Chapter 130 – Zhuang Qian’s Arrival

After encountering the female leader of the mercenary group, Yun Hu acted as if he'd been injected with chicken blood [1]. Yun Hu didn't usually like talking to Yun Que or Qi Shaorong, so he pestered Zhuang Hao instead.

"Little thief, wasn't she beautiful? My goal in life is to marry her." Yun Hu said, in high spirits.

Zhuang Hao looked at Yun Hu and said, "Not that pretty. She's okay, I guess."

Yun Hu looked at Zhuang Hao in anger and said, "Hey, little thief, let me tell you, you can insult me all you want, but you can't insult Leader Sister. She's the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

Zhuang Hao looked at Yun Hu and thought to himself: This kid has way too little experience in life.

Yun Hu looked at Zhuang Hao's disapproving expression and asked, "Hey, little white face, have you seen someone who's even better-looking then?"

Zhuang Hao nodded and said, "Yes!"

"Who?" Yun Hu asked in disbelief.

Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong��s back and said, "My wife."

"Who's your wife?"

Zhuang Hao recalled that Qi Shaorong was currently wearing a disguise, so he didn't reveal anything and said, "You'll know in the future."

Yun Hu snorted lightly, then suddenly thought of something, and said, "Ah! I know, when your family went bankrupt, your wife ran away with someone else, right?"

Zhuang Hao took a deep breath and his face filled with black lines.

Yun Hu patted Zhuang Hao on the shoulder and said with emotion, "Only having a good-looking wife is useless, you have to be able to keep her by your side as well. Restrain your grief, accept fate."

Hearing all of this, Qi Shaorong turned his head and couldn't help but smile. .

Seeing Qi Shaorong's smile, Zhuang Hao suddenly felt that maybe making a fool out of himself wasn't that big of a deal after all.

At night, Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong were sitting back to back together in the courtyard. Qi Shaorong asked dispiritedly, "How many days has it been?"

"Sixteen days." Zhuang Hao said.

"Only sixteen days! Why do I feel like it's actually been sixteen years?" Qi Shaorong said dejectedly.

Zhuang Hao smiled casually and said, "Actually, I think that living like this isn't too bad."

Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes, looked at Zhuang Hao and touched his forehead, and said, "You don't have a fever! Why are you speaking such nonsense? Have you received too much stimulation lately, is there a problem with your brain?"

Zhuang Hao shook his head and said, "No, I just think that right now, there's sort of a mutually-dependent feeling between us."

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and shook his head helplessly, "You sure are good at adapting yourself to different situations. I reckon our current whereabouts may have been leaked out. Who knows how many people are looking for us. It'll be funny if your embarrassing appearance right now were seen by someone else."

Zhuang Hao, "Let's not talk about that anymore. The night sky is beautiful, isn't it? "

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "I never would've expected that you liked looking at the stars." The hobbies and entertainment available in this world were too little, so even looking at the stars was a fun way to pass time.

Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "I didn't like it before, but with you here, I like it now."

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "Go to bed early, we still have to go and pick vegetables with that sister tomorrow."

Zhuang Hao:" ... "

Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao had just followed Yun Que and Yun Hu out of the forest, each carrying a basket in hand, when they saw a group of travelling merchants outside.

A familiar figure stepped out from the group, and Qi Shaorong immediately felt embarrassed.

Ever since losing his magic powers, Qi Shaorong had imagined the scene of meeting his acquaintances again countless times. Now that he was really facing an acquaintance in front of him, Qi Shaorong couldn't help feeling a little shy.

Zhuang Qian was dressed as a merchant and was clearly using a fake identity.

Zhuang Qian stared at Zhuang Hao in a daze. In Zhuang Qian's mind, his big brother Zhuang Hao had always dressed very luxuriously, looking neat and impressive. At this moment, Zhuang Hao was dressed all in gray, with patches sewn on his clothes, and his hair was piled in a dishevelled mess. This really damaged Zhuang Hao's image.

Yun Que looked at Zhuang Hao, then looked at Zhuang Qian, and said, "Do you two know each other?"

Zhuang Hao nodded and said, "Before our family fortunes declined, our family could also be considered a big family. He's a distant relative of mine."

Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao, and he couldn't help letting some complaint show in his eyes. He and Zhuang Hao were real brothers! Zhuang Hao actually said he was just a distant relative.

Although Zhuang Qian was dissatisfied, he still cooperated with Zhuang Hao's, ��Cousin, how did this happen to you?"

"Our family went bankrupt, so I became like this." Zhuang Hao said.

Zhuang Qian: "…" If someone in the family heard his elder brother's words, he'd definitely get a beating.

Zhuang Qian grabbed Zhuang Hao's hand and said, "Cousin, I actually did hear that your family went bankrupt, and I was very worried about you. I tried to rush here as quickly as possible, but I didn't expect to arrive just a step too late. You must be tired. You've gone through a lot of hardship, Cousin, you should go back with me. Don't worry, you can depend on me, I won't let you go hungry."

Yun Hu walked over, lowered his voice, and said to Zhuang Hao, "Little thief, this relative of yours seems to be very rich?"

Little thief? When Zhuang Qian heard how Yun Hu addressed Zhuang Hao, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. Although Zhuang Qian was a little confused, he didn't ask him about it.

Zhuang Hao looked at Yun Hu and said, "My relative is very rich."

