Jiang Suizhou was sitting alone on a tree trunk that was stretched across the
ground.
Huo Wujiu moved to and fro several times and dealt with the corpses on the
ground neatly. The terrain in the mountain was treacherous, and there was a
canyon nearby. Huo Wujiu's movements were quite fast. In short order,
everything in front of Jiang Suizhou was clean as a pin.
A few moments later, footsteps sounded in the air. Jiang Suizhou looked up
and saw Huo Wujiu landing in front of him.
He did not hide his legs at all. He sat down in front of Jiang Suizhou, and
ripped off the hem of his robe.
Jiang Suizhou only stared at his shoulder.
After a moment of silence, Huo Wujiu chuckled deeply.
"Ask whatever you want to ask." he prodded, "What can you know from
staring at me?"
However, he heard Jiang Suizhou take a breath and say in a somewhat
wavering voice, "I'll bandage it for you, all right?"
Huo Wujiu handed the torn cloth on Jiang Suizhou's lap, and while neatly
unfastening his robe, he replied, "No, you don't know how."
As he spoke, he had already ripped open half of his lapel, revealing part of
his muscular shoulders. It was just that when he exposed this piece of skin,
several old wounds, all of which were pale scars, came to light. The deepest one ran across his clavicle. Amidst its hideousness, the smooth and rugged
collarbone actually made it appear rather charming.
And in his shoulder socket was the new wound that was still bleeding.
The dagger didn't pierce too deep, but it also tore his flesh, making it look
quite appalling. Huo Wujiu put the cloth over the wound with one hand, bit
down on one end, wrapped it a few times, and then roughly bandaged his
wound.
Another moment of silence later, he bit the cloth. His eyes fell on his own
shoulder, and he addressed Jiang Suizhou, "Aren't you going to ask when
my legs healed?"
Only Huo Wujiu himself knew that he was hiding a trace of apprehension
under his lowered eyelashes.
He jumped out of the back window of Jiang Suizhou's room, bypassed the
surrounding guards, and then entered the mountain. When he went up the
mountain the day before yesterday, he memorized the right direction and
headed straight to the hunting ground.
Sure enough, Pang Shao made a move against Jiang Suizhou on the hunting
grounds.
The Hou Zhu drew the whip that fell on Jiang Suizhou's horse, but Huo
Wujiu knew all too well that what drove the horse crazy was the concealed
weapon that struck it.
Once he fell off the horse under any circumstances, his life absolutely
would be in danger. Huo Wujiu didn't care to find out who released the
concealed weapon. He dove into the forest to chase after the horse.
However, just when he caught up, he saw Jiang Suizhou fall into an ambush
that was set up early on.
As expected, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. One
hoop after the other, Pang Shao made arrangements long ago with no
intention of leaving Jiang Suizhou half a chance of survival.
Huo Wujiu could no longer care about anything else, and had no choice but
to show himself immediately.
He knew that this was the only way he could save Jiang Suizhou. On the
flip side, he also knew that in this manner, his legs would be exposed.
But he didn't regret it either.
He lowered his gaze, as if seriously dressing his wound, but the force under
his hands couldn't help exert more strength. He even squeezed the wound
till it bled.
Just then, Jiang Suizhou interrupted him.
"There's no need to ask," he said, "Li Changning lied to me before, didn't
he?
Huo Wujiu ceased moving.
"Mm.," he responded.
"So that means he's your man," Jiang Suizhou said. "The apprentice
following him resembled a man in the military camp at first sight. He didn't
look right when he saw you. However, I was ill at that time and had little
energy. Li Changning claimed he was a farmer, and I believed it.
Jiang Suizhou's voice was nothing but calm.
However, Huo Wujiu felt as if a fine silk thread was strangling his heart,
tightening by the minute.
His hand that was tying the knot to the wound stopped in place and he
didn't move much.
Sure enough, he said to himself, He has always been smart. So long as he
sees something, no further explanation is needed.
Huo Wujiu, however, tasted some bitterness in his mouth.
Akin to a prisoner awaiting his sentence, he had been hanging all day long
and the dust finally settled today but he was not happy at all.
