinct was simply to get away.

Wen Heyi’s breathing was heavy. He sat on the ground without moving.

Huo Fenghua slid along the wall until he reached the passage he’d found. Then he abruptly dove into it.

Just like before, it was a steep, slick chute you couldn’t stand on. Huo Fenghua slid down, his whole body dropping. This time, at least he’d jumped in deliberately. He managed to keep his balance and didn’t go rolling head over heels.

He slid for a long distance. He didn’t hear Wen Heyi chasing after him. Then he reached the end of the passage. The ground vanished beneath his feet, and with a soft squelch, his boots sank into something soft, plunging down to his knees in an instant.

It was still a pitch-black cavern. He couldn’t see anything. He tried to pull his feet out, but the moment he moved, his body sank further, swallowing past his knees. He froze, not daring to struggle. He reached down and felt beneath him.

Soft mud.

He was in a bog. The more he struggled, the deeper he’d sink.

Huo Fenghua went blank with horror. He lifted his head, hesitating whether to call Wen Heyi for help. Even if Wen Heyi could hear him, Huo Fenghua couldn’t tell whether calling him over would bring rescue… or death.

That thought made him feel wronged. A moment ago Wen Heyi had been clinging to his arm and calling him Dad like a good kid. Now he was turning around and calling him “Huo Fenghua.” After all that effort, he’d raised a little ungrateful brat.

Huo Fenghua took a slow breath and tried to think through how to handle the situation. Before he could, he heard light, careful footsteps.

With the footsteps came a faint cluster of flame. Someone was walking over with a candle stand, lighting up the space in front of Huo Fenghua. Sure enough, he was in a large mud bog inside a cavern, and he was sinking at an extremely slow pace.

The person who entered with the candle was a stranger, a young man in pale gray clothes. His cheeks were lean, and his eyes tilted slightly upward at the corners. He stood at the edge of the bog and looked at Huo Fenghua. After a moment, his expression showed mild surprise.

“Huo Fenghua?”

Huo Fenghua froze. He was still wondering who this man was when a name surfaced in his mind: Bai Huan.

The person who had entered the cave before them and still hadn’t left could only be Bai Huan. But Huo Fenghua had never met Bai Huan. Why did Bai Huan recognize him?

Then, in a flash, Huo Fenghua understood. Bai Huan had set the curse formation at Luofeng Ridge on Wang Anzhi’s orders. The formation’s focal point used Huo Fenghua’s birth data. It was very possible that, back before this Huo Fenghua married into the General’s Manor, the two of them had met through Wang Anzhi’s connections. Huo Fenghua didn’t recognize Bai Huan, but Bai Huan recognized him.

While Huo Fenghua was still unsettled, Bai Huan frowned slightly, as if confused as well. “Weren’t you dead?”

Everyone in Yujing City thought he was dead. The Wang family did too. It seemed Bai Huan had heard the news of his death from the Wangs.

Huo Fenghua licked his lips. “I’m not dead. I faked it so I could get out of the General’s Manor. Bai Huan, pull me up.”

Bai Huan didn’t move right away. He kept staring at him. “Why are you here?”

Huo Fenghua said, “I’m a prince of Xichou. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

Bai Huan studied him for a while. “You came for the Flying Phoenix* Scroll?”

*This is part of the title of the novel, Fei Fang.

Huo Fenghua had no idea what that was. He didn’t confirm it or deny it. He only said, “Get me out first. Then I’ll tell you what I’m here for.”

Bai Huan hesitated briefly. Then he set the candle stand down, uncoiled a long rope from his back, and threw it into the middle of the mud bog. Huo Fenghua quickly grabbed it. He felt Bai Huan taking hold and hauling him toward the edge.

Once Huo Fenghua could hook both hands over the stone rim of the bog, he let out a breath. As he climbed up, he said, “You and Wang Anzhi used me as the formation’s focal point to curse the Feng brothers. You were trying to get me killed!”

Bai Huan reeled the rope back in, coiled it, and slung it over his back again. “So Feng Tianzong really did discover the curse formation at Luofeng Ridge. He wanted to kill you?”

Huo Fenghua shook mud off his legs and decided not to expose himself for now. He told Bai Huan, “If I hadn’t bribed a maid in the General’s Manor and faked my death to escape, I’d have been killed by Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang already so they could break the curse.”

Bai Huan’s brows drew together. “That was Wang Anzhi’s intention, not mine. I didn’t want to harm you, Second Prince.”

Huo Fenghua hadn’t heard that form of address in a long time. And since Bai Huan was Xichou as well, it tracked. He said, “Yet you, a Xichou man, colluded with the Wang family to harm me, a prince!”

Bai Huan shook his head. “I didn’t expect anyone would discover the formation here. I thought no one would ever find it.”

