Tome of Troubled Times

“Rumors say that the emperor had an illegitimate son but couldn’t afford to mess with the empress’ clan, so he couldn’t bring the kid to the palace. The emperor could only take care of him in secret. But with the death of the crown prince, the value of Luo Zhenwu’s secret identity suddenly changed... Before then, who would’ve cared about which bastard he was?”

Zhao Changhe felt numb.

Was this the real reason why the Four Idols Cult and Blood God Cult wanted to exterminate the Luo Family? If they extinguish the imperial bloodline, then the world will be thrown into chaos.

The problem is, with the death of the crown prince, wouldn’t the emperor have sent people to the Luo family to bring Luo Zhenwu to the palace? How could he possibly allow Luo Zhenwu to stay with the Luo family... What’s more, from the attitude of the Luo family, they didn’t look like they understood the gravity of the crown prince’s death. If not, how could Luo Zhenwu still be in the mood to have his way with village girls?

The other possibility was, of course, that the people were just making wild guesses and the Luo family had suffered this calamity for no reason.

Zhao Changhe carefully asked, “When did the crown prince die? Did he die before or after Luo Zhenwu?”

The bandit clapped his hands together. “Actually, that’s a weird coincidence. He died in the afternoon right before you killed Luo Zhenwu. Just a few hours before! At that time, Luo Zhenwu was the emperor’s only child. So, Boss Zhao...it can be said that your saber cleaved open the gate to troubled times. How could you not be famous?”

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath.

Judging from the time that the Blood God Cult chose to strike, they were definitely planning to kill Luo Zhenwu even before the crown prince died... Was this really a coincidence? Or was the crown prince’s death also part of their plan? Did they decide to carry out both of them at the same time?

First Seat Tang’s words resurfaced in Zhao Changhe’s mind. “You have no idea of the gravity of what just happened. You... You will regret this.”

She didn’t come to the Luo Family Village because of Village Lord Luo’s request for assistance, nor did she arrive ahead of a large army. In fact, there wasn’t any large army. Village Lord Luo’s letter probably hadn’t even reached the capital either...The reason she rushed to the Luo Family was that she had to take care of Luo Zhenwu! She just happened to arrive after the raid had already started.

So it looks like the Luo family didn’t meet with a calamity for no reason. There were other things behind the raid.

Luo Zhenwu’s death was indeed serious. It was serious to the point that Zhao Changhe was put in a daze for a while. He suddenly looked to the sky and laughed hysterically. “The imperial palace and dragon throne on the location card—so this is how they were related to the Luo Family Village. Hahaha! This card is fucking useless. Damn blind woman, I’ll fuck you up!”

The bandit: “?”

Zhao Changhe smiled as he patted the bandit’s shoulder. “I’ve understood everything. Thank you, brother.”

Cleaving open the gate to troubled times.

How could chaos start just because of something like that? The way that pig was, if he’d taken the throne, that’s when the people would have met with actual misfortune.

What’s done is done. Did I not kill a big scoundrel?

Thinking this, the nervousness in Zhao Changhe’s heart vanished. In fact, he felt better than before. The mystery of the location card, which had been nagging him all this while, was finally solved, and Zhao Changhe felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him.

However, there’s still something weird about the whole thing. The way the village lord and his son talked to each other didn’t make any sense. Also, if the Four Idols Cult and Blood God Cult conducted the raid just to kill Luo Zhenwu, wouldn’t it have been enough to send an assassin? Why stir up something so big by exterminating the entire Luo family...

Anyway, who cares? Will knowing what actually happened get me out of this shituation? Nope. Not at all. In any case, I’m a wanted criminal. I can’t leave the stronghold even if I want to. Might as well continue bringing food back for Luo Qi. I still need something to fill up my days.

Zhao Changhe had spent a long time talking, and he returned to the wooden hut much later than the night before. The sun had fully set and he could not even make out the roads anymore. However, when he returned, Luo Qi was nowhere to be found. Zhao Changhe knit his brow. He was in no mood to put in extra practice and repeatedly paced around the building while looking at the entrance of the stronghold.

Yesterday, he was worried that Luo Qi met with some danger. That did not turn out to be the case, but it did not mean that danger did not exist. It could strike at any time.

It wouldn’t strike today, would it?

Zhao Changhe finally could not wait any longer, picked up his saber, and left the building. After walking a few steps, he saw Luo Qi sauntering back with his hands clasped behind his back.

Seeing Zhao Changhe anxiously head outside, Luo Qi was a little stunned, but he soon understood what was going on. His eyes squinted slightly as he smiled. “I’m back.”

Zhao Changhe heaved a sigh of relief and frowned. “Why have you returned so late... Eh, wait, something’s wrong...”

He sniffed the air.

“Hey, wait a moment. You used to have a stench that I could smell whenever the wind blew in my direction. Where’s that gone?”

Luo Qi furrowed his brow. “I went to take a bath in the stream behind the mountain. I couldn’t take the stench anymore. It felt like lice were about to begin crawling all over me.”

“Swimming in winter. Impressive” Zhao Changhe felt restless, and also a bit terrified. I’ve never swam in winter before. Forget about taking a bath, I’ll freeze to death if I even try to take my clothes off. Looks like people at the first layer of the Profound Gate can really do whatever they want...