"Yes," he confirmed, "So…"
Therefore, I'm not a frank and honest partner. You can be disappointed with
me, but I will still do what I promised before.
He choked in his throat, quite unable to speak.
Just then, Jiang Suizhou interrupted him.
"So you can't bandage your wound like this," he leaned down and said to
Huo Wujiu, "Although I don't know anything, I still know that you can't
bandage it tightly. Even if there's no wound medicine here, shouldn't you
clean the wound first? I vaguely hear the sound of water. Is there a stream
nearby?"
Huo Wujiu hesitated: "There's one half a mile to the west."
"Come on, let's go to the stream first," Jiang Suizhou said as he stood up.
He had been sitting for a long time, and Huo Wujiu carried him earlier, so
he had forgotten that he had sprained his foot. As soon as he got up, he took
a painful breath and nearly plunged to the ground.
Huo Wujiu raised his hand and caught him.
"What happened to your foot?" Huo Wujiu asked.
Jiang Suizhou was propped up on Huo Wujiu's arm. His arm muscle was
firm, and it felt as hard as a stone to the touch. With his support, everything
was seemingly steady with a sense of security.
"When I fell off the horse, I twisted it a little," he explained.
Huo Wujiu stood still. A moment later, he sighed helplessly and clenched
his teeth.
"How can you forget even this?"
Jiang Suizhou was a little embarrassed.
In fact, what happened to Huo Wujiu when he was injured was shocking.
Jiang Suizhou was too focused on checking on him and forgot about his
sprain.
Huo Wujiu looked down, saw his expression and immediately understood
what he was thinking.
There really was nothing he could do about the man in front of him.
He kept silent for a couple of seconds and whispered again.
"As I said earlier, Li Changning lied to you," he said. "He follows my
orders, so it's I…"
Just then, Jiang Suizhou interrupted him.
"So, it's a good thing, ah!" Jiang Suizhou exclaimed. "I've always had a
headache with your legs, but I didn't expect to have your people come to
you and cure you."
Huo Wujiu once again froze and looked down at Jiang Suizhou.
He found Jiang Suizhou also looking up at him. The sparkling joy in those
eyes didn't seem fake at all.
"So, why don't we hurry up and go to the stream?" He urged, "If you don't
clean your wound any time soon, your legs might be fine, but your arm will
be crippled."
Although the gurgling sound of water was faintly audible from their
location, there was still some distance from the stream.
Jiang Suizhou wanted Huo Wujiu to help him to the water's edge, but Huo
Wujiu bent down and pinched his ankle.
Jiang Suizhou gasped in pain, and reflexively ducked back.
Huo Wujiu straightened up and said, "You've sprained yourself and can't
walk at this time."
"But…"
Before Jiang Suizhou could speak, his body lightened, and his feet were
already in the air.
Huo Wujiu carried him up in a horizontal embrace.
"Hey!" Jiang Suizhou was startled and subconsciously struggled. However,
Huo Wujiu held him steadily, and lifted a leg, setting out toward the water's
edge.
"Stop wriggling about," Huo Wujiu commanded.
Jiang Suizhou felt his neck burning.
What is this, Huo Wujiu! Although he really couldn't walk, this action was
pretty ambiguous. There was something indescribably strange between
them.
This strange feeling made Jiang Suizhou's heart go pitter-patter.
"Quickly put me down first!" Jiang Suizhou cried anxiously.
Huo Wujiu glanced down at him in some confusion.
Then he noticed that under his black hair, his white and transparent ears
were dusted a shade of blush.
Huo Wujiu realized in hindsight that this way of carrying him seemed to be
inappropriate.
He did not think much about it just now, and only considered it more
convenient. However, now that this man just let him carry him in his
embrace, he looked quite well-behaved. It also seemed like he was entirely
dependent on him.
Huo Wujiu actually felt reluctant to put him down again.
He maintained his composure, and only moved his eyes, averting his gaze
from his ear.
"We'll be there soon." He looked calm, and his voice sounded indifferent,
as if he hadn't noticed any abnormality or felt the tension of the man in his
arms. "Don't struggle again, lest you fall."