Huo Fenghua said, “But they did find it. Luckily, they think I’m dead. Otherwise, they’d be hunting you too while they hunted me. Do you believe me?”

Bai Huan didn’t answer.

Seeing Bai Huan had accepted his story, Huo Fenghua asked, “Then why are you here now?”

Bai Huan looked at him. “Wang Anzhi thinks you’re dead, and that the Feng brothers’ curse has been broken. He wants me to set up a new formation for him. This time, he wants Feng Tianzong’s life.”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 84

Huo Fenghua told Gu Guangji everything he’d been through at Wuhetan—how he’d run into Wen Heyi and what happened after.

Gu Guangji kept his brows knitted the whole time. When Huo Fenghua finished, Gu Guangji lifted a hand and knocked him on the head. “Your Martial Uncle’s gone stupid, and all you can think about is taking advantage of him!”

Huo Fenghua protested at once, “When did I ever! If I hadn’t saved him, he’d either be dead by now, or he’d already be a guinea pig for that Bald Scholar. He should be thanking me if anything.”

Wen Heyi hid behind Huo Fenghua and muttered, “Don’t hit my dad.”

Gu Guangji walked over and sat down at the table. He said to Wen Heyi, “Come here. Let me check your pulse.”

Wen Heyi didn’t dare go over. He clung tightly to Huo Fenghua’s arm, so Huo Fenghua led him over, pressed him onto the stool by the table, took one of his hands, and offered it to Gu Guangji for the pulse check.

Gu Guangji’s learning was broad and messy, and his medical skills were half-baked at best. He felt Wen Heyi’s pulse for a long time and still couldn’t make sense of it. He just kept sighing. “When Master brought my Junior Brother back to the sect, he was still very young. He grew up at my side, just like Zeyang. I knew his heart was restless, that he couldn’t stay obediently on the mountain. I let him go out into the world. I never expected he’d end up like this.”

Huo Fenghua muttered, “Martial Uncle didn’t exactly go easy on me.”

Gu Guangji shot him a glare. “No respect, no sense of hierarchy. Believe it or not, I’ll kick you out of the sect.”

Huo Fenghua wasn’t having it. “Master, did you forget? I’m the sect leader now. The sect leader token is still on me.”

The Xianyuan Sect only had four people in total. Gu Guangji had passed the position to Huo Fenghua and then walked away without a second thought. By now he’d practically forgotten about it himself. Hearing that, he was momentarily speechless, then turned to Su Zeyang. “This is all your fault. I told you to be sect leader and you refused!”

Su Zeyang said, “You were the one who insisted on passing it to him. What does that have to do with me?”

Seeing master and disciples locked in a stalemate, Feng Tianzong stepped in to smooth things over. “Senior, why are you here?”

Gu Guangji looked at him. “I haven’t even asked why you’re here.”

Feng Tianzong replied, “We’re here chasing someone. After daybreak, we’re going into Luofeng Ridge.”

“Hm?” Gu Guangji looked surprised. “I’m chasing someone too. That person should’ve gone into Luofeng Ridge as well.”

Huo Fenghua asked, “Who?”

Gu Guangji rubbed his messy beard. “You still remember you came to ask me about that curse formation at Luofeng Ridge, the one aimed at the Feng family? I found the one who set it.”

“Bai Huan?” Su Zeyang said.

Gu Guangji looked over at him. “You found him too? I’ve been chasing Bai Huan for quite a while. That kid’s formidable. All kinds of curses and formations come as naturally to him as breathing. I got curious, so I kept following him in secret.”

Huo Fenghua asked, “Why follow him? You got your eye on him or something?”

Gu Guangji raised a hand to pinch his cheek. Huo Fenghua tried to dodge, but Gu Guangji was so fast he couldn’t avoid it. Gu Guangji still caught a piece of cheek and gave it a hard pinch.

When Gu Guangji finally let go, Huo Fenghua threw himself into Su Zeyang’s arms, aggrieved. “Senior Brother—”

Gu Guangji looked a little surprised instead. “Haven’t seen you in a long time. Your internal energy has improved quite a bit. Was it that Qi-gathering Golden Pill from that old demon Zixi?”

Su Zeyang hugged Huo Fenghua and lifted a hand to rub his cheek. “Master, stop bullying your disciple.”

Su Zeyang’s hand was cool against his face, and it felt so nice that Huo Fenghua hooked both arms around Su Zeyang’s waist and refused to let go.

Gu Guangji didn’t bother with Huo Fenghua anymore. He continued, “I saw how capable Bai Huan is and wanted to spar with him a little. But the whole way he stayed on guard, so I never found the right moment. Then, before I knew it, I’d followed him into this area. I asked around—turns out Luofeng Ridge is up ahead. Thinking of what you said before, that Bai Huan set up that curse formation at Luofeng Ridge, I figured he had to be heading there.”

