Tome of Troubled Times

The bed was pretty big and had reeds as bedding. There was even a blanket fit for a two-person bed. After all, this was a two-person room. Zhao Changhe and Luo Qi did not occupy low positions in the cult and could be considered as leaders in their own right, so the treatment they received was not too bad.

At night, Zhao Changhe continued to train outside in the snow while Luo Qi was first to dig into bed. He lay on the inside, next to the wall, and wrapped himself in the blanket, looking at Zhao Changhe slashing the wooden pole with his saber as he held the horse stance. There was a rhythm to his attacks.

Luo Qi watched intently and did not let himself fall asleep. His mouth twitched as he suddenly said, “Aren’t your muscles sore from training at this intensity without stopping from dusk to dawn?”

Zhao Changhe did not look at Luo Qi as he responded, “The Vicious Blood Art is a little interesting. It looks like it’s able to solve that problem. My muscles don’t hurt at all.”

“Don’t tell me you also don’t feel tired?”

“Of course I do. Actually, it’s even easier to tire myself out practicing the Vicious Blood Art. I still need time to rest from time to time. It’s probably because I’m overexerting my qi and blood. I may be able to become unstoppable in battle, but if the enemies don’t take me down, the fatigue sure will. I fought some people today, and I was far more exhausted after that than I am now.”

Luo Qi thought for a moment. “Demonic arts sure are strange... You’ve only been training for two days, but you can already feel such clear changes in your body. If it were a martial art from the Luo family, you’d have to be a genius to feel the qi in your body after a month.”

“Of course there’d be some shortcuts. Otherwise who would want to level up an alt account using demonic arts?”

“What’s an alt account... Wait, did you just say you had a fight? Who did you fight?” Luo Qi suddenly realized what Zhao Changhe had just said and his expression turned grim.

Zhao Changhe finally threw him a glance. As he looked at Luo Qi’s dark face, he grinned. “Senior brother, do you want to help me get out of my predicament? I keep forgetting that you’re way stronger than me.”

“Of course I’m way stronger than you!”

“So why are you so afraid of sleeping? You think I’ll wreck your asshole? I should be the one who’s afraid of you.”

“What’s with you? You’ve been full of nonsense since we’ve become more familiar with each other. You weren’t like this before...” Luo Qi covered his forehead. “I’m asking who you fought with. Do you need my help?”

“Isn’t it normal for friends to talk like this after they become more familiar with each other? Anyway, I won that fight, so it’s alright.”

Luo Qi could not be bothered with Zhao Changhe anymore and turned to face the wall on the other side. “Since you know we’re friends, next time you find yourself in a similar situation, remember to tell me. If I’m not around, just hide somewhere. It’s never too late to take revenge. You’re too reckless for someone who’s only been training for two days. Your body may be well-built, but in reality, it doesn’t count for anything.”

“Alright, alright, alright.” Zhao Changhe was in a rather cheerful mood. Luo Qi really viewed him as a friend now. However, seeing him go to bed after eating bewildered Zhao Changhe. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you cultivate or train. Don’t you need to practice as well?”

“I practice internal arts. I can cultivate even when I’m lying down.”

“...No shit, you can do that? Then why do people need to sit in the lotus position to cultivate?”

“That’s for daoists. There are many different kinds of internal arts in this world. In fact, there are some people who can cultivate while they work or run. Everyone cultivates in a different manner. Being able to cultivate while lying down isn’t very rare.” Luo Qi suddenly smiled. “What’s up? Do you regret not picking up the internal arts of our Luo Family’s outer branch?”

Zhao Changhe had a bitter expression and he raised his head for a while before sighing. “I don’t have any regrets. What I’m looking for is speed, not an easy time cultivating.”

“That’s why you’re training day and night?”

“Yes...”

“The way of cultivation requires one to achieve balance. To insist on training so excessively is not necessarily a good thing. You should rest.” Luo Qi paused and realized that what he had just said was equivalent to inviting Zhao Changhe to go to bed with him. Luo Qi continued, “Once you’re in bed, don’t touch me with your paws. Disgusting.”

Zhao Changhe responded unhappily, “You really think I’m gay? Don’t you think I’d find that disgusting as well?”

He did not feel tired, so he kept swinging his sword. “Go to sleep first. I need to do a hundred slashes tonight before anything else.”

Luo Qi’s eyes widened. “Madman.”

“Mad?” Zhao Changhe said softly. “If I’m not mad, how am I supposed to protect the things I don’t want to lose?”

