Tome of Troubled Times

“Let’s return.” On a small path by the mountain, Luo Qi waved his hands.

The ice and snow whizzed past the mountain. It was much colder than inside the stronghold. At least inside, there were many places that shielded people from the wind and allowed them to keep themselves warm. Going outside to complete missions, on the other hand, required them to weather the biting cold.

Luo Qi acted as leader of a small group. They hid by the side of the road, waiting to ambush any traveling merchants that passed by. However, just how many merchants would be on the road in this freezing weather? There was not a soul to be spotted for the entire day. The snow had long since covered Luo Qi’s head and shoulders. His slim figure looked like a frozen eggplant.

When Luo Qi left the Luo family, he had no time to bring any other items along. He only had the thin clothes he was wearing. Even with whatever cultivation level he had achieved, it was still difficult to endure the conditions outside.

On the other hand, Luo Qi’s men all wore thick clothing; they fared better than him out here. Unfortunately, Luo Qi had assumed a leading position the moment he had arrived at the stronghold, so he could not, in good faith, take any of his underling’s clothes for himself. He had put up with this for a while.

One of the underlings by his side said, “Captain Luo, there’s nothing to find here. Looks like we should head to the city after all...” Luo Qi shook his head and said, “We’ll come back here for two more days. I don’t know if the higher-ups want us to preach in the city. There will be people willing to join, but we cannot act rashly by ourselves.”

Preaching and looting were the two usual sources of income for a demonic cult. If done well, there was the possibility of setting up industry. The new Beimang branch was just built and had nothing. Even now, everyone was still eating food gathered from the mountain to save up money.

The underling said, “We’ve been starving for the whole day! If we return to the stronghold, we’ll be reprimanded. There’s a high chance they won’t give us anything to eat. At this rate, we’ll all starve to death.”

Luo Qi said, “I’ll personally treat all of you to a meal someday when we sneak into the city.”

Luo Qi’s men all smiled. This newly promoted leader sure knows how to treat his subordinates! Everyone felt less anxious.

Luo Qi dismissed his men and slowly dragged his tired self back to the mountain stronghold as the sun set. As he passed by the sacrificial altar, with the secret entrance well-obscured, he chuckled coldly.

He knew what it was.

Zhao Changhe thought Luo Qi had no choice but to follow him. However, that was not the case—Luo QI did not tag along because he was too weak to escape elsewhere, much less because he wanted to exact justice upon the Blood God Cult. In fact, he could have easily ran away, so why did he insist on enduring all this hardship?

It was because Luo Qi knew what this place was, what the Blood God Cult was doing here, and...why they had exterminated the Luo family. He had decided to follow Zhao Changhe not out of necessity, but after careful deliberation.

Luo Qi returned to the stronghold as if nothing was wrong. When he went to report to the mission hall that he had returned with nothing, he was naturally hurled a torrent of abuse. As expected, he was not given anything to eat. Luo Qi laughed apologetically and left, slowly returning to his living quarters.

From afar, he could see the wooden hut. Zhao Changhe stood by the entrance and was using the light from the setting sun to read.

In the face of hardship, whether it’s day or night, he continues his training. He’s got the look of a diligent student.

Zhao Changhe was holding the horse stance. He had a book in his left hand, and with his right hand, he was repeatedly swinging a saber.

In front of him was a wooden pole. He was trying, with great effort, to make sure the saber hit the same spot every time. The pole, however, was messily hacked up, filled with blade marks.

Luo Qi had never seen someone so hardworking...not that he had met very many people anyway.

Zhao Changhe’s face revealed pleasant surprise as he saw Luo Qi return. “You’re back?”

Luo Qi found his expression very odd. “What’re you so excited for?”

“Oh... I was afraid you met with some danger.” Zhao Changhe smiled and said, “Looks like nothing happened? That’s good. Have you eaten?”

Luo Qi had an even more perplexed look in his eyes, only replying after a good while. “I’ve eaten.”

In reality, Luo Qi had not eaten anything other than the cornbread given to them this morning. As the words left his mouth, his stomach followed up with a grumble.

In an instant, Luo Qi’s face reddened. He glared angrily at Zhao Changhe.

Zhao Chang did not want to bicker with a damn tsundere. He turned around and entered the hut. “I was worried you might not have been able to find any food today in this weather, so I left some for you... You came back at a good time. The food is still warm.”

Luo Qi followed Zhao Changhe inside as if he was in a dream. He looked at the leftover food on the table, stupefied.

Looking at Luo Qi’s surprised face, Zhao Changhe’s own expression turned serious. “You won’t mind if I’ve eaten some of it, will you? Just put up with it, my senior martial brother.”

Luo Qi kept quiet and silently sat by the table. He looked at the food. There was even a piece of meat there.

“You... You need this meat more than me,” he said with some difficulty.

Zhao Changhe waved his hands indifferently. “I ate three portions for lunch. It’s enough. I’m not hungry.”

Luo Qi spoke no more. Who in their right mind thinks that eating lunch means one doesn’t have to eat dinner...