Feng Tianzong walked to the table and sat down. “Senior, you’ve been following Bai Huan. Where is he now?”

Gu Guangji said, “He never stopped. He passed through this village and already left. He didn’t notice you either, don’t worry. I was just thirsty and came looking for well water, and that’s how I ran into my youngest disciple.”

Su Zeyang frowned slightly. “Then Bai Huan will reach Luofeng Ridge before we do. I don’t know what he intends to do. Before, he went to Yujing City to meet Wang Chu and his son. I’m afraid they’ll try to harm Eldest Brother and Tianzong again.”

Huo Fenghua asked Gu Guangji, “Why didn’t you kill him?”

Gu Guangji blinked, caught off guard. “Why would I kill him?”

Huo Fenghua said, “If you still remember Bai Huan is the one who set the formation to curse the General and the Left Prime Minister, then you also said killing him would break the formation. So why didn’t you kill him?”

Gu Guangji said, “I also remember saying that killing the owner of those birth data would break it too. Isn’t that even simpler than killing Bai Huan? That kid, Bai Huan, is interesting. Leave him to me. I want to ask him about curse arts. I’ll go help you kill the owner of those birth characters. You tell me who it is.”

The moment he said that, the room fell silent.

Wen Heyi had been sitting at the table, dozing as he listened. But the sudden quiet startled him awake.

Gu Guangji found it odd. “Why isn’t anyone talking?”

Huo Fenghua let go of Su Zeyang and walked up to Gu Guangji. “Because that person is me.”

Gu Guangji froze for a moment. Then, as if he’d suddenly understood everything, he rubbed his head. “So that’s how it is.” He fell silent for a bit, then said awkwardly, “So Bai Huan has to die?”

Feng Tianzong nodded. “He has to die.”

Gu Guangji let out a long sigh, slumped forward over the table, and hugged his head.

At that point, Feng Tianzong said, “Since Bai Huan has already gone into Luofeng Ridge, we won’t rest anymore. Let’s set out early.” He was worried Bai Huan’s purpose for entering Luofeng Ridge wasn’t simple.

Su Zeyang nodded. “Let’s go.”

Huo Fenghua pulled Wen Heyi up from the table. “Come on, Yi’er.”

Wen Heyi still hadn’t slept enough. He said, “Dad, Yi’er wants to sleep a little more.”

“No more sleeping,” Huo Fenghua said. “We’ll sleep after we get to Luofeng Ridge, okay? Be good.”

Wen Heyi yawned, glanced back at Gu Guangji, thought the old man looked strange and unsettling, and hurried after Huo Fenghua, running out of the room.

This time, with Gu Guangji with them, they traveled through the night toward Luofeng Ridge.

To Huo Fenghua, Luofeng Ridge carried plenty of memories. He couldn’t call them good, but he couldn’t call them bad either. The one that stood out the most was still that fleeting, stunning first glimpse of Feng Tianzong.

As they drew closer to Luofeng Ridge, they slowed their horses.

Feng Tianzong lifted his head and looked out at the rolling mountains under the moonlight. Then he turned back to Huo Fenghua. “Remember anything?”

Huo Fenghua said, “I remember you on horseback, dragging me along the ground with a whip until I was rolling and crawling.”

After he said that, Feng Tianzong smiled faintly. “Still angry?”

Thinking back, Huo Fenghua knew he’d been in the wrong then. He couldn’t really call it anger anymore, but facing Feng Tianzong now still made him feel a little wronged. He didn’t answer, only turned to glance at Su Zeyang.

Su Zeyang also remembered the scene. Now there was no strong emotion left; he simply smiled lightly.

Huo Fenghua said, “I’m not mad anymore. You’re mine now. I should be tolerant of you.”

Feng Tianzong couldn’t help laughing. “Then I should thank Young Master Huo for being so magnanimous.”

Huo Fenghua waved a hand. “Alright, alright.”

Gu Guangji shared a horse with Wen Heyi. He spurred the horse up to Feng Tianzong’s side and said, “Feng boy, tell me—how did you get both my disciples so thoroughly in hand, willing to follow you without complaint?”

Feng Tianzong said, “Senior, you’ve misunderstood. It’s clearly your two disciples who got me thoroughly in hand and made me willing to follow them.”

Gu Guangji chuckled. “Feng boy’s not bad. My disciples have good taste. You’d better treat them well, and don’t go taking concubines again.”

Feng Tianzong looked at Gu Guangji, his tone sincere. “This is enough for this life.”

With Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua, his feelings were already completely filled. There was no space left for anyone extra. Even between the three of them, Feng Tianzong often felt uneasy, afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold on to what he had; afraid someone would be taken from his side again, like that fire in the side courtyard of the General’s Manor.