His appearance seemed to trick Jiang Suizhou. He replied with a stiff 'Oh'
and no longer struggled to get down.
It was just that his head lowered deeper, as if to bury himself.
He didn't realize that Huo Wujiu, who was carrying him, was not as calm as
he imagined.
The pair of arms embracing him tightened two points nervously.
——
Jiang Suizhou was absent, but the Hou Zhu had quite a harvest on this day.
They rode to the hunting ground early in the morning, and by the time the
sun descended, the Hou Zhu had hunted several large and small prey.
There were also a lot of military generals on the field. When it came to
hunting, it was child's play for them to capture some beasts. But everyone
knew that His Majesty was fond of hunting. His hunting skills were awful,
and he dared not chase and kill wolves and tigers.
His Majesty loved his image, so at this turn, they naturally couldn't steal the
limelight from him.
Thus, when the time came to count, only the Hou Zhu hunted the most.
Afterward, the Hou Zhu pretended to train several military officials on the
field, saying that their martial arts were lacking, and they needed more
diligent training.
The crowd naturally responded with a resounding yes. It was plain to see
that His Majesty looked like he was admonishing them, but from the look
on his face, he was smug.
As expected, after His Majesty finished lecturing them, he waved his hand
and asked the imperial guards to take away the animals he had hunted
throughout the day and serve them up in dishes in the imperial kitchen.
Tonight, the officials would enjoy a big banquet.
There was no mention of Jingwang, who had entered the forest and hadn't
come back yet.
Everyone was beaming and knelt down in succession to thank him.
But at this juncture, clattering horses' hooves resounded from a distance.
The crowd raised their heads and spotted a tall dark horse carrying an adult
man galloping straight toward them.
The man advanced closer until the crowd recognized his face.
He had a square wide dark face, a pair of copper bell-like eyes, tall and
stocky. He was wearing official robes, reminding everyone of a ghost from hell. He was horribly ugly.
It was Ji Hongcheng.
The Hou Zhu frowned. The look of joy on his face gave him a feeling that
nothing good had happened.
Ji Hongcheng traversed directly toward him, dismounted from his horse,
knelt down in front of him, and laughed aloud, "Your Majesty!"
"What's the matter?" The Hou Zhu couldn't care less about what good
things had happened to him.
Ji Hongcheng replied, "This subject has just hunted a tiger and would like
to present it to Your Majesty!"
The Hou Zhu felt a lump in his throat. The instant the ministers heard his
declaration, they exchanged glances for a moment, and the joy on their
faces froze.
Did this Ji Hongcheng have a one-track mind? How could he accompany
the Emperor on a hunting trip and steal the limelight from him?
The Hou Zhu was rendered speechless for a time. He raised his eyes and
looked in the direction where he came. He saw several imperial guards
riding horses and struggling to drag a humongous, hill-like object towards
them.
Ji Hongcheng not only hunted a tiger, but also a sturdy and tall adult fierce
tiger.
The Hou Zhu then glanced at his pile of elks and goats scattered around and
felt sick of them.
This man surnamed Ji really spoiled the fun.
"This being the case, you, dear subject, is considered the best hunter. I
should reward you handsomely."
Ji Hongcheng exercised no modesty at all and responded loudly, "Thank
you, Your Majesty!"
The Hou Zhu gnashed his teeth, wishing he could kill him.
"In that case, I'll give you a job." He sat on his horse and looked down at Ji
Hongcheng. His tone was light, but his teeth were clenched.
"Jingwang went to chase a stag in the forest just now, but he hasn't returned
yet. I'm worried about him, so you go and find him back. You'll be heavily
rewarded."
The Hou Zhu looked up at the sun that was gradually sinking down the
mountain and decreed.
An entire day had passed. Looking at the weather, it was time to collect his
Fifth Brother's corpse. Let Ji Hongcheng take over this unlucky task. While
he was at it, he would condemn him to death for the crime of failing to
protect Jingwang and causing him to die when the time came. He would
execute this ignorant fool all together.
——