Zhao Changhe sat by the side and accompanied Luo Qi as he ate, asking, “It’s the middle of winter. Just how many merchants can there be on the road? How are you supposed to complete this mission?”

“There is the occasional merchant. If there really weren’t any...” Luo Qi paused. He looked at Zhao Changhe, feeling a little strange. “Perhaps there’d be many atrocities like what happened at the Zhao House, except this time, we would be the ones to commit them. Do you really not care at all? Isn’t it pretty ironic considering your attitude back at the Luo Family Village?”

Zhao Changhe looked at the setting sun, lost in thought. He said softly, “Before you returned, I was conflicted about this. I thought about it for a bit, and I have some things I want to discuss with you.”

Luo Qi asked curiously, “What is it?”

“We had no choice in the past and we could only do as we were told. Now, however, we have a certain level of autonomy.” Zhao Changhe’s voice turned softer. “For example, can’t we select our targets? Such as those similar to the Luo family. After taking care of them, can we not claim that we are carrying out the will of heaven, stealing from the rich to give to the poor? I suspect that this is the source of income for many ‘heroes’ in the jianghu.”

Luo Qi’s expression brightened and, for a while, he stared at Zhao Changhe as if the latter had three heads. Then, he laughed. “I originally thought you were someone great. How can you be this na?ve?”

“Na?ve? Perhaps.” Zhao Changhe said softly. “But there are some things I don’t want to lose.”

Luo Qi did not mock him. He lowered his head and poked at the grains of rice in the bowl. “In a den of lions, how can one play around? Whatever you have planned, you won’t be able to do it.”

Zhao Changhe replied, “If I cannot do as I want now, I just have to become stronger. I’ve already seen it first-hand today. What a demonic cult recognizes the most is strength. If you’re strong, others will revere you. No one will dare to trouble you. It’s just like how you’re a leader now. At the very least, you have some control over your men. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll become the branch master? When that happens, your word here will be the law.”

Zhao Changhe still had something he wanted to say.

As long as we have what it takes to deal with our pursuers, we can just make a break for it. It may be a shitty stronghold, but we can’t just slip away whenever we want to.

In a foreign place, surrounded by foreign people, who would show care for others? Zhao Changhe was already labeled a natural-born bandit. It would not be out of the ordinary for him to one day betray the cult.

“Heh...” Luo Qi sighed. Zhao Changhe did not know if his interlocutor had picked up on his unspoken words.

Luo Qi said, “I hope you can retain this conscience and na?vete of yours. Just like what you did for this meal... Thank you.”

Zhao Changhe smiled. “It’s not easy to say something like that. Are we friends now?”

“Yeah,” Luo Qi said gently. “We were already friends before this.”

In fact, they were more than just friends. It was not a stretch to say that their fates were now intertwined. Luo Qi had never thought that he would use such words about the relationship between him and another person.

“So does that mean we can sleep together tonight?” Zhao Changhe slammed the table. “What I mean is, how long are we gonna go on with one person sleeping on the bed while the other sleeps on the table? Whatever you say, I’m taking the bed tonight. I’m about to fucking freeze to death here.”

“...” Luo Qi was stupefied. “Then just sleep on the bed. Maybe I’ll be dead by tomorrow and you won’t have to concern yourself with this anymore.”

Zhao Changhe said unhappily, “You’re not a woman, are you? How can you be this much of a tsundere? Female leads dressing up as guys in novels aren’t popular with readers nowadays.”

Luo Qi unhappily pointed at his Adam’s apple. “Mister Zhao, have you gone insane? Do you take everyone you meet to be a woman?”

“The exact opposite! I don’t want to have any lovey-dovey relationship with women.” Zhao Changhe declared angrily. “I seriously hope you’re not a woman. It’d be way more convenient if you were a guy. It’d be really troublesome if you were a woman! Can’t you act more like a man!?”

Luo Qi’s eyes widened. After a while, he broke out in laughter. “Truly... Great words from a great man of the jianghu.”

“I guess what I’m saying is that I’m a thick-headed man. Oh wait, I forgot you don’t know what that means [1]” Zhao Changhe was too lazy to think of another word. “I’m a thick-headed man. That’s just who I am. Got a problem with that? Now that I’ve said this, if you’re a guy, we’ll sleep together tonight. If you’re a girl, I’ll give my ass to Instructor Sun tomorrow morning and beg for another room! Why is sleeping such a fucking hassle!? It’s just sleeping!”

Luo Qi continued poking at the food in his bowl with his chopsticks. The piece of meat he was reluctant to eat was now reduced to mush. He muttered inaudibly, “You’re really a bandit. How vulgar.”

Zhao Changhe did not hear what he said. “What?”

“Nothing.” Luo Qi raised his head. “If we have to sleep together, then we’ll sleep together. I don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it!”

1. The word used for thick-headed man is 钢铁直男. This is modern internet slang and refers to someone who can only speak in a direct manner and is not good at talking to women. ☜

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