Even if there were better people in this world, he wouldn’t be able to see them, and his heart wouldn’t be able to hold them anymore.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 83

After night fell, Feng Tianzong left the room. Before he went, he gently kissed Huo Fenghua and Su Zeyang on the forehead, then pulled the blankets up for them.

Huo Fenghua rolled over, burrowed into Su Zeyang’s arms, hugged him, and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept straight through to the next morning. When Huo Fenghua woke, it was already light out. He opened his eyes and saw Su Zeyang’s face inches from his own. No matter how close he looked, he couldn’t find a single flaw on that face.

Su Zeyang’s eyes were still closed. Huo Fenghua fumbled under the blanket until he found Su Zeyang’s hand and lightly held it, but he didn’t expect Su Zeyang to tighten his grip instead, lift their joined hands up between them, open his eyes, and solemnly asked, “Was this the hand that was doing the touching?”

Huo Fenghua froze, then immediately understood what he meant. A cold sweat broke out on his back. “Wasn’t that all over already?”

Su Zeyang stared at his hand. “If there’s a next time, I’ll chop it off.”

Huo Fenghua heard how serious he sounded and couldn’t tell if he was joking. He hurriedly hugged him. “No, no, there won’t be any next time. Never again.”

When Huo Fenghua sat up, he realized Feng Tianzong was already back. He was sitting by the window with his head lowered, looking at a piece of parchment in his hands. On the table in the room sat a small, neat paper box.

Huo Fenghua grabbed some clothes at random, threw them over himself, got out of bed, and walked to the table. “What’s this?”

Feng Tianzong answered, “I saw a pastry shop on the road doing brisk business, so I bought a few and brought them back for you.”

Huo Fenghua opened the paper box and saw four white milk cakes neatly arranged inside, rich with a creamy fragrance. He immediately took one to the bedside and fed it to Su Zeyang, who had just sat up. Then he came back, took another one, held it between his teeth, and walked toward Feng Tianzong.

“What are you looking at?” Huo Fenghua leaned in curiously to look at the parchment in Feng Tianzong’s hands and realized it was a map of Xichou.

Feng Tianzong casually wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him onto his lap, then traced a line across the map with his finger. “Shao Feijie is looking for something. He’s been traveling east from here. Guess where he’s headed.”

Huo Fenghua bit into the milk cake and shook his head.

Su Zeyang had also thrown on his clothes and walked over to Feng Tianzong. He studied the map for a moment, frowned slightly, and said, “Is he going to Luofeng Ridge?”

Feng Tianzong tipped his head up to look at him, smiling as he clasped Su Zeyang’s hand. “You guessed right. He’s going to Luofeng Ridge.”

Huo Fenghua asked, “What’s he looking for?”

This time Feng Tianzong shook his head. “They didn’t manage to find out. But they followed Shao Feijie the whole way and realized he’s searching for something. They also asked travelers questions about Shao Feijie along the road. That person said the direction Shao Feijie asked about was exactly the direction of Luofeng Ridge.”

Huo Fenghua didn’t quite understand. “That place… Luofeng Ridge doesn’t seem as simple as it looks on the surface.” He remembered the long, narrow passage that had been carved out by human hands, and he also remembered the curse about the Feng brothers’ line ending. Thinking of that, he turned to ask Su Zeyang, “You still haven’t found the person who set up the curse formation to curse the General and the Left Prime Minister?”

Su Zeyang said, “His name is Bai Huan. He’s from Xichou. I don’t know his exact background, but the one who hired him to set up the formation was Wang Anzhi. I drugged Wang Anzhi before, and he fell unconscious. The Wang family thought he’d been cursed, so they invited Bai Huan to the Wang residence to break the curse. I don’t know whether he realized Wang Anzhi was poisoned. But after I spotted him, I tracked him all the way into Xichou. I didn’t expect Tianzong would suddenly have something happen to him, so I had to rush over to save him and lost Bai Huan’s trail.”

“All of it’s connected to Luofeng Ridge,” Huo Fenghua said, rubbing his chin.

Feng Tianzong said, “It’s fine. We’ll find Shao Feijie first, then kill Bai Huan. One at a time.”

Huo Fenghua nodded.

They left the inn early that morning. This time they continued on, heading straight for Luofeng Ridge.

After crossing Wuling Mountain, the terrain became much flatter, but Feng Tianzong didn’t dare show himself in crowded places. They could only avoid the main roads as much as possible, traveling most of the time along narrow forest paths. At night they couldn’t stay at inns and could only camp out in the wilderness.

They traveled for nearly ten days before they finally reached the area near the mountain range of Luofeng Ridge. The environment around here had always been harsh and sparsely populated. After the war some time ago, it was even more deserted.

On the north side of Luofeng Ridge, they found an abandoned village. There were seven or eight dilapidated houses, all of which were uninhabited.