“You take a bath as well. Who’d want to sleep with you if you smell like shit?” Luo Qi found a good excuse. “I wasn’t being unreasonable before. You were just too smelly.”

Zhao Changhe’s expression was bitter. “It’s so cold. You’ve reached the first layer of the Profound Gate and you can handle it. I’m just a noob.”

“True men are all unafraid of going into water in winter, even those who have never cultivated. You’ve already been cultivating for a few days. Don’t chicken out.” Luo Qi smiled as he took out a gourd of wine that he was hiding behind his back. “I’ll pour you some warm wine to drink. It’ll help you beat the cold.”

Zhao Changhe was pleasantly surprised. “Where did you get this?”

“I went to the city and bought some today.” Luo Qi seemed to magically pull out a greasy bag. “I even got some barbecued meat. It’s your reward for training so hard.”

Zhao Changhe asked curiously, “There’s no way you bought all this and used it to complete your mission, right? Regardless of how much money you brought after leaving the Luo Family Village, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“Today, I arranged for my men to go hunting... It’s winter, so wild animals are scarce, but there are still some to be found. We managed to catch a few chickens and rabbits to hand in and just barely met the mission requirements. Because of this, we were able to finish things early. I took the time to make a trip to the city.” Luo Qi made a stern face. “Just tell me if you want it or not. Cut the bullshit.”

“I want it!” Zhao Changhe snatched all of the meat and wine from Luo Qi and ran toward the exit. “I’ll eat before I go into the pool, to warm myself up.”

Luo Qi entered the wooden hut in an unhurried manner. He looked at the food on the table and grinned.

After the incident at the Luo Family Village, Luo Qi was short on money. Today, he had spent it all on the meat and wine. He did not buy anything for himself. But this was because he knew there would be something for him to eat when he got back.

You leave food for me and I’ll buy you wine. It’s only right to do so.

Luo Qi could faintly hear someone shouting from the exit of the stronghold, “No one is allowed to leave the stronghold at night!”

Then came Zhao Changhe’s voice. “Why haven’t I heard of any curfew? What the hell, you think you’re some kind of bigshot now? For fuck’s sake, I just want to go out and take a bath. What’s with all the bullshit?”

“Eh... B-boss Zhao...”

“Oh, it’s you guys. You guys have guard duty? It’s alright, we’re all in the same boat here. Let me pass.”

“If we knew it was you, we wouldn’t have stopped you. Sorry, boss.”

The sounds got further and further.

He’s already a boss... It looks like he’s becoming more and more like a bandit. Luo Qi ate slowly. Suddenly, he could not help but laugh.

An innocent young man?

Whether Zhao Changhe was a bandit or not, the fact that he was able to adapt to this devilish nest faster than Luo Qi made it clear that he was naturally suited to the jianghu. In just a few days, Zhao Changhe had begun thriving here. Only heaven knew how he had managed to give others the impression of a na?ve youth at the start. It was truly a mystery.

Luo Qi suddenly began to think. There isn’t any actual friendship between me and Zhao Changhe. Before the raid, we only spoke...what, a couple of words to each other? Zhao Changhe treated Luo Qi well mainly because he found himself stuck in a place both foreign and sinister. Amidst the solitude and diffidence of being here, the only other familiar person was Luo Qi, so it was natural that they would become close to each other.

As Zhao Changhe continued to flourish here, he would get to know more and more people. By then, the relationship between him and Luo Qi would not be anything special anymore. Perhaps his friendship with other people would become deeper than his friendship with Luo Qi.

That’s fine with me. Everyone has their own path to follow.

Luo Qi leisurely tidied up his bowl and chopsticks then sat on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

He was also very hard working... However, Zhao Changhe was abnormal. Luo Qi had never seen someone so committed to training.

After circulating his qi ten times around his body, Luo Qi heard footsteps. Zhao Changhe had returned.

Luo Qi felt it strange and opened his eyes, “How are you back so soon?”

“After I got there I thought, how can wine be drunk alone? Of course I’d have to come back and drink with you.” Zhao Changhe was refreshed after his bath and took some bowls to pour wine into. He smiled. “It wasn’t as cold as I imagined. I’m still pretty awesome. Let’s bathe together next time.”

Who’s going to bathe with you!?

Luo Qi’s mouth twitched, but as he looked at the vapor slowly rising from the warm wine, his mood lightened considerably for some odd reason and he brought up something to talk about. “I saw your wanted poster in the city. The imperial court isn’t taking you lightly. Looks like you’ll have a lot of trouble traveling outside in the future.”

“Of course! Let me tell you, today I learned the reason the Luo family was exterminated. That fucker Luo Zhenwu was actually a prince!” Zhao Changhe handed Luo Qi a bowl of wine and smiled. “Wait a second, you stayed at the village for a long time. Did Luo Zhenwu ever have the bearing of a prince?”

Luo Qi’s hands shook slightly as he took the bowl. The wine inside swayed and rippled.

However, Luo Qi acted like nothing was wrong and just laughed. “How shocking. I’m shaking in my boots, hehe. When you go out next time, you have to be very careful.”

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