Yun Hu said with envy, "If you go with him, will you be able to eat pork every day?"

Zhuang Hao's mouth twitched and he said, "Yes!"

Zhuang Qian pulled Zhuang Hao's hand and said, "Cousin, don't worry, although my family isn't that rich, we can still afford a lot of pork."

Yun Hu looked at Zhuang Qian admiringly and said, "This Young Master, you are very loyal!"

Zhuang Qian nodded and said, "Yes! Yes! When doing business, upholding loyalty and honor is very important. Cousin used to take care of me often, so now that he's fallen on hard times, I also have to take care of him."

Zhuang Hao: "…"

After encountering Zhuang Qian, Zhuang Hao didn't go back with Yun Hu and Yun Que, but settled down in the wild where the others were camped.

Yun Hu felt a little crestfallen as he followed behind Yun Que, and said, "Sister, those two little thieves, are they going to leave now?"

Yun Que looked at the dazed Yun Hu and said, "You can't bear to part with them?"

Yun Hu scratched his head, and said somewhat shyly, "It actually felt pretty nice, having two people follow me and be my little brothers."

Yun Que looked at Yun Hu and said, "The two guys aren't mediocre people. There was probably a reason why they ended up at our house that day."

Yun Hu puffed out his cheeks and said enviously, "The little thief is about to become rich now. If he follows his cousin, he'll get to eat meat every day. Why don't we have any impressive relatives like that!"

Yun Que looked at Yun Hu and said angrily, "Brother, what else do you have in your head besides meat?"

"Young Master, have some tea!" Qi Heng handed a tea cup to Qi Shaorong.

Qi Shaorong somewhat excitedly held the teacup and sighed, "A-Heng, you're so great. It feels like a lifetime has passed since I last drank your tea. Now that I'm drinking it, I finally have the feeling of being human again."

Qi Heng smiled and said, "Young Master, you're overexaggerating."

"By the way, why are you here with Zhuang Qian?" Qi Shaorong asked.

Qi Heng shrugged and said, "Although we both set out from the Imperial Capital, we left separately. We bumped into each other when we got here."

Qi Shaorong: "…"

Zhuang Qian crouched in front of Zhuang Hao, looked at him, and said with some confusion, "Big Brother, how did you end up like this? There's a bad smell on your clothes!"

"These clothes are pretty good." Zhuang Hao said. When he first wore this outfit, he wasn't very used to it, but after a while, he became accustomed to it. Zhuang Hao thought to himself: These clothes can still be considered good, but that quilt really… Couldn't be described with words!

Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao with puzzlement and said, "Brother, when did your taste become like this, you actually think this style of dressing is good."

Qi Shaorong tilted his head and said, "Don't look down on his clothes! In order to acquire those clothes, your eldest brother sacrificed his whole reputation."

Zhuang Hao: "…"

Zhuang Qian looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Young Master Qi, what happened to you two!"

Qi Shaorong was in high spirits as he talked about the things that he and Zhuang Hao had experienced during this time.

Zhuang Hao looked at the lively Qi Shaorong, and he felt a little helpless in his heart. Their shame really couldn't be revealed to anyone else. His life during this period of time was bad beyond words, and Qi Shaorong's life hadn't been that great either!

Zhuang Qian looked at Qi Shaorong with a long face. Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Qian and said puzzledly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Zhuang Qian frowned and said unhappily, "Young Master Qi, you're telling me that my brother tried stealing clothes, failed, was caught and forced to work for someone else?"

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Yes!"

"You can't just slander my brother because he broke off the previous marriage arrangement! You're already engaged to him now, if my brother loses face, so will you." Zhuang Qian stared at Qi Shaorong.

Qi Shaorong: "…" Was his credibility really that bad?

Zhuang Hao started laughing, and Qi Shaorong gave Zhuang Hao an angry look.

Qi Shaorong looked at Qi Heng and said, "When are we returning to Yuan Country!"

"Not in the next few days, I'm afraid. We still have to wait for you, Young Master, and Zhuang Hao to recover your strengths." Qi Heng said.

Qi Shaorong asked in confusion, "Why?"

Qi Heng looked at Qi Shaorong, and said, "Young Master, you don't know, but this place that we're in is a part of the Red Moon Wasteland. Here, the people from Yuan Country, Rong Country, and Li Country all live together. This used to be a neutral zone, but the people from Rong Country have now set up checkpoints along all the roads. I think that they're aiming for you and Young Master Zhuang Hao."

"Why would they do that?" Qi Shaorong said.

Qi Heng smiled and said, "The Emperor is very ambitious, and he's had the idea of invading the other countries for a while now. Young Master, once you and Young Master Zhuang Hao grow up, you'll be considered a big threat to other countries."

Qi Shaorong: "…" Why was he so unlucky! All these conflicts between these big forces always end up involving him somehow.

Qi Heng looked at Qi Shaorong, who was frowning, and said, "Young Master, don't worry, as long as you and Young Master Zhuang Hao recover your powers, you'll be able to easily pass those checkpoints. We just need to keep a low profile for now."

Qi Shaorong: " …"

That night, Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong set up a tent and slept in the wild. Although the tent was a little crude and simple, Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong still had a good night's sleep with a quilt that didn't have a "meaty smell" on it.

Footnotes:

Chicken blood: You've probably heard this phrase be used before if you read Chinese novels often. To be injected with chicken blood means to be extremely excited or energetic (often used mockingly).