It was almost dark. Feng Tianzong dismounted, led his horse into the village, and found a secret guard’s mark in the corner of an abandoned house. He turned back to Huo Fenghua and the others. “From here, it’ll take less than an hour to reach Luofeng Ridge. We’ll stay here for the night and enter after daybreak.”

Huo Fenghua nodded and swung down from his horse.

They tied the horses to a post by the door and went into the room with the secret guard’s mark. Inside was a wooden bed with bedding still on it. It was coated in a thick layer of dust, but they’d been traveling day and night. They were filthy from head to toe, so Huo Fenghua didn’t care. He lay down on the bed.

Seeing that, Wen Heyi immediately came over and lay down beside him.

After Su Zeyang went inside, he found a well in the back courtyard and drew a bucket of water. Feng Tianzong, meanwhile, found a clean bundle under the cabinet in the corner of the room. Inside was some food and medicine, along with tools like rope and fire strikers—things the secret guards had left for him.

They didn’t light a lamp. In a deserted village out in the wild, lighting a lamp would only attract attention.

After lying down for a while, Huo Fenghua asked, “Is it possible we already missed Shao Feijie?”

Feng Tianzong shook his head. “The secret guards have been following him the whole way. Based on the pace, we might even reach Luofeng Ridge before he does.”

Huo Fenghua made a quiet sound of agreement. “Mm.”

Feng Tianzong watched Su Zeyang walk over and took his hand. “You rest with them. I’ll keep watch.”

Huo Fenghua flipped over and sat up. “Let’s take turns. We still have to travel tomorrow. You shouldn’t exhaust yourself.”

Feng Tianzong didn’t insist. Other than Wen Heyi, who was out of it, the three of them took turns keeping watch.

Huo Fenghua had Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang sleep first. He sat by the window, opened a crack, and stared out at the empty village. The moonlight was especially bright tonight, a clean white full moon hanging in the sky and lighting the entire quiet village. Huo Fenghua stretched his hand out by the window, and by the moonlight slipping through the gap, he could almost clearly see the lines in his palm.

He turned back toward the bed. Su Zeyang and Wen Heyi were lying on it, while Feng Tianzong sat on the floor, his back against one of the bed legs. His head was lowered, and he’d fallen asleep.

Huo Fenghua felt something very strange.

For a long time, he’d never felt like he belonged in this world. But now, he truly did. There were people he wanted to protect, reasons he wanted to stay. Even though these days they’d been sleeping rough, and his body was worn to the limit, his heart still felt calm and satisfied.

Huo Fenghua turned back again. He drew a finger lightly through the dust on the window frame, planning that once the Bu Xian Xian at Wuhetan was finished, he’d send people to the coastal areas of Donglin to recruit shipwrights. They’d build a large ship at Wuhetan, with the interior made into a second Bu Xian Xian. Once it was complete, they’d sail down the Wu River to the sea and head for Donglin’s wealthy coast to drum up business.

Thinking of that, Huo Fenghua couldn’t help letting out a small laugh. He stood up, intending to pace around the room, but the moment he took one step, he saw Feng Tianzong’s foot twitch sharply. Afraid he’d wake him, Huo Fenghua quickly sat back down in silence.

That was when Huo Fenghua noticed a book tossed near the foot of the bed. He glanced out the window and didn’t see anyone, so he quietly got up, went to the bedside, groped around to pick it up, then returned to the window. By moonlight he opened it and discovered it was actually an erotic illustrated manual.

He glanced back at the others in the room. Everyone seemed to still be asleep, so he pushed the window open a bit wider and started flipping through the book from the beginning under the moonlight.

In the drawings were two tiny figures, a man and a woman. Every page showed a different position, and each one had a short passage of text beneath it. Huo Fenghua was stunned, thinking there were many strange and unusual positions.

In the dim, silent surroundings, he became completely absorbed. Only his heartbeat quickened slightly with the blush-inducing illustrations.

Without any warning, suddenly, a face appeared in the narrow gap between the two window panels.

Huo Fenghua’s heart nearly stopped.

The face was so close, as if someone had been crouching under the window and had suddenly stood up outside to stare in at him.

Huo Fenghua shrieked. He slapped the erotic manual straight onto that face, knocking the person backward. He himself jumped down from the chair, stumbled back two steps, and stared out the window on guard.

Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang were both jolted awake. They sprang up at once, weapons in hand.

Wen Heyi also lifted his head on the bed and called out in confusion, “Dad?”

There was no movement outside the window. After Huo Fenghua knocked him down, the person didn’t climb back up for a long time. Feng Tianzong was about to go out and check when a hand suddenly shot up and gripped the window frame. Then they saw someone slowly haul himself upright outside, still holding the erotic manual with his head bowed as he examined it carefully.