Luo Qi had a complicated look on his face as he watched Zhao Changhe’s spill his sweat everywhere in the darkness. There was a mysterious hatred in Luo Qi’s eyes, but also hard-to-suppress admiration. In the end, everything became faint as he shut his eyes.

One person outside; one person inside. One still and quiet; one full of movement. Amidst this snowing winter night where not a sound could be heard, the two of them formed a unique scenery.

After some time, Zhao Changhe had lost count of how many times he had swung his saber. He was finally exhausted, but he was also satisfied.

He had managed to get a feel for how to control his saber. He was getting faster and faster, becoming steadier as he went, and also more precise with his attacks. The slashes he had made on the wooden pole before were scattered and rarely hit the same spot twice. However, the blade marks were getting closer and closer together, converging towards a single line.

The sayings “an extension of one’s arm” and “wherever one’s thoughts go, the blade reaches” seemed like metaphors, but they could actually be realized with enough practice. There was nothing special about being highly skilled—it was just practice and then more practice. This principle was ironclad.

“Fuck. I smell rancid. There’s nowhere to take a shower. This is too hard to deal with.” Zhao Changhe wiped away his sweat as he entered the wooden hut. He wanted to complain, but seeing Luo Qi fast asleep, he stopped himself.

Another reason Zhao Changhe wanted to keep training was so that he could ward off the cold. If he wore such thin clothes in the middle of winter without constantly exercising, he would freeze to death. Whenever he paused and the wind picked up, he would feel incredibly cold.

Zhao Changhe could do nothing but hang up his sweaty shirt to dry. He wiped the sweat off himself and snuggled into his own part of the blanket.

Luo Qi pulled away, shifting himself further to the inner side of the bed.

“Still haven’t slept?”

“You were making such a ruckus with your saber? Who’d be able to sleep?”

Zhao Changhe felt a bit sorry. “In that case, I won’t practice with the saber at night next time. I’ll just cultivate.”

“There’s no need for that,” Luo Qi forced himself to say. “Since you want to rapidly raise your strength, how can you be hindered by such a trivial matter? In any case, I don’t care. Whatever other people think doesn’t matter either. They can go and die for all I care.”

“If you didn’t care you’d be asleep. Anyway, I’m dead tired. I’m going to bed now.”

“...”

The wooden hut suddenly became quiet.

Zhao Changhe was truly exhausted. He fell asleep the moment he shut his eyes. With the both of them curled up in their own separate blankets, there was no possibility of bumping into each other. He sure is overthinking things. The heck is he imagining about touching?

However, the reality was that there was a stench emanating from both of them, and that was unbearable.

Zhao Changhe was in no mood to find out whether Luo Qi was a guy or a girl. Right now, he was fully preoccupied with his own goals. There was no time to think about pointless things. As Zhao Changhe said, it would be best if Luo Qi was not a girl. Otherwise, there would be much more trouble to deal with. Things would be much simpler if he was a man.

Without extraneous thoughts, Zhao Changhe quickly fell asleep. Luo Qi anxiously grabbed his blanket. He faced the wall, but his eyes were wide open. His whole body was tense and he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

“He wouldn’t dare get nearer, would he? He said he wouldn’t get close and also found it disgusting, right?”

“But what if he gets closer in his sleep?”

“If that happens, he’s unconscious, so he wouldn’t know right?”

“But if he wakes up before me, won’t he know?”

Luo Qi’s thoughts were a mess. He could not sleep at all. As if to mock him, Zhao Changhe soon entered a deep sleep and began snoring. It was like thunder.

Luo Qi turned around unhappily and menacingly raised his leg. He wanted to kick Zhao Changhe but hesitated for a moment and eventually slowly put it down.

He looked at Zhao Changhe’s face. The scar on it was just as distinctive in the darkness.

When he said that Zhao Changhe’s scar was ugly, Luo Qi was not speaking the truth. It was not ugly at all. On the contrary, it had a wild beauty; it was very manly.

This was because Zhao Changhe was manly and handsome to begin with. No matter how good-looking people messed up their appearance, they would look cool (author’s note: ugly people should not follow this advice).

Zhao Changhe slept very well. He did not move an inch in his sleep. After watching for a while, Luo Qi slowly relaxed. He eventually gave in to his fatigue and finally dozed off.

In Luo Qi’s dream, there was a person who gently served her food.

Luo Qi faintly heard herself asking, “Mom, why aren’t you eating?”

The person in her dream patted her head. “I’ve already eaten this afternoon. I’m not hungry.”

The person’s face was blurry. It was only an early memory from Luo Qi’s childhood. She had long forgotten what that face looked like.

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