When they saw his face clearly, Huo Fenghua and Su Zeyang both blurted out in shock, “Master?”

Gu Guangji’s brows and beard nearly scrunched into a single knot. He flipped through a few pages of the book, shook his head, and looked at Huo Fenghua with a face full of anger and disappointment. “In the middle of the night you won’t sleep, and you’re reading this kind of book. If you put this kind of effort into practicing martial arts, Master would be thanking heaven and earth.”

Feng Tianzong spoke. “Senior, what brings you here?” Then he glanced at the book in Gu Guangji’s hand.

Huo Fenghua’s face flushed scarlet. He leaned forward to snatch it back. “Give it back, you old geezer!”

Gu Guangji leaned his body back and lifted his hand to avoid Huo Fenghua’s grab. “No manners at all!” Then he pushed the window open, flipped into the room in a single motion, and with a flick of his hand, tossed the book to Su Zeyang.

Su Zeyang caught it and lowered his head to look, but Huo Fenghua snatched it back at once and stuffed it into his own chest. “Senior Brother, don’t look.”

Gu Guangji cursed again. “Brat!”

Su Zeyang asked, “Master, why are you here?”

Gu Guangji didn’t answer. He stood there blankly in the room, because he’d seen Wen Heyi, who was still on the bed.

Wen Heyi looked at Gu Guangji, completely baffled.

Gu Guangji stepped forward. “Junior Brother?”

Wen Heyi immediately hunched his neck, slipped off the bed on the sly, and ran barefoot behind Huo Fenghua. He called timidly, “Dad—”

Huo Fenghua immediately thought, ‘Oh no.’ He looked up at Gu Guangji and saw Gu Guangji’s eyes go wide, his mouth falling open in astonishment. Huo Fenghua hurriedly braced himself, stepped forward, grabbed Gu Guangji’s sleeve, and said, “Master, listen, I can explain…”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

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

Chapter 82

Feng Tianzong dragged Huo Fenghua into the room. Huo Fenghua instantly panicked. Seeing Su Zeyang by the bed packing up their things, he edged closer to him and said to Feng Tianzong, “General, how can you just believe whatever an idiot says?”

Feng Tianzong reached out and closed the door. “If it were someone else, I might not believe it, but since he’s talking about you, I find it quite believable.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone knocked at the door. It was the inn’s attendant, bringing their bathwater.

The steaming hot bathwater filled the large wooden tub, which was placed in the center of the room. Feng Tianzong rested his hand on the edge of the tub and said to Huo Fenghua, “Aren’t you going to take a bath?”

Huo Fenghua grabbed Su Zeyang’s arm, “Senior Brother, you go first.”

Su Zeyang’s expression was calm as he glanced at him.

For some reason, Huo Fenghua felt a little guilty and released Su Zeyang’s hand.

Feng Tianzong asked, “What are you scared of? If you’ve done nothing wrong, why are you afraid of taking a bath?”

Huo Fenghua looked at him for a moment, then gave a small snort and walked to the tub to undo his clothes. He stripped quickly and climbed in without a stitch on, sitting down in the water. When he saw Feng Tianzong still watching him, he sank lower and lower until even half his face went under. His long hair floated on the surface, and only a pair of dark eyes showed above the water as he looked at Feng Tianzong timidly.

Feng Tianzong looked at him amusedly.

Huo Fenghua’s eyes darted. He thought he couldn’t dodge this anyway, so he might as well distract Feng Tianzong and make him forget the whole thing. He reached up, grabbed Feng Tianzong by the collar, and tried to pull him in for a kiss.

But Feng Tianzong simply reached down and lifted him straight out of the tub.

Huo Fenghua was drenched, plastered against Feng Tianzong’s chest as he was carried toward the bed.

Huo Fenghua let out a cry and clutched Feng Tianzong’s arm.

By then Su Zeyang had finished packing and set the bundle aside. He turned back just in time to see Feng Tianzong carrying Huo Fenghua to the bedside.

Huo Fenghua reached out to him and called, “Senior Brother—”

Su Zeyang ignored him. Huo Fenghua, held in Feng Tianzong’s arms, watched as Feng Tianzong kissed Su Zeyang over his head. The two of them kissed intimately, and a faint blush appeared on Su Zeyang’s fair cheeks, making him look incredibly alluring.

Huo Fenghua, unwilling to be left out, leaned closer and said, “I want some too.”

Feng Tianzong left Su Zeyang’s lips and dipped his head to kiss along Su Zeyang’s neck. Su Zeyang tilted his head back, his Adam’s apple trembling slightly.

“Do you know you did something wrong?” Feng Tianzong’s lips were pressed against Su Zeyang’s neck as he mumbled.

Huo Fenghua watched them for a while, then said helplessly, “Okay, okay, I was wrong. I won’t touch or look around indiscriminately anymore, okay?”

Su Zeyang looked at him, “Wrong?”

Huo Fenghua was stunned, “What else do you want?” He then tilted his head back and tried to expose his chest, “Come on, feel free to touch.”

Seeing this, Feng Tianzong smiled and whispered in Su Zeyang’s ear, “To the bed.”

Su Zeyang gave him a look, then obediently sat at the edge of the bed.

Feng Tianzong sat down too, still holding Huo Fenghua. One arm pinned Huo Fenghua against his chest while the other hand traced along Su Zeyang’s cheek and throat, gently pulling his collar open.

Huo Fenghua struggled, trying to squirm out of Feng Tianzong’s hold. Feng Tianzong lightly pinched his nipples and said, “If you’re admitting fault, shouldn’t you behave?”

Huo Fenghua couldn’t help but let out a soft moan and quieted down.

Feng Tianzong’s hand caressed Su Zeyang, from his chin to his neck, then to his chest. Huo Fenghua, sitting in Feng Tianzong’s lap, watched Su Zeyang’s two rosy nipples stand erect, and felt an uncontrollable itch of desire.

The rough, calloused palm of a hand accustomed to wielding weapons caressed Su Zeyang’s smooth, delicate skin.  A blush spread from his neck to his chest, whether from the friction of Feng Tianzong’s hand or from the arousal of desire, he didn’t know.

Huo Fenghua leaned his head against Feng Tianzong’s chest, staring blankly at Su Zeyang.

Feng Tianzong was clearly very familiar with Su Zeyang’s body. He bent his fingers, using his knuckles to rub Su Zeyang’s nipples, then stroked down to his flat abdomen. He pulled down Su Zeyang’s trousers and grasped his shaft that was already half hard.

Su Zeyang’s breathing suddenly became more intense. He leaned back, supporting himself on the bed with his elbows. His eyes were half lidded, and his lips were slightly parted. His cock quickly filled under Feng Tianzong’s touch.

Feng Tianzong lowered his head, nipped Huo Fenghua’s earlobe, and said in a deep voice, “Go and suck it.”

Huo Fenghua’s ears instantly felt hot. Feng Tianzong’s low voice seemed to penetrate his body. As if under a spell, he bent forward, opened his mouth, and took Su Zeyang’s penis into his mouth.

Su Zeyang began to pant heavily. Huo Fenghua struggled to take all of Su Zeyang’s cock. He tried to open his throat more to completely swallow it, and the stimulation of Su Zeyang rubbing against it made the corner of his eyes reddened. Hearing Su Zeyang’s low moans and gasps, he couldn’t help but get aroused as well.

He swallowed and gagged for a moment, then was suddenly embraced and lifted up by Feng Tianzong. Before he could understand what was happening, Feng Tianzong spread his legs apart, held him up, and lowered him onto Su Zeyang’s cock.

Su Zeyang’s member was already glistening, covered by his saliva, so it wasn’t particularly painful when his cock entered him. However, because Huo Fenghua was held by Feng Tianzong, he wasn’t in control of his body. When he was fully seated on Su Zeyang, he felt he was completely stretched open.

Huo Fenghua’s erection trembled slightly against Su Zeyang’s abdomen. He reached out and held Su Zeyang’s hand, then lowered his head to kiss his lips.

Su Zeyang couldn’t restrain himself and began to slowly thrust upwards.

Huo Fenghua felt Feng Tianzong stroking the back of his neck. All the hairs on his body stood on end, and he couldn’t help but flinch. Then that hand moved down his spine, pressing on the mark on his lower back, finally resting around his ass. His hole was being thoroughly punished by Su Zeyang’s thrust when he felt Feng Tianzong’s fingers rimming around the edge.

At that moment, Huo Fenghua didn’t realize what Feng Tianzong intended to do, until he felt Feng Tianzong insert a finger, and his body was suddenly stretched open even more. He panicked and tried to get off of Su Zeyang, saying, “No!”

Feng Tianzong kissed his ear from behind and whispered, “Don’t worry.”

Huo Fenghua was still afraid. “No, it’ll kill me!”

Feng Tianzong held his body with one hand, slowly sliding down to stroke his penis. “It won’t.” His voice was steady and firm, carrying a reassuring force. 

Huo Fenghua felt that the fingers inside him showed no sign of being withdrawn but were slowly expanding his already fully stretched hole. His body trembled uncontrollably, “You’ll make me loose!”

Feng Tianzong’s voice was somewhat hoarse, and he whispered seductively in Huo Fenghua’s ear, “No, you’ll like it very much. Didn’t you want to drain me dry?”

These few words made Huo Fenghua’s body heat up. At that moment, he was indeed overwhelmed with lust, and amidst the fear, a faint sense of anticipation arose.

Huo Fenghua shook his head, trying to dismiss Feng Tianzong’s words, but Feng Tianzong had already inserted another finger into him, squeezing his inner walls along with Su Zeyang’s cock.

Huo Fenghua whispered in fear, “It hurts so much.”

Feng Tianzong kissed and comforted him, “Be good. It’ll stop hurting soon.” He added another finger, simultaneously searching for that sensitive spot and then gently pressed on it.

Huo Fenghua was experiencing both pain and pleasure. He wanted to escape, but was unwilling, all the while his erection was swelling harder in Feng Tianzong’s hand.

Seeing that Huo Fenghua was thoroughly loosened, Feng Tianzong withdrew his fingers. Taking advantage of the moment when Su Zeyang was thrusting out, Feng Tianzong notched the tip of his cock against Huo Fenghua’s hole before simultaneously plunging his cock deep inside. He started pounding into Huo Fenghua’s body, following Su Zeyang’s rhythm. 

Huo Fenghua and Su Zeyang groaned at the same time.

Feng Tianzong also panted heavily, his thrusts beginning to go out of sync with Su Zeyang’s, repeatedly impacting Huo Fenghua’s body. 

Huo Fenghua’s face turned pale with pain. He bit his lip tightly and gripped Su Zeyang’s arm. After enduring the initial pain, he felt his prostate being repeatedly abused from both Su Zeyang’s and Feng Tianzong’s thrusting. There were seemingly no gaps in between to give him a moment’s rest.

His cock, which had gone a little soft, quickly hardened again. The pain subsided, and pleasure intensified. He trembled all over, sandwiched between the two men, being penetrated and thrust into. All he could do was open his mouth and moan loudly.

The bed swayed and shook.

Su Zeyang lay on the bed, his eyes flushed. He felt double the pleasure as his cock rubbed against Feng Tianzong’s while they were both inside Huo Fenghua. His breathing became erratic and he couldn’t stop moaning.

Feng Tianzong reached out from behind Huo Fenghua and touched Su Zeyang’s face, his thumb tracing his lips until they were bright red. Then he jabbed his fingers into Su Zeyang’s mouth, pinched his soft, wet tongue, and thrust deeper inside as if he wanted to poke it.

Su Zeyang made an unbearable sound and he opened his mouth. His cool and handsome features were tinged with a look of debauchery. His long hair was splayed out on the bed, making him look like a desecrated state of a god; incomparably beautiful.

Huo Fenghua weakly propped his hands on Su Zeyang’s chest to keep himself from falling, but his legs were already weak and numb. The pleasure seemed to reach all the way down to his toes, making him unconsciously curl his toes and constantly swallow his saliva. He looked at Su Zeyang’s face, then turned his head to seek a kiss from Feng Tianzong.

Feng Tianzong forcefully kissed his lips, hooking his tongue and sucking on it, making him swallow back his groans. His whole body emitted a soft, light pink glow, unable to conceal the pleasure he felt.

Under such intense and continuous stimulation, Huo Fenghua couldn’t help but come first. His cum sprayed all over Su Zeyang’s chest and abdomen. After orgasming, his body went limp and he slowly started to slide down. Feng Tianzong held his waist and continued pounding him.

Huo Fenghua’s mind was a blur. All he could hear were the wet, sticky slapping sounds, and the pain in his body had faded.  Having just finished climaxing, he was especially sensitive, and still moaning and gasping as Feng Tianzong held him.

Shortly after, Huo Fenghua saw Su Zeyang opening his mouth and breathing heavily, his face flushed. He weakly reached out to touch Su Zeyang’s face, but Feng Tianzong suddenly pressed him down from behind. 

His body was pressed against Su Zeyang’s, his back against Feng Tianzong’s chest, his head resting on the bed. He turned his head and saw Feng Tianzong kissing Su Zeyang over him. 

The two kissed intensely with saliva dribbling down from Su Zeyang’s lips. Then he saw Su Zeyang close his eyes, his body trembling and tensing, before Huo Fenghua felt a wet sensation inside him. Su Zeyang had finally come.

Feng Tianzong got up. While Su Zeyang’s slightly hard erection was still inside Huo Fenghua, Feng Tianzong began picking up the speed of his thrusting.

Su Zeyang took a deep breath, and after a moment, turned his head to look at Huo Fenghua. Both of them were somewhat exhausted, and they gently pressed their lips together.

Feng Tianzong, pressing against both of their bodies, continued to mercilessly pound into Huo Fenghua. As Su Zeyang’s cock softened, it slowly began to slide out; at the same time, Feng Tianzong finally came, spilling his seed deep into Huo Fenghua.

When it finally quieted, all three were left sprawled together, bodies pressed close, hands still lingering in slow, absentminded touches. Only after quite a while did their breathing gradually